Painter is a government agent who specializes in resolving high-risk crises. His latest mission is in the former Soviet republic of Chechnya, where Gen. Egor Zaysan and a group of rebels have taken over a soon-to-be obsolete nuclear plant with the intention of using it for an act of terrorism. Painter rescues the hostages and completes his mission a bit too easily. Sensing a trap, he returns and attempts to discover what's really happening.