| abstract | - Scattered Remains is an upcoming series of novels by Justin George. The first entry in the series, Dual Destinies, is scheduled to be released in early 2011, and contains two books: Capital Grounds and Her Loyal Guard. It is set from 1975 to 1978 and tells an Alternate History, where an utility company, DoubleHelix Discharge Incorporated (usually shortened to DoubleHelix or DHD), has monopolized the competition, and is so powerful that it eventually forms its own place in government and even rules over some smaller countries. It also uses its army to enforce the direct collection of payment for its bills from the people. The story has several heroes, but focuses mainly on Ambrosine "Swifty" Worden, the leader of and a general in the massive army for the D.H.D. Armed Forces, and the wielder of the mysterious sword, Requiem, which gives the wielder near-invincibility as long as she keeps it on her person. It orignally belonged to her subordinate, Lieutenant General Cecilia Silvestre, who is actually Swifty's aunt and only relative which she had any real contact with. The deuteragonist is Nate Callaghan, an ex-con who joined the D.H.D. Armed Forces to avoid execution for murdering his former partner-in-crime. A generally violent and impatient man, he trusts no one, except for his sister, Isabella, who works in D.H.D. as the Head of the Medical Department. Later in the story, he is reassigned to serve Swifty as a bodyguard, along with his best friend, Jack Sugawara, He later realizes that she needs a lot more than protection. The story has several protagonists, with Swifty and Nate being the main ones, but several are present in both stories. See the character list for more details. Note: As the books have not been released yet, many of these tropes contain spoilers regarding the books, although at this point you probably may not know what some of them mean. Read them at your own risk.
* Awesome Moment of Crowning: Happens near the end of Capitol Grounds when Cyrus gives Royce the rank of Captain for his contributions in the C.B.L.A.
* Back-to-Back Badasses: Cyrus and Royce.
* Badass Crew: The orignal squad of Cyrus, Royce, Jackson, Simon, and Melanie.
* Badass Normal: Nearly all of the main characters who are in the C.B.L.A., including Royce. Later on, Nate turns out to be one as well.
* Beleaguered Assistant: Royce is this to Cyrus, although Royce is more than happy to be one.
* Bodyguard Betrayal
* Capulet Counterpart: Swifty eventually sees herself this way with Cyrus.
* Cavalry Betrayal
* Command Roster:
* The Captain: Cyrus
* Number Two: Simon, later Royce.
* Sergeant Rock: Jackson, although he's The Quiet One when he isn't training recruits.
* The Medic: Isabella aka The Doc, even after she is accidentally kidnapped.
* New Meat: Kelsey aka "Royce". Later becomes the Ensign Newbie.
* The Squadette: Melanie.
* Conflicting Loyalty: Several characters go through this trope, but Jack is the most prominent.
* It's what sparks his Bodyguard Betrayal.
* Corrupt Corporate Executive: President Gordon Kingsley, and later, his son, Lucian Kingsley.
* The Dragon: Cecilia. Was also originally a Complete Monster. She later becomes a *Dragon with an Agenda
* Even Evil Has Standards: Swifty would not allow anyone to shoot anyone from the C.B.L.F., because they were all at a party.
* Eyepatch of Power
* Fingerless Gloves: Jack (and later Nate) does this with his gloves, to make it easier to reload his gun.
* Four-Star Badass: Cyrus and Greg, who lead the C.B.L.A. While they weren't generals in the Albourgian army, he assumed the rank in order to prevent mutiny and dissention of the ranks.
* Hair of Gold: Isabella
* Healing Hands: Almost literally in The Doc's case, who uses healing P.P.E. to often heal wounds quickly. However, this isn't the case with all wounds.
* Heroes Prefer Swords: Played straight with Cyrus, who is seen with a sword nearly all the time. Averted with Swifty, who isn't a hero, per se, but still uses and carries a special sword with her, claiming that guns are "crude and cowardly."
* La Résistance: The Circuit Breaker Liberation Front originally starts as this, before it turned into a
* Lady of War: Cecilia, and to a lesser extent, Swifty.
* The Laws and Customs of War: Even though they are fighting against a resistance movement, the DoubleHelix Armed Forces still apply this. They Would Not Shoot a Civilian,but any surrendering soldier is fair game.
* Little Miss Badass: Swifty can apply to this trope, although she is a bit old for it.
* Mega Corp: DoubleHelix Discharge is this, although they only specialize in utilities.
* Moral Guardian: Cecilia to Swifty, which is ironic considering all the war crimes she has committed.
* Obligatory War Crime Scene: Both the C.B.L.F. and the DoubleHelix Armed Forces has one of these.
* Overt Operative
* Parental Substitute: Cecilia becomes this to Swifty nearly 12 years before the story starts.
* Promotion to Parent
* Reluctant Warrior: Royce. He didn't even want to join the C.B.L.F. at all, and the only reason he worked with Cyrus was to rescue his friend, who was imprisoned unfairly by D.H.D. and was to be executed.
* Shoot the Medic First: Averted in The Doc's case, since even the C.B.L.F. knows her P.P.E. healing powers are valuable.
* Super-Persistent Predator: Anthony Krauser is this to the C.B.L.F., but more specifically Royce.
* Sympathetic POV: Used in Her Loyal Guard to shine some light on the people behind D.H.D.
* Tell Me About My Father: Swifty says this word for word to her aunt, Cecilia.
* The Uriah Gambit, which leads to Unfriendly Fire
* Villain Protagonist: Swifty, as she is the leader of the D.H.D. Armed Forces and has no problem with ordering peoples' deaths, but whether or not she is a villain is up to you.
* Was It All a Lie?Asked almost word by word by Royce.
* Weapon of Mass Destruction: The C.C.D. (Crowd Control Disintegrator), which can create an explosion that vaporizes anything with water in it, including rivers, lakes, and humans if necessary.
* Welcome Back, Traitor: Although very reluctantly.
* Whole-Episode Flashback: Or whole chapter, to be precise.
* The Woobie: Royce, although he later turns into an Iron Woobie.
* You Called Me "X" - It Must Be Serious: Occurs with Swifty or Royce, who are both referred by their nicknames most of the time.
* Your Terrorists Are Our Freedom Fighters: The president of Albourge eventually comes out saying this about the C.B.L.A.
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