A few words from the author: Updated ahead of schedule, unfortunately I might not be able to update as frequently due to restricted computer access. I would like to say a big thank you to all who took time to read my story, and a bigger thank you to all who reviewed.
Notes on the text: Descriptions are a little graphic, YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED. Reference to Apocalypse Now (if you haven't seen this movie you should, it's a really good movie). Any resebleance to any persons live or dead is purely coincidental.
Legal mumbo jumbo: I do not own Bleach. If I did, I would issue a public statement saying that everybody who wrote Bleach fanfics would never have to write these stupid disclaimers again. I also don't own the rights to Apocalypse Now, I do however own "Apocalypse Now" and "Apocalypse Now: The Complete Dossier" on DVD.
January 31, 1968; 0354 local time, Rukongai outpost Boun Ma Thout, Vietnam
Tet, 1968, the year of the monkey. Fireworks from the nearby town occasionally lit up in the night sky. Ichigo and company were all sleeping in their respective bunks. Moths were fluttering around the lamps which illuminated much of the outside. A lone sentry lit a cigarette as he paced along the inside of the northern sandbag wall. The schene was peaceful . . . for now at least.
The men were awakened from their slumber by a loud explosion followed by a loud alarm.Ganju peered out the front door and saw the flaming wreckage of the base's AH-1 Cobra gunship. He heard the distictive sound of AK's going off and knew what was happening, they were being attacked!
Ganju turned on the lights and started yelling, "We're under attack!" as more explosions rocked the small outpost. Everyone shook the sleep from their eyes and wasted no time before getting ready. Ichigo put a belt of ammo into his M-60 and draped several more belts all over his body. Urahara grabbed his shotgun, bandolier, and revolver. Ikkaku put the bayonet on his M-14 while Ishida wiped the dust off of his scope. Chad, Renji, and Kira picked up their respective weapons and followed Urahara out the door.
Both of the Hueys and the Cobra were destroyed, the fuel depot was in flames, and there were enemy soldiers climbing over the wall. All around there were people running out of the barracks and armory toward the north wall and people carrying the dead and wounded to the infirmary. The air was filled with the sounds of fighting.
"Kira, Renji, Chad! get your asses over to the armory, grab two machine guns and set one up over there!" Urahara said, pointing to the a crude defensive position built close to the helipads. "Ichigo, Ishida! Cover them! Cueball, Ganju! You're with me! Go! Go! Go!"
They split up, Ichigo and Ishida making sure that the five of them got there safely. Kira and Renji each picked up an M-1919, Chad picked up several boxes of ammo and a tripod. They set it up on a pile of crates and Kira started firing at the advancing enemy.
Urahara was sitting behind a sandbag wall near them. He was talking on the radio with Seireitei, trying to get some air support. "Yama-san, this is Sandal-hat, we are under heavy attack, request air support." Urahara said into the radio.
A voice crackled over the radio. "Negative on the air support Sandal-hat, all the available men are pinned down in our own firefight right now."
"God dammit!" Urahara said.
Kira had been firing for some time when the barrel of the gun started to smoke. "What's going on?" he asked.
"It's getting too hot, swap that gun for this one!" said Ichigo, indicating the second machinegun that was brought.
Kira did as he was told and kept fighting, but the enemy was gaining ground rapidly.
It had been an hour and the enemy was showing no sign of retreating, the position near the helipads was in danger being overrun. "Yama-san, this is Sandal-hat, we are under heavy attack. WE NEED AIR SUPPORT NOW, GOD DAMMIT!!!" Urahara shouted the into radio.
A voice crackled over the radio: "That's a rodger on the air support Sandal-hat, we'll send Flyboy and as many choppers as we can spare, listen for the music, estimated time to arrival 30 minutes." The enemy was now so close that everyone had to affix bayonets, some had gotten over the crude defensive position and were fighting hand-to-hand.
Ikkaku was grappling with one enemy, who had grabbed onto his M-14. He headbutted the soldier with his helmet, smashing through the enemy's pith helmet and causing him to weaken the grip on the rifle. Ikkaku seized the oppertunity and wrenched the gun from his opponents hands, he quickly bashed the enemy soldier in the head before finishing him off with his bayonet. He had little time to enjoy his victory. Because just seconds after dispatching the enemy he was hit multiple times in his left shoulder. He hit the ground, his cries for help were heard by Kira and Ganju. They did their best to get him to the infirmary; but Kira accidentally pulled too hard on Ikkaku's arm while trying to get him on the stretcher and the few tendons that were keeping his arm attached snapped. The appendage fell to the ground, splintered white bone could be seen sticking out of the bloody stump from Ikkaku's shoulder.
After what seemed like hours, they heard a sound. None of them could identify it. Then Urahara recognised the sound; it was a song, a classical song. It was "Ride of the Valkyries" by Wagner. Minutes later they could see three Cobras and four Hueys coming over the horizon.
"The cavalry's here!!" shouted Urahara. "Pop some flares, show 'em where the enemy is." The men did as they were told, and bright red flares lit up the night sky. The choppers opened fire, rockets spewed from the pods on the sides of the helicopters sending enemy soldiers flying through the air. The Hueys flew around the enemy, driving into the Cobra's sights like lambs to the slaughter. The survivors made a break for the jungle, carrying a few of the wounded with them.
The dawn came, the morning light fell on a schene of carnage. Contorted bodies lay strewn all over the ground. Blood was everywhere, nobody managed to come out of the battle without getting some on themselves. Ichigo was sitting on a crate with his helmet on the ground and his face in his hands. His arms were covered in a mix of blackness from his gun, and blood. He was surrounded by empty shell casings, half-empty ammo boxes, and completely empty ammo boxes. In front of their position lay at least ninety dead enemy soldiers. They had gotten so close to their position that he could read the serial numbers on their weapons. Renji sat next to him looking down at the ground. He took off his helmet and pulled out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket, he offered one to Kira and Urahara before lighting up his own. Urahara sat across from Renji on another crate his blond hair was even more disheveled than usual, his bandolier was half-empty and his face and chest were covered in blood, both ends of his shotgun had blood on them. Chad was sitting on Ichigo's other side, tears could be seen coming down his face.
Urahara broke the awkward silence saying, "Thank God for Flyboy and Yama-san."
"Who are they?" Renji asked.
"Yama-san or Mr. Yamamoto, is the commanding officer of Seireitei. He fought in the Purple Heart Division during World War II. Flyboy is one of his best pilots, he used to drive a Med-Evac helicopter during Korea." Urahara explained.
After Urahara finished his cigarette, he ordered everyone to start cleaning up the bodies. All the able bodied members of Ichigo's squad and about thirty of the remaining survivors dug a giant hole seventy feet outside the eastern wall. The hole was fourty feet long, ten feet wide, and six feet deep. They dragged the enemy bodies toward the hole and unceremoniously threw them into it. It was a dangerous task, on several occasions the ones who were not dead would attempt to kill them with grenades hidden under their bodies. It was also a gruesome task; sometimes the limb that they were dragging the corpse by would detatch, when that happened they left the limb and kept going. The schene was so horrific that there were very few people who did not loose their lunches.
The noonday sun was high over the sky when they had finished cleaning the bodies, twenty body-bags were lined up along the recently cleared helipad, waiting to be sent home. Most of the men had gone to sleep, after taking a good long shower and changing into fresh clothes. Ichigo found it hard to close his eyes, whenever he did he would see the faces of the men who died staring back at him. Eventually he drifted off into restless sleep...
Purple Heart Division: 442nd Regimental Combat Team, comprised of Japanese Americans, it got its nickname from the 9,486 purple hearts earned during World War II.