the hell's wrong with you, stalworth, you didn't eat that chicken a la king at chow did ya?
what about it? another day, another run.
you're off the mission.
that's what you want, right? stalworth doesn't argue. duke hands him back the photo.
if your head's with them, you're no good to me. stalworth nods. duke steps closer, now one mean s.o.b.
one thing, though: you step off this one, you're out of special forces. gonna find you a nice desk and chair back at the base. you're be run of the mill. regular.
then you should. stalworth nods, grabs his kit, and leaves. duke's hard eyes watch him go, then a slight smile creases his lips .
all right, listen up, the cougars will be front and back, grizzly in the middle carrying the package. minimum distance at all times. choppers will cover us overhead. the lab workers step up.
--we have our orders. okay, people! we're on the clock, let's move.
mother goose, this is bird dog. we have the package and are on the dot to make ganci air base ar 0900.
not me, i joined up for the jargon.
rip, if you ran the army we'd stay up all night, fill our canteen with tequila, and call each other "bro".
yeah, we'd be badasses. eyes on the road, rip.
keep your eyes on the road, rip.
don't listen to 'em. you got plenty of thoughts up there. keep rear security tight, boys.
please don't say the air forces.
i thought we were done with that discussion.
i don't think your daddy's crop duster counts as hours logged.
yeah, yeah, look, you want to get up in the air, we'll get you a trampoline back at the base.
this continues to be the stupidest idea you've ever come up with, nd that's saying something.
i don't wanna transfer to the air force, okay?
i want to be in the fight, not flying over it.
--eyes on the road, rip.
back up! back up! back up! mother goose, this is bird dog. we are under attack. repeat --we are under attack!
out! everyone get out of the vehicles! now!
you okay?
shut up.
you're not gonna die.
jesus, rip.
stay here.
i'm gettin' that package. duke leaps up and hauls-ass down the ditch, then crouch-runs up the embankment. --and comes face to face with a viper, who raises his pulse rifle, about to blow duke away. a hand clamps down over the barrel. the viper looks at ana beside him. duke also looks at her, a flash of shocking recognition ripples across his face.
what the hell? her face softens hesitantly.
air force.  .right.
ana! she whirls around, drawing the weapons case over her chest and face, using it as a shield. duke hesitates, because of the warheads or ana? heavy duty goes to shoot at her.
stand down! stand the hell down!
pointing weapons at me doesn't make you my friend. abel "breaker" shaz jumps out of the howler wearing a computerized surveillance suit, a french. tunisian accent:
i don't know who you are, and i sure as hell don't know who they are, and until i find out, i'm not lowering anything or handling anything over. click-clack. they turn to see ripcord shouldering a rifle.
you first.
those aren't the words that come to mind just now. we weren't told about any support for this mission, so you better tell your team to stand down. ripcord eyes his sight.
general hawk. afghanistan, nato forward command.  breaker sees his chance and gingerly steps up to duke and starts sweeping a scanner across the case. hawk smiles.
no way. i signed for 'em. my mission, my package. i carry them, i deliver them. breaker's scanner beeps. he keys a button. the beeping promptly stops. he throws a look at duke.
fine. but you seem to be a little short on transportation a the moment. team alpha will deliver you to me.
and where exactly are you, general?
what kind of outfit is this? not regular army based on the accents. i have you as an aussie.  and you're a johannesburger.  and you: french north africa. algiers?
but somehow you're all in the same unit. one you can't tell me the name of right?
--you're gonna go after them aren't you? the ones that hit my convoy.
general.
i was never asked to join any op group.
vaguely.
this doesn't look like any tac op i've ever seen. where are we?
i've never seen combat gear this sleek, what's the trick?
so who hit us out there?
my team did everything we could out there. a lot of good men went down--
that mission was classified, sir. clearly, somebody sold us out.
what happened to her? for once, ripcord doesn't know what to say. cover girl walks in and hands a document to hawk, who looks through it.
when you move it, she's gonna come after you, you know that, right? and with her intel, and her toys.  she'll find you.
you're going to go after her first. and i want to help.
you scouted me four years ago, now i'm ready. let's have at it.
i know her.
