A Mossad warning communicated through Countess Renate, the Founder and Head of the Shadow Experts, effectively saves the life of the Saudi Crown Prince.  The discovery of Iranian markings on the missile that was used to bring the airplane down leads the Saudi Royal family to conclude that they can no longer tolerate the attacks of Iran and their regional proxies.  They decide that they need to hit as hard as they can, and recognizing the limitations of their military capabilities, elect to engage in a series of counter-terrorist activities, taking the totally out-of-character step of hiring Shadow Experts and Mossad to help.
​
​Coincidentally, at about the same time, China comes to the conclusion that the time is ripe to weaken the U.S.  They choose not to do it with a military attack which might always bring about some deadly retaliation.  They elect to hit the U.S. where it hurts most: the pocketbook, by forcing U.S. interest rates up and the value of the U.S. Dollar down.  This leads the CIA to join the efforts of Saudi Arabia, the Shadow Experts and Mossad in their major counterterrorist endeavor.