Why am I not getting answers from VCs and getting rejected by incubators?
Were-chicken Soldiers Part I
(This was once a question I had posed to me and while I was trying to figure out what it meant, I thought of an idea for a fiction story. I have started to write it out. It will come out in installments as short stories. It’s all in fun — nothing more than that)
“Why am I not getting answers from the VCs and getting rejected by the incubators?” shouted Captain Chicklets.
The radio let out a loud squelching sound and Private Birdwire adjusted the antenna.
“Sir, let me try another frequency. The Vivacious Cockatoos (VC) must have found our frequency and started jamming it.” replied Private Birdwire . He quickly flipped a switch and turned the small knobs to alter the radio’s reception frequency.
“Okay sir, you’re good to go.”
Captain Chicklets nodded to the private and looked towards the East where he could see there was a big storm developing. He figured it would take another two or three hours before it would hit.
“Delta Bravo, we need extrication or ammo and incubators asap. Hill 673 had sucked up all our ammo and resources holding off the Vivacious Cockatoos. We know from our briefing two weeks ago that the village by this LZ was a hot spot of activity. When that bird comes in, we could use a sit rep with how many visible VC there are? Over.” said Captain Chicklets
“Old Bird, this is Delta Bravo we read you loud and clear. There should be a chopper within sight shortly. It’s loaded with ammo and incubators. I’ll let the pilot know your request. Over and out.” said the mysterious radio operator at the base.
Just as the Captain hung the radio up, he noticed a spec on the horizon in the distance. He could hear that familiar whooping sound of the rotors as the helicopter slices through the air with its inbound cargo. For a brief second he felt a moment of frustration come over him. Why on earth did his ancestors give up flying? His entire unit could have self extricated already and here they are waiting for a steel bird to come.
“Big Bird, this is Helo One coming inbound with your request. It looks like you’ve got a real problem coming towards you as there is a string of VC coming out of the local village. It looks like you’re about to get really busy over.” said the helicopter pilot
Private Birdwire nodded to the captain and said, ‘I’ll confirm with the pilot and sign off sir.”
Captain Chicklets nodded back and then turned as he jogged back towards the group’s rendezvous point. Captain Chicklets had ordered the Non-Commissioned Officers (NCO) to assemble at the rendezvous point so that he could get an update as to the status of the men. They had been in the field now for 2 weeks and had just finished one large battle in the Ia Drang valley. The unit had taken heavy casualties and were ordered back to the backup landing zone for extrication.
Along the way they found an egg factory which the Rangers had held back and destroyed it as the rest of the soldiers continued in combat formation towards the extrication point. It was about twenty minutes after they separated ways with the Rangers that they heard a giant explosion which made the men smile knowing that the team had at least destroyed a bonus target. After the shit kicking, they just took, the Rangers taking out the Egg factory was a much-needed morale boost.
The captain wasted no time getting briefed and then getting his NCOs up to speed with the current situation. They discussed which positions each group was going to take if the VC got wind that they were there, then they’d be surely coming to finish the job they started on Hill 673. The captain looked pensive as he surveyed the terrain knowing these were the last few minutes of peace he would have for a while.
Captain Chicklet walked back over to LZ Xxx pecking at the odd rice grain as he waited for the helicopter to come in. The chopping of the helicopter blades sent sonic thuds across the terrain which felt like an invisible force thumping against Captain Chicklet’s chest. Once the helicopter touched down Private Pecker quickly unloaded the ammo and the incubators onto a raft that they had ‘borrowed’ from the villager in the adjacent rice paddy beside them. Captain Chicklet ran up to the helicopter and the pilot opened the door to greet him. Captain Chicklet stuck his head inside and asked the Helicopter Pilot what he had seen on his approach to the landing zone.
The helicopter pilot said it looked like a couple of hundred enemy soldiers without any major artillery or heavy weaponry. The captain thanked the helicopter pilot and backed away as the helicopter slowly rose off the rice paddy and sped off back towards the base.
“Get those incubators to the hens. You know how they are, when the fighting starts, they are always laying eggs. Those incubators are the only way we’ll be able to keep those hens from succumbing to their instincts. As soon as the shots start going off and if they pop out an egg, they can throw it in the incubator instead of ceasing fire to sit on it.
The captain was still angry that they lost an entire platoon on hill 673 when the hens all stopped firing because they laid an egg. They all just started sitting there in the middle of the most desperate fight for their lives, they just sat there on their eggs. The enemy came in unopposed and captured the entire group.
Instincts aren’t hard to control for just then hens either. There was Screaming Rooster battalion who all seemed to lack self control. Day after day we’d see one of their members make the climb up onto the tallest point we had in the battlefield and start his morning call. The snipers were right there waiting every morning.
A Screaming Rooster would start his call and he’d suddenly make a violent spin and fall to the ground. The sound of the shot always came about a half second after he was hit. We couldn’t hear it coming, I’ll give them that but after 2 or 3 days of one of your soldiers getting picked off by snipers, you’d think that they would put up a strict no morning call policy. Captain Chicklet was told that they weren’t ordered to do it — but they felt compelled so someone would volunteer every day to do the call despite the certainty of death. Screaming Roosters alright.
The ranger group who had stayed behind to blow up the egg factory finally now caught back up with the rest of the unit. Seeing where the captain was they began crossing the rice paddies towards the helicopter. One shouted out to the captain to get his attention.
“Captain, we had captured a guard at that last eggplant and quickly interrogated him. We found out that there is another enemy eggplant two clicks east of here. We came back for some C4. If we can blow that plant then that should be the last of the egg plants in the Ia Drang,” said the ranger
“Good man, you found the last eggplant! You Rangers always seem to pull through and do something special. Okay Lieutenant, we will hold off the enemy until we hear the big boom. Then we’ll pull back to LZ Delta for extrication. LZ Delta is a kilometer East so we can meet in the middle.
You guys will likely arrive before us so assume a defensive position and secure the LZ. Make sure you boys are all there because it’s going to be a time record breaking extrication or we’re dead.” Said Captain Chicklets
“Yes sir, we will have the LZ secured and waiting.” said the ranger as he turned and walked away towards his troops.
The captains’ men were all standing at attention waiting for the captain to give any last-minute updates or orders. He gave them the news of the altered landing zone and on the situation in general. He told them that it was up to them to hold off the VC.
Once that eggplant was destroyed then all of the men would be hero’s for stopping the mass genocide of the Ia Drang and for saving their fellow rooster and hens. With steeled nerves and a ton of determination each soldier manned his/her position and readied themself for the oncoming storm.
To be continued
