Repatriation - Part 4 of The Vixen War Bride Series, page 1
Books by Thomas J. Doscher
The Vixen War Bride
Holdouts
Uncivil Affairs
Repatriation
Coming soon
Cupcake Girls
Copyright © 2022 Thomas J. Doscher
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Repatriation
The Vixen War Bride
Part 4
Thomas J. Doscher
To my mother, who gave me my first typewriter.
Table of Contents
Common Acronyms
Va’Shen Pronunciation
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Epilogue
Common Acronyms
AAFES – Army Air Force Exchange Service
AO – Area of Operations
BX – Base Exchange (on-base department store, Air Force)
CID – Criminal Investigation Division
CJTF – Combined Joint Task Force
COC – Combined Operations Center
DFAC – Dining Facility (Nice way of saying “chow hall.”)
DFAS – Defense Finance and Accounting Service
DLI – Defense Language Institute
DPAA – Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency
DV – Distinguished Visitor
EOD – Explosive Ordnance Disposal
FARP – Forward Air Refueling Point
FOB – Forward Operating Base
GO – General Officer
ID – Infantry Division
JDOG – Joint Detention Operations Group
LT – Lieutenant (pronounced “El-tee.”)
LTV – Light Tactical Vehicle
LZ – Landing Zone
MEDEVAC – Medical Evacuation
MOS – Military Occupation Specialty
MRE – Meal Ready to Eat
NCO – Noncommissioned officer
PA – Public Affairs
PX – Post Exchange (on-base department store, Army)
QRF – Quick Reaction Force
RIF – Reduction in Force
RIP/TOA – Relief in Place/Transfer of Authority
SeaBee – United States Naval Construction Battalion. (Heterograph of “CB,” for “Construction Battalion.”)
SGLI – Servicemembers Group Life Insurance
SNCO – Senior Noncommissioned Officer
TOC – Tactical Operations Center
TTP – Tactics, Techniques and Procedures
UNCLASS - Unclassified
Va’Shen Pronunciation
Aderen – Ah-dur-en
Alacea – Ah-lah-say-ah
Alva’Rem – Al-vah-rem
Alzoria – Al-zor-ree-ah
Aru’Dace – Ah-roo-dah-say
Azarin – Ah-zah-rin
Bao Aren – Bou Ah-ren
Bao Sen – Bou Sehn
Basilla – Ba-sih-la
Dan Huun – Dan Hoon
Dara Tang – Dah-rah-tang
Duran’Dal – Doo-rahn-dal
Ganais – Gah-nay-iss
Garan’Sel – Ga-ran-sell
Gazeen – Gah-zeen
Hestean – Hes-stay-en
Kamarin – Kah-mah-reen
Kasshas – Ka-shas
Kastia – Ka-stee-ah
Mikorin – Me-kor-rin
Myorin – Me-yor-in
Na’Sha – Neh-shah
Nazea – Nah-zay-ah
Orein – Oh-ray-in
Pavastea – Pah-vah-stay-ah
Pelle - Pel
Sho Nan – Show Non
Tasshas – Ta-shas
Tesho – Teh-show
Toka – Toh-kah
Turean – Too-ray-en
Turan – Too-ran
Va’Shen – Vah-Shen
Voro – Voh-roh
Ya’Jahar – Yah-Jah-Har
Yarl – Yah-ril
Yasuren – Ya-soo-ren
Yonao – Yoh-now
Prologue
Azarin readjusted the smoky-gray cloak and hood that protected him from the light drizzle pelting down on him as he made his way carefully over the rocky hillside toward the camp. Every so often he would hear the faint buzzing sound of the Dark Ones’ small flying craft, searching the hills and forests for him and the other members of the First Prince’s Storm Rifles. The small drones may have been flying too high for humans to hear, but Va’Shen ears were keen enough to detect their presence at a fair range. His cloak, given to his commando by the First Prince, were supposedly woven by the Great Ones four millenia ago and served to hide them even from the eyes of the Dark Ones’ machines.
He looked back at his friend and fellow commando, Tasshas, to make sure he was keeping up. He needn’t have worried. The dark-haired tod was only a few yards behind him, his hardlight rifle slung over his shoulder with a makeshift sling he had made from one taken from a dead Dark One’s weapon. Some commandos had been loathe to touch the Dark Ones’ equipment, afraid it was an insult to the Gods or the Great Ones. After all, they had, as the nobility told them, provided all they would need for the war. That said, some of the gear they had found on fallen Dark Ones was incredibly useful. Azarin, himself, found the many-pocketed bags they wore on their backs incredibly convenient. Some even contained soft bladders filled with water and a tube that allowed you to drink from it whenever you wanted.
