"Jesus!" "Cease fire!" "Cease fire!" "You sons of bitches!" "You almost blew my head off!" "Sorry, Beckett." "What's wrong with you?" "I saw something." "I thought I saw it too." "Christ, man." "You thought you saw something?" "I saw a deer, maybe." "A deer, maybe." "Do I Iook like a fucking deer to you, asswipe?" "Where are they?" "probably lost." "No, they are lost." "I've gotta find them." "ShouIdn't be too difficult you being the great white hunter and all." "You can't just leave like this." "Watch me." "They'II want refunds." "It's coming out of your check." "Fine." "I'm tired of dealing with assholes..." "...paying to shoot caged animals." "Not sporting enough for you?" "I suppose the people you picked off had a better chance?" "Every man I killed could as easily have killed me." "military intelligence." "Thomas Beckett?" "Do I know you?" "I'm colonel Dan McKenna." "This is James EckIes." "He's with" "CIA?" "How'd you know?" "I don't know." "You just kind of got that look." "Do you have a minute for us?" "Sorry." "Boy, you've bounced around a bit since your discharge." "Had trouble holding a job...." "trouble holding a relationship, trouble sleeping past 6 a.m." "trouble adjusting." "trouble with my pension" "Mr." "Beckett." "Sir." "I understand your difficulties, and I'm sorry." "But that's not why we're here." "You won the Kodiak marksmanship tournament last month." "You beat the Marine Corps team and seven SWAT members." "So?" "What are you, the awards committee?" "No." "We need a sniper, a good one." "The best." "Didn't my dossier happen to mention my medical discharge, unfit for duty...?" "apparently they made a mistake." "How is it your proposition entails hiring a 50-year-oId former scout sniper?" "Can we talk about this?" "Everyone figures the balkans are clean since we took MiIosevic down." "But there are others like him waiting for us to turn our backs." "Our intelligence has tracked resistance in what NATO calls "no man's land."" "They're led by a rogue general named MuIik VaIstoria." "He's commander of what he likes to call the "23rd Home Guard."" "Look, this guy is running a stealth operation of ethnic cleansing in muslim towns along the border." "We're removing the general before it escalates into something bigger." "well, why me?" "Why not Heister or Baker?" "Those jarheads are still doing tours." "This one's off the books." "You've got an impressive career." "Former record holder on the Iong shot, 1 .1 miles." "Baker broke it." "Hit an al Qaeda guard at 1 .24 miles." "No, the record's 1 .47." "A Cuban general near Guantanamo Bay." "A Cuban general hit a man at a mile and a half?" "I killed a Cuban general at a mile and a half." "That's the record, for the record." "Look, I'm not gonna bullshit you." "This is gonna be tough." "You mean suicide." "There's a group of separatists in GiIau that'II help you." "I used to do this because I was following orders but what's in it for me?" "The risk is great." "We're authorized to offer you anything you Iike." "Anything?" "Anything." "Look here." "If you're willing to offer me anything then I have to assume that you don't plan to pay off." "You've already chalked me up for dead." "Yeah." "But then I Iook around here, and...." "So you'II do it?" "You know, whenever I do die, I want it to be as a Marine." "So, what I want is my former rank back." "I wouldn't expect you to understand that, but I know you do, sir." "So do we have a deal?" "Yes, we do, master gunnery sergeant." "Roger that, sir." "AII right...." "A mission like this into hostile territory, gotta be a two-man operation." "So, what I want is a good observer." "AMERICAN EMBASSY BERLIN 1 0:05" "colonel McKenna." "Good." "Send him in." "He's here." "They brought him straight from the plane." "How is a man in the joint for killing a federal officer suddenly cut loose?" "It's not easy, believe me." "It seems to me he'II stick out like a sore thumb." "Come in." "Reporting with Mr. cole as ordered, sir." "Thank you, gunny." "Sit down, Mr. cole." "Freedom." "shall I refresh your memory?" "I don't need no refreshing." "One mission." "If I faiI or try to escape or even take a shit where you say I can't it's back to death row, right?" "Master Gunnery Sergeant Beckett meet Jake cole." "I don't think he