Synopsis [spoilers ahead]:
In the military enclave of San Diego, California a group of veterans attempt to takedown a score—the target: a Sinaloa Cartel stash house. JT and his team of Navy SEALs have joined the drug war raging down south, as soldiers of fortune, following their politically motivated dishonorable discharges.
After a failed operation in Afghanistan, resulting in massive collateral damage and casualties, two men held a large Taliban force… JT and his team’s naval careers ended in the aftermath of those investigations. Without veteran benefits and mounting medical bills, JT saw no choice but to seek work in the private sector, but his tarnished record followed him until he found respite in the Tijuana Cartel organization as a proctor (instructor) and high-value target killer.
As the fortunes of JT and his team seem to take a favorable turn, the Sinaloa Cartel stash house score revealed that their victory was short-lived… The money was too much to go unnoticed—money JT and his team had previously killed for—and now they faced the perilous task of cutting the heads of the Sinaloa Cartel or cut-and-run: either choice meant certain death.
The pressure mounts as JT and the team explore all avenues, including teaming up with the Tijuana Cartel, who’s seen its position in the region threatened by an expanding Sinaloa Cartel, but with no reliable gear, or an in-or-out they seek those in their community for aide.
Alex, a CIA spook, and now owner of a private military contracting firm is in the midst of closing a highly lucrative deal with the Sinaloa Cartel—supporting the armed conflict and territorial disputes between the Sinaloa and Tijuana organizations—as JT and his team boosts the stash house… unknowingly setting JT and Alex on a collision course.
Alex sets out to search and destroy the team that compromised his position with the Sinaloa Cartel, following the attack on their safe house. Leveraging his network, Alex sets out to find out what happened, and in his discoveries he identified that only a highly specialized team of operators can achieve what they did. With access to a network of current and former operators he sets his sights on teams and operations he managed, including JT’s team and their failed op that involved taskforce 185 and that fateful day.
With the looming conflict hanging over JT’s head, he becomes bitterly torn by the choice of fighting instead of running. JT has finally met someone whom he loves. His tumultuous childhood and abandonment prevented him from letting people get close. Annie changed all that and for once, JT isn’t just thinking about his brothers, but himself. The pain and guilt become too much, but his commitment to his brothers proves too strong and continues with the plan of hunting down the Sinaloa Cartel.
Meanwhile, Alex’s struggles with “Don’t ask, Don’t tell” and the appearances he’s kept have forced him to pursue a hidden relationship with his best friend, and longtime brother Charlie. While Alex had the means to retire, his inability to stop working sees him in a difficult position with his partner Charlie as they’re now embroiled in the chaos of the Drug War.
The cat and mouse games finally culminate in a meet-and-greet so Alex can meet the man behind his business partner’s assault and his suspicions were right all along.
JT refuses to take no for an answer, tailing, and meeting Alex in his residence: a move that only emboldened JT and changed the course of Alex’s plans.
Alex sensing an opportunity, puts in place a plan to use JT and his team to rid himself of both Sinaloa and Tijuana—undoing the status quo and the unfavorable US, Mexico, Sinaloa alliance—and replacing them with his own puppet cartel, The Gulf Cartel.
A deal between JT and Alex is struck and the targets are laid out: the four heads of the Sinaloa Cartel and two “to be determined” targets would be claimed by the hand of JT and his team.
The first target was the Sinaloa head—and money man—Hector Beltran, whose presence in the US to close the Alex deal made him an easy target.
JT and his team’s experiences in identifying and extracting high-value targets proved invaluable and the assault on Hector’s convoy results in his abduction. In the hands of a master interrogator Hector sings like a bird.
The team’s focus then shifts to Tijuana, as the Sinaloa expansion was ready, and the brothers Rey and Andres Beltran are ambushed in the streets of Tijuana—no prisoners.
After successfully claiming three of four, they extract the information on the last remaining brother, but Leon Beltran never left his home state and now they hunt deeper in the Mexican territory.
The journey strengthens the bonds between Alex and JT, and after successfully claiming the last of the Sinaloa kills, Alex finally reveals the final targets: the Tijuana Cartel.
JT and his team had long suspected that something was amiss, and ran Alex’s name, known aliases through their community only to discover that Alex was behind 185. The alliance between JT and Alex was now broken and fearing another 185, the team gets working on their own timeframes and EXFILs.
With no time to waste, they swiftly terminate JT’s point of contact, and head of Tijuana in the US. The gruesome killing left no time to plan, as the second of the Tijuana brothers laid in wait across the border.
The team sets a contingency and secondary EXFIL if they’re betrayed by Alex once more with former team guys, and members of another failed Task Force 183.
The Tijuana compound’s assault netted a laptop and a treasure trove of intelligence revealing pictures of Alex and the Gulf Cartel, confirming JT’s suspicions and forcing him to fulfill his promise of ending Alex… JT is mortally wounded in the process.
The team comes under attack from Mexican military and police authorities as they’re forced to fight their way through, racing to save JT’s life and making the perilous decision to go into US waters at the behest of JT.
JT’s dying wish comes true and he perishes off the coast of San Diego, California leaving his team and Annie behind.
Jules Mur 