Zulu Squad

It was silent as the dawn approached on the Bragmen’s airforce base. For the soldiers on watch, it was another uneventful night. Their shift would soon end, and they would return to the barracks. To get some much needed rest. As they patrolled the perimeter, they scanned the grounds for any intruders or enemy agents. But they never really expected any. They hardly bothered looking up at the sky, why would they? They had a powerful radar scouring the area for anything that put off a heat signature and a control tower full of trained air traffic controllers armed with binoculars and spotlights. There was no known aircraft that could breach the base without being detected, stealth or otherwise

As the clock hit 06:20, the shift rotation began. Tired soldiers began making their way inside as the ATC’s in the tower were swapped out.

“Another uneventful night,” A tired soldier muttered as he shouldered his rifle and started walking toward the armory to return his weapons. However, he paused as he heard a whistling noise. He swore it sounded like a jet, but quickly dismissed that thought as it was impossible. Civilian aircraft didn’t fly this close to the base, and no enemy craft could’ve gotten close enough to be heard without being intercepted. Yet, the noise continued. It even grew stronger as time passed. The man turned to look out toward the mountains on the horizon but saw nothing. He was just about to turn and leave figuring that he was overtired when the distinct and unmistakable sound of turbojet engines pierced his ears. A powerful and continuous gust of wind nearly blew him over. He struggled to maintain his balance as he looked up to see the blackened silhouette of a large fighter jet hovering above him. He was stunned, unsure of what to do. He started to reach for his radio when a section of the plane’s belly seemed to split open, revealing some kind of cargo hold. A pair of missiles streaked out of the hold before striking the base’s power plant and radar dish. Instantly, the entire facility was left defensless and in the dark. The soldier reached for his radio, but froze as three figures dropped out of the hold. Dawned in armor unlike anything he’d seen before, the trio of invaders rushed out from under their craft. The first two ignored him, opting to rush the base instead at a speed that he was sure couldn’t have been humanly possible. The third however, calmly walked up to him. Deciding that lethal force was warranted, the man drew his service pistol and discharged three rounds. The first struck the invader’s helmet, while the other two struck his chest. All three however, bounced off of the armor as if they were little more than an annoyance. The shadowy figured backhanded the defender of the base, knocking him to the ground and rendering him unconscious.

When the man came to, he found that the aircraft was gone, the sun was well above the horizon and his fellow soldiers were scrambling around the base in an effort to clean up the mess that had been left in the wake of the attack. A small group of field medics made their way toward him in a green jeep. When they arrived, he insisted that he was fine before demanding to see his commanding officer.

Once back at the barracks, the man’s commander approached him, “Did you see anything? Anything at all?”

“They had a VTOL capable fighter, and some sort of battle armor that just shrugs off small arms fire…” He noted as he looked down at his holstered service pistol. “Sir, what happened?”

“We were raided… they cleaned out a third of our armory, and nobody was able to get a good look at them. With the radar down, there was no way to track the enemy.”

“What about our fighters?”

“We were able to scramble a pair of hornets, but they weren’t able to keep up. In fact, they could hardly even see it on radar. Whatever hit us was big, fast and has stealth capabilities like we’ve never seen. They were pretty bold to launch an attack on us this deep in the country. But in light of recent events, it’s pretty obvious why they were so confident.”

“Sir, I don’t understand. If that really was a foreign enemy fighter, how could it have struck us here? In Colorado? Just to get here undetected is virtually impossible, and even if that weren’t the case they’d still run out of fuel. Nothing could have flown this deep into U.S. territory that fast without needing to refuel.”

“There’s a lot we don’t know about the situation,” The commander admitted. “For now, report to your squad leader and assist in the repair work.”

“Sir!” With that, the soldier scrambled off to join his fellow airmen.

The commander turned to look up into the sky, “Three attacks in less than two months?” he thought. “This isn’t just some ragtag bunch of terrorists. Their efficient and clearly have an agenda and technology that far surpasses our own. But the question still remains, why are they doing this? And who are they?”

In the rocky mountains, the sound of a jet fighter thundering across the sky, echoed through the mountains. A black and white fighter plane, resembling a tomcat, gracefully sliced through the mountains. The pilot in the front seat calmly eased the stick left as a particularly large mountain came into view. He came out of the canyon formed by the mountains on either side of him before leveling the plane out. All that stood between him and the snowcapped mountain was a large pool of water that reflected the sky and an inverted reflection of the mountain itself. In the second seat, directly behind the pilot sat a copilot. The literal backseat driver began busily flipping switches and turning knobs as the pilot eased back on the thrust. As the aircraft crossed the lack and neared the mountain, a trial of water vapor chased the supersonic craft. At the halfway point, a small section of the mountain suddenly opened itself. The pilot flipped a pair of switches and eased a dial from left to right before pulling back on the throttle. In response, the aircraft’s wings opened moved themselves from a swept back position to a more open and conventional position. Vents resembling gills along the plane’s belly opened up on either side of the aircraft and began bellowing hot air out. Another small door near the aircrafts nose also opened and began to pour hot air out of its opening.

As a result, the fighter had changed to fly more like a helicopter. The pilot demonstrated his skill and knowledge of his craft as he rotated the plane in midair as though it were on a turntable, while at the same time lowering the wheels in preparation for landing. Before long the plane had completely turned itself to face the entrance that it had come through as its wheels gently touched down. The sound of the turbines spooling down echoed throughout the hangar as the doors began to close, concealing the secret hanger from the world once more.