likes me." "Must be that Army thing." "No." "colonel, Mr. EckIes, may I have a word with this man in private?" "By all means, master gunnery sergeant." "Says here you speak the lingo where we're going." "Enough to keep your sorry old ass out of trouble." "And you were an Army sniper?" "Former delta, 85-41 out of Quantico." "Urban sniper, SOTG." "Seven reaI-worId missions." "Four as an observer, three as a shooter." "Three confirmed." "couple questions, sergeant." "We're at 750 yards at a 1 9-degree angle." "What's the difference between the points of aim and impact?" "well, how tall's the target, man?" "Five feet, 1 0 inches." "23.1 7 inches high." "And you'II need to dial six up three." "And when your time comes, what will you say?" "I ain't gonna say nothing." "I'II just shut up and die like a soldier." "Roger." "Verify touchdown of Snake Eater at ballpark at 1500." "Over." "Roger." "Touchdown Snake Eater." "Big Eye verifying ballpark is clear." "Over." "Roger." "I copy." "Out." "You ever try using one of these?" "No." "still use a compass." "Just oId-schooI, I guess." "Rendezvous points, radio freqs as per S.O.P." "Two minutes out." "Initiating approach." "Roger that." "Once again, we drop in here, seven clicks from GiIau." "At St. Stephan's church, we meet our contact." "The partisans will provide us with weapons and photos." "It's too bad it's not the basilica." "I'd Iike to see that." "Say again?" "The basilica of GiIau." "It's one of the most beautiful Byzantine churches in Eastern Europe." "I spent a Iot of time reading travel books and shit in prison." "I must have read every AAA Guide and National Geographic ever printed." "Why?" "To keep the dream alive." "It's pretty easy to let them break you in the house." "Most guys on the row are actually looking forward to the day they die." "We're here to put a bullet in a man and let God sort it out." "You better just pray we get out of this country alive." "AII your dream shit...stops here." "30 seconds to drop." "Roger." "Aviano AFB, sicily" "Snake Eater, specify transmission." "Over." "Getting a Iot of interference." "Home run." "Snake Eater out." "Any problems?" "Negative." "They should make contact at 1 630." "Remove your cover." "I am the one you are looking for." "She's our contact." "Goddamn!" "Get on your knees, son while I pray for your soul." "My name is Sophia." "We were expecting someone..." "older." "Not many people grow old in this business." "Did you bring our package?" "The photo of VaIstoria is only a few days old." "The others are of the buildings around the Ministry of Defense." "The one with the corner window is very high and close." "A clear shot." "I think maybe that is where you want to be." "I'II decide that." "It's nearly 300 meters away." "Maybe it's too far." "Three hundred and twenty-six yards." "I agree with her." "We should be closer to the action." "You just call it, I'II hit it." "VaIstoria arrives at the ministry every other morning, 7:30 exactly." "He will walk up the steps." "It's six meters from the car to the building." "And he's 1 84 centimeters tall?" "Yes." "I'II need a guitar case." "As you can see, the streets in this part of the city are very narrow and old." "It will not be easy to escape." "Sergeant Beckett's rifle was our one priority." "That's the best we have with our limitations." "No, it'II do just fine." "I must leave to make sure everything is arranged." "The city will be in chaos." "You need to get to the church." "It's built on top of Roman catacombs." "We can move beneath the city." "We'II get to the church on time." "You just make sure you're there." "What he means is, thank you." "Okay." "That Sophia...." "Not what I expected." "Stay in the bubble." "If the diversion device works, we've got five minutes." "I want you shadowing me." "No sightseeing." "Understood?" "Roger that." "Get your gear together." "Let's go." "Three hundred and twenty-eight yards." "Give me three up one." "I've got wind coming from the right at four to six." "Of course, that could change in the morning." "East is at our backs." "Sunrise is at 0637." "We could have some shadows on the target from the buildings at 0730." "Rig the diversion device." "Let's get out of here." "Where do we take the shot from?" "From the window she