Fallen Angel
After leaving the site of what used to be the nice people who hosted them, Ryan and Harris made their way back to the center of town. Occasionally in the city, one could see taxis and such driving about. Ryan had decided that the easiest way to get to the coast would be to simply take a taxi.
On the way there, Ryan spoke to Luna, walking ahead of Harris and Discord. Harris walked nervously. Noticing this, Discord asked, “What’s going on with to you? Why so nervous?”
Harris pointed forward to Ryan. “You see who he’s talking to?” he asked. Discord shook his head. “Exactly.” Doubling back, Discord realized that Harris was right. There was no one there he could see that Ryan could have been talking to.
“Well.” he said. “This is a development.” That was what he said, though. In his mind, he was saying, “Yes, yes, yes! This is perfect! It’ll be no problem getting him to do what I want now. Could this have gone any better?” Yes. Yes, it certainly could have.
Ryan had lost any care of whether or not Harris kept up with him. He just wanted to find and kill someone. He never let Luna know that, though. She would most certainly leave him, were she to find out. “What will you do when you find these men, Ryan?” she asked. “How are you going to take down this organization?” Ryan raised his chin and scratched his neck.
“We find them, bag their leader under cover of stealth, and we take him out of the picture of the group.” he responded. “Then, there’ll be lots of infighting, and other, legitimate groups of law enforcement can deal with it.” Luna smiled warmly. She was proud of Ryan coming up with such a plan.
“Good. This man must be brought to justice.” she said. She was clueless as to Ryan’s real intentions.
The group reached the center of town. “Fly up and look for a taxi.” Ryan ordered. Luna and Discord both flew up to look around. When one of them came back, Ryan and Harris would be on their way.
Harris stepped forward. “Ryan,” he began. “if we’re going through Thailand, how are we going to travel? We can’t exactly walk all the way.”
“We steal cars and stuff.” He walked up to Harris and got in his face. “I think that saving lives is more important than a person’s car, don’t you?” he said in a mock tone.
Harris stepped back. “Yeah, I guess.” he replied. Ryan nodded and sat down.
It wasn’t long before Discord returned. Harris walked over to him. “Did you find us some transportation?” he asked.
“Nope.” Discord replied. Harris just looked at him. “I just came back because I remembered that I have something for you two.” He had been keeping the two vests on his tail for the majority of his time possessing them. “I got these off of a couple of guys in Jakarta, or whatever that place was. I think you’ll find them useful.” Ryan heard this and got up to investigate.
“What are they?” he asked, still not having seen them. Discord chuckled proudly.
“I have a couple of vests, and weapons.” Ryan flinched. He hadn’t expected this.
“Nice!” he said. Discord pulled off the vests, with the guns in them, and handed each of the boys one.
Ryan couldn’t help but be somewhat disappointed. “When you said ‘vests’, I thought you meant armor...” he said. Discord cocked his head sideways. “These are makeshift tactical vests.”
Discord puffed. “Well, that’s what they had.” he said annoyed. Ryan moved the vest around.
“Good enough.” he said. He put the vest on his chest and sat back down. He would look at the weapons in a more private place. They were already receiving looks.
Harris sat next to him. “I think we may want jackets. These vests aren’t exactly inconspicuous.” Ryan nodded in agreement.
“I think that would be best.”
Pretty soon, Luna came back. As she landed in front of the boys, she slowed down, taking in their new outfits. “Where did you..?” she started. Ryan shook his head.
“Don’t ask.” Harris looked at him funny, then moved away a bit.
Looking at Ryan sideways, she said, “There should be a cab coming this way soon.” Ryan stood.
“Alright then. I’m tired of sitting anyway.” He turned to Harris. “Let’s go out and find a cab.” Harris stood and followed. Ryan didn’t tell him that Luna found him a cab because he didn’t want Harris or Discord to know about Luna. That could be very problematic.
They weren’t fifty feet from their sitting positions when they saw a cab. Ryan ran forward. “Hey!” he shouted. The cab stopped, not wanting to risk hitting the guy who ran out into the street. Ryan walked to the passenger side. After knocking on the window, it rolled down to reveal a very angry man. He shouted at Ryan. Seeing that he couldn’t speak English, Ryan fumbled around the vest.
