Mission Log: "War"
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Nikita's apartment...
 Nikita is working out. She is unaware that someone lurks outside on the terrace, watching her from around a corner via a small, hand-held mirror. She stops, drinks from a bottle of water, removes all of her clothing save a leotard. Moving to the bathroom, she shakes her hair loose from a ponytail. An intruder enters through open balcony doors as Nikita enters the bathroom. Nikita, now nude and toweling herself off, hears something She gently closes the bathroom door, turns on the shower. She picks up an aerosol can and a lighter, turns off the bathroom light, steps into a towel closet.
Two men enter the bathroom. They are black-clad and their faces are covered. They both fire repeatedly into the shower stall. Nikita emerges from her hiding place. Spraying the aerosol, she flicks the lighter into life and the spray bursts into flames. She torches one man in the face. He falls, dropping his gun. She picks it up, shoots the second man before he can get a clear shot at her.
Slipping out of the bathroom, Nikita sees a shadow move across the floor of her living room. She leaves by the bedroom window, steals along the fire escape, as the third man enters the bedroom. Nikita reaches her terrace, sees the third man through the open balcony doors, and shoots him.
The telephone rings. She jumps at the sound, then enters her apartment, picks up the phone.
VOICE OF MICHAEL: Josephine.
NIKITA: Michael. What's going on?
VOICE OF MICHAEL: Come in.
NIKITA: I've been compromised.
VOICE OF MICHAEL: Is it under control?
NIKITA: I think so.
VOICE OF MICHAEL: Come in.

Section One...
Entering the Common Area, Nikita spots Madeline.
NIKITA: Madeline, what's going on?
MADELINE: We're under attack. Operatives are being hit worldwide. Section is being evacuated.
They reach Systems, where other operatives are gathered. Operations enters.
OPERATIONS: Red Cell broke our Directory. They've launched an invasion.
BIRKOFF: Three more agents have been hit. One in Tokyo, two in Hong Kong.
OPERATIONS: We'll break into two-man cells. Get your specific assignments from Birkoff. We have to locate their Command Central before they find ours. We're moving to a substation.
MADELINE: If you are taken, and some of you will be, Red Cell will do anything to make you talk. You cannot give them the location of the substation. Therefore, it will be kept secret, even from you.
OPERATIONS: Understand this very clearly. We're at war, and right now we are losing.

Red Cell: Initially described as a rogue faction out of North Korea, Red Cell becomes Section One's most persistent and dangerous foe during Seasons Three and Four. Dominic, The Cardinal, and numerous other villains work for or are affiliated with Red Cell. In Season 4, Section's capture of the Cardinal, as well as the death of Red Cell's director and the destruction of their base of operations, more or less puts the organization out of business.

The Directory: The master list of all Section One operatives, including their locations, psych profiles, etc. It nearly falls into the wrong hands in "Gray" and was not recovered.

Section One, Communications...
Michael and Nikita approach Birkoff, who is at his work station.
BIRKOFF: One of our operatives was working counterintel in Tunisia, managed to send a message before he got hit.
An image appears on Birkoff's screen.
MICHAEL: Garsha.
BIRKOFF: He brokers assassins. Red Cell must have given him a massive contract when they cracked the Directory.
MICHAEL: Do we have an address?
BIRKOFF: Rabat, Morocco.
MICHAEL: Good.
Michael and Nikita start to walk away.
BIRKOFF: Michael. Operations wants to see you before you leave. Alone.
Michael glances at Nikita, then leaves her.

Section One, Munitions...
Walter is feverishly packing items into large storage bins as Nikita walks in.
NIKITA: Hi, Walter.
WALTER: I don't have enough boxes.
NIKITA: Well, just take the important stuff, leave the rest.
WALTER: Everything is important! They've given me twenty minutes. I can't do it. What's the difference? We're all going to get whacked anyway.
NIKITA: Don't say that.
WALTER: It's true. Oh they won't tell you that. No, they got to go through their procedures. But our safety net is not adequate to repel this kind of attack. We ought to stay right here and fight it out.
Nikita glances across the Commons to The Perch, sees Michael standing with Madeline and Operations. As Michael turns to leave, Operations looks down, spots Nikita, and stares at her.