suggested." "It is the perfect position." "Catch any Z's?" "No." "AII right." "And who are you, my friend?" "Two hundred and eighteen yards." "Give me two up one." "FuII-vaIue wind is one to three." "Give me a half left." "I got a five-degree angle." "Don't worry about that." "It's not enough of an angle." "You never asked me why I did it." "Did what?" "Why I killed that motherfucker." "well, I don't condone it." "I just don't care enough about you to want to know." "You got a real way about you, don't you, master guns?" "They're here." "black Mercedes with escorts." "Right on schedule." "Bastard doesn't know he's got less than a minute." "If he moves, give me half a mil lead." "Roger." "Wind?" "Same." "Target's out and moving." "Ready." "Diversion's set." "Head shot." "Fire." "What's up?" "Nothing." "Ready." "Are you sure?" "Just keep your eye on the scope and shut the fuck up." "Okay." "Center chest." "Fire!" "Target's down." "Shit." "Shit, they made us." "There is no goddamn way they can see us up here." "There!" "There he is!" "AII right, Iet's break down the hide and didi out of here." "Four blocks, we reach the church." "We should split up." "Negative." "Keep your sidearm in your hand." "They're looking for two men." "Maybe separate" "They'II be looking at everyone." "Stick together, we cover each other." "Three more blocks." "What?" "Change of plans." "Who was the Iast to get on?" "The gentleman and two others." "Your identification, please." "Sure." "Cover him." "On the floor!" "We've got company!" "Coming up fast!" "Left!" "Left!" "cole!" "What are you doing?" "Get out of the street!" "You dumb son of a bitch." "Beckett didn't make it to the extraction point." "Was he captured?" "Negative." "Our people report only cole in custody." "Is Beckett dead?" "It doesn't really matter." "Op's still on track." "Where are the others?" "You're not alone." "No one takes a shot like that alone." "So who is with you?" "I don't know what you're talking about." "So you think being in here is funny." "Not really." "United Nations?" "Americans?" "British?" "Russian?" "Do I Iook Russian to you?" "Get him out of here." "What are you doing?" "You shouldn't have come here." "We ran into a problem." "Come in." "You should have gone to the church." "They took your partner." "Is he still alive?" "Yes." "On TV, they say his capture will prove to the world that we are the victims of United Nations atrocities." "Where are they holding him?" "Sponza prison." "I've never heard of that." "No one has, not in your world." "It's a secret place where VaIstoria's men imprison their special enemies." "We have to figure a way to get him out." "It's impossible." "Nothing's impossible." "Is there something you're not telling me?" "Of course not." "Let me talk to some people." "Maybe there's a way." "pavel." "He's waking up!" "The American is waking up!" "pavel!" "Leave the man alone." "Let him have some rest." "Is it true what they say?" "He killed VaIstoria?" "I think it is foolhardy to move him now." "We run a great risk of taking him into the open." "What you think is not important." "They have started to advance in the North and West." "We have no proof they know about this place." "We're making a huge mistake!" "The mistake was yours when you let them kill VaIstoria." "Now we must seek the protection of our allies to the East." "The decision has been made..." "Don't say anything." "Just nod occasionally." "What did you say?" "That if you got drunk again tonight and were a bad lover I was going to leave you." "AII these arms are from world War II." "Some of it, yes." "What are they doing here?" "My grandfather fought the Germans." "My father, against the Communists." "Now it's our turn." "Mauser 792." "It's an antique, but one of the finest weapons the Germans made." "Yes." "I guess it'II do." "cole's in." "The hit on VaIstoria's got them running scared, as planned." "They should move our primary target soon." "How do we know cole made contact?" "We don't." "AII right." "Let's finish this." "will this do?" "I think it'II do." "Sophia!" "It's okay." "These are my brothers, VojisIav and Zoran." "This is Sergeant Beckett." "The American who crashes streetcars?" "He should not be here." "He is not part of the plan." "His presence could jeopardize