Post by Advocate on Feb 19, 2010 23:23:46 GMT -5
The night after, Inglourious Basterds
Yangon, Myanmar.
War. War never changes. You know what else never changes? My goddamn tank being under repair, I can count on one hand the battles I’ve fought with a fully functioning vehicle. But tonight, just for one night I was going to forget about all that. I made my way through the mess of our hanger bay, tools, parts, and people everywhere. I thought I’d tell my subordinates that I would be gone for the night on my way out (merely an act of courtesy I assure you.) There I stood in front of my tank its armor plates striped off awaiting replacement, a sight I was completely used to at this point. Poking out from under it was the familiar sight of my driver’s legs as always diligently working on the engine first. Sitting on a crate nearby was the not so familiar sight of Private Siegbahn, one of my new charges. The pretty raven haired girl sat there handing Ion the odd tool while she watching her work. I greeted her with a casual salute,
“Private Siegbahn.”
“Good evening, Sergeant Vermillion. What brings you down to the hanger bay tonight?”
“I just came to make sure everything is in order, it is right?”
“Well one thing, I thought I should inform you that Corporal Hardins and Private Osen went into town earlier.”
“Hmph, well that’s exactly what I can here to talk about. I’m giving the unit the night off so you don’t have to say here and help fix the tanks.”
“Oh no that’s quite alright sir, I think I’ll stay right here.”
“Uh sure… If you would please inform Corporal Martin as well, I’m leaving for town as well.”
“Alright sir, have a good time.”
With that I started to make my way out of the hanger, but not before stopping and making my way back to the tank. As I stood in front of it for the second time this night Private Siegbahn looked up at me curiously,
“Did you forget something sir?”
“Yeah…”
I grabbed the one of the legs sticking out from under that tank and pulled my small blonde driver out from under it.
“Who the hell!?”
“Ion! You heard me right? Get out from under that tank, you have the night off!”
“What are you talking about sir? Where else would I want to spend my night off anyway?”
“For gods sake why don’t you go to a bar or something?”
And with that my business in the hanger bay was done, I didn’t have to even look to see the shocked look on Private Siegbahn’s face or the incredulous look on Ion’s. Workaholic, she should have been a mechanic instead then she’d have more then her fill of tanks to fix. Whatever, I’m going to find myself a good time here in Yangon a good time indeed.
For me finding a good time is as easy as walking into the wrong neighborhood, and looking the wrong guy in the eye in the wrong way. In other words it’s quite easy in just about any city in the world. Quickly ducking into an alley my pursuers thought they had me, quite the contrary. There were two of them, neither of us spoke the same language but one didn’t need to they were clearly ready to fight, just what I wanted. One of them stepped forward while his friend hung back, looked like we were going to have to one on one action here. I was excited it had been a while since I’d done this, so I made the first move. I tucked my fingers together and quickly struck him under the Adams apple with an uppercut motion. Chocking he feel to the ground griping his throat, I looked up to see what his buddy was up to and he blanched. Oh I really missed this! The guy was really mad now you could see it in his eyes, I kept a neutral stance (keep them wondering.) He came straight at me and I hid him with a high kick to the head, he never saw it coming. His friend didn’t seem like he wanted to play, so I just pushed him into the wall on my way out of the alley. I repeated the performance a few more times, groups of two, groups of three, sometimes they all came at me, sometimes it was one by one. After the first two I began wanting a bit more of a challenge, none of these punks had any skill what so ever. Who the hell taught them to fight? Or more like who the hell didn’t teach them to fight? After a fight in the back alley of a particularly nice looking club I heard a voice call out to me from across the alley,
“Hey bro, you look like just the type of guy I’m looking for.”
It was a good looking young guy, well dressed too and had a big bodyguard with him. The bodyguard and I immediately began to size each other up,
“No, no I want you to come with me. Trust me I’ll make it worth both our time.”
“Is that so?”
“You won’t be disappointed.”
Disappointed I was not! The old man ran an underground fighting ring, just my luck. The place was in an abandoned construction site not far from the club. Looked like I would find a few more people to take my frustrations out on and walk away with some pocket change to boot.
Two young men dressed in ground forces uniforms wandered the back alleys of Yangon, Private Joachim Osen in his ugly hat led the way while Corporal Avan Hardins followed.
“Come on, Jo! Do you have any clue where we are? Where the hell is this place you heard of anyway?”
“Don’t worry Bro, I got it. We’ll be there soon enough… Hey you hear that?”