you said knowing is half the battle. well, i know who she is. duke reaches into his pocket, pulls out a photo and shows hawk. insert photo: ana, four years earlier, much softer looking, staring lovingly at duke as they're about to kiss.
her name is ana lewis, and i can tell you everything you need to know about her until.  four years ago. after that, well, obviously sa lot's changed. hawk just stares in disbelief.
if i had to.
i can. i signed on to deliver those warheads, general, and despite your present authority, i want to finish the job. hawk regards him for a moment.
okay, i'll start right here: i hope that vault is tight, because she always gets what she wants.
i've been wanting to do this before we deploy.
only time i'm buying one of these, so why not? they stare a each other, a touching beat. then duke screws up his face, worried?
well, what do you say? she's too emotional to speak. and then they hear:
thanks for killing the mood, rex.
we go at oh-five hundred.
ana, we can't--
speaking of classified information, you still haven't answered.
i promise. she smiles and holds out her hand. he threads the ring onto her trembling finger. rex smiles, but in his eyes is a glint of instability. ripcord comes crashing out through shuttered doors and sprawls out next to them, arms and legs akimbo.
jesus, rip. ripcord rolls over and yells back through the doors:
i'm done proposing.
what's the record?
c'mon, rip. ripcord tries harder, genuinely doing his best. but scarlett us too fast. ducking and weaving around ripcord, as nimble as a cat. five more shots miss her. and now ripcord's feeling the pressure. he waits for her to move. fires. she leaps up onto a corner wall and the bolt passes underneath. he fires again as she lands, ducks under it and rolls up to him. he fires his last bolt point blank. she catches it in her left hand by the stem as it leaves the chamber. slamming her body up against his. right hand behind his head, left hand holding the bolt. their faces close. lips closer. ripcord's eyes on hers as he whispers:
again. they go at each other, fast and furious, the electrified pugil sticks crackling and sparking. duke spins and attempts a stroke similar to snake-eyes' earlier move. snake-eyes blocks it, drops, and sweeps duke's feet, taking him down hard before finishing him with another sparking hit. again, the joes react. snake-eyes turns away. duke shakes it off and pops to his feet once more.
again.
you like her, i get it already.
really firing on all cylinders there, rip.
the warheads. they all rush out of the doors. breaker stops to change a chess piece on the board before racing out.
they can't be far.
put the case down, ana, rip trains his gun on storm shadow.
stop, ana. stop right there. but she doesn't. she just keeps slowly moving toward him.
i will if i have to.
don't force this, ana.
don't make me do this god-damnit!
move and i'll blow her away. get the briefcase. ana takes another step forward, daring duke to pull the trigger. ripcord, gun drawn and fixed on storm shadow, moves slowly forward to retrieve the briefcase. ana is now an inch from the extended barrel. ana and duke are close enough to feel each other's breath. their eyes lock.
graveyard dead.
like what?
mind control?
their weaponry, financing, intel, it has to be mccullen. doing an inside job on his own warheads.
and who says you're not a thinker. all of the sudden, breaker rushes up to them, out of breath.
yeah, you found her all right.
who is he?
that's where she's going.
per the briefing, we fast rope in, form up and assault the main lab.  rex--uh, .the science officer, stays back with fireteam alpha until bravo enters and secures the building. alpha holds the perimeter while science officer secures the wmds. five minutes before extraction and the airstrike. the squad nods. duke looks to rex again. rex is sweating, trying not to show it. duke hands him a piece of gum.
double bubble? rex takes it. duke blows a bubble, smiles at rex.
always helps me. you good?
go, bravo. bravo, a two-man fire team hit the door of the building. they disappear inside. rex, a kit bag over his shoulder and a .45 colt acp on his hip, waits in a crouch, duke next to him puts a hand on his shoulder. duke scans the treeline for any treats. one of bravo team appears in the doorway and signals "all clear." duke double taps rex on the shoulder.
you're good to go, rex. you don't find it in four minutes, get out of there, because that house won't be standing in five. i already called for the air strike. rex nods. duke gives him a smile. rex takes off and runs low to the door, entering the house. duke watches him go, then looks back to the jungle and hears the whump of mortars. duke takes one more look, rex disappears safely inside, then the mortar rounds start to hit. the ground is torn apart, dirt flying in the air, as duke, rip and the rest of the squad takes cover. we catch glimpses of the enemy, lots of them, in the jungle, firing. duke and ripcord pop up and return fire.
