07MAR02 O545

Forward Operating Base North of Jalalabad, Afghanistan.

Captain Richard A. Rodgers had always been a man who believed that what he was doing made a difference no matter what the scale. He stood in the operational hut of the most elite fighting unit the U.S. Army had ever trained and assembled. The Army Rangers had been his life since he had graduated college. As he waited for his XO, First Lieutenant Dean Mitchell he was thinking back to their last mission he was satisfied with its outcome. But now they had to plan a mission for the team and this is the time that he liked the most. The planning stage was the only way he could get to see all the obstacles and pitfalls his team might face.

"Captain Rodgers, Lieutenant Mitchell reporting as ordered sir."

"Dean, at ease. How are you doing?" Dean relaxes.

"Rick, I'm fine. Please don't worry about it! See look the arm is feeling like brand new now." He motions with his left arm moving up and down like a chicken would with its wing showing him the range of motion his arm now has. Dean knew that Rick would always place the blame for any mission going wrong upon himself and he needs to show him that he was fine. "Let's see what you have thought up for us." He says as he smiles at his friend.

It seemed that he did a lot of this lately and he was getting tired of it. He looked out towards the horizon. He had always liked the way the sun rose up showing its colors. The desert was a barren place, but he was here to do a job and do it he would. This personal mission that he had been a part of when he took his oath was what he thought at first was a moral one. Even though he had been on active duty long before the terrorists had attacked on 9/11 he had found that his sense of duty had become tainted, somewhat more now that he had been in the sandbox for far too long. His hands were tied and the upper brass knew it. But that wouldn't stop him from doing his duty.

"What's on your mind son?"

Rodgers drew himself away from the sunrise and turned to see Brigadier General Jackson Rodgers standing next to him. If anyone knew what he was feeling it was his father.

"General, I know that you're assigned to the rear echelon, but what are you doing all the way out here? Rick said with a grin knowing exactly why he was here. His father had always made it a point to see him before just about every mission he was a part of.

"What, can't a father come to see his son before a dangerous mission?" He said feigning a hurt look.

Rick just looked at the man who stood before him.

"You know what dad?"

"What Richard?"

"I kind of like when you come and see me before a mission. It helps calm me."

"I'm glad. Now, what has you so troubled?"

"Dad, I think it's time for me to get out of the sandbox. These raids are simply that, just raids. With all my training as a Delta Force operator, I can never see how they are still able to evade our strikes, to only escape and fight again another day."

"Captain, you are an elite solider, a graduate of West Point with honors I might add, you've completed top secret missions with success, you have led men into battle during Operation Gothic Serpent, you were an integral part in the capture of a very well known war criminal Karadžić, and all the raids that you've lead here up to this point."

"To me, it's not the same anymore. Honor has taken a back seat to the political decisions within the region."

"Son, think about what you'd be throwing away. I know that you think that there is no other way to solve these problems, but processing out is not the right answer. Think about this before you make any choices. You, my son, are a valuable asset to the Army."

"Dad, I need to get my crew ready for this mission. I know that you know from past experience that it's essential for me to plan this out for the best possible result. But I need to be alone while I do it. So, if there's nothing else General, permission to be dismissed."

Hunt looked at his son facing him standing at attention with a sharp salute in place. He returned the salute and dismissed him. As he left he hoped that he could see how this was the best thing for him but on the other hand he knew how he felt.

07MAR02 1045

Forward Operating Base, Jalalabad, Afghanistan.

Delta Force Operations Hut, Captain Rodgers Office

Rodgers sat at his field desk in the command tent of the Delta Force's area within the 75th Ranger Regiment. He'd reviewed the plan relentlessly for his next raid that would be initiated under the cover of darkness so when he was finished he would know it like the back of his hand as he would with any op he commanded. The raid would move out by 2200. He had the basic route set, now he needed to place his operators where they could do the most damage. They were tasked with retrieving members of Taliban's insurgents and possibly capture one in command of the compound. It was their primary objective and he knew that there could be collateral damage, but how much would depend on how well their compound had been guarded. There was always been the risk of him losing an operator under his command and he accepted it. He was just tired of not getting the results after all the effort he had put forth, just to come up empty handed. Then there was the political give and take that had always restricted his decisions for his men's safety and involvement in any strike. He had two sets of rules to follow and he couldn't deal with it anymore. He replayed the conversation with his father back in his head. He had been his CO for just about every major mission that he'd either been in charge of or been a member of. Coming to a decision he thought about it, this would be his last strike. He has more than enough time in to retire. So, he finalized the attack plan and called his men in for a briefing.

