Chapter 5: Six Years Later

~ September 7th, 2040 ~

It was late in the evening at the Fuller family house in Phoenix, Arizona as Jackson Michael Fuller closed the lid on the family laptop. Jackson had just finished saving the checklist for Chloe that covered the things she needed to do while he was away. There was nothing big on the list as she had three children to mother while he was away. However just because Jackson was on a mission for the CIA didn't mean that the bills stopped. No, the banks and utilities wanted their money so he set up the list and the reminders. The majority of the bills were on automatic bill pay so all Chloe had to do was verify for her husband that the payments were made.

Ever since their first daughter, Corrine Joanna Fuller, was born Chloe's mother started coming over more to help Chloe out around the house. After their twins were conceived she was over so often that Jackson convinced Chloe that they needed to add a second floor to the house for the additional family members so that Claire had her own space in the house. Jackson's renovation was quite pricey but it gave the already large house four more rooms while also taking away the bedroom that served as Jackson's office (they needed to put the stairwell somewhere). The closets stayed put so Jackson's stash remained safely hidden away. Claire took over what was the master suite on the first floor as Jackson had built a duplicate on the second floor. The children's rooms were on the side of the left side of the house where all the rooms were located and the rooms all shared a large bathroom.

The opposite side of the house now housed the master suite for the Fullers that encompassed the entire side of that house. Jackson and Chloe's room was almost twice as large as it had been before but it was situated on the front half as opposed to the original being located towards the back. The middle section was a large walk-in closet. Jackson's clothes were located on the outer side (sharing the wall with the frame of the house) of the closet while Chloe's was on the inner side. There was no back wall as it had a sliding door that led to Jackson and Chloe's master bathroom. The bathroom was large enough for dual sinks, a large single mirror, a toilet, and on the opposite wall was a large shower and Jacuzzi with enough room for two. It took the better part of three months to accomplish all of this but it was all finished in time for Chloe's birthday and her gift was cutting the ribbon and being the first to walk through their new addition. That night, with the kids still on the first floor with Grandma Claire, Jackson and Chloe made love the likes of which the house had never heard before. The kids and Claire were on the opposite side of the first floor still so the parent's noise was drowned out by the sound of romantic music.

Much like that magical night Jackson and Chloe made love for the first time, Chloe did this as with his dangerous lifestyle she never knew (despite her husband's assurances) if he was coming back home to his family. Jackson knew that he could not promise Chloe that everything was going to be fine and for her not to worry. He knew that would be inviting Mr. Murphy (Murphy's law) to rear his head and jinx the mission. Instead, he declared his love for her and he would always say "See you soon." '

Chloe would not reply so as not to jinx the moment. She knew superstition was silly but it made her feel better to let him have the last word and as nothing had gone wrong for six years it was best not to tempt fate.

~ 60 Hours Later ~

Jackson's team was in Africa on a covert data recovery operation. Based on current Intel, there were currently over thirty people onsite and the sentry guards were currently in the crosshairs of various troops. Watching his tablet screen, Jackson gave the go-ahead, and one by one the heat signatures of the screens began to disappear. Once his team had eliminated the perimeter guards, his team, accompanied by local military troops were making their way to the main building serving as this cartel's command center. Jackson was with the fourth squad and once all of the exterior guards were cleared and his teammates breach the walls Jackson's group was to make his way inside and copy the hard drives of the boss's computer then detonate the equipment to make sure nothing was recoverable.

From his vantage point, Jackson watched as the team's CQB expert Tao took out a pair of guards walking out of the main building to relieve the perimeter guards. Once they were walking the exterior of the building the martial arts master took the pair down before they could fire off a shot or even yell out loud. Once this was done Stevens, Carson, Becket, and Windham took out the tower guards from a distance. Like the song goes, the Bodies Hit The Floor, and all of the guards dropped. Jackson looked at his watch and began counting the seconds from 30 to 0 and on zero a large explosion rocked the building. Stevens and Windham then toss in grenades and after they explode Jackson's teammates and a team of locals filed in and machine-gun fire erupts. Jackson's group stands fast until Stevens gives Jackson the go-ahead to head for the tech center. The other teams are serving as a diversion to draw attention away from the tech center. Stevens gives Jackson's group the signal and the team makes its way into the tech center.

There are only two men currently in the room and Jackson draws his suppressed pistol and fires two rounds into the back of each man's head. Once the bodies make their resounding thud Jackson's group enters the room in question.

"Ohhh you have got to be kidding me!" Jackson states as he looks at what passes for a tech center. "Boss, we've got a problem," Jackson says talking into his throat mic.

"What's the situation?" Steven inquires.

