"Target acquired." "Three, two, one, launch." "Yeah!" "Major terrorist, one civilian..." "that's pretty good." " We should really get back to work." " This is work, Lieutenant." " It's a video game." " Exactly." "We're required to play this video game 10 hours a week." " Keeps our skills sharp." " Airman, if there's activity at the location, we're gonna miss it." "Trust me, ma'am, there's never been any activity over at Mahmoud's parents' house." "I've been surveilling for an entire month now." "It's a dud." "He's probably holed up somewhere over the border in Pakistan." " A lucky shot." " You look like you could handle level 3." " You wanna give it a run?" " Airman." "Put the monitors back now." "Yes, ma'am." "I'm sorry, but that music's driving me nuts." "No, good idea." "We should turn it off." "Going telephoto." "Listen, ma'am, they're just waking up over there." " Nothing's going on." " Can you check for corrections?" "There's no change, ma'am." "We're in a straight up orbital pattern." "Autopilot, actually." "There." "Roger that." "I just wanna make sure I don't fuck up on my very first day." "There's no chance of that, ma'am." "That's why I'm here... to take care of you." "Airman, I'm aware that you know more than I do about this aircraft." "I mean, you're the pilot and you've been doing these missions a long time, so I will..." "Value your input." "Thank you." "Ma'am, you don't mind if I ask you a personal question, do you?" "How'd you end up here?" "You wash out of flight school?" "If you don't wanna talk about it, I understand." "I didn't wash out." "Okay." " It's just what I heard." " I was top stick." "You were top stick?" " Well, then why the hell are you here?" " They found out I have a detached retina... partially detached..." "and it's fixed, and with contacts I can see better than Chuck Yeager ever did." "So even a general's daughter gets fucked by the big blue dildo, huh?" "Yeah, I'm sorry, ma'am." "That's shitty." "Well, hey, U.A.V.s are the air force of the future, right?" "Pushing a button and hitting a target 8,000 miles away?" "So precise that there's practically zero collateral damage?" "How awesome is that?" "Yeah." "No, that's awesome." "I mean, it's not as awesome as flying in the wild blue yonder at supersonic speeds in a kick-ass fighter jet, all your academy buddies." "I mean I'm just saying you never expect to be in the middle of Nevada desert with a hotshot punk who barely graduated high school." "Airman, you want coffee?" "My mom always says I talk to much." "So there must be a lot of pressure being a four-star general's daughter and then washing out of flight school." "I didn't wash out." "Sorry, ma'am, that just came out wrong." "Airman, did anyone ever tell you you're supposed to push down on the razor?" "Ha ha, very funny." "Well, you're not a real pilot until you can grow one of these." "Try it." "So when's the action start over there?" "Two words, ma'am: "Money shot."" " We should play." " Colonel said this was a prime location." "Yeah, well, the Colonel's intel is fucked half the time." "You should get your old man to give him a call." "Maybe he could hook us up" " with a bitching mission." " I don't play the daddy card." "It's not my thing." "I don't understand that." "I mean, if my dad was your dad instead of a half-drunk cab driver, I'd be all over him for this." "See those swings?" "That's the closest my dad ever came to flying anything." "When he would push me on those fuckers when I was a kid." " When is bingo time?" " He would call me "flyboy."" "What time is bingo?" "Going stir crazy already, ma'am?" "I just want to keep track here." "Well, we run out of juice in an hour 21." "Are you sure we'll have enough to get back to base?" "Well, if not, we'll have one hell of a ka-boom." "Yeah, that's all I need right now... crash a $12-million aircraft." "God, is it always this stuffy in here?" "I'll go turn on the A.C." "You're not worried about washing out of this, are you?" "I'm sorry." "That came out a lot worse than I thought it would." "I guess what I'm trying to say is don't worry about it." "I wasn't even in a plane until last year, but I was such a kick-ass gamer, they gave me a shot." "They threw me in the fucking training program with all these hot-shit baggers... dudes who flew two tours in the sandbox." "They wouldn't even sit next to me in the fucking cafeteria, but I blew 'em all out of the water." "And since then I've had 23 successful target prosecutions in 11 months on that console." "Air force of the future." "Can't fix a goddamn air conditioner, but they can target Haji halfway around the fucking world." "It screws with your sleep when you've been hot all day." "Gives you weird fucking dreams." " Oh God." " So if somebody's a jock," "I imagine they can pick up video games without too much trouble." "It's okay, ma'am." "I've got you covered." "I'll take care of you." "I'll teach you "money shot," which is important, 'cause it's our flight simulation." "And then we can just play around, maybe "call of duty." You've got three weeks in that chair, then your six weeks of pilot training." "You'll be fine." "My last sensor operator, Desean, he was... he was from Compton, but he was a college guy like you." "Became one hell of a pilot." "'Course I wouldn't want you to turn out like Desean." "Why?" "What happened to him?" " Pizza?" " What?" "Do you like pizza?" " Why?" " Celebrate your first mission, ma'am, even if it is a Turkey." " You like pepperoni?" " Sure." "Base operations, this is chi-town boy." "Let me guess:" "Your air conditioner broke down again and you want a large pepperoni." " And two pops." " You've got it." " Umm..." " You don't like pepperoni?" " How about onion?" " Onion." "Actually, can I make that half onion, half pepperoni, please?" "Okay, but you'd better chew some breath mints before you try to put the moves on me tonight." "Thanks, Annie." "Out." "Thanks, airman." "You're welcome." "I mean, except for that fucking air conditioner, take out a few bad guys, make the world safe for democracy, down a few brewskis, eat some pizza." "The job's not too bad, is it, ma'am?" "You don't have to call me "ma'am" all the time." "Okay, sorry, m... er..." "It's a habit." "So, Sue..." "What's that short for?" "Susan?" "Susanne?" "?" "Oh, Susanna, don't you cry for me... ?" ""Lieutenant" is fine." "Just don't think too much." "I can tell that you're obviously a smart individual." "It's kind of what I'm worried about." "What do you mean?" "You know, the Colonel, he tells you who to take out and you do it." "Some people are good at