07MAR02 1330

Forward Operating Base, Jalalabad, Afghanistan.

Delta Force Operations Hut

"We are going to take out one of Al-Qaeda's strong holds. The intel that we have shown that there is a large presence of insurgents at this location. I'm going to have the snipers positioned here and here." Rick points to locations on the tactical map. "The rest of the assault team will be with me carrying out the raid. The terrain is treacherous and everyone needs to keep their eyes open for anything that might not look like it belongs. The UH-60's will commence flight ops by 2015. It will be a short trip and they will drop us at the LZ by 2230. There will be a hike for about one click east to their compound. During this time, the snipers will be in place in advance and we will commence the raid by 2345. Try to limit causalities. We want to be able to take as many of them as we can alive. Satellite imaging from six hours ago has the compound being very active. The best estimate is that there are at least 40 to 50 insurgents. Any questions?"

The team is silent. He knows that they will do whatever it takes to complete a successful and safe mission without being told what to do past the briefing.

"Well, we'll meet back here by 1930. Until then check your gear and try to relax."

Rick leaves his men to talk amongst themselves knowing that they needed to talk about the upcoming raid. He would have a meal and relax taking his own advice. He fell into a dreamless sleep and he woke before it was time to get ready for the raid. He met with his father one last time.

07MAR02 1815

Forward Operating Base, Jalalabad, Afghanistan.

General Rodgers' Visiting Office

"General, permission to enter?"

"Enter," Jackson said without looking up from the field report he was reading.

"Sir, if you have a minute I'd like to talk to you about resigning my commission."

This was not what Jackson wanted to hear. Of course, he would try to persuade his son from throwing it all away, but he knew that once his mind was made up it was hard for anyone to change it including himself.

"Son, are you sure that this is what you want?"

"I sure, dad. I can't deal with everything that's preventing me from doing my job. I just want out."

"Then I'll start processing your paperwork. But before I do that I am suggesting that you take 24 hours to give this decision some more thought. If you are sure of your decision by then the paperwork will be ready to be signed."

"That's fair. I'll be back at 1800 tomorrow." Rick snaps to attention with a salute in place. His father returns it and dismissed him. As his son reached the exit he told him one last bit of critical information.

"One more item son, even though your decision might be made and the paperwork will be filed you cannot resign your commission while you're on foreign soil. When you get back to the states then you can process everything." Rick nods, turns and then leaves.

07MAR02 1930

Forward Operating Base, Jalalabad, Afghanistan.
Delta Force Operations Hut

The second he walked into the operational tent he knew that his crew knew of his decision to retire. He decided not to keep any secrets from them. He called for their attention and started to talk.

"This raid will leave as scheduled. Be at the helo pad by 2015 for transport."

He inhaled a long breath and looked around at his crew.

"After this mission is complete, I will be resigning my commission as of 0700 08MAR02."

The men all looked at him dumbstruck. They couldn't believe what they just heard.

"Sir, why?" One of his snipers asked.

"My decision has been a long time in coming. My decision was not made in haste. There's only so much a man can take."

Another member voices his thoughts.

"Captain, begging your pardon sir, but you have made a tremendous impact on the work that we do here. Would you think of reconsidering?"

"Sargent, I have my reasons. So, if that is all let's mount up."

07MAR02 2010

Forward Operating Base, Jalalabad, Afghanistan.

Delta Force Helipad

The crew gathers their gear and heads to the pad. The men talk about how much Rick will be missed because the Captain was the only officer who defended them right in front of them to other officers. They climb aboard the two UH-60A's that wait for them with rotors spinning at idle. The second they're on the helo's, the pilots power up and lift off in route to their LZ. Rick takes inventory of his gear and he's ready.

07MAR02 2218

LZ Charlie 1 mile west of Asbanr, Pakistan.

The crew exits the choppers and are rallying at the rendezvous point. The recheck their gear once again before their hike. The choppers depart to their fallback position. Captain Rodgers steps up to the crew.

"Gentlemen, from here on out we hoof it. The insurgents camp is just under one click east of here. Be aware of your surroundings. IED's have been known to be placed anywhere, not just at the roadside."

07MAR02 2340

Near Asbanr, Pakistan.

