Good Kill (2014) - full transcript

Eyes on Kahili objective.

19:30 hours.
Entering surveillance hour four.

No sign of target.

Noncombatant approaching.

Two noncombatants.

Fresh op. New heading, 1-8-0.

Insurgents sighted four klicks north,
deploying weapons.

Sensor, slew the ball
to new coordinates.

Eyes on new objective.

Throttling back.

Guns are hot. Target qualifies.
Engage at your discretion.



Roger that.

Civilian bus, one klick south.

Too close, Major.
Get the strike on this pass, or abort.

Copy that.

I can get it.

Rifle when ready.

Master arm hot.

Fly the laser.

Target, lasered.

Three, two,

one, rifle.

Missile away.
Time of flight, 10 seconds.

Splash.

Good kill.



Well, they don't call it
a Hellfire for nothing.

Best use of $68,000 taxpayer dollars
I've seen today.

Master arm off. Weapon's safe.

Laser safe.

Damage assessment.

Come on, Carlos. Tighten up.

What's the body count?

I count six, sir.

But good luck figuring out
which bits go in what casket.

Setting a course for J-bad.

Watch yourself, Tommy.

You're beak-to-beak
with that Reaper relieving you.

- Yes, sir.
- Two o'clock.

MQ-9. American engineering
at its finest.

All right. Hand off to
Captain Christie for recovery.

Is that real?

You ever get to, like,
fly in a war or something?

Blew away six Taliban
in Pakistan just today.

Now I'm going home to barbeque.

Yeah, right.

- It's not my fault.
- Travis, get back here right now.

Get back here
and pick up the crap you just dumped!

Do not walk away from me, young man!

Do not walk away from me.

Travis!

Feel free to step in anytime, Tommy.

I'll talk to him.

I got a call from the principal's office.
He was fighting with another boy.

Did he Win?

Hey, Jesse, how's that book?
You recommend it?

- Sorry the house looks like...
- A bomb hit it?

I didn't say it.

I'd ask how your day was,
but there's a limit...

- I know. I'm sorry.
- How many times

- I can ask the same question.
- Thank you for not asking.

You know he's flunking math.
He needs a tutor.

How much will that cost?
Can't you help him?

Where do you think he gets it from?
I'm the reason he's flunking.

That's true.

I start nights tomorrow.

Okay.

You look miles away.

Seven thousand?

That's a joke.

I think I'm gonna go get a glass of water.

You need anything?

Yeah, I do.

Living the dream, Tommy.

Hey, Dan.

Ladies and gentlemen,
the aircraft you're looking at

is not the future of war.

It is the here and fucking now.

Any time of day or night,

there are dozens of
these things in the sky

above our theaters of operation.

And most are currently working in the
Garden of Eden they call Afghanistan.

Where they're starting to think
it's their new national bird.

Now, I assume you know

we don't fly them all the way there
from here in Vegas,

but I guess I shouldn't assume anything.

I got food in my fridge
older than most of you.

Now, all take-offs and landings occur

in and around
whatever godforsaken place

we're at war with that day.

That's 'cause these things are a bitch
to take off and land.

So once they're airborne,
that's when we take over.

And these gentlemen here are gonna
take you through the nuts and bolts

of exactly how we do that.

But before they do, there's one thing
I want to say about this program.

We get a lot of shit from the public.

And I've heard
all the bleeding heart arguments.

I've read all the fucking bumper stickers.

"It's not the air force,
it's the chair-force,"

"waging a Wii war."

It's all a waste of breath
because the United States Air Force

is ordering more drones than jets.

Excuse me, "remotely piloted aircraft."
You can call them whatever you want.

Drones aren't going anywhere.

In fact, they're going everywhere.

But don't think I believe
my own shit either.

'Cause we like to dress it up
in fancy language.

Prosecuting a target, a surgical strike,

neutralizing the threat.

Make no fucking mistake about it.

We are killing people.

So I'm gonna drill this into your heads
every goddamn day.

This ain't fucking PlayStation.

Even though the brass
don't like to admit it,

our operation was modeled on Xbox.

And half of you were recruited in malls

precisely because
you are a bunch of fucking gamers.

And war is now a first-person shooter.

But you pull a trigger here,

it's for fucking real.

Ain't a bunch of pixels
you're blowing up.

It's flesh and fucking blood.

You pull a trigger here,
someone's gonna go away.

Now, go away.

Dismissed.

Atten-hut!

That's a lot of recruits
for a war that's ending.

So what'd you log?
3,000 hours in F-16s,

six tours, 200 combat sorties
before you got here?

Now they give them 40 hours in
a fucking Cessna and send them to me.

And pretty soon they won't even do that.

Just shove a joystick
in their clammy mitts on day one.

