The gang leaders of Annapurna were not comfortable, or happy with the situation. Not only did they have over a battalion of Russian Soldiers, actual Russian Ground Forces soldiers, controlling a large portion of their city, they now had six hundred, for all intents and purposes, mercenaries waiting to begin a breakthrough.
They weren't even what most people thought of when you said mercenary. They gave off the same level of professionalism of Hotel Moscow. Chinese, Russian, Korean, and Japanese men stood at parade rest waiting to be told to move out.
"Mr. Coffey, I remember you saying that your men were mostly former military, but I wasn't expecting them to still have such a strong bearing about them," Balalaika was extremely impressed, and very happy with having a contract with him.
"Don't forget, I am a Marine. I know how important discipline and trust is to keeping men alive. Has there been anymore word of Caleb," Robert Coffey looked at the men assembled at the airport.
"Nothing. There have been several groups of dead soldiers discovered, shot and beaten to death both. I think he is fine, along with his companion. Are you sure there will not be any repercussions for your company," the woman asked, actual concern in her voice.
"If there are, there are. I will take responsibility for them, and I will make arrangements to mitigate the fallout against my men. There is a chance that it will do good things. The Royal Thai Army has been told not to intervene unless these renegade soldiers win. If I am able to push them out, and maintain the status quo, rumors will get around, and contracts should roll in. Regardless, I am getting my son out of this," he walked over to stand before his men.
Balalaika felt something of a kinship with the man. Even if he hadn't served with these men personally, he was willing to accept any consequences on their behalf. How long ago had it been when she felt the same? Maybe she had been playing gangster too long.
"Men, I know that you are questioning what you are doing here. This isn't business. This is something personal. If any of you don't wish to participate, you wont be forced. There is a chance that this could lead to bad things for you. Catastrophic things to me. Right now, you are just outside a city that is literally the most crime ridden place on Earth. It is being invaded by a group of deserting soldiers from the Russian Federation. A mixture between regulars, and Spetsnaz. We are going to kick their asses out into the harbor. Then, you have full leave to enjoy whatever the city has to offer, and go home tomorrow/ So, instead of me standing here jacking my fucking jaws, go shoot some fuckers in the face. What do I pay you for?"
The speech was short, sweet, and incited a chorus of cheers. Regardless of what they did now, these men were soldiers. Telling them to go into a battle, was something they didn't expect. They were so happy, that one asked which way they needed to march, and they took off at a spirited march, instead of waiting for their trucks to be unloaded.
Chang and Ronnie were confused at the sight, and the speech itself. It may have been the fact that neither of them had ever been soldiers, but they didn't care as much for charging headlong into a fight like the men that were leaving their logistics train confused and scrambling.
"Uh, your name is Coffey? How do you have this kind of a force where you can move them that quickly? Surely the place they are headquartered has to have an issue with hosting this many armed men," Ronnie stepped up to him with the question.
"Turns out, the South Korean military enjoys having a force outside the U.S. Army and Marine Corps to train against. We hold lease to an island off the coast of Incheon that is large enough to house and train them for facility combat security," the man said.
Chang's eyebrow went skyward, "Just what the hell is facility combat security?"
"Do you know how many foreign businesses suffered massive losses due to Vietnam? Their security wasn't made up of trained soldiers, mostly just locals who were hired to keep kids and two bit thieves from stealing stuff. I remembered that, and I know how unstable nations can become. I have teams in place in North America, Europe, and Southeast Asia that can deploy within twenty four hours to secure customer facilities should major unrest occur. The Southeast Asia team is the largest since we have more contracts here than anywhere else currently. Never ignore a possible way to profit from events that don't seem profitable," the giant smiled.
He turned toward the logistics team and went to talk with their leader, leaving the three criminal bosses stunned. What was happening in their city now? Were they losing control? They really hoped they weren't losing control.
"Balalaika, I hope you know what you are doing. We have had a fairly decent working relationship in the last few years, and I would consider you something of friend, but if you have invited the devil into our parlor, and we lose control, I will make sure that you occupy that rope," Chang didn't even look at the woman as he spoke.
The Russian woman took a deep breath before she replied, "If we lose control, I will hang myself. I have not had fear of many men in my life, but there is something about him, that just naturally intimidates people. Not to mention that he may be one of the most intelligent people I have ever met. He had almost my entire military file memorized, and gave me the cliff-notes, even down to how many times I was captured during the Soviet-Afghan war. However, I think he is trustworthy, especially given that right now, his son is in great danger."
