This time I have an excuse. School has started up again and I am going to have a lot less time to work on anything, as this is a crucial time. And Colonial Marines comes out next week. Anyway, this is the first Vietnam combat chapter, and includes a musical piece. The song is another Vietnam War classic 'All Along The Watchtower' by Jimi Hendrix. By the way, who can spot the film reference in this chapter. Hint: The Lion King itself has already referenced it.
Jonny2b: Not that Heckler he won't. But yes...The one you're thinking of...
Haradion: That's because this is a huge chunk that wasn't in your original. It will end when 'The Healing' Starts. And the wounds won't be the ones inflicted by Ahadi...
DrKill8000: Ah, I didn't think anyone would recognize that reference purely because that game hasn't come out. If you haven't seen any Alien films, I highly recommend them. They rank up alongside Star Wars as my favorite Sci-fi franchise ever. The 3rd and 4th films are shite though. And yes, Jones is related to good old Cap'n EJ. And ssh about the Tojo thing...
Vitani825: Plenty of that this chapter.
Scarstorm2000: No, he's not good. Just motivated. And by the way, you said you'd never seen Star Wars? I find your lack of faith disturbing...
Carrie Wolfe: Ah yes, good old Freddy. He will appear later on...And as for Lukas and his mother, you'll have to wait and see. And no, EJ won't be a father. Do you seriously think he's father material?
Cheers: JJZ-109
CHAPTER 12. THE VICTOR CHARLIE
As usual the white mist slowly dissipated from the view of Scar, and he slowly made out an immense green field -a rice paddy field. It lay between two sections of the jungle and the wind made the long grass and reeds sway gently; the calm sight inducing fear and anticipation rather than the peaceful feeling it normally would. Scar recognized several Vietnamese rice farmers, paying as little attention as possible to the Pridelander soldiers slowly advancing through their land without permission.
The only sounds to be heard were the sloshing of footsteps through the water and the ambience of the jungle around them; which normally seemed very relaxing, but in this is case it was intimidating. Several pairs of eyes scanned the tree line, searching for anything that so much as moved.
Scar recognized the young version of himself, and guessed it must have been several weeks since the fight now. He walked completely fine, and looked one hundred percent fit other than the light bandaging still on his arm and the eye-patch. The young Scar flexed his fingers on the side of his custom M14, and eyed the jungle in front of him cautiously, as if expecting something to jump out any moment. He had promised himself that he wouldn't die here in Vietnam. Ahadi, or anyone else couldn't trash him that easy.
Meanwhile, the apparition of Kivuli spoke to Scar without taking his eyes of the scene.
"What are we doing here? I take it you aren't hunting your dinner."
"Exactly what it looks like. We are fighting a war." Scar answered.
"So you call lazily walking through someone's garden like a fool fighting a war?" Ammit commented.
"Perhaps you'd like to be down there with the VC breathing down your neck? They'd break you down like a house of Lincoln logs."
"They can try." Ammit sneered. He walked provocatively close to Scar before Kivuli shoved them both away from each other.
"So what did you plan to achieve here Scar?" Kivuli asked, getting back onto what they should've been talking about.
"I planned to prove to Ahadi that he could never trash me. I was going to spill the blood of every single Communist in that wretched country, then come home to add Ahadi to the tally. To survive and do what I should've done in that fight."
"But that didn't turn out that way, did it Scar?" Kivuli raised an eyebrow.
"No, it didn't. I was thrown into yet another hell, and my opinions changed."
Kivuli nodded, and turned back towards the advancing Platoon in the scene in front of them. Omega One had narrowed themselves down onto a dusty track that led through the middle of the paddy field. They travelled almost single file, with soldiers lining either side of the road and staying clear of the center; in fear of anti-personnel mines. Scar was towards the rear, and walked with his now good friend Medic Lukas Heckler. He rubbed his forehead and wiped the thick layer of sweat off. The air was sweltering hot, with heat visibly rising off the road. And the humidity was terrible as well. Scar couldn't even pant, as inhaling the air only made him feel worse.
