John had focused on Levi like a cat stared at a laser, like it was ready to pounce.

To anyone else in the debriefing room, he might have looked casual, arms crossed, and mutton chops trimmed. But to those who knew him, he was anything but relaxed. He wasn't glaring because he was angry. He was watching because when John took someone in because it wasn't out of charity.

It was leverage, and Levi knew that.

Everyone sat around the wide table, eyes on the projected screen at the front of the room. Levi stood beside it, his tablet linked to the projector, cable trailing from the table to the port like a lifeline. Across from the projector sat on the table was a laptop facing towards Levi from a distance. Laswell's face was lit up on a laptop screen, patched in via secure Zoom and connected through screen as well, which she was in her home office at Virginia.

"Whenever you're ready," she said, her tone firm.

Levi gave a short nod, but not before glancing at John—just once before the others.

"Right," Levi started, and his voice wasn't loud, but it was steady enough. "So... uh... this is what I've found after tracing a secondary route in the data Harkin tried to bury under his crypto-chain proxies. They were sloppy. Zakharov's friends never expected anyone to dig past through this."

He tapped his screen and a map bloomed across the projector—highlighting major shipping ports across Europe and the Middle East.

Roach leaned forward, elbows on the table.

Danny watched while Soap tilted his head, chewing a toothpick like it was a cigarette.

Cam sat beside her father, arms crossed, sharp eyes locked on the screen.

Gabby leaned against the wall at the back, arms folded, quietly watching. And Simon stood near her as he listened while his expression was idle but focused.

"These dots aren't just drop points," Levi continued, swiping to bring up a timeline. "They're timed deliveries linked to shell companies fronting for Zakharov. And Harkin was their clock. The main logistician behind the crates move."

"What do you mean by clock?" Laswell inquired.

Levi looked at her face on the screen. "I mean Michael wasn't controlling movement—he was in control of the supply chain. I knew some things about him that he told me himself. He would adjust shipping delays, rerouting containers, timing customs alerts to avoid scanning. This was coordinated to the second command like someone taught him how to run it tight."

"Richard," Laswell made a guess.

"Rich, yes." Levi tapped again and moved on to next slides. Which was the flight logs and satellite routes overlapped with the sea-based shipping manifest.

"See this?" He pointed to a blinking red line. "This route passed through Tangier and ended up in Marseille. All under a decoy manifest of construction equipment—but it was moving arms. Rifles. Munitions. Even satellite relay parts."

"How do you know that?" Laswell asked, her voice sharp and skeptical.

"I tracked the shipping logs through two backdoors Harkin left open," Gabby explained from behind before walking up front to stand with Levi. "He thought he covered them, but I pulled a hash dump from one of his encrypted VPN scramblers." She paused, then added, "It's how Levi found Zakharov's main contact in Marseille is under a false ID. French-Iranian citizenship. Real name? Malek Khalid. Khalid Al-Asad's brother."

That got everyone's attention.

Gaz sat up straighter. "Really?"

"Yes," Gabby replied. "He's moving in as Zakharov's proxy war partner across the Mediterranean."

Soap muttered under her breath. "Fucking fantastic."

"So they're expanding?" Laswell inquired again.

"Yes," Levi confirmed. "Not just weapons but there's been some talks in the metadata about tech—drones, surveillance, software. Hybrid warfare."

"And what about the shipment dates?" John asked, finally speaking again.

Levi pulled up a timestamped calendar. "The shipment is due tonight and it's gonna leave port at twelve in the morning. Destination unknown—but it's encrypted under the same protocol as the last one that moved through Karachi."

Laswell frowned. "Which means it's heading east."

"To Al-Qatala," John said, his voice low. "Al Mazrah to Khalid."

Levi paused before giving a nod.

"You said you overheard Harkin on a call, Dunn," John continued, his eyes were cold and analytical. "With Zakharov?"

"Yeah. I didn't catch the whole thing. But I heard him say your name, and your girlfriend. Something about her being close to you and her carrying the thumb drive that Michael wanted it back since the day you showed up. Gabby told me since you got the drive from her. Harkin panicked, like he was freaking out."

"Because he knew Zakharov will be pissed off and he'll send his men to kill him as a punishment." Simon stated like it was an obvious answer.

"That... that can be true." Levi said slowly and added, "and since Rich is dead. He was even more freaked out when he realized that someone like... you... sir?"

"It's Price, Dunn." John said, his knuckles whitened against his crossed arms.

"Right. Price," Levi corrected himself. "Michael was freaking out over you, Price."

Danny scoffed. "Uh, yeah. He should."

"He don't fuck around when it comes to job," Cam said, "and since Charlie is in the picture. I would be expecting Captain to do the worst."

"Counting on it." John added quick without looking at Cam.

Roach glanced between them all, silent as his eyes studied the screen.

"So, what? They know about Charlie?" Danny raised a brow, questioning. "But, she isn't part of this."

"It's not because she's in the mess, Danny," John corrected, his tone calm but dark. "They knew because she's a weak link to me. It's why Harkin sent his men to distract me and the rest of us over her life in line."

A brief stillness settled between them, and Cam turned her gaze towards him. Her eyes widened with concern as she observed his nose crinkle, the skin around it tightening as if he had caught an unpleasant scent or was deep in troubled thought.

Laswell didn't waste time.

