Lincoln Stoddard, evangelical leader of the Christian Universalist Church, has risen to the Presidency of the United States. He immediately proceeds to crush opposition, secular and spiritual, throughout the country and beyond. Reminiscent of the Spanish Inquisition, Stoddard sends Emerson Cheevers -- his half-mad executioner -- to eradicate the remaining members of the CU's opposition.

Grant Broadstreet, sole survivor of one of Cheevers' actions, joins the last great hope against the oppressive CU government: the Northern Army, First Tank Command, Colonel Matthew Timmerick, commanding. Together, they attempt a last ditch defense against the vision of God that resides only in Stoddard's twisted mind.