The Ho Chi Minh Paper Trail (Rewritten)

by BelisariusMagnus

The follow-up to 'Glass Rocks'. Martin Zappala and Fred Viapiano, business associates of Luca Cavalcanti, arrive at the home of Black Lagoon Company with reconciliation and a job. After a body is found, Black Lagoon Company becomes embroiled in a violent political game between the owner of an illegal recycling racket, a media mogul, and the Vietnamese secret police.

5. Wetwork

Sighing as his call goes to voicemail once again, Dutch fishes out a few U.S. quarters out of his pants pockets. Dressed in a sleeveless diamond patterned t-shirt that alternates in dark blue and light blue diamonds, his flak jacket, a pair of jeans, his belt buckle, and combat boots, he drops a few quarters into a side feed and proceeds to dial several numbers. He takes a look at his stainless-steel watch and checks that it is 11:29 A.M. Dutch stares blankly at the booth connected to the phone, with illegible graffiti hanging right above it on a wooden plane, flanked by scratched, see-through glass. Suddenly, Dutch hears on the other line "Hello?"

"It's me Roscoe. I called twice with my cell phone but you didn't answer," Dutch calmly says. Roscoe, caught off guard, lies "Oh, I was uh…out. I heard a noise outside and went to check it out." Dutch sighs and says "Roscoe, if you don't want to talk, I understand if…" Suddenly, Roscoe immediately cuts Dutch off and yells "Understand?! No Marion, you don't understand shit! You selfish, egotistical, punk! You want me to talk? Okay, I'll talk! I'll tell you what I have been meaning to say ever since you ditched me in Indonesia! And don't you go say that I wouldn't tell you this in person, because I would gladly repeat every fucking syllable in your face! You want to hear?!"

Dutch sighs and says "Roscoe, that was almost twenty years ago. I've changed. I was an idiot. I wouldn…" Roscoe cuts Dutch off again, yelling "Does it look like I give a damn?! Whoever you are is the problem of your crew, not mine, because you left me in a country where I didn't even speak their goddamn language! So all I remember about you is that you ruined nine years of our lives! Let me ask you something…Dutch. Let me ask you something. Where were you, on July 24th, 1967?!"

Dutch groans and says "Of course you know where we were at that time. Do you think I would forget watching swine cops and cracker guardsmen shoot everyone that moved?! Do you think I would forget us being held in the precinct and getting beaten nearly unconscious just for marching down the street?! What do you expect me to say?!" Roscoe immediately raises his voice, saying "Then what the hell did you see?! Cause all you seemed to talk about was gun rights and the evils of capitalism while I saw my neighbors attacking each other and getting shot dead by pig cops over hunks of meat in grocery stores! Sure, did I shed a tear when any of those racist pigs croaked? Hell no! But if you think I dropped out of high school to go to Oakland with you because of stupid ideological bullcrap, then you're full of it! When we were giving out breakfasts to the kids, and that little girl cried and told me that she hadn't had a hot meal in over a month while I served her bacon and eggs, that was one of the most emotional and humbling experiences in my life! You know why? Because not too long ago, I was that little girl! And what did I see when I turned my head for just one second?! Huh?! I saw you annoying leadership over some bullshit that Mao Zedong wrote while they were frying up eggs for starving children, you selfish asshole! You think the point of it all was those little red books?! I could spit on those books, right now! We had twenty-something important books to read and you had to pick that stupid piece of scrap to treat as your little bible! When I looked at the Black Panthers and what they represented, I saw community empowerment and economic liberation, and all you saw was a beret and a shotgun!"

Suddenly, Dutch overhears a woman speaking on the other line, faintly. The phone close enough for Dutch to overhear, Roscoe says in English and Thai "Angkhana, I'm sorry! It's an important call, Angkhana! Excuse me!" Roscoe returns to Dutch and says "You know what?! It's useless anyway!" Dutch groans loudly and says "Roscoe, you know what happened to my father." Roscoe suddenly starts sarcastically laughing, yelling "Ha, your father? Your father was a wife beating scumbag who had the extremely good fortune to have a college education and a nice engineering job during Jim Crow. And when the Japanese started selling their cars in America, he got laid off and couldn't cope with the fact that he became redundant, so he curled up with a bottle of liquor in his hands and drank himself into hell. I don't know what the hell you saw in your old man, because I saw him for what he was ever since I came over to your 'new' place in Detroit for the first time. It was no 'fallacy' of capitalism that caused your dad to lose his job. He, after all the grief he caused your mother, and don't bullshit me because I could see what was going on, finally got the karma he deserved for being the miserable sack of shit that he was and quite possibly still is! And your mom? Oh wow, what the hell, Marion?! You're the only person she had left, and you actually had the nerve to abandon her like that?! What kind of man are you?!"

Dutch bears Roscoe's comments and simply replies "Roscoe, please don't bring my parents into this." Roscoe angrily chuckles and says "Hey, you're the one who brought them up! And might I add that when I was in Oakland with you, I actually wrote back to my folks to let them know that I was still breathing! And when I stupidly enlisted with you on your little journey to Mao-land, I still wrote back to them. And now I can't even visit them in America or else I'll get arrested for desertion! Hell, they probably think I'm dead, and maybe it's best that they'll think just that! And maybe I am dead! You ever knew how pulling a cold turkey from a serious opium addiction feels like?! It ain't a massage, Marion! And I never developed a habit until I had to cope with the stress of having someone from either Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, or the U.S. suddenly appear in wherever the fuck we were after we deserted, and then have us jailed or killed. And the former happened anyway! Marion, did you know that those Cambodian prison guard punks were dangling opium in front of my cell just to screw with me?! Lord Almighty, I hate you and your guts! And I hate myself for looking up to you for all this time! We had a beautiful thing going on in the Black Panthers, we were doing so much good! And we even had a good thing going on with the USMC! We could have just served our time there and collected that nice bonus and all the benefits, the war was winding down! Why the hell did you pull us from that?! WHY?!"

Suddenly, Dutch hears a woman crying hysterically on Roscoe's end, as Roscoe says "Angkhana! I'm sorry I raised my voice. Don't cry Angkhana, please calm down. Angkhana!" Suddenly, the sound of a door slamming itself on its frame resonates on Roscoe's end of the line, shortly followed by Roscoe, a few tears rolling down his cheeks, yelling "See what you did…Dutch?! You selfish, disgusting punk! You're in Vietnam right?! Then stay there, there's your Maoist-Marxist Leninist paradise! Live in it! Breathe in it! Just leave me and my life alone! BYE!" Dutch suddenly hears the connection die. He heaves a deep sigh, turns around with the phone still in his hand, and then suddenly launches the phone at the space between the dials and the glass walls, the phone bouncing a couple of times before dangling in mid-air. He turns around once again, only to realize that someone rudely parked a bicycle right in front of him. A few locals stare at the phone booth and give Dutch dirty looks. He ignores them as he fishes for a pack of cigarettes.

Cigarette in his mouth, burning, Dutch steps into the lobby of the motel. He turns to the manager and says "Hello." The manager waves at Dutch in acknowledgement, his attention focused on a copy of the Indochina Daily. Walking up the steps, he turns toward his room. He pulls out a key and opens the door, stepping inside. Finding the room devoid of human life, he scratches his bald head and turns toward Rock's and Revy's room. In front of their door, he knocks twice, taking a drag of his cigarette.

The door swings open, revealing Rock, dressed in a white sleeveless shirt, beige shorts, and sandals. His hair is completely disheveled. Behind Rock, lying on the bed, Revy watches television, dressed in a black tank top, her lower body covered by the bed sheets. Dutch steps inside and turns toward an ashtray near the TV. He says "Hey" to Revy as he knocks some ash off the cigarette, placing the cigarette on the tray. "Hey Dutch," Revy replies, her eyes glued to the TV. The TV is showing a BBC broadcast, with a Pakistani woman with long hair, dressed in a dark purple buttoned dress shirt, speaking to the audience. The news anchor says"More details are coming to light in the recent assassination of Ulster Loyalist and suspected terrorist, William 'Billy' Wright. Mr. Wright, sometimes known as 'King Rat', was gunned down by three assailants in a brazen shooting inside Her Majesty's Prison Maze, in Maze, Northern Ireland. The three assailants were convicted felons and members of the Irish National Liberation Party. Mr. Wright was the suspected ringleader of the Loyalist Volunteer Force, a breakaway faction of the Ulster Volunteer Force and a designated terrorist organization. Mr. Wright's funeral was concluded in the 30thof last December. Intelligence agencies are abuzz over who will claim leadership of the LVF, as the ongoing crisis in Northern Ireland continues."

"What happened to Benny? Where is he?" Dutch asks, staring at the news broadcast. "He left with Ippolito at 9. Said they are taking the torpedo boat to Saigon," Rock calmly replies, heading to the bathroom. "I see. I've been up since 8. I found a few nice restaurants nearby…including an Italian bistro four blocks away," Dutch blurts out as the TV continues its broadcast. Revy nods and continues to listen to the news anchor, who says "The Hong Kong government continues its mass slaughter of all its chickens in its labors to prevent the spread of a strain of influenza. The Hong Kong government claims that this is not an overreaction. The densely populated Chinese territory is still reeling from the effects of the 1968 outbreak of influenza virus, which spread from Hong Kong and Vietnam to as far as Japan and the United States, claiming upwards of a million lives in the process."

"Hey Dutch, I got a question," Revy says, yawning. As Rock exits the bathroom, his hair combed to how it usually is, Dutch says "Yeah? Go on." "If you kill an animal that has a virus, and then cook it, doesn't the cooking kill the virus? Shit feels like waste." Revy inquires, watching the TV flash images of chickens being slaughtered by people in scrubs and face masks. Dutch shrugs his shoulders and says "Beats me." "Rock? Do you know?" Revy asks. Rock yawns, exiting the bathroom, and replies "I have no idea." Revy nods once and says "Thanks." She blinks at the TV as the news anchor continues"In news from Africa, reports are coming in of another massacre in Algeria. The war-torn nation, who has been embroiled in a civil war since December of 1991, reports at least a hundred killed in the villages of Had Chekala, Remka, and Ain Tarik, with more casualties being reported by the hour. The village of Had Chekala reports no survivors as suspected GIA guerrillas set fire to the village, razing it to the ground. Four years ago, the GIA, a radical Islamic terrorist organization, hijacked an aircraft with the intent to crash the aircraft into the Eiffel Tower. The plot was foiled when French Special Forces raided the aircraft in Marseille Provence Airport, killing all four hijackers. The GIA has been responsible for several massacres on Algerian soil, including the recent massacre of the 30thof last December, in which estimates of between 250 and 400 men, women, and children of all ages, were indiscriminately slaughtered with knives and axes. Villagers have fled the area as violence is expected to continue in another bloody chapter of the Algerian Civil War."

"400 people, in one day. Imagine that," Revy mutters, climbing out of her bed. She reaches for her corduroy shorts and puts them on, as someone knocks on the door. Dutch turns toward the door as Revy casually steps into the bathroom. Opening the door, Dutch meets eye to eye with Ngoc, who is dressed in a blue and white horizontally stripped t-shirt, dark green shorts, and grey sandals. She adjusts her eyeglasses on her nose and says "Sao rồi (What's up)? It's time." Rock approaches the doorway as Dutch asks "You mean the transport to Saigon?" Ngoc nods and says "Car is outside. Ford Telstar hatchback."

A Ford Telstar hatchback passes a large fuel truck, cruising down the Hanoi Highway. Inside, Ngoc sits on the driver seat, her driver side window rolled down. Next to her, Vibol, dressed in a green t-shirt and brown shorts, stares out of his front side passenger window, visibly bored. Behind Vibol, Dutch stares out his rear side window, his eyes glued toward a large, white, rectangular five floor building with several white and grey columns embedded within it. Revy, dressed in her black tank top and corduroy shorts, her Cutlasses in her shoulder holsters, stares blankly out of her window, seated behind Ngoc. Rock, dressed in a salaryman dress shirt and black dress pants, his Uzi in a holster strap on his left shoulder, sleeps on Revy's right shoulder, the left side of his head leaning against her right shoulder. A small blue luggage case sits on the back seat between Rock and Dutch. Dutch gives a quick, confused glance to Rock and Revy, and then turns to Ngoc, asking "Hey, what's that building on the right? The one with the columns."

Ngoc looks right and immediately says "Oh. That's the Ho Chi Minh City branch campus of the Vietnam National University. I have a nephew that goes there." Dutch smirks to himself and says "A university…huh. Some of the fellow marines told me stories of Saigon. To think that that was only 25 years ago, a massive warzone, and now look at how it is." Ngoc nods and says "Yea. After the civil war, the south got rebuilt and developed fast. To think that I was fighting not so far away from here, almost 30 years ago."

Dutch glares at Ngoc curiously and asks "Were you ARVN?" Ngoc shakes her head and says "NVA. Fought against the Australians near Bình Dương Providence. Flechette gun cut my ear, notice the missing chunk." Dutch surveys Ngoc and, after a short pause, asks "How old are you?" Ngoc sighs and says "I'm 43. I was 13 when I first fought in the civil war. Youth shock brigade." "Kids huh?" Dutch asks, as Rock slowly wakes up. Ngoc nods and blankly says "Yeah, some."

Rock groggily glares at Dutch, the latter rubbing his forehead. "And your friend here?" Dutch asks, motioning at Vibol. Ngoc smirks and says "Nah, farm boy from Cambodia. Didn't fight anyone." Vibol glares at Ngoc and asks in Vietnamese "What are you talking about?" Ngoc smiles and shakes her head, saying "Nothing. Go back to sleep."

The Ford Telstar continues on the highway, passing a tall stone obelisk standing near the highway. It turns right and exits the highway, entering Võ Văn Ngân Street. Flanked by mopeds and the occasional truck, the Ford Telstar enters a residential neighborhood. As the car passes a large basketball court and a three-floor brick high school, Ngoc blurts out "Welcome to Ho Chi Minh City." Rock rubs his eyes and glances out of Revy's window, saying "The sky is grey. Looks like it might rain soon."

