Chapter 6: Vietnam, Baby!
The point of view shows Mason still sitting in the chair in the Interrogation room.
"Is this whole game going to be just flashbacks?" Yang asked.
"I hope not, though the collection of stories that Mason is telling is rather interesting.
Mason: But somehow I knew Dragovich was still alive.
"Is there like something in your brain that's screaming "kill Dragovich?" Ruby asked.
"Only crazy people have that kind of thing," Weiss said.
"Seeing Mason here looks like he's already crazy," Blake commented.
Interrogator: He became your obsession. You spent five years trying to track him down.
"Five years? Damn, that's a long time. I would given up after a month or two," Blake said shockingly.
"If I was Woods or Bowman, I would schedule an intervention," Weiss said.
"Hey, it's taking me like 8 years to find my mother!" Yang brought up.
Mason: He was... He was everywhere! I couldn't get him out of my head. Just like the others -
"Mason is cuckoo for Dragovich," Ruby joked.
Other Interrogator: We pumped so much shit in him he doesn't know what he's saying.
"What kind of stuff did you injected him?" Weiss asked.
"I'm guessing some hardcore drug," Blake guessed.
"I'm starting to question the American way of interrogation," Ruby said.
"Oh, now you're questioning it? Surprised you didn't when I was playing GTA V," Yang said.
"I do not want to talk about it!" Ruby exclaimed, trying to block out the memories of that one mission Ruby got scared of.
Mason: Voices - Russians - always in my head -
"I think we should call it a day..." Blake said awkwardly.
"I think Mason's mind is currently not sane for the moment, please shock him again for more options," Weiss joked.
Interrogator: No, I want to keep pressing him -
"You're going to end up breaking his mind at this rate," Yang said.
Mason: HEY! Who are you people? What do you want from me?
"They seem very vague on what they actually want from Mason," Blake said.
Interrogator: We want the numbers, Mason. That's what we ever wanted.
"What numbers? Can you be more exact and not be so vague!" Ruby demanded.
Interrogator: Take us back to back again, Mason. After Baikonur, where did Washington send you next?
"Obviously not home," Weiss said.
Mason: Vietnam. Fucking Khe Sanh.
"Oh my god... Ruby!" Yang yelled.
"I'm already on it!" Ruby yelled back, researching Vietnam. "It's war where communist North Vietnam invaded South Vietnam which is not communist. Americans got involved with the war!"
"Wow, first Cuba now Vietnam. Where's Vietnam anyways?" Blake asked.
"In a continent known as Asia."
Interrogator: This was in 1968?
Mason: Yeah, I was part of the SOG unit led by Frank Woods. It was recon on covert Russian activity in Laos.
"Just like America, Russia had to stick their nose in foreign affairs," Weiss said.
Interrogator: What about your CIA handler, Hudson. Was he in Khe Sanh! Do you remember him there?
"You should already have the details, just like the details of the last few levels!" Yang .
Mason: Hudson... (laughs) Yeah, Mr. Shades. That guy was an ice cube.
"Is this an outdated slang meaning a cool guy?" Yang asked.
"Must be, I mean this was like ** years ago. According to wiki, we share the same time system, 24 hours, 365 days, and currently at the year ****" Ruby explained.
S.O.G
Transmission# 4-5-1-4. Designate: NOVEMBER
S.O.G. team investigate evidence of Soviet involvement in Vietnam.
Khe Sanh would provide support for the operation.
Agents Mason and Hudson are already on ground.
0900 hrs January 21, 1968
Zack Johnson: This is the psychedelic music shown at AFVN. I'm Army Specialist Zack Johnson. Our APO here is 96309. If you send a request to that number, what we do is, we open it like this. When it arrives, we read it, pull out that record, and play it on the air, like this one: 'Fortunate Son" by CCR.
Music started to play in the background. The team couldn't figure out what it was. The flashes and Hudson and Mason are in a tent, wearing military uniform.
Hudson: Woods, he's here...
Mason and Hudson walked out of the tent and saw helicopters flying all over the place and body bags being thrown on the ground.
"Damn, these games do a good job reimagining war," Blake said.
