Chapter 9: New Scars
June 16th 2010 1415 Hours
Arabian Sea
The only way Koko would freak out like that would be if something came down from HQ. But she turned into all business mode cause there was no stomping around like if Elmer Fudd shot Bugs Bunny and completely missed. As I saw her walk off talking to the radio I heard Wiley below me.
"Hey Damien! I need you to come with me, Koko wants me to show you something."
"Alright."
As we both headed below decks to the main computer room I heard the clanging of metal above decks. The cargo was being transferred. I noticed we were walking to the computer room a little fast. I knew Wiley didn't peg me as stupid so I asked him rather bluntly.
"Ok bro. Why did Koko tell you for me to stick to you?"
"There's…actually something she wanted to show you but we had to wait at least until we were away from Africa and we didn't want you looking over your shoulder constantly."
"What do you mean?"
"It's better if I show you, she received this information from one of the Dubai police commanders. It's in the computer room."
It never really struck me as a shock to see the kind of hardware and software most civilians had access to instead of military, unless you were CIA or NSA. The US in all of its branches used their equipment until it completely broke down and stopped working. Regardless of how much newer and better shit was being developed, we always took from the lowest seller. One good thing I could say about being on the other side was that I had what I NEEDED to have. But what I didn't need was the added stress from what Wiley showed me.
"So…this shithead is CIA?"
"Yep. Full name, Jerrald Paul Shattzberg and goes by the code name Scarecrow."
"Scarecrow? I take it this guy is just supposed to look threatening and pray the scavengers don't figure out that he isn't one?"
"Not entirely, he got that name because he's supposedly very good and keeping away the "crows" that eye CIA's money flow. He also has an incredible knack for tracking business deals that seem very shady. We had the unfortunate timing of stumbling into his territory cause he was looking for work after his last gig went cold. Looked like trying to catch Koko seemed like a good idea."
"That didn't pan out too well for him then."
"The other reason he got the name "Scarecrow" is also because of the lack of grey matter between his ears. I think you figured that out for sure when he kicked you in the face and didn't know who you were."
When the Central Intelligence Agency was first formed it was to be the premier group that combated the Soviet KGB. We looked towards the British SIS to model ourselves after because they were in the spy game longer than we were. While well intended, their execution was horribly flawed considering the people they put in charge of field ops. During the Cold War and even today its screw ups matched their successes. Operation Gladio in Europe, Bay of Pigs, Operation Chaos in the antiwar movement, the dictator Mobutu Seko, and Iran-Contra are just the events of which people already know. I witnessed first-hand on how the CIA was hurting the US resolve in Afghanistan rather than helping it so I would know. So Shattzberg was another fool in the circus that was supposed to be our group of intelligence gatherers.
"Well if this Shitsturd loser is so blinded by his ego I'm not too worried. But thanks for letting me know, I'll thank Koko later."
"Not a problem. You know what I also have a new updated list of possible threats that none of us went over yet. Might be a good idea and plan ahead."
"Good idea. I prefer at least seeing a threat through its disguise. Gimme a second I just gotta take a leak, I promise I won't do to you what I did to Tojo and ditch you."
"Go on. I gotta bring the list up anyway."
The clanging of the containers being offloaded continued above on the main deck as I headed to the men's room. I only used the sea terms that actually applied to a ship and made sense to me. Calling the toilet the "head" was where I drew the line. However as I was washing my hands I never expected a pile shit to stand next to me but considering where we were at it was appropriate for him to be there.
"Hey big guy. Good to see you!"
There was no need for a response, just a reaction. A reaction of a left hook right in between the eyes and above the nose of Kasper Hekmatyar. I then dived on him in a dominant mount. This was gonna be enjoyable, or it was when I felt a boot hit under my jaw and forced me on my back. I immediately tasted blood and then heard the distinct sound of a safety click. When I looked up I saw a figure dressed entirely in black with all too familiar tattoo on the right forearm. Her FN P90 PDW aimed at me from the hip.
"I wouldn't go any further then that mishka. I don't think you want to get hurt."
"Sorry Chiquita. But I got no time for your SHIT!"