Vibol points at the sky and struggles to say "Rain is rare in winter. More in summer. Sorry, English not my language." Rock nods in understanding and turns his attention to a small statue of the Virgin Mary embedded in a rock formation, the rock formation enclosed behind a white fence. Behind the rock formation is a reddish pink colored cathedral. The residential homes soon give way to rows upon rows of restaurants, shops, and motorcycles blocking the doorless entrance to said restaurants and shops. Võ Văn Ngân Street becomes Tô Ngọc Vân Street as the Ford Telstar is completely flanked by shops. Rock laughs and says "Saigon hasn't changed much since I last was here. You see that food court? The one with all those street vendors? I once had noodles with snails over there. And that shop with all the fake watches is still around! I haven't been here since 1993, yet everything's coming back."

"Took a vacation here?" Ngoc asks, passing a grey truck that is in double parking. Rock shakes his head and says "Business. A couple of business trips. My first ones. Have to admit that I didn't mind my visits here as much as the other trips. When I first worked for my company, we sourced our aluminum and bauxite from a supplier based in Vũng Tàu. We later switched to suppliers in Venezuela and Colombia…higher quality material." Ngoc grimaces and says "That is a shame. Despite the recession and the loss of the Soviet Union, Vietnam's economy is doing well, hơn hoặc ít hơn (more or less). How's Thailand?"

Rock chuckles and says "Well…it's not like it's a problem for our line of work. We are kinda recession-proof." Ngoc smiles out of amusement and says "That's true." The Ford Telstar approaches an intersection and stops by a red light. As the light turns green, the Telstar turns right onto Đường A Street. Entering a mini-industrial district of Ho Chi Minh City, the Telstar is flanked by large warehouses and cement factories. The Telstar drives between a warehouse and a chain link fence separating the structure from a similar looking building. The car drives to the rear of the warehouse as a Vietnamese man with bushy black hair split in the middle, a faint moustache, and a thick chinstrap beard, sticks himself out of a window on the 2nd floor of the warehouse. He is dressed in a sleeveless white shirt and black shorts, and holds a Steyr Aug bullpup assault rifle, looking at the Telstar through the scope. Verifying the occupants, he pulls himself out of the window and out of sight.

The Ford Telstar parks itself in a lot behind the warehouse, the car wedged between a grey Ford Explorer and an eight-generation red Toyota Corolla. A few Yamaha TZR250 motorcycles fill up spots in the lot, varying in colors from red and white to green and yellow. Two grey Ford Club Wagon vans fill up spots at a far end of the lot. Ngoc turns to Black Lagoon Company and says "We're here."

Rock removes his shoulder strap, Uzi still in it, and carefully places it inside the blue luggage case. Revy removes her Cutlasses and follows suit. Sealing the luggage case, Revy exits the car as Rock follows. Dutch then exits from the car as Ngoc and Vibol shortly exit afterwards. After shutting her door, she locks the car and turns toward a metallic door leading to the rear of the building.

Approaching the door, Ngoc knocks four times using the knuckles of her right hand. Vibol walks closer to Ngoc and scratches his nose, as Rock tugs the luggage case full of guns off the parking lot and closer to the door. The door swings inward as a bald, slightly chubby Vietnamese man, dressed in a partially unzipped black Adidas tracksuit with yellow horizontal stripes along the top and vertical stripes along the sides of the bottom, a white undershirt, blue sneakers, and a gold chain hanging from his neck, peeks through the gap. He then immediately sticks his head out, Browning Hi-Power pistol in right hand, and jerks his head left and right like an iguana, scanning the perimeter. Appearing to be high off something, he hurriedly yells "Đi, đi đi! Nhận được trong! (Go, go go! Get in!)"

Ngoc funnels through the doorway, as Vibol and Rock follow suit. Dutch and Revy then proceed to step in when suddenly the tracksuit wearing Vietnamese man yells out "IN! IN, IN, IN!" Revy turns around yells at the man "SHUT! FUCK! UP! THANK! YOU!" The Vietnamese man shakes his head in anger and locks the door behind himself, as Black Lagoon Company proceeds to survey a warehouse full of lumber.

Rock sniffs the air, registering the scent of paved wood, coupled with a hint of powder cocaine. On the middle left of the warehouse, wedged between two shelves full of paved wood, Rock spots a group of four Vietnamese men and a Vietnamese woman seated around a table, the table partially covered in trays of powder cocaine. They converse amongst each other in Vietnamese, occasional alternating between sips of beer and rare snorts of cocaine. A couple Vietnamese men and a Vietnamese woman patrol the second floor above, a rectangular metal catwalk with rails, with a single catwalk running through the middle of the rest of the catwalk. One of the Vietnamese men, the one who poked his head out the window, holds his Steyr Aug rifle as the other Vietnamese man and the Vietnamese woman each patrol with a Galil Assault Rifle. On the right, almost across from the table with the cocaine, Marty and Ippolito watch a BBC broadcast on television, seated on a red leather couch. The former is dressed in a pink, partially unbuttoned dress shirt slightly stained in barbeque sauce, green shorts, and sandals, while the latter is dressed in his S.S.C. Napoli jersey, grey jeans, and white tennis shoes. Standing up behind the sofa, Tuyết watches the TV broadcast with a blank look on her face, dressed in a sleeveless burgundy shirt, black athletic shorts with tiny grey dots on the shorts, and sandals.

Marty lightly punches Ippolito on his right shoulder and says "Ya hear about the news with that U.S. president, Bill Clinton?" Ippolito sips from a can of Heineken and asks "You talking bout that Jones lady lawsuit?" Marty nods and says "Makes me fucking envious. Canadian politics don't get shit as entertaining as that. What did Jean Chrétien do lately? All the fuck he did was choke some schmuck from Quebec!" Ippolito blankly stares at Marty and asks "Are you actually suggesting that you want to see our prime minister in a sex scandal? I am seriously not enjoying the images in my head." Marty laughs and takes a sip from his own can of Heineken, saying "Now, when you look at Adriano Celentano…"

"Again with this Adriano Celentano! Look Marty, I get it, he makes good music, but your obsession is starting to get freaky, as in restraining order freaky," Ippolito cuts Marty off, shaking his head. Marty laughs and says "Tell me Nicky. I'll give you 50 bucks American if you could name a Milanese older then Celentano that could seduce the ladies better then he could. 50 bucks…do it!" Ippolito grabs his beer off the ground and casually takes a sip. Setting the beer down, he calmly answers "Silvio Berlusconi." "Motherfucker," Marty hisses, pulling $50 out of his pocket and handing it to Ippolito, as Tuyết watches in amusement.

"Hey Marty! You think you're so fucking smart, you deadbeat sack of shit?!" Revy yells out, strolling toward Marty with an angry smile on her face, her eyes twitching. Marty laughs and says "Ya like those names I got you all?! Took me half an hour to put them together. Now you's and Rocco's was a bitch to come up with, but Benny's and Dutch's names took a minute. Ha, grab a beer, we're all just killing some time." Revy glares angrily at Marty, pointing her right index finger at his face, only to capitulate and turn toward a cooler full of ice and Heineken beer stocked in both can and bottle forms. She grabs a can and opens it, taking a sip, as Dutch turns to Marty and asks "Where's Benny?"

Ippolito raises his hand and says "Hey, your friend is in the city. Since he's getting paid like you three but ain't sticking his neck out, he's designated delivery boy. We got some food for you three as well, enough for everyone." Tuyết suddenly blurts out "He better not scratch my car." Rock brings the case of guns toward the sofa and leaves them there, saying "The guns and holsters. Since Vietnam doesn't allow open carry."

Marty stares blankly at Rock and says "What guns? What models? All three of you, tell me what you got." Revy points at the case and says "I got a pair of Beretta 92s…FS variants…customized. Also brought an MP5A3 along. Rock carries an M9 and brought an Uzi along." Dutch lifts his shirt and exposes his waist, revealing his Smith & Wesson 629. Marty sighs and says "At least two of the guns work out. You all going to be hitting Van Thirith in Vietnamese Secret Police getups. You are going to need the guns to match, so to not make it look fishy. Don't worry, Thinh Nguyễn got us covered. He's one of the guys snorting coke, the one in the light blue buttoned shirt. The guy next to the woman, with graying hair and the kinda hobo beard. So yea, you going to be using CZ-52s and CZ-75s for pistols. Uzis and MP5s are good for submachine guns. For rifles, they use AKS-74Us. That part is pretty standard."

"And shotguns?" Dutch inquires. Marty shakes his head and says "Never heard of them using any. Tough luck." "I never fired from a CZ-something pistol…" Rock pensively mutters. Marty turns around and yells at the table "Hey Thinh! This guy here wants a go at the shooting range for practice!" Thinh, wearing a light blue buttoned shirt with dark blue lotus drawings displayed in horizontal lines on the shirt, black slacks, and grey tennis shoes, yells out "Hey! Maybe later, got to get it set up. Tell him to wait! Oh Marty, I got to ask, where the fuck do you get this stuff from?! Cause this coke is something else!" Marty laughs and yells "Yeah, I'll tell ya, cause I really want my supplier to cut me out of the loop! That'll be fucking smart!" Thinh chuckles and points a rolled up, cocaine covered 1000 dong note at Marty.

Rock reaches into the cooler and grabs a can of Heineken as Dutch does the same. He opens the can and takes a sip, as a commercial appears on the TV. The commercial, showing a middle-aged balding Vietnamese man in a black sports jacket and grey sweater, advertises a "Thành Phố Hồ Chí Minh Điện Tử (Ho Chi Minh City Electronics)." The commercial shows the man yelling frantically in Vietnamese as TV sets explode in the background. Ippolito breaks out into hysterically laughter and says "Marone (Madonna)! I thought I'd never see a commercial like that again!"

Revy lightly chuckles and asks "You talking about the Crazy Eddie commercials?" Ippolito calms down his laughter and says "Talking about it? I worked there!" Marty suddenly blurts out "Worked there? You got FIRED from there!" Revy glares at Ippolito in shock and says "From Crazy Eddies?! What the fuck, they were run by circus animals! I robbed a Crazy Eddie in Manhattan once! The owner had his iguana dressed like a security guard and left it there! How the fuck you pull that off?!" Ippolito takes a sip of Heineken and sighs, saying "I worked in sales at a store in Rochester. Long story, mostly boring anyway."

Suddenly, a knock is heard from the rear entrance. The bald, black tracksuit wearing Vietnamese man opens the door and lets a man in, the latter carrying three plastic bags in each hand. He slowly and carefully approaches Thinh's table, nodding at Black Lagoon Company when they are in sight. "I got phở, bánh canh, spring rolls, some rice and noodle meals that I don't even know the names for…oh yeah, and a few of these weirdass po' boy sandwiches. Careful…the soups are still hot," Benny speaks out to everyone in the warehouse. He sets the bags of food on the ground and watches as the bald henchman grab one of the bags. Two Vietnamese men approach Benny and each grab two of the bags. A Vietnamese woman, previously snorting coke with Thinh, sporting shoulder length black hair with a gap running through the middle of her hair, and dressed in a purple t-shirt and blue jeans, approaches Benny and grabs the remaining one. Thinh turns to the Vietnamese woman with the bag and says "Quyen! Hai Two tables from the cabinet!" Thinh turns toward the bald Vietnamese man and yells "Loan! Help Quyen!" Loan nods at Quyen as the two head to the back of the warehouse.

Black Lagoon Company seats themselves at a table near the sofa and TV, an array of soups, rolls, rice plates, and sandwiches in front of them. Rock is seated at one long end of the table, with Revy seated to his right, Dutch seated to the right of Revy, and Benny seated to the right of Dutch. Next to Benny on the short end, Marty bites down on a submarine sandwich containing pork liver spread, pickled carrots, cucumbers, cilantro, mint, and mayo. He struggles to swallow the sandwich and mutters out "Jesus fucking Christ…what the fuck is in this?" Seated next to Marty, and across from Benny, Tuyết bites down on an identical sandwich and says "Bánh mì…French food meets Vietnamese cuisine. And I don't know, I always liked these sandwiches." Seated to the right of Tuyết, Ngoc takes a bite into her spring roll. To the right of Ngoc, Vibol picks up vermicelli noodles with his chopsticks. Ippolito, seated to the right Vibol, suddenly blurts out "That's because you don't know any better!"

Revy, Dutch, and Marty all start laughing as Rock takes a sip of Heineken. He says "It's not bad, I don't mind it." Marty points his sandwich at Rock and says "You are seriously telling me that you like this shit…what the hell is wrong with you?!" Rock glares at Marty's sandwich for a few seconds, and then says "Oh, those baguettes? They are disgusting!" Revy, Dutch, Benny, and Ippolito all join in another round of laughter as Tuyết rolls her eyes. Marty, slightly annoyed, glares at Ippolito and says "Oh wipe that shit eating grin off your face, why don't ya?" Tuyết sighs in annoyance and says "Marty, we are eating here." Marty grumbles incoherently under his breath and reaches for an unopened tray of cơm tấm. He opens the tray and grumbles further, holding his chopsticks clumsily in his hands. He sets them down and turns toward a table a few meters away from theirs, seated by Thinh and his gangsters. Marty yells out "Hey Thinh! Can I borrow a fork?! Thanks!"

Suddenly, a white plastic fork flies through the air and onto the table, landing in Benny's bowl of phở. Benny sighs and rolls his eyes, saying "Can I enjoy my meal in peace?" He pulls the fork out of his soup and places it next to Marty's plate. Marty wipes the fork with the bottom of his shirt and says "Hey Thinh. It landed in this guy's soup. You should try out for the Mets." Thinh waves Marty off and returns to his meal as Rock cracks a few laughs.

Marty plunges his fork into a web of vermicelli noodles and twists it. He scoops the noodles up, collecting rice and shredded carrots along the way. Taking a bite of the noodles, he reaches for his can of Heineken and washes it down. Rock, glancing at Marty's discarded sandwich, sighs and says "I miss the katsu sando at the Lawsons, back in Tokyo. It was the usual after-work meal as I went back home. Pork cutlet…shredded lettuce…what you Americans would call barbeque sauce…and bread slices without the crust. Microwave it and you are set." Marty points his fork at Rock and says "That reminds me…heard about Takahashi?"

