After Birkoff chokes in the middle of remotely directing an operation and is then promptly upstaged by arch-nemesis Greg Hillinger who pulls the frying pan out of the fire and saves the mission, Operations promotes Hillinger to Birkoff's job and re-assigns Birkoff to his first field operation. Birkoff's mission is to infiltrate and perform reconnaissance on a mercenary terrorist organization "Soldat de la Liberty" run by a man named Jean-Marc Rousseau who employs brainwashing on young people to fill the ranks of his organization. Birkoff is convinced that Operation's real objective is to set him up with an impossible mission, so that Operations can eliminate Birkoff and permanently replace him with the more obsequious and pliable Hillinger. And sure enough, once inside the group Birkoff discovers ties between Rousseau's organization and the infamous Red Cell, and Operations refuses to extricate Birkoff preferring to leave him in place to gather more information. Can Nikita help Birko