She may have been standing over me but I still had the ability to pull off a leg sweep. After knocking her off balance I reached for her PDW and let my weight ride us back as I threw her with a judo toss her over myself but her weapon was slung on her so I couldn't take it. I quickly got up as she was about to and rushed her from behind and put her in a choke hold. But my size worked against me as I had to kneel down slightly to get my arms around her she performed a leg sweep of her own but I didn't let her go. She landed on top of me with her plate carrier landing right on my chest like getting smacked with a shovel. Seizing the moment she back head butted me in the nose, but not before I managed to liberate her sidearm. She sprung to her feet as I flicked the safety off still on the floor and we ended up like a scene in a John Woo movie. Her forehead was bleeding from the throw and my nose and mouth from the kick and head butt.
"See? Now you're bleeding."
His arrogance really rubs off on his cronies.
"I'm only gonna say this once you old broad. Your boss slash fuck stick is due a serious lesson in humility and I aim to collect!"
I pulled back the hammer on her Sig but she didn't flinch. Like him she a lazy type of smile that never left her. Koko's brother or not, he did try to kill me and while there's a sick concept of forgiving people or letting it go in this twisted world I fell into this would never be something I take just letting pass by.
"DAMIEN! CHIQUITA! ENOUGH! KASPER GET HER TO BACK OFF!"
Koko. She must have heard the commotion and didn't want any more of a mess. Wiley and Lehm were right behind her. Kasper then stood up.
"Calm down Chiquita. That was just his way of saying hello. And I have to say his skills haven't dulled so let's not make this bloody. Don't worry Damien, if Koko says no, I won't argue with her."
After a few tense seconds we both flipped the safeties on our guns and both went to the sinks to wash the blood off our faces, I handed Chiquita back her sidearm and Koko started yelling.
"What the hell were you even thinking?! You knew he was on the ship and you just decided to take a piss and just hope you ran into him to cause trouble?!"
"It was an accident I swear!"
"Don't give me your bullshit I want you off my ship now! The moment you have the last container you leave!"
As they all left I was the last one out of the bathroom doing my damnedest to stop the blood coming from my nose. As I stepped outside, Lutz and R were there. Probably to make sure I didn't do a blindside tackle on Kasper.
"First time I've actually seen you hurt. But then again you went up against Chiquita so naturally that must have been quite a challenge."
If I clicked with anyone very well other than Koko it had to have been Lutz, apart from being close to each other in age we both had sarcasm as our second language. We also had done our damnedest to keep our morals in check. He told me on how he didn't shoot that teenage Orchestra member but he understood that when a combatant is or is just above a child they can be more of a dangerous threat in a fire fight as opposed to adults. Lehm sought to that.
"She at least learned from the last time we met."
"Wait. You two fought before?" R inquired.
"Yeah. You guys probably don't know this yet but Kasper is the real reason I'm here with you guys."
Five months earlier:
February 19th 2010 1200 Hours
Sezin Military Outpost, Myanmar
After the Second World War ended it didn't mean all of the world's militaries stopped fighting. Since all of Europe was a smoking wreck and doing their best to try to rebuild their countries they couldn't hold on to their overseas colonies in Africa and Asia. Naturally they wanted their own independence and before the 40's ended dozens of newly formed republics popped up. Short version, some of the colonies just got their independence and others didn't wait for the Europeans to get to the negotiation table and went straight to fighting them. Whether they didn't know or didn't care when the Europeans lost their colonies they had also lost the reigns controlling all the ethnic groups within them and they naturally continued their old tribal feuds that had lasted since before their occupation. Throw a dart at a large scale map of Africa or South East Asia and it's likely to hit a spot where there was a civil war with either no winner and just a pile of corpses or just a coup in where a piece of shit just replaced another piece of shit. And I ended up right smack dab in the middle of one of the worst ones, the one that was documented as the longest running civil war in history, Myanmar, also known as Burma. Where some in my line of work saw it as a mercenaries paradise I saw it as a cesspit that gave real mercs a bad name and a disgrace to the profession. It's places like this that turn decent mercs into fucking terrorists. Only reason I was in this jungle hell was because I made a deal with a Thai pimp that if I kept one of his old friends safe he'd clear up a misunderstanding I started with an opium dealer cause he though I took more of my fair share of a cut of protection money I was turning in. It wasn't really a misunderstanding, I just gave some of the money back to some of the businesses he was ripping off but he didn't need to know that. The moment my contract was up with this fat bastard Aye Win I was getting the hell out of South East Asia.