He found what he was looking for; pulling the pistol from its holster, Ryan pointed the muzzle straight at the man’s head. “Do not make a sound.” he said. The man, wide-eyed and fearful, hurriedly unlocked the car. Harris came up next to Ryan.
“Damn, dude.”
Ryan waved into the car. “Just get in.” The two boys got into the car and started off to the coast.
Luna took in what just happened slowly. Rather than follow the boys, she just sat on the roof of the cab. “Did he just threaten to kill that man?” she wondered. One way to find out. “Were you about to kill that man?” she asked Ryan through her mental link.
“No,” Ryan replied. Luna sighed, relieved. “I just needed him to let us in the cab. I wasn’t about to hurt him unless he fought back.” Not really thinking about his words carefully, Luna continued talking to Ryan.
“I must go, now.” she said. She could feel Ryan’s trepidation at this. “Do not fear.” she reassured him. “I will be back.” With that, she left Earth for Equestria once again.
In the cab, Ryan was taking the time to look at his new weapons. The pistol he had pulled out was a Walther P22, a .22 cal. LR pistol. It’s magazines held ten rounds, and it was really light in his hands compared to the Browning HP from before. Ryan removed the magazine and cleared the chamber. Putting the round back into the magazine and slipping the magazine back in, he holstered the pistol again. He fumbled on other spots on his vest, as he could feel the presence of another, larger weapon. Eventually, he found it. The weapon was a Colt M1911 .45 ACP. This one had a seven round magazine, and was significantly heavier than the other pistol. Unlike most rounds, the .45 ACP and .22 LR rounds are subsonic, causing less signature and noise than others. Ryan removed the magazine, cleared the chamber, and put the magazine back into the weapon.
He looked over to his left. There, Harris was doing the same with his vest. He had two weapons that were both larger than his. The first he noticed was a P99, also Walther, chambered for 9x19mm Parabellum rounds. When Harris pulled the other, Ryan gasped. It was an Automag, one of the few .44 Magnum, magazine fed pistols you could find. Fewer than 3,000 were ever made, so they were pretty rare. Harris put them both on the seat between the two of them. “You should probably clear the chambers.” Ryan commented. Grunting, Harris did just that, albeit with some difficulty.
For the rest of the ride, the two boys rode along in silence.
**********************************************************************************
When Luna returned to her body, she felt an odd sensation against her side. Looking over, she noticed Starstep leaning on her. He was asleep and drooling. “Starstep,” she whispered. He snored loudly, and upon breathing out, he released a big ball of spit. “Starstep!” she yelled.
Starstep shot upwards, yelling. “AHH!” Luna looked at him in a “seriously?” type of expression.
“Did you sleep on me?” she asked. Starstep landed and nodded shamefully.
“I only just fell asleep after you got on the vehicle...” he used as an excuse. Luna shook her head.
“Fine. You’re getting off. For now.”
Still in a sleepy, Starstep blabbed out, “I’ll get off later.” Luna blinked.
She just sat there silently for a moment. It was entirely too clear that Starstep had no idea what he just said. “Alright, then?” she said. Starstep looked quizzical, like he was solving a puzzle. “Let’s go up.”
The two made their way back to Luna’s room and sat around a table near the fireplace. Luna lit it. “So,” she began, but stopped. Starstep was swaying back and forth. She went over to her bed and, lifting one of the heavier pillows, flung it at Starstep. It nailed him square in the muzzle.
“Oof!” He fell back. Sitting back up, he said, “I’m awake. Just nodded off for a minute.” Luna just looked at him. “How can someone not fall asleep when the Princess of the Night, the Ruler of Dreams, is their pillow?” Luna face-hoofed. “But it was so comfy...”
She sat before him in front of the fireplace, resuming her spot. “So what did you think?” she asked. Starstep took in a breath.
“Of the colts, or their situation, what do you mean?” he asked.
“Everything.” was Luna’s reply.
“Well, I think the colts seem really nice. Or at least they were before this whole situation. The one, who held the weapon at the other one’s head? He seems really different from what you described.” Luna took it all in.
“You weren’t there for it, but something happened when he found that,” he shuddered. “filly in the razed home.” Luna nodded. “Any of us would be disturbed by that.” Starstep shook his head.
