Ramirez brought up a picture of a dark-haired young man with a broad nose, long neck, and solemn stare who stood near one of the Chinese Army's new four-wheel-drive vehicles. "He's Colonel Xu Dingfa, a graduate of the Communication Command Academy in Wuhan. Xu was actually a member of the '08 Olympic gymnastics team. He didn't earn any medals, but let's make sure he doesn't cartwheel his way to escape."

That drew a few chuckles. Mitchell eyed Nolan, who raised his thumb and nodded.

The next photograph depicted a short but muscular man wearing a robe and slippers and holding the leash of a small dog. Behind him rose a lush garden.

"Say hello to Vice Admiral Cai Ming. He's the commander of the East Sea Fleet in the NMR. Here he is taking his dog for a dump near the HQ in Ningbo."

"I like his dog," said Nolan. "That's a Pekingese. They go good with a nice Cabernet."

"I prefer a Pinot Noir," said Diaz, smirking at Nolan.

"And last but not least, we have Major-General Wu Hui. He's a graduate of the Air Defense Command Academy in Zhengzhi."

Wu had just climbed out of a fighter plane and removed his helmet. He wore a scowl made famous by martial artists like Bruce Lee. Of all the Tigers, he seemed like the real badass, in Mitchell's humble opinion.

"So once again, we have four primary targets: Chen, the NMR commander; Xu, our army commo guy; Cai, our admiral; and Wu, our top gun. For simplicity and communications purposes we'll designate these guys as Targets Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, and Delta respectively."

Ramirez brought up a slide depicting all four men with target designations superimposed over the photos:

"Sir, y'all mean to say that these four guys can start World War III?" asked Paul Smith, scratching his head.

"Four guys? Only takes one with his finger on the trigger," said Nolan.

"Paul, these guys have been working on this Pouncing Dragon plan for years, and they have feelers spread through the entire military," said Mitchell. "The Politburo makes the ultimate decision about war in China, and their boy Wang is plugged in pretty well there. Once the ball's rolling, the Chinese government can't stop it."

"What's their strike plan?" asked Diaz.

"That's not part of our TIP, and higher may not know. But back to your question Paul, yes, these four commanders can light the fuse."

"Sir, we've mentioned the civilians," said Beasley. "What about threat force composition and disposition?"

"You mean bad guys guarding the place?" asked Brown, poking fun at Beasley's formality. The team sergeant didn't talk much, but when he did, it was always by the book.