In Central Africa, Crosby drives up to a village and finds all of the inhabitants dead. He makes a voice recording of what he's seeing and notes that he hasn't seen anything in the last half hour. Crosby takes photos, unaware that he's being observed by a former MI6 agent, John Christie. Christie recognizes Crosby and expresses his regrets that it's his former friend. He then tells his man Carl to kill him.
Crosby records that it's Christie's work and his test. Carl shoots him dead and Christie tells him to make sure that Crosby isn't found within a thousand miles of the area.
Jim picks up his briefing from a street merchant owner in Chinatown. He's informed that Christie is the most dangerous man the IMF has ever faced. Christie was a top operative with MI6 for 20 years, and went bad in the last five years. Terrorists have avoided capture thanks to Christie's information, and now Christie is making chemical weapons on a huge scale. Three agents have disappeared or been murdered trying to locate Christie's base of operations. The team must find Christie's plant and stop him and it before he manufactures his weapons.
At his apartment, Jim shows the team a photo of a historic old hotel that Christie lives in, Elephant House. They think the chemical plant is within 50 miles of the hotel. Christie has recruited numerous mercenaries in the last six months, and he needs cash to pay for his plant. He's received $20 million in diamonds from the military leader of an African company that wants the chemical weapons, and Jim will take the place of a diamond company representative there to help Christie sell half of his diamonds. Max and Grant will have to join Christie's operation as mercenaries, and it will take someone with special knowledge to neutralize the weapons: Dr. Yuri Nikolai, a full colonel in the KGB. He operated in Vienna and the KGB has loaned him to them because they want to get Christie out of business as well.
At Elephant House, Carl and other mercenary are fighting when Grant and Max come in. Christie tells Carl to finish his opponent, and Carl soon does so. Grant gives Max a ring with a drugged needle to slow down Carl. Trap collects Carl's winnings, and Grant comes over and suggests that Christie hire them. Christie tells him that Carl does his hiring, and Max blows smoke in Carl's face and insults him. A fight breaks out and the two men beat each other. Max throws Grant out through the patio windows, and Christie tells Grant that if Max survives then they're hired. After Max drops Carl, Christie gets them drinks and tells his assistant Heather to get their fingerprint from their glasses.
Nicholas arrives at Elephant House posing as a priest and naturalist. He gives the local children candy for carrying his luggage, and Shannon comes over claiming that she's with a publishing company. She talks about how people are interested in his work, and Christie listens to them from the desk.
Jim drives to the village and meets with Yuri. Yuri says that they met ten years ago in Vienna over the Hasseldorf Papers, and Jim "won". He says that in a day he'll know what chemicals Christie used and then he can defuse them. Yuri asks how many agents Jim has and Jim declines to answer. He realizes that Jim is going to pose as a diamond buyer and warns that Christie's computer have access to Western security files. They cut off Christie's access five years ago, but Jim has been longer active than that. Jim tells him not to worry about it, and Yuri says that he thought Jim had him in his gun sights in Vienna. Jim tells him that he did and drives off.
Christie, Carl, and Heather check Max and Grant's fingerprints. The files back up the agents' cover story, but Carl isn't impressed.
Jim arrives at the front desk and checks in. He sees Grant and Max with the other mercenaries, and Carl tells Grant that he got in a lucky punch but should never relax.
Christie meets with Jim in the hotel restaurant. Nicholas and Shannon come in and Nicholas talks about how he was there during his childhood. Jim says that a priest in a bar shouldn't be allowed.
The mercenaries take a plant to Christie's plant, built inside of an old sugar mill to avoid detection. The chemicals are stored under camouflage nets. Carl tells them that they have night duty, and they go to the barracks.
Shannon and Nicholas come over and Christie cheerfully greets them. They ask to visit the Lion Suite where Nicholas supposedly grew up, and Christie says that the restaurant is the Lion Suite. Nicholas explains that when the hotel was restored, the Lion Suite was moved and now Christie's office is there. Shannon asks to catch a glimpse of the office, and Christie has Heather take them to the office and look out the window. He advises her to keep them under observation at all times.
In the office, Nicholas looks out the window and says that it brings back childhood memories. As he goes, he stumbles and claims that he has dizzy spells. Meanwhile, he secretly places a bug on Christie's chair. Heather locks the office door behind them.
