Anarchy 99, a Russian terrorist group, acquires a biochemical weapon, "Silent Night", presumed missing since the fall of the Soviet Union. Anarchy 99 easily discover and kill an undercover agent sent by the American National Security Agency to recover it. NSA Agent Augustus Gibbons suggests sending someone who lacks ties to the US government, such as Xander "XXX" Cage, an extreme sports professional wanted by the FBI for acts protesting against a senator. Gibbons's team takes Cage into custody, who passes two field tests: stopping a staged diner robbery and escaping from a Colombian cartel's plantation during an army raid. Cage reluctantly accepts the job after Gibbons says his only other option is prison.