Ortega walked into the storage room on his own two legs. As he slowly pushed his drip-bag on the wheel-pole around, his manner seemed a little unsure, and he was still quite pale.
The bandages he had on his arm had already become red and blood stained.
The Dak To Hospital had temporarily allocated a small room for Secret Services personnel, being in this case Garner and Trautman as such.
“Colonel,” said Ortega as he closed the door behind him. His voice was low, without energy.
“Ortega,” said Garner.
“How you doing, Skorpio?” asked Trautman.
“They gave me enough morphine to put down a horse. I thought that, I really thought I was never going to wake up again. It was…”
Ortega stopped mid-sentence, just sitting there as he stared into thin air.
“Given the morphine for starters, followed by the surgery itself, I’m sure I haven’t got everything out of my system yet Sorry about that.” Trautman and Garner listened on quietly.
“Yeah, I still feel quite groggy actually.”
“Sit down,” Trautman said as he pushed a chair in his direction.
Ortega sat down
He then went on to say:
“Apparently, I lost a little too much blood, but I won't suffer any side effects because of it. They said I can go back to fighting again.”
“Well, that’s very good news,” said Trautman.
“Especially since replacing you would be a full blown pain in the ass to say the least.”
Ortega smiled.
That’s what people like us liked to call a sense of humour.
It was time to get the briefing underway, so Ortega thought back to the very beginning.
He began by informing them about their two full days of march, at full speed of course, in order to reach the objective and then about the quick (and EXTREMELY dangerous) recon which was all done before 'the hit'.
He then went into details about the interrupted radio transmission and how that brought about his 'decision by opportunity'.
A decision he had made on the field and thus accepted full responsibility for.
Ortega told them about how some civilians were killed in the process and then gave details about the state they found Robertson in, clarifying the reasons Messner had decided to use morphine to end his life.
He ended his update with the details about the jungle itself, and the events that had occurred the days they were there.
He didn’t tell them hardly anything about the difficulties they’d encountered on their way back however.
He informed them that there were up against an elevated number of enemy guards who were on duty, which in turn made it difficult to foresee and block all the potential attack routes or plans. So eventually, although famished, thirsty and fatigued, they decided to just chance it.
Then he gave a thorough explanation of the diversion attack Rambo and Jorgenson had done, and his own decision to cut the rope.
Trautman and Garner repeatedly interrupted him with their questions, making his already-long briefing even longer.
They asked about the number of enemy they had killed or how many structures they’d destroyed.
Afterwards, they inquired about how civilian casualties, their approximate age, gender and ethnicity.
The kind of equipment the enemy used, their level of training.
Trautman and Garner also wanted to know about Vuong's absence since it was the mission’s first and foremost objective. Judging by the kinds of questions they had inquired about however, it was clear to Ortega that in the end, they hadn’t found Vuong after all. He wasn’t in either of the two structures Trautman had launched SOG missions to do. The three missions may have taken place simultaneously but he hadn’t been found in any of them.
Fucking Christ – Ortega thought bitterly.
Trautman's need for such specific details became somewhat morbid however, and Ortega couldn’t help noticing the way his debriefing was quickly turning into an interrogation.
After a while, it seemed as though they wanted him to contradict himself somehow.
He thought about how single and unique that mission had been, especially in that its objectives, which had changed during its course. Ortega figured therefore that this kind of interrogatory must have only been standard protocol for cases this dynamic.
What’s more, SOG soldiers were known for lying about their missions. Almost all of them did.
They’d lie because they could (there were no witnesses out there) or for ego-related reasons.
Yeah.
The guys from the Special Forces had enormous egos, and if you ever had to sit through one of their debriefings, you’d think they were Superheroes that never made mistakes either.
With the exception of Ortega that is, who just wasn’t like that, not by a long shot, and neither was anybody else on the Baker team for that matter.
The reason being that the Baker Team was meant to evolve and consistently get better... not to simply 'be' the best.
So Ortega always made sure his debriefings were thorough telling the Team everything.
Well, almost everything that is.
When Ortega and Lowell were underwater and Ortega had to kick him off so they both wouldn’t drown. That was, one of the few examples of the minor details Ortega preferred to keep to himself. Not to mention that the mere thought bothered him.
Being able to talk it out was therefore out of the question.
The longer the debriefing lasted, the sterner and inflexible Trautman became.
“It sounds like you’ve got regrets about this mission, Soldier.”
Ortega didn’t say anything.
“Don't feel you should,” Garner added.
“Those civilians,” Ortega began.
“What’s that?”
“I said the civilians, Sir. We should have done the reconnaissance more thoroughly.”
“So why didn't you then?” the Colonel asked sternly.
“To avoid taking any risks.”
“Of course you did,” Trautman said.
Ortega gave the Colonel a perplexed look. He wasn’t sure if the Colonel was kidding or not.
Trautman noticed his confusion, so he added:
“All recon ops are extremely dangerous, Ortega. That's why there's no such thing as a 'perfect' reconnaissance. Now let's move on.”
After all was said and done, and all the necessary figures had been taken into account (such as the number of men lost, casualties sustained, hostages freed and those lost) only then could an assessment be made. Trautman and Garner estimated that, in addition to destroying three logistic warehouses, approximately sixty enemy soldiers were taken down which made for an average of about seven soldiers a head.
In view of Robertson’s poor health conditions, his death was deemed inevitable right from the start. Having died in combat, Lowell’s death was chalked up to being involuntary. Despite having rescued three hostages rather than four, and not finding Vuong at the objective site as expected, Point of No Return's result was seen in a positive light.
Essentially, Trautman finally declared the Mission Accomplished because of that.
“Good work,” Garner added in the end.
A long silence ensued his concluding statements, but it looked as though Ortega wanted to say something more.
Eventually, he said:
“What about Johnny and Carl?” he inquired, somewhat hesitantly.
“After you left, we immediately launched an offensive using everything we had at our disposal. We kept sending as many air planes and helicopters as we could, but when we got there the zone was hotter than ever, and we weren’t even able to set up a single LZ. The main problem was not having any visual contact with them and that they couldn't give us their position either, considering the enemy was on their tracks. All we knew was that they were there somewhere, and basically, from that point, we lost them from there. But try not to think about it now,” said Trautman.
“With all due respect Sir, it’s impossible to not to think about it.”
“I know, son. What I meant was, don’t lose hope just yet.”
Ortega nodded.
“Good. I’d say you’ve earned your fair share of medals today, Baker Team. Most importantly however, is that you’re still alive.”