At a ship dock in
Karachi, Pakistan, Task Force Mako plants a
demolition charge to sabotage a terrorist organization's smuggling operation. However, the charge unexpectedly sets off
secondary explosions which destroy the docks. Debrief by their "OGA" (
Other Government Agency) handler Dusty, a former
U.S. Army Delta Force operator, suggests that their charge set off hidden
PETN explosives being smuggled in the shipping containers to the
Philippines. Mako follows the lead to
Isabela City, Philippines, but are diverted to aid the Philippine
SOCOM's Task Force Tiger, led by General Barrera, with rescuing several hostages kidnapped by the
Abu Sayyaf Group. They identify one of the hostage takers as Marwan al-Khalifa but General Barrera denies Mako's recommendations and instead orders his own
NAVSOG operator, "Tiger 12", to shoot Khalifa. Tiger 12 wounds Khalifa and, in the chaos, the kidnappers and an unidentified terrorist are able to escape with the hostages. Mother and Preacher link up with the NAVSOG team and push in to secure the hostages. After taking multiple casualties due to General Barrera's poor decisions, Tiger 12 directs the NAVSOG team to ignore Barrera and follow Mother's orders. The NAVSOG and DEVGRU operators are able to secure the hostages, though Tiger 12 is seriously wounded and Khalifa and the unknown terrorist escape. Humiliated, General Barrera uses his political connections to force Mother and Preacher to retire from the Navy. Weeks later, Task Force Mako, now led by Voodoo and consisting of Stump, Dingo, and Tick, assists a Marine-led
amphibious raid aimed at curtailing
local Somali piracy and later returns to the to help aid with the
hostage situation on a U.S. freighter off the Somali coast. Preacher takes his discharge and travels to
Madrid, Spain to repair his failing marriage. While waiting for his wife's train to arrive, he unexpectedly sees Khalifa but is unable to stop him from committing a
suicide bombing in the station. When Preacher regains consciousness in the hospital, he finds Lena and their daughter are safe as they missed their train. Mother visits and tells him that intel from their missions revealed connections between
the Madrid train bombing (which used smuggled PETN), Abu Sayyaf, the unknown terrorist (now identified as Sa'ad al Din), and a terrorist leader known only as "the Cleric". Mother persuades him to join a newly-formed covert unit codenamed Task Force Blackbird, a joint effort between the Navy and the
Central Intelligence Agency to investigate the PETN
proliferation. Task Force Blackbird, composed of Mother, Preacher, and Ajab, a local Pakistani CIA
asset, track a
gun runner named Faraz who is linked to the PETN smuggling. The operation is kept secret from
Pakistani officials as Blackbird suspects they are
actually aiding the terrorist network. This appears to be confirmed as Blackbird is forced to engage Pakistani
Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agents protecting Faraz. Mother and Preacher apprehend their target and learn the PETN is being supplied by a banker in
Dubai named Hassan. While waiting for extraction, Faraz is killed by an enemy sniper and Ajab barely helps the two escape. While this is happening, Mako has tracked the PETN to
Yemen and raids the terrorist facility storing it. There, they find a
training camp with mockups of airports and train stations but only half of the PETN stockpile. Blackbird arrives in
Dubai and capture Hassan for interrogation. The SEALs manage to upload crucial data from Hassan's laptop but are captured before they can escape with Hassan. This data leads Mako to
Sarajevo, where a
Bosnian weapons dealer named Stovan Bosic is selling the PETN. Mako links up with a team of Polish
GROM, and the joint forces track Bosic to the
abandoned bobsled/luge track from the
1984 Winter Olympics where they capture him. Bosic reveals that two ships containing the PETN had just left Dubai. Dusty notifies
NATO forces in
Croatia to impound one of the vessels while Mako is sent to intercept the other headed for Karachi. Unbeknownst to them, Sa'ad al Din is interrogating Preacher and Mother aboard that very same cargo freighter. After refusing to divulge information, Mother is executed by Sa'ad al Din. As Mako arrives and assaults the ship, Preacher is able to escape and fight his way to the bridge. He corners and overpowers Sa'ad al-Din before Mako arrives and takes the latter into custody. This enables them to identify the Cleric's identity as Hassan and his compound in Pakistan. Preacher and Dusty join Mako in the final raid on Hassan's compound. During the assault, Voodoo and Preacher locate Hassan and kill him when he attempts to detonate his
suicide vest. Afterward, they return home and pay their respects to Mother at his funeral. Some time after the funeral, Preacher receives a deployment signal on his pager while spending time with his family, but hesitates to answer. ==Development==