that, some people aren't," " because they think too much." " Airman..." "I landed a fully loaded F-22 at night in the middle of a blizzard with one engine flamed out, so don't worry about me." "If Mahmoud Kahlil shows up today, I'll have no problem pushing this button." "Too bad you won't get the chance." " Oh... shit." " What?" "Communications checklist." "E.F.P. Operational?" "Umm..." " E.F.P. Operational." " Okay." "Intercept coordinates 1-1-5-2-2-6-1-0." " Coordinates check." " Lieutenant, this could be the break" "I've been waiting for an entire month." "See those guys on top of the roof?" "That's Mahmoud's parents." "They could be coming up there to contact him." "By cellphone?" "Sat phone... better reception on the roof, but we have directional IMSI capability, so we can just pick up their communications." "What you need to do is call base operations, tell them we need a translator for a high priority intercept." "Roger that." "What's taking you so long, Lieutenant?" "It... it doesn't exactly look like they're making a phone call." "Al Qaeda always makes phone calls in the nude." "I'm surprised you didn't know that." "They think it interferes with our intercept capabilities." "I mean, it doesn't, so... please inform command immediately." "What?" "Fuck you, airman." "I'm sorry, ma'am." "I had to do it." "Give me the fucking new-guy treatment?" " Nice job." " Thank you." "No, they have a standing date." "They go up there every morning and do the nasty." "Oh fuck, it's buffering." "Stop buffering." "Just stop buffering." "Oh God." "Good." "Thank God." " I'm getting some more coffee." " Not right now, ma'am." "We've got to watch this." " You want anything?" " Cream, two sugars, maybe a skosh of nutmeg." "I'd be happy to dump it on your head." "This is part of our mission, ma'am." "Any activity in and/or around the hut, we are required to take note." "Oh, go, Ali." "Is zooming in part of our mission, too?" "Don't worry, Lieutenant." "He's almost done." "Two, one, blastoff." "You think she came too?" "I think she faked it." "Ha!" "You're funny." "I didn't expect that." "I can't believe we can see this much from five miles up." "He does not care about those low-hanging fruits." "He loves her just the way she is." "Okay, airman, that's enough." "If you need to go behind the trailer and beat off, don't let me stop you." "Yeah." "I need better visuals for that." "Yeah, stick around, maybe you'll get some." "Stepping out." "You know, you couldn't do that in an F-22." "Yeah, but the air conditioning would work." "Just a sec." "Pbbbb." "All yours, ma'am." "Congrats on getting Hasan." "Thanks." "It's kind of hard to miss 'em on the open road, but I did splatter his ass halfway across the desert." " So what'd I miss?" " Oh, you know, some more hot Arab smooching." "I was thinking we should put this on YouTube." "You know, a middle-aged guy actually enjoys making sweet love to his ugly wife." "Hey, he's not exactly Allah's gift to women." "I mean, chicks don't really care about looks." " Sure about that?" " Not like guys." "I mean, my dad left my mom when I was three, and I tracked him down about a year ago." "So I asked him, "why'd you do it?" "Why'd you leave my mom?" And he looks at me," ""'cause she's a fucking porker."" "Now, I love my mom..." "don't get me wrong... but what could I say to that?" "My mom makes lady Abdul over here look like Cleopatra." "I bet your mom's not fat." "Some movement here." "Oh, look at that!" "Caught in the act." "Look at 'em pulling up the blanket." "Do you think the kids actually know what's going on?" "What are they doing?" "Did you ever see your parents going at it?" "I saw my mom with a couple of guys." "She would forget to shut the door when I was a kid, which was fucking gross." "Shut the door." "Holy fuck." "I know what that banner is." "You know how to read Arabic, Pashtun or whatever?" "I don't have to." "Who are those kids?" "Those are their grandkids, I think." "Yeah." "Yeah, that's Mahmoud's children." "Whenever my dad was coming back from somewhere," "David and I would make a banner like that to welcome him home." "Lieutenant, you're fucking awesome." "Base operations, this is Reaper 13," " airman Bowles." " Airman Bowles, this is command." "I'm transmitting an image to you right now." "It has words on it." "It's probably in the Pashtun language." "We need a translation asap." "All I'm seeing is a kid's drawing on a sheet." "Yeah, but it may be evidence that our H.V.T. is en route to the location." "Copy that, airman." "I'll pass it on to our translator." "No, the last time you did that, it took 10 hours." "Well, as you know, we have a shortage of language proficient..." "Ma'am, I have Lieutenant Sue Lawson here with me." "She's convinced this is T-1." "You may have heard of the Lieutenant." "Her father is general Lawson." "You have Lieutenant Lawson there?" " Yes, ma'am." " What do I care about that washout?" "I hope she's been working on her left jab." " Major Garcia?" " Airman Bowles, the Lieutenant was my student at the air force academy." "I used to kick her butt all over the boxing ring." " That's not how I remember it." " So you call it off, or what?" "Can we get somebody working on the intel?" "Copy that." "I'll put it in as a T-1." " You should hear back right away." " Thank you, ma'am." "Out." "Out." "So you used to box with a detached retina?" "How do you think it got detached?" " And you kept boxing?" " Partially detached." "And fixed." "My God, you are macho." "I just decided..." "I'm gonna ride your coattails to glory." "You cool with that?" " Front door's opening." " If you're right about this banner," "I'm buying drinks tonight." "Okay, so that woman is...?" "That's their mother." "That's Mahmoud's wife." "Oh." "I used to write the words and David..." "Would draw the pictures?" "Your little brother?" "Reaper 13, this is major Garcia." "I got that banner translated for you." "Thank you, ma'am." "That was fast." "It's highly sensitive intel..." "eyes only." "The banner says "Happy Birthday, daddy."" "I'm buying drinks." " What is this about?" " We believe that Mahmoud Kahlil will be arriving shortly for his birthday party." "Un-fucking-believable." "Major, I need you to contact Colonel Wallace and ask for an immediate nine-line authorization so we can prosecute our H.V.T." "Copy that, including the immediate part." "What's your fuel situation?" "When's bingo?" "Uh, bingo time is one hour, eight minutes." "Copy." "We'll get another aircraft in position in case Kahlil hasn't arrived by then." "Expect a positive handover with Reaper 9" " at bingo