That night, like any other, a C130 was flying over Dak To, dropping its flares into the night sky.
The latest orders from above no longer allowed the Baker team to take their leave all together exactly like old times.
Rambo and Ortega were already a little tipsy as they made their way on foot to the usual bar-brothel, smoking as they went.
There seemed to be less people walking around that evening.
The walk there was a rather long one, and although in Ortega’s opinion one brothel was as good as another, he would never have said no to Rambo, who these days, seemed pretty keen on that one in particular.
The two were walking down a dark, narrow and particularly lonely road when they saw a flash in the distance between the houses at the end of the road, practically at the horizon.
Rambo and Ortega stopped dead in their tracks.
Not a second later they were met by the unmistakable sound of a gunshot.
Always at a distance, yet another spark ensued, and, from one moment to the next, all hell seemed to break loose.
The city limits were under fire as a barrage of faraway shots and explosions hit it.
It was an infantry offensive, exactly like the '68 Tet offensive against Saigon had been, the year before. Not unlike the Tet offensive, this too was being carried out in enormous numbers and it looked like an attempt to take the city by force.
Rambo and Ortega froze where they were, almost paralysed, and consequently, too far from home to consider it an option.
They got off the road moving to the nearest house, and just as they put their backs against the wall, an enormous bang sounded.
A genuine and authentic crash sound bellowed at not even two hundred yards distance. The brothel they were on their way to, had just blown up into pieces.
While dust lingered in the air and fragments were falling back to the ground, Rambo turned and looked at Ortega pleadingly. Rambo wanted to go in for the survivors.
Ortega was no monster.
He too had gotten to know some of the people who worked there and he was no less upset about it than Rambo was, but not getting right back to the base could cost them both their lives.
Ortega looked up and sighed.
If he’d ordered Rambo to get right back to the base, his friend would never have forgiven him.
So that's how they made the decision to stay and help whoever needed it.