Special Ops: Lioness

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Weve got a real thing for victory here in America.

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Even our failures have to smell like victory somewhere, if only in our entertainment.

Theres a perverse have-your-cake-and-eat-it-too mythos guidingLioness.

An Ace of Spades upon which we can all hang our gun belts n spurs.

If thems the vibes for this Special Op, its conclusion is decidedly on point.

The list, man.

Were hired killers, we move on it.

No getting her out now.

Either she succeeds or she fails.

We choose not to intervene; she looks like a lone wolf.

Heres where Hollar instigates a little sidebar with Byron.

Amrohi is a precious target, but hes also been useful.

What happens to oil prices when 10 percent of production returns to the open market?

Its a calamity for our strategic partners, Hollar says.

Now is not the time for change.

Cut to the airport, Palma de Mallorca, Spain.

Cruz has limited options and no weapon.

The environments a weapon.

If the opportunity presents itself, the Lioness will neutralize the target herself.

Once through security, Cruz is brought to Ehsan first thing.

The vibes are immediately off, and we all know why.

Whats up with all the tearful late-night comings and goings from Aaliyahs hotel room the other night?

He deals her a backhand and tells her tonight is good-bye for her and Aaliyah.

And if you tell her we spoke, Ill throw you in the fucking sea.

Ooof, thats going to be a bridge too far right there, bucko.

Id like to see you try, Cruz retorts with an assassins conviction.

Man, how awesome is it that the last thing this man will experience is her doing just that?

But Im jumping ahead.

This is the calm before the storm, Aaliyah says as they look over the preparations.

Everywhere is a danger for him, she adds with an air of regret.

But why, asks Cruz.

Plenty of people in the oil business dont get killed for it.

You think the president of Chevron or Exxon dont have armed guards and bulletproof cars?

Hell sell oil to whoever will buy it.

Besides, our man Amrohis time is running out anyway, and he knows it.

Perhaps thats why he chose Ehsan for his daughter, Aaliyah speculates.

Very smart investor, very respected.

And maybe our children dont have to play with oil.

They just … play with money.

Ehsan knows about us.

Aaliyah shifts gears real quick.

Time is tight, and its only winding down.

The emotional pull is real and palpable to her.

The situation hasnt changed: They cant get Cruz out without a gunfight.

Might as well hold out.

Except for Joe, whos just had to screen another ill-conceived family emergency call to calm Kates post-traumatic nightmares.

Seriously, Neil, I feel like you couldve handled this one on your own under the circumstances.

Things are quiet at the mansion.

Ehsan is at his laptop running a bot on Cruzs passport photo to place matches on the internet.

(Its WITH the HASHTAG.)

Aaliyah cant spice things up without Cruz pulling away until she finally heads to the kitchen for some water.

I have seen many things, but Ive never seen a woman talk to a freezer.

Focus, focus, focus on the mission, shed just said.

Has she already been made?

If Amrohi heard what Cruz was saying, he doesnt let on.

Well, you seem smart enough to know that water is not in the freezer.

This guy just walks right up to her yelling, MARINE!

and thats when the immovable object fucking decimates the, uh, once-unstoppable force.

Cruz sets off the beacon, and its extraction time.

Gunshots and ricochets abound as Cruz zig and zags through the grounds.

The Ace of Spades is dead.

Look at what you did to me!

Cruz tells Joe at the end of their impromptu fistfight out on the deck.

Look what you made of me.

He was an old man, and I killed him in his fucking underwear.

What you did was eliminate one of the worst fucking perpetrators of violence in the past 20 years.

What you did saved lives.

Cruz just changed history, but whod she change it for?

Whos ringing this bell (as Errol will put it to Kaitlyn later)?

All we changed was oil prices, Cruz says.

Inevitably, these games will go on, and so will the bloodshed.

Underutilized is the last thing you could say about our two leads.

Its been a genuine blast rolling through these Special Ops with yall!

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