The storm clouds that had gathered over the Balkans seemed almost symbolic. The air felt charged, the kind of electricity that precedes a decisive strike. In their temporary command center, a former NATO listening station tucked into the cliffs Peter surveyed the combined task force with a heavy but steady gaze.
"Alright, change of plans," he said, folding his hands. "We hit Lysander from both sides. Simultaneously. No hesitation."
Michael stood at the center, flanked by Juliet and Duval, the holographic map before them split cleanly down the middle.
UNIT A
Magnum
Hurley
Duval
Bob Lee Swagger
A rotating Interpol tactical detachment
Their mission: Stage the "public raids" at the three sites Dimitri named: Thessaloniki, Algiers, and Dubrovnik.
These ops needed to look real, aggressive, noisy. Enough to convince Lysander his trap was working. Enough to keep his mole network calm.
UNIT B
Michael
Juliet
Neal Caffrey
Sophie Devereaux
Chloe
Peter (remote coordination)
Their mission: Track the internal mole channels inside Interpol, identify Lysander's financial arteries, and sever them in one coordinated sweep.
Peter glanced down at his phone, hesitating only a moment before making the call he'd dreaded and delayed for too long.
"Michael," he said quietly, "it's time."
Michael lifted his eyes. "Phoenix?"
Peter nodded. "We need their expertise. Their tech. Their people. And frankly Mac's instincts."
Juliet smirked. "And Riley's ability to crack anything with a wire and a keyboard."
Michael sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. "Dean's not gonna love this."
Neal grinned. "Neither will Jack but they'll come through. They always do."
The secure line beeped twice. A familiar voice answered:
"Phoenix Foundation Matilda Webber speaking."
Michael allowed himself half a smile. "Hey, Matty. We need backup."
There was a pause. A sharp inhale.
"Alright," Matty said. "Tell me when and where."
Riley's voice came on next. "I heard everything. Sending encrypted channels now. And I'll inform Jack he's not here right now "
And then, reluctantly but unmistakably the third voice, deep and deadly calm:
Dean MacGyver.
"You're hitting Lysander," he said without preamble. "I'll coordinate the Phoenix strike team myself."
Michael raised an eyebrow. "I thought you were staying out of this world."
"Not anymore," Dean replied. "Lysander hit my radar years ago. You'll have our full support. Just don't screw up."
Juliet snorted. "Love you too, Dean."
Magnum strapped on his vest as the chopper roared overhead. "Alright boys, let's make this look real."
Hurley grinned. "I was born to make chaos look convincing."
Swagger chambered a round in his rifle. "Stick to the choreography. In and out, lots of gunfire, no casualties."
Duval passed out encrypted comms. "Interpol teams are in place. Let's give Lysander a show."
They hit Thessaloniki first breaching the warehouse like wolves in a thunderstorm. Flashbangs. Shouting. Controlled destruction.
Enough for satellites to notice. Enough for watchers in Interpol to report back to their handler.
Then they vanished.
Algiers next. Then Dubrovnik.
A storm of noise. Zero intel gained.
Just as intended.
While the world saw gunfire and chaos, Michael's team moved like ghosts across digital and political lines.
Chloe projected the cascade nodes six glowing red dots representing mole relays inside Interpol's encrypted backbone.
"These," she said, "are Lysander's choke points. If we cut them off, he loses operational visibility, financial movement, and strategic coordination."
"And speaking of finances" Neal slid into view with a flourish, Sophie behind him.
"We found his money."
Peter blinked. "His real accounts?"
Neal grinned. "Offshore. Obscured. Layered under eight levels of shell corporations."
Sophie added, "And one of them is tied to a fake humanitarian NGO based in Monaco."
Juliet's face hardened. "That's how he launders money."
Michael nodded. "Then we cut it. All of it."
The door opened, letting in a gust of cold wind and three figures:
Mac is already analyzing their equipment
Riley, tablet in hand, fire in her eyes
Bozer, carrying enough gear for a small film crew
And behind them, silent but unmistakably lethal:
Dean MacGyver.
"Let's get to work, Jack won't be coming after all, and Matty needs to stay at HQ of course," Dean said.
Riley linked her tablet to Chloe's system. "Chloe, we're running suppression algorithms on your mole nodes."
Chloe smiled. "And I've cloned Phoenix's sandbox. We can isolate the mole network without alerting them."
Neal blinked. "You two are terrifying."
Mac dropped a portable EMP coil on the table. "This stays off-grid. If the moles try to reroute traffic physically, we fry every device in a three-mile radius."
Juliet's eyebrows shot up. "That's bold."
Mac shrugged. "It's Tuesday."
Chloe's screen flashed.
"Movement. Mole Node 4 just fired an outbound packet."
Neal stepped forward. "Let me intercept."
Sophie added, "And let me mimic their signature. We'll respond as if we're one of them."
Michael gave a sharp nod. "Do it."
On the other side of the world, UNIT A deployed charges, blew the entrance to the Dubrovnik villa, and broadcast the footage intentionally.
Lysander's network saw every second.
The courier's trap looked like it was succeeding.
And then
Chloe gasped. "The moles are panicking. They're exposing their hierarchy."
Riley smirked. "Say cheese."
One by one, the mole channels lit up with frantic traffic.
Sophie mirrored it perfectly.
Neal rerouted it.
Chloe traced it.
Riley froze the accounts.
Dean severed the offshore networks with military precision.
Mac shut down their backup hardware with the EMP coil.
Michael and Juliet watched the whole network collapse in real time.
On Chloe's map, the red cascade nodes flickered
Then died.
All six.
Neal exhaled. "And just like that Lysander goes blind, broke, and deaf."
Sophie smiled. "We just cut down a ghost."
Peter stepped into the center of the room, stunned. "I can't believe it. You actually.."
Michael shook his head. "No. We're not done."
Juliet finished the thought:
"This wasn't the kill shot."
Dean's cold eyes met Michael's.
"This was the setup."
Mac nodded. "Now that he's wounded he'll make a mistake."
Neal smirked. "Or three."
Sophie crossed her arms. "And we'll be ready."
Michael looked over the divided forces of the task team, Interpol, and Phoenix Foundation now united.
"This is it. We crippled his network, his money, his visibility."
Juliet stepped beside him.
"Next," she said quietly, "we go after Lysander himself."