Section One, Van Access...
Nikita and Michael are rounding a corner to enter the corridor leading to Van Access when Michael
 takes her arm and pulls her back.
MICHAEL: Nikita, the location of the substation.
NIKITA: What about it?
MICHAEL: I want you to know where it is.
NIKITA: I thought Operations wanted it kept a secret.
MICHAEL: If something happens to me, I want you to go there. It's the only safe place. It's the sub-basement of an abandoned rendering plant at the end of the canal in Frankfurt.

Rabat, Morocco...
Nikita and Michael pass through an archway into the courtyard of an ancient caravanserie. There are people scattered throughout the courtyard. Smoking a cigarette, Garsha emerges from a tent. He speaks briefly to another man, then strolls away. Nikita bumps into him.
NIKITA: Excuse me. Sorry.
Garsha is distracted by Nikita just long enough for Michael to slip up behind him and jam a pistol into his ribs.
MICHAEL: Please come with us.
They walk to a secluded part of the courtyard. Michael pushes Garsha against a wall, presses the barrel of his pistol under the man's jaw. Nikita stands on the other side of Garsha, blocking this from the view of anyone in the courtyard.
MICHAEL: Who is your contact and how do you get paid?
GARSHA: I don't know what you're talking about.
MICHAEL: Step back, Nikita.
Nikita nods and steps away.
GARSHA: Wait! I get paid from an office at the back of a warehouse.
MICHAEL: On your knees.
When Garsha doesn't move fast enough, Nikita kicks him behind the knees, and Garsha drops. Michael puts the gun to the back of Garsha's head. Garsha raises his hands.
GARSHA: I've got no reason to lie. It's where Red Cell does all their business. All their records, whatever you want, is there.
MICHAEL, pulling Garsha to his feet: Show us.

Rabat, Morocco, a warehouse...
Nikita scales an exterior wall, reaching the roof. Down below, Michael holds Garsha at gunpoint.
MICHAEL: Are there any guards.
GARSHA: Maybe.
Nikita uses a laser to cut a hole in a window, reaches in to unlatch the window and climbs in. Negotiating a labyrinth of girders high above the warehouse floor, she sees a shadow move in the lighted window of a small room. The man steps out of the room. He is armed. He looks around, then goes back inside. Nikita drops onto the roof the small room. The man emerges, looks up at the roof. Nikita jumps to the warehouse floor and, as the man spins around, she shoots him. She enters the room cautiously.
NIKITA, crouched just inside the room: I'm in.
MICHAEL, to Garsha: Where do they keep the records?
GARSHA: In a safe at the far end of the room.
NIKITA, reaching the safe: It's open.
There is nothing in the safe of interest. Nikita notices a smaller safe atop the larger one. She reaches for the small safe's handle, begins to open the door. There is an explosion, a blinding flash of light, and she is knocked down.
Outside, Garsha makes a run for it. Michael shoots him, and Garsha tumbles down a slope.
Inside, Nikita is grabbed by two men. She struggles fruitlessly as they drag her away.

Section substation...
Madeline finds Operations and Birkoff watching Michael on a monitor.
MICHAEL: We found Garsha.
OPERATIONS: And?
MICHAEL: He brought us to a location. When we were trying to penetrate, Nikita was grabbed.
OPERATIONS: Is she alive?
MICHAEL: I don't know. Should we bring in a team?
OPERATIONS: Go alone.