“Yeah what’s all that noise? Want to check it out?”
“Totally!”
“AND IN THE RED CORNER THE REGINING CHAMPION, THE RAGING DEMON, AUNG SAN!”
A big guy, some might describe him as a mountain of muscle but strength isn’t everything on the battlefield. Though I was glad I wore gloves tonight, this guy might take more then a few hits to go down and I didn’t fancy breaking my fists on his head. Taking up an exaggerated kung fu stance I taunted my opponent, he just scowled. Then I spit at his feet and scoffed, the crowd loved it. My opponent didn’t seem to be amused, he took up a wrestlers stance and tried to tackle my. I was aghast; this is the best they had to offer? As he grabbed me by my mid section I came down with a chop on the back of his head with all my strength and that was that. His body lay flat at my feet, and so did my hopes for a good fight in this city. Not that it would deter me from beating a few more guys for a buck. So I turned around spread my arms out and said,
“Is THIS the best you have to offer? What an insult! Come on! I’ll take challengers two or three at a time!”
The crowd went wild.
Ugh, where am I? Huh? On the ground, are you telling me I was beaten? Aung San, the raging demon of Yangon? The crowd that cheered for me every night as I defeated the weak challengers that dared face me now cheers for this newcomer? Argh! I’m going to tear his head off!
“I’LL KILL YOU!”
The boys were amazed at what they just saw, they never expected to find their sergeant in such a place let alone see him pulling moves out of some sort of kung fu movie!
“BRO! CHECK IT OUT! IT’S THE SARGE!”
“Your right! Oh man, he has his back turned to that guy. He’s going to- OH MAN! Did he just hit guy in the eyes!”
“No way, NO WAY, is he going to… OH did you see that roundhouse? Holy crap Bro, holy crap!”
Too easy… Though I think I may have over done it, hopefully I didn’t kill the guy. Hmm looks like he’s breathing, tough guy.
“So is that it?”
I shouted to the crowd as they dragged their great champion out of the fighting ring.
“Guess I’ll just be taking my prize money and going home…”
With that three guys stepped up out of the crowd. More punks… Like I hadn’t beat enough of them this night. With a heavy sigh I rushed in and hit the first guy with a low kick to the thighs. One down, the other two were just as surprised as the first I grabbed the one on my left’s right arm and held punched him across the face, and then I hit the one on my right in the neck. Three down, amateurs…
Once again the boys were amazed by their commander’s skill. Taking down three guys at once and so quickly, they were in sheer awe. However behind them stood someone with much more discerning eyes…
“Man the Sarge is amazing bro!”
“Indeed he is, against rabble like this of course. A real opponent however… He might not fair so well.”
“Yeah… Wait what?”
The boys turned around to see who was speaking and when they saw who it was the make what one would describe as a squeak or a chocking noise.
“Now, now boys just hold on my jacket here…”
“How about I take my best shot young man?”
Turning around I see a cross eyed old Japanese man, hmm he looks familiar… He’s from the military for sure his pants and boots gave that away but since he wasn’t wearing his jacket I can’t tell his name or rank… No matter! Better make sure to go easy though, he is a fellow soldier after all.
“All right old man, get ready I’m not holding back!”
“Oh don’t worry about me, young man.”
There was something about this old man, I was wary. So I stood there sizing him up, he just stared back at me. His stance was wide, his hands in front of his face fists held loosely, I could tell I’d found the real deal.
Carefully I tested the waters. I threw a quick jab with my right; effortlessly he deflected the blow away, and shot out his right hand with his index finger out. I was so surprised I barely managed to get out of the way. Jumping back all I could think was this guy is serious! He almost got me in the eye!
“Ha! Is that the best you’ve got young man? All your hand is good for is pawing at girls!”
My heart was pounding, this is what I can here looking for! To think this guy might have been right under my nose this whole time… I wondered how long he’d been watching, if he was here the whole time he saw my earlier moves… Alright I still had one more trick to pull. I went in as if to do a high kick, then twisting my leg in mid air I changed the direction of the kick. My Brazilian kick never failed me! Except this time… He ducked under my kick, and struck me with a palm to the chest. I was knocked flat on my back since I was still in the middle of a kick. I grit my teeth through the pain, and for the first time since the old man showed up I actually heard the crowd they were going absolutely insane. I got up back on my feet, my chest was burning and I was pretty tired if I didn’t end this soon… But that old man was smart and he attacked this time, he hit me right under the Adams apple just like I’d done to that first guy tonight and while I choked he hit me right in the ribs with a powerful punch. That was it for me, I was on the ground and could barely breathe from the pain.