“No, I know that. I mean something else. He wasn’t just disturbed. He was so terrified, so sad. Then, he just drops her to the ground, where parts of her shatter, and doesn’t care. It’s like he’s not even there anymore at all.” he said. Luna jutted her head forward a bit.
“I don’t see it, actually. When he was talking, he seemed fine. After all that he’s been through, he’s probably desensitized.” Starstep continued to shake his head.
“No, it goes beyond that. I can’t explain it, since I’ve never seen it before, but... something is off with him now.”
Luna took it all into consideration. She would have to watch Ryan for a while. “How about the other things you got to see?” she asked.
“The other colt, Harris, seemed alright. A little naive, maybe, given their plan, but a good enough person. Those other humans, the ones who helped the boys, were wonderful. Very kind. It’s terrible, what happened. I threw up into the pool. I think it hit someone.” Luna could not help but smirk. “The guys who did that are truly the most heinous creatures ever to walk in that world. I can’t imagine worse. They really do need to be taken to justice. Anything, really, to stop them.” Luna looked worried. “What?” Starstep asked.
“Initially, they were going to kill the men.” Starstep took a step back in his words.
“Let me rephrase. Anything that will keep the boys above the ‘men’ on a moral level and still stop them.” Luna nodded, satisfied.
Starstep had been wondering, though. “Are there more ‘men’ like this? Other instances of... this?” Luna looked away.
“I believe so.” she said. “They live in a terrible world, a dangerous one. In many ways, it is far worse than ours.” she looked back. “But still, in many ways, it is superior. They treasure acts of good more than we ever can because of these types of atrocities. We take what we have for granted, while they often have to fight for it every day. These humans are strong, always willing to do what they must for what they believe is right. We must respect that about them.” Starstep thought about this for a moment. They really were strong, if they could live in such a world. They appreciated what they did have, more so than anyone in Equestria. While they will always have those who they wish to send away, to never hear of or see again, there were just as many, if not many more, who were better. They are more than just better, actually; they are good.
“I see your point. Perhaps their world is great in the scope of things...”
He stood up. “Well, I should probably get outside for guard duty.” Luna stood.
“I must raise the moon. I shall return soon.” Starstep went out first, quickly, and stood at post. As Luna left, she noticed two patrolling guards walking by. Unable to resist, she decided to brush her tail on Starstep’s face as she passed. Just enough to be an accident, but not necessarily enough to be on purpose. She yelped slightly as Starstep unexpectedly nipped her astral tail. Looking back at him, her deep red face was met only with the statue-like expression of her guard and two snickering patrol guards. She quickly made her way to the balcony, hearing laughter behind her as she trotted off.
When she got to the balcony, her sister was awaiting her. “Ah, glad to see you, sister.” she said. Luna walked up next to her sister, rigid as ice.
“Hello sister.” she said. Celestia could sense her embarrassment.
“Sister,” she began. Luna gulped. “did you try to play games with your guard? And lose?” Luna did not respond. Celestia chuckled. “I thought so.” She began to lower the sun. As it set, Luna thought about Ryan. He seemed much like the sun; bright, promising, warm, energy. And as with the sun, he was beginning to shed less light, less energy, becoming less bright. It seemed like it was almost his time to set.
Realizing that she was going down a path to abandon him, she decided to talk to her sister. “So, what has been going on in the day court? Any interesting cases?” she asked. Celestia laughed.
“No, not a single one. They’re always ‘petty squabbles’, as you once said.” Luna smiled sheepishly. “Though I can’t say I’m not happy with this. It had been a long time since any real crime was committed that DIDN’T threaten the entire nation. Our people are quite peaceful.”
Luna nodded. “Indeed.”
After the sun was lowered, Luna began to raise the moon. “You know, it’s thanks to you that this is true.” Celestia said. She turned to face her sister as she raised the moon.
“How?” she asked.
“You always intimidated our subjects a little.” Celestia answered. Luna huffed a little at this. “At first, that was what kept serious crimes from occurring. Later on, when you came up with special treatment for ‘special’ ponies, we had a much more peaceful society. And thanks to modern magic treatment, we can keep ponies with issues from being violent. You create peace.” Luna smiled.