"Captain! You're on the clock! I'm not paying you to stand around!"
You're lucky that you're paying me period. Or else I would have just smashed your face in so you could stop screaming your angry bullshit.
I walked back to him and guarded his flank. It was only the second day and I was already having second thoughts about the contract I formed with him. While money was the only thing I really trusted I knew it wasn't gonna get me any closer to bringing closure to what happened two years ago. Whether or not Win really knew who I was or wasn't he didn't care the Burmese government was well known for the scorched earth shit they did to suppress the five major states that were against the militarist regime. Rapes, executions, torture, burning villages, displacement of people into poverty the list was fucking endless. Not to say that the five states, the Kachin's, Kayah's, Kayin's, Rakhine's, and Shan's were any better. While the Burmese regulars, if I could even call them that, were more well known for their crap both sides employed the use of child soldiers, landmines, torture, slave labor, and of course ethnic cleansing. I was in the Kayin State and in the area where Win was fighting against the third largest minority group in Burma, the Karen people. But unfortunately I couldn't take sides in a war that even after 60 years had no end in sight. And I often thought about the next generation that was born in here that they were just gonna keep going on with the fighting cause they didn't know anything else.
"I hope for your sake Colonel Win that those four children over there are not part of your battalion."
"You need not concern yourself with the orphan's. They volunteered to work on my base they're message runners and do menial tasks for my soldiers while they're out finding those damn Karen. They work and we give them a roof over their heads and they are fed three times a day."
Two "Ifs". One, if you're lying to me I cut your throat in your sleep and consider our contract terminated. Two, if they volunteered, why the hell does it look like they haven't had a bath in months.
Throughout the history of war, there had always been those that were not old enough to be legally classified as an adult fight on the battlefield. While the modern world had unanimously rejected it, it had greatly degenerated in the third world countries into which warlords could just easily manipulate children to do their dirty work better than adults could. This taboo was everywhere and no nation was immune to it. Even the youngest Medal of Honor recipient in US History was a Marine named Jacklyn Lucas who forged his mother's signature on a waiver and enlisted when he was 14. At age 17 he jumped on a grenade at the Battle of Iwo Jima and survived as well as saving the lives of his fellow Marines. While his actions were noble and he wanted to keep his friends safe it didn't exclude the fact that he was still underage and did not need to be near a battlefield.
Getting back on the subject. There was one other fact that shouldn't be exclude, basic hygiene.
1925 Hours
Even though I had a Burmese dictionary sometimes all I had to do was use a specific dialect and presence and that usually got Win's thugs to back off. Being also nearly two feet higher and a hundred and fifty pounds heavier than damn near everyone on the base worked too.
"You clowns are gonna wait five more minutes and like it or the next line ya'll are gonna be in is the doctor's office!" I growled.
I got the four children, Maurice, Moka, Aung, and Elizabeth into the latrine before it was the soldiers time. I stood outside the door to make sure they had their privacy. It didn't really surprise me that two of them had English names since the country was once part of the British Empire. The English language was a bit sporadic in the county but most people got the better gist of it, same thing applied in India. The best ones that spoke it out of the group was Maurice and Moka second.
"You guys almost done in there? You got little more than half an hour till bed time."
"Were done! We just finished dressing!" Maurice said.
They came out one at a time and looked up at me like curious puppies wondering what to do next, I then turned to Moka.
"I trust the boys behaved themselves sweetheart?"
"They did." Her accent was heavier than Maurice's but she understood me completely.
"Then go to bed. You do have chores to do tomorrow. Hopefully looking a little cleaner will get them to ease up."
As they hurried off I turned to the regulars with a dark stare.
"Go ahead and tell Win what I did. Tell him that he just pays me to keep his ass alive and I'll do it. What I do on my own time is my own goddamn business!"
Some of that business was making sure I had my own humanity in check.
February 21st 2010 1530 Hours
Lai-hka Hill's, Myanmar
This shit never gets any easier. Am I lying to myself? If I really don't care I wouldn't have taken this contract, but if I didn't that opium lord would have hunted me all over South East Asia and he wouldn't stop. This isn't the first time I've protected scum but my head can't take much more of this. It's also not like I can't go to a priest or a shrink and say "Hey I'm a wanted mercenary and I'm concerned about the choices I made."