Rabat, Morocco, the warehouse...
The two Red Cell men drag Nikita up some stairs. They have placed a hood over her head. She is strapped to a steel board rigged to stand upright. Electrodes are attached to her head, throat and hands; they feed a vital signs monitor attached to the rear of the board. Dominic approaches, and the hood is removed from Nikita's head.
DOMINIC: Good. You look at me. You realize it's important to know the inquisitor. You're well-trained. Even now, even here, you look to find an edge. What do you see? Tell me. What will soften my heart? Tears? Courage? (He moves closer, holding up a PDA) I have your file. Josephine. Right here in my hand is everything Section knows about you. It says here that you're strong-willed. They consider that both your greatest strength and your Persian flaw. Doesn't always follow orders. Thinks for herself. A highly-developed sense of honor. I like this one -- fair play. I need to know the location of Section One's new command-and-control. Where did Section relocate?
NIKITA: Toledo. Everything's controlled from Toledo. Spain, not Ohio.
DOMINIC, smiling: Your file doesn't indicate a sense of humor. That should be updated.
NIKITA: I'll be sure to tell them.
Dominic turns and begins walking. The two guards roll the board, which is on wheels attached to a track, along the catwalk after him. They approach a cage, suspended from above, and filled with rats.
DOMINIC: I am told that everybody is afraid of something. Something that causes an emotion beyond terror, a horror that defies description or definition. The senses shut down. The mind leaves the body. And reason is no more. Do you believe that?
Nikita stares fearfully at the rats.
DOMINIC: I looked at your file. I know where your fear lives. (He touches her face) Can't take your eyes off them, can you? (He walks behind the contraption to which Nikita is secured, checks the monitor) Look at my meters. The files were accurate.
NIKITA: It's an abandoned military base.
DOMINIC: What?
NIKITA: Remote command-and-control for Section One. It's camouflaged as a garbage scow. Go check.
DOMINIC: I don't have to. It's a lie. You're not ready to tell the truth yet. Just in a bit. This is a very simple technique. (He touches the cage) The cage fits onto your head. I will remove the wire screen and torch the rats. I'm told they'll do anything to get away from the fire. Anything, including eat through you, to escape. Of course, this is all theory. It's going to be a first for both of us.
The guards push her closer to the cage. Her face fits into an opening, and she gasps with fear as the screen separating her from the rats is removed. As a flame is applied to their end of the cage, the rats scurry towards her, and she screams...
The guards push herscreen separating her from the rats is removed. As a flame is applied to their end of the cage, the rats scurry towards her, and she screams...
Elsewhere in the warehouse, a Red Cell guard hurtles to his door over the railing of a staircase. From above, Michael watches impassively as the body falls.

Persian flaw: Dominic speaks of Nikita's "Persian flaw," a reference to the ancient practice of Persian rugmakers to deliberately weave a flaw into their product, in the belief that only God can make something perfect. (Dominic's line has frequently been transcripted as "personal flaw" both here and elsewhere.)

Section substation...
Operations is on the phone, clearly agitated. Madeline and Walter are nearby.
OPERATIONS: Why not, George? That's not good enough. We are under fire, they are not. Then bring it to them. Get it signed off. I don't need to hear that. This conversation is over, George.
WALTER: Let me guess. They're hanging us out to dry.
OPERATIONS: In effect.
WALTER: I knew it. They'll treat us like an infected limb. Cut us off without even blinking.
OPERATIONS: No one's getting cut off.
WALTER: Oh, do you believe that?
OPERATIONS: Look, Walter. We're in a situation. If you have something constructive to contribute,
I'm all ears. If not, do your job and stay out of my face.
WALTER: What gives you the right to talk to people like that?
OPERATIONS: I'm in command. That's what. You want to try to relieve me? (He puts his pistol in Walter's hand) Go ahead.
MADELINE: Are you two finished? Because all that stands between Section One and extinction are the decisions we make right now. We have to be clear-headed, not divisive.
WALTER, backing down: Nobody's challenging your authority. I...I'm just worked up. (He hands the pistol back to Operations)
MADELINE: We all are, Walter.

George: Head of Oversight, and Operations' immediate superior. George knows that the ambitious Operations wants his job, but doesn't actively pursue countermeasures until he discovers that Operations and Madeline were involved in the disappearance of Adrian, with whom George had had a relationship. Throughout Season Four George plots to destroy Operations and/or Section, while Operations schemes to do away with George. In the end, Operations is successful when George, in his zeal to dispose of his rival, leaks intel to Red Cell, and is caught.

