Task Force Cobra

Chapter 1: Meet Hope

One morning of July 15th 2022, on an undisclosed location, a young woman in her late 20s named Hope went to her quarters, which were in a building located within the camp itself.

As she arrived in the building, she met with her team, comprising the leader Ernie, the machine gunner Anthony, the sniper Ajay, the rifleman Adrian and the technician Aaron. Hope herself was the grenadier of the team, meaning she had a Colt M4A1 carbine with a M203 grenade launcher and a Glock 17 pistol as weapons, in addition to a Benelli M3 shotgun to breach door locks. As soon as she came inside, Ajay turned to Hope and nodded to the newest member of the team, callsign Buzard.

"Hey, Hope. You okay?" Ajay asked while assembling his cleaned Barrett MRAD rifle.

"Yeah, fine. I bet there's gonna be a mission for today." Hope said as she checked her M4A1 carbine.

Suddenly, the alarm bell rang, causing Buzard team to load up their weapons and run to their heavily-armed vehicles, knowing the situation must be something requiring Task Force Cobra's intervention. Right as they reached the vehicles, Buzard team learned the situation was actually a hostage crisis involving a lot of civilians at undisclosed coordinates.

At the command post, the commanding staff, among whom the commander of the task force Colonel Tara Burns, were nervously watching live-feed from a drone over an undisclosed location. Then, Colonel Burns gently nudged a US Army Green Beret captain, who turned around.

"Anything new from this area?" Colonel Burns asked in a serious tone as she knew time could be against them.

"No, Ma'am. But we detected many unarmed civilians held at gunpoint by an unknown number of tangos." the captain replied.

"Good. Notify our teams and activate Blue Force tracker so we can see what they see." Burns ordered on a serious tone.

"Yes Ma'am." the captain replied before relaying the order.

With that, Burns knew she now was the helpless witness of the whole scene. The screen in front of her then displayed the images of the NZSAS, US MARSOC and Irish Army Ranger Wing vehicles driving towards the area of operations at full speed. Burns silently hoped the three strike teams would solve the crisis taking place as she looked at the control screens and put her headset on.

Meanwhile, in the armored NZSAS vehicle, Hope and the rest of Buzard team finished inspecting their equipment, knowing they would need it. But Hope had a secret that only Buzard team knew.

Indeed, Hope didn't join the military due to a burning passion for it. She joined it because of her low grades, since she actually joined the military at age 18 after dropping out from high school. She didn't want to be a disappointment to her family, hence Hope's choice of joining the military as a rifleman. At the training camp, Hope revealed herself as a remarkable shooter and an excellent leader to her instructors, who decided it was best for her to become a Corporal, thus allowing Hope to improve her leadership skills and granting her entry into the NZSAS.

Suddenly, an American Blackhawk pilot said on the radio, "This is Helix 4-2, heading towards the area of operations for heliborne support alongside Helix 4-3 and Helix 4-1. Over."

"Got it. All teams, you will be covered by Helix 4-1, Helix 4-2 and Helix 4-3. Remember, we know there's a hostage crisis, so watch who you shoot. Over." Colonel Burns replied on the radio.

"Copy that. Out." Ernie said before hearing the other team leaders aknowledge.

With that, the convoy kept rolling towards the area of operations while still aiming the roof-mounted Browning M2 machine guns around the convoy to avoid any nasty surprise. Hope then let out her Glock 17 and checked if it was loaded. She was relieved to see she was combat-ready for the hostage situation. But Hope, Buzard team and the others knew they would be openly visible once they entered the building, so from there on stealth was not an option anymore.

At the command center, Colonel Burns prepared to give the final orders should things go wrong to end the hostage situation. Violently if needed.

Colonel Tara Burns was a West Point graduate, who remained a Colonel for eight years due to her disgust of being locked in an office. Burns joined the US Army to piss her parents off, since they wanted the officer to become either a flight attendant or a school teacher, neither of which pleased the adrenaline-thirsty Burns.