Fortunately I had arrived after the fighting had ended, I was the driver for Win as he was taking a survey for what his thugs had did to this village out in Karen territory. The fires had died down and there were shell casings all over the place. His thugs obviously didn't care what they were aiming at. I was carrying some of his soldiers gear today, an AKM with an Eastern style ammo carrier while wearing BDU's, dark lens goggles and a black do-rag covering my face. I definitely didn't want to make any type of public appearance even though the Burmese have a massive discrimination of foreign journalists in the country. As Win was having a conversation with his officers I overheard shots, but as I turned no one was reacting. That meant only one thing, and there were six shots in slow iteration.
Christ in Heaven what the hell am I doing?
"Let's go Captain. I got the reports I need."
As we then drove off in his truck his cell phone rang.
"Hello? Ah yes Mr. Gasud. Really? I'm glad we could do this earlier than I wanted to. I'll be back on base in little more than an hour. I'll see you then."
1647 Hours
Sezin Outpost
After we got back to Win's office there was a Middle Eastern man, definitely Gasud, waiting with a suitcase on Win's desk. It was money no doubt for a deal he wanted to do.
"Hello, Colonel."
"Welcome, glad you could arrive when you did."
Gasud then looked to me. It was obvious whatever he wanted to talk about he wanted to do it in private.
"This guy's obviously not one of your men. You employing mercenaries now?"
"It's ok Yusef, the Captain here is rather professional he doesn't ask questions."
That doesn't mean I don't listen you fat fuck.
"That will be all today Captain. You're no longer needed."
"Fine."
As I walked out of the room. I slowed my pace and got a brief stint of the conversation after I exited the door.
"I just wanted to say I accept your proposal and I was hoping that I would get the chance to discuss matters with him personally."
"That's actually not a problem. He's had a keen interest in Burma for a while. It'll take him a while to get out here but let me make the call."
Him? Whoever this guy is he's just the middle man. But he's bringing something for Win.
After I had gotten out of my fatigues and into my regulars for the jungle climate the children were waiting for me. No surprise they trusted me more than they did the government troops and they enjoyed listening to some of my slightly over exaggerated tales of adventure.
"Damien! I missed you!" Moka shouted with excitement as she grabbed my leg.
"Ok! Ok! Just don't cut off the circulation to my leg."
She let go and the rest gathered around me. My second and far more preferred job of baby sitter commenced.
"You done working for Win?" Aung said. His English had been improving but not much.
"I still have to finish the time I'm assigned to him and that could be another month."
If I last that long without going crazy.
"When you leave we are coming with you." Maurice said.
"Yeah! Grow up to be big strong tough guy!" Elizabeth said throwing punches, the most spry of the four.
I knew right off the bat that I couldn't take these kids with me out of Burma. I sure as hell don't want them to be like me. The only thing I could do was to get them to one of the Doctors Without Borders groups in Thailand. The refugee camps would be just as good but they had runaways all the time.
"Ok let's eat first. Then I'll tell you what happened after I jumped out of that helicopter."
February 22nd 1020 hours
Win normally liked to stick to a schedule so I wondered why he was taking longer than usual. As I was walking to his office I turned a corner and saw he was walking toward me his hand on Moka's shoulder.
"We we're supposed to collect reports from your field commanders over an hour ago. What's going on?"
"Don't worry Captain. Just giving the girl here one last task for us to do and…we'll Moka why don't you tell him?"
"They said they'd take me to the Red Cross Camp in Thailand! I have the passport and papers here!"
I took the papers and they were legit. I had used and seen plenty of fakes in the last two years and they were real. I didn't know what the hell Win's game was but he wasn't gonna get on my good side with one good gesture. I handed back the papers to Moka, her expression looked more of relief that she was getting away from here. I smiled back and then looked at Win still wanting my answer.
"There's also good news for you too Andrushko. I'm awaiting a rather important guest but I don't know what time he will arrive today. So I won't be leaving the base, you get the day off but don't leave the base unless you get my permission."
"Right."
He signaled to his men and they escorted her away. I turned and saw Win walk away in the other direction with Gasud. He was looking at me with interest. No doubt when he heard my name it must have raised an eyebrow. I did have a reputation.