PaveI's escape." "well he is here!" "We have no choice now!" "Say again in english." "There is great concern over VaIstoria's killing." "The American prisoner and several others will be moved to Pozarevac." "Pozarevac is a fortress, impenetrable." "Once they take him, he'II be executed." "Okay." "Get me five men, your best shooters and I'II need a map...." "What's so funny?" "There is no one to help you except us." "Yes." "You people are the entire underground?" "We're the only ones left, no?" "Yes." "Okay." "Get me your best shooter." "It's me." "Hurrah." "Get out!" "Come on, move!" "You're PaveI, right?" "When the time comes, just do as I say." "You two over there." "I don't know what happened." "It just stopped" "Get that piece of shit out of the way." "He's in the other truck." "C'mon already!" "C'mon, move!" "Weapon!" "Who the hell is he?" "That's classified." "classified, my ass." "Get rid of him." "calm down, Beckett." "No!" "We're on a mission." "We're not here to make new friends." "Your mission is over." "It ended when you killed VaIstoria." "This man is mine." "What do you mean, yours?" "My mission:" "Get captured, find this man and bring him out of the country." "Your mission was just a setup for mine." "Are you all in this together?" "Don't act like this is the first time the government's ever fucked you over." "You made it out." "Why'd you come back?" "I had my reasons." "Yeah, well, I wouldn't have done the same for you." "I guess this is a conversation for another time." "Whatever your reasons, my friend, I'm grateful." "satellite uplink beginning in three." "colonel?" "Yeah?" "This is a feed from atlanta." "CNN's on the scene." "Some kind of terrorist attack." "What do we know?" "Four military vehicles, one transport..." "...seven, maybe eight bodies." "Ours?" "No." "soldiers." "scramble a chopper." "We got an evac in three hours." "What was this place?" "An old ironworks." "The government brought muslims here to work and then killed them." "generals and majors, fools and idiots." "What is it?" "What's the matter?" "How much longer?" "1 0 minutes." "A long time in your world of precious seconds." "Yeah, too long." "There's a rooftop extraction." "Is it safe?" "absolutely." "Where to now?" "The sewers will take us to the river." "They're sure interested in getting you back." "What did you do?" "I'm a writer." "I challenge authority." "They put me away but they can't contain truth." "They can kill you." "I die, my words become more powerful." "They want me alive." "I'm going back up." "Me too." "No." "You lead them out." "That's crazy, man." "You can't help him now." "Maybe not, but I can slow them down for you." "That's suicide, man." "I don't care." "Dr. PaveI is my country." "If I die, don't make it in vain." "Okay, this way." "Though our nations are different, you have our...." "What is it?" "Your condolences are appreciated but your help is unnecessary unless you can name the Americans responsible." "What are you saying?" "They've taken something very important from us." "Something we want back." "They will be placed on trial and their executions televised worldwide." "I know American people's passions." "What will they say when their sons are hanging from the end of a rope?" "Come on." "What in the hell was that?" "One of our birds picked it up about an hour ago." "A call from Leskovic, who says he's head of the NNB, whatever that is." "The other voice?" "An aide who took the call from our Romanian ambassador." "Does the White House know?" "Not yet." "They will not be happy." "There's always a price to pay." "What's up?" "Shoot him and you let everybody know where we are." "Okay." "We can go to Komra." "It's a muslim village." "My friend Nauzad is there to help us." "AII right, wait a minute." "How far is this Komra?" "Maybe 1 0 kilometers." "If we leave now, we can be there before the sun rises." "AII right." "It's time she goes." "No." "Look, I'm not gonna play fuck-fuck games with you." "She goes and you live to fight another day." "He's right." "Take care of yourself, Mr. cole." "Goodbye." "Yeah." "Good...." "Got a light on upstairs." "Got it." "How well did you say you know this guy?" "Nauzad and I are old friends." "The kind you trust." "Nauzad." "PaveI." "These must be the Americans