Gulf of Thailand
10°40'14.8"N 101°39'02.1"E
OSV Prokhorovka
September 27, 1997
Colonel Mstislav Bugakov was a true mountain of a man. Six foot eight, and two hundred and seventy pounds of highly trained killing machine. A man so big and imposing he could have been on a Soviet propaganda poster as the rage of the proletariat. His hands were so big that he was not even able to grip a Makarov, and instead was one of the few men who could carry a Desert Eagle as a practical combat sidearm. But that was not the man who sat behind the desk.
Instead a man broken by grief sat there. He could only stare at a picture showing a young woman in combat gear. A half emptied bottle of vodka was clamped in one hand, while the other brought a shot glass to his lips mechanically. There would only be one thing that could bring him out of this state.
"Полковник, мы придумали предварительный план. Могу ли я войти (Colonel, we have a tentative plan. May I enter)," a young officer asked as he knocked at the door.
"English, we will speak English until he dies. Now Lieutenant, enter and tell what you have," Bugakov said dryly, his voice rattling the steel bulkheads.
"Da, Polkovnik. We believe that we have a good location on this, Kompaniya Lagoon, that the Ublyudok works for. Despite the losses incurred during the last attempt to capture him, we only lost the less skilled regulars, we are still in a position for a kill mission, such as that one."
Bugakov sighed, "Do you understand the reason that I did not go after him by myself, Lieutenant? The real reason?"
The young officer swallowed hard, "No Polkovnik. We had wondered among the men, but we dared not ask you."
"He is skilled. Alone I believe there are very few men who could beat him. I have managed to put a timeline together of actions I am very sure he was involved in. It stretches from the early 80's, into our occupation of Afghanistan, into the last days of the Soviet Government, up until the death of my brother at his hands. Honor dictated that I bring him to justice for his death, but now I wish revenge upon him for the death of Galina. I am not a vengeful man by nature, but this is truly a war now. I am afraid however. As ruthless as I am, I have drawn lines, he has not. Kenya, Oct 3, 1990, he slaughtered a small village that had dared to steal from a rancher's herd to survive. He personally killed everyone there. It was a slaughter, and they didn't even know from where. He would strike quickly with rifle rounds so accurate that the victims fell before they could comprehend they were dead, and he would circle on horseback and stop and strike again. Women and children died, and the few armed men never got to fire a shot. This is the monster that needs to die."
"Surely he had more than just himself. There is no man that powerful on earth, I mean even you are not that good."
"My ego needs no stroking. The reports from my agents sent to track his history were thorough. This monster managed to get past the man my brother had hired to act as his head of security. A true veteran mercenary who came very highly recommended. He was quite the warrior himself from what Igorek told me. I wish I had had the chance to meet him myself. They never found his body, so I can only assume that the man we hunt is a true monster. For that he must die."
The Yellow Flag
Roanapur, Thailand
September 27, 1997
"BAO, WE DIDN'T DO IT THIS TIME. THEY DIDN'T EVEN START SHOOTING AT US. IT WAS ALL OVER THAT POKER GAME."
"SHUT UP HAINES. THIS ONLY HAPPENS WHEN REVY IS HERE, AND THIS IS GOING TO BE THE LAST TIME. IF YOU SURVIVE THIS LAGOON COMPANY IS BANNED FROM THE YELLOW FLAG FOR GOOD," Bao shouted over the cacophony of weapons fire that filled his bar.
Granted that most days the shooting would have been started due to Lagoon Company, it truly had nothing to do with them. Some idiots had been play a game of poker and one cheated. The first gunshot had lead to a full on gunfight. Ethan and Revy amazingly hadn't even been drinking that day, they were there delivering a special shipment of booze that the angry proprietor had ordered.
"DONT TALK CRAZY BAO. WHERE ELSE ARE WE SUPPOSED TO DRINK IN THIS SHITHOLE? YOU LITTERALLY OWN THE ONLY BAR THAT WE WON'T GET THROWN OUT OF FOR BRINGING GUNS IN," Revy managed to get over the sounds.
"NOT MY PROBLEM. I SHOULD JUST KILL YOU RIGHT NOW TO SAVE THE NEXT BARTENDER THE TROU..."
Ethan's Beretta was pressed just under Bao's chin, "WATCH JUST HOW FAR YOU START TALKING. WE ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE. BAN US, AND IT WILL BE MORE THAN YOUR BAR THAT YOU HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT, CAPICHE?"
"FINE, YOU FUCKERS. NEXT TIME I WON'T EVEN STOP TO THINK."
The next few minutes passed and the fire finally fell off. The three cautiously peeked above the bar and examined the carnage. Most of the patrons were dead or dying, but the bar was actually relatively intact. In truth all it was going to take was a mop and some spackle to fix it.
Bao grumbled, "You two got lucky. Don't think you are going to be drinking here tonight though."
"Noted, send the payment to the office, and we are getting out of your hair," Revy said as they started out.
Ethan had to stop and look at the "cheater's" cards, "This guy had nothing. 2 of Clubs, King of Diamonds, 5 of Clubs, 8 of Hearts, and Jack of Spades. He sure as Hell wasn't cheating."
"Yes Heidi, we are going to be gone more than a couple days. You know the drill. You need anything before we leave," Dutch asked the girl.
'No, Dutch. I think everything is good. I'll send Benny an email if anything important comes up job wise. The place will be clean as usual when you return. Any trouble and I send a distress call to Mister Chang, or Miss Balalaika. I knock three slow, three fast, three slow.'