“Thank you, sister. This means much.”
Celestia smiled and yawned. “I must go to sleep, now. I hope you have a good time this evening.”
It wasn’t until after Celestia left and Luna raised the moon that she thought about that last statement. “What does she mean?” she wondered. On her way back to her room, she concluded that she was to harass Starstep.
Upon returning, she saw Starstep reading a magazine. It read Stallion’s Salubrity. Luna knew this one; it was mildly sketchy in nature, but was generally okay. She snuck up on her guard, whose face was buried in the magazine. “BOO!” she shouted as she flew up, forelegs raised. Starstep shot backwards, dropping his magazine... magazine’s’?
“AHH!” he shouted. Luna stepped forward and looked at the magazines on the floor. “This isn’t anything, y-your highness!” he said shakily.
Luna looked at him, then the magazines, then him again. “Playcolt? Really?” she said. Starstep hung his head in shame.
“Yes.” Luna shook her head.
“You stallion guards. Always looking at mares on the job.”
Starstep mocked offense. “If I wanted to look at a mare, I’d-” he stopped. He hadn’t really thought about how he would redirect, and it backfired in his face. Silently, Luna walked into her room, waving him in the whole way. Swallowing hard, Starstep followed.
He was going to say Celestia, but thought it was a quick way to get flung out the window. No, he let Luna think about what he was going to say. “She probably thinks I was gonna say her.” He thought about that a moment. “I would, though, honestly.” Luna had him sit down in front of the fire.
“I’ll never get you stallions.” she said. “But I can at least try.” Starstep’s eyes went wide. He knew what line of questions was coming. “Why do you... 'do such activities’?” Luna asked.
“We, enjoy, it?” Luna was clearly not satisfied.
“Why, though?” He never wanted to say this to her, it was just too awkward. But he had to.
“It’s... physically pleasurable!” he blurted. His whole body was red. Luna just looked generally indifferent now.
“Well, then. Now I know.” she pointed the way to her private bathroom. “Go take care of... that.” Knowing what she meant, Starstep ran off to take care of “that”.
He soon returned. “Umm, done?” he said, smiling sheepishly. Luna nodded. While he was gone, she had retrieved a book for herself.
“As you were.” Starstep ran back outside and took his post.
With him gone, Luna was free to think about what they had spoken about. Starstep said that Ryan seemed different, to the point where Luna didn’t understand. “What could be so different that he could have noticed that I couldn’t have?” She thought about Starstep for a while. He had a long history of service. Initially, he was with the Solar guard, seeing as there weren’t any Lunar guards until Luna returned. While there, he had received some fame, though Luna did not know for what. She had actually never researched it. But, that was what the book she held was for. “The Strike Against the Griffon Coalition”, Luna read. Before she had come back, there had been a massive battle against the griffons to the south. They had tried to gain support from the griffons to the southeast, but failed. Even so, they had no chance of winning. Starstep had participated in this battle.
The book outlined all of the soldiers who had displayed exemplary service during the battle. Those who were lost, those who earned the Crest of Valor, and others who did amazing things. Celestia had told her that she would appoint a guard with “exemplary service” to be Luna’s private guard. That meant that Starstep had to be in this book.
The soldiers in the book were organized alphabetically. But when Luna reached “S”, Starstep was nowhere to be found. “What in the world?” Luna wondered. Why wasn’t he in here?
She continued flipping through the book. It was relatively small, so going through all of it wasn’t hard. Toward the back of the book, she found an interesting title page. Those in Her Majesty’s Special Service. Intrigued, Luna opened it up.
She was surprised to find Starstep on the second page after the title. In the book, his name was Mustang. He was in a very odd set of armor, and in his picture, he was standing with several other soldiers whose faces were covered with red X’s. Luna read the description. “This soldier, known as Mustang, was a member of the Nighthawks. He was one of Equestria’s best. During the battle, though details are sketchy, as he would not talk to anyone, he and his team went deep behind enemy lines and rescued several POW’s from the Griffon Army. As they escaped, they were found out, and had to fight to get out. When they got to the extraction point, Mustang and his team stayed behind to give the POW’s time to get away in the escape chariot. Mustang’s teammates went either MIA or died in the attack. When he was found later on, he was badly injured and clutching a picture of his team. He received the Crest of Valor, as did his teammates, all of whom are presumed KIA.” The description ended there.