"What about?" Revy says, chewing on shredded pork, her chopsticks in her phở. Marty smirks and says "Now…apparently some Korean with more balls than brains held the son of a bitch at gun point. This was last Wednesday. The Korean got into Takahashi's face and put his gun to his forehead." Revy, Dutch, Rock, and Benny all lean forward, their eyes glued toward Marty. Marty continues "The Korean tried to shake him down…said something about killing someone close to Takahashi unless he pays up…and I mean six figure cash. Again, this was last Wednesday. Yesterday, they found the Korean up in Bangkok…BISECTED…in half." "Oh fuck!" Revy swears out in shock as Rock stares at Marty in stunned silence. Revy turns to Rock and says "I don't think Takahashi has it in him…I say it was Shaoxie who gave the order." Rock raises his left hand and says "You never know." Marty chuckles and says "They checked the Korean's stomach…didn't find any stray dogs." Rock rolls his eyes and bangs his hands against the table, saying "Marty, that is just disgusting. I haven't finished eating yet." Marty laughs and says "Oh that ain't the best part. I found out today in the morning…they found one of Takahashi's men in Roanapur. His stomach cut open and his guts all over the floor…" Tuyết stands up and raises her mostly eaten sandwich in the air, saying "Anyone want to finish this?"

Ngoc and Rock smirks as Dutch says "Sounds like another gang war is brewing...Takahashi and the Koreans. That's why we stay neutral once the job is done." "Oh I can't argue with that." Marty suddenly blurts out. Ippolito and Marty nod in solemn agreement as Rock takes the moment to observe how violent criminals eat lunch and socialize like ordinary people, topics of discussion notwithstanding. He stares somberly at his mostly eaten bánh canh…almost momentarily detached from everyone else. He thinks to himself"We all could die in a few hours…yet everyone is enjoying themselves…cocaine or not."Suddenly, his thought process is interrupted by Marty, who says "Hey Rocco…go take a hit of the coke. You're acting like it's 'Weekend at Bernie's'." Rock waves his right hand left and right and says "I'm alright. Alcohol is my habit."

Suddenly, Thinh approaches the table and says "You…you want the firing range? Some practice? Follow me." Rock nods and gets up, saying "If you'll excuse me." He nods at Black Lagoon Company and follows Thinh into a side door near the TV. Thinh steps into a cramped, dimly lit stairway leading both upstairs and to the basement. He turns toward the basement steps as Rock follows suit. Reaching the basement floor, Thinh turns on a switch, illuminating the stairway. He turns to Rock and says "We have a shooting range here. Sometimes we sell guns…let the client test them out here. If you ever in the market and in the area…"

Rock nods and says "You own the whole warehouse?" Thinh nods and says "Yeah, and the lumber mill nearby. Good way to wash the money." "I follow. We in Black Lagoon Company don't have as much a problem with that," Rock nonchalantly blurts out. Thinh sighs and says "The pros and cons of working as an independent contractor in our line of work. Less risk…less money."

Thinh opens a nearby door and steps into a dark room. He flips a switch, illuminating the room and revealing an expansive shooting range, with the range on the right and the armory on the left. Rock scratches the back of his head and asks "How do you know that we are independent contractors? Marty told you?" Thinh nods and says "Yeah, though it wasn't hard to tell. So…you Viet? Bạn có nói tiếng Việt (Do you speak Vietnamese)?" Rock shakes his head and says "I know some Vietnamese. Một chút (A bit of), một vài từ (some words), một số cụm từ (some phrases). I'm actually Japanese, born and raised." Thinh nods in surprise and says "Oh Japanese? Interesting. Your friend there too?" Rock shakes his head and says "She's a Chinese American." Thinh laughs and says "Not the best combination in this country. No worry, I personally got nothing against the Chinese, and I did business with the Americans during the civil war. Tôi không cung cấp cho một cứt về sự kiện hiện tại (I don't really give a shit about current events). Don't care…money is money."

"You fought with the ARVN?" Rock asks. Thinh cracks a smile and says "Yea, with…not for. Fucking communists…they took me in Saigon…put me in 'reeducation.' I was one of those sentenced to mine sweeping work. I think they hoped that I would have died on the job…đụ (fuck)." Rock nods and says "I take it that you are looking forward to watching the Tổng Cục II getting humiliated and Chù Thanh Hoàng getting ruined." Thinh glares at Rock with a slightly angered look and says "Looking forward? My dick is is hard enough to cut diamonds, just thinking about it." Rock takes a step back and says "That's one way to put it."

Thinh climbs over a wooden counter that divides the shooting range from the rest of the room. He approaches an opened crate and reaches inside, pulling out several long sheets. He reaches for a nearby ladder and grabs it with his left hand. Setting the ladder on the range, Thinh climbs it and fastens one of the white sheets to a hook hanging from the roof. He steps down the ladder and moves it several meters to the left of the sheet, revealed to be a target sheet of Hồ Chí Minh. Rock laughs in amusement as Thinh hangs another sheet on a nearby hook, this time a sheet of a grizzly bear standing on its hindquarters. Thinh proceeds to set up four more sheets, an identical sheet of Hồ Chí Minh, one of Võ Nguyên Giáp in military dress, another identical sheet of Hồ Chí Minh, and lastly, a target sheet of a generic cartoon drawn white man in a sweater aiming a revolver at the onlooker. Amused, Rock yells out "Thinh! I think we have a spy here!"

Thinh laughs as he carries the ladder back to where the crate was, saying "Yeah that I don't trust that bear at all." He points at a target sheet of Hồ Chí Minh and says "Ain't the internet something? Just hooked it up to a printer and let it run. We've been born at just the right time." As Thinh climbs over the wooden counter, Rock says "I want practice with the CZ…whatever it's called. Marty says I have to use them for the Van Thirith job, and I only have shot from an M9." Thinh snaps his fingers several times, trying to think. After a pause, he says "The CZ-75 is a bit similar to the M9, uses the same ammunition. You either use that or the CZ-52. CZ-52 is an old gun, and it uses rare Tokarev bullets. Stick with the CZ-75…I don't think anyone in the secret police uses the old CZ-52 anymore."

Thinh approaches a gun cabinet, fishing a key out of his pocket. He unlocks the cabinet, grabs a CZ-75 pistol and a case of 9mm ammunition, and turns toward the counter. Facing the first target sheet from the right, Thinh places the gun and case of ammunition on the counter and turns to Rock. He takes a few steps back and says "Have fun." Rock approaches the gun pensively, grabs onto the grip, and after some fiddling, ejects the gun's magazine. He checks that the magazine is already full, reinserts it, and pulls back on the slide, discovering a bullet already in the chamber. As Thinh steps back, Rock aims the CZ-75 and aligns Hồ Chí Minh onto the sights, gripping onto the gun with both hands. He opens fire and quickly unloads five shots into the target sheet, four shots peppering Minh's right left shoulder and torso, and a fifth shot hitting the blank exterior of the sheet, as bullet casings jingle and bounce on the concrete floor.

"No full auto?" Thinh inquires as Rock grabs the case of ammunition and drags it along the counter to the next target sheet. Rock shakes his head and says "No…I tried it once before. It's too much for me, almost dropped it. Sticking to semi auto." As Rock aims his gun at the next target, Thinh inquires "Why are you dressed like you work in a cubicle?" Rock sighs and says "Because I used to. I worked in resource procurement for a major Japanese corporation. I ended up kidnapped by my colleagues, and when my former boss left me to die, I joined them. Black Lagoon Company. We've survived against highly trained mercenary outfits, Islamic terrorists, other pirates, an assortment of gangsters and lunatics, a deranged maid and former Cuban revolutionary assassin…or was she actually Colombian…I don't know, and even the FARC from Colombia. The fact that I am still alive is something I sometimes wonder in the morning as I brush my teeth and look myself in the mirror."

Rock glares at Thinh as Thinh nods with an impressed yet confused look on his face. He surveys Thinh and his subtle facial reactions…analyzing his previous choice of words. Rock wonders as to why the kingpin of organized crime in Southern Vietnam is taking such an interest in him, doing manual labor that he could have easily delegated to his subordinates. Rock returns his attention to the target sheet and aims his CZ-75, pumping six bullets into the bear's upper torso, neck, and nose. After the sixth bullet strikes its target, Thinh asks "So what exactly does Black Lagoon Company do? What is the going rate to hire?"

Rock blinks and retreats momentarily into deep thought, realizing exactly why Thinh has been asking him so many questions. He swallows his saliva and says "We are at heart…a courier group. Our job is to move something from one place to another…regardless of place and/or police. We were originally hired to help Marty with the garbage dumping…but with everything that came up…well…now we are working on eliminating your competition. We normally don't do jobs like this, just so you know. As for our going rate…that is negotiable with my boss, Dutch. He's the black, bald American with the flak jacket. I have his number if you want." Thinh nods and pulls out his cell phone. Rock recites the number. As Thinh enters the last digits, Rock mentions "We are based in Thailand. In Roanapur." Thinh nods in surprise and says "Oh! I get it. I know the place. I might need you guys in the future."

Rock nods and pockets his cell phone, pleased with his success in securing a potential customer. He grabs the gun and the case of ammunition and heads for the third target sheet. As he moves, Rock asks "Thinh, how did you get to speak such good English?" Thinh motions for Rock to continue on to the third target sheet, saying "Self-taught, Americans had one hell of an appetite. Drugs and women. Hey, if you ever want someone on the side, I know a pimp, very discreet." "No, really, it's fine. That's a very, very stupid idea." Thinh smiles and raises his hands in mock surrender, saying "Offer still stands."

Rock aims his CZ-75 at the third target sheet and says "Sounds like you made a killing while it lasted." Thinh nods and says "Oh yeah…now you got to talk to me about that…you said it was a maid? Really?" Rock lets out a muffled laugh and says "Over drinks maybe, there's no way to cut that story short."

Rock unloads the last four bullets in his CZ-75, hitting Minh in his chest and right arm. He ejects the magazine and starts fishing bullets out of the case of ammo. He mumbles to himself "Remember how Revy showed you…" before ultimately and correctly inserting the first of fifteen bullets into the magazine. Thinh stares and asks "Haven't been doing this long?" Rock nods and says "I've seen and done enough."

"Something tells me that they didn't teach you that in your old work, heh. So what you do in your corporation? Resource procurement, right?" Thinh inquires, curious. Rock inserts another bullet into the magazine and says "As it sounds…I source recourses from suppliers for our production jobs. Checking resource quality…business trips. Helping with the supplier's supply lines." Thinh cracks a wry smile and asks "The fuck you made there? I'm curious." Rock emotionlessly says "We built giant ships. Tankers. Not exactly conveyer belt material." Thinh's eyes light up as he says "Oh! Like those used by oil and energy companies. Interesting…I always like knowing how things are made. Wanted to own a company and sell things, make a lot of money…course now I sell blow and it's making me serious fucking money. Now cocaine production…that is really fucking interesting."

Rock finishes loading bullets into the magazine and says "We have a crime boss in Roanapur that makes and sells meth. I didn't see the lab but I saw the front operation…can't say more though. Sorry." Thinh points at Rock and says "Meth…now that will fuck you up." Rock sternly nods and says "I can speak from experience." He reflects on his choice of words…and then quickly adds "I've seen what it does to people." Thinh nods and says "Yeah? I bet…Thailand and all. Say, you said business trips. Where you go?"

Rock inserts the magazine into the pistol and pulls back on the slide. He says "Around, eastern bloc, south America…my first trips were in Vietnam actually. A couple of them…with a supplier in Vũng Tàu." Thinh glares at Rock in surprise and exclaims "Vũng Tàu? That's where we are hitting Van Thirith. Interesting." Rock moves toward the next target sheet, dragging the case of ammo around. He fires five shots into the sheet and asks "What can you tell me about Van Thirith?" Thinh sighs, rubs his forehead, and says "Cambodian arms dealer getting into other rackets…political connections, I think. Dead soon."

Rock turns toward the fifth target sheet, asking "What's the plan of act…?" Thinh raises his right hand and stops Rock, saying "We'll get to that upstairs. Now finish up and wait for me, I am heading upstairs for another bump." Rock nods and steadies his gun at the target sheet as Thinh leaves. He grips tightly on the CZ-75, steadies his breathing, and opens fire, raining bullet casings onto the floor.

The two dining tables, now connected into a thick table, are covered with ashtrays, cigarettes, Heineken beer cans, Heineken beer bottles, and an assortment of folders and photographs, with a giant map in the middle. On the side closest to the TV, Black Lagoon Company, Marty, Ippolito, Tuyết, Ngoc, and Vibol alternate between cigarettes, beers, and chatter, with Marty in the middle. Opposite them, Thinh Nguyễn scans the map, immediately flanked by Quyen and Loan, who themselves are surrounded by the rest of Thinh's gang. Revy looks at Thinh and says "Alright…we got the uniforms down…I'm assuming that shit's bullet resistant. We got the guns down. What about cameras? They probably could tell that some of us don't look all that Vietnamese." Thinh turns to Dutch and says "Yea, you're going to have to use the uniform that covers completely. Something tells me that the Vietnamese secret police hasn't been hiring that many Africans." He then turns to Revy and says "You are going to cover the hair up. Dyed hair is…not a thing in the Vietnamese military. The biggest thing is that you all stick to using Vietnamese when speaking."

Revy sighs and says "Then we have a problem. I know maybe like five words in Vietnamese. Rock can speak a bit. As for Dutch…uh…boss?" Dutch shakes his head and says "Some Thai and Khmer. No Vietnamese." Thinh sighs and shakes his head, saying "Great…we have to set you up in teams. Quyen and Loan will provide assistance. Maybe one of yours, Marty?" Marty raises his hand and hurriedly responds "Hey, hey, hey! The whole point of me hiring Black Lagoon Company was to keep it from coming back to us. I'm not giving up any of my men, or women, for the job." Tuyết snaps her fingers and says "I could provide communication support from outside. Keep in contact with the teams." Marty glares at Tuyết and says "You get caught…I don't know you. Understand?" Tuyết nods quickly.

