He nodded almost imperceptibly. She then turned to other man. “And Moshe Levy. Both are experts in explosives, weaponry and combat.”

The three HAWCs examined each of the men. They appeared capable and if Adira had selected them, then they’d be as good as they looked.

“We’re in your hands … for now,” Alex said. “We should compare Intel, and then investigate the Mosul facility.”

“Tonight, we go in. Today, we scout the area and make a plan.” She half smiled, her eyes going to Casey and Sam. “Where we are going is into the belly of the beast – over a thousand fanatical jihadis, light and heavy weaponry, and unfriendly eyes everywhere. You walk around looking like that, you’ll have exhausted your ammunition before you even get inside the city walls.”

“What about the local population – any chance of friendlies?” Alex asked.

“Maybe once.” She tilted her head. “Most of the sectarian civilian population fled months ago. Those that stayed were either killed or learned quickly to become informants, sycophants, or themselves turned into butchers. Daily, the Hezar-Jihadi brings back captives to either sell as slaves, rape, torture, or simply execute for the enjoyment of the blood-hungry crowd and the western media. This place has been turned into hell, Captain Hunter.”

She walked to a large plastic bag and emptied it on the ground. Mounds of clothing piled on the floor of the cabin and she began sorting and then throwing garments at the HAWCs.

“Thawbs. Traditional robes of men in the area; it will conceal everything. One for each of us.” She tossed one to Casey. “You get one too as you can pass as a man.” She half smiled.

“No shit,” Casey said, snatching the robe from the air.

“Moshe, the map.” Adira moved to a small table.

Moshe Levy brought a tablet computer to the table and opened a satellite view of Mosul. He drilled down to the building they had targeted.

“In here.” Adira moved the image around, pointing at different sections of the street and other buildings. “There will be people watching. I would place them up here, in here, and here.” She looked up at Alex. “They need to be taken out first.”

Alex nodded. “But we go in together.”

“Then you better be quick.” She looked back down at the map. “In and out, because if we stall and get trapped inside, no one is coming to our aid.” She drew the image back to take in the entire city center, a sprawling metropolis, with many of the roads blocked now either by formal gates, or simply piled high with the rusting hulks of cars.

Adira looked at the HAWCs. “Which of you speaks Arabic?”

Sam nodded and said a few words to her.