He walked casually through the hot hell, and had his standard issue rifle slung on his back, with the weight of his field kit also bearing down onto his shoulders. He groaned and was about to complain to Lukas, when suddenly everyone stopped. Instantly his eyes were drawn to the front of the group, where Jones stood in point position, holding up his fist.
Jones then frantically waved his free hand about, signaling for them to take cover. All of them quickly and silently crouched down and scuttled to the edge of the road. Meanwhile, Jones dropped down to a prone position and began commando crawling up the road by himself. All the soldiers had their hearts in their mouths, as Jones slowly flicked through some bushed with his CAR-15.
"Scar...what's going on?" Lukas whispered to Scar.
"I don't know." Scar replied truthfully. He suspected Jones must've sensed something, and if a veteran of his type got a bad feeling, then Scar would trust them.
He then saw Jones sigh and stand up with his weapon in a non-threatening position. He turned to the platoon and called out.]
"Omega One, on your feet." He said and everyone resumed their previous position, a bit more cautiously this time.
Everyone was much more wary of the enemy threat now, and held their weapons before them nervously. Scar heard a rustling from a patch of long grass next to him, and pointed his weapon at it in fright. It was just a frog, and it bounded away casually. Scar shook his head and thought about the nightmare he was walking through. It was the worst punishment Ahadi could give him without killing him barbarically. And it was ever so effective.
Scar and the other started advancing through the foliage in a semi-crouched combat stance, pointing their guns every which direction. Above them, they heard the reassuring sound of the rotors of an AH-1 Cobra Attack Helicopter. Scar felt a tear slide down his face. This is what he had become. This is what the world had become.
A nightmare. A hell. A hell called war.
A hell called Vietnam.
As he scanned a patch of bushes through the iron-sights of his rifle, Scar began to sing...
(All Along The Watchtower Opening Guitar Riff)
"There must be some kind of way out of here..."
"Said the soldier to the thief."
"There's too much confusion here..."
"I can't get no relief."
"Ahadi's men, they drink my wine..."
"They dig my grave from the earth."
"None will level on the line, nobody offered his word. Hey!"
Meanwhile, Attack Helicopter buzzed over the jungle, searching for threats. Several of the other soldiers started singing as well, as they advanced into the darkness ahead.
"No reason to get excited,"
"The thief, he kindly spoke."
"There are many here among us..."
"...Who feel that life is but a joke."
"But you and I, we've been through that."
"And this is not our fate."
"So let us not talk falsely now, the hour is getting late!"
(Jimi Hendrix Guitar Solo)
Jones' platoon slowly advanced into the deep jungle, and immediately a feeling of dread swept over them. They were no completely vulnerable to attack... but it did nothing to break their spirit.
"All along the watchtower!"
"Princes kept the view."
"While all the women came and went..."
"Barefoot servants, too."
The song trailed off as they walked further into the dark, intimidating jungle. Danger could be lurking behind every single tree, and Scar felt it. Every single sudden noise there was, he spun around to point his weapon at it. Eventually the tension started to die, and people became more relaxed. It was then it happened.
"JESUS CHRIST!"
"CLAYMORE! AAARGH!"
BOOM!
A mixture of dirt, shrapnel and blood was suddenly thrown everywhere as the mine detonated. Everyone dived for cover, except for Jones who didn't even flinch at the explosion. He just snarled angrily at the perfectly good soldier he had just lost.
"Get your asses back up here!" He growled at his cowering Marines.
"That was a Claymore M18...A booby trap. Stay off any clear cut trails and stay frosty...I don't want-" Jones suddenly cut himself off, and paused.
He clapped a finger onto his lip, gesturing for everyone to pipe down. He then froze, and listened carefully. Sgt. Scar meanwhile, cupped his hand over his ear and listened out as well. He then made out distant cries of men...and they weren't in English. He nodded at Jones, who knew what that meant. Jones cocked his CAR-15.