1300 Hours
After chow I decided I would take a run around the base. There wasn't much else to do other than check my phone on the scores of games back stateside as well as my bank accounts that Win was paying what I was owed. As I was walking back to my room I heard a whisper.
"Damien over here!"
I turned and I saw Maurice, his eyes bloodshot and he was scared out of his mind. He took me to behind some crates and grabbed me and started sobbing.
"Damien…they…they…"
"Calm down. What happened what's wrong?"
"It's Moka. They…they killed her! I overheard a group of soldiers talking. That she thought they were going to Thailand. They said that they made her walk through an old minefield."
In that moment, time had literally stopped. My curse had come back to plague me.
Sweet merciful God in heaven why!? She didn't do anything! Why!?
I hugged Maurice closer as I started gritting my teeth and shut my eyes hard. I didn't know what the hell was going on but I didn't care. The evidence led back to one person, Win.
"Damien what's gonna happen to us!?"
"Don't worry you, Aung, and Elizabeth are NOT staying here and neither am I. We're getting out of here tonight."
I reached into my pocket. One good thing about this pack of rats is that they kept their distance from me unless it was business. That included my room and my stuff.
"Take my key, get the rest of the kids, go to my room, lock the door and shut the shades. Don't let any of the soldiers see you go in. I'll be back soon. I'll knock on the door four times, three normal, pause one second and then hit it. Understand?"
He was doing his best to hold his tears back it was clear he was still scared and so was I.
"Do you understand me Maurice? Do you trust me?"
He calmed down. "I do."
"Alright then go."
As he went to get the other kids. I began formulating a plan, I managed to get a good idea of the bases layout in my rather short contract to my former employer.
1345 Hours
After the kids let me in with my secret knock I went over to my personal equipment case, naturally the children had looks of concern about their faces as I was laying out all of my guns and even more so the packs of C4 I was saving for if a situation had planned for it. Turns out tonight was the night. I was gonna have to leave some of my stuff behind though but it didn't matter I'd just buy replacements.
"Damien, what are you planning?" Aung said. Obviously scared that he might have made a bad idea.
"I'm gonna let Win know he brought a lion into his pack of hyenas."
1820 Hours
The hardest part was the waiting for it to get dark. Making sure that Win and his thugs didn't catch on was just as important. Since his business partner he was making a deal with still hadn't show up it was either now or never.
"Ok guys I'm go over the plan one last time. When I leave count five minutes, after that head towards the crates near the motor pool and stay low, stay quiet and stay out of light. Stay there until you hear the signal, then head towards the truck I mentioned, you remember which one it is?"
"You placed a trash can next to it with the lid put on it upside down." Said Aung.
"And signal is when the power station blows up." Said Elizabeth.
"Good, once I blow up the gas tanks and get the soldiers to be shooting at each other I'll be done. Then we drive out of here and speed towards Thailand."
I slung my HK 416 behind me tight so it wouldn't rattle against my plate carrier and took out something a little more quiet. One the world's finest submachine guns a suppressed MP5, just in case someone spotted me when I was slitting the throat of a sentry.
"Ok guys. Now or never, I'll see you at the truck."
Before I left Maurice grabbed my shoulder.
"Wait what happens if you get hurt?"
Well I hope he knows how to drive.
"The trucks these guys have don't use keys and they're not locked it's just flip switch. You should see it immediately. Just follow the route I gave you on the map marked in red and don't stop for anything. When you get to the border, give them that envelope, that's more than enough money for the Thai's to let you pass."
All three looked at me naturally scared and they weren't the only ones. Raid's could go in a hundred different directions I just hope I took the least shitty one.
"But don't worry, I'm not gonna get hurt and we're all leaving together. Sound good?"
I held out my hand in the form for a bro handshake. Naturally all three took it.
"Good." They said in unison.
"Ok here we go."
I poked my head outside the door and saw no sentries. I headed to the shadows, donned my night vision goggles, pulled out my knife and silently moved to the power sub-station.
Colonel Win, our contract is over and so is your life. Moka, if you can hear me I'm sorry. Even though you probably saw me as a gentle giant I'm anything but that. I'm actually worse than that fat bastard Win, cause it doesn't matter how you kill a person your still killing a person. But I'm not letting your soul suffer while that sadistic fuck continues to breathe. Moka, Maurice, Aung, Elizabeth, this is for you guys.