Rabat, Morocco, the warehouse...
Michael is working his way through the warehouse. He kills a Red Cell guard, descends a flight of stairs and kills another guard. A grenade comes rolling down the stairs. Michael dives, rolls, but he's not quick enough -- the explosion renders him half-conscious. Two Red Cell guards seize him and drag him away.
Nikita's head is removed from the rat cage. Her face is covered with scratches and bites. Dominic examines her closely, then turns to one of his men.
DOMINIC: She won't crack. Kill her.
Two other Red Cell men drag Michael up the stairs to the catwalk. When she sees Michael, Nikita's heart begins to race.
DOMINIC: A rescue attempt by a fellow operative. How romantic. (Hearing the monitors, he checks Nikita's vital signs) Don't kill her just yet. Put them both in the cages. Find out who he is, and why he is on this heroic mission.
Michael is put into a cage suspended from the ceiling. Nikita is placed in another cage right alongside. Dominic and the Red Cell guards leave the catwalk.
MICHAEL: How are you holding up?
Nikita doesn't respond.
MICHAEL: I'm sorry, Nikita.
Dominic returns.
DOMINIC, excited: Michael, this is a very impressive file. It also indicates that there's a certain closeness between you and Nikita. You are her guide and mentor. Perhaps something more. Now I want to try and save time and any further discomfort for either of you. Section will be breached. We have other Section operatives. One of them will break. When they do, you will be killed. Right now, I can make this easy on everyone. I can offer you money, new identities, a safe place to live.
Michael stares impassively at Dominic.
DOMINIC: Oh well. Don't say I didn't try. So, Michael -- it says here that you're subject to dreams. Nightmares. Perhaps that has something to do with the death of your child.
Startled, Nikita looks up. Dominic notices her reaction, kneels in front of her cage.
DOMINIC: Oh, you didn't know? Yes. His wife, Simone, had a boy, but unfortunately the child died. It seems that Michael thought that somehow Section One was involved. Now, why would he think that? Perhaps because Section believes that having a child might alter the effectiveness of an operative. That's very sad.
Angry that he can elicit no response from his captives, Dominic turns to his guards.
DOMINIC: Take him.
The Red Cell guards remove Michael from his cage and drag him down the stairs.

Simone: A Section One operative and Michael's wife. He believes she was killed by Glass Curtain during a mission, only to discover in "Simone" that she is still alive, and has been held captive for three years. When Michael frees her, Simone seeks vengeance against her tormentor, Errol Sparks, and (apparently) dies in the process.

Section substation...
Operations is on the phone.
OPERATIONS: All right. I hear you, George. Oh, yeah. (Disconnecting, he turns to Madeline) We're on our own. Birkoff, where are you with the Zurich operatives?
BIRKOFF: The ones that survived the initial hit are safe and in passage.
OPERATIONS: And North Africa?
BIRKOFF: Nothing's changed. We won't know until tomorrow.
MADELINE: There's nothing we can do for now. Why don't you get some rest?
OPERATIONS: I couldn't.
BIRKOFF: What's going to happen?
OPERATIONS: What do you mean?
BIRKOFF: If we can't maintain structural integrity?
WALTER: You mean if we lose? If Section One goes down we all go down with it.
BIRKOFF, nervously: What do you mean? All of us in here are still safe, right?
WALTER, to Operations: Go on, tell him the truth. He deserves it.
OPERATIONS: If we don't sustain critical mass of our personnel, the Agency will disenfranchise.
BIRKOFF: What about survivors?
OPERATIONS: No. The risks are too high.
MADELINE: We'll be exterminated. All of us. But let's hope that doesn't happen.