time." " Copy." "Who else is currently at the location?" "Umm..." "Umm, there's..." "There's several unidentified terrorist suspects." "Copy that." "Nice work, guys." "Out." "Out." "The fuck was that?" "The fuck was what?" ""Several unidentified terrorist suspects"?" " No." " Jesus, Jack." "They're civilians." "They're fucking kids." "Yeah." "It's just the way it's done around here, ma'am." "I mean, 'cause this guy's an H.V.T., he's an asshole." "Then why don't we get him on the road driving in?" "That way we'll have zero civilian casualties." "Okay." "Roger that." "All right, bring the M.T.S. Up, north-northeast." "I want to see the top of that dirt road, please." "Adjusting camera north-northeast." "Set." "Before we drop iron, we need a final direct authorization from command and we need a positive visual I.D. Of the target." "Okay." "He's coming any minute." "Well, how do you know that?" "Psychic powers?" "Judging by how his wife's hair is moving, it's pretty windy." "She wouldn't put up that banner unless she had to, 'cause it might blow away." "Not bad, Sherlock." "Not bad at all." "I wouldn't be surprised if this makes it on TV tonight." "You know, we turn on Fox news," ""U.S. military forces just killed another Al Qaeda operative" " in eastern Afghanistan today."" " Hey, vehicle coming." "Establish auto-track." "Auto-track established." " Telephoto." " Uh, telephoto." "That's him." "All right." "Command, this is Reaper 13, airman Bowles." " Go ahead, 13." " Kahlil is heading to the location." " We need our go ahead." " Nine-line is pending." " I'm waiting on Colonel Wallace." " Major, you've got to help us." "He's a mile away." "If we take him out now, no civilians die." "Or wait two minutes and we take out his whole family." "Over." " Working on it." "Stand by." " We need to arm up in case" " we're authorized in time." " Copy that." " Code weapon." " Weapon coded." " Weapon status." " Weapon armed." " Select laser." " Laser selected." " Arm laser." " Laser armed." "Reaper 13, what have you got?" "Colonel, we have 30 seconds to prosecute before he gets home and we have to kill his family." " Are you sure it's him?" " We're sure, sir." " Have you met visual confirmation criteria?" " Yes sir. 10 seconds." " God damn it!" " I beg your pardon, airman?" "Excuse me, sir." "I'm sorry." "He just... he just arrived home." "We did anticipate this possibility when we selected the location." "So have you V.I.D.ed the target?" "Affirmative, sir." "I mean, he's playing with his kids now." "I am sending you the image." "Roger that." "I'll contact Centcom and get the nine-line asap." "They'll be extremely pleased." "Out." "Jesus." "Fucking bureaucrats." "It's the whole reason we lost Vietnam." "Those kids are like..." "Six and eight?" "You're gonna earn your stripes on this one, Lieutenant." "Hey, why is she outside sweeping?" "Her husband's already here?" "Why would she be outside cleaning if her husband's already here?" "I don't know." "She's fucking compulsive like my mom." "Are we positive that that was Mahmoud Kahlil?" "I am." "Are you not?" "Well, airman, do you have a copy of that photo?" "This is him 10 years ago getting wasted." "This is him two seconds ago." " See?" "It's the same guy." " No, look at their faces." " He grew a beard." " Look at their foreheads." "Well, I mean, that's what happens to guys when they get older." " They lose a little bit of their hair." " Yeah, did he get a nose job?" "Disarm." "Hey, listen, we just got a fucking break." "If that's not Kahlil, we can still hit him on the road." "All right, but he better fucking show up soon." "Bring up the M.T.S." "Reaper 13, you are cleared to engage for immediate attack." "No sir, there's..." "I'm sorry." "There seems to be a small hitch in the mission." "We happened to have I.D.'ed the wrong guy." "It's not... it's not Mahmoud." " Are you shitting me?" " I'm sorry, sir." "I just called the secretary of state about the wrong man?" "Yes, but that's because they look awfully alike, sir." "So what are you saying, airman?" "All towelheads look alike?" "Get some fucking glasses, you idiot." "Sir, we are trying to avoid killing civilians." "This is exactly the kind of half-assed bullshit that drives Centcom up the fucking wall." "We can rectify it, sir." "We believe that Mahmoud's still coming." "You'd better pray he's still coming." "I'm not blaming you, Lieutenant." "Obviously you outrank airman Bowles, but today is your first day." "This isn't your fault." " I appreciate that, sir." " As for you, airman Bowles, if this HVT isn't blown to hell real soon," "I'll see to it that you never fly again." "Now you are under strict orders to engage Mahmoud Kahlil the moment you see him." "But not without indisputable visual confirmation." " Yes sir." "Thank you, sir." " Out." "Out." "Fuck me." "Is it my fault these guys look the same?" " I didn't know what to say when he..." " Don't apologize." "I get it." "We all have to cover our ass." "I just wanna know who this guy is if he's not Mahmoud." "I'm thinking he's the wife's brother." "Or maybe Mahmoud's brother." "I wouldn't feel like such a dick for mixing 'em up and almost killing him." "Fuck it." "He's probably Al Qaeda too, or at least Taliban." "These guys are tribal." "Even the women hide" "Kalashnikovs under their Burkas." "I bet every single one of the Hajis knows about his plan to attack the U.S., you know?" "If Kahlil gets home and we have to drop the hellfire on the hut..." "We'll probably take out five terrorists." "And two children." "Five to two is pretty damn good." "If we got that percentage on every one of our missions, we'd be jumping up and down." "We'll get Kahlil when he's coming on the road." "Everything will be fine." "Auto-tracking operational?" " Auto-tracking, check." " Telephoto function?" "Telephoto, copy." "As soon as we see him, boom." "Okay?" "It will be a precise fucking kill this time." "Have you ever had a kill that wasn't precise?" "We're fighting a war." "Compared to any other war, the shit we do here is pretty clean." "And the other percentage is even cleaner." " What other percentage?" " The percentage of us who die." "Zero... unless you count guys like Desean." "He died?" " Yeah." " How?" "After he trains with me, he becomes one hell of a pilot." "I mean everybody loves him." "Very likable guy." "He gets assigned to operation slingshot." "He's in one of the trailers across the way." "Well, luck just so has it he's the pilot who drops hellfire on the H.V.T." "When you do that, you have to stick around, take photos to confirm but usually you just see char