By the way, I got a new co-pilot for you.

Last test, Carlos pissed hot. Coke.

I mean, I reckon
he wanted to get busted.

You saw how he was shaking.

It was classic burn-out.
You burn out at 24.

I mean, when I was 24,
burn-out hadn't been invented yet.

Is that her there?

Yeah, I know she looks like
a fucking child.

But she's got 500 hours in Reapers,
100 in Predators.

Top recruit from Holloman.

Listen, word's come down the chain
we're stepping up attacks.

'Cause we got intel that says
they're stepping up attacks.

I mean, it's like my football coach
used to say,

"Get your retaliation in first."

What's up?

Can you get me in a plane, sir?

- You not hear what I was just saying?
- No, I heard you. I was just...

They're yanking you jet jockeys
out of your kites faster than ever.

I know how you feel. It's like going from
a Ferrari to a Ford Fiesta, but...

You think any of us love flying at 1-G?

All right, I'll see what I can do. Okay?

- Thank you, sir.
- All right.

Not a word, Drier.
I can't have Egan burn out on me.

I need someone
who can fly these fucking dodos.

How can you feel turbulence hit a plane
7,000 miles away? It's un-fucking-canny.

Everyone else is trying to act like
they're in a plane in Afghanistan.

Egan fucking is in a plane
in Afghanistan.

Suarez, go in tighter.

Fuel window closing. Can't wait
for Johnny Jihad to make a pit stop.

No, I can take him on the move.

- Old Predator, Tommy.
- What's the lag?

Latency at 2.2 seconds.

How do you know where he's gonna be
two seconds from now, sir?

You don't throw the ball
where the receiver is.

You throw where he's gonna be.

Lead them by a cross hair.

One Minnesota, two Minnesota...

Isn't it supposed to be Mississippi, sir?

I'm from St. Paul.

Lead them by another half.

We are cleared hot.

Master arm on. Weapon's hot.

Three, two, one, rifle.

Time of flight, 12 seconds.

Yes!

Got them motherfuckers.

Good splash.

- Tarfu.
- Tarfu? What's tarfu, sir?

Totally and royally fucked up.

And I believe those gentlemen qualify.

Thank you, sir.

So she's looking at me
and I'm looking at her, right?

So, finally I decide I'm gonna go over
and introduce myself to her.

And I say,
"Hi, I'm Captain Joseph Zimmer."

- Nice.
- You know what she says?

She says her name is Anita Mann.

- It's funny.
- Yeah.

Well, she was shitfaced, of course.

At a bar at Mandalay Bay
with five of her girlfriends.

She can't get me upstairs fast enough.

The girl was getting married
the next fucking day.

Last bachelor party I went to,
I was Dick Burns.

It was either that or Hugh Jorgen.

Classy.

- So, did you volunteer?
- Or were you "volun-told"?

I went willingly.
Yeah, I couldn't wait to sign up.

Come on, battlefields and blackjack?
Every girl's fantasy.

You'?

In my line,
this is the next best thing to Langley.

I applied twice, but I never got past
the background check.

For the life of me,
I don't know what it is.

I don't remember doing anything
that fucking bad.

I flew cargo, Globemasters.
I might as well be working for UPS.

If you want to be where the action is,
this is the tip of the spear.

I did six tours.

After the last one, I got back from Iraq,
a row of GCS's on the tarmac.

F-16s in mothballs.

Put in one UAV tour, they said.

I'm on my third.

You got a family.

Must be nice, you know,
go home and see them every day.

We're on duty.

Where superpowers go to die.

Not the British, not the Soviets, not us.

Genghis fucking Khan
couldn't hold onto this fucking place.

No one wins a war in Afghanistan.

The only way to win is never put a boot
on the ground. Stay two miles above it.

We have put in 600 Reaper hours
on this target, sir.

May I respectfully suggest
that we got the wrong address?

That's not what our intel's saying, Major.

It's a safe house
for the new Number Two.

Who's she?

Our intel says she's not related.
Housekeeper.

I always think they can see us.

At 10,000 feet, even if she stared
straight at us, she couldn't see us.

I get tired just watching her work.

My wife by the fucking pool,
she wouldn't last a day over there.

- He's getting good.
- Focus on the compound.

Well, as much as I would like to
watch her put her son to sleep,

I gotta be home before my kids wake up.

- It's all yours, Major.
- Yeah. Good night, sir.

- Is that the target?
- No.

Our target's as round as he is tall.

That's not him.

What is he doing?

Shit.

Jesus.

Hey, Tommy.

So, I heard you want to
go back to combat.

You told Molly yet?

Not yet.

Well, don't take this the wrong way,

but are you out of your fucking mind?

I mean, look around, buddy.

We can come home at night.
We can see our kids,

we can get laid and not worry that
there's some other prick going there.