"Alright, we've got enough to authorize execution," Laswell said coldly, her voice slicing through the room. "My sources confirmed that Michael Harkin has been funneling arms straight into the hands of Viktor Zakharov. He's not some arms dealer. He's the leader of Bratva Zvezda, a high-tier Russian crime group built on old and blood money.

"He runs the entire network like a corporation—clean on paper, lethal underneath. Weapons, laundering, funneling money through prostitution and human trafficking—you name it. He's directly tied to Makarov.

"We've identified Milenna, Zakharov's primary financier. They're the one who orchestrated Makarov's escape from the Gulag; This isn't one of a side hustle but a full-blown resurgence of power built on legacy and war. We're dealing with the brain of the operation, and Zakharov is the one in charge of the full operation."

Laswell paused, allowing her words including her analytical intelligence to be in everyone's attention as she continued.

"From what I've gathered—alongside intel from my senior analyst—Milenna's husband, Andrei, was tied to Zakharov long before any of this began. Andrei was a trusted man inside Bratva Zvezda, helping push arms and make political deals behind the curtain. Richard had deep ties to Zakharov years ago before John have executed him. That connection runs all the way back to Barkov's old regime. All of it points to one goal: a coordinated assault on the balance of global power. East and West. They want to fracture it—then rebuild it under Russian dominance. And if we're right, this could be another Cold War. I'll be taking it straight to my director, this operation must be executed."

A silent tension filled the room as John let out a slow breath through his nose.

Who would have thought that a Russian mobster have ties with the ultranationalist factions—ones Laswell was still working to uncover.

John knew Zakharove was a bastard and he was very careful, but now they had a direct link. His former connection may have to think twice since John would one day face him again.

If time would tell him when.

"We've been monitoring Harkin's movements for weeks now," Gabby pointed out, "we have enough evidence to confirm that he's the main mole responsible for moving shipments under the radar."

Soap shook his head. "Should've known that rat was dirty the second Price got his hand on him."

John said nothing, his jaw tightening.

"To cut off supply chains," Laswell continued. "I'll sent extra units to handle two ports across London. Their orders are to shut down any routes leading to Prague before those shipments can be moved. But the main port? That's on you on the East at the Tilbury Port."

The screen shifted as a satellite image of three main docks appeared that Levi pulled up.

"This is where Harkin will be," Levi said, zooming in on the location. "Liverpool. The main shipment hub I know where it is."

John nodded once. "What's our window?"

"The ships are set to sail before twelve. We'll need to gear up and be ready by your command, Captain." Gabby answered.

Soap leaned forward, studying the map. "And Harkin?"

"Find him and bag him," Laswell ordered bluntly. "Unless, if he retaliates. He needs to be executed."

Simon tilted his head. "Any chance we'll catch him runnin'?"

"Not likely. If anything, he'll be expecting trouble," Laswell said. "Which is why I need you all prepared for heavy resistance."

John exhaled sharply, rolling his shoulders. "Leave it to us."

"Good," Laswell said with a curt nod. "I'll leave you to your final preparations. I'll be monitoring from my end. Stay sharp, and good hunting. Watcher out."

As soon as the screen went black, John rose from his seat and faced his team, his thoughts immediately transitioning into command mode.

"Gear up. We move in quick and clean," he stated. "Harkin dies tonight."

Soap grinned, cracking his knuckles after he stood up. "Music to my ears."

"Been waitin' to put this bastard in the ground," Gaz said as he stood also and rolled his shoulders.

"Include me," Simon added.

John turned to Levi before Gabby. "Get me the latest routes on all incoming and outgoing ships. I want every detail before we go in tonight."

"Yes, sir," Levi said before looking at his tablet and he began to start working on it more on intercepting and pulling up more data he knew was buried on Harkin's lines.

"Wait, what about me and Danny? Roach?" Cam stood up and questioned.

"Cameron," John called her full name and he watched as she stood straight immediately. "You and Danny will watch overhead, in case of any retaliation above from us. I know Harkin would be aware of us coming after him so use whatever firepower you got."

Danny quickly stood up and gasped gleefully.

"Fuck yes! I mean—" she quickly cleared her throat and stood straight in front of John. "Ahem! Yes, sir."

Gaz and Soap tried not to snickered but they immediately remain composed as John eyed on them before Cam and Danny until he smirked.

"Yes, Danica. You're allowed to be a Blitz on fire. Just don't overdo it."

Danny smiled big in return. "Sure thing, Captain."

"Gabby will stay behind with Levi and be our guide of the docks since we're in the unknown territory." John explained.

"Fine with me," Gabby agreed. "Levi can actually try and see if he can break through the system and actually control the ship lines. We may be able to stop the ship before any dockers realize they've been hacked."

"That's just the cost of creating anything related to IoT," Levi remarked with a cheeky grin, prompting Gabby to glance at him and return the smile.

John hummed and shifted his attention to a muted soldier.

"Roach, you're quick and you can take someone down in five seconds," John said, mentally formulating a plan. "You'll be on foot with Gaz. Ghost will cover us from a distance as overwatch, while Soap and I will deal with any opposition we encounter. Our main goal is to cut the lines and eliminate anyone obstructing us. We cannot let the ship sail until we locate Harkin, and if he resists, one of us will kill him."

Roach listened, and they exchanged a brief nod.

Harkin's days are numbered, he thought, right before his mindset transitioned from John Price to Captain Price.