and smoke." "Oh." "We're all celebrating, high-fiving him." "He looks happy." "But that night he goes down to the half moon bar where you and I are gonna get some drinks tonight." "Sits in the corner, throws back 10 shots, gets in his car, drives off a fucking cliff." "Son of a bitch grew up in Compton." "He probably witnessed a thousand drive-bys." "And this is what gets him?" "In my opinion, Lieutenant..." " Desean thought too much." " I know." "We just gotta blast this terrorist son of a bitch and fly away." "Exactly." "I mean, we're not like the fighter jocks who just drop iron and take off." "We gotta stick around and watch for squirters." " Squirters?" " Yeah, squirters are people who survive the splash and then take off running." "We deal with them as ordered, then we vid the body parts" " of the dudes we just took out." " Oh, Jesus Christ." "Hey, Sue, we're not getting paid to bake oatmeal cookies." "And make babies." "A few fucked-up dreams come with the territory." " Go full on the road." " Copy." "I wish they'd get the hell inside..." "That way they won't see their dad getting blasted to bits." "I'm sorry I told you those stories about Desean and the squirters." "I'm just trying to get you prepared for what you need to do." "My dad always used to tell us stories..." "About flying over Hanoi at night, three migs on his ass," "Russian sams exploding all around him." "His buddy Tommy going down in flames." "Guess I'll..." "Tell my kids about the time I pushed a button..." "And watched a dead man's family pick his arms and legs off the road." "Yeah, the first time's weird." "You'll get used to it." "It's nothing like being in a real fighter jet." "My old man never told me a story." "All I remember is playing flyboy with him." "More like stepping on an ant." "There's no danger." "That's fine by me." "I mean, I'm 22." "Shit." "I don't wanna die until I've had a threesome..." "With... both women." "God, it's fucking hot in here." "All right." "Gonna try the A.C. one more time." "Ow!" "Ah." "You know, I almost didn't wear this today." "Oh yeah?" "Why not?" "What, a combat flight suit when we're sitting in a fucking air-conditioned trailer?" "We wish." "I feel like a fucking fraud don't you?" "No, I don't..." "Ask all the terrorist sons of bitches I wasted if they think I'm a fraud." "I'm proud to be defending my country, Lieutenant." "You need to quit trying to impress your old man." "This isn't about being a hero like him and his pal." "All right?" "It's about winning the fucking war, about doing our job." "They're going in." "I'll tell you what." "Fly a little closer to the mountaintop." "We'll be able to see all the way down the main road, buy us a few extra seconds." "Heading 40 degrees north-northeast." "40 degrees north-northeast." "Check." "Come on, Mahmoud, show your fucking face already." "At least he's willing to die for what he believes in." "What's that supposed to mean, Lieutenant?" "Does that make him some kind of fucking hero?" "The 10 guys who crashed into the world trade center believed in what they were doing too." "Does that make them heroes?" "Of course not." "That's not what I meant." " I remember when that happened, Lieutenant." " So do I." "I'm just saying I studied the history of war for four years and this is like no war I've ever read about." "Well, maybe you shouldn't have been reading." "Should've been playing video games." "That's what this is..." "it's a fucking video game." " And a goddamn soundtrack." " What are you looking for?" "Danger?" "I'm just saying if we can take out anybody at any time, anywhere and not worry about any of us getting killed, what's to stop us from playing some really fucked up video games?" "We're trying to bring freedom to these screwed-up countries, Lieutenant, and at the same time stop them from attacking us." "God damn it." "You may talk the shit, but you're your father's daughter." "You know damn well this is good for the whole world." "Not just America." "When we do what we gotta do." "And when we do what we gotta do, we help people everywhere." "Fuck, it's hot." "God." "Fucking God damn it." "Jesus fucking Christ." "Sorry, Lieutenant." "I wasn't thinking." "You're right, it's fucking hot." "Vehicle coming." "Establish auto-track." " Auto-track selected." " All right." " Go telephoto." " Telephoto, check." "Fuck." "I can't see anything." " The windows must be tinted." " It's gotta be Mahmoud." "What do we do?" "We don't have a choice, do we?" " Gotta wait till he gets out of the van." " But then he'll be too close to the house." "Look at that..." "IMSI activity." "Major Garcia, we've got a possible sat phone intercept." "I need a translator right now." "Airman, we have a translator standing by." "One second." " We don't have one second." " This is Lieutenant Habib." "Lieutenant, what you're listening to is a man in a car talking to an older gentleman in the house." "Okay, he says he gave the chickens to the man in Kandora." "He's asking the guy in the van "did you get the bottle of wine?"" "So that can't be Mahmoud in the van." "He's a Muslim fundamentalist now." "They don't drink wine." "Al Qaeda agents might use code when they think we might be listening." ""Chicken" is a word they use for "money." "Bottles of wine" could mean "bombs."" "He says they had to hide the wine from Afghan police." "Did the guy in the house just call the man in the van Mahmoud?" " That's right." " Fuck visual I.D." "We need to blow this van up right now." "Come on." "Lieutenant, "Mahmoud" is the most common name in Afghanistan." " It's like "Joe" in the us." " Sir, his name's Mahmoud, he's got bombs and he's coming home for his birthday." " All right, set codes." " Codes are set..." "And armed." "Wait." "We can't wait." "The guy in the van called the other guy "Uncle."" "Is the Mahmoud you're after the nephew of anyone in the house?" "No, he's the son of the guy in the house." "But... maybe the other guy in the van..." " maybe he's Mahmoud's Uncle." " Yeah, but was he old enough?" "I don't know." "He says there's gonna be a protest on Tuesday." "Well, fuck what he's saying, Lieutenant." "We're just... shit, shit, shit, shit." "Too late." "He just got home." "Thank you." "Out." "Maybe we can still hit him right now as he gets out of the van." "That way the kids in the house still have a chance." "Negative." "We're way too close for squirters." "These hellfires... no joke, man." "Come on, Mahmoud." "Show your ugly..." "Fucking face, Mahmoud." "It's a bunch of old geezers." "What, is this a shuttle from the old folks' home?" "Fuck me." "Oh my God, a