"It's going to be three against possibly two dozen…one slip and they're wasted," Thinh mutters out. Revy's eyebrows twitch as she says "Hey look here buddy! We have faced more dangerous assholes then Van Thirith's collection of rent-a-fucks. We can hold our own." Thinh points at Revy and says "If anyone dies during the shootout…this whole job is fucked! This has to go perfect! I'll say you split into three teams of two. I'll send one more guy." Thinh turns to the Vietnamese man with the sleeveless white shirt and chin strap beard and says in Vietnamese "Minh, you go with them. I will pay you like Quyen and Loan." Minh nods and says "Yes boss."

Marty glares at Thinh and says "I got a lot of fucking money riding on this, and I don't want to get forced out of this country. I'm trusting your judgment Thinh…cause if this boat sinks, we all getting burnt." Thinh holds his left hand up and placates Marty, saying "Yeah I know, I'm the one that has to live here."

As Thinh thinks to himself, Marty takes a rolled up $20 American bill and a plastic card out of his pocket. He opens a small box, the contents full of cocaine. He uses the plastic card to scoop coke onto the inside of the lid cover, and then prepares to cut the cocaine into a thin line. Thinh waves his arms in annoyance and yells "Is this the time for that Marty?! We are doing something here!" Marty raises his left index finger up and says "Hold on, this is brain food for me. It's full of Flintstone vitamins." Revy, Dutch, Benny, and Ippolito start cracking up in laughter as Ngoc glares at the plastic card that Marty is cutting the coke with. She points at it and asks "Is that a library card?" Marty looks up, sporting a shit-eating grin, and says "Good glasses." Revy places her right hand on her face and laughs into it as Dutch smirks at Marty and says "You are an individual Marty. Unique. Like a modern art exhibit." "Laugh it up," Marty mutters as he leans forward and snorts a line.

Thinh exhales a deep sigh and says "My idea is to have Tuyết coordinate with each of the three groups using my muscle. Each of my men and women get assigned one of the three mercenaries." Rock looks up and says "My Vietnamese is decent enough for communication." Thinh smirks at Rock and says "Oh yeah? Some words and phrases? Ông Lê nin lên núi lấy nước nấu long (Mr. Lenin up the mountain collecting water to cook his heart)." Rock stares at Thinh with a blank expression and says "Err…khoai tây…chips (potato chips)?" Thinh starts cracking up and says "Ngồi xuống, ngu vãi (Sit down, dumb fuck)!" Dutch glares at Marty, who is cramming white dust up his nose, and then at Rock. He mumbles to himself "I'm assuming he is just doing surveillance with Tuyết." He says it quietly enough that only Revy overhears, who in turn looks at Dutch slightly uncomfortably.

Marty suddenly jerks his head upward and yells "Woo! That is some fucking quality Thinh! Motherfucking quality! I should fucking know, I brought the stuff here haha! How's sales going on your end?" Thinh shrugs his shoulders and says "Going well actually. It's selling at nightclubs, whorehouses, raves. What about the ecstasy? Why the fuck aren't we getting it?"

Marty starts cracking up like an idiot, wagging his right index finger. He restrains his arms and says "Alright, my friends in Australia are having serious FUCKING PROBLEMS! Melbourne is about to erupt like fucking St. Helen! Shit could be kicking off any minute and my associates in Australia are more concerned with selling in their country then getting into the added risk of smuggling into Southeast Asia, which you know, sometimes comes with a needle or a firing squad. So, let's circle back in a few months. Now let's get back to this shit at hand!"

Thinh scratches his chin and points at the map on the table. He says "Van Thirith's organization numbers in around 20 to 30. I've been getting info that at least twenty people are at his dock in Vũng Tàu. An Australian ship was spotted near Thirith's rented dock. Doesn't look like a commercial ship, really sticks out. If at least twenty are there, this seems like a sale is happening. All six of you are going to break into the docks and kill everything that moves. No witnesses…only the cameras will give the cops the 'evidence' they need."

Thinh takes a sip from a can of Heineken. As he sets the can down, Marty approaches a trio of photographs on the table and drags them closer to his person. He scans the picture in the middle, the photo of a somewhat dark skinned clean shaven Cambodian man with shoulder length hair and a cleft chin, with the words 'Van Thirith' written on the photo in black marker. To the left of Van Thirith's photo is a picture of a Thai man with black hair combed to the left and right, slightly unkempt, a thin moustache, and whiskers on his chin. The man is sporting a tattoo that is sticking out of the collar of his grey t-shirt and onto his neck, appearing to be part of a Yantra Tattoo. At the bottom of the photo, the name 'Supakrit Bunyasarn' is written in black marker. Marty raises Supakrit's photo and says "Supakrit here…Van Thirith's number two. He's part of the gun smuggling into Thailand through Cambodia…"

Thinh looks at Marty and asks "Where you going to with this?" Marty rubs his rough beard and says "Thirith smuggles guns into Cambodia. Supakrit uses whatever connections he has to get the guns through Cambodia and into Thailand. That border hasn't gotten iron clad lately, so what's with this change up with the docks and Vũng Tàu?" Thinh takes another sip of beer and says "He's been incorporating local criminals in the Saigon area into his organization…" Marty scratches his nose and says "Yea but Vũng Tàu?! It's the complete fucking other side of the country from the Cambodian border." Thinh nods and says "Yeah I know. I just don't know what is coming through that boat. Doesn't matter…the bulk of his operation is in one convenient place. You six kill the fuck out of Thirith and Bunyasarn, and the roaches should scatter. We take out Thirith while framing the Tổng Cục II, it should put them in deep shit with Thirith's secret friends in the government and cast the blame on the newspaper man. Doesn't really matter to me. I just need Thirith removed so we don't have to sell our coke cheap. I fucking hate competition." Marty nods and gestures approvingly at Thinh, saying "It's already done, just gotta manifest it."

Suddenly, Revy blurts out "Hey, I thought of something. If any of us is getting shot, and it's a good fucking possibility…our bullet resistant shit is going to protect us…but there's always a chance a bullet hits someone's toes or some shit. What about blood evidence?" Tuyết slightly raises her right hand and waves, catching Revy's attention. She says "A small storm is about to pass through South Vietnam. Should wash away any evidence." Marty extends his left arm outward toward Tuyết and says "You see everyone?! It's now or fucking never! You are all headed to Lê Quang Định Road. Got it, Tuyết?"

A shocked look overtakes Rock's face as he starts tapping on the table. As everyone prepares to disperse, Rock suddenly yells out "Wait! Mr. Zappala, the docks Van Thirith got rented to him…are they next to the docks used by that Ukrainian oil corporation…the one in Vũng Tàu? The docks to the right of the big harbor that are separated by a hill?" Thinh looks at the map and scans it. He turns to Loan and asks in Vietnamese "The pier owned by Ukrainian company is where?" Loan glares at the map, running his right index finger through the streets. After a short pause, he points at the map and answers "Yes. The harbor over here."

Thinh turns to Rock and says "If you are on to something, say it." Rock stares blankly at the map and says "That little pier that Van Thirith is using…it used to be owned by a bauxite company that my former boss used as a supplier. Besides inspecting their bauxite extraction operation, I was also sent to inspect their dock and warehouse. I gave the manager of their logistics department a few suggestions on improving their pier. One was to set up a track of rails to move the containers to within the range of the crane. They had a very short crane and it was too expensive to get a new one, and their warehouse was for some stupid reason right in the middle. The other suggestion was an electric fence, because they were shipping a valuable raw resource and they had a few thefts at the time. That was why I asked about the lack of a fence in Marty's recycling plant yesterday. The next two times I visited, they adopted both of my ideas, which was probably my biggest success at my old job. Of course, my company then drops the supplier and switched to Venezuela and Colombia…" Marty shouts "I don't need an essay, thank you, that's good information to know."

"We have to deal with an electric fence?! Fucking great!" Revy yells out in annoyance. Tuyết stares at Rock and asks "Do you remember where the circuit box for the electric fence is?" Rock grimaces and pauses, entering deep thought. After a minute, he says "I think it was on the right side of the fence, us facing the docks. I could be wrong…it was a while ago. They are only supposed to use it at night, though I don't think Thirith cares about that." Tuyết nods and says "Alright, I'll handle the fence. When I do that, the three teams will do the rest. I'll keep everyone connected…keep an eye on the action."

Benny suddenly raises his hand and asks "What about the cops?" Thinh yells out "Đụ! I forgot about them!" Marty smiles, still somewhat high, and says "Don't worry bout them. I'll handle the sausage vans. My military connect will take care of it. But you have to act fast." Rock darts a stern stare at Marty, digesting Marty's new nugget of information. Thinh sighs in relief and says "We are moving out, get in uniform. Put on your bulletproof armor."

As Rock proceeds to follow Revy, Dutch stops him and says "Wait Rock…where are you going?" Rock eyes his boss in confusion and answers "With you…for the job. That's why I was practicing downstairs…" "Are you going to help Tuyết or are you going with us into the docks?" Dutch inquires, slightly anxious. Rock looks at his boss with a stunned look and says "I'm going with you and Revy." Revy and Benny turn around and watch the scene unfold as the rest of the gangsters migrate toward a few crates near the TV. Dutch looks to Rock in the eyes, rubs his nose, and says "This is going to be a genuine clusterfuck, Rock. As in, an actual shootout. As in, I have to rely on you for my personal safety. That means I expect you to have my back, and Revy's. I mean it. I expect it. If you have any lingering doubts, if you don't think you can do this, if this is some mid-life crises kicking in 20 years earlier, get the fuck out and go with Tuyết, or go to the boat with Benny. Sorry if me saying this is going to bruise your ego, but I don't want to get shot because you panic and fuck up."

Rock glares angrily at his boss and says "I'm going. I'm going to kill anyone in my way. I'm going to collect my share. And I am not going to fuck up…boss." Dutch stares coldly at Rock. After a pause of silence, he forces his cold stare into a wry smile and says "That's all I need to hear." Rock coldly replies "Good."

A grey Ford Club Wagon van cruises through highway QL 51, zeroing in on the city of Vũng Tàu, amidst a gray, gloomy sky. A couple of motorcycles pass the van as it calmly drives through the paved highway, flanked by metal barricades on both ends. In the driver seat, Tuyết hums to the radio, which is playing "Tình Yêu Và Thủy Thủ" by Mai Lệ Huyền. Dressed in a dark green camouflage sweater with a pitch-black ballistic vest draped over it, a radio wedged to the vest using Velcro. She is wearing pants that match her sweater, with dark grey armor plates over her knees, and rolled up cuffs that expose the laces on her dark grey combat boots. On her right arm, the sweater sports a symbol of a yellow badge shaped emblem with a red center, and a yellow star in the center with two yellow wreathes crossing their stems at the bottom and flanking the star at its top. Outside the yellow badge is a red, downward pointing pentagon that holds the emblem on it, with the initials TCII right under the yellow badge, the initials also woven in yellow. Tuyết scratches her nose, her hands covered in leather gloves, glancing at the car's clock, which says "4:39 P.M."

In the rear of the van, six occupants in uniforms mostly identical to Tuyết sit on two leather cushions opposite each other, three on each row. On the row behind Tuyết, Dutch, Rock, and Revy, seated in that order from front to back, glare at their weapons. Dutch inspects the barrel of his AKS-74U, Rock pulls back the slide on his Uzi, and Revy plays with the retractable buttstock on her MP5A3. The three of them all wear balaclavas around their neck, aside from Dutch, with Revy and Dutch both taking drags from a cigarette. Opposite them, Loan, Minh, and Quyen, seated in that order from the rear of the van to the front, all sit and take drags from their cigarettes. Loan, Minh, and Quyen all carry AKS-74Us, the rifles at their feet. Rock reaches toward the right side of his waist, grabbing the pistol grip of his CZ-75. He imagines drawing the pistol, getting accustomed to drawing from a side holster. Dutch cracks his neck, left, then right, a ballistic helmet and tinted visor on his lap.

"Out of smokes?" Revy asks, knocking ash onto the flooring of the van. Rock shakes his head and says "Don't want." Revy snorts to herself and turns to the three Vietnamese gangsters in front of her. She glares at Loan and says "So…Loan right? You and me on the same little team…you ready?" Loan simply glares at Revy as if she has three heads, and then looks at the rear door of the van. Revy rolls her eyes in exasperation, and turns to Rock, saying "Benny is at the south side of the city with Ippolito, Ngoc, and Vibol. I'm going to be pissed if the fridge is empty during our sea-side escape." Rock smirks and says "I'm sure that memo you left on the fridge is going to get the message across. 'Hey, this is Revy's beer, Revy's massaman curry, and Revy's pepperoni pizza. Touch, and your face will be Revy's dart board'. I'm certain they will get the point." Revy cracks a wry smile and knocks ash off her cigarette, stealing glances of Rock dressed in a ballistic vest.

A pensive look takes over her face as she takes a drag of her cigarette. Exhaling smoke, she says "Guess we doing this." Rock blankly stares at Revy, looks down, and then looks back at her, nodding once. Mildly distressed, Revy turns to Loan and asks "So what shit did Thinh have you do lately?" Loan glares at Revy and says "English not good. Leave me alone." Revy exhales a deep, annoyed breath onto the flooring and yells "Fuck this! Tuyết! I can't work with this cue ball fuck! This whole 'no speaking English' thing is bullshit! If I'm getting shot, I have the fucking right to tell them to go fuck themselves in any fucking language I want to say! Rock, you with me." Rock stares blankly at Revy and says "Sure."

Tuyết grimaces and says "I wasn't told to enforce the speaking in only Vietnamese rule, so if you want to, your problem. I could translate for both on the spot. I think Marty is overthinking things." She clears her throat and then says in Vietnamese "Loan. You are paired with Minh. That's fine with you?" Loan nods furiously and replies in Vietnamese "Fuck yeah! Chink bitch is getting on my nerves!" Revy glares at Loan, slightly annoyed, and says "You gone fucking chatty now, eh?" She turns to Tuyết and asks "The fuck he said?" Tuyết shakes her head to regain her bearings, closes her eyes, and says "He's fine. He's going with Minh. Dutch with Quyen. And you two together. Anything else?" Dutch knocks ash off his cigarette and says "Nah, I think we are good."