AND THERE WE HAVE IT FOLKS! AFTER HIS SHORT REIGN CRAY VERMILLION, THE WATCHDOG OF HELL IS DEFEATED BY THE UNKNOWN SOLDIER!
The boys didn’t think this night could get any crazier. It was like they’d stepped into a movie! Joining the military to see the world was turning out to be the best decision they had ever made.
“BRO! The Sarge got totally whipped!”
“…”
“Yeah man I’m like totally speechless too!”
The old soldier walked out of the ring and over to them to retrieve his jacket,
“Thanks, Kid. Oh and tell Sergeant Vermillion to bring me my prize money when he gets in.”
Quickly snapping to attention and saluting the boys replied in unison,
“Ye- Yes Sir!”
Dragging myself out of the fighting circle I made my way to my sponsor,
“A pity you lost to that old man, Cray but I guess everyone has their limits.”
“Yeah, yeah, so how about my cut?
“Here you are, I’m a man of my word. Regardless you did admirably tonight defeating Aung like that. If your ever in town again find me, we’d make a killing together.”
“I’ll be sure to do that Mr. Chan, don’t worry about that.”
With that business completed I began my way out of the district. The pain from my fight with that old man was still fresh, I’d better get off the streets I was done fighting for tonight. It was then that I heard some familiar voices behind me…
In the end Private Sieg- er… Marion and I ended up taking a break with Corporal Martin. She’s such a serious girl but she has her good side as well. When Marion told her we had the night off she dragged the two of us off and we ended up talking and drinking tea all night. She said: “It’s just as much a soldier’s job to rest between battles as it is to fight in them.” It was nice regardless; Corporal Martin is a bit quiet but Marion is amazing she knows everything about the type 61 and well just about every weapon you can think of. She’s a little crazy actually… On my way to bed, I heard the sound of laughter coming from down the hall. Curious I checked who it was; it was none other then Commander Vermillion and the boys from the other tank in our unit. I was glad he was enjoying their company maybe he’d learn to make real ties with the people around him even in these godforsaken times.
Yangon, Myanmar.
War. War never changes. You know what else never changes? My goddamn tank being under repair, I can count on one hand the battles I’ve fought with a fully functioning vehicle. But tonight, just for one night I was going to forget about all that. I made my way through the mess of our hanger bay, tools, parts, and people everywhere. I thought I’d tell my subordinates that I would be gone for the night on my way out (merely an act of courtesy I assure you.) There I stood in front of my tank its armor plates striped off awaiting replacement, a sight I was completely used to at this point. Poking out from under it was the familiar sight of my driver’s legs as always diligently working on the engine first. Sitting on a crate nearby was the not so familiar sight of Private Siegbahn, one of my new charges. The pretty raven haired girl sat there handing Ion the odd tool while she watching her work. I greeted her with a casual salute,
“Private Siegbahn.”
“Good evening, Sergeant Vermillion. What brings you down to the hanger bay tonight?”
“I just came to make sure everything is in order, it is right?”
“Well one thing, I thought I should inform you that Corporal Hardins and Private Osen went into town earlier.”
“Hmph, well that’s exactly what I can here to talk about. I’m giving the unit the night off so you don’t have to say here and help fix the tanks.”
“Oh no that’s quite alright sir, I think I’ll stay right here.”
“Uh sure… If you would please inform Corporal Martin as well, I’m leaving for town as well.”
“Alright sir, have a good time.”
With that I started to make my way out of the hanger, but not before stopping and making my way back to the tank. As I stood in front of it for the second time this night Private Siegbahn looked up at me curiously,
“Did you forget something sir?”
“Yeah…”
I grabbed the one of the legs sticking out from under that tank and pulled my small blonde driver out from under it.
“Who the hell!?”
“Ion! You heard me right? Get out from under that tank, you have the night off!”
“What are you talking about sir? Where else would I want to spend my night off anyway?”
“For gods sake why don’t you go to a bar or something?”
And with that my business in the hanger bay was done, I didn’t have to even look to see the shocked look on Private Siegbahn’s face or the incredulous look on Ion’s. Workaholic, she should have been a mechanic instead then she’d have more then her fill of tanks to fix. Whatever, I’m going to find myself a good time here in Yangon a good time indeed.
