In the heart of London – Surveillance at a glance…

The Interception: Harwich Dockyard
Jake and Emma focused their search on the quiet shipping routes, believing the SVR would avoid the highly scrutinised air travel. Their hunch paid off when Jake’s system flagged a last-minute, non-commercial vehicle booking for an overnight ferry departing from Harwich International Port bound for the Hook of Holland. The vehicle was a nondescript, privately-owned panel van registered to one of Dr Thorne’s defunct shell companies.

“They’re taking the ferry,” Emma confirmed, looking at the clock. “The sailing is at 23:00. We have less than four hours to get from London to Harwich and intercept them at the dock.”

They didn’t have time for a full tactical team. Alistair authorised a fast-response unit, but the initial, critical interception would fall to Emma and Jake alone, ensuring the arrest was quiet and contained.

The Race to the Coast
They commandeered an unmarked MI5 Audi, Jake driving, Emma monitoring the comms and mapping their target’s movements. The drive was a blur of blue lights and tactical urgency.

“Thorne and Solovyanova will check in at the ferry terminal’s commercial vehicle lanes,” Jake said, manoeuvring expertly through evening traffic. “It’s chaotic, dark, and they’ll be blending in with trucks and industrial traffic. That’s our window.”

Emma received a report from their forward surveillance team, who were subtly observing the handlers at a roadside service station near Chelmsford. “They stopped for fuel. They’re tense, moving fast. They know they’re running out of time.”

They planned to use the sheer congestion of the port—the same cover Thorne was relying on—against him. They would enter the queuing lanes, box the SVR handlers’ van in, and make the arrest before the vehicle was officially processed for boarding.

The Dockyard Trap
They arrived at Harwich Port just as the pre-boarding chaos peaked. The air was thick with diesel fumes, and the noise of reversing trucks and shouted instructions created a wall of sound perfect for masking a covert operation.

Jake drove the Audi into the designated commercial vehicle queuing area. Emma spotted the target immediately: the dark grey panel van, two vehicles ahead of a towering semi-trailer, waiting its turn.

“Visual confirmed. Thorne is driving, and Solovyanova is a passenger. They look weird,” Emma reported.

Jake manoeuvred with precision, pulling the Audi sharply across two lanes and positioning it directly in front of the SVR van, completely blocking its path. Simultaneously, the surveillance team’s inconspicuous transit van—which had been trailing them—pulled up tight behind the SVR vehicle, boxing them in. The SVR handlers were trapped.

The Arrest
Before Thorne could register the danger, Emma was out of the car. She moved with a practised, brutal speed, yanking open the passenger door where Katya Solovyanova was seated.

“MI5! Hands where I can see them!” Emma’s voice was sharp and commanding, cutting through the port noise.

Solovyanova, younger and less hardened than Thorne, froze in panic. She was holding a large briefcase, which Emma immediately wrenched away and tossed to Jake, who had come around the van.

Dr Thorne, the silver-haired director, was faster. He didn’t reach for a weapon; he slammed the van into reverse, trying to crush the surveillance van behind him.

“He’s trying to break the containment!” Jake yelled.

Emma moved around the vehicle, her gun trained on Thorne. “Stop the vehicle, Thorne! It’s over!”

Thorne ignored her. He was desperate, attempting a three-point turn in the narrow, congested lane. Seeing a slight gap near a luggage cart, he suddenly floored the van forward.

Knowing a high-speed chase through the port would cause chaos, Emma fired a precise shot into the engine block. The van stuttered, spewed thick white smoke, and died ten feet from a loading ramp.

Thorne slumped against the steering wheel, defeated.

Securing the Soft Strike Playbook
Jake quickly moved to secure the briefcase he’d seized from Solovyanova. It was locked, but unlike the digital traps of The Alchemist, this was an old-fashioned physical safe.

The rest of the MI5 response team, alerted by the gunfire, swarmed the area, securing Thorne and Solovyanova. The two SVR handlers were visibly furious, their sophisticated cover destroyed by a messy, on-the-docks ambush.

As Thorne was cuffed, he glared at Emma. “A clumsy move, MI5. Your American friends taught you nothing about subtlety.”

Emma simply returned his gaze. “We got the asset, Thorne. That’s all that matters.”

Later, back at headquarters, Jake finally managed to open the briefcase. Inside, they found exactly what they had hoped for: the full documentation of Operation Soft Strike. It contained:

Detailed SVR Recruitment Protocols: The psychological profiles and step-by-step methods for grooming MI5 and other allied intelligence officers.

A New List of Targets: Not just three, but a list of twenty-two vulnerable individuals across five different UK government departments.

Encrypted Communications Logs: The proof that linked the Soft Strike operation directly to Moscow Centre.

They had successfully dismantled the human intelligence cell and secured the SVR’s playbook. Operation Soft Strike was decisively concluded, not with a whisper, but with the screech of tyres and the smell of gunpowder at a ferry terminal.