Strike Force Zulu - Chapter 4: 04:15 March 31st

Richard pulled out of the Loaf’n’Jug after fueling his Subaru up and grabbing a cup of coffee. Turning on to Highway 285, he began the hour and a half to two hour drive down the hill into town. Richard snorted mentally thinking about the term “down the hill.” For whatever reason, the locals called the drive down the mountainous path that. It seemed rather ridiculous to call dropping over three thousand feet in elevation going down a hill. While the front range of mountains on the eastern side of the Rockies that separated the higher peaks from the plains of Colorado might be called foothills by some, their majesty deserved more than the appellation of hills in his opinion.

Traffic was light this early in the morning, with only the occasional vehicle travelling in the opposite direction. Most people might be put off by the long commute, but those who chose to live in the mountains gladly did so. Unpolluted air, great views, few neighbors, amongst others things, were the trade off for needing to drive such long amounts of time to get into town. It also allowed Richard time to think and decompress. After so many years in the military with a plethora of combat missions, that time was precious.

Not to mention, when the sun was up and you could actually see, the sights one could see while driving were more than worthwhile. Richard took a sip of his coffee and passed through the traffic light in Pine Junction. There were not many of those along this route, only two as a matter of fact. This was another huge advantage to the commute. Not until one was actually down in town did on really encounter such things. From the light at the intersection of County Road 43 and Highway 285, this was the only such impediment along the drive. One could pass through Aspen Park, Conifer, Morrison, as well as untold small communities that did not have the advantage of an official name before dealing with them.

Richard let his mind wander a bit, thinking of the new job and why he had taken it. He had always loved computers and working with them. Even though he had been extremely busy as the commander of the SOAR, he had always tinkered with computers, servers, network switches and the like. He had spent as much time as he could with the communication guys that set up the Tactical Operations Commands and data hubs learning what he could. He had even gone to a few classes and certification courses. So when all was said and done, in addition to his pilot’s license, Richard held a few different CompTIA certifications like A+, Server+, Network+, Security+, and CASP before he got out. He had even taken and successfully passed the CISSP just before getting out.

It was that final certification that had landed him his current job. Certified Information System Security Practitioners were almost the Doctorates of the Information Technology world. It was not an easy one to obtain. Most considered the CompTIA certifications as inclusive ones. Anyone who had the money could quite easily take the exam for it, and if they passed it, receive the certification. However, the CISSP was an exclusive certification. There were all sorts of prerequisites, such as amount of experience in differing fields, which had a minimum threshold across the disciplines as well as a total amount minimum of seven years.

This included everything from Security and Risk Management, Asset Security, Security Engineering, Communications and Network Security, Identity and Access Management, Security Assessment and Testing, Security Operations, and Software Development Security. It had even included Physical Security. One had to find a current CISSP holder to act as a sponsor, you had to swear to uphold a code of ethics, and if it was found that you had violated that code, your certification would be rescinded. People would often study for the exam for over a year before committing to the exam. Even then, the failure rate was astoundingly high.

Richard had met Mike Ortega, his current employer, about ten years before during a recovery mission in the Stans. Mike had been the mission leader of some green beanies, the US Army Special Forces, also known as the Green Berets, back then. Of course following Murphy’s Law, the mission had taken a turn to the south and they were pretty well screwed. They had gone in to acquire some intel, and their source had been burned. The enemy had been prepared and waiting for them. Not too long into the mission, they had found themselves in a narrow canyon, ambushed, and dying. Mike had called in for artillery support, air support, everything he could, and while normally SOTF guys had first call for that stuff, everything was already tasked supporting another mission and could not be retasked.

Richard was in theatre with his boys, but they were already engaged in supporting that other mission and could not break away to get in and get Mike’s team out. So Richard had grabbed his gear and headed to the flight line. He saw a Blackhawk being worked on by its chewchief and ground crew. He had run over, told them he needed the bird now for an immediate mission and ordered the crewchief to close everything up and get ready to fly. Within minutes, the slick was prepped and in the air. They had been flying for almost five minutes before the radio call came in asking them what the hell they were doing.

Richard had calmly told them he was going in to get that team out. When his boys heard their CO was in the air and going to the other mission, two of the supporting Little Birds peeled off and immediately went to support him after informing SOCOM of their intent. Those pilots knew that they would not be able to get there before their commanding officer, but they would be hot on his heels. There was little to no chance that a slick, an unmodified helicopter, with no real weaponry to note of, just the standard M-60Ds the doorgunner and crewchief would use, would be able to get in and out unscathed without support.

Flying Knap of the Earth (NoE), was one of the specialties of the 160th, and Richard had been keeping the aircraft as low as he could flying up into the mountains where Mike and his team were. There were advantages and disadvantages to using this approach. While it kept the enemy from seeing the helicopter from any sort of real distance, it also meant they were low enough, that should anyone with a bad attitude decide to open up on them, it was highly likely they would get hit. It was one of the reasons, that the SOAR normally did this sort of stuff at night. Luckily, nothing happened while they were in route, but Richard still shuddered slightly thinking how lucky they had been.

When they were ten minutes out from where Mike and his team were, a flight of fast movers, broke off the other mission as it was ending and Richard’s boys had everyone aboard that was coming aboard, and hit the afterburners in an attempt to get to Mike’s site right fucking then. Five minutes out, Mike popped green smoke just as the A-10s were going BRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAPPPPP along the hillsides around the team. Two minutes out, the Little Birds popped up over the hill and opened up with their remaining rockets and gun pods further adding to the whirlwind of death. Finally, Richard came in low along the valley, and quickly oriented himself to the smoke and set down. The 60 in the back was blaring, tracers going out and coming in.

As Mike and his team, both living and dead were boarding or being placed aboard, the enemy was close enough that Richard pulled his pistol and was firing through the small sliding window of his door. He remembered someone yelling, “Go! Go! Go! Everyone is on!” He remembered pulling the collective and yanking the cyclic as soon as he could, quickly spinning the bird on its axis as it began gaining speed. He could still feel the thumps to this day as the helicopter took rounds as they got out of there. While Richard got his ass royally reamed in private, he also received a Silver Star for his bravery. The crewchief had been hit in the shoulder but had continued firing before slumping unconscious after they had left the landing zone. He lived and had received a Purple Heart for his wound and a Bronze Star for his actions that day.

Mike had made it a point to visit Richard later once things had settled down and the two quickly became friends. Mike went on to other missions before getting out a few years before Richard. He had moved up to Denver from Fort Carson where he ETSed, started his own company, and was doing pretty well when he heard Richard was getting out too. Mike had asked Richard about his prospects, and when Richard had told him honestly, that he wasn’t sure, Mike made the offer immediately. Richard asked about the position and then talked it over with Cathy. They finished up their processing in Georgia and moved out to Colorado not after.

Coming back to the current day, Richard realized he had almost driven the entire way to the NOC while he reminisced about the past. Smiling faintly, he focused on the traffic that was starting to pick up now that he was through the narrows at the bottom of the hill.