"This gear... they're running tech almost as old as I am," Jackson explains. "It's going to take me twice as long, if not longer to download the information from these devices onto my laptop."

"The data is the whole point of the mission Six. Do what you have to but get the data." Stevens orders his teammate.

"Copy boss!" Jackson replies as he plugs his equipment into the computer and begins the daunting process of backing up from this archaic equipment.

"Rogue Leader, this is Rogue One, come in," Stevens says into the SATCOM.

On the opposite side of the world, in an air-conditioned office in CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia the Director of Clandestine Affairs stand in his command center surrounded by large display screens of the various countries of the world. The operation going on in Africa was just one of a large number going on at this moment in time.

"Sir, we have a satcall coming in from Rogue One." One of the operation techs informs the director.

"Rogue One, this is Rogue Leader, sitrep." The Director, Anthony Miles, requests.

"Sir, our Op time is in jeopardy. Rogue Six states the tech containing the data is older than expected and download time will be longer than originally estimated."

"Rogue One, data retrieval is paramount. Do whatever is necessary to recover it as quickly as possible." The Director orders his field commander.

"Understood leader," Stevens says ending the call. "Jackson, I need status updates as they come. We only have a limited operation time in this location before massive reinforcements arrive."

Jackson groans upon hearing his order. He has been watching the screen the entire time that he has been off comms with his team leader. "Boss... in the five minutes that I've been connected to this computer I've only managed to retrieve a mere nine percent of the data. Some of these files are monstrous and the data files are not transferring very quickly. At this rate, it will take over ninety minutes to get the contents of the drive. The only way we can maintain anything close to our original operating time is if I just yank the physical drives from the server chassis."

Knowing they don't have an hour and a half Stevens makes the only decision he can, "To hell with it... take the drives," Stevens states.

"All right. I will finish copying this one file then I will stop the download, shut down the computers and pull the hard drives." Jackson states as he watches the file in question copy.

"Move it, Fuller, time is a luxury we don't have." Stevens reminds his tech specialist.

Once the current file is downloaded, Jackson stops the download and shuts the computer down to ensure data integrity on the drive. It has been drilled into his head that the data encased on this drive is paramount so he had to ensure that it made the journey back to Langley, Virginia. The team watched the entrances to ensure Jackson wasn't disturbed while he worked. The sound of his electric screwdriver could be heard as he undid all the screws on the tower's casing followed by the screws holding the hard drive in place. While in the computer he noticed a second hard drive that was not listed in the active directory.

"I better take this just to be safe," Jackson says to himself.

"Fuller, sitrep," Stevens says requesting a status update.

"I have the master drive unfastened and in hand. While I was inside this machine I found a second hard drive that wasn't active in the directory. I'm pulling it now on the off chance there is sensitive data contained on it."

"Copy. How much data did you copy before you shut down the system?" Stevens asks.

"I only got 10% of the drive's data before canceling it. It's stored on my Surface Pro." Jackson says pulling up several files to make sure that the data is intact.

"Boss... the tech may be old but the folders I'm seeing here are all current. It looks like they might be using them as backup drives for... hold on... Boss, these are CIA files. My cipher keys are unlocking the secure files."

"Show me." Steven states.

Jackson transfers a random file over to his team leader's smartphone. While he stands there waiting for a response Jackson suddenly has a bad feeling wash over him. Nothing about this current situation seems right. The tech is old, the files are new, and not only that but he has access to this data. As inconspicuous as possible Jackson unfastens the strap on his sidearm. With the amount of gear, he is carrying on this op he was unable to bring his primary weapon. However, as he did not have his standard gear he brought a different vest so he is carrying two pistols and extra magazines on his body. Jackson has his standard Beretta PX4 SD but it is in the holster mounted on his vest in a cross draw position. His primary weapon for this operation is a Beretta 93R. It is a three-shot burst-firing 9mm pistol. Jackson has the weapon on his right thigh holster. With his back to the majority of the troops, Jackson unfastens the strap on his primary weapon holster and takes notice of where everyone is standing... Just in case!

~ Langley, Virginia~

"Stevens..." Director Miles says looking at the file that he has been securely sent. "The data file you sent is extremely sensitive. Besides you and Fuller has anyone else seen its contents?" The Director enquires.

"Negative sir." The field leader replies.

"Good. As of this moment, I am reading you into the exact nature of the data and the operation that it pertains to." The Director informs his field commander.

Stevens listens intently to the information via the SATCOM. When the information has been relayed things go quiet for a moment. "Do you understand what I'm asking of you?" Miles asks his field team leader.

"Yes sir," Stevens states empathically.

"Good. Then as of this moment, I am issuing a Burn Notice with a kill order on Jackson Fuller. You know what to do Rogue One."