we've heard much about." "The television reports them as killed." "Sorry to disappoint." "You should know better than to believe what the television tells you." "Want to say again in english?" "Of course." "We need some help, Nauzad." "We need to get to the" "Border." "There is a bus from the village that travels to Krizevci." "From there, the border's a few kilometers." "I will drive you to the bus." "Thank you." "Stay here." "I'II get my brother's van." "Here are beds, a shower." "If you're hungry, I'II make something." "We can manage." "You go." "Any updates?" "Not for an hour." "What's their secondary?" "Simand." "I suggest we consider an abort." "Start working on a cover story." "No, not yet." "Those are American soldiers." "We're not gonna abort." "I still don't trust old Nauzad." "How about you?" "I don't trust anybody." "That's why I'm still alive." "Look, I still don't know why you did it but I owe you for coming back for me." "You don't owe me shit." "Just leave me the fuck alone." "What, are you still pissed?" "I had nothing to do with their decision." "The important thing is to finish the mission." "The mission?" "Mission?" "You mean remission." "What?" "Remission of sin." "That's what this is." "What are you saying?" "That's what the spooks call it." "You kill someone, you make an act of contrition." "In this case, that would be your buddy PaveI." "Penance, and it doesn't matter whether he lives or dies." "The debt's paid and everybody walks away with a clean conscience." "That's bullshit." "bullshit?" "That's the nature of political killing." "Why do you think they picked us?" "Some kid on death row a beat-up, four-fingered sniper whose eyes are going and it doesn't matter if PaveI makes it or we die trying because it's a great story for CNN and they'II play it over and over, 24 hours a day." "In the end they'II forgive and forget there was some bad fucker named VaIstoria that took a bullet in the chest in the name of freedom." "Hey." "I'm not pissed off at you, son." "I'm mad at myself." "I should have seen this coming." "I guess it's age." "well, how about that, master guns?" "You and me sharing a moment together." "Who knows?" "If we weren't doing this, we might even be friends." "Friends...." "Say, Beckett, how long were you in the service?" "Twenty-six years." "You ever think about doing anything else?" "Yeah." "Yeah, I went to school to be an engineer but I didn't have the head for it." "So then I worked on a ranch in Montana." "It didn't work out, so I joined the Marines picked up a gun and guess what?" "I was good." "From the shots I've seen, you're better than good." "Being a Marine is the one thing I've done well." "Is that something to be proud of?" "Being the best at killing another human being?" "I kill people so that others can live." "Like you, for instance." "There are other ways to achieve peace other than through force." "diplomatic ways." "Oh, yeah, the diplomats." "Without the diplomats, you wouldn't need soldiers." "We unscrew the problems that diplomats make." "We have the same goal, you and me." "A world free of hate." "I just hope to get there without blood." "If you haven't figured it out, freedom isn't free." "You realize McKenna probably thinks we're dead." "Yeah, I guess so." "He's gonna shit when he sees me walk in with PaveI." "How can there be traffic in the middle of nowhere?" "Nauzad." "He would die before he told them anything." "Open up!" "Where are they?" "I think they are still heading for the border." "unless there is another extraction point." "Take your men and check Simand." "Understood." "Move out." "How far do we have to go?" "Maybe two or three hours." "Just got word from langley." "He's with cole and PaveI." "Why does this not surprise me?" "also reports of heavy military activity near the border at Simand." "They're coming home." "scramble a chopper." "pavel?" "Yes?" "I want you to think hard and tell me the truth." "When you were alone with Nauzad did you happen to mention Simand?" "No." "Good." "It's a fucking ghost town." "muslims lived around here for 600 years." "The Nazis tried to wipe them out then the Communists and the Serbs." "They were called the modrus." "It means "invincible."" "Why do this to them?" "Language religion property, greed...." "You