Three white cars with blue stripes painted on them, the words "Cảnh Sát (Police)" written on the stripes in white lettering, zip by on the opposite side of the highway. Two more squad cars zip by shortly afterwards, prompting Tuyết to say "I counted eight cop cars heading out of the city. Martin solved the police problem." Black Lagoon Company nods in acknowledgement as Tuyết repeats in Vietnamese "The police have left." Quyen and Minh nod in acknowledgement as Loan crushes his cigarette under his boot.

Rock grips tightly on his Uzi, nodding to himself, a stern look on his face. "Nice to finally get some mileage out of this submachine gun," Rock mutters under his breath, and then looks around to make sure that he himself just said that. "Hmph," Revy mutters, finishing her cigarette. She crushes it under her boot. "It's starting to rain," Tuyết announces, turning on the windshield wipers. "Almost there, five minutes to go," Tuyết continues, as the six gunners in the rear ready their rifles and submachine guns.

"Remember Revy, you and Rock take the left side. Me and Quyen take the middle. Minh and Loan take the right. We do the warehouse at the same time," Dutch instructs, tossing his cigarette onto the floor and crushing it underneath his boot. Suddenly, Rock blurts out "Dutch…when you and Revy were raiding that Nazi boat for that painting, I asked Benny a question on about what we should do as the two of you did your job. Benny mentioned how you were extremely calm while Revy and I were under attack in the submarine. Right now, we are about to enter a massive shootout, and yet I feel unusually calm. Maybe it is a delayed reaction…maybe…" "Rock…" Dutch mutters, slightly annoyed "I am going to have to depend on you for the next 15 to 45 minutes. So…since you are going with us into the mess, do your boss a personal favor, and do your philosophical musings over a nice little cocktail drink at that bar we went to yesterday. Just not right now." Rock grits his teeth and looks down on the ground, saying "I understand Dutch. I understand."

Suddenly, the van slows to a stop. Tuyết grabs a balaclava and puts it on, pulling it over her face. She grabs the radio on her ballistic vest and pries it off. She presses a large button on it and speaks into it "You all got…whatever those sound things are called in English. They are fastened on the collar of your uniform. Speak into it…it's that black microphone thing." Dutch pulls on the collar of his uniform and zeros in on the microphone. He speaks into it "Is it working?" Tuyết speaks into her radio "Yea it is." Her voice sounds off in all six gunners' microphones. Revy smirks and speaks into her microphone "How's it on my end? 10-4." Tuyết blankly speaks into her radio "10-4. 10-2." Loan glares at Revy and groans at her. Revy casually flips Loan off.

Tuyết exits the van and speaks into the radio "Mask up, helmet up. I'm taking care of the fence." Rock speaks into the microphone "Hold it. I can show you where the power box is exactly." He holsters his Uzi on his shoulder strap and pulls his balaclava upwards, covering everything but his eyes and his nose. As he places a combat helmet on his head and tightens the strap under his chin, Tuyết replies "I say no, Mr. Okajima. There are people walking on the street, and I think one of the people in the Ukrainian dock is staring at me."

Rock turns to Dutch and Revy, and says "I'm heading out." He exits out of the van and into the currently rainy Vũng Tàu. "What the hell are you doing?" Tuyết speaks out, loud enough for Rock to hear without the microphone. She is standing in a dirt driveway that separates Van Thirith's dock from the Ukrainian company's dock. A couple of Van Thirith's men run patrol inside the dock on the left, oblivious to the two balaclava clad individuals several meters away. In the Ukrainian firm's dock, a Laotian longshoreman, dressed in an orange and yellow safety vest, a white t-shirt, and jeans, nervously stares at Rock and Tuyết. Rock draws his CZ-75 and points onward at the dirt road with his left hand, saying "A strange van is parked in front of a mobster's hangout. By the time you will find the power box, they will find our van. Hurry!"

Tuyết draws a CZ-75 of her own and follows Rock along the dirt road, the electric fence and shipping containers stacked in twos on their left. The two quickly run through the space between containers, attempting to avoid the line of sight of Van Thirith's muscle. The two quickly reach a dead end, the dead end being an unfenced ledge that leads to a 50-foot drop into the water. Rock leans over the ledge and points at a power box fastened a foot below the ledge. To his left, Rock spots a tall, orange crane. "How the hell…" Tuyết mutters. Rock quickly replies "This ledge used to be attached to a wooden platform…I'm guessing that the expansion of the Ukrainian dock caused the platform to be a nuisance." "Any ideas? Besides shooting it?" Tuyết inquires. Rock stares at the power box and nods, saying "One. A very bad one."

He lies on his stomach and sets his CZ-75 on the ground, followed by his Uzi. He then starts crawling over the ledge, kicking his feet up to signal at Tuyết. Tuyết realizes what Rock is doing and sets her pistol on the ground. She grabs Rock by his legs, right below his shins. Rock gives Tuyết a 'thumbs up' gesture and then looks down, realizing that he is hanging 50 feet above water. Nervously shaking his head, Rock exhales a deep breath and reaches for the top of the power box. A padlock seals the latch on the top of the power box, the padlock slightly rusted.

"Tuyết, there's a padlock. I'm going to break it with my Uzi…pull me back up," Rock instructs. Tuyết pulls Rock up and watches as Rock grabs his Uzi and ejects the Uzi's magazine and sole chambered bullet. He reinserts the bullet into the magazine and turns back onto his stomach. Waiting for Tuyết to grab onto his legs, Rock crawls back over the ledge and zeros in on the padlock. He aims the butt of the submachine gun at the padlock, sizes up the part of the metal hook of the padlock that is looped through the latch, and drives his Uzi onto the latch. Two strikes, three strikes. The fourth attempt, he misses. On the fifth attempt, the padlock breaks loose. "Pull me back up," Rock commands. Back on the ground, he slams the magazine back into the Uzi and pulls back on the slide. He then sets it on the ground and asks "Do you have anything sharp on you? Knives? Anything to cut the rubber on the wires."

Tuyết turns toward her radio and whispers "Minh, với tôi (to me). Bên phải của hàng rào (Right side of the fence)." As the two wait for Minh, an Eastern European man dressed in a yellow and orange safety vest, a blue and grey plaid collared shirt, and jeans, approaches the two from the distance and yells out in Ukrainian accented Russian "Shto vi dvoi deloeteh (What are you two doing)?" Tuyết and Rock quickly jerk their heads to face the Ukrainian longshoreman, scrambling to find something to say. After a pause, Tuyết calmly replies "Cảnh sát (Police). Official business." The Ukrainian man glares at the two in confusion, saying "Yerunda! Ya sechas zvonu polizia (Nonsense! I now call police)." Rock grinds his teeth and whispers "I hope some of the secret police know Russian." He stands up and says "Mi provodim polisteiskovo reihda (We are conducting a police raid). Otoidite (Stand back)." The Ukrainian man darts a dirty look at him, spots his Uzi, and then says "Nichevo ni videhl (Didn't see anything)." As he walks away, Tuyết glares at Rock in confusion. Rock smirks under his balaclava and says "Being trilingual has its perks."

Shortly afterwards, Minh arrives, balaclava over his face and helmet on his head, carrying his AKS-74U. He kneels by Tuyết and Rock and asks "Bạn cần bất cứ thứ gì (Do you need anything)?" Tuyết calmly answers "Con dao (Knife)." Minh reaches into a pocket on his ballistic vest and pulls out a bowie knife. He hands the knife to Tuyết, who then hands the knife to Rock. Rock calmly says "Thanks. Now for the bad part of my idea." He lies on his stomach once again, waiting for Tuyết to grab his legs for support. This time, Tuyết grabs Rock's left leg, and Minh grabs Rock's right leg. Rock crawls over the ledge, glaring once more at the 50-foot drop with a mix of discomfort and fear. He reaches for the opened padlock with his left hand and removes it off the latch. He lets go of the padlock, letting it fall 50 feet into the water, making a small splash as it sinks to the sea floor. Rock then calmly pushes the latch forward, letting gravity do the rest as the latch swings forward, exposing the wires to the steadily increasing rain.

Rock grips tightly onto his knife and crawls a few inches forward, now partially upside down. "When I say go, immediately pull me up," Rock says. He exhales a deep, nervous breath and surveys the half a dozen wires in the power box. Nervous, he grabs one of the wires with his left hand, his hands covered in leather gloves, and holds the wire steady as he makes an incision into the wires. He then arcs the knife almost parallel to the wires and skins the rubber off the wire, exposing the copper to the rain. As a chunk of rubber falls into the water, Rock turns to repeat the same with another wire. After skinning a third wire, a spark shoots out, causing Rock to yell "Go!" Tuyết and Minh quickly pull Rock back onto the ledge as a large flash of fire shoots out of the circuit board, disabling the electric fence.

Back on the ground, Rock hands Minh his knife back. Tuyết looks at Rock and asks "Did you work as an electrician before?" Rock shakes his head and says "Making and fixing things requires a couple years of technical school. Breaking them only requires a little stupid and a little crazy." Rock grabs his Uzi and holsters it, and then reaches for his CZ-75. He climbs back to his feet as Tuyết grabs her CZ-75. Suddenly, someone from Van Thirith's dock yells out "Cái quái gì vậy (What the hell)?" Tuyết yells into her radio "Everyone get out! Thời gian để kiếm được tiền lương của bạn (Time to earn your paycheck)!"

The three proceed to run back towards the van, anticipating any of Van Thirith's muscle to appear in their view. Minh holds onto his AKS-74U, eyes on the sights, as Tuyết and Rock keep their CZ-75s in front of them. A Laotian gangster dressed in a blue and green vertically striped collared shirt and brown shorts steps through the gap between containers, Glock 17L in hand. He spots the three ballistic vest wearing intruders and yells out "Ồ đụ (Oh fuck)!" The gangster raises his Glock 17L as Tuyết quickly aims her CZ-75 at the gangster. She fires off three bullets as Minh taps on the trigger, firing off two of his own. The first of Tuyết's bullets strikes the Laotian gangster in the left ribs, the second one striking his left lung, and the third bullet striking the shipping container behind him, leaving a hole. Minh's two bullets strike the gangster in his stomach, the raw energy of the bullets pushing the gangster back first into the shipping container, sounding a thud. The gangster raises his gun and attempts to pull the trigger, only to lose control of his legs as his back slides down and to the left of the shipping container, leaving a smear of blood on the container walls, the walls peppered with holes from the bullets exiting the gangster's body. He loses grip of his pistol and slumps onto his right elbow, bleeding to death from his wounds. Tuyết glares at the dying gangster and shouts "Damn it! Goddamn it! I promised myself never again!"

Rock glares at Tuyết in confusion, and then at Minh. Minh shrugs his shoulders and points toward the front entrance of the docks. The three run to the front entrance, meeting Quyen, Loan, Dutch, and Revy, all four with balaclavas and helmets on and rifles/submachine guns at the ready. Revy has her hair tucked into her uniform, her balaclava covering all but her mouth, nose, and eyes. Dutch himself has his ballistic helmet on. Tuyết waves her hands and says "Go! Go! I'll move the van and get a better vantage point." She leaps into the van and drives off as Loan shoots off the padlock on the front gate with his AKS-74U. Minh pulls the gate open as Loan heads right and follows the disabled electric fence forward, with Minh following suit. "See ya at the end," Dutch mutters as he and Quyen run through the gate and into the maze of containers, exchanging shots with a few gangsters that have dug into cover behind shipping containers. "You and me, partner. Let's earn our fucking pay!" Revy yells out, visibly excited. She grips onto her MP5A3 and heads through the gate as Rock holsters his CZ-75 and unholsters his Uzi.

Gunfire breaks out sporadically as Thirith's men and women yell at each other over the hail of bullets, with someone yelling "Bạn có được đụ ngay bây giờ (You are fucked now)! Ăn cứt và chết, đụ má (Eat shit and die, motherfucker)!" Loan and Minh exchange bullets with two Vietnamese gangsters, one male, one female, brandishing sawed off shotguns, all four firing from cover behind shipping containers. One of the gangsters turns from cover and fires a round in Loan's and Minh's direction. Loan steps out of cover and fires five bullets from his AKS-74U, one of the bullets striking the gangster in his left shoulder, the other severing his jugular on the left side of his neck. The gangster slowly tumbles onto his back, quickly bleeding to death as the rain intensifies into a fully-fledged storm. Loan grins in satisfaction and yells "Cào một ngu đụ (Scratch one stupid fuck)!" He leaps back into cover as the other Vietnamese gangster quickly leaps out and fires a shot from her sawed off.

Dutch and Quyen take cover behind opposite facing containers, a couple meters-long gap between the containers. A Cambodian gangster and a Vietnamese gangster step out, both wearing green tracksuits and wielding MAC-10 submachine guns, unload suppressing fire on the sections of the containers where Dutch and Quyen are taking cover behind, some of the bullets penetrating the walls, only to bounce off the doors of the containers. Suddenly a Cambodian gangster in an orange polo and jeans leaps out from the container next to Quyen, wielding a SPAS-12 shotgun, yelling "Tôi sẽ để đụ mắt của bạn tắt (I'm going to fuck your eyes shut)!"

Quyen quickly turns around and strikes the barrel of the SPAS-12 with the barrel of her AKS-74U, causing the gangster to discharge his shotgun harmlessly into the shipping container doors, tearing a giant chunk of metal out of it. Dutch quickly steps to the right and aims his AKS-74U down its sights, firing six shots at the gangster. The first shot strikes the gangster in the left shin, the second shot in the left thigh, the third shot misses, the fourth shot severs a couple fingers on his left hand, the fifth shot misses, and the last shot strikes a centimeter above the heart. Quyen grabs the gangster by his collar while the gangster is in mid-fall, pulls him towards her, and drives the right side of his head into what's left of the container doors using the barrel of her rifle for extra support. She then drops her rifle and yells "Bạn chết ngay bây giờ (You die now)!" She drives the gangster head first into the cold, wet, metal, bashing his head seven times in rapid succession, cracking his skull and killing him.