"I had my doubts when Ethan brought you among us, but it was really a great idea. We will leave in the morning once the Italians tell us the cargo has been delivered to the docks. With luck it'll be just a few days out and back. These small jobs like this rarely get exciting, even for us."
"I still can't believe you threatened Bao and made him back down like that," Revy's voice carried up the stairs.
"Truthfully I expected to get shot in the back as we were leaving, but it was well worth the try," Ethan appeared to be with her.
Dutch sighed. Somehow those two had become closer than most mercenaries got, and he wasn't sure that was such a good thing. Granted he wasn't really a mercenary himself, he had known more than a few. Most only worked together for weeks at a time, usually a single job. Revy and Ethan had been working with each other for months now. It had to be that they seemed like the same person in so many ways.
"What did you two do," He asked as they entered the office.
Ethan started, "It wasn't our fault, some jackass accused a guy with a shit hand of cheating at poker, and started a gunfight. Bao then started saying something about killing Revy and I shoved a gun in his face."
"What he said"
"You two wi..., who is calling at this time," the phone interrupted Dutch, "Hello"
"Dutch it's Benny. You have incoming. I drove by and saw five men with AKs enter the front door. They were wearing heavy armor, and didn't look like they wanted a chat."
"Understood. I'll let you know when it's safe."
"I take it we might ought to arm up," Ethan said loosing the safety straps on his pistols.
"Five with Kalashnikovs. Armored. Already inside."
Revy smiled, "Looks like we get to rock and roll."
They had been trained to the highest standards of any man in the Spetsnaz, and they knew it. They had all crawled through blood, been beaten mercilessly, and had survived. They had made it through so many missions that they couldn't even talk to each other about due to security. A simple kill mission was nothing to them.
Truth be told the five men felt insulted when they were called before Colonel Bugakov and given their orders. Five of the best to kill a single man? Any one of them would have sufficed alone. However orders were orders and they would follow them to the letter. Though why the Colonel had said they were killing a monster instead of just some random merc that had killed his family.
The hallways were empty, as if there were only a handful of people that lived there. Not out of the realm of possibility, but the briefings they were given on the city just made this seem strange. Nobody except the local crimelords would likely interfere with the operation, but too quiet made people jumpy in this situation. Of course they could be out, which would make it easier. All they would have to do is wait in the dark and when they saw them open up with their Kalashes. This was easily their least dangerous assignment ever.
The pointman reached the door of what was supposed to be the company's office. As the door opened he never had the chance to register the .44 Magnum's report as the bullet tore through his face. The next three has only seconds to live as a flurry of 9mm ripped through their skulls. The last made to raise his weapon only to feel a knife rip through his arm where his body armor had a gap. His firing hand just seemed like it no longer existed. Looking in that direction he took a fairly large fist to his face.
Corpses really didn't bother Rock all that much anymore. They had just become another part of the scenery now. The only reason he even bothered to stop at the pile in the alley was the fact that Heidi was next to it somewhat out of breath, like she had drug them there herself.
"Uh, Heidi, why are you next to a pile of dead bodies?"
'They attacked Ethan. There was another one, but he is going to be tortured before they kill him. If they are this heavy stripped half naked, I am glad I am not dragging them in all that gear. I need a shower, and maybe some really strong perfume, I think they are going bad already in this heat.'
"Uh, sure. I will just head up to the office. Should I be worried about anything when I get there?"
Heidi kinda shrugged, 'Screams of abject terror and excruciating pain. Ethan was getting a set of some really sharp and weirdly shaped knives when I started this. Oh, do you happen to know the number for someone by the name of Sawyer, Dutch said he used to have the number, but he can't find it anywhere.'
"Yeah, I will get in touch with her for him. I'm going to have nightmares tonight."
Climbing the stairs Rock did his best to not consider what he might be about to see. Ethan didn't talk much about everything he did in his past, but he made it clear that he was not a very nice person for the most part. He remembered the mention of cutting a man's throat with a piece of rusty barbed wire that his coworker had made when they first confronted him.
"Come on, granted this is the first time I have ever tortured a Spetsnaz, but still it shouldn't be this hard to crack you. Honestly I know you can speak from that expletive you shouted when I broke your nose. If you can only speak Russian, это не проблема (that is not a problem)," Rock heard as he reached the apartment door just before the bottom of the stairs before the office.
He then heard Revy speak, "I have to admit, I might even have cracked by this point. Maybe your knives are too sharp. We could always get one of Heidi's kitchen knives and work on him."
"Wouldn't do any good. I keep those knives sharper than these for her. He literally has no skin left on his feet. We could continue up the legs like I was taught, or we can head directly to the most sensitive equipment. It has been a few years since I flayed a cock, hope I still remember how to do it right."
"Nyet, nyet. Bol'she ne nado. I will talk."
Rock slowly entered the room. He was actually surprised. Hanging from the ceiling was a corpse, completely naked with all the skin taken off its feet. In a chair under it sat another individual who was just on the verge of a complete and total breakdown. Now, Rock was not even an amateur torturer, but he had to admit that this was actually brilliant. No injury to cause the one being tortured to go into shock or die of blood loss.
"Everything going ok up here? Need anything," He asked somewhat quietly.
Ethan simply looked over, "I could use a beer. You Revy?"
"Sure, and maybe something to help kill the smell."
Rock nodded and closed the door. He knew it for sure now: everyone in this city was freaking nuts.