At the plant, Grant and Max and Grant sends a message to his teammates saying where the plant is. Shannon reads the message and Nicholas figures that everything is going perfectly.
That night, Grant and Max patrol the plant and try to work out a way to get past the guards.
At Elephant House, Christie takes Jim to his office. Nicholas and Shannon listen in on the bug as Christie offers Jim a snifter of brandy. Jim refuses and says that once he's satisfied, his people will transfer the money immediately. Christie opens his safe and the bug picks up the dial moving and calculates the numbers. While Jim examines them, Christie secretly scans Jim's face with a hidden camera and confirms his true identity. The ex-agent takes out a gun and tells Jim that he's been found out. Nicholas and Shannon hear him, and Christie aims the gun at Jim.
Jim realizes that Christie used video identification, and takes the brandy that Christie has offered him. Christie figures that Jim knows about the chemical weapons and isn't alone, and searches for the bug that he's sure is there somewhere. He figures that Nicholas planted it and asks where he is. Meanwhile, Shannon tosses an electrical plug into a tea kettle, shorting out the lights. Jim goes out the window and Christie fires, wounding him. Nicholas comes in and knocks Christie out and realizes that Jim is wounded. Jim tells him to get the diamonds and afterward Nicholas helps him to their jeep where Shannon is waiting.
Christie wakes up and discovers that the diamonds are gone.
Shannon drives to the village and Yuri examines Jim. Shannon says that Christie is still alive, and Yuri warns that he's even more dangerous. He informs Jim that he has a good chance of bleeding to death, but says that he's paying a bill for Vienna. Jim tells him to get to work, while Nicholas signals Grant and Max that their cover has been blown.
Grant and Max sneak into the control room and receive Nicholas' message.
Christie calls Carl and tells him that Grant and Max are probably agents. Carl and his men start searching the place, and Max wants to shoot their way out. Grant points out that gunfire could shoot off the chemicals. He covers Max, who goes to an overhead crane. Grant shoots the netting holding barrels, creating a diversion so that he and Max can escape. After Grant sets off a gas grenade, he gets to a truck, starts it up, picks up Max, and drives through the gate.
Once Yuri is done, Jim checks out his testing reports. The Russian has confirmed what chemicals were used, and warns that if the mixture is slightly off then it will explode. Yuri advises Jim to rest, and Shannon assures him that Max and Grant will escape. They signal that they're safe and have set up surveillance near the plant. Jim tells Grant to come back, hoping that Christie thinks that their mission is over.
The next morning, the team confirms that Christie has found other buyers. Jim says that they're going to destroy the plant by rebuilding the element of surprise. They've spread word that Jim and Shannon were killed in a car accident and the others are being recalled. Jim and Yuri have decided to give Christie the diamonds back. Yuri gives Shannon a vial and explains that when the contents are breathed, it will simulate death for 20 minutes.
At Elephant House, Christie receives word of the crash. He goes to the overturned jeep and finds a "dead" Shannon inside. He finds the diamonds and takes them with him.
Max and Jim watch the plant, and Grant sneaks in. He scans the labels on the various chemical containers, and hides when a guard comes by. He goes back to the village, and prints out copies of the scanned labels. Shannon confirms that Christie has stolen the diamonds, and Yuri says that if they switch two labels then the chemicals will explode when mixed.
Nicholas, Max, and Grant sneak back into the plant and apply the duplicate labels. Meanwhile, Christie tells Carl to keep an eye on the perimeter and then shows his terrorist buyers around. He takes them to the control room and invites them to start up the agitator. Jim, Shannon, and Yuri are on the perimeter and the alarms go off. Carl runs inside and spots the IMF agents, cutting off their escape. Max steps forward to fight him barehanded, and Carl drops his own gun. As the two men fight, Grant knocks out an approaching mercenary.
The agitator starts to explode, and Christie tells his buyers that he'll fix the problem and be right back.
Carl grabs a shovel and tries to hit Max. Another mercenary runs up and Nicholas takes him out with a container. Meanwhile, Max manages to take down Carl and leaves with his teammates.
Christie realizes that the labels have been switched and Jim is responsible.
Grant, Nicholas, and Max join the others. Christie tells Carl that everything is under control and tells Carl to look after the buyers while he goes back to Elephant House. Yuri points out that Jim's job was to put Christie out of business and he succeeded. The plant blows up and the team heads out.
Written by Gadfly on Jan 13, 2018