"This song playing in the background sorta fits the mood," Yang commented. A helicopter carrying Woods lands in front of Mason and Hudson. Woods approached Mason, Woods looked like he's been through the battlefield, twice.
Woods: Mason!
Mason: Woods! You look like hammered shit.
"War is never clean," Weiss said.
Woods: Looks don't count for shit in the jungle. This is 'Nam baby!
"This doesn't look like a jungle..." Ruby said.
"Maybe he just got back from recon or something," Yang guessed.
Mason: It's good to see ya.
Woods: Yeah, you too...
Hudson: Jason Hudson, CIA - Thank you for your time, Sergeant.
Woods: Right... (Walks off without acknowledging Hudson's words)
"Hah, he don't give a fuck!" Yang laughed.
Hudson: I already briefed Mason broadly about the situation...
Woods: Let me fill in the blanks for you... (Mason, Hudson and Woods get in the jeep with a random driver) Back in '64, the CIA gave up control of Covert Operations in South East Asia. Handed it over to the U.S. military.
"Isn't the CIA suppose to be the professionals that handle shady business secretly? Why would they give up?" Blake asked.
"I don't know, did you see those body bags?" Yang asked.
Woods: From that, MACV-SOG was born.
"Thanks for the exposition!" Blake exclaimed.
Woods: Now aside from being a base for the Marine Corps, Khe Sanh is our launching point for all cross border activities. Mostly Laos and Cambodia... Missions are SND, sabotage, Black Propaganda, Strategic Recon, POW rescues...
"Thanks for the extra unneeded exposition," Weiss said sarcastically.
US Marine: Clear the runway! Clear the runway!
"Well, we're here for a reason, and that's to KILL!" Yang exclaimed, smelling the sight of war. A bomb explodes in front of the jeep, killing a U.S. Soldier.
Woods: You know the usual shit.
Does the usual shit also include blowing up?" Ruby asked. The jeep drives into the runway.
"Did you not hear the panicked screams of your comrades? Blake asked. The jeep drives to avoid the flaming plane parts flying all over the runway. The jeep spins out of control and crashes.
"Good job, jeep guy," Weiss said. Mason gets up and Woods approached the downed Hudson.
Woods: Mason! Over here!
Mason follows Woods. Mason and Woods picks up Hudson.
Woods: We gotta move him.
"But what about jeep guy!" Yang cried out.
"He's dead, there's no use!" Ruby yelled in distress.
"Rest in peace, jeep guy," Blake mourned.
Mason and Woods drag him him towards a set of stairs.
Woods: Get him to the bunker! I'll cover you - GO!
Interrogator: Hudson was down and Khe Sanh was under siege. But like Weaver, you risked your life to save him.
"Of course! He's like our boss basically!" Blake exclaimed.
"And with Weaver, he was held hostage, Hudson was just down laying on the floor," Weiss said.
Mason: Hudson was a fucking ice cube, but that's why I liked the bastard.
"Okay, you're trying to find some damn numbers! Stop asking him about how he feels towards others, unless you want Hudson's number," Ruby said.
Interrogator: Your mission priority was to get to Hue city, but you all stayed behind Khe Sanh. That wasn't your objective.
Mason: You obviously didn't know Woods. He knew Khe Sanh needed our help. There's no decision to make.
"I would still follow the objective, the U.S. looks like with all the helicopters in the area, just gun them down with a heavy machine gun and you're good," Yang said. She then squealed with "I hope we can get in a chopper and gun down tanks!"
Mason arrived in the bunker and Hudson gets up. Mason takes out an assault rifle known as the M16. They walked into the bunker.
US Marine: Fuck... GRENADE!
An explosion happened within a bunker. Blake and Hudson walked outside and a soldier wearing white jumped on a U.S. soldier. Before he could even attacked, Blake gunned him down.
"You have a gun, shoot it!" Blake scolded the dead enemy. A single helicopter hovered over Blake as it shoots rockets at the enemy running over the hill. Yang had a mini-orgasm.
"Aw, there's beauty in annihilation," Yang said satisfied with the action. Blake dressed the d-pad after seeing a symbol on the side. It was labeled "master-key." Blake approached an enemy who was camping on top of the trench and fired it. It fired a shotgun round. The shot fired off the soldier's arm.
