Chapter 10: Declassified

At the end of the day, Rock felt relaxed.

He knew that his moment was coming. He knew that soon… his past wouldn't be a problem any more.

But for now. He just relaxed and took in the smell of blood and depravity that was Roanopur.

After his talk with Revy, he knew that he would have to tell her the full story. Something he was not too comfortable with, but knew that the mention of a shit-load of cash and a full auto, Jesus-Christ-knows-how-many-rounds-per-minute gunfight, was enough to get the lady gunman into a festive mood.

And it also provided the perfect distraction, it would delay her peering into his private affairs.

But for now he just enjoyed the evening stroll.

~Later at the Yellow Flag~

The bar was filled with its usual patrons.

Dutch was sitting at the bar, enjoying a night of peacefulness while drinking his bourbon.

Rock walked in and took a seat next to his boss.

"Hey Rock… how's it going" asked Dutch.

"Pretty good, and it's going well" responded Rock.

"Revy was pretty psyched this afternoon. What did you two talk about" said Dutch.

"Not much… just a possible job and good pay day that'll come from our favorite people" said Rock.

Dutch just looked at Rock. He could see that Rock knew more than he let on. Why Dutch always maintained a cool demeanor, he couldn't stand it when his employees withheld information from him. Especially if it was enough to get Revy as excited as he saw her.

"Rock… if you know something about this. You gotta tell me. I'm not coming to you as your friend right now, I'm coming to you as your boss. Now if you know anything, anything that might get us in trouble or dead… you gotta tell me" said Dutch firmly.

At this, Rock donned a serious expression. He didn't look at Dutch, but the African-American man could tell that whatever he was about to say, it would be something that could not be ignored.

"I like you Dutch. Your always professional when the time calls for it" Rock takes a sip of his drink. "But be careful Dutch… be VERY careful. Right now, we're dealing with someone who is very dangerous. And if your smart, that should scare you. Both Chang and Balalaika are very fucking pissed… and when they're mad… we are gonna be the ones holding the guns" said Rock.

"I'm not one to get us in danger… but when the time comes… I'm gonna killing a lot of people" finished Rock.

Rock just continued to drink his alcohol with a serious expression still on his face. Dutch however, was inwardly shaking like a leaf. Never in his life has he heard someone speak with suck venom in their voice, yet still seem so trustworthy. And if he had anything to go by, it's that Rock was someone who should be trusted… but he was also someone who if you didn't get the fuck out of their way… you'd end up dead no matter who you were.

The two crewmembers sat at the bar and continued to drink well into the night.

~That night~

After leaving the Flag, Rock got a call from a very well-known blonde nun. He told him to meet her at the Rip-Off Church. After she hanged up, Rock made his way over there.

Eda was smoking a cigarette while sitting on the couch on the second floor of the church.

Rock promptly knocked on the door and was allowed to enter. He sat down on the couch and looked at Eda. They didn't say anything at first, they just continued to stare at each other… neither of their gazes wavering. Until Eda broke the silence.

"Heard about what happened down town… I see you ripped those mercs a new asshole" said Eda plainly.

"Well they didn't make it easy" joked Rock.

"And now everyone in the Company is shittin' their pants over it… they're worried over what might happen if Aldridge got his hands on a Russian nuke" explained Eda. "Hell, they're even more worried if either Chang or Balalaika get a hold of it" continued the blonde nun.

"Be that as it may…" Rock takes a drag of his cigarette, "Your main priority is stopping Aldridge before he does anything rash. While at the same time you spook friends are trying to keep this all under wraps so Moscow doesn't find out that one of their missing nukes is under the control of an ex-CIA defector" Rock takes another drag of his cigarette, "otherwise the whole Russian army is gonna be paying a little visit to Cambodia" finished Rock.

"That about sums it up" said Eda. "The Company has been working out a plan on how to get Aldridge, and after reviewing the info you stole… we came up with a solution" said Eda.

"I didn't give them your name, but they do have your file, and I managed to convince them that your reliable. The plan is that if you can get Aldridge's second in command, Pauma Zavimbee, then you have the green light to kill Aldridge" explained Eda.

Rock took a long drag of his cigarette before puffing out a large plume of smoke.

"Like you said Eda… I'm reliable" said Rock while looking Eda dead in the eye.

~Then~

After his discussion with Eda, Rock decided to turn in for the night. He headed to his apartment and was eager to get a good night's sleep.

But as he arrived at his door, he noticed that there were some scratches near the door knob. He grabbed his Beretta 92FS and cautiously pushed the door open.

Rock scanned the room and took a few steps inside. At first, he did not see anything. But from his combat training knew that it always meant he wasn't alone. Rock quickly turned around and was tackled to the ground by an unknown assailant.

They fell to the ground with is attacker brutally punching him in the face. Rock swiftly pulled his legs up and managed to get them around the attacker's neck and yanked him off him.

Rock got on top of the intruder and started to deliver hard blows to the man's face. But the attacker surprised the Japanese man with a swift left hook, managing to get the Japanese man off him.

Rock stood up and got into a fighting stance. His attacker did the same, and with both of their dukes up, they prepared for the first punch.

The intruder through a right hook, but the Japanese man easily blocked and countered with a right cross. He followed up with a left hook and right uppercut.

Rock's attacker stumbled back but immediately lunged forward and picked Rock up and slammed him against the dresser. He started punching Rock in the gut, but Rock got him with a right hook and grabbed his head to guide to his knee.

The assailant again stumbled back but recovered to try and deliver a left kick to the Japanese man's abdomen.

But Rock, using his military H2H combat training, caught the intruder's leg and delivered a punch to the man's thigh, before elbowing him in his gut, and following up with a powerful uppercut.

Rock, watched as the intruder stumbled to the ground, then looked over and saw the dropped gun. He immediately lunged for it, and managed to grab the handle before having his feet swiped out from under him.

Rock fell with a thud, but turned over quickly to see his opponent lunging for him. Rock caught him with his legs and pushed him off.

The intruder flew back against the wall. But again, got back up.

Rock sent a right kick aimed for his opponent's head but he caught his leg. Rock quickly jumped up and used his free leg to deliver a powerful kick to his intruder's head.

Rock aimed the Beretta at his attacker's head but was surprised when the intruder kicked it away, causing Rock to miss.

Then he came back by swiftly throwing a left hook into the Japanese man's face and locking him in a choke hold.

With his face turning red, Rock desperately lifted the gun to the man's face and pulled the trigger. A spray of blood flew out but that didn't kill him. Rock then aimed the Beretta at his attacker's foot and pulled the trigger.

His opponent let go of Rock while screaming in pain. Rock turned around and delivered a spinning back kick to his opponent. Knocking them to the ground.

With the intruder not able to get back up. Rock lifted the gun, and caught the attacker's gaze with his own. Rock gave the intruder a cold, icy stare before mercilessly pulling the trigger.

With the intruder now dead, Rock started to search his body for any signs of who he must be.

But out of nowhere. A rag was pulled into Rock's face and he quickly started to lose consciousness. Rock fell to the floor knocked out at the hands of second intruder.

Then everything went black!