"A little overstated but why not," Dutch mutters as Quyen grabs her rifle and turns to face Dutch. They return to cover as the two MAC-10 wielding gangsters slowly creep up to Dutch and Quyen, through the gap between the two containers. Dutch overhears this and raises two fingers on his left hand at Quyen, before opening the palm of his left hand and gesturing Quyen to wait. As they approach, Dutch extends his thumb on his left hand and gestures his left hand across his neck, signaling Quyen to open fire. The two quickly jump out of cover, each alternating their fire between the two gangsters, riddling them and the container walls with bullets. The Cambodian gangster on the left is pushed shoulder first into the containers by the force of the bullets, bouncing off the container wall on the left and falling on his left shoulder, dead. The Vietnamese gangster grasps onto the container on the right with his left, bloody hand, gasping for air, blood dripping out of his mouth. He favors his stomach and falls to his knees, spitting out blood, struggling for air. His hand leaving a smear of blood on the container, he falls onto his stomach and expires.

Suddenly, a Vietnamese gangster in camouflage shorts and a blood red t-shirt that has a yellow star on it runs on top of the container closest to Dutch, wielding an AK-47. He fires from the hip, causing Dutch and Quyen to run back to cover behind the containers. Immediately after jumping into cover, Quyen turns around and fires the remaining eight bullets in her magazine, three of the bullets shredding the gangster's left kneecap and shin, and a fourth bullet striking the gangster's right thigh. The gangster trips on his bleeding legs and falls forward, launching himself off the container and landing onto the back of his neck, right in front of Dutch. Dutch walks up to the gangster and places the barrel of his AKS-74U right on the top of his head, the gangster raising his head off the ground, his legs bleeding all over it. As the gangster groans in pain, Dutch pulls the trigger and fires a round through the top of the gangster's head, the bullet exiting out of the gangster's chin, brain matter splattering onto his shirt. The gangster drops his head to the ground, stone dead.

On the left side of the maze of shipping containers, Revy and Rock take cover behind the same shipping container, their submachine guns in their hands. Revy, arcing from cover, fires a few bullets at a pair of Vietnamese women, one dressed in a black tracksuit that says 'Muay Thai' in red, English lettering, the other dressed in a light blue and black plaid collared shirt and jeans, and then returns to cover behind the container. The two gangsters, each wielding an AR-18, return to cover before Revy even pulls the trigger, the bullets peppering the container walls. Revy nudges at Rock and says, smirking "I took out two of the shits already. How's your count going?"

Anxious and appearing ready to vomit, Rock yells "Uhh…zero. How the hell do you keep count in a situation like this?!" Revy laughs and says "Easy, I'm having way too much fun not to. I love pushing rats into corners before I crush their tiny little fucking heads!" She jumps out of cover and fires five bullets at the tracksuit wearing gangster that also has jumped out of cover, the latter firing four of her own bullets. The first of Revy's bullets strikes the gangster in her left kneecap, the second gashing her left ribs, the third and fourth missing, and the fifth striking her left forearm. The first of the Vietnamese gangster's bullets misses, the second and third strike Revy's ballistic vest, absorbing the bullets, and the fourth misses. The collared shirt wearing gangster grabs her partner's left, bleeding arm and pulls her back into cover as Revy staggers and takes a step back. She leaps back into cover and says, smiling sadistically "That was real close, ha! I'm so fucking turned on right now! YOU HEAR THAT, YOU FUCKS?! I'M GOING TO BLEED YOU LIKE GABRIEL MORENO!"

Rock taps on Revy's left shoulder with his left hand and whispers "I'm going to try something. Wait here and keep them busy." Rock turns around and turns left into an empty gap between the container that Revy and the gangsters are trading bullets behind and the container on its right. He slowly walks toward the other end of the containers, his left-hand balancing against the container on the left as his right hand aims his Uzi forward. His heart rate increases as gunfire goes off every few dozen seconds or so. Rock spits onto the soaked ground and wipes rain off his face, about to reach the end of the container.

Reaching the end, he quietly lays his back against the wall adjacent to the container doors the gangsters are taking cover in. He glares at the 'hallways' in front of him and to his left, the hallways created by the arrangement of the bulky shipping containers. In the 'hallway' in front, he spots a Laotian woman firing from a Glock 22, before being cut down by gunfire, the gangster holding her ribs and stomach as she falls onto her back, having been shot several times in the chest. Rock looks to his left and spots a two-floor warehouse nearby. Exhaling a deep breath and closing his eyes for a second, he turns left around the corner of the container and goes face to face with the two gangsters, both armed with AR-18s, one of them sitting down by container doors, bleeding.

Rock grabs onto the corner of the container with his left arm and unloads six bullets at the gangster in the collared shirt that is exchanging fire with Revy, and then four bullets at the gangster in the tracksuit, who is now aiming her AR-18 at Rock. The first three bullets strike the gangster in her back, piercing her left kidney and her spine, paralyzing her. The fourth bullet strikes the gangster in the back of her left shoulder, the fifth bullet misses, and the sixth bullet strikes the gangster just below and to the left of her neck. As the collared shirt wearing gangster drops her AR-18 and falls face first into the hard, wet ground, the first of the four bullets aimed at the tracksuit wearing gangster strikes the gangster in her right knuckle as the henchwoman aims the rifle at Rock. The second bullet lands in the gangster's gut as the henchwoman twitches and fires a couple shots harmlessly into a nearby container. The third bullet gashes the gangster's heart, killing her, as the fourth bullet strikes the now dead gangster's left shoulder, causing the body to slump onto its shoulder.

Rock turns to the henchwoman that is paralyzed, bleeding from her back. The Vietnamese mobster breaths frantically and groans in agony, muttering "Tôi không thể cảm thấy chân của (I can't feel my legs). Tôi không thể cảm thấy chân của." As Revy approaches the mobster, who is now pulling herself up with her arms, Rock brings his Uzi to the back of the mobster's neck and, without hesitation, fires a bullet into the top part of the back of her neck, killing her. He exhales a deep breath, sighs, and says "I now count two." He turns toward the warehouse as Revy stares at the dead gangster, agape and stunned at the same time.

A Cambodian gangster dressed in a black t-shirt and green shorts and wielding a Beretta 93 is shot several times in the chest and legs by Minh's AKS-74U, the gangster at the edge of the docks, right next to the fifty-foot drop. The gangster falls on his back, still breathing, aiming his Beretta 93 at Minh. He fires in burst mode, aiming at Minh's legs. Minh jumps to the side before the henchman could fire and slams his left shoulder against a shipping container wall. He quickly fires two more bullets into the mobster's chest, severing his heart from an artery. The gangster flinches, opens his mouth, and immediately expires, his left arm hanging over the ledge.

As Loan catches up to Minh, a Vietnamese gangster in a white sleeveless shirt and black jeans swings from cover behind the nearby shipping container, wielding a stock folded Micro Uzi. He haphazardly sprays twenty-five bullets at Minh and Loan, nine of them striking them in their ballistic vests. A single bullet gashes the right side of Minh's left thigh, causing him to wince in pain, and another bullet grazes Loan's right cheek, drawing blood. The mobster clicks on the trigger, only to hear that the magazine is now empty. He glares at the gun, and then at Loan and Minh, who are slowly approaching with their AKS-74U's aimed at the gangster's face. The gangster tosses his Micro Uzi into the water and falls to his knees, surrendering. He places his hands behind his head and says "Tôi từ bỏ. Tôi đang thực hiện chiến đấu (I give up. I'm done fighting)." Minh winces in pain as Loan wipes blood off his cheek and says "Chúng tôi không phải là cảnh sát (We are not the cops)." The gangster immediately yells "Đụ (Fuck)!" and grabs onto the wet corner of the container, pulling himself out of the way as Minh and Loan open fire. A single bullet strikes the gangster in the toes on his left foot as he pulls himself up and proceeds to run, only to come face to face with Dutch and Quyen. Dutch fires a round into the gangster's right shoulder, causing the gangster to stagger back and slam his right arm against the container. Quyen yells out "Đó là chúng ta (It's us)!" as Dutch fires three shots at the gangster, the first missing, the second hitting the gangster in his neck, and the third striking the gangster slightly to the left of his eye, killing him and spraying blood and skull fragments onto the container doors.

"Bao nhiêu cho đến nay (How many so far)?" Quyen asks as the dead gangster crumbles onto the drenched, hard ground. "Cả hai chúng tôi (Both of us)? Bốn (Four)," Minh answers, wincing in pain. Quyen raises her balaclava and spits onto the ground, saying afterwards "Điều đó làm cho chín giữa chúng tôi (That makes nine between us)." Quyen then turns to Dutch and says "Nine. We kill together. Us four." Dutch pulls on his sweater and speaks into the microphone, saying "Tuyết, we got nine confirmed dead between me, Quyen, Minh, and Loan. What's the update on Revy and Rock?"

The remaining seven bullets from an Uzi are fired in the direction of a trio of Vietnamese gangsters that are taking cover behind wooden crates. One of the henchmen is wearing dark blue jeans and a green collared shirt with dark green lotus patterns, wielding a Mossberg 500, the second one is wearing a red tracksuit with white vertical stripes, wielding a MP5K, and the last one is wearing a blue and yellow diagonally striped tracksuit, wielding a M56 submachine gun. A couple of bullets strike the crates as the remainder sail over or under the crates and lodge themselves into the ground. Rock returns to cover behind the shipping container as Tuyết's voice sounds from the microphone in Rock's and Revy's uniform. Tuyết says "I've moved the van to higher ground. I now have a rough view of the docks. Revy, Rock. What's your status? How many killed?" Revy pulls on her sweater and speaks into the mic "I got four, Rocky got two. We are pinning down three of the fucks by the crates in front of the warehouse. About to get past this maze."

Dutch, Quyen, and Loan follow the pathway between the shipping containers and the ledge on the right side of the docks, with Minh limping from the rear. Suddenly, Tuyết announces over the microphones "Rock and Revy took out six of Van Thirith's gangsters. That makes it 15 down so far. Mười lăm đã chết (Fifteen are dead)." Quyen and Loan nod in approval as Dutch mutters "Six down? Revy must be having fun."

Rock fishes out a fresh magazine out of a pocket on his ballistic vest, ejects the spent magazine, and slams the new magazine into the Uzi. He pulls back on the slide, and breathes quick breaths, adrenaline running through his veins. He leans his head out of cover, only to jerk it back inside when he sees a flash of light from a MP5K, the bullets peppering the shipping container walls, leaving behind holes. Revy removes the magazine on her MP5A3, finds it half empty, places it into a pocket on her ballistic vest, and grabs a full magazine out of the pocket. She slams the magazine in, the gun already chambering a bullet, and says "31 rounds, should do the job." She scans the shipping container doors and says "Rock, go to the third container from this one, to the left of the docks. Head inside. We are going to take them head on." Rock nods in understanding and runs toward the designated container. Revy herself moves to the container on her right and pulls the doors open. She steps inside, the faint light from the holes illuminating the interior, finding stacks of boxed printing paper mixed with the occasional box of ammunition or guns. Nearing the exit out of the container, Revy spots a crate with the initials 'M26' on it. She lifts the lid off and discovers a cache of M26 grenades.

Revy pulls on her sweater and speaks into the microphone, saying "Tuyết, tell Rock to wait for my go. I found some grenades." Suddenly, Tuyết's voice sounds out on the microphone "Rock, wait for Revy's go. She has grenades. Also, the three targets behind the crates are starting to climb out of cover. No movement coming from the warehouse."

On the right side of the docks, Dutch turns to Quyen, Loan, and Minh and says "Follow me. I think I know where Rock and Revy are." He hurriedly walks through the maze of shipping containers as Loan, Quyen, and Minh follow, Minh still groaning in pain.

Inside the shipping containers, Revy says to the mic "Now Tuyết! Now!" Tuyết quickly yells "Rock, you have your signal!" Revy, holding the MP5A3 by the magazine with her left hand and holding the grenade with her right, the barrel of the MP5A3 inside the ring of the grenade, drives her left shoulder through the doors, pushing them open, coming face to face with the three gangsters that have now walked a foot away from the crates. Using the barrel of the MP5A3, she pulls the grenade off the grenade pin and lobs it underhanded at the three gangsters. "Lựu đạn (Grenade)!" the Mossberg wielding gangster yells out as the three run away from Revy and the grenade. Revy leaps out of the container and takes cover behind its right-side wall. Suddenly, Rock pushes himself out of the shipping container, Uzi at the ready, as the gangsters realize that they have run into his general direction. Rock quickly fires from the hip, emptying his clip as the grenade goes off, shattering two of the crates and lodging shrapnel into the back of the MP5K wielding gangster. The hail of gunfire peppers the three henchmen, the M56 wielding henchman firing into the air as holes appear all over the thugs. As the M56 and MP5K wielding gangsters collapse dead onto the ground, the Mossberg wielding gangster drops his shotgun and falls onto his knees, leaning forward. He grasps onto Rock's left ribs, gasping for air, coughing and smearing blood onto Rock's pants, and then loses his grip and falls onto Rock's boots, dead.

Rock takes a step back, pulling his boot from under the dead mobster. He hyperventilates, his eyes wide open as he surveys the damage he caused. Three men killed in a span of seconds, all Rock's work. His adrenaline coursing throughout his veins, he flinches and aims his empty Uzi at Revy before lowering it immediately after recognizing her. She runs up to Rock, MP5A3 in hand, her clothes and gun soaked in the rain, and says "You got some shit all over your pants." Rock eases his breathing, glances once again at the dead bodies, and says "That's five kills to your four. Someone's winning." He starts cracking up at the absurdity of it all as the rain washes some of the blood off his pants. Revy cracks a laugh and says "Day's still young. That's eighteen dead so far. Boss-man Thinh said that there's somewhere between twenty to thirty of these cocksuckers. Almost done."

From the right side of the docks, Dutch, Quyen, and Loan jog toward Rock and Revy, with Minh limping along as well, no longer groaning in pain. The four catch up to the two as Rock ejects his spent magazine and inserts a fresh one into his Uzi. Dutch watches this, points his AKS-74U at the corpses, blood pools forming around them, and asks "Rock? You did this?" Rock nonchalantly replies with "Yep." Dutch surveys the bodies and nods, saying "Not bad." Rock glares at his blood-stained boots and replies with a "Hn." The rain continues to beat down as a bolt of lightning strikes out in the far beyond, the sky going dark. Revy glares at Rock, saying "Almost done, gotta finish strong." Rock nods and says "Yes. This makes eighteen dead, but no sign of Thirith or Bunyasarn. They must be further ahead."