"You see Ruby, they have transforming weapons," Weiss said.
"It's the same shit, different bullet!" Ruby exclaimed. Blake switched the M16 back to its normal function. Blake was about to walk under a walkway and got jumped by an enemy and started to choke Blake.
"GUNS! USE IT!" Yang yelled at the Vietnamese. The game said press square to fight back and Blake did, but nothing happened. She thought she pressed it too early and waited for it to take in effect. Eventually, Blake got a game over.
"What!? I pressed X!" Blake yelled defensively.
"Maybe try tapping it repeatedly," Weiss suggested. Blake respawned, she did the same thing. Walk under a walkway and got jumped. She continuously pressed square rapidly. Mason punched the soldier and pulled the pin. The soldier panicked as Mason crawls backwards. The soldier then blows up into nothingness.
"From that distance, I expect at least some damage," Ruby said. Blake stopped and saw a weapon called the AK-47, which reminded her of Reznov.
"Reznov and the other prisoners did use this weapon, so I'm going to switch out whatever pistol I got and-" Blake switched her weapon and it was a large machine-gun. It was called the M60. Ruby peeked her head off the window and threw up.
"It doesn't even look that bad!" Weiss exclaims.
"It has like 50 shades of black!" Ruby mocked the gun's color design.
"More like 50 shades of Black... Ops!" Yang joked. The other sighed at the terrible joke. Blake continued down the trench. She found Hudson and Woods fighting Vietnamese soldiers in the trenches.
"Thanks guys for your support! Really needed it!" Blake said sarcastically. Blake equipped herself with the M60 and fired blindly and the enemy. She killed the all the enemies down the trench line and Blake turned right and decided to clean out any enemies there. She fired the last ten bullers on that large mag and kneeled behind a box. Blake was still getting shot from multiple directions, so she went prone while reloading the large gun. Blake switched the M16 and switched to masterkey. Blake fired the masterkey at the bridge and shot off some enemies, and accidently killing one of their own soldiers.
"No penalty?" Weiss said confusingly.
"I guess if you do it multiple times," Ruby said. Blake continued to walk around the side, killing the remaining enemies. The second Blake turned left, she instantly dropped her jaw. US soldiers were burning alive as a Vietnamese soldier scorched them with a flamethrower.
"Okay, maybe Khe Sanh needs our help...," Blake paused. "Alot."
"Such horrible way to die," Weiss said.
"Man, Earth people must have the cruelest wars," Yang commented, "Nothing couldn't even be crueler than burning a man alive."
"Ah, that's not even scratching the barrel of the terrible things that happened during the Earth wars," Ruby said, "You know the nazis they mentioned last mission didn't deserve no mercy?"
"Yeah," the whole team replied.
"They don't. During World War 2-
"World War 2, what happened during the First World War?" Yang asked.
"10 million dead," Ruby said silently.
"Damn, that's kind of sad," Blake said.
"Oh, just you wait. I spent my time researching the Second World War, and it left me in a state of emptiness for like a minute," Ruby said. Blake paused the game temporary. "The Second World War had a country named Germany invade its neighbors and punish those who are against them and if they're part of a religion known as Judaism."
"How many died," Yang asked regretfully.
"60 million..."
"That's a bigger number than 10 million..."
"And that's all because of the Nazis, or at least the most of it. It was also caused by their ally Japan invading its own neighbors."
"War, what is it good for," Blake said, continuing the game before things go silent and awkward. The team decided to move forward and Blame continued to fight the Vietnamese soldiers. One soldier was beating on a dead US soldier and is ignoring the Blake and her team.
"Goddam what's up with these guys fighting close range?" Weiss asked. Blake shot a bullet through the soldier's head. Blake approached the body and looked down.
"Rest in peace shirtless man," Yang said.
US Marine: Incoming!
"Incoming what, stop being so fucking vague!" Ruby yelled. An explosion out of nowhere blew up a tank and caused it to slide above the trench. The game tells Blake to go prone and crawl under it.
"Wouldn't it be easier if we walk around it?" Yang asked. Blake tried jumping over the trench, but she couldn't go over it.
