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The Wild Geese
Colonel Allen Faulkner, a former British Army officer turned mercenary, meets with merchant banker Sir Edward Matherson in London. Matherson proposes the rescue of President Julius Limbani, the deposed leader of a southern African nation due for execution by General Ndofa. Limbani is held in a remote prison in Zembala, guarded by a regiment of General Ndofa's troops known as the "Simbas".
Faulkner accepts and begins recruiting mercenaries from his network of friends and colleagues, starting with Captain Rafer Janders, a skilled tactician and single father. They work with Matherson to save former Irish Guards lieutenant and pilot-turned-smuggler Shawn Fynn from American Mafia boss Mr. Martin. Faulkner recruits Sandy Young to act as sergeant-major and Fynn brings in Pieter Coetzee, formerly of the South African Defence Force (SADF), who plans to buy a farm with his earnings. The force of fifty mercenaries train in Swaziland under the harsh direction of Young. Faulkner promises to watch over Janders' only son Emile should he not survive.
Faulkner is forced to launch the mission with only a day's notice. The group parachute into Zembala by a HALO jump on Christmas Day. One group rescues the ailing Limbani from a heavily guarded prison while another seizes a small airfield to await extraction. Matherson, in London, cancels their flight unexpectedly, having secured copper mining assets from General Ndofa in exchange for Limbani. Stranded deep in hostile territory, the mercenaries suffer many killed, including Coetzee, as they fight their way through bush country pursued by the Simbas.
The mercenaries make their way to Limbani's home village, hoping to start a rebellion, but find the people too ill-equipped to fight. Father Geoghegen, an Irish missionary, informs the group of a Douglas Dakota transport aircraft they can escape in. The mercenaries suffer heavy casualties holding the Simbas off in a climactic battle while Fynn starts the Dakota's engines. Janders is shot in the leg, preventing him from boarding the departing aeroplane and Faulkner kills him to spare him from capture and torture. The thirteen surviving mercenaries land at Kariba Airport in Rhodesia but Limbani dies from a gunshot wound sustained during the escape.
Months later, Faulkner returns to London, having had various contracts put out on him by Matherson. With Fynn's help, he breaks into Matherson's home and confronts him. Faulkner takes the half a million dollars in Matherson's safe to compensate the survivors and the families of those killed in Zembala. Matherson tries to bribe Faulkner to spare his life but Faulkner kills him and escapes with Fynn. Faulkner fulfils his promise to Janders by visiting Emile at his boarding school.