Tuyết's voice suddenly thunders out from the microphones, yelling "Car with four people! Looks like a sedan, heading in from the west gate! Xe đến từ phía tây (Vehicles from the west)! Bốn người cư ngụ (Four occupants)!" Rock, Revy, and Dutch turn to the west side of the docks and step to the right of the crates, as Quyen, Minh, and Loan, step to the left of the crates. The six all have their rifles and submachine guns at the ready, the sights aimed down at a distant gate that is next to the warehouse. A dark blue seventh generation Cadillac DeVille sedan plows through the gate, all the windows rolled down except for the driver's window. The six hired gunners open fire at the sedan as three men fire MAC-10 submachine guns from out of the car windows. A bullet strikes Quyen in her left shoulder, sending her to the ground, as the sedan runs over one of the dead gangsters. Rock, Revy, Dutch, Loan, and Minh continue shooting, shattering the front window and peppering the driver with bullets, killing him. The sedan turns slightly to the right, heading into the direction of Loan and Minh. Rock, Revy, and Dutch, continue firing, killing the two gangsters in the back seats. Loan jumps to the right, dodging the car and landing on his face, as Minh tries to sidestep the car to the left, only to be brutally stuck in his left leg. Minh twists in the air and falls on his back, his left knee crushed inward as bones poke out of his pants. He screams in horrible agony as the sedan collides with a shipping container, causing the container to cave in.

The surviving gangster, a Thai man with black hair combed left and right, while slightly unkempt, a thin moustache, and whiskers on his chin, wearing a light pink partially unbuttoned dress shirt, a brown sports jacket with a blood-soaked bullet hole on the left shoulder, and beige slacks, spits out a tooth and turns to his bullet ridden driver, who has a hole in his right eye. The gangster moans in pain and reaches for the handle on the driver's door, opening the door, MAC-10 in his right hand, Yantra Tattoo on his chest. He then shoves his dead driver out of the car and climbs onto the driver's seat. He then crawls out of the car and onto his driver's corpse, staining his clothes further. The gangster, Supakrit Bunyasarn, glares at the four standing gunners with vicious anger. He glares at Minh, who is crying in agony, the latter yelling "Chân của tôi (My leg)! Đụ má, chân của tôi (Motherfucker, my leg)!" Smirking in satisfaction, he raises his arms out, yelling in English and Thai "You want me, eh? Hum noi (small dick) motherfuckers! CHAN TA KHA KHUN THU (I WILL KILL YOU ALL)! YOU'RE ALL GOING TO GET FUCKED!"

He's raises his MAC-10 submachine gun, only to get swarmed with bullets as Loan, Dutch, Rock, and Revy empty their guns into the Thai second-in-command. Bullets pepper Supakrit and the sedan, shattering the driver side window, some striking the dead bodies of the gangsters still in the car. Supakrit yells out in pain and fires his MAC-10 haphazardly in the air and at the ground, staggering into the sedan. He bounces off the sedan's left-side rear door and tumbles face first into the ground, his chest hitting a puddle that slowly turns red. Revy smirks at Supakrit's dead body and asks "Hey Dutch, should I kick his head? You know, to make sure?"

Dutch ignores Revy and tends to Quyen, lifting her off the ground. He watches as Loan does the same for Minh. Dutch pulls on his sweater and yells "We took out Supakrit but Quyen and Minh are fucked up. Bring in the van…they can't fight no more." Tuyết replies "Understood, though I cannot provide surveillance. For now on, you're running blind." Revy nods at Dutch and says "These four make it twenty-two dead. If Van Thirith is even here, his organization is screwed. I think Rock and I could finish the rest. Stay safe, boss." Dutch nods and says "Alright, keep your heads. I don't think Minh would want to be an amputee over nothing."

Rock and Revy turn toward the warehouse, zeroing in on a wooden door. They run up to the door and stand opposite it, with Rock on the left and Revy on the right. Rock glances at Revy and asks "You ready?" Revy smirks and nods, saying "Ready? I was conceived ready!" Rock reaches for the doorknob and carefully twists it, opening the door and letting faint light into the mostly dark warehouse, the only other source of light being from the upper floor windows. He crouches behind a shelf full of crates as Revy enters the warehouse, quietly closing the door behind her. The two overhear a man and a woman talking, the man speaking in a Vietnamese accent, the woman speaking in a thick broad Sydney Australian accent.

The woman yells out "The fuck we doing here, Hao?! There ain't enough petrol in this oversized trough lolly! We should be shooting out of this god-forsaken shithole, guns blazin' like the Alamo, not sitting round like the gook chook cunt that's jerking the meat in front of me trying to find gasoline." Hao snaps and yells back "Shut the fuck up, Holly! It's not my fault that you and your fucked in the head boss decided to arrive here on an empty fuel tank!" Holly immediately yells back "Well it ain't my fault that Van Thirith got a whole fucking parking lot to sell between his ears, ay? What kind of a daft, drongo fuck would park his car several blocks away from his job site? And don't fucking give me that shit! They send the divvy vans here and we can kiss our lives goodbye! Ya know the sentencing for smuggling pingers here in your shithouse country? I might as well have joined a Brit rock band and pegged a chink in the arse!"

Rock and Revy adjust their eyes to the darkness, discerning that the Vietnamese man, Hao, is somewhat skinny, bald, and wearing a dark blue, sleeveless shirt with a red skull and crossbones design on the front and back, black cargo shorts, and brown sandals, wielding a Norinco Type 56 assault rifle. The white Australian woman, Holly, is sporting long brown hair flowing onto her shoulders, wearing a bandana designed off the Australian flag, a sleeveless orange shirt, loose, blue track pants with white drawstrings, and brown running shoes, wielding a Steyr AUG bullpup assault rifle.

Holly yells out "Why the fuck would you store petrol in a fuckin' warehouse, tell me that mate!" Hao replies "We kept it here to protect it from the rain. And please, shut the fuck up already! Supakrit is supposed to arrive to provide suppressing fire. It's twenty of us against like a few of them…we'll hold them off." Holly laughs sardonically and says "Oh yea? You like that wouldn't ya? Mr. Translator…too chickenshit to put your neck on the line? I don't see ya putting that AK to good use, ay? What's the matter, running low on the minerals? WAKE THE FUCK UP! Twenty minutes ago, it was the fucking Port Arthur massacre and now it's all nice and calm!"

Hao growls and replies "Haven't you been paying attention?! I'm getting us the gasoline so we could get out of here! Now make yourself useful and check the crates near that door! I think I have a couple of canisters over there, should be enough for us to escape on your shitty boat!" Holly extends her arms outward indignantly and yells "Yea, mint fucking work turning your warehouse into a fucking servo! You sure got yourself a career in logistics cut out for you, ya fuck!"

As Holly turns around, she squints her eyes and notices a barrel of a gun sticking out from behind a crate. She quickly aims her Steyr and yells "The Viet soggies are here! Get behind something Hao!" Holly pulls the trigger and fires off several bullets in the direction of Rock and Revy. "Fuck!" Revy yells as she and Rock runs to the right, seeking cover behind a pillar, the bullets harmlessly punching holes into the crates. The flash from Holly's Steyr momentarily illuminates the room as shell casings hit the wooden floor. Revy nudges Rock as Holly fires indiscriminately across the warehouse. As she runs to cover behind a shelf stacked with boxes, Holly yells "The fuck you waiting for Hao?! Nut up and shoot!"

As Hao begins shooting alongside Holly, Rock runs to cover next to Revy. Suddenly, he drops face first into the ground, groaning in pain. Revy turns to Rock and yells "Rock?! ROCK FUCKING SAY SOMETHING!" Holly overhears this and yells "The fuck is that?! Is that English?! I think I hear Yanks!"

Revy grabs onto Rock's left arm and shakes it, only to exhale in relief as Rock turns to her and nods, signaling that he's alive. Satisfied, Revy rises onto her knees and shoves a box to the right. She steadies her MP5A3 on the metallic shelf and fires three rounds at Holly. The first bullet strikes her in the right ribs, the second gashes the right side of her neck, and the final bullet strikes slightly to the right of the center of her bandana, punching a hole through her head, killing her. Her right hand twitches, causing her dead body to fire her Steyr upwards at the ceiling as she falls on her back. Hao continues firing his Norinco Type 56, causing Revy to drop to the ground as bullets zip over her head, boxes of paper being shred into pieces.

Revy turns to Rock, who is still lying on his stomach, and says "Have you gone mute?! Say something!" Rock tries to rub his forehead, his helmet stopping him. He touches his helmet and notices a large dent in it. Realizing what happened, Rock says "I got shot in the helmet. Had I not worn it...oh my God…I almost died just now…" Revy crawls to the left and says "Well you're breathing now so shut up and let's kill this dickhead and move on." Rock growls and says "No…I'm not fine. I'm fucking angry. I'm going to kill this little shit right now." He holsters his Uzi, reaches for his CZ-75, and unholsters it. Pulling back on the slide, Rock climbs to his feet, using the shelves for support.

As he hears the sound of the click of a rifle and the sound of a magazine being removed, Rock runs along the nearby wall and yells "SHIH-NEY KUSOTARE (DIE ASSHOLE)!" He fires as he runs, raining bullets in Hao's direction, the latter hiding behind a shelf. As Rock comes face to face with Hao, the latter of which is holding his rifle in front of him like a shield, Rock walks toward him and pulls the trigger, firing his last five shots as he menacingly walks toward Hao. The first two bullets miss Hao, striking the ground, the third bullet strikes Hao's rifle in its metallic frame, causing Hao to raise it into the air out of reflex, the fourth bullet strikes Hao in the right lung, and the final bullet strikes Hao in the stomach, sending him onto his back. Rock gets within a foot of Hao, growls at him, and points his pistol at Hao's head, only to be disappointed when pulling the trigger results in empty clicks. He watches as Hao coughs out blood, spitting it onto his shirt, yelling in agony.

Revy approaches Rock, aiming her MP5A3 at Hao. Rock kicks the rifle out of Hao's arms, sending the rifle a couple of feet away from Hao. He winces in pain and rubs his right foot against his left foot. Still angry, Rock rips Revy's CZ-75 out from her waist-side holster and fires three more shots into Hao, the first two striking his gut, and the last one piercing his heart, killing him.

As Rock hands Revy her CZ-75 back, she asks "The fuck did that all the come from?" Rock ejects the spent magazine on his own CZ-75 and says "I almost died just now. That made me a little angry. I think you can relate." He fishes out a fresh magazine and slams it in, pulling the slide back on his pistol. As Rock holsters his pistol and draws his Uzi, Revy stares at Rock, and then at the ground, mustering a "Heh." The two turn toward a barely visible door leading to the opposite end of the docks.

As the two approach the door, they hear a man yell in a Sydney Australian accent, the man saying "Holly! Holly you alright there?! I heard the gunfire, hold on! It's me, Felix!" The man kicks open the door and sticks his Browning BDA pistol through the doorway, the gun soaked in the rain. The man, revealed to be a muscular, middle aged Indonesian man with short, black hair combed back and a five O'clock shadow, wearing a horizontally striped brown, blue, and white buttoned polo, beige cargo shorts, and black sneakers. Out of nowhere, Revy grabs Felix by his right wrist and drives the left side of his head into the doorframe. As Felix staggers from the blow, Revy twists his right arm upward with her left hand, bringing him to one knee. She then puts the barrel of her CZ-75 under Felix's chin and pulls the trigger, sending the bullet through the top of Felix's head, killing him. Blood and skull fragments mingle with the rain as Revy tosses his lifeless corpse onto the ground, the corpse awkwardly landing on its back. Before Revy's eyes, a small, one room building stands soaked in the rain, with an antenna sticking out from behind the dock in front of them, slightly shrouded in the currently dark sky. A ramp leads down the ledge, with water flowing down it. A few feet away from Felix's body is a row of crates. Rock exits the warehouse, holding his Uzi in his right hand and Revy's MP5A3 in his left.

Suddenly, a white Western European-looking man runs up the ramp, his left hand on the guardrail and his right hand on a Browning Hi-Power pistol. The man is bald, sporting a thick goatee, and wearing a light green buttoned collared shirt with dark green palm trees patterned on it, a white undershirt, a gold chain, black track pants, and brown sneakers. He yells in a Sydney Australian accent "Felix?! Goddamn this all to hell!" The Australian man fires his pistol with one hand, his body tilted sideways as he strafes toward the two. Revy and Rock duck into the crates, with Rock tossing Revy's MP5A3 at her as the crates come apart. She catches the submachine gun and stands up, arcing forward as she strafes to the left and shoots. A bullet strikes the Australian man in the right shoulder, followed by another bullet that strikes him in the crotch. The man yells in agony and staggers back, slipping on the ramp and tumbling out of view. Revy nudges Rock and says "I'm checking the ramp and everything below that shit. You check the building." Rock nods and says "Stay safe Revy." Revy laughs and says "Broncos playing in the conference round next Saturday. Gonna take more than these dickheads to keep me from watching that."

The two mercs split off, with Revy running toward the ramp. Spotting the Australian hanging onto a post at the end of the ramp, the ramp leading to a series of wooden stairs that reach a platform with a 20-foot-long white yacht docked by it, the yacht lit by a few lights, Revy slides legs first onto the slippery ramp and kicks the Australian off the ramp, sending him screaming as he falls. She grabs the wooden post with her left hand and hangs on as the Australian lands back first onto the back of the yacht, killed by the fall. She spots another white Western European-looking man, the man sporting short black hair, dressed in a blue tracksuit with white vertical stripes on the sides, wielding an AK-74. The spots the dead Australian on the rear deck and yells in a Sydney Australian accent "Oi, fuck! What the bloody hell is going on?!" He turns around and looks up, only to receive a bullet into his left forearm. The Australian, tracksuit wearing man crawls into the interior of the yacht as bullets rain down.