The crew silently moves out. The hike is uneventful. The scout is 150 yards ahead of the main body. He is equipped with night vision/thermal goggles. Less than 30 minutes they have eyes on the camp. The snipers are in place and the crew splits up into two teams of four. Rick always being a hands-on leader joins the Alpha assault team. They move silently and with stealth. The team spreads out and takes positions 40 yards from the camp.

"Reaper One status?" Rick calls into his headset.

"Eagle One Copy, Reaper One in position, standing by."

"Reaper Two status?

"In position Eagle One."

"Eagle One out."

Bravo team takes the lead while Alpha team stays put. Once they are in position Rick moves his men out. Keeping their approach hidden, the insurgents main compound is unaware of their presence. The surrounding smaller compounds close to the main compound are probably for weapons storage and food. Halting the start of the op he sends a member from both teams to check out the smaller areas. After finding nothing posing as a threat there, a quick strike is what they hope for. So Rick gives the order to move in. Bravo team secures the building, while Alpha team brings up their six.

The raid yields them 38 insurgents and the number two money man for Al-Qaeda, all taken without a shot fired. Rick is happy, to say the least. Nobody was injured on either side and this mission could not have gone off any better. As they collect all the personal effects from the insurgents, Second Lieutenant Radford takes them and tags each one.

08MAR02 0117

Asbanr, Pakistan.

Insurgent Compound

They are just about done with the cleanup and an SFC notices something odd. He cautiously walks over to a wooden table where there is a large amount of 40mm MK-3 rounds, and personal items confiscated from the prisoners just lying there. He is eyeing a child's yo-yo and without warning a young boy maybe seven of eight runs up alongside of him and grabs the yo-yo palming it in his hand. Rick half listens to the Second Lieutenant all the while keeping an eye on the SFC as he moves to confront the little boy. Before he can even yell out a warning to the staff sergeant, he crouches down and makes a grab for the boy and then it happens in a split second. Underneath the cloth that covered the table hiding there were three pounds of military grade C-4. The yo-yo was the trigger. The insurgents who are never inefficient in taking out targets also had the little boy strapped with two pounds of Semtex. The SFC, and six insurgents nearby were burned alive. Rick and the Second Lieutenant who were about thirty-five feet away were hit with projectiles from the 40mm shell casings and other debris lying on and around the table. The last thing Rick remembered was lying on the sand face down with his head cocked to his right. He was screaming at the Second Lieutenant next to him but got nothing in response. He looked down at the body of the Second Lieutenant and noticed that there was a reason he failed to answer him. He was cut cleanly in half by what must have been a large chunk of steel lying close beside his body.

Rick raised his hand to find out what was causing the pain in his side and when he did he then he felt the immense pain just by moving his arm. He could feel something protruding from his side, right below his ribcage, something jagged. Just as he was about to pull it out a hand stopped him.

"Captain, don't move a muscle. You have a large piece of shrapnel embedded in your side, close to your spinal cord moving you or it could paralyze you." The medic told him.

Rick could see his lips move but could hear nothing. The medic's look was one of fear so he laid his hand back down onto the desert floor and then everything went black.

08MAR02 0634

Forward Operating Base, Jalalabad, Afghanistan.
Delta Force Helipad

General Jackson Rodgers paced the helipad endlessly waiting for word that they were returning. As it was now, they were he looks at his watch and sighs, two and a half hours overdue for a two-hour flight. He looks to the rising sun and hopes…

Twenty minutes later, a corporal, out of breath from running all the way to the helo pad from headquarters stops and salutes the General.

Jackson returns the salute and waits for the man to relay the news.

"General sir, inbound helo's arriving in ten. Causalities aboard sir."

Jackson thanked him for the information and dismissed him. Then he could only look up to the sky to the path that the choppers would follow in and only hope his son was okay….

A/N: This will be a multi chapter fic. It feels like it could be about 20 or 30 chapters long and exceeding 50,000 words. The story starts off with you the reader finding out about Castle's military beginnings. Some readers might not like where this will be headed due to the military factor, but I promise that it will need to be written to tell this story. Rick has Alexis and she is living with Martha while he's away doing what he does. She will come into the story at a later date.

A/N 2: I was given this idea from a reader who honors our military. I am a U.S. veteran and I will use some of my own experiences during my time served to give this story the authenticity that it needs. I tip my hat to jag389, without his ideas this would have never been written.

Reviews as well as constructive criticism are welcome and appreciated. Negative reviews from guests will be read and dealt with accordingly. Thank you for reading!

P2P