Listen, I don't even know
if it's going to happen.

It's a big fucking mistake.

- Get him!
- Get him!

Hey, hey! You don't shoot the chef.
What are you, crazy?

Hey, get out of here. No, no, no, no, no!

Come on. I'll cook you.

Come on, no, no, get out of here.
I'll cook both of you.

He's quiet. Does he ever get angry?

Almost never.

What happens when he gets angry?

He gets more quiet.

I'm gonna get a refill.

Wow.

Look at you.

You went all out today, Mrs. Egan.

Shucks.

Cheers.

What is this?

You're resigning?

- You're up for promotion.
- I was going to talk to you about it.

- The pay grade alone...
- Just...

It's only if I don't get a seat on the Viper.

Combat? That's what you want to do?

So you can worry the kids sick again.

So you never see them or me.

Is it so bad, what you're doing now?

You're still making people safer, right?

I mean, what's going on at the base?

I mean, no one else in the service cares
about the security clearance bullshit.

- I'm your fucking wife.
- It's not about the clearance.

I just don't want to rehash it.
It doesn't do any good.

If I have a shit day, why dump it on you?

Does it help me? Does it help you?

You don't know what helps me. I get it.

I get why you don't want to
talk about that.

But you don't want to
talk about anything.

I swear to God,
if I didn't start a conversation,

we would never fucking have one!

Ever since the drawdown,
things haven't been the same.

You know that.

I just want things to go back
to the way they were.

It might have been scarier back then,
but at least we made each other laugh.

We did it in every room in the house.

We did it in parking lots.

Even if we weren't together all the time,

when we were, we were together.

I used to make you...

I used to make you happy.

Well, I can't be that person
if I'm not doing what I do.

I am a pilot and I'm not flying.

- Tom.
- Just...

I don't know what it is that I am doing,
but it's not flying.

Hey, Major.

How's the war on terror going?

Kind of like your war on drugs.

Yeah. Drive safe.

Nothing explodes quite like explosives.

One IED factory going out of business.

Soon as he comes back from taking
the last piss of his life, we smoke him.

We are cleared hot. Light 'em up.

Warheads on foreheads.

Damn it. Damn it, I lost the link.

The Reaper's on autopilot.

Reaper on automatic holding pattern,
figure eight, deconflicted altitude.

- Get it back.
- I am trying.

All right, I've got it. We're back on.

Laser on.

Painting the target.

Both Hellfires.

I've got two tickets to paradise

Won't you pack your bags
We leave tonight...

Master arm on. Weapon's hot.

Rifle when ready.

Three, two, one, rifle.

Missiles off the rail.

God damn it, what's that?

- Shit.
- Time of flight?

- Seven seconds.
- Abort?

Negative. Impact, three seconds.

Run, you little shits! Get the fuck...

Where are they?

Master arm off.

Weapon's safe.

I know what you're thinking.

I must have been a fucking pilot
before Pontius.

You religious, Major?

You never cuss.

Yeah, I don't think it helps.
I'd do it if I thought it helped.

Maybe it's something I picked up flying.
You know, actually flying.

Yeah, not a lot of hotheads
stay up in the sky.

And those who make it
through flight school

generally owe us for an F-16.

I owe us for a Phantom.

So how are things at home?

Can't complain.

Well, that's the thing, isn't it?
I mean, we really can't complain.

I mean, try telling our sob story
to the grunts on the ground.

I mean, shit, they already thought
we were candy-asses

when we were up in the air
with our fucking planes.

No. No one's throwing
a pity party for us.

You just gotta keep compartmentalizing.

Never mind the compartments
got too close.

I mean, it used to be
we go to war with a country,

we'd actually go to the country.

Guys enlisted to see the world,
get some foreign tail.

It's better when we were deployed.

You know, there was war
and there was...

You know you're not to blame for that.

The kids.

Wrong place, wrong time.

It happens.

Well, it happens.

We all pulled the trigger
in that box, Tommy.

All of us.

Thank you for saying that, sir,

but we both know I pulled the trigger.

Well, you wanna know
how I think about it?

And here's how I think about it.

Just now, we didn't know
those kids were gonna show up.

But they knew. They knew for a fact

there were kids on those 767s
they flew into the Twin Towers.

They had to walk past those kids
to get into the cockpits.

Anyhow, I don't want you
getting gun shy on me.

Take the day off.

I think you get to use a little I&I.

Intoxication and intercourse.

Right.

Why do we wear our flight suits, sir?

What's this about, Drier?

- Drier!
- I'm not at liberty to say, sir.

It doesn't feel like a medal ceremony.

Sit down.

So word has come down from on high

that, for an unspecified
number of missions,

we are to serve another master.

Christians in Action.

