In a world where alliances crumble and secrets are currency, Ethan Reign is a man without a past — or so he wants people to believe. Once a top-tier operative for an elite black-ops unit, Ethan vanished after a mission in Syria went sideways, resulting in civilian casualties and a global scandal.Now living under a new identity in Lisbon, he works as a mechanic, fixing old motorcycles by day and drinking alone by night. But when a former comrade turns up dead — with Ethan’s name etched into his skin — the ghosts of his past drag him back into a world he swore he’d left be
Ethan learns of Operation Emberlight, a rogue covert mission being planned by a shadow agency within the U.N. Their goal: to manipulate global unrest and profit from war. The architect? Silas Creed, Ethan’s former mentor, a brilliant tactician turned war profiteer.The world believes Creed died years ago. Ethan knows better.Recruited by Leila Tran, a sharp and principled intelligence analyst, Ethan agrees to one last mission: stop Operation Emberlight before it ignites chaos across three continents. But there’s a catch — he has only seven days before the operation goes live, and he’s being hunted by both Creed’s men and international law enforcement.Together, Ethan and Leila travel from the rooftops of Istanbul to the underground vaults of Geneva, uncovering encrypted data, tracking old allies, and confronting betrayals at every corner. Along the way, Ethan is forced to confront his own guilt, particularly the haunting memory of a young girl who died in Syria — a memory Creed now uses to manipulate him.
The final confrontation takes place in Mumbai, where a tech summit is being used as cover for the launch of Operation Emberlight. Creed reveals that Ethan was never meant to survive the Syrian mission — he was the scapegoat. The deaths were engineered to sever Ethan from the agency and break his will, making him the perfect rogue pawn. But Ethan is no pawn. With Leila’s help, he exposes Creed’s plan to the world in a live data leak during the summit. A firefight erupts between Creed’s mercenaries and local counterterrorism units. Ethan fights Creed atop a burning satellite uplink tower — brutal, personal, and poetic. In the end, Ethan chooses not to kill Creed. He lets the world judge him.
Creed is arrested. Operation Emberlight is dismantled. Ethan vanishes once more, this time on his own terms.
Leila receives a postcard with no return address. On it, a photo of a quiet beach — and a quote:
"A mission never ends. But sometimes, the man can."
Somewhere, Ethan Reign watches the sunset, no longer hiding — just finally… free.