~
For me finding a good time is as easy as walking into the wrong neighborhood, and looking the wrong guy in the eye in the wrong way. In other words it’s quite easy in just about any city in the world. Quickly ducking into an alley my pursuers thought they had me, quite the contrary. There were two of them, neither of us spoke the same language but one didn’t need to they were clearly ready to fight, just what I wanted. One of them stepped forward while his friend hung back, looked like we were going to have to one on one action here. I was excited it had been a while since I’d done this, so I made the first move. I tucked my fingers together and quickly struck him under the Adams apple with an uppercut motion. Chocking he feel to the ground griping his throat, I looked up to see what his buddy was up to and he blanched. Oh I really missed this! The guy was really mad now you could see it in his eyes, I kept a neutral stance (keep them wondering.) He came straight at me and I hid him with a high kick to the head, he never saw it coming. His friend didn’t seem like he wanted to play, so I just pushed him into the wall on my way out of the alley. I repeated the performance a few more times, groups of two, groups of three, sometimes they all came at me, sometimes it was one by one. After the first two I began wanting a bit more of a challenge, none of these punks had any skill what so ever. Who the hell taught them to fight? Or more like who the hell didn’t teach them to fight? After a fight in the back alley of a particularly nice looking club I heard a voice call out to me from across the alley,
“Hey bro, you look like just the type of guy I’m looking for.”
It was a good looking young guy, well dressed too and had a big bodyguard with him. The bodyguard and I immediately began to size each other up,
“No, no I want you to come with me. Trust me I’ll make it worth both our time.”
“Is that so?”
“You won’t be disappointed.”
Disappointed I was not! The old man ran an underground fighting ring, just my luck. The place was in an abandoned construction site not far from the club. Looked like I would find a few more people to take my frustrations out on and walk away with some pocket change to boot.
~
Two young men dressed in ground forces uniforms wandered the back alleys of Yangon, Private Joachim Osen in his ugly hat led the way while Corporal Avan Hardins followed.
“Come on, Jo! Do you have any clue where we are? Where the hell is this place you heard of anyway?”
“Don’t worry Bro, I got it. We’ll be there soon enough… Hey you hear that?”
“Yeah what’s all that noise? Want to check it out?”
“Totally!”
~
“AND IN THE RED CORNER THE REGINING CHAMPION, THE RAGING DEMON, AUNG SAN!”
A big guy, some might describe him as a mountain of muscle but strength isn’t everything on the battlefield. Though I was glad I wore gloves tonight, this guy might take more then a few hits to go down and I didn’t fancy breaking my fists on his head. Taking up an exaggerated kung fu stance I taunted my opponent, he just scowled. Then I spit at his feet and scoffed, the crowd loved it. My opponent didn’t seem to be amused, he took up a wrestlers stance and tried to tackle my. I was aghast; this is the best they had to offer? As he grabbed me by my mid section I came down with a chop on the back of his head with all my strength and that was that. His body lay flat at my feet, and so did my hopes for a good fight in this city. Not that it would deter me from beating a few more guys for a buck. So I turned around spread my arms out and said,
“Is THIS the best you have to offer? What an insult! Come on! I’ll take challengers two or three at a time!”
The crowd went wild.
~
Ugh, where am I? Huh? On the ground, are you telling me I was beaten? Aung San, the raging demon of Yangon? The crowd that cheered for me every night as I defeated the weak challengers that dared face me now cheers for this newcomer? Argh! I’m going to tear his head off!
“I’LL KILL YOU!”
~
The boys were amazed at what they just saw, they never expected to find their sergeant in such a place let alone see him pulling moves out of some sort of kung fu movie!
“BRO! CHECK IT OUT! IT’S THE SARGE!”
“Your right! Oh man, he has his back turned to that guy. He’s going to- OH MAN! Did he just hit guy in the eyes!”
“No way, NO WAY, is he going to… OH did you see that roundhouse? Holy crap Bro, holy crap!”
~
Too easy… Though I think I may have over done it, hopefully I didn’t kill the guy. Hmm looks like he’s breathing, tough guy.
“So is that it?”
I shouted to the crowd as they dragged their great champion out of the fighting ring.
