Hero or villain, operative or terrorist, its decision time Fisher...
However, AD Williams gets wind of the mission is ready to pull the plug if not for Lambert's temporary reassurance to let it play out. Sam after busting Jamie and himself out of Ellsworth heads to JBA HQ. You have the option to fake the death records making the getaway a bit cleaner as the prison will think you were both killed in the riot. Jamie's breakout gains you points with Dufraisne who puts you on the fast track to hijacking a gold train shipment going through an isolated NYC subway corridor.
The next two involve ship boardings, one is the proving ground for the red mercury and the other is a tanker as a loading platform for one of the future bombs. After the tanker, its to a triumvirate style meet up in a Congo hotel, where everyone's allegiances must be proven, including yours, save or kill Hirsham, the other SC infiltrator in Massoud's group.
The second visit to JBA HQ is loaded with Echleon objectives, fulfill or not, and disable or allow the bomb deliveries. Lambert's salvation or condemnation rests on your shoulders like so many other fatal decisions. The Red Mercury and the bombs endanger your safety to either side depending on what you do about them.
The final mission drops you into the hot zone of disabling the last of the JBA and the remaining bombs. Ultimately the showdown with Emile who has learned of your true identity in a way. A brief chat ensues before you must get to him, disable/bypass the lasers, and disable the remaining bomb... what happens at the end of all this plays out based on your choices. A different twist from the prescripted endings of prior SC games.
The world is scarred, burnt, or saved based on what you chose to leading up to the last bomb and other fatal decisions. You are Sam Fisher, once a Splinter Cell, but now, you are just another man, maybe a wanted man too.