baby." "Fuck me twice." "I'm guessing that's Mahmoud." "Not unless he shaved his head." "Guess again." "Look at his bag." "Wine." "Jesus Christ." "How many people are in there?" "Is this a fucking Chinese fire drill?" "I'm counting six people..." "And one goat." "Billy goat gruff, that was a bad move." "Don't wanna kill you." "Disarm." "Ugh." "M.T.S." "Copy." "The real Mahmoud better show his face soon." "After all the work that you and I have put into this," "I am not letting another Reaper get the kill." "Well, we have 47 minutes." "No, we have 46." "That maneuver spent about a minute of fuel." "Hey, vehicle coming." "Okay, establish auto-track." "Auto-track, check." " Telephoto." " Okay." "Fuck." "I can't see anything again." "It's the glare from the sun." "You see the bend in the road up there?" "He might dip out of the glare for a few seconds." "Drop the M.T.S. Down five degrees." "I'm gonna head 10 degrees west for better visibility." "10 degrees, check." " Shit." " Auto-track." " I got it." " No, you gotta hit reset." "Got it." "Here he comes." "Shit, it's a woman." "Can't see any other passenger." "Pffft." "Well, if that was him, we could've got him." "How many people are gonna show up for this fucking party?" "He's the friendly neighborhood terrorist." "I bet this isn't even a birthday party." "I mean, it could be just a meeting of his terrorist cell before they head off to the U.S. of A." "What, the kids and the old folks?" "Yeah." "Policy on this?" "Hmm?" "How many civilians can we kill in order to take out one H.V.T.?" "We don't know how many of them are noncombatants." "Breaking audio tracks..." "Where the hell did they get those hats?" "K-Mart?" "What is that?" "Who's that?" "Jesus Christ." "Look, that's him." "Yeah, it's him." "We gotta do this." "We gotta take 'em all out." "Okay." "Do it fast... that's the trick." "Do it fast, get it done." "Select auto-track." "Lieutenant?" "Lieutenant." "Sue, don't think about it." "Just do it." " Hit the switch." " Okay." "Auto-track set." "Telephoto on, in range, code weapon." " Weapon coded." " Select laser." "Laser set." "Arm laser." "Laser armed." "Fire laser." "Lieutenant, fire laser." "Lieutenant, fire the motherfucker." " Fire." " I can't do it." "Our orders are clear..." "liquidate this asshole the minute we see him." "Come on." "Lieutenant, fire the motherfucker." "Pizza!" "Just a second!" "If you don't put the laser on, I can't launch my weapon." "I'm not gonna do this." "I'm not gonna kill these people." "You don't have a choice." "Lieutenant, you heard what Colonel Wallace said." "That was before all these civilians showed up." "Centcom wants this guy dead." "We need to call the Colonel, inform him, see if there's a change in mission." "He's not gonna care about a few extra terrorist suspects." "12 extra, including a baby!" "By the time it makes it on TV, there won't be 12." "And there won't be any babies." "I will not do this." "I will not kill 12 civilians." "We have a chance to take out Kahlil, and if we don't, he can potentially kill many other people." "We need to focus on our mission." "That's what I do." "I'm a pilot on a mission, like every other pilot in every other war before me." "You need to focus on what you're doing, obey orders from and trust the chain of command like they're God." "My last mission?" "I was downtown Islamabad." "I had to take out a drug lord who was funneling millions of dollars to Al Qaeda." "I had no problem dropping a hellfire on him, middle of the day he had no idea what hit him." "Around here I was a hero." "People were buying me drinks, even though they knew it wasn't exactly precise." "There was collateral damage a little." "Took out a mom and her little girl." "I mean, I dropped a fucking hellfire in the middle of the city." "Of course." "But you can't think about it." "You can't." "You just can't think about it." "Focus on the mission, because our job is but to do or die." " We have to call him." " Forget it, Lieutenant." "I'm not gonna have him pissed off at me twice in the same day." " Jesus, Jack." "Really?" " I've never seen the brass call off a mission against an H.V.T. never." "Not once." "It's never gonna fucking happen, okay?" "They better be enjoying their cake." " It's the last thing they're gonna eat." " Everybody always talks about minimizing civilian casualties." "We don't know who these people are." "We are trying to win hearts and minds, not alienate the whole country." "We could be goddamn saints and we would still alienate them." "Even if we took out 100 bad guys and one civilian, the Taliban would just spin it, make it look like we..." "Massacred half the babies in the country." "All right?" "These people... these... these... what are they doing to that goat?" "I don't know." "Looks like they're having a barbecue." "Right." "Oh God, I can't..." "I can't see animals get fucked up." "Ugh." "Ever since I was a kid, it messes with me, all right?" "I'm calling the Colonel." "I'll let him know you're against the idea, but honestly, I think you're glad I'm doing this." "Operations command, this is Lieutenant Lawson, Reaper 13." "Lieutenant, what you got for us?" "Major, I need you to patch us through to Colonel Wallace." " We have eyes on Mahmoud Kahlil." " You guys got a V.I.D. this time?" " Affirmative, but..." " Then go ahead and engage the target." "There are now 12 civilians at the location." "If we engage the target, the collateral damage" " will be significant and dramatic." " First of all, this order has been confirmed by jag." "Second, the Colonel is in a telephonic meeting right now getting his telephonic ass reamed out, because thanks to your faulty intel, he told everyone we have Kahlil." "So three, he won't give a rat's ass about your opinion, even if you are a general's daughter." "Engage the target, Lieutenant." "That's an order." "Major, I need to speak to the Colonel." "Listen, Lieutenant, I'm trying to save you some grief." "By ordering me to take out noncombatants?" "Hey, I've been there." "It's easier if it's a clear order." "Well, I'm sorry." "I'm not gonna do it." "Okay, Sue, your funeral." "Stand by for the Colonel." "Good luck, Lieutenant..." "I'm going to pretend that I don't know you." "Lieutenant Lawson," "I understand you've made a V.I.D." "Affirmative, sir, but I need to inform you that... that you have 12 other potential hostiles on site." "No problem." "The mission remains unchanged." "Sir, most of the people there are not potential hostiles." "Kahlil's extended family is part of his terrorist network." "Now let's get this done." "We've been