Luna read the last sentence and paused. Her guard had been one of the elite soldiers, the best of the best. Who better to guard Luna? But what’s more, he had lost his entire team in the battle. Had he ever gotten over that? After all, he wasn’t still in the service...
“Starstep?!” she called. He rushed in.
“Yes, your highness?” he asked. She waved him over.
“You never told me about any of this.” she said, pointing to the book.
He sighed. “I never felt like mentioning it.” he said quickly. She knew that meant he couldn’t talk about it. She stood up and walked over to him.
“You know, we can talk about anything. You said that yourself.” He sighed again.
“Yeah, just... not yet. I just don’t want to...” Luna nodded. She felt really sorry for him. To lose a teammate, or shipmate, or anything like that is incredibly hard.
She levitated the book away and laid on her bed. Not excused, Starstep stood where he was, doing his best not to think about the battle. Luna looked at him with sad eyes, and without a word, he walked over and laid his head on her side. There, he slowly drifted to sleep, small droplets of water crawling down his face as Luna stroked his side gently with her wing.
**********************************************************************************
Ryan and Harris were riding in silence. After clearing their weapons, neither of them had talked to each other. Harris worried about Ryan’s sanity, while Ryan thought about how they would find and kill Narendra. With some help from Luna, and lots from Discord, finding him wouldn’t be much of an issue. It was the killing that would be really hard.
Discord had taken a seat on top of the car not long ago. He was constantly asking Ryan and Harris copious, irrelevant questions. “What do they eat around here?” he asked once. Ryan replied “Dog.”, but Harris, living nearby, said that he “knew” the answer was massive ants. Discord gagged, but quickly realized that neither boy was right. Ryan eventually grew irritated by the questions.
“Would you, PLEASE, shut up?” he asked. He heard a mental giggle.
“No.” Ryan sighed and decided to try to ignore him.
Eventually, Discord started to ask relevant questions. “So, what exactly are the weapons you guys have now?” he asked once. Ryan explained the size, stopping power, ammo type, and other factors of each of their firearms.
“Overall, though, they all work just as well, if you can hit a guy.” The following questions were all of similar nature.
After some time, after dark, the boys were brought to a coastal town, Dumai. The coastal town was very close to Malaysia. It seemed that they would have to go through there to get to Thailand, then to Cambodia.
At the town, Ryan exited the cab and walked away. Harris was left to pay the cab guy. Not easy, considering he didn’t speak English.
As Ryan walked around, Discord flew up next to him. “So.” he said. “I guess you're not going to Thailand immediately.” Ryan responded without turning.
“We have to get through Malaysia first. It shouldn’t be a problem, though. If we can get a ride, we can probably pass it in a day.” Discord nodded.
“Good, good. The sooner you get this guy, the better.” He leaned in close to Ryan’s ear. “He killed your friends, and other innocents to boot. He needs to die.” Ryan waved his hand back unexpectedly, striking Discord on the snout.
“I know. And I’m going to kill him, if it’s the last thing I do.” Discord stopped at the last sentence. Maybe this was bad.
“Well, you want to live after, so you can gloat, right?” he asked. Ryan shook his head.
“As long as he’s dead, nothing else matters.” He stopped. “Nothing.”
Harris caught back up to them. “Ryan, you could have waited, you know.” Ryan started moving again.
“And you could have taken less time.” he said back. “Come on.” Ryan ordered. “If we have money, we should find a place to stay.”
Harris and Ryan eventually found a place to sleep, and bedded down for the night.
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Harris awoke slowly. When they found a place to sleep, it was probably around half past eight or something. After, sleeping wasn’t very easy, but it eventually found him.
Ryan had it slightly different. He had less trouble falling asleep, but his sleep wasn’t as restful. Throughout the night, he had numerous nightmares, but was never awoken by them. He had tossed and turned throughout the night, and when he awoke, he saw that his hand was trembling. “Meh.” he said. He threw off his blankets and walked to his door.