"I don't know him as well as you two seem to, however I thought the rumors going around were that this Ethan Haines, was almost unkillable? That he had torn down entire cartels for a minor insult? Not to mention that he is in the company of the most dangerous person to ever come here. Is there something I am missing," Ronnie asked, wondering why they were as worried as they were.
"Ronnie, none of us are invincible. All it takes is just the right person coming up behind you without you knowing, and the light gets shut off. Our reputations, mean nothing to some illiterate drunk that just wants to kill us and take all the cash on us to get another bottle of cheap booze. I saw a lot of dead bodies in a previous life, and I will be honest, there were more than a few that never saw it coming, that people were very afraid of," Chang pulled a cigarette out of his coat and lit it.
The Italian looked at him confused, "So, I should assume that as a threat?"
"You foolish child. Maybe if you had ever been anything other than a criminal, you would understand. Immortality is only in stories, and even Mag has spoken of many times that he should have never walked away. I don't know about the Bloodhound, but death stalks us all. Remember that, and it may help you live longer," Balalaika smiled and evil smile as she spoke.
"Call me a child again you old whore, and I will kill you where you stand. I don't care in the end. The only interest I have in their lives, is what use they could be to re-secure my territory that these pissants have taken. I don't care about any ropes if we are betrayed, I will beat you half to death, and then use your body until you quit breathing," the rage in Ronnie's eyes only seemed to amuse the other two bosses.
Chang put a hand on the younger man's shoulder, and started putting pressure on it, "Right now, you can check your ego. Most likely, you would be the first to fall. Learn from what you are seeing here if we survive this, it may one day put you in a chair on Sicily. Now, I need to figure out how to explain this situation to my superiors, and you two should start as well, otherwise, we probably wont have very long lives after this."
The young private's eyes were wide as he hoped he was hidden. His squad was rotating off the front and had noticed some movement down an alley. They went to investigate, and then they just started dying. First they saw a man in a suit, then a woman in a torn maid's outfit, and they just started dying.
Fire way more accurate than he had ever seen started coming from AKs, and when the man's rifle jammed, he threw it to the side, and then charged them and started beating them to death. He grabbed bayonets and shoved them up through chins. They almost forgot about the woman until she just seemed to dance past them cutting their throats. Twelve men, and he was the last one alive.
He was hyper ventilating. He had never seen anything that terrifying before. It was like some sort of urban legend made flesh.
"I heard your unit speaking English, so I'm not going to go into Russian. You are dead, but before you stop breathing, I am going to give you a chance to make it painless."
The soldier's head whipped to look beside him. There stood the man. Turning his head the other way revealed the woman. Terror was enough to make him piss himself right then and there. Where the hell did they come from, and how the Hell did they track him so easily?
"Like I said, tell us what we need to know, and you won't suffer. Try to run, or fight, and we will make you wish for your mind to break. So, do you understand me," the man spoke smoothly, and menacingly.
The soldier looked between the two people. He had to find a way out to report and get reinforcements to deal with them. He had to fight his way past them, and find another unit. Which one should he attack though?
He chose the woman. He was a man, and he had to have at least twenty pounds on her. It was just nature. He was going to be able to get past her easier. He didn't realize that she was not a natural woman.
He swung. Then he was looking at the wall of the building, and distantly noted that his arm was not right. He was looking at the bottom of his elbow, and doing it straight on. The man hadn't moved.
"Senor, he told you to talk. He gave you the chance to make it sin dolor. Now, even El Diablo will pray for mercy on your soul," something in the woman's voice chilled his blood even more than the man.
A patrol came by around fifteen minutes later. The sight they saw, terrified them. The private was hanging upside down from a fire escape ladder. He had been stripped naked, his eyes gouged out, and his genitals cut-off and shoved in his mouth. All his fingers and toes had been mangled. His throat cut.
They weren't sure what they were looking at. Even the Chechen War hadn't shown horrors to the veterans that would match this. They weren't aware of Roberta and Ethan being in the area. They also didn't know what the two of them were.
A few blocks over the mercenary and maid had just cleared a small restuarant. They were hungry, tired, and just wanted to get out of that part of town. They hadn't slept more than a couple of hours between them since the start of the attack, and they were starting to hit the wall.
