In Eastern Europe, a terrorist group known as the "Knights of the Apocalypse," led by ex-KGB agent Boris Zugoski, successfully breach and board the NATO armored train, Blue Harvest, on the outskirts of St. Petersburg. Among those on board is the French Ambassador to Russia, Pierre Simon, his wife Catherine, and daughter, Jane. Zugoski demands 20 billion US dollars and safe passage into France in exchange for the lives of the Simon family. The presence of a nuclear bomb on board the train also presents a great risk. A NATO rescue team is dispatched to the captured train to extract the hostages and eliminate the terrorist threat. During insertion, the rescue team is decimated, leaving Lieutenant Jack Morton as the sole survivor.