The two boys had found a small hotel like building this time. When Harris saw it, he suggested that they use it to avoid getting more people killed. Ryan had only shrugged and went along with it. Now, he was actually glad they had chosen it. It had clean beds, there was a small restaurant-like place next door, and best of all, they were near a marine. Lots of fishermen used the marina, some with small boats, others with boats large enough to get to Malaysia. It was absolutely perfect.
Ryan and Harris had decided not to share a room, in case they were attacked. That way, one could escape while the other was essentially screwed over. The deal was mutual, though, and they wouldn’t argue if it happened.
Ryan walked over to Harris’ door and knocked three times. They had decided that they would have a special knock, two with the knuckles, then one with the fingertips. Harris opened the door. “Glad to see your awake.”Ryan said. Harris grunted, still tired. “Let’s get some food.” Harris followed Ryan’s suggestion and they went next door.
The two boys went next door and were quickly welcomed and seated. Ryan took a seat watching the front door, Harris face the back. They were up against the wall, where few could see them. If bad stuff went down, they could probably get away or put up a fight if they had to. The waitress walked over. “Apa yang ingin Anda?” she asked. Ryan and Harris looked at each other and scowled.
“Sorry ma’am, we don’t speak Indonesian.” The waitress made the same expression when she heard them speak. She had no idea what they were saying. Luckily, Ryan and Harris had Discord, who suddenly popped through the wall.
“She wants to know what you’ll have.” Holding themselves back, Ryan and Harris looked as the menu, which Discord translated for them. After making their orders in broken Indonesian that they did not know, from Discord’s direction, the waitress left them to themselves. “You boys have a good shot, I think.” Discord voiced. Ryan looked up at him. Harris looked at the rest of the menu. “It should be pretty easy to do everything, since it’s so simple. And you guys seem smart.” Discord sat next to Harris and nudged his shoulder. “You are, right?” He continued nudging Harris until he just turned and looked at Discord.
“Man, I’m tired. Don’t mess with me.”
Discord pouted. “You’re no fun, it would seem.” Discord looked to Ryan. “Are you smart?” Ryan shrugged.
“Smart enough.” Discord smiled big, and got up when the waitress approached with their food.
The food was not unlike any food one would find elsewhere. There were pancake-like biscuits, some meat, water, and coffee. The two boys ate, with Discord playing with the flavors of Harris’ food as he ate. “I’m not messing with YOU.” he said to Harris, who only grunted and kept eating.
The two boys soon finished and were getting ready to pay when some more customers entered the restaurant. They were sketchy looking; wearing concealing outfits, hands in pockets. Two came from the front, one from the back door. Ryan took a note of them. “Harris,” he warned. Harris looked up, still not fully aware of his surroundings. “Watch out for these guys in the hoodies. They look like trouble.” The two from the front talked to a server and were seated, with the third one following them. It couldn’t be determined why they entered the way they did. So Ryan stayed on guard.
The three men, they seemed to be, sat not too far from Ryan and Harris. Ryan put his hand to his side; he and Harris wore their vests under their shirts to conceal them from view. If push came to shove, he would at least have the element of surprise.
The three men were looking around suspiciously. They almost looked nervous. “Did they hear about our escape?” Ryan wondered. “Do they think, or know, I guess, that we’re armed?” The three men ordered their food and spoke in hushed tones to one another. One looked at Ryan, who was looking right at them. He quickly turned around and spoke in a hurried tone. “Shit.” Ryan thought. They must have known. All three of them looked over at him. Hoping to diffuse any suspicion, Ryan nodded at them as if saying, “Sup?” The three men actually calmed slightly. It seemed to have worked.
When the waitress came, Ryan and Harris paid for their meal and got ready to leave. They then got a taste of the fan after being hit.
Three heavily armed men burst into the restaurant. The three men next to them stood up and shouted. Harris suddenly became aware. “Just be cool.” Discord said, putting his hands on the boys’ shoulders. “Just be cool.” Not wanting to be shot, the boys stayed cool.
To Ryan’s right, the three men were shouting at the armed men. The armed men pointed their weapons at the three men. “Dissent?” Ryan thought. Nope. The three men opened fire, cutting down the three men. They unloaded their entire magazines into them, not caring about who might be in the line of fire. Behind the men, the waitress fell down, several holes punched into her torso. The three men were ripped to shreds; one’s hand fell to the floor, while the rest of him landed on a table. One was hit twice in the head, taking it almost completely off. The other had nothing left in his chest cavity.