The CIA.

- Thank you, sir.
- All right.

- We're taking orders from the CIA?
- Yeah, you're damn straight, Christie.

The CIA takes orders
from the administration,

and since we've sworn an oath to obey
that same administration,

and as much as it pains me
to take orders from a fucking clerk,

yeah, we're taking orders from the CIA.

Now what I want you
to prepare yourselves for is,

the folks in Virginia
operate under a different set of ROEs.

They've progressed from what
they like to call a "personality strike",

where we know for sure
our target is a fucking bad guy.

Now they come up with something
they call a "signature strike."

Now what that fucking means is

it's a hit based
not on a suspicion of guilt,

but on a pattern of behavior.

So you may be called upon to fire at
any dumb shleb in Waziristan

who's carrying an AK-47,
even though we all know

that everyone and their mother
in Waziristan carries an AK-47.

What about their right to bear arms?

I got my own personal opinions

as to why there's been
an expansion of our mission,

which I should probably keep to myself.

But what the fuck.

It's a lot easier to kill these people
than to capture them.

Well, it makes sense, sir. If we
capture them, we have to torture them.

Sorry, sir.

Well, there is the inconvenient matter
of GTMO.

But it's really about the cost
in "blood and treasure"

as those D.C. hypocrites,
who never pay in either, like to say.

They know that if we try to
capture them instead of kill them,

we risk getting killed
or captured ourselves.

And the public
is tired of watching coffins

roll down airplane conveyer belts.

And the Pentagon is embarrassed
by those videos on Al Jazeera,

where some marine denounces America

right before his head's liberated
from his shoulders, so...

In many minds,
out of all the bad options,

we're the least bad.

Don't ask me if it's a just war.

That's not up to us.

To us, it's just war.

Tommy, you take the lead.
Ed, you're backup.

And you get to take over

Tommy's highly-coveted
Kahili surveillance assignment.

All right.

- Let's go to Afghanistan.
- Fly and fry.

Just between us, the Air Force
is making a play with the Pentagon

to run the whole unmanned show.

And they just don't want any

static running missions for the spooks.

And I've always been able
to count on you, Tommy.

You can count on me now, sir.

I take my orders from you.

This is Johns.

Lieutenant Colonel Johns.

Out of all UAV crews
in the 61st Attack Squadron,

Crew 3-2 has been selected
to conduct special operations

in the war on terror.

For reasons of security,
all missions you carry out on our behalf,

effectively never occurred.

You may refer to us simply as Langley.

We're over your
designated position, Langley.

We have eyes on the dwelling.

We see what you see.

The target is Abu al-Mahid.

He attempts to vary his routine,
constantly changes locations.

Never sleeps in the same house
two nights in a row.

But we've discerned a pattern
to his behavior.

According to our observations,

he's due at this structure
in east Herat at 0900.

Sir, they don't look like Taliban.

Well, maybe if they had the guts
to wear uniforms.

- There's a question, Langley...
- We heard the question.

We have solid intelligence
from an informant.

- A paid informant?
- A reliable informant.

Well, he's not that reliable.
The target's late.

A vehicle approaching from the north.

Protocol requires us
to positively identify the target.

- ls that him?
- We 're conferring.

We can confirm. Target qualifies.
Permission to prosecute.

We're obliged to point out, Langley,

we've observed noncombatants
in and around the dwelling.

Colonel Johns, no one regrets the loss
of innocent life more than we do.

We take inordinate care
not to use lethal force

where there are women and children.

Unfortunately, many of our targets
cynically use women and children

as shields to discourage attack.

We have to constantly weigh
the risk to their lives

against the threat posed
to U.S. interests.

Please engage.

It's just there's high winds, sir.
Heavy turbulence.

We're getting tossed around pretty bad,
Langley. It's tough to make a clean hit.

We trust you appreciate
that this is a high-value target.

Please take the shot.

Rifle when ready. You're cleared hot.

Tommy, can you keep her
in a straight line?

Master arm on, weapon's hot.

Three, two, one, rifle.

Weapon's away.
Time of flight, eight seconds.

Splash.

Good kill.

Master arm off, weapon's safe.

Laser safe.

Our compliments, Colonel.

That was a high card
you and your people

just pulled out of the deck.

Al-Qaeda's number one bomb maker
will never again harm one of us.

Please do a follow-up.

Did I hear you correctly, Langley?

There are other combatants
in the vicinity.

Double tap?

We prefer the term "follow-up."

Sir...

They are rescuers. We can't...

The fuck we can't. They're Taliban.

Who do you think the first responders
are gonna be, Quakers?

Those rescuers have RPGs.

- I see people with shovels.
- Then just hit the ones with the RPGs.

Can you confirm that order, Langley?

In our opinion, it's proportionate.

