"Then we clear the compound until we find him. Intel's been solid. He's a creature of habit. He'll be where they said."
"And if intel's wrong?" Bulldog pressed.
Steele met his eyes. "Then we adapt. But we don't leave without him. This is the first clean shot in six months."
The room went quiet.
"Communications," Ghost said. "I'm running encrypted push-to-talk. If cellular jamming works, Nazari can't call for help. But his guards have radios. I'll monitor but I can't stop it."
"How long before guards realize something's wrong?" Steele asked.
"Suppressed weapons, clean breach, maybe two to three minutes. Unsuppressed, it's immediate."
"We breach suppressed," Steele said. "But once we're inside and engaging guards, noise discipline goes out the window. Speed and violence of action. Get to Nazari before they organize a coordinated response."
Joker spoke up. "What if they block our exit? Gate's our only way out with a vehicle."
"Bulldog carries backup charges. If they try to block us, we make a new exit. But the gate should stay clear. Guards will be focused on defending Nazari, not blocking our escape route."
"Unless they're smarter than we think," Bulldog said.
"Then we shoot our way out."
Simple. Brutal. Effective.
Hawk pulled up something on his own tablet. "I've been looking at the satellite imagery. That residential building I'm using for overwatch. If I set up here instead of here, I get better angle on the tunnel exit."
Steele looked. Hawk was right. "Good catch. Adjust your position. Make sure you can see both the office and the tunnel. If Nazari runs, I want you calling it before he's gone."
"Copy."
Risk organized his medical supplies. "If we take casualties, where's our fallback?"
"Primary rally point is the vehicle. If that's compromised, secondary is here." Steele indicated a location five hundred meters south of the compound. "Abandoned industrial site.Cover and concealment. We regroup, reassess, and either push back in or call for CTS support."
"And if CTS doesn't come?"
"Then we handle it ourselves." The way they always did.
Steele looked at each of them. "This is high-risk. Political complications. Civilian presence. Limited support. Tight timeline. But Nazari's killed Americans. He's supplying weapons to militias that are targeting our people. He's got blood on his hands and he thinks he's untouchable." He paused. "We prove him wrong. We get in. We get him. We get out. Clean and professional. Any questions?"
Ghost raised a hand. "What's our cover story if Iraqi authorities stop us on the drive to Erbil?"
"CTS credentials. We're operating under their authority. Ghost, you'll have the paperwork. It won't hold up under deep scrutiny but it'll get us through a checkpoint."
"And if it doesn't?"
"Then we don't stop."
Bulldog grinned. Not a happy expression. Just the particular look he got when he knew things were about to get interesting.
"Anything else?" Steele asked.
Silence. They'd covered it. Breach plan. Assault plan. Extraction plan. Contingencies for when things went wrong.
"Load up. We've got a plane to catch."
They filed out in silence. Down the stairs. Across the compound. Into the waiting truck that would take them to Pope Army Airfield where a C-130 sat fueled and ready.