“Guess I’ll just be taking my prize money and going home…”
With that three guys stepped up out of the crowd. More punks… Like I hadn’t beat enough of them this night. With a heavy sigh I rushed in and hit the first guy with a low kick to the thighs. One down, the other two were just as surprised as the first I grabbed the one on my left’s right arm and held punched him across the face, and then I hit the one on my right in the neck. Three down, amateurs…
~
Once again the boys were amazed by their commander’s skill. Taking down three guys at once and so quickly, they were in sheer awe. However behind them stood someone with much more discerning eyes…
“Man the Sarge is amazing bro!”
“Indeed he is, against rabble like this of course. A real opponent however… He might not fair so well.”
“Yeah… Wait what?”
The boys turned around to see who was speaking and when they saw who it was the make what one would describe as a squeak or a chocking noise.
“Now, now boys just hold on my jacket here…”
~
“How about I take my best shot young man?”
Turning around I see a cross eyed old Japanese man, hmm he looks familiar… He’s from the military for sure his pants and boots gave that away but since he wasn’t wearing his jacket I can’t tell his name or rank… No matter! Better make sure to go easy though, he is a fellow soldier after all.
“All right old man, get ready I’m not holding back!”
“Oh don’t worry about me, young man.”
There was something about this old man, I was wary. So I stood there sizing him up, he just stared back at me. His stance was wide, his hands in front of his face fists held loosely, I could tell I’d found the real deal.
Carefully I tested the waters. I threw a quick jab with my right; effortlessly he deflected the blow away, and shot out his right hand with his index finger out. I was so surprised I barely managed to get out of the way. Jumping back all I could think was this guy is serious! He almost got me in the eye!
“Ha! Is that the best you’ve got young man? All your hand is good for is pawing at girls!”
My heart was pounding, this is what I can here looking for! To think this guy might have been right under my nose this whole time… I wondered how long he’d been watching, if he was here the whole time he saw my earlier moves… Alright I still had one more trick to pull. I went in as if to do a high kick, then twisting my leg in mid air I changed the direction of the kick. My Brazilian kick never failed me! Except this time… He ducked under my kick, and struck me with a palm to the chest. I was knocked flat on my back since I was still in the middle of a kick. I grit my teeth through the pain, and for the first time since the old man showed up I actually heard the crowd they were going absolutely insane. I got up back on my feet, my chest was burning and I was pretty tired if I didn’t end this soon… But that old man was smart and he attacked this time, he hit me right under the Adams apple just like I’d done to that first guy tonight and while I choked he hit me right in the ribs with a powerful punch. That was it for me, I was on the ground and could barely breathe from the pain.
AND THERE WE HAVE IT FOLKS! AFTER HIS SHORT REIGN CRAY VERMILLION, THE WATCHDOG OF HELL IS DEFEATED BY THE UNKNOWN SOLDIER!
~
The boys didn’t think this night could get any crazier. It was like they’d stepped into a movie! Joining the military to see the world was turning out to be the best decision they had ever made.
“BRO! The Sarge got totally whipped!”
“…”
“Yeah man I’m like totally speechless too!”
The old soldier walked out of the ring and over to them to retrieve his jacket,
“Thanks, Kid. Oh and tell Sergeant Vermillion to bring me my prize money when he gets in.”
Quickly snapping to attention and saluting the boys replied in unison,
“Ye- Yes Sir!”
~
Dragging myself out of the fighting circle I made my way to my sponsor,
“A pity you lost to that old man, Cray but I guess everyone has their limits.”
“Yeah, yeah, so how about my cut?
“Here you are, I’m a man of my word. Regardless you did admirably tonight defeating Aung like that. If your ever in town again find me, we’d make a killing together.”
“I’ll be sure to do that Mr. Chan, don’t worry about that.”
With that business completed I began my way out of the district. The pain from my fight with that old man was still fresh, I’d better get off the streets I was done fighting for tonight. It was then that I heard some familiar voices behind me…
~
In the end Private Sieg- er… Marion and I ended up taking a break with Corporal Martin. She’s such a serious girl but she has her good side as well. When Marion told her we had the night off she dragged the two of us off and we ended up talking and drinking tea all night. She said: “It’s just as much a soldier’s job to rest between battles as it is to fight in them.” It was nice regardless; Corporal Martin is a bit quiet but Marion is amazing she knows everything about the type 61 and well just about every weapon you can think of. She’s a little crazy actually… On my way to bed, I heard the sound of laughter coming from down the hall. Curious I checked who it was; it was none other then Commander Vermillion and the boys from the other tank in our unit. I was glad he was enjoying their company maybe he’d learn to make real ties with the people around him even in these godforsaken times.