chasing this H.V.T." " Way too damn long." " Sir, one of the civilians is a baby." "You'll have counseling available after the mission." "I question the wisdom of prosecuting the mission if it means..." "Lieutenant Lawson, you of all people should understand the importance of destroying Al Qaeda." "I also understand the importance of human life, sir." "This mission is completely in accordance with the rules of engagement." "Now I understand you're feeling emotional." "That's not the point." "There's nothing wrong with that, but it means you're not equipped to make cold, calculated, strategic decisions." "Fortunately, that's not your job." "That's for men like your father." "Now let's get on with this." "I want you to get off of the radio..." "Colonel, here's the thing... we only have 29 minutes of fuel left, but another Reaper's coming to take over for us when we're done here." "If it's really necessary to take out Kahlil, they can do it when he's leaving." "Your handover won't be there in 29 minutes." "He won't be there till two hours from now." "Sir, if he's an H.V.T., then... we had to divert Reaper 9 to an incident at Parwan province and we can't leave your hostile naked and unsurveilled until your new backup arrives." "Still not an issue, sir." "Kahlil won't be leaving the location in the next two hours." "They just started barbecuing a goat for his birthday party." "It takes a lot longer than two hours to cook a whole goat." "Oh really?" "How many goat barbecues have you been to?" "It's a really big animal." "It's obvious." "I can pull it up on the monitors and send it to you." "Lieutenant Lawson, the decision has been made." "We just had seven American soldiers killed in Afghanistan today, and unless we've got a dead Al Qaeda leader to give to the press, those seven dead soldiers are gonna be the lead story tonight and tomorrow." "That will not make the secretary happy, that would not make the joint chiefs of staff happy, and I promise you, it will not make you happy either." " Airman Bowles." " Yes sir." " Laying low, huh?" " I'm trying to, sir." " Yeah, I don't blame you." "Airman Bowles did not want me to contact you, sir." "But here's your problem, airman:" "If anything goes wrong with this mission," "I will hold you both responsible." "She may outrank you, but you're the pilot." "I... yes, sir, I just..." "I'm not clear on the protocol of this situation." "Lieutenant Lawson, you swore an oath to defend the United States from her enemies." "Now honor that oath." "You have a top-level Al Qaeda operative in your sights, and I expect him to be in the devil's hands within three minutes." "Do you read me, Lieutenant?" "Lieutenant!" "Yes sir, loud and clear." "I'll be watching you." "Out." "Yes sir." "Out." "More like "ouch!"" "Are you ready to do this now?" "Look at this guy drinking wine." "You're getting thirsty?" "Come on, let's do this." "What if the Colonel's completely wrong?" ""What if the Colonel's completely wrong?"" " About what?" " Everything." "What if his intel's completely fucked up?" "Because this guy is clearly not Al Qaeda." "How the fuck would you know that?" "Drinking alcohol is strictly prohibited." "I'm sure these dudes sneak a sip every now and again." "Come on, he's not sneaking." "Look, he's twirling his wife around like he's a pro." "Oh my God." "Two of the 9/11 terrorists took dancing lessons in Florida." " So the fuck what?" " His wife isn't wearing a burka or a hijab." "None of the women are." "We haven't seen a single thing that says Al Qaeda, Muslim fundamentalist or any of that." "You know, this whole birthday party with the barbecue and the K-Mart hats?" "I mean, honestly, Jack, how Western can you get?" "Do you know what real Muslim fundamentalists would think of this?" "No, I don't." "I'm pretty sure you're about to tell me." ""It's unanimously forbidden for a Muslim to celebrate his own birthday with a party, or distributing food, or special costumes, or dancing."" "I don't care if this guy celebrates his birthday doing the fucking cha-cha-cha in a bunny suit." "I don't care." "We have to kill him." "He's a terrorist." "Well, we're calling him a terrorist because he went across the border and he conspired to kill this Pakistani general," " Waleed Zehawi." " No, that's not why." "We're calling him a terrorist because the chain of command says he's a fucking terrorist." "What the hell's the matter with you?" ""Zehawi is one of the strongmen who tried to prevent a Democratic election in 2011." "His unit was responsible for breaking up demonstrations and sometimes torturing dissidents."" "Remember that?" "They said there was gonna be" " a demonstration on Tuesday." " So what?" "So what if Mahmoud wasn't even trying to kill Zehawi?" "I mean, maybe he was just organizing demonstrations and we're taking him out 'cause we're sucking up to the Pakistani government?" "I don't know, okay?" "I'm just a kid from the South side of Chica..." " I'm not into politics!" " Jack, doesn't it piss you off that people may be lying to you to get you to kill children?" "If you start thinking like that, you're gonna go fucking nuts, okay?" "Trust me." "What about the mother and daughter you took out?" "What if that mission was a lie?" "That is none of your business, so don't fucking go there, Lieutenant." "How do you know for sure that guy was really funding Al Qaeda?" "You don't." "It could be another Pakistani civil war thing and you took out that little girl for no reason." "What the fuck did I just say to you?" " I am not gonna kill random civilians." " What do you think I am, a piece of shit?" "And I wanted to kill that little girl?" "I am not a fucking terrorist." "That is not what I am." "All right?" "I am a soldier." "That had to take out a little girl and her mother." "And every night I toast to them." "Before I go to sleep." "But it doesn't matter, 'cause that's the type of shit that happens in war." "You better get used to it." "Lieutenant." "Shit." " Sir." " It's been three minutes." "Tell me Mahmoud Kahlil is not longer with us." " I'm not gonna kill him, sir." " Lieutenant!" "You are threatening to commit an act of gross insubordination on the field of battle." "Sir, I am not prepared to kill 12 people in order to take out Mahmoud Kahlil." "I'm not convinced that he or his family are really Al Qaeda." "This is an article 32 offense." "Arguably, it meets the definition of treason." "According to the Nuremberg principles... you will be court-martialed." "You will do time in a military prison." " A lot of time." " I realize that, sir." "Your father will not be able to