After having a little accident on the set of his latest monster movie, Hannibal has to spend the night in a hospital. From there he is kidnapped and brought before the mysterious retired general Hunt Stockwell, who proposes a mission to free the passengers of a hijacked plane. One passenger in particular interests them both: Captain Curtis, the one man who could prove the A-Team's innocence in the '72 Hanoi bank job. Hannibal decides to take along the young special effects man who was responsible for landing him in the hospital, 'Dishpan' Frankie Santana. As the five of them leave for Spain, Stockwell designated them the call-numbers 'Empress' 7 to 12.

Betrayed by Josh Curtis, the A-Team has finally been captured and is put on trial for the murder of their commanding officer in Vietnam, Col Samuel Morrison. In court they recall exactly what happened during that fateful bank job on 27 January 1971. New evidence implies that Morrison was working with the Viet Cong and that Murdock may have discovered it. When The A-Team is asked to incriminate their favorite pilot, Hannibal makes a startling decision.