"You can jump onto a moving train, but can't jump over a simple wall," Blake said disappointedly. Blake decided to go prone and just follow the path.
Woods: Move it, Mason!
"Crawling under a tank is already hard enough!" Blake exclaimed.
"It's not hard, just unnecessary and annoying," Weiss said.
Woods: Come on!
"Wouldn't it be easier to go around it!?" Yang exclaimed. Blake reached the other side and stood up, she aided Woods in killing the incoming enemy soldiers.
Woods: Give me cover!
Blake continued to fight the incoming soldiers.
"This is going to be a massacre," Yang said with a smirk.
"Ugh, your sister is going all out blood-lust again," Weiss said.
"Just let slide," Ruby said.
Woods: Shit! Infantry coming right at us!
More and more infantry charged in towards the trenches.
Woods: We got a line of napalm barrels buried about twenty yards out!
"Wait, why do you have barrels of explosives out in the open battlefield? I understand that you want to keep them away from the base to not cause any damage, but in front of the trenches?" Weiss wondered.
"A waste of resources," Blake said as she blindly fires at the enemy.
Woods: Just hit this...
Woods pulls out a detonator and presses the button, triggering an explosion out in the open.
Woods: Fugassi mines, Mason.
"I thought it was barrels, not mines," Ruby thought.
Woods: The local forces love 'em.
Blake and her team continued down the trenches. Blake looks up and saw the helicopter getting shot by a rocket.
US Marine: Ugh! Dammit! May day, may day! Jesus Christ!
"There goes the air support," Weiss commented.
"Where's the massive group of helicopters that were hovering over our base?" Yang asked.
"Probably shot down," Ruby guessed.
The helicopter crashes a few yards away from the trenches. Blake held the line and fought against the overwhelming amount of Vietnamese soldiers. Blake followed here objective and saw something shining on the trench. She walked towards it and it was labeled "detonator." She picked it up and had the chance to use it. She automatically did it, thinking it would blow up everything a few feet away. But she did it too early.
Woods: Shit, too early! They're still coming!
"When was I supposed to detonate it? When they're celebrating over our dead bodies?" Blake asked. Blake decided to grab the other detonator, which was protected by the NVA. She threw a grenade, killing those who were camping out in the trenches. Blake quickly sprinted, getting shot at her left side. Eventually, she got killed by the overwhelming amount of bullets. When Blake respawned, she quickly decided to kill both the enemies in and outside the trenches. She was closely about to die, but she grabbed the detonator and sit tight.
Woods: Blow it, Mason!
Blake automatically detonated the mines, blowing up the wave of NVA soldiers in front of her.
Woods: Good kill!
"Epic disaster!" Yang exclaimed.
"Well, what now?" Blake asked.
"I think we should follow Woods, it's our only objective right now," Weiss suggested. Blake retreated back into the bunkers. There was a lone rocket launcher sitting on a table. Blake switched out the light-machine gun with it.
"I think I threw up a little," Ruby said disgusted. Everyone else just sighed at Ruby's immaturity.
Woods: Hold this position!
Blake decided to
Woods: Come on, you bastards! Raarrrgh! Come on, bring it on! Dammit! Hit 'em!
Enemy T-55 tanks move in.
US Marine: Tanks on the way! (Does not show up in subtitles)
Woods: Shit, we got armor moving up! Russian T-55's! We need something bigger. On me...
Out of nowhere, a projectile struck the bunker, making Blake shellshocked.
"The fuck did that come from!" Blake exclaimed.
Woods: Russian tanks! No wonder they're getting bold… Here, this LAW rocket'll burst 'em wide open. Grab that LAW, Mason!
Blake looks around the area, looking for the tanks. The tanks fired two rockets at Blake and the enemy fired rapidly upon Blake, killing her instantly.
"Well that's just plain dirty," Yang commented.
Blake respawned in the bunker and took cover before she got blown to pieces.
"Man, Americans must really love war if they're brave enough to go through this," Weiss said. Blake peeked outside the bunker and saw a tank sitting in front of her. She fired the LAW and blew up the tank. Blake ran towards the bunker with a machine gun turret. Another tank shot Blake and she dived into the bunker.
"This diving technique is pretty useful," Blake said. She blew up the last two tanks within ten seconds.