choose." "Men kill other men and nobody knows why." "I don't care what he says." "If I see something moving, I'm shooting it." "Verifying touchdown of Snake Eater at LZ." "Over." "Roger touchdown, Snake Eater." "LZ is clear at this time." "Over." "There has been a report of an unidentified helicopter headed towards Simand." "We're on our way." "Understood." "What do you think?" "I don't know." "My men are in position." "Good." "AII right." "What is it?" "What's the matter?" "I don't know." "I don't see anything, but...." "You like to hunt, master guns?" "As a kid." "I don't much care for it now." "cole, I've got movement." "Get up." "Come on." "How is he?" "flesh wound, upper arm." "He'II be okay." "Stay." "They're definitely not conventional infantry." "Roger that." "You okay?" "Yeah, but they're crawling over us." "Let's move out into town." "That town's gotta be hot." "You look here." "We got 30 minutes to our rendezvous." "Now, you either go with me or without me." "Shit." "You ever seen anything like this before?" "Yeah, Lebanon when the HezboIIah took out the Marine barracks in Beirut." "And then Nam." "Hue City, Tet Offensive." "Three weeks of sleep deprivation, endless rain endless death." "Just shit." "That ought to be on the recruiting poster. "Join the Marines." "travel the world." "Make new friends and kill them."" "You look at this shit:" "buildings down, people dead." "You gotta draw the line somewhere." "So does that make us the good guys?" "There are no good guys in a war." "Knock off that shit." "We're going down there." "Move out." "Not the shithoIes again." "Goddamn." "AII right, this way." "Anybody know what day it is in the real world?" "Wednesday?" "I'm supposed to die on a Wednesday." "The first thing I'II do when I get home is take a shower, and get laid." "Not necessarily in that order." "Think that was just some shit somebody left behind?" "I don't know." "CIaymore!" "Goddamn it, my ears." "They're gonna bury us down here." "Negative." "I put us somewhere just outside the rendezvous point." "You take PaveI." "You get up top." "I'II provide cover for extraction." "That's suicide." "I've said that since the beginning." "Now, don't fight me on this, son." "Just do it." "Roger that, master guns." "cole." "Com-techs." "cole, good to go?" "clear." "There's only one shooter, middle of the block, southeast corner." "Got you." "Inside the church." "No." "Negative." "I want you to stand by." "You're here to protect the package." "What did you mean, you were going to die on a Wednesday?" "I was sentenced to death for killing a man." "I went through selection with three other guys." "We were like brothers." "called ourselves the Four Horsemen of the apocalypse." "couple of years back, we went into Rostock to help the DEA take out some big-time Russian heroin drug lords." "Two separate missions." "We got ours, but their mission was compromised." "My guys left their heads in an alley." "So who's this man you killed?" "The DEA who betrayed us." "I can't prove that he did it, but I know it was him." "Which one were you?" "What?" "Which horseman?" "The fourth one, I guess." ""And his name was Death and hell followed with him."" ""people sleep peacefully in their beds at night only because men stand ready to do violence on their behalf."" "You write that?" "No." "Something by George orwell." "He abhorred violence too." "But I guess he understood when it became necessity." "Got you." "You just gave away your position!" "We don't have much time!" "Get back!" "pavel!" "Oh, shit." "talk to me." "talk to me, kid." "I'm hit." "How bad?" "My friend." "It wasn't supposed to end like this." "Today was going to be like my birthday." "well, hang in there, son." "The helo's inbound." "You never told me why you came back for me." "I was in Panama captured and tortured and a young operative like yourself saved my Iife." "I figured I owed him one." "But you came back for me." "You'd do the same for me." "Here he comes." "Let's go." "Look at me." "I'm a mess!" "BeIay that." "We're gonna get you out of here." "Good to go!" "Faster!" "I'm so warm." "I thought I'd be cold." "ShouIdn't I be cold?" "The mission's over, son." "You're going home." "I don't mind dying." "I just didn't want to die in that cage." "Freedom!"