Strike Back Episode 2.02 Episode 12

Still surrounded by enemies and in the lair of a Somali warlord, Sgt. Damien Scott and SGT Michael Stonebridge raise their weapons when Rachel McMillian, the woman they believed was a hostage victim, trains her gun directly on them! She fires bullets past their heads into an armed fighter standing behind them. Return fire rings out as Waabri's militia close in on the group and there's no time for questions. Decimating Waabri's hideout to escape further enrages his men and the group must steal a van and break free. Only then does Rachel reveal her true identity: Cpt. Rachel Dalton, a British Military Intelligence agent. In the crib, Mjr. Oliver Sinclair contradicts a direct order from above to find a chopper to fly their men out of Mogadishu as soon as possible.

Elsewhere, determined mercenaries Carl Matlock and Jessica Kohl implore Waabri to make a deal with them: hand over the case and Waabri will become a very rich man, but al-Shabaab elder Axmali appeals to Waabri's waning religious fervour - surely he knows that the case belongs in the hands of Allah.

Dalton knows the Section 20 rescue of Scott would never have been officially sanctioned and uses this as leverage to take over Section 20s mission. But Waabri's placed a bounty on their heads: wanted, dead or alive. Now hunted, the group grasp any hope of escape, Scott tells Baxter to call an old CIA contact, Christy Bryant - she'll give them a safe house until Section 20 can arrange transport out.

Waabri inspects the contents of the case - four metallic orbs. He agrees to a trade with Matlock, unmoved by Axmali's appeals to give the case to al-Shabaab. At Section 20, Baxter successfully traces the call. On the ground, Dalton reveals her classified mission: she was tailing Keemal, the Libyan was believed to possess four neutron initiators - a valuable component of any functioning nuclear weapon. Surely Scott and Stonebridge now appreciate why that case cannot end up in the wrong hands? Galvanised, Scott and Stonebridge agree to accompany Dalton to the trade where they'll snatch the case from Waabri before the transaction can be completed. Sgt. Julia RICHMOND will shepherd British diplomat Burton along with Qaseem and Maxamed to the CIA safe house.

The group reach the safe house only to discover it's been breached. A skirmish with two bounty hunters leaves Qaseem shot and badly injured. When a third man appears Richmond is about to shoot, but Burton recognises Sulaimani, the apostle who helped Scott get into Mogadishu - he's one of the only men who might be able to help them... Sulaimani's donkey pulls his cart through the streets of Mogadishu towards Section 20s evacuation point, with Richmond, Burton and the boys stowed inside.

Back in the UK, Kerry Stonebridge receives a chilling visit from Craig Hanson, the brother of the Special Forces recruit Stonebridge shot dead, but Craig leaves when he discovers Stonebridge is elsewhere.

Waabri hands Matlock the case at the arranged exchange point, but neither party is prepared for Scott, Stonebridge and Dalton's orchestrated sabotage at the handover. Utter chaos unfolds and in the shoot-out that follows, Scott and Stonebridge snatch the case, regrouping with Richmond, Burton and the boys. Outnumbered and outgunned, the group's only chance of survival is by chopper. However, Sinclair's efforts to send a bird into Mogadishu have altered top brass that an unauthorized mission is in progress - the extraction is cancelled, Section 20 face reprimands and the soldiers are abandoned at their most vulnerable moment.

The group steal a cargo truck in a futile escape attempt, but face overwhelming fire from Waabri's militia on top of Matlock who flies down in a chopper to retrieve the triggers. Demonstrating brilliant ingenuity Waabri has swapped the triggers for dummies - when Scott realises, he allows Matlock to take the useless case and fly away. The team manage to stay alive just long enough for a convoy of Amisom vehicles to blast through a building, laying down a barrage of fire in their wake. Silence descends, when the dust clears, Section 20 and the Amisom officers are the only men left standing. Amisom are happy to take back control of Waabri's sector of Mogadishu.

Waabri never intended to bring Matlock the triggers - they'd already been passed to the al-Shabaab cleric, Axmali. In a plush Cape Town residence, Matlock meets billionaire businessman Conrad Knox. The empty case lays open on Knox's desk - he tells Matlock: I want those triggers back.

Back at base, Dalton is chastised-her mission was an utter failure. Despite her antagonism with Scott and Stonebridge, she robustly defends Section 20. So much so that when a new head of Section 20 is required, Dalton offered the role, much to Scott's chagrin.

A brush with death has persuaded Stonebridge that his new life is worth appreciating, he rushes back to Kerry and their reconciliation seems complete when a shot rings out. As Craig Hanson looks over his rifle at the revenge shot he just fired from over a kilometre away, Kerry lies dying in Stonebridge's arms.