"Understood Rogue Leader. Rogue One out." Stevens says. The team leader terminates the call and hands the phone back to Carson. As the call was via a hand unit only he was privy to the sensitive data that was stated. Stevens sighs, it's things like this that he hates but duty sometimes has to come before friendship. Stevens is reaching for the frequency switch on his radio when he hears a crack, followed by several more.

"Fuller, sitrep," Stevens calls out. He listens but the line is silent. "FULLER... REPORT NOW!"

On the second floor, Jackson Fuller is on the move. Not because he is under attack, but he knows that he is about to be. While the SATCALL was completely secure Jackson, trusting his instincts, made sure that he knew what was going on. While he didn't know what the data on the file necessarily meant he saw something that looked familiar and thought it best he be in the loop. Before sending the file to Stevens, Jackson embedded a file that would allow him to see and hear what was being said by people that opened the file using their microphones. He listened on the Director's end as the Director read in Stevens and then tells him about the overall operation involved in those files.

The Director was bypassing Congressional Oversight by hijacking funds from various drug cartels and other illegal operations. He was also instigating wars between the rival cartels in the hopes of killing off large parts of the criminal underworld, despite the fact that numerous civilians were caught in the crossfire.

However, the part that concerned Jackson was that the Director issued a Burn Notice on him which meant he was not walking out of this alive. As soon as Stevens ended the SATCOM call Jackson knew what was coming. Placing his Surface Pro in his satchel, Jackson slowly pulls his Beretta PX4 from his cross draw holster with his left hand, he doesn't have it properly griped as it is reversed. Grasping the grip of his Beretta 93R, Jackson pulls the weapon out. Flipping the weapon in his left hand around Jackson points the weapon outward and pulls both triggers. The weapons are lined up with two targets and depressed the triggers. Jackson begins unloading his weapons as quickly as possible as he doesn't want to give the locals a chance to react. Firing both weapons in rapid succession Jackson drains their magazines and manages to eliminate the six men that had accompanied him before they realized he was the one firing at them.

"Fuller... report," Stevens calls out through the headset.

Jackson knows he has very little time. He rips off his comm gear and begins ditching everything that belongs to the CIA tech-wise. Taking his Windows Surface Pro, Jackson plugs in his external drive and copies the files he downloaded from the drive so he can look at them later at his leisure. Once copied he puts all of his equipment on the desk and grabs an explosive from one of the dead troopers, Jackson puts it on the desk. Once clear he presses the detonator and the gear explodes into pieces.

The sound of the detonation tells Stevens that something unexpected has occurred. True Jackson was told to blow the equipment but with him taking the drives that became a moot point. Then there was his sudden radio silence. One of his team members should have called in by now if his comms were down as they are on the same frequency.

"Beckett, get up to the second floor with your team and see what's going on. Jackson's bag is the priority." Stevens informs his man.

Jackson is running the length of the second floor at top speed. He knows that any moment now he is going to have company but does not know if the person arriving knows that there is a Burn Notice with a kill order on him. Jackson only has one chance and that is to make it to the extraction vehicle. Fortunately, everyone was given multiple breaching charges on the off chance things went FUBAR on this operation and they needed to exit through a stone wall.

The explosives are held within what looks like a folded-up metal picture frame. Jackson undoes the frame and positions it on his secondary exit point. Ducking around the corner, Jackson flips the safety up and pressed the button detonating the charge. The building shakes and as soon as the dust clears Jackson jumps through the hole he has just made in the second story and grabs the tree swaying in front of him. The oldest Fuller male's weight brakes the branch and as he starts to come down Jackson grabs the tree trunk. Once stabilized he slides down the tree trunk and lands beside the vehicle garage. The vehicle in question is an old U.S. Army-style jeep that was sold off at some point years ago. The key was in the Jeep as the guards use it for rounds and they leave the keys in it as they are usually swapping in and out with the vehicle on.

Jackson turns the key and the engine revs but does not start. He swears as this would of course happen when he needs the stupid thing to work. Swearing loudly as he turns the key again the Jeep finally comes to life. As he is shifting the gears Jackson hears his name being called from the second floor. Not taking a chance, Jackson takes his foot off the break and races away from the building as the first few gunshots fly past his head. Jackson grabs his burner phone from his harness and pressed the only name programmed into the phone.

"Pick up Chloe... Pick up the phone..." Jackson says as another bullet flies past him.

To Be Continued

AN: Military Terminology

CQC/CQB: Close Quarters Combat/ Close Quarters Battle

SATCOM (Satelite Communications).

Sitrep: Situation Report

FUBAR: Fucked Up Beyond All Recognition