Rabat, Morocco, the warehouse...
Red Cell guards drag Michael up the stairs and deposit him in his cage. He has been badly beaten.
NIKITA, a whisper: Oh...Michael.
Michael begins rocking the cage sideways. When it's close enough to Nikita's cage, he reaches through the wire and holds the two cages close together.
MICHAEL: We're okay so far. When I was in there, and it started to get bad...
NIKITA: Michael, don't. Save your strength.
MICHAEL: I thought I was going to break, but I didn't. I thought of you. You're the only one of us who still has a soul. I'm sorry, Nikita. We'll never leave this place alive. I don't know what love is anymore. But the only part of me that's not dead is you.
Nikita touches his fingers. Dominic arrives.
DOMINIC: Very touching. Both of you, so strong! So committed!
He kicks the cages, separating them. He hands a black case to one of his men, who holds it so that Dominic can open it and remove a vial and syringe. Two guards remove Michael from his cage and strap him to the steel board that Nikita had earlier been bound to.
DOMINIC: Michael's greatest fear is that he will dishonor himself.
NIKITA: Why don't you just kill him?
DOMINIC, filling the syringe with the contents of the vial: I am going to fill his mind with madness. Later, I will dump him on the streets of some remote city and let him wander. (He looks at Michael) This is your hell.
NIKITA: He won't tell you!
DOMINIC: Amongst the gibberish he'll speak. He'll reveal the location.
NIKITA, shaking her head: He won't break.
Dominic jabs the syringe needle deep into Michael's neck.
DOMINIC: Then we both just watch him go mad.
NIKITA: Please!
DOMINIC: Tell me the location.
NIKITA, lowering her head: Frankfurt, Germany.
DOMINIC: Louder, so I can hear.
MICHAEL: Nikita, no!
NIKITA, crying: It's the subbasement of an abandoned rendering plant at the end of the canal in Frankfurt, Germany.
Dominic removes the syringe from Michael's neck.
DOMINIC, to the guards: Put him back in the cage. (He turns to Nikita) Until I check the information.
Dominic and the guards leave.
NIKITA: Michael?
Michael fails to respond.

Rabat, Morocco, the warehouse...
In his office, Dominic and the Red Cell field commander consult a map.
COMMANDER: It's a difficult area to defend. They are vulnerable here, here and here.
DOMINIC: Good.
COMMANDER: We can start mobilizing now, or we can wait until nightfall.
DOMINIC: Time is their weakness, not cover of darkness. Go now.

Section substation...
Op012erations arrives at Birkoff's station.
BIRKOFF: The sims are completed. Right now we're running at a forty percent loss expectation.
OPERATIONS: That's too many bodies. Extrapolate that over the next ten hours.
BIRKOFF: Assuming we keep mobilizing at the same rate, the projected loss will drop dramatically in about ninety minutes.
OPERATIONS, turning to Madeline: How are we doing in Europe?
MADELINE: The initial wave of hits sustained the most damage. We lost eight locations. Everyone else is webbed into secondary sites.
OPERATIONS: Can we bring them here?
MADELINE: Transport is already on it.
OPERATIONS: Get them here as soon as you can. There's going to be a bloodbath.

Rabat, Morocco, the warehouse...
Nikita and Michael are in their respective cages.
MICHAEL: You told them.
Nikita doesn't respond.
MICHAEL: It doesn't matter. We've got to get out of here.
He takes something that resembles a piece of wire from his collar, bends it, wedges it against the bar that holds the two sections of the cage floor together.
MICHAEL: Cover your eyes.
The device flares, melting the bar. Michael kicks the cage floor sections apart and drops to the ground below. A guard is patrolling along a catwalk; Michael slips beneath the catwalk, waits until the guard is overhead, then reaches up and pulls him down. The man falls awkwardly, lies still. Michael takes his gun and returns to Nikita's cage.
MICHAEL: Get back.
He shoots open the lock and Nikita kicks open the floor sections, jumps down into Michael's arms. He sets her down, turns to go, but she reaches out to stop him.
NIKITA: Michael, what's going on?
MICHAEL: Later. We've got to go.
They run -- down a corridor. Nikita hears Dominic's voice.
VOICE OF DOMINIC: As soon as you're certain, let me know. I'll clean up here and join you.
MICHAEL: Forget him. We're finished here. We can't do anything to interfere.
NIKITA: Interfere> With what?
MICHAEL: Our job is to get back to Section.
Nikita turns and heads toward the sound of Dominic's voice.
MICHAEL: Nikita, no.
She ignores him, finds a doorway at the head of stairs leading down into Dominic's office. Dominic is seated at his desk. He looks up, sees her, reaches for his gun, but realizes she has the drop on him, and sets the gun back down on the desk.
DOMINIC: I've read your file. You won't shoot unless provoked.
NIKITA, coldly: They're going to have to update my file.
She fires. Dominic sprawls back in his chair.