protect you." "It's a matter of conscience, sir." "Damn." "Airman Bowles." " Yes sir." " I order you to disregard any orders from Lieutenant Lawson and expend the ordinance yourself." "I'm ordered to disregard orders?" "I can do that, sir." "No, he can't do that, sir." "Advanced controls are on my console." "Airman, what are you?" "About 6'2", 180?" "On a good day, sir, yeah." "And what's the Lieutenant?" "Sh-she's a girl." "How big is she?" "5'7", 130 tops?" "Ye... yes, give or take, probably take." "Excellent." "Airman Bowles," "I want you to employ any means necessary to stop her from interfering with this mission." " Pardon me, sir?" " Are you kidding me?" "If you fail to take action, airman Bowles," "I will have you court-martialed as well." "Sir, I'm a little worried that if I take action against the Lieutenant, that her father may take action against me." "Don't worry about general Lawson." "I just got off the phone with him." "You talked to my dad about this?" "In fact, it was his suggestion that if you cause further problems, airman Bowles should deal with you as necessary." " Yeah, he'd never say that." " Your father understands that you cannot let your personal feelings prevent you from doing your sworn duty." "Airman Bowles, what is your precise bingo time?" "It is 20:24, sir." "Then you'd better act within the next 19 minutes if you expect to wake up tomorrow a free man." "Now do it." "Out." " Yeah, don't even think about it." " Jesus Christ, Lieutenant." " Jack, come on, you know I'm right." " I'm not..." "I'm not gonna disobey a direct order." " Well, according to international law..." " I don't wanna..." "God damn it." "I don't wanna beat you up." "I'm not gonna... just..." " Jack." " Lieutenant." "God." "Ow!" "Oh God." "Holy shit." "Sorry." "You okay?" "No, God damn it." "I'm fucked." "I tried to warn you." "Hey, you know what?" "I know how we can fix this." "Yeah, I'm sure you have a fucking wonderfully stupid idea." "No, listen to me." "What if I really fuck you up?" "I think you've done enough." "We'll give you some really nice bruises, make it look like you tried to do your duty, but I stopped you." "I'm sorry." "Your big solution is to tell everybody I got beat up by a girl?" "I'm not just any girl, Jack." "I could outbox half the guys at the academy." "I'm well aware of that now, okay?" "You're just... you're still a girl." "Wow." "You're more concerned about seeming macho than about saving 12 people's lives?" "You're an even bigger pussy than I thought." "What about you?" " What about me?" " Oh my God." " Huh?" " You are facing court-martial for gross insubordination as it is, all right?" "If we make it look like you assault me, you're gonna do real time." "Come on, the Colonel's just blowing smoke." "Come on, they would never court-martial me for trying to save civilian lives." "Can you imagine the international publicity of that?" "Well, if they don't court-martial you, they're definitely gonna boot you out of the air force." "Yeah, I know." "You know what?" "What the fuck." "Maybe I'm not meant for the air force of the future, you know?" "Maybe this was all meant to happen." "You... are fucking enjoying this." " Are you fucking insane?" " You washed out of flight school and now you get to be the fucking hero you always dreamed of being." "This is not about..." "Saving people's lives." "This about you keeping your girl macho thing going." "That's bullshit." "You think I'm happy to get kicked out of the only life I ever wanted?" "You..." "Okay, Sue." "Let's be fucking heroes together." " All right, let's do it." " Hit me with your best shot." " I'm gonna hit you in your cheek, okay?" " I don't know." "You're the big boxer." "Tell me where you can hit me," "I won't feel like shit and I'll look like shit." "Cheek's good." "I'll hit you high enough," "I'll give you a nice bruise but it won't hurt your jaw." "How thoughtful." "Thank you." "Whoa." "Uh..." "Hey, you know, I still do really wanna go to that half moon bar sometime if you want." "Maybe not tonight, but..." "Cool." "All right, what do we need for this?" "Do you need like a practice shot?" "Sure, yeah." "I mean, I don't really need the practice," " but we can..." " Oh God, this is gonna suck." "Okay, we're establishing range." " Okay." " Ah!" "Sorry." "Stay still!" "God damn it." "We both know what happens if I don't blast this H.V.T." "I'm gonna go to prison, you're not." "Daddy'll jump in, there'll be a giant fucking cover-up." " That isn't true." " That is fucking..." "Stop moving or I'm gonna break your fucking bones!" "You got that?" " Ow!" " You got that?" "Do you got that?" "!" " Excellent." " Ah!" "One step closer and I'll rip 'em out." "I will just put them right back in." "And reprogram it in 14 minutes?" "Yeah, fucking right." "Stay right there." " What?" " All right." " You brought a gun?" " Yeah, I brought a gun." "I'm a fighter pilot on a fucking mission." "I bring my gun." " Where's your gun?" " Go ahead, shoot me." "I will." "If I have to shoot you, I will." "Bullshit." "You don't have the balls to shoot a general's daughter." "What the hell are you people doing?" "I'm attempting to fulfill my mission, sir." "Jesus!" "Put the gun down, airman!" " Now both of you go outside." " What?" " Why?" " Just fucking do it!" "It's an order!" "Ladies first." " What's going on?" " If you attempt to abort your mission, the MPS have been instructed to forcibly replace you with another team." " Sir." " Hold for general Lawson!" "What?" "Hello, Susan." "I hear you've been causing a little trouble out there." "Sit down." " Dad." " You're about to ruin your whole life." "I've been watching this guy's birthday party." "Take a look at this photograph." "Do you recognize anyone?" "Kahlil." "An all-student beer bar in hamburg, Germany, June 2001." "The guy on his left, one of the 10 men who flew the planes into the world trade center." "Mahmoud Kahlil recruited him for the 9/11 conspiracy." " Kahlil?" " Right." "He's one of the men who killed your mother..." "And your brother." "Why didn't Colonel Wallace tell me that?" "That dossier on Kahlil is classified, above top secret." "I'm in direct violation of the federal secrecy act by telling you this." "Susan, there are all kinds of levels to this." "Like what, dad?" "According to intel that we received from the raid on Bin Laden," "Kahlil was the primary organizer of a chemical attack that we prevented last year that would've had far more devastating consequences than 9/11." "Our recent intel indicates that he's planning another attack on a subway system in a major