"Everyone move up on me..." He whispered and slowly progressed forward, crouched with his carbine at the ready.
His Marines fanned out, and Scar gestured for a few men to take up flanking positions, as another clearing was ahead of them. He then motioned for Lukas to stay back. They all emerged from the thick tropical foliage as one, and scanned the tree line on the opposite side of the clearing. The only sounds to be heard were the beating of the Marine's hearts against their chests, and the peaceful song of the exotic birds, which only built even more tension.
Then it all erupted into chaos.
RUTUTUTUTUT!
TWANG!
SPLAT!
Several flashes appeared from the tree line, and a storm of Viet Cong bullets screamed towards the Pridelanders. Rounds smashed into bodies, and they fell to the floor as well as those who weren't hit but just hit the deck in hope of not getting hit.
BOOM!
A mortar exploded, creating a deep enough crater to hide in. Scar and the survivors rolled into the smoking hot crater filled with shrapnel and took shelter from the hidden VC machine gun positions. Among the survivors were Jones, Lukas and a radio operator. More wounded troops crawled over, and Lukas instinctively got to work on patching them up as best he could.
Scar meanwhile, straightened his combat helmet and peeked up over the edge of the crater, firing several suppressing rounds from his M14 at the faint flickers of muzzle flashes. By the sound he could tell that they were the new RPK machine guns, and were more than a match for his semi-auto rifle. A series of bullets ricocheted from the ground in front of him, sending up columns of dust. Scar ducked for cover again.
Meanwhile, Jones had snatched the radio away from the operator and screamed into it above the roar of battle.
"Just give me an airstrike on the place! I don't care about danger close! Just hit the north side of the clearing, Charlie's all over it! Clear?" Jones yelled frantically.
"Roger that Jones. Friendly napalm inbound hot. Danger Close..."
Jones dropped the radio and called out to all his men who weren't in the crater. A pair of men laid off suppressing fire with their M60, but it was too late. Jones leapt out of his cover and darted back towards the safety of the jungle.
"FALL BACK! FALL BACK!" Many of them got the message and scurried away as quick as they could, while Vietnamese bullets still whistled past them.
The sound of jet engines above seemed to hurry them up, but strangely didn't scare the VC gunners away. Scar broke into a sprint, and felt his helmet fall off his head as he ran. He dumped his kit for extra speed and maneuverability. The jets then rang in his ears, and before deafening explosions broke out.
The blast wave knocked him to his feet, and he felt the heat of the firebombs beating down onto his face despite his distance from them. He looked over his shoulder to see the jungle on the other side of the clearing go up in flames all at once, and several VC ran out of the tree-line, bodies on fire and screaming their lungs out. Scar raised his gun to fire on them, but Jones pushed his weapon down.
"Don't shoot, let 'em burn!"
The Marines then stopped retreating, and turned to see the spectacle behind them. The north side of the clearing was completely on fire; every tree from top to bottom. That was the power of a Napalm strike.
Pridelander F-4 Phantoms circled above, before making another bomb run over the one enemy infested tree line. More explosions rang out, making everyone dive for cover and/or flinch. Except for Jones.
Jones, topless now, strolled into the open clearing and stood next to a shocked and exhausted Scar and Lukas. The two of them were sitting on the ground, relieved.
"Do you smell that?" Scar turned towards his commander.
"Sorry sir?"
BOOM! Another bomb detonated, making Lukas and Scar cover their heads and flinch, but Jones paid it no attention and kept talking normally. He crouched beside his two comrades.
"Do you smell that?"
"Smell what?" Scar asked.
"Napalm son...nothing else in the world smells like that." Jones said and got to his feet, before taking a long sniff of the air...
"I love the smell of napalm in the morning..."
"It smells like...Victory." This made both Lukas and Scar turn to stare at him.
Jones took his sunglasses off and nodded triumphantly.
How was that? Good and realistic fight scenes? Next chapter more important things happen...Anyway, hope you enjoyed. I don't own the song, just a few minor changes.
This has been JJZ-109, and as always...Have a nice day.