"Looks clear. See if you can scrougne up anything to eat. I'll take watch," Ethan leaned himself against the side of the door that had better concealment.
Roberta started to say something insulting as she turned around, but then noticed a red drop on the floor, "When did you get hit?"
"Hit? What are.. oh shit. Fuck if I know. It must have been when I charged after the rifle jammed. Fuck," he set his rifle down and took his jacket off.
Thankfully, he hadn't been shot. Once they could see the area, is more looked like he had just gotten a deep scratch. With his pain tolerance, developed from years of combat injuries, something like that didn't even register.
"I'll be fine. Like I said, she what you can round up to eat, then you get some shut eye, and then we swap after a couple hours. I'll go see if I can tell how bad the blood trail is. Hopefully it isn't that bad," he stepped out and disappearred down the alley they came from.
Roberta looked after him for a second before she went into the kitchen. She observed the corpses of the former employees and possible owner. They didn't really bring up any feelings in her, as she started looking for anything that could be eaten without preparation. They didn't need a heat plume from the kitchen exhaust giving them away.
After a few minutes she managed to find some fruit, bread, and cheese. It seemed like the sort of thing that Diego had always wanted presented as refreshment when business associates met with him at the estate. However, they were good for energy and holding off hunger for longer.
She got enough for both of them, then reconsidered and got more considering Ethan's sheer size. She didn't really eat that much, but she weighed all of a hundred and forty pounds, he would easily eat way more than her, and need all those calories in their situation.
"Dinner looks nice," she turned and brought her AK up to aim at Ethan's face, "Ok, I, will stop making jokes. Damn, I just wanted to ease the mood up a little."
"Pido disculpas, you surprised me. How does it look," Roberta lowered her weapon and started to pick up the food.
Ethan picked up a couple items and held the door as she walked out to a table, "I couldn't find anymore blood drops, so it didn't bleed fast enough to make a drop until then. It also looks like we are off the main paths of their rotations, so we should have enough time to get some rest. There are a couple of apartments upstairs, it should be safe to post up in one. Damn, this was actually a good place to eat. The head waitress wanted to sleep with me, but, uh, a little too young for me now. Was, a little too young for me. Fuck, what was the point of executing a fucking fifteen year old girl."
"Because even a child represents a danger. F.A.R.C. wasn't above this either. It brings back memories I would rather not, have come forward" was the woman's reply to his statement.
"What I hate most, is I have done this. I still don't understand it. I guess with age, I started thinking about thing's like this more. Then again, People like us tend not to get this old. So, it is a little strange to be sitting at the same table as the boogeyman. You did kill a lot of people that i worked with, and I am kinda glad that I never got put against you," Ethan took a bite out of a chunk of cheese as he spoke.
"I had never heard of you, so I don't know if I should be flattered or not. Still, I am glad that if I have to be stuck in this situation, it is with such good company. Has there been much over the radio?"
"Not much. They found that poor idiot, and are saying there is some kind of sadistic fuck somewhere around there. They had to pull the line back half a block, that still puts us about twenty five blocks behind the lines. It's taking us too much time trying to move up, having to take the back alleys. We keep having to move deeper, but there isn't really another option giving how the city is laid out," Ethan leaned back in his chair.
"I see. What if we set in here? Waited until we had a better idea of how solid the lines are going to become," Roberta took a bite from a slice of an apple.
Ethan was quiet for a minute or two as he thought, "It's already been more than twenty four hours. A battle like this can last with very little movement for months. The big issue, is that they most likely have more men available. Probably around a thousand. The major gangs that are actually useful, maybe four to seven hundred total. That fucking tank is worth about twenty men effectively. Maybe a few hours, but we can't stay in one place long term right now."
"Si, then we should take the time to both get some proper sleep. It looks like you are about to pass out, and I doubt I am much better. Ninguno de nosotros logrará mucho más lejos si no podemos mantener los ojos abiertos. (Neither of us will make it too much further if we can't keep our eyes open.), " Roberta could see his eyes starting to waiver.
"Si, your right. We need to take advantage of this. The problem is, I don't think either of us are in a condition to stand watch, and I don't know if it is safe enough to not have a watch," Ethan finally agreed, hesitantly.
"We don't have a choice. If I have to die though, I would rather be rested enough to fight back." the woman said as she looked him in the eyes, well aware at how dim her own sight was becoming.