Harris and Ryan hit the deck under their table to avoid the bullets. After the fire stopped, Ryan risked a look at Harris’ seat. It was absolutely riddled with bullets. “Dang...” he thought. They were nearly shredded.
The three men started shouting to the people around. Discord got low and translated. “He says, ‘Any who oppose us shall suffer a similar fate. Gerakan Aceh Merdeka will be heard.’ I don’t think they’re related to our guys.” he said. Ryan stayed low, scared as hell. Anyone who says they aren’t scared when they’re getting shot at is speaking nonsense. “We’ll just leave this alone.” Discord told the boys. They both nodded.
Two of the guys from the armed men left the restaurant, leaving one behind. He did not speak; he only stayed to survey what was left. And unfortunately, Ryan and Harris made it evident that they were left when they poked their heads out. “Kami memiliki orang-orang kulit putih!” he yelled.
Discord translates. “We have white people!” Ryan was not intent on being taken prisoner.
Reaching for his left side, Ryan whipped out the P22 on his vest. Before the man could know what was happening, Ryan discharged two rounds at him, one in the lower abdomen, one in the neck. He had been aiming at his chest. “RUN!!” Ryan yelled to Harris. They both got up and bolted out the back door before the two other guys even came back.
They burst out the door in a sweat. It was mostly from fear. They had been captured before; it wasn’t happening again. Ryan figured it best to know what was in his gun, so he kept track of the bullets he fired. “Eight left.” he said, Harris shutting the door behind them. Thinking quick, Ryan got low to the immediate right of the door. “Left, now.” he ordered Harris. Harris obliged, copying Ryan by pulling out his Automag.
They waited some time for the two men to come out the door. After ten minutes, or so, Ryan looked at Harris and Discord. “Let’s go back in.”
Harris choked. “What!?” he shouted. “Why- would we do that?” Ryan snarled at him.
“They’re probably gonna chase us! Best to deal with it now than try and outrun automatic rifles!” He held up his pistol and got ready to enter. He had seen people do this before, albeit not really. He opened the door slowly, since he had no idea how to do a dynamic entry. No one greeted him. “I’m heading in.” He went in, and Harris followed soon after.
When the boys reentered, they came into a nasty scene of bodies, shell casings, holes, and the smell of guns and blood. Not the kind of rep you want for your business. People were attending to any wounded or dead that were around. The manager was walking around in a daze.
Ryan saw a man leaning on his elbows in a chair. He seemed okay. “Discord, translator.” Discord floated forward.
“What are you gonna say?” he asked.
“I want to ask, ‘Where did they go’?” Discord told him the phrase. Ryan walked over to the man in the chair and poked his shoulder a few times. When the man looked up at him, Ryan asked, “Kemana mereka pergi?” The man didn’t respond. Ryan repeated. “Kemana mereka pergi?!” he asked. The man came out of his daze.
After he finished his response, Ryan looked to Discord. “He said, ‘They ran away. After hearing about two white men, then seeing their dead friend and no white men, they assumed it was risky to stay.” He looked up at Ryan and Harris, and his eyes went wide. He asked something, and Discord translated, “Are you..?” Ryan shook his head.
“No.” He walked away from the man. Harris walked up next to him.
“What did he say?” They started towards the front of the restaurant.
“He thought we were special forces.”
Harris blinked. “Umm... alright, then.” The two boys walked out the front.
The man Ryan had shot twice was out front now, having been dragged out there by angry customers and employees. It was clear now that Ryan hadn’t killed him; when he hit him, it was in the lower abdomen, and the second shot missed completely. “What do you think they’re doing?” Harris asked. He was immediately answered by the people throwing rocks at the dying man on the ground. “Jeeze!” he yelled. No one turned to look at him, not even Ryan. “This is excessive!” He turned to Ryan. “We shouldn’t allow this. It isn’t right.”
Ryan turned to face his friend. “Do I look like I care?” He then walked off towards the marine to find a boat, leaving a shocked Harris in his wake.
“What the hell happened to you?” Harris followed, the screams of a man, bleeding and and being beaten, echoing through the air.