Foreword: I do not own Black Lagoon or some elements of Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon and Splinter Cell series. They belong to Rei Hiroe and Ubisoft Entertainment respectively.

A Ghost in Roanapur

Chapter 1: Welcome to Roanapur, Ghost! Part 1

"People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf."

- George Orwell

\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/

Okajima Rokurou yawned as he leaned on the railing on the deck of the ship, the Melanesia Maru, heading southbound towards Borneo in the South-China Sea. He had been on this ship for close to a week now, and the tedium of sea travel was close to giving him cabin fever. So, the raven-haired Japanese man was thankful to be out and about to enjoy the cool sea breeze, the crystal blue seas and the warm afternoon sunshine before he went stir crazy.

Feeling the disc in his shirt pocket, Rokurou sighed as he thought back on the 'errand' his boss in the Materials & Procurement Department of Asahi Heavy Industries had given him which made this trip possible. Mr. Kageyama and Rokurou's immediate supervisor needed someone they could trust to handle this task and seeing as how they were short on reliable employees to carry out the job, Rokurou had been 'conveniently' free to be volunteered for the job.

Of course, they couldn't possibly know that someone had conveniently arranged for the shortage of employees at that specific time, nor do they know that they were being discretely investigated by an international task force, aimed at exposing the corruption within Asahi Industries to the world.

The effort, spearheaded by the United States and Japan, aims to find proof of the company's shady dealings in the black market, as there were rumors spread throughout the Underworld that the Asahi Board of Directors have sanctioned nuclear proliferation in Third World countries, an act which would legally bankrupt the company due to them breaking the Non-Proliferation Treaty signed by Japan.

Normally, the Task Force would send one of their own elites to infiltrate and retrieve the information needed to expose Asahi Industries, but they settled for a better option instead — they sent a freelance mercenary / security contractor. It was made so that if the operative was exposed, the Task Force can disavow any knowledge of their involvement without risking their own operatives in the field.

And that was where Okajima Rokurou comes into the picture.

Unassuming, bland and quiet. The mild-mannered Japanese man was everything that one would expect an ordinary businessman to behave and look like. Dressed like a typical Japanese salaryman with raven-black hair with bangs hanging on the right side and ordinary brown eyes, his look was rounded with a teal tie, grey business slacks and a pair of black Oxford shoes. His form was the only feature that stood out from the man, as Rokurou possessed an athletic and toned physique that could only come from dedicated effort and long-term physical exercise.

Aside from that fact, he was completely unremarkable in every way.

Until someone with keen intuition looked, really looked at him. The way he talked, the way he behaved, the way he moved. To an untrained eye, these facts would easily go over their heads. But, to an exceptionally well-trained eye, they would definitely see it — darting eyes which most would dismiss as nervousness would be seen as plotting escape routes and assessing the amount of cover available. Twitching hands, normally perceived as a nervous tick, would be seen as unconscious triggering of a firearm or holding a knife. The way he talks was another matter, as Rokurou gives nothing away by constantly humbling himself and, to quote him, 'getting his