Chapter 9: Burn
"How far out are you, Dutch?" Balalaika asked over the radio. Her people had spotted a ship just of the coast of Thailand, one she suspected was the source of Kane's mercenaries and vehicles. She had given Lagoon Company the job of sabotaging it. That way, Kane would suffer a huge blow. It was the best lead they had so far, considering.
"About two miles," Dutch answered.
"Good. Radio back when it's done." With that, her voice stopped and Dutch continued towards the ship.
"How many guys do you think are on this thing?" Revy asked. If this ship was indeed where the Black Marchers' reinforcements were hiding, they could expect a lot of resistance once they arrived. Boarding the ship without being seen would be difficult, planting explosives would be harder still.
"Hard to say," Dutch answered simply. "I imagine we'll have our work cut out for us." That was what she feared he would say. At least she would be entertained. These mercenaries would put up one hell of a fight and Revy was in the mood to kill. The ship came into sight not far away. It looked rather desolate from the outside. That just meant those aboard were inside. That was foolish. Perhaps sneaking aboard would be easy enough after all.
"You and Wolf okay handling this on your own?" Dutch asked. The rest of them had elected to stay on the Black Lagoon in case anything went wrong. There was no point in all of them going aboard, especially considering two of the best killers at their disposal were perfectly capable of handling this themselves.
"We'll be fine," Revy answered as she took a drag of her cigarette. "Nothing we haven't done before."
"Alright, then." They approached as slowly as they could. Once Dutch had positioned the boat just right, the gunslinger and the assassin shot a grappling hook from the deck up to the ship. It caught the railing, allowing them to climb aboard. "Remember, in and out. Plant the explosives and come straight back. We don't need any heroics."
"We got it, Dutch," Revy answered. The two killers made their way inside. They needed to get to the boiler room. There, the explosives would do the most damage, assuring that the ship would be damaged beyond repair. As much as Dutch had hoped there would be no complications, Revy couldn't help herself. Inside, she took her Cutlasses and gunned down the first three mercenaries she saw. Wolf was utterly taken aback by this, having been reaching into his duffle for ammo.
"What the shit!" he exclaimed as Revy grabbed him by the collar and dragged him behind cover. He quickly readied his Desert Eagle. Once the Black Marchers in the area had been dispatched, Revy kicked open what appeared to be some sort of vent. She crouched down and entered the dark passage.
"Follow me, and stay close," she ordered. Having quite a bit more experience with boats and their layout than Wolf, the assassin obeyed, though his compliance likely had more to do with the view of her rear end he had than any respect for her knowledge of nautical vehicles.
"You got it," he answered cheekily. As he had hoped, they emerged in the boiler room.
"Alright, get those explosives planted," she ordered him. As he reached into his duffle bag, they heard footsteps from outside. They were approaching fast. Revy ducked in behind the cover of an alcove, dragging Wolf with her. They were extremely close to one another, practically squashed into the alcove. Still, the Black Marchers walked right past them and entered the adjoining room.
"You really need to stop interrupting me when I've got my hand on plastic explosives," he scolded her, provoking a stifled laugh. Wolf only noticed now that her hands were still on his shoulders from when she had reached for him. His left hand, too, had subconsciously gone to her hip. At this realisation, Revy became uncomfortable and retracted her arms. She was a distant person, highly intolerable of closeness with others. It was due to the vulnerability that came with it, Wolf thought before retracting his own arm and climbing out of the alcove. He planted the explosives on the boiler in the centre of the room. "That should do it. Ready to go?" Revy seemed distracted for a moment. At the sound of more footsteps, she snapped out of it.
"Yeah. Let's get the fuck out of here." They returned to the outside using the same route they had taken to the boiler room. As they emerged, Dutch waved up at them.
"I heard gunshots," he said judgementally. "I assume that means we need to get the fuck out of here." The two of them returned to the boat, unhooking the grappling hook clumsily. They headed inside and joined Dutch. "How'd it go?"
"Piece of cake," Revy assured him. "Fuckers didn't stand a chance. Let's get the fuck outta dodge so we can blow them sky high."
"That sounds like a good idea," Dutch agreed, He turned the boat around and prepared to leave only for the boat to halt.
"The fuck is that?" Wolf asked.
"Damn. Did you take in the grappling hook?" Wolf and Revy went outside to check. Though he was almost certain he had unhooked it, the boat was still connected to the Black Marchers' ship. He cut the rope with his blade, allowing Dutch to take off towards home. Revy produced the detonator from her shorts.
"You want to do it with me?" she asked, her thumb hovering over the button. Wolf took hold of the detonator, placing his own thumb over Revy's.
"On three." As they both pressed down, they watched the now distant ship implode from within. The tremulous explosion was a sight to behold. Revy and Wolf both made noises reminiscent of physical pleasure at the sight of Kane's soldiers and equipment going up in flames. It was a glorious sight to behold, indeed, the fall of an enemy. Kane's efforts to hold his district of Roanapur would be seriously hurt now. That gave both Revy and Wolf great pleasure to know that they were one step closer to defeating him. They were coming for him. And when they did, he would regret ever setting foot in Roanapur.