Sir, forgive me, sir.
What the hell does that mean?

It means that in our assessment,
the combatants we are targeting

pose a grave-enough threat
to the United States

to justify potential civilian casualties.

Not to mention that this pre-emptive
self-defense is approved and ordered

by the administration.

Please engage.

Orders.

- Laser.
- Lasing.

Master arm on. Weapon's hot.

Three, two, one, rifle.

Weapon's away.
Time of flight, 10 seconds.

Master arm off.

The subject on the left,

what is she doing?

I believe she's picking
an arm off a tree, sir.

Would they like me to do
further damage assessment?

Hand it off, Tommy.

Captain Christie, take the controls.

Damage assessment, estimate, 12.

Well, we count...

Twelve dead, Langley.

Give or take.

We concur. Signing off.

Was that a war crime, sir?

Shut the fuck up, Suarez.

How'd they decide
the condolence payment is five K?

Sounds like a lot to me.

You could live there on,
like, a dollar a day.

What was that shit?

I didn't sign up for that shit.

That's what terrorists do.
You know that, right?

Plant a second bomb, blow up soldiers
showing up for the first bomb.

Since when did we become Hamas?

"Approved by the administration."

They give Nobel Peace Prizes
for this now?

They sure do.

You wanna talk about all the shots
we didn't take,

waiting for some D.C. lawyer
to come back from lunch?

- No wonder they hate us.
- They always hated us.

We're always gonna be the great Satan
because we got Hustler and Hooters,

and we let women drive
and go to school.

And they're not gonna stop hating us
until the savages

have Sharia law everywhere
on the goddamn planet.

You think you'd have this job
if you were over there?

- Do you think you'd have any job?
- There were kids!

Not our fault. They shouldn't
bring kids into a war zone.

They live there!

Did you get the wrong address, Suarez?

Look around you.
This is a military base. It's what we do.

We're fighting a war
and we're winning it.

They bomb New York lately?

We're saving American lives.
So, fucking sue me.

God is great.

Later, Jane Fonda.

You're a fucking idiot, Zimmer.
No offense.

Actually, offense.

What do you think, sir?

- Those are the orders.
- Yeah.

At least it doesn't give you a hard-on.

Sorry, sir, I could just...
I could kill Zimmer.

Death Junkie Christie.

We should go out on the town.

You know, just our crew.

So we don't end up killing each other
in that goddamn sweatbox.

- Hi, Dad.
- Hi, Daddy!

Hey.

All right, come on. Get in the car.

No pushing.

What's the Pythagorean theorem?

The square of the hypotenuse
is equal to the sum

of the squares on the other two sides.

There you go. Nicely done.

Did you really need to know
all this to be a pilot?

Absolutely not.
They said I did, but I didn't.

Still, it's good to know it anyway.

The truck's making that noise again.

I'm gonna need to take it to the shop.

All right, well, I'll take a look at it.
Those guys will rip you off.

Okay.

To Crew 3-2.

Fucking Vegas.

You wanna see how civilization ends,
come here.

Caesars Palace, New York-New York,
Paris, The Venetian, Monte Carlo...

- What's the goddamn pyramid?
- Luxor.

No wonder fuck-all Americans
got a passport.

They think the world's all here.

End of civilization.

Who's up for a lap dance, huh?
I'm paying.

- Really?
- No, I'm not.

Dick.

You and your wife
from somewhere else?

I've never met anyone in Vegas
that actually comes from here.

Well, she does.

I met her when she was working
at the Tropicana

about a year before I shipped out
to the sandbox, my last tour.

First date, I took her flying in an F-16.

- That'll work.
- Yeah.

She thought I was exciting
in a boring kind of way.

And a part of her just liked
Uncle's paychecks every 15 days.

What about you?

Battlefields and blackjack?
Still every girl's dream?

I don't know.

How bad do you miss it?

Flying.

I miss the fear.

You're up in the sky,
something can happen.

There's a risk, you know?

I mean, try landing on a carrier
at night or in rough seas,

the deck's pitching 30 feet, low fuel.

We've got no skin in the game.

I feel like a coward every day.

Taking pot shots from half a world away
in an air-conditioned cubicle.

I mean, they get lucky, they shoot
my plane down. I'm not even in it.

All we got to do is
pull another one out of the box.

Worst thing that can happen to me is
carpal tunnel or I spill coffee in my lap.

The most dangerous thing I do
is drive home on the freeway.

Yeah, I get the feeling
I'm gonna die of boredom.

Well, I'm gonna try my luck.

Yeah. All right.

You'?

No, I'd better get going. I got...

Okay.

- Good night, sir.
- Good night.

Fuck.

- Major.
- Yeah.

You in a hurry?
You might want to throttle back.