F4 Pilot: Roger that, Big Six, Red Rider is inbound. 2 minutes, please stand by.
"Two minutes? We're getting stormed over here!" Ruby exclaimed.
Woods: We're outta time.
F4 Pilot: Be advised, Red rider on station. Keep your head down.
An F4-Phantom drops napalm on the hill, killing the remaining NVA. The battlefield in front of them was engulfed with flames. Yang was in awe while Blake and Weiss couldn't stand the brutal nature of Earth soldiers.
"That was the quickest two minutes of my life," Ruby commented
"Awesome," Yang admired.
F4 Pilot: High explosive ordnance on target. Have a nice day. Red Rider out.
Woods: Hell yeah!
"It's not like we're any better at handling war, we have much more advance technology," Weiss said.
"But then again, 60 million didn't die," Blake replied. She continued to follow Woods. Blake, Hudson, and Woods move to the end of the trenches. A Marine opens a trapdoor and the team drop into a tunnel . When Blake landed, she took some heavy damage.
"There's ladders," Ruby reminded Blake.
"Only wimps use ladders!" Yang exclaimed. The ground shook as the sound of bombs being dropped echoed into the tunnel.
Woods: Shit...The bastards ain't lettin' up. Move!
B-52 Pilot: Arc Light, 10 minutes out.
Blake, Woods, and Hudson come out of the tunnel and meet up with a group of Marines on top of the hill. The NVA advance up the hill. Woods takes cover and talks to the squad leader, Hammond. A lot of radio chatter can be heard.
US Marine: One Seven, this is Red Rider, over. What's your status?
US Marine: Low on fuel, inbound two minutes.
Woods: Talk to me!
US Marine: We're almost out of ammo. There's a weapon cache in that bunker on the right *bullets flies overhead* Damn!...but we can't get to it. They closed our right flank!
US Marine: Stand fast, Two-Nine, you're covered.
US Marine: Negative, I'm on final right now!
Woods: Those barrels, they're full of napalm?
US Marine: Yeah, we got pushed back before we could bury them.
Woods: Good to know...Marines! Hold your positions! Let's fuckin' go.
Blake, Mason, Hudson, and the Marines advance down the hill and open fire.
Woods: Rip em' up!
F4 Pilot: Six, Red Rider.
US Marine: What's your position?
US Marine: Just hang tight.
F4 Pilot: Okay, standing by.
An F4 bombards a treeline at the bottom of the hill and set flames into the forest below.
US Marine: Go, go, go.
Blake took cover behind the sandbags with a mounted machine got on it and fired it upon the NVA. Blake kept getting shot at and she wonders where she was getting hit from. Next you know, she's dead. Blake respawned and as she walked down the hill, she notice a few enemies camping out on the side. Blake quickly killed them with a grenade.
Blake continued going down the hill and she finally reached the bottom of the trench. NVA quickly stormed the trench and Blake struggled to stay alive.
"Goddammit, where's the marines!" Blake cried out for help. One bullet later, she died.
Blake rushed down the hill several times, only to be met with bullets in the face. Eventually Blake got tired of it. Eventually, Blake got tired of it and she decided to go nice and steady, taking cover, going out of cover to kill a couple of enemies and take cover again.
"Ugh, I'd go guns blazin'" Yang said.
"But I'll die, just like the last 12 times," Blake said. Blake noticed that more and more enemies kept on climbing over the trenches nonstop.
"Is this a infinite respawn thing?" Ruby asked.
"Well it doesn't say how many times I can respawn, so I guess yes it is," Blake replied.
"No, infinitely respawning enemies, where no matter how many times you kill an enemy, they'll respawn."
Blake peeked out of cover and saw more enemies than before.
"I guess it is as it seems the enemy isn't holding back even though they're dying left and right," Weiss said.
"Well that sucks, how am I going to go through if the enemies are protecting the trenchline?" Blake asked.
"Kill them all!" Yang eagerly recommended.
"No, they'll just have more guys wanting blood," Weiss said. Blake decided to just push through the enemies and got out of cover and rushed into battle.
"Welp, she's Leroy Jenkins-ing it," Ruby said.
"What's that?" Yang asked.