i hate it when you level with me.
no, no, no.  it's too soon. angle on: the f-16s in formation streaking toward them across the sky. duke looks back at the main building.
rex. duke runs for the building. tracer fire and mortar explosions all around him. then the whistle of a bunker buster. duke dives and boom! the building is flattened by the bomb. duke is tossed through the air like a rag doll. lands hard, barely registers the pain, staggers up, bloody and ripped, stumbles toward the smoking. flaming rubble that was the building. the blackhawk comes sweeping low, ready for extraction, the tracer fire and explosions intensify. black smoke washes over duke. ripcord finds him in the debris.
i can't.
yeah, we're working on it.
what happened to you?
i jumped over it.
yeah, you didn't know? inside the scarab: we see the neo-vipers are dead. storm shadow is incredibly beat and bloody, but ana is just fine in her red accelerator suit. storm shadow grabs the weapons case and he and ana leap out. duke and ripcord pick themselves up while snake-eyes crawls out of the trash cans nearby. they see storm shadow and ana emerge from the scarab and hurry off towards the tower.
c'mon! snake-eyes follows duke and ripcord, charging after them.
each warhead has a kill switch.
those nano-mites will level the entire city! duke climbs up the side of the tower with his accelerator suit. rip things about following, but then looks at the little girl in his arms, who smiles and hugs him. snake-eyes grabs him and they join the flow of people down the stairs. the nano-mites chasing them close behind. below them, scarlett, breaker, and heavy duty are helping the police evacuate the tower. inside the elevator: ana and storm shadow race to the top.
why don't you?
james?
ana listen--
loosen these, he'll never taser anything again. she taps the bonds on his wrists.
let me get this straight. you're with mccullen. you're married to that baron. and you claim you're still in love with me.
maybe you just don't know who you are anymore.
no, this isn't you, i still see the person i loved behind your eyes. her eyes soften for a moment.
she was smart, and funny. she was loyal as hell. she loved those she was close with, me, her brother.  i did my best. with rex. i'm sorry. he was my responsibility. i should have.  it's why i left, ana. why i couldn't be with you. you were in so much pain.  i thought the sight of me just give you more. she seems to be affected by this ever so slightly, then.  a hard, cold look comes to her eyes, she shakes her head.
no, it matters very much. we have the chance to make things right.
i'm already happy. mccullen glances at ana, watching the display with conflicted eyes. mccullen heads for the door, beckoning the neo-vipers to make duke follow him.
what're you gonna do with the warheads?
then you won't mind telling me.
millions of people are gonna die if you launch those warheads. what is it you want, mccullen?
who are you?
rex.  rex immediately has trouble breathing and returns the mask over his face.
you sonuvabitch.  ana buried you.
why? .why didn't you come in?
does ana know about this, about you?
you sick bastard.  you did this to your own sister?
why work for mccullen?
that's bullshit. you could have had any job you wanted.
everything she's done, everything she's become, started because she thought you died that day.
ana! duke looks over to see the doctor holding his pda, mccullen and two neo-vipers beside him, their rifles on duke and ana. duke gazes at ana, desperately feeling for her pulse.
put it down.
put it down! the doctor doesn't move. mccullen watches the stand-off his right hand discreetly drawing steel hose out from his sleeve.
stay back!
i said stay back!
all i know is that neither of you deserves her. mccullen suddenly lifts the steel hose in his right hand-- --a burst of flame tears out at duke who reflexively fires the pulse pistol at it. the intense air blast from the pulse pistol catches the flames midway between them and blows them back onto mccullen. mccullen screams as his face is literally burned off. the doctor freaks and drops the pda, then yanks mccullen out into the corridor. duke fires after them, then grabs the pda, removing ana's screen with a sigh of relief.
there's nothing you can do?
i'll visit you.
you'll be here for the rest of your life, ana. she looks at him, her face softening.
i'm here.
i'll visit you. and for a moment, she appears to crack.  but then a sinister smile creases her mouth.
what do you say, rip? ripcord looks at scarlett, who throws him a wink and a smile.