Yeah, no, I was...

Yeah, I don't know.

Listen, Major...

I'm a vet.

I'll let it slide this one time.

Come on, I'll get you home safe.

Hey, Jesse, what are you doing awake?

I'm thinking.

Well, what you thinking about?

- Everything.
- Well, that's a lot to be thinking about.

Why don't you try
just thinking about sleeping?

I'll do that.

Good night, Daddy.

We made the papers again.

Ever notice when they burn Old Glory,
their flags are always homemade?

For some reason, they don't stock
the Star-Spangled Banner

in those Pashtun bazaars. No.

Somebody had to paint
these 50 stars and 13 bars by hand.

They had to do it just right.

So we definitely know it's us
that's got them so upset.

Like some guy stayed up all night
making that symbol of

evil American imperialism
just as good as he can.

A lot of love went into that hate.

I've never been to Yemen, sir.

If I were you, I'd keep it that way.

This is Johns. We're over
your requested position, Langley.

These are the coordinates
for Al-Bayda province, South Yemen.

Good afternoon,
Lieutenant Colonel Johns.

Last time I checked, Langley,
we're not at war with Yemen.

While we respect state sovereignty
and the rule of law, Colonel,

we're regrettably facing
a substate adversary

who abides by no rules.

Out of necessity, this war on terror
has become borderless.

The target is the Al-Qaeda cell
gathered by the market.

We see the crowd.

You want us to kill a crowd?

Al-Qaeda unsurprisingly,
tend to congregate with Al-Qaeda

or associated forces.

Consequently, we've determined
that it is militarily more effective

to eliminate a group than an individual.

Does that include the underage boy, sir?

Our analysts see only
military age males.

In our assessment, this Al-Qaeda cell
represents an imminent threat.

Permission to prosecute.

Please cease recording.

- Laser.
- Lasing.

Master arm on, weapon's hot.

Three, two, one...

Rifle.

Missiles away. Time of flight,

ten seconds.

Like fish in a fucking barrel.

It is a sad fact that
war is often asymmetrical.

Please forego damage assessment
and exit the airspace.

Master arm off, weapon's safe.

Laser's safe.

"Imminent threat"? They couldn't live
any further away from us.

- Poorest fucking place on earth.
- Setting the course for Djibouti.

It depends on
your definition of imminent.

Actually, you're right about that.

- I am?
- Yeah.

Take a while for that boy to get big
enough to hold a Kalashnikov.

But no question, we are a regular
fucking terrorist factory.

Best recruitment tool
Al-Qaeda ever had.

We can kill them faster
than they can make 'em.

Fuck you, Zimmer.
You'd better pray they never get drones.

They're not gonna
waste money on a drone

when they can strap a bomb to a kid.

Did you know the Times Square bomber
was trained in Yemen?

Not very well. It didn't go off.

Asshole.

The reason he tried to blow us up

was drone strikes.

So obviously we should keep on
hitting them with drone strikes, right?

Yes.

Prepare to hand off.

- Hey, man.
- Hey, Zack.

Major, we got a customer.

- You're the only available crew.
- What is it?

Overwatch. One-Six.

Warhorse Six, this is Deadly Four-One.

Deadly Four-One,

my men need some shuteye.
Can you watch our backs?

Make sure we don't get
any uninvited guests till 0600?

That's an affirmative, Warhorse Six.

I got fuel for six hours.

There's nothing close to your position.

Roger that. Nice to hear.

Sleep tight.

Copy. Out.

Warhorse Six...

This is Deadly Four-One.

And this is your wake up call.

Roger that, Deadly Four-One.
We owe you.

Your appointment today...

Was it life or death?

Because mine was.

That's cheap.

You're right.

I'm sorry.

What was your appointment?

If you must know,
I was going to go to a class at the gym.

I was trying to stay in shape
in case I go back to dancing.

Chorus like we talked about.

I blew 50 bucks not going.

I'm sorry.
I'll try to make soccer tomorrow.

I will, Molly.

I did something good today.

You don't always?

Let me make it up to you.

Prepare to hand off.

There's a man in Langley
who wants to borrow your plane.

Handing off.

Must be nice, Egan.
Hand-picked by the spooks,

getting all the plum assignments.

Is that what they are?

Better than circling that compound like
some two-bit detective on a stakeout.

- What's going on there?
- Nothing. That's the point.

No, no, no. Right there. There.

Same guy.

Yup.

He's a bad guy.

He's just not our bad guy.

- Good luck.
- Thanks.

What's she doing now?

She's going back to work.

Major, we got new co-ords
from Langley.

Sending them to you now.

You ever seen
how beautiful it is in Virginia?

It's green. It's not like here.

You want to start a family,
crime in Virginia is non-existent.

It's like heaven on earth.

