Assorted Bluey One-Shots

Episode VII: War Stories

A/N: This episode is a flashback to Grandad Mort's days in Vietnam.

April 1st, 1972. Australia's involvement in the Vietnam War was at its peak. I was drafted two years prior, but nothing could have prepared me for the day that changed everything.

My platoon and I had been called into battle close to the Vin Cu'u Creek. We were approaching the drop zone via a helicopter and were preparing to land. We had expected a smooth transition to the field of battle, but then, our Helicopter was shot down by Vietnamese artillery. It crashed, and my platoon and I were left on our own. As we recovered, I quickly took charge. "Everyone, no need to panic. We have to go with the mission as originally intended and wait to be rescued." Everyone thought this was a good idea, and so we charged ahead.

My platoon was a small one, consisting of no fewer than six members. There was me, the leader. Rick, the heavy. Matt, the sniper. Nick, the demolitions expert. Chris, the covert ops guy. And Lars, the tech guy.

As we trekked through the creek, we encountered multiple traps set by our enemies. We were able to dodge almost all of them. That was until we stopped in a clearing to reassess our path. When we did, Nick stumbled across what looked like a dead cat on a stick at the base of a tree. But when Matt poked it with his rifle, a net suddenly appeared from beneath a pile of leaves near the dead cat and was pulled up to a high tree branch by a rope. We narrowly avoided this trap, only for multiple Vietnamese soldiers to run out of the woodwork, guns blazing. We were outnumbered 230 to 6. So we did the only thing we could do in this situation. We ran for our lives. Unfortunately (or fortunately depending on whose side you take), we were soon caught after stumbling into another trap. After this, the five of us were brought back to the Vietnamese encampment by our captors. When we were brought back, an enemy general debated with his associates what to do with us.

Ultimately, he decided he would lock us up in cages while thinking about what to do with us further. While locked up, I met...her. She was a soldier from the British regiment, and her entire platoon had been killed except her. Her name was Gabriella, and we got along quite well when we met. We had been put in the same cage: love at first sight. That was, until we were dragged out of the cages and bought before the enemy general, who said "I have come to a decision. All of you shall die at dawn, Mortimer, you shall be beheaded, Gabriella, you are to be burned at the stake, and the rest of you will be hung. Any questions?" we were all to scared to ask any questions, and so were re-caged, awaiting our fate.

At dawn, we were hauled to a forest clearing where we were to be executed. The execution site was already prepared for our deaths. As I was placed on a large rock, the enemy general proclaimed that we were "guilty of defiling the sacred creek. The punishment for which, is death!" "That seems like a bit of a severe punishment" commented Chris. But, his comment went unheeded, and we were to be killed anyway. But, just as the executioner came up to the stake around which Gabriella was tied, Gabriella suddenly cut herself free and threw the executioner onto the woodpile, flaming torch still in his hand. When this was done, she freed the rest of us, and the battle was on!

We were then picked up by a helicopter and taken back to base camp. But things for me were never quite the same after that. Gabriella joined my platoon, and we would fight together for many years. When the war was over, we would move back to England, and get married.