The new Russia is having a serious problem with organized crime: The Russian Mafia. In the interest of cooperation, the President 'lends' the Russian government the commandos of Stony Farm: Mack Bolan, Able Team and Phoenix Force. The first operation goes well, but thanks to spies in the Russian Minister's office, Rostoff, head of the Mafia, catches wind of what is going on.
He sets up a trap and Able Team walks into it. The team goes down in a hail of bullets, with only one man, Carl Lyons, escaping. The building explodes before the bodies of 'Pol Blancanales and 'Gadgets' Shwartz can be recovered.
Realizing that they were set up and that their government could pull them out at any time, the commandos decide to go rogue. Two of their own were killed and the men of Stony Farm were not leaving without revenge.
In attempt to help them, Hal Brognola, Stony Farm liaison to the White House, travels to Russia to try to convince the Minister that he has a leak at his end and ends up kidnapped by Rostoff. To convince him to talk, Rostoff takes Hal to watch as two men are tortured: Pol and Gadgets. The bullets fired at Carl were real, but the other two were hit with a combination of paint pellets and tranquilizer darts.
But time was running out. The commandos had discovered Rostoff's base and attacked. Their goal was to rescue Hal, but they also found their missing and presumed dead teammates. And Carl, who'd been tortured with survivor's guilt, faces Rostoff in a knife fight and kills him.
In the end, Hal comes up with a cover story to explain why the entire Stony Farm force had gone rogue so that the White House won't shut them down. He tells them this is the only 'get out of jail free' card they're getting.
When asked about Gadgets, he tells Carl and Pol that the man was released from hospital and has left for the Virgin Islands for some R 'n' R at the local abalone festival. The two men grin, knowing that this really means that their teammate has headed to St Thomas and the Abalone Shell -- the best cat-house on the island. They make plans to join him as soon as the post-mission briefing is over.
So, now the story starts. Click here to go straight to the story or here to return to the Stony Man main page.