Section substation...
Operations and Birkoff are watching a monitor that shows a truck pull up outside the Frankurt rendering plant.
BIRKOFF: It's starting.
They watch the Red Cell assault team -- dozens of men, pouring out of the trucks.
OPERATIONS: Have the perimeter troops fire and pull back.
As the Red Cell assault team enters the building, a handful of Section ops open fire on them, retreating. The Section ops are cut down and the Red Cell troops advance.
BIRKOFF: They're in.

Rabat, Morocco, the warehouse...
Michael and Nikita are reunited; the former watches for hostiles as Nikita reloads.
NIKITA:Michael, we have to notify the Section that their location has been revealed.
MICHAEL: They already know.
NIKITA: Already know? How?
Michael just looks at her, and moves on.

Section substation...
Heavy steel doors close to seal off the command room. As he walks by Birkoff's station, Operations gives Birkoff a reassuring pat on the head...
Close by, the Red Cell assault team is moving deeper into the complex. One uses a rocket launcher to open a steel door. The  Red Cell men rush into another room filled with tables that are laden with computers and other equipment. But there are no Section personnel. The assault team crowds into the room, puzzled, waiting for orders. Secondary steel portals suddenly close off the exits. The field commander notices a camera high up in a corner. He stares into it -- and then his image is obliterated by the white light of an explosion.

Rabat, Morocco, the warehouse...
Nikita confronts Michael.
NIKITA, furious: You used me. You fed me the location thinking I'd crack under torture.
MICHAEL: We knew you wouldn't crack. That's why I was sent in.
NIKITA: What about all your words?  (Michael doesn't respond)  I finally get it. I finally know what attracts me to you. It's the character you pretend to be. The real Michael would disgust me, I'm sure.
MICHAEL: Can we finish this later?
NIKITA, grabbing his arm as he turns to ascend some stairs: We're finished!
They climb the stairs. A Red Cell guard appears out of nowhere and shoots. Nikita cries out, falls. Michael whirls, kills the Red Cell guard.

Section, a corridor...
Section is bustling with activity, as Operations and Madeline walk down a corridor.
OPERATIONS: Have Birkoff flush all databases. We'll put together a new Directory in the morning.
MADELINE: We'll also want to implement measures to restore morale. Our people have to get past their losses as quickly as possible in order to return to status quo.
OPERATIONS: Yes. In the meanwhile let's pump up the recruitment.
Walter and Birkoff are entering Section.
WALTER: Clayton didn't make it either?
BIRKOFF: No. You have my backups?
WALTER" Yeah, yeah. I got them stashed. I'll get them to you.

Section, Medical...
Operations and Madeline enter an observation room. Nikita is asleep on a gurney. She's hooked up to monitors. Michael stands beside her, gazing at her face, covered with bruises, scratches and bites.
MADELINE: How is she doing?
MICHAEL: Better than any of us.
Operations and Madeline look at Nikita, then one another, and leave the room. Michael circles the gurney, bends down, his face close to hers.
MICHAEL, a whisper: It wasn't all a lie.
He kisses her gently, straightens, and turns away.

End

Written by Maurice Hurley

Guest stars:
James Faulkner.....Dominic
Costa Kamateros.....Garsha

Transcript by Jason M.