Rock approaches the one room building, crouching behind the door. He overhears a man speak English in a Queensland Australian accent, the man saying "Settle down Thirith. You want to go the bloody 'murder-suicide' route, I'll gladly oblige you with my fist through ya fucking skull, but I ain't going to die here mate. Drop the gun, ya fucking loon!"

Rock kicks the door down and jumps in with his Uzi pressed against his hip, joining a Mexican Standoff between a tall, muscular, 40-something year old North Indian man and a Cambodian man, the Indian man sporting thick combed back black hair that is tied into a ponytail and a trimmed, black beard that connects with his hair. He is dressed in a blue Hawaiian shirt patterned in white hibiscus flowers, the shirt completely unbuttoned, exposing his slightly hairy barrel chest and a huge colored tattoo of the head of a roaring Bengali tiger that covers his entire abdomen. He is wearing worn, slightly torn, dark grey jeans, the jeans supported by a brown leather belt, and light grey leather sandals. He is wearing frameless sunglasses and a gold watch on his left wrist, and is aiming a Tec-9 at the Cambodian man standing several feet away from him, holding the Tec-9 with only his right hand.

Across from the Indian man, a Cambodian man aims a CZ-75. The Cambodian man is clean shaven with shoulder length black hair, wearing a black and red vertically striped collared, buttoned dress shirt, black slacks, and brown tennis shoes. The Cambodian man, Van Thirith, alternates between aiming his CZ-75 at the Indian man and at Rock. The Indian mutters "Ah shit," and turns toward Rock, ignoring Van Thirith. He drops his Tec-9 onto the ground and puts his hands behind his head, dropping to his knees. Van Thirith sneers at the Indian man, and then turns his CZ-75 toward Rock. The Indian man says "Ay, I laid down my gun, mate. I know when to fold 'em. Listen here mate, I got Aussie citizenship. Goin' to make it a mighty pain in the arse to prosecute. You speak English? This here bloke can't. Maybe we can work out a deal. Let me save you the trouble and tell you my name. It's Jaggi. Victor Jaggi."

Rock glances at Victor Jaggi, and then back at Van Thirith, his Uzi pointed at the Cambodian mob boss. After a pause, sweat running down his forehead, Rock suddenly says "I'm listening." Thirith and Jaggi both raise eyebrows at Rock as Jaggi says "Fancy accent you have there, mate. Don't reckon it sounds like what these Viets been yacking with." Rock's heart rate accelerates, his gun focused on Thirith. He struggles to look at both Jaggi and Thirith at the same, anticipating the worst. After swallowing his saliva, Rock bluffs "I'll show you my passport when I take you in." Jaggi nods and says "Aight mate. I got money. A lot of money. More bloody quid then you ever laid your slanted eyes on. Any crew still breathing, I'll take. Rest ya can take the scalps back to ya soggie boss. Take this dickhead cunt and cut me loose. Oi, the quid ain't here mate…so don't get cute."

"That...there ain't much left of your crew to let go…" Rock mutters, his eyes alternating between Jaggi and Thirith at five second intervals. Jaggi sighs and asks "Felix is dead? The Indonesian? What about Gerry and Vernon? Holly, the one with the bandana?" Rock hears his own heartbeat, a line of sweat wetting his already soaked balaclava. He says "Felix…yes. Holly, yes. The one with the palm trees shirt is dead." Jaggi sighs and says "That's Vernon. Guess Gerry is still out there." Suddenly, gunfire breaks out from outside, as Rock and Thirith nearly open fire at each other. Suppressing his nervousness, Rock musters "Gerry…not anymore." Under his breath, Rock adds "I hope." Jaggi looks up, smiles, and says "You ratbags don't cunt around, that's the bloody oath I tell you!"

Van Thirith glares furiously at Jaggi, unsure of what he is saying. He yells in Vietnamese "Providing information to the pigs)! Do not fuck with me!" Jaggi smirks and says "I'm gonna make you bloody rich, mate. You think I haven't busted out of the mop and pail before, ay? I ain't your everyday wanker. Bangkok Hilton couldn't keep me inside…and your Hanoi Hilton can't hold a bloody candle to that!"

At his threshold, Van Thirith yells out "IM LẶNG, IM LẶNG, IM LẶNG (SHUT UP, SHUT UP, SHUT UP)!" Rock thrusts his arms at Van Thirith, his Uzi pointed at him, his eyes glancing at Jaggi's Tec-9. Jaggi smirks and says "We could stand here till Cup Day mate. Either send in the divvy vans or let me go so we can crack the Fourecks. Simple as."

Suddenly, Revy calmly steps into the office, saying "Rock, the fuck you pointing at? Let's get on…" She steps inside, CZ-75 in hand, face to face with Victor Jaggi. She turns right and spots Van Thirith, aiming her pistol at him out of reflex. She then turns the gun toward Jaggi and says "You…motherfucker you supposed to be dead!" Victor Jaggi raises his left eyebrow, looks to the ground, and laughs, saying "Oi, I reckon I know who you are. You're that psycho chink from that Black Lagoon mercenary doovalacky. So…you ain't soggies now…ain't ya two…"

A silence breaks out amongst the four, as Jaggi's arms tighten behind his head. The silence lasts for a minute. Out of nowhere, the microphone sounds out "Are you done yet?!"

A pull of the trigger. Seven bullets fly out of Rock's Uzi before Van Thirith could pull his own trigger. As Van Thirith squeezes the trigger, a bullet strikes the barrel, flinging the pistol out of his hands. Two bullets strike his left lung, a third bullet strikes his left shoulder, and a fourth bullet hits dead center in his neck. He staggers into a desk, leans on it, and then turns right and falls onto his face. Jaggi immediately grabs his Tec-9 as Revy fires at him. He runs out of the path of the bullets and fires his Tec-9 at a window, jumping right shoulder first through it, landing on a wooden outdoor floor. As he climbs up a rotting, wooden guardrail, and prepares to leap into the water, a bullet strikes him in his left ass cheek. "Ah fuck me!" Jaggi yells, turning around to face Revy. He raises his Tec-9 at Revy and yells "You…septic tank cunt!" Revy smiles sadistically and squeezes the trigger, firing a bullet into his left ribs, following by another bullet into his stomach. The wooden guardrail caves in as Jaggi leans backwards, yelling in pain as a chunk of the guardrail falls off, sending him 50 feet into the water. Revy laughs and yells "You're now vegemite for the fish, you dipshit fuck!"

She takes a step back as rain enters the office building, looking down to see Van Thirith clutching his throat, gasping for air. After a few seconds, his body goes stiff. Revy then turns around to find Rock staring directly at an opened briefcase full of plastic bags of ecstasy pills, the multicolored pills shaped like round, thick, tiny disks. His eyes remain fixated at the pills until the microphone sounds off yet again "Minh is losing way too much blood! If you don't head back now, he is going to die!"

Onboard the Black Lagoon, Rock lies on his back, dug into his bed. He is wearing a sleeveless white shirt and black gym shorts. An opened can of 'Hanoi Beer' on his lap, Rock meditates on everything that just transpired. In a nearby hull, he can hear Dutch, Benny, and Tuyết yelling at each other. Tuyết yells out "Well you can't just cut his leg off!" Benny yells back "Pardon me, but gangrene is going to settle in soon! There are fucking bone pieces sticking out!" Dutch jumps in "Look, I have this power saw. Either we do this or wait until we get into a hospital, but by how he looks, I don't think he has enough time before we have to cut off everything below the waist. If we doing this we do this now and fast. Ippolito is steering the boat and I don't think he knows what the hell he is doing."

"At least the meds are working," Benny mutters "he probably fucked up his throat from all that screaming." Suddenly, a power saw is turned on, and shortly afterwards, Benny yells "Oh shit all this blood all over the place! Goddamnit!" Out of nowhere, Rock could hear Minh screaming and gasping in pain. Dutch yells out, "I thought the meds were working…why is he grasping at his heart? He's having a heart attack!" The power saw continues to go on, stopping after a few seconds. All Rock could hear is silence, until Tuyết speaks out "He's dead. His pulse is giving me nothing. He's done."

From another section of the ship, Rock overhears Revy yell "Quyen is fine! Ngoc got the bullet out of her." Benny yells back "Good. We lost Minh. Heart attack it seems like." "That fucking sucks," Revy replies with indifference. She steps into Rock's cabin and seals the door behind her. She is dressed in her black tank top and blue corduroy shorts. Revy nods at Rock and asks "You heard all that?" Rock nods and says "Yeah."

She sits down on Rock's bed, saying "Loan is taking care of the van. Ippolito said that Marty wants us to dump all the secret police gear overboard. Shame, wouldn't mind keeping a few of those vests. I'd say we did well." Rock blankly stares at Revy and takes a sip of beer. Revy sighs and says "You okay, partner?" Rock continues to blankly stare at Revy, saying "Maybe. I don't know." "What you thinking about?" Revy inquires. Rock answers "Almost lost my head there, literally." Revy rolls her eyes and says "Oh what the fuck?! You're alive, that's what counts. Idiot." Rock shakes his head and says "I'm not worried about it. It just made me feel a little philosophical. That's all." Revy smirks and asks "And what groundbreaking discoveries did you uncover, Socrates?" Rock cracks a weak smile and says "I'm not so sure I found anything yet."

Revy glares at Rock, her smirk morphing into a weak, pained smile. She says "After you shot that guy in the warehouse…you stepped back. I saw it again. Like with Fabiola. You took a step back. Like you really took a step back. Not like after Luca. No meth involved. Just you." Rock simply replies with a "Hmph." The two enter a solemn silence, listening to the sounds outside the room. After a minute, Rock asks "Who's Victor Jaggi?"

Revy fishes a pack of Natural American Spirit cigarettes out of her pocket and pulls out a pair of cigarettes. She hands one to Rock, who finishes his beer and crushes it with his hand. Rock tosses the can onto the floor and puts the cigarette in his mouth. After putting her cigarette into her mouth, she fishes out a lighter and lights her cigarette, followed by Rock's cigarette. Cigarette smoke starts mingling in the room as Revy says "Victor Jaggi is, I don't know. Hard to describe. Usually his kind, the psychos that get wood from this line of work, they die fast." Rock nods and says "I'm listening."

Revy exhales smoke and continues "Victor Jaggi was a former gunner for the Phuket Merchant Cloak, used to be a six-man operation. Rival merc courier group like us. On our first job with Benny, we were hired by a now defunct crime ring from Denpasar. They hired us to hijack a yacht carrying random rich people from Singapore…with the intent to ransom them out. Course those stupid fucks in Denpasar also hired the Phuket Merchant Cloak for the same job, just in case. We arrived in the Java Sea just as they were hijacking the yacht, like right in the middle of the actual hijacking. Dutch sent me and Benny on board with guns. Yea…Benny. His idea was to have Benny take control of the boat. He was so useless that he almost shot me by accident, then said some things that really got me pissed off. And…then I kinda killed one of the passengers for looking funny at me. Around that time, Dutch jumped onto the yacht and caught up with us. He sent Benny back onto the Lagoon and gave me a talk on how I was fucking up the operation. Around that time, the Phuket Merchant Cloak found us and we ended up shooting at each other, somehow no one else died. Then three of the PMCs mutinied against the other three and stole their boat during the shootout. Thing is, they kidnapped all of the targeted passengers under our noses, leaving behind the bartender and a couple of waitresses. Victor Jaggi led that little mutiny."

"What happened afterwards?" Rock inquires, curious. Revy takes a drag on her cigarette and says "We teamed up with what remained of the Phuket Merchant Cloak, which was headed by this short, Thai lady named Sudarat. She took the yacht, we commanded our boat. We barely managed to keep on his trail…followed him into Bawean Island in the Java Sea. He hid in a small jungle, leaving Sudarat's boat on the coast. Me, Dutch, Sudarat, and another guy whose name I forgot, doesn't matter, we went after Jaggi as Benny and this other guy watched the boats. We found a trail left by Jaggi and his friends, maybe intentionally, of people. People's arms. Then legs. The nutjob hacked up some of the passengers and used them as bread crumbs. Later…heads on spikes, people burnt to a crisp, a couple of dead women bleeding from their crotches, couldn't tell whether it was before or after their heads were caved in, people hanging by the neck with their own fucking intestines. Dutch said that some of the bodies looked partially eaten. Rats, hopefully. Well, Dutch and I split off from Sudarat and her guy. We found Jaggi, just him, near a waterfall with a wooden box full of watches, rings, small valuables."

Revy swallows her saliva and continues "He shot Dutch in the stomach and took off to the waterfall. I went after him. We shot at each other and I think I winged him in the shoulder. Guy fell off a cliff and into said waterfall, a thirty-foot drop, at least. He dropped the box and we split the valuables between the six of us, to get at least something from the whole deal. The whole job was a bust, we got nothing from the Indonesians, took a real hit in reputation for a while. Sudarat and Dutch, after he was fixed up, made an agreement to split our territory between everything west of Thailand and east of Thailand…though we kinda fuck with that agreement at times. So yea. Standard garden-variety lunatic that didn't die easy."

Rock glares in shock at Revy's tale and asks "Hanging people with their intestines? Eating them?! What's the point of that?!" Revy smirks and says "Yeah…seeing all that knocked me out of my 'Whitman Fever'. It's like he didn't even care that much about the money, just some angry man on a rampage."

Revy arcs back and lays her back on Rock's stomach, saying "Can't believe that dickhead survived. Guess it comes with being a former Olympic swimmer. I don't know. At least that asshole is dead now…gut shot and a fifty-foot drop? I take my chances that he's decaying in the water." Rock exhales smoke and says "What a monster." Revy nods, coughs, and says "Yeah."

After a minute of silence, Revy asks "So…about that stuff." Rock turns around and reaches for a plastic bag full of ecstasy pills that were hidden behind his pillow. He holds the bag into the air and asks "You mean this?" Revy nods and says "Yeah…that. What you plan to do with it?" Rock removes his cigarette from his mouth and extends his left arm toward a nearby desk, an ashtray on the desk. He knocks ash off his cigarette and places it back into his mouth. Scanning the bag of pills, he says "I think I'm going to sell it."