Hey.

You want to go somewhere today

- and do something?
- Yeah?

It's strange.

Imagine growing up
praying for gray skies.

They hate blue skies
'cause that's when we fly.

Gray skies, maybe not.

Let's do something.

Go to the strip...

Or dancing?

Splash.

No, he's getting away.

- Grenades.
- Withhold ordnance.

They're not grenades,
Intelligence Coordinator Zimmer.

They're fucking pomegranates.

Thanks for the cover, Cyclops 8.

How's the weather in Vegas?

Hotter than hell here, Bronco Two.

Happy to trade places.

Shit! Shit, what was that?

LED. He stepped on an IED.

Shoot back! Shoot something.

Hey, it's Molly. I'm not here.
Have a great day.

Molly, call me back.

He's using the fertilizer to grow things.

The question is,
does he use it to kill things?

And this is not
your usual Afghani cash crop.

He's actually growing something to eat.

The traffic to and from the structure

indicates to us the presence
of a bomb factory.

In our judgment,

the greater risk is to do nothing.

Roger that, Langley.

Major.

Major.

- Yeah, laser on.
- It's lased, Major.

Master arm on, weapon's hot.

Three, two, one, rifle.

Missile's away.
Time of flight, 10 seconds.

Good kill.

Hi.

- I told you not to wait up.
- You drunk?

That's rich coming from you.

Where you been?

I told you I was going out with the girls.

What's wrong with you?

Don't treat me like a damn fool.

I saw you today...

...in the truck with Danny.

He was trying to work out
what's wrong with the truck.

Because you never did.

Plus I thought
it might be fun to blow him.

I left you a message.

My phone died.

I just got your messages.

- Let me see your phone.
- No.

Give me your phone.

Why'd you change your password?

Because the kids know it

and they're always
fucking with my phone.

Give me the new password.

It's Tommy.

Tommy.

But I'll change that now.

You think I'm having an affair.

You know, I...

I've thought about it.

And you know what else,
I don't think it would even be cheating.

Because to cheat on someone,
you'd have to be in a relationship.

And I don't know that we are anymore.

If that's what helps you.

Bet that helps.

What is this about?

I mean, is this really just about you
losing a seat in the plane?

'Cause here's your last piece
of truth for the day.

Nobody is gonna put you back in one.

But I wasn't the one
that drug you out of the fucking thing,

so taking it out on me
isn't going to help.

And you were right about one thing.

Yeah, what's that?

At least when you were away,
you were really away.

Now you're here, but fuck it.

But what?

What is it that you need so bad?
What is it that you miss so bad?

Combat? You miss the fucking combat?

Hit me. Hit me, you like that.

- I hit you one time. Will you stop?
- Come on, you little bitch! Hit me.

- Hit me, little bitch, hit me!
- Molly, don't do that!

- Hit me!
- Molly. Molly! Just stop it, all right.

Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!

It's okay.

Fuck!

Langley, signing Off-

Seriously, dude...

It's not like a costume you rent
when you wanna get lucky or...

Hey.

Hey.

You look miles away.

Seven thousand.

You wanna know about my job?

Yeah.

Well...

Yesterday, I was flying over a house
in South Waziristan.

It was night when I started watching

but they couldn't see me
even if it was day.

It was the house of
a Taliban commander.

He wasn't home.

Inside his wife and family were sleeping.

When he did come back around dawn,
the family was still inside,

but I wasn't sure
when I'd get this chance again so...

I blew the house up anyway.

And I watched

as the neighbors started
pulling the bodies out.

Another one of my jobs
is damage assessment,

which is our way of saying
counting the dead,

which is not as easy as it sounds.

Because a lot of times the bodies
are in such small pieces.

But this time, I knew for sure

it was seven.

I watched all morning
as these locals cleaned up the mess,

got ready for the funeral.

They like to bury their dead
within 24 hours.

Which is a happy coincidence for me

because that's how long
I can stay in the air.

I watched them

carry the bodies
up a hill to the gravesite.

I had information
that the Taliban commander's brother

would attend the funeral.

So, I waited

till they were all there

saying their prayers.

And then I blew them up, too.

That's my job.

Come inside.

I need you to come inside.

Get back in the house.

It's so beautifully clear
when we watch them.

It couldn't be clearer if I was there.

You can see everything,
the looks on their faces, everything.

Tommy, please.

Once you see it,

how do you unsee it?

You call in sick.

You need help.

You shouldn't be driving a car,
let alone...

No, I'm okay. I'm okay.

- No, you can't go!
- I'm okay.

- No!

- Cutting it close.
- Yeah, well, I made it, didn't I?

- Need some gum, sir?
- No.

No, you need some gum, sir.

- Starting early. You okay?
- Yeah.