"When someone rushes into a wave of enemies," Ruby said.
Blake was getting shot at every direction. She was about to die until she dived into a small bunker and took cover. Her allies pushed against the wave of NVA soldiers and reached a burning forest.
"Looks like we're going into the Woods," Yang joked.
"Godammit Yang!" Ruby yelled.
"Is the US military that reckless?" Weiss asked.
"Save the forests man," Ruby joked.
Hudson: Those are our own mortars! Do they know we're here? Toward the HQ!
Woods: Get up the hill!
Blake fought against the soldiers camping up a hill. Blake threw several grenades, which rolled down the hill towards her.
Woods: Keep your head down!
Hudson: Move up!
The hills and trees were blackened by the napalm and other explosives the Americans used in this battle.
"Damn, cleanup would be a pain in the ass," Yang commented.
"War isn't pretty," Blake said.
Woods: Keep pushing!
At the top of the hill, Blake is knocked down into shellshock. She watches as NVA troops and Marines fight. An NVA soldier kills a US Marine. Woods walks up behind him, and tries to save the day. However, his M16 jams, and he is noticed by the soldier and attacked.
"Hate it when guns jam in the most important time," Ruby compared a time when Crescent Rose wouldn't fire a single bullet when surrounded by Grimm. As Woods is lying on the grounds, the NVA trooper is about to kill him. However, Blake picks up a Python and kills the NVA first, saving Woods' life. Woods gets up, and the team move into a bunker.
As Blake moves through the trench, he sees various things. A medic tends to a soldier who has been hurt. A Marine removes blocks of wood off his body and gets up. Another is coughing from all the smoke from the fire.
"Wow, Americans must have it hard when going through war," Weiss said. Blake enters a jeep through the back and Woods drives it around the camp. Blake switched out her assault rifle with a grenade launcher called the China Lake.
Mason: This thing's built like a tank.
Woods: Yeah… But a damn sight is more maneuverable.
Mason: VF 143! Authorization Sierra Oscar Golf X-Ray. Priority ordinance on my command.
F$ Pilot: Affirmative X-Ray. Engaging.
"Why are they spouting out random words like gold and x-ray?" Yang asked.
"I guess they're military codenames," Weiss thought. A jet flew by and dropped bombs all over the plains in the distance.
Woods: Use the controls to steer the TOW missile.
Blake fired the missile and she could steer it around.
"Well this is some impressive tech," Ruby complemented.
"Did you actually say nice about Earth technology?" Blake asked surprised.
"But it's not as impressive as homing missiles with a press of a button does the targeting for you, so thumbs down," Ruby added on. Blake did not know where to go and the rocket eventually exploded by itself. Woods yelled at her to fire it at the tank and Blake guided the next missile to a tank and blew it up. Another jet drops more bombs on the battlefield.
"Aw, explosion galore," Yang said in awe. Woods drove around as Blake killed enemy soldiers with the China Lake. Woods stop the car and gave Blake an opportunity to fire the rockets at the tanks. Woods continued to drive around and stopped again. Blake took out the last of the tanks and Woods parked the jeep. The three exited the jeep and looked at the battlefield all torn up.
Hudson: It's all over.
Woods: No this is a start of something else. They'll be back.
A helicopter hovers over Mason and his team and drops off Bowman as a song plays in the background.
"Great the whole crew is here!" Yang exclaimed.
"We're just missing Brooks and Weaver," Ruby noticed their absence.
Woods: Bowman!
Bowman: You look like hammered shit, Mason.
"'Nam will do that to you," Weiss said. Right after that, Mason shakes Bowman's hand and said the same thing.
Mason: Heh… well 'Nam'll do that to you.
Bowman: It's good to see you, Alex.
Hudson: Jason Hudson, CIA - We're here to talk to you about your encounter with the Russians in Laos… We got word a defector might be in play.
Bowman and Woods greeted each other and walked away.
"they don't give two shits," Yang said.
Author's Note:
So I got a new computer. Typing will be helluva lot easier. Anyways, sit tight for the next chapter people. Also please review some constructive critisism, like what I'm doing well, what I need to work on etc. Would like to thank FredFuchs for the Nazi scene idea.