American city." "Think how catastrophic that might be." "You have to complete this mission." "Jesus fucking..." "You should see the poster that his kids made." "This whole drone thing..." "it's freaking insane." " You would've hated it." " Susan, if we'd had drones back then," "I wouldn't have had to drop bombs on God knows how many thousands of noncombatants." "Dad." "We are protecting people the whole world over from the living hell that our family went through." "I can't begin to understand what it's like to see the faces of people you're about to kill." "I've never had to deal with that." "But think of all the people you're not seeing, the people we won't have to kill because this technology is gonna win us the war." "But this is gonna be the toughest thing you'll ever do, but you can do it, and you will do it for your mother's sake and for your brother." "Sue, I'm gonna tell you something I never told anyone." "Before 9/11, I was on an anti-terrorism task force with the NSC." "We had a couple of bad guys in our sights, but we weren't sure, so we didn't move fast enough." "Though maybe if we had," "David and your mom would still be alive today." "Don't make the same mistake I did." "I love you, Susan." "He looked you right in the eye." "So did my dad..." "The night he left." "We're playing flyboy, he looks me right in the eye and he says," ""I love you, Jack."" "Your point?" "He was lying to me..." "Just like your father was lying to you." "It's time." "If we don't, they will." "If they don't the next Reaper's gonna, anyway, two hours form now, so it might as well be me." "Okay." "Where's Mahmoud?" "Where's the jeep?" "Jack." "Jack, where'd the jeep go?" " I don't know." " Oh my God." "Sue, you fucking idiot." "Bring up M.T.S." "Could still be on the road." "To the left of the tree." "So now you're eager to kill them all?" "You're not?" "He's a 9/11 conspirator." "Is he?" "Look at those innocent kids." "Jack, fuck, we've got to get this done." "He could be gone before the next Reaper gets here." " Come on, let's do it." " Your old man laid it on thick, didn't he?" "The whole chemical attacks, 9/11, your family." " Jack, what are you..." " A nuclear bomb threat should've..." " will you please get your shit together?" " My shit is together." " Then arm up, okay?" " I've been in this trailer" " the entire day." " Jack." "Every time I get a cup of coffee or go out and take a piss," "I get to look at this poster." "Sue!" "These are the 10 men who crashed into the world trade center, okay?" "Not one of them looks like the guy your dad showed you." "He was feeding you crap." "They have big red X's over their faces, okay, Jack?" "Jesus Christ." "Hey." "Same fucking poster without the red X." "And here's the guy your dad showed you." "They look nothing alike." "All right?" "He's got a little butt chin like John Travolta." "None of these guys have that." "They have beards." "Can't see the chin." "They look nothing alike." "Your dad was..." "he was lying to you about 9/11!" " Just fucking admit it!" " He wouldn't use that." " God damn it!" "Everybody uses 9/11." " No, he wouldn't use" " my mother and my brother!" " If he thought you were ruining your life?" " Okay, so this guy flew into the Pentagon." " Is that what he said?" " No, but he got it mixed up." " Your dad's a general, Sue." "Maybe you were right." "Kahlil is just this regular wine-drinking, birthday-party-loving non-terrorist," " somebody the Pakistani generals want dead." " That's not true." "Jack, we have five minutes until we crash the aircraft, so why are you doing this right now?" "Because I think you were right." "Mind this checklist." " My other mission was bullshit." " Don't go there." "Your dad just looked you in the eye and lied to you so you'll kill a baby." "What the fuck is going on?" "What if they're lying to me?" "I mean, I killed a mom and her little girl." "That's what I did." "I asked Colonel Wallace if he knew they would be there." "He said no, but there they were, so what am I supposed to do?" "Am I just supposed to wake up from a whole new set of nightmares?" "I can't..." " I don't want to turn out like Desean." " Jack, I'm sorry, okay?" "I'm..." "I'm sorry, for doing this to you, okay?" "I... we should've just followed our orders like you said, but you..." "You have to trust that my dad and these generals... they're not idiots, okay?" "They're not psychopaths." "I mean, they've devoted their lives to protecting the American people." "Right, but what if they're so devoted to protecting us that they start feeding us shit?" "They're trying to get their intel straight right now, and we are, in the meantime, killing two more kids!" "That guy's checking his engine." " Somebody is leaving." " What's wrong?" "I don't care about that!" "I care about this!" "Okay, fine." "Fine, fine." "What if we don't launch the hellfire?" "What if we don't do it?" "What if we... we could lock the door." "We could fire some shots at the ceiling." "We could keep the M.P.S out, right?" " Yeah, what if?" " Well, then Kahlil might leave, and he might come to the U.S. and set off a Sarin bomb in the subway." "Like you said, a bunch of mothers and brothers, okay?" "Or maybe he doesn't leave." "Maybe he stays here, and then that jeep comes back with five more people, and then a van shows up with 10 more, and so we don't drop iron." "And all that's gonna happen is a lot more people are gonna end up dying." "I mean, that was a big fucking goat, right?" "For all I know, it feeds 50!" "So let's just..." "Let's do what we're supposed to do, okay?" "Let's do our duty." "I mean, maybe there's no heroism in that, but..." "There's no shame either." "Reacquiring the target." "Establish auto-track." "Auto-track established." "Lieutenant Lawson, airman Bowles." " I'm sending in the M.P.S." " I'm coding the weapon right now." " Then let's roll." "Out." " Out." " Weapon coded." " Weapon status?" "Weapon armed." "Select laser." "Selected." "And..." "Jack, you forgot to power up the weapon." "Jack?" "Jack!" "Airman!" "This is bullshit." "Enough, okay?" "Will you just power up the weapon, please?" "No, I'm not killing these kids!" "Fine, you know what?" "Then step away and I will do it." " No, I'm sending the plane back." " My God." "Airman." "Jack, step away from the console." "Or what?" "Jack." "I am not playing." "Go ahead and shoot." " Jack." " It's all right." "Weapon powered." "Recoding the weapon." "Bingo." "You fucking..." "Select the laser." "Laser selected." "Laser armed." "Firing laser." "Weapon ready." "Prepare to launch." "Three, two, one." "And launch."