In !975 a rebel ZAR force invades South Africa, crossing the Tugela River to carve out a chunk of land and proclaim an independent state for the Afrikaner people. The Afrikaner leadership is split by internal wrangling between detente and warfare threatening the stability of the newly proclaimed state. Brik Taljaard joins the rebel forces and in so doing chooses freedom and independence over family. This decision destroys his family and costs him the only woman he ever loved, but connects him to a friendship born out of the very essence of the conflict; hatred and mistrust.