Christie can cover for you.

I'm fine.

It's all right. Relax. Sit down.

I know what you're all thinking.

After what's gone on...

I've been doing a little thinking myself,
believe it or not.

And not too many of us are in love
with the tactics

employed by our esteemed colleagues
in Langley, Virginia,

but let me ask you all a question.

They kill us and we kill them.

I mean, does anybody here think
for a solitary second

that if we stop killing them,
they're gonna stop killing us?

It's a vicious cycle,
it doesn't matter who made it vicious.

But they aren't gonna stop,

so we can't.

And that's why I'm gonna sit over
Afghanistan and Pakistan,

Yemen, Somalia,
Sacramento-fucking-California,

every day of what's left
of my sorry career

if it saves one innocent American life.

'Cause I got no idea in hell

how to explain to some grieving parents
their son or daughter is dead

because we thought
enough was enough.

We declared victory and went home.

It never ends,

sir.

Prepare for a follow-up.

What would you like us to hit, sir?

Why aren't they responding?

Could it be perhaps that they think
you're gonna hit them again, Langley?

What is it you'd like us to do, Langley?

If they can wait, so can we.

What's our loiter time?

Eight hours.

Then we wait.

All this circling's
making me dizzy, Major.

Can you at least go the other way?

A vehicle approaching from the west.

We are identifying the target.

Positive ID. Target qualifies.

Permission to prosecute.

Should I bother pointing out
the non-combatants

in the impact zone, sir?

Or should I assume that
all collateral damage is proportionate?

Engage immediately.

Laser.

Laser.

Airman.

Lasing.

Master arm on, weapon's hot.

Three, two...

I've lost the link, sir.

Yeah, I've lost the link.

Get it back. Reacquire.

Reaper in default setting.

Automatic holding pattern.

Attempting to reacquire now.

Link re-established.

- Shit.
- They've gotten away.

Locate the target. Find them.

There. Strike the truck.

Yes, sir. Which one?

Hit the truck!

- Which one, Langley?
- Jesus Christ!

Which truck, sir?

Langley, which one?

Fuck!

Which one, sir?

Which one?

Captain Christie, take the controls.

Major.

Major.

You deliberately dropped the link, Major.

And last time I checked,
that's Article 92.

Failure to comply with a lawful order.

- And orders...
- Are orders.

I gotta do something, Tommy.

You tied my hands.

If I don't do something,
the IT spooks will crawl up the ass

of your console to work out
what we both know you did.

And they'll come down on you
a fuck sight harder.

I gotta do something.

They're never gonna let it go.

I guess this is a bad time to bring up
getting me back in a plane.

Hey, Molly.

Hi.

You know that promotion?

It got rescinded.

I've been downgraded to surveillance.

- What'd you do?
- More like what I didn't do.

I'm never gonna fly again.

I'm sorry.

No, I'm sorry.

Look, this morning, how I left today...

- Tom my.
- Please, Molly.

Tommy, I have something
I have to tell you.

Please, Molly. Listen to me.

Give me a chance, all right?
I wanna make this up...

I'm taking the kids
to my sister's in Reno.

When will you be back?

I don't know.

You're leaving me?

You left me first.

Molly, please.

I'm so sorry, Tommy. I've got to go.

Now I assume you know
we don't fly them

all the way there from here in Vegas,

but I guess I shouldn't assume anything.

I got food in my fridge
older than most of you.

Now, all take-offs and landings occur

in and around
whatever godforsaken place

we're at war with that day.

- You can't smoke here.
- Yeah, I know.

Sorry.

I heard your wife moved out.

Now they've stuck you
back on Kahili surveillance?

It's not your week.

I wanted to tell you

what happened with you,

I turned in my wings.

Yeah, can't make the battlefields
and blackjack thing work after all.

So I guess the order...

You know, the one prohibiting officers
and enlisted from fraternizing...

- Article 15.
- ...no longer applies.

If you change your mind.

The airman part's
a little misleading, but...

Make no mistake, I am first class.

Widen out.

Yeah, there's nothing going on here.

Why don't you two take a break.

I sure could use a break.
Thank you, Major.

Go on, Zim.

You can tell her all about
how close you were

to making that elite CT unit at Langley.

We're not gonna record anything today.

I got you.

All right, let's get a little closer.

Okay, there you are.

Going hot.

One Minnesota, two Minnesota...

You stay there. Okay, that's fine.

That's fine. Just stay put.

Three, two, one, rifle.

Time of flight, 10 seconds.

No, what are you doing?

No, no, no, go back. Stay back.

Get back...

Oh, my God.

Oh, please. Oh, please.

Oh, please, please,
please, please, please,

come on, come on, go...

Master arm off, weapon's safe.

Major Egan?

Egan.

Tommy.