Azarin did so now, sipping at the water as he continued to walk. The cave entrance was not far now, and there was much he needed to report. As they neared the group of gray-green boulders that both marked and masked the entrance to the cave in which the commando had set up camp, the silver-haired Va’Shen looked up, checking the overcast sky for floating eyes. Seeing nothing but more clouds and drizzle, he bent down at the end of a cluster of interconnected blue tree branches that resembled an oversized tumbleweed and rolled it to the side, exposing the small hole that served as the cave’s entrance. He handed Tasshas his rifle and pack and crawled through the hole, once again grateful that he was not a very large tod and rail-thin.
Once he was through and had slid to the floor, the cave opened up, and he was able to stand. He turned and took his pack and rifle back from Tasshas and then took the other commando’s gear from him so he could follow. As Tasshas collected his gear, Azarin took out a small jar of water and put a handful of crystal-clear rocks into it. As the rocks began to glow, he raised the water lamp up and found a sentry standing not far away, his hardlight rifle not quite pointed in their direction.
Satisfied that the two commandos were not some trick of the Dark Ones sent to infiltrate them, the sentry’s rifle lowered a few more inches, and he stepped aside to let them through.
The sentry’s brown, fox-like ears drooped at the response, and the two commandos continued down the tunnel.
Azarin led the way, weaving between rough crystal stalagmites that jutted up like a natural obstacle course placed there to delay invaders. The only sound that could be heard in the dark cave was water dripping from above them. They continued. Further. Deeper.
When the tunnel opened up into a much larger chamber, the light from the water lamps and torches all around it almost blinded them. Water continued to drip from the high ceiling, leaving no part of the chamber unmoistened. Tents made of cloth or animal hides from back home ringed the cavern, leaving a wide, open space in the center where a small fire fought back against the dripping water.
Azarin grunted in approval at the sight of the rest of the corporals sitting around the fire, deep in discussion. It saved him the trouble of rousting them all. He called out to them as he and Tasshas approached.
Azarin’s dark gray-colored ears twitched once, just enough to acknowledge the joke, before the commando knelt down at the fire with the other corporals. He looked up at the older tod, who remained standing and was looking down at him with some concern.
The other commandos around the fire hissed at the disappointing news.
<
Azarin’s ears drooped at the reminder. The Storm Rifles’ primary target had been a Dark One base to their east where the murderous aliens based their aircraft. The little flyers were bad enough, able to see them and report their presence to the Dark Ones. But these craft – larger and crewed by Dark One pilots – carried explosives that could be dropped on them from above.
And worse than that...
Azarin responded calmly as the old tod watched his reaction.
Azarin took a breath. He was right. In the beginning the commandos were able to sneak into Dark One camps easily, wreaking havoc and death inside their own walls and escaping just as easily. But as the war went on, the Dark Ones had adapted. Their machines’ eyes were everywhere now. Their perimeters further out and anything taller than a blade of grass between the fence-line and their camp cut down to nothing. The Fire Daggers’ losses at the Dark One artillery base proved how much things had changed.
One corporal, a slightly older tod with brown hair and fur, spoke up for the first time.
The captain looked at him.
Orein bowed respectfully to the old tod and continued.
the captain agreed.
The old tod had an answer ready. he replied.
Other ears twitched around the fire. The joke had been very much needed.
Orein turned to the others.
Murmurs of agreement answered him.
The captain thought on this.
Azarin suggested.
At some point in the conversation, the suggestion had morphed into a course of action. Azarin looked at Bao Aren, his ears pointed to the cave ceiling.
The others voiced their assent and rose to leave the fireside. As Azarin stood, Tasshas rested a hand on his shoulder.
Azarin ignored the comment.
* * *
Azarin and his corporalship of twelve commandos parted with the main group shortly after assembling outside the cave and set off to the southeast, intending to enter the hilly terrain that ran south of the Dark Ones base in hopes of avoiding detection. The indigenous vegetation was of different colors than what he had known on Va’Sh, but the shapes and sizes were similar. Tall, dark trees with verdant green leaves shaped like six-fingered hands concealed them from the air while thick, blue-green bushes of prickly straw hid them from any patrols that may have been operating nearby.
Together, the twelve fox-men moved through the forest like ghosts. No sounds were made, no words spoken. Their sensitive ears could hear everything moving around them while the animals in their path had no idea they were there until they were practically on top of them.
When the bushes finally gave way, Azarin found himself on top of a steep hillside at the very edge of the Dark Ones’ perimeter. Stretched out below him was nothing but a flattened moonscape pock-marked with the occasional crater from a mortar round. In the distance, he could see a chain-link fence topped with coils of razor-sharp E-wire, an obstacle his tods had become far too familiar with. But past that was an artificial concrete road that seemed to run all the way to the horizon. Parked to the right of that long road, each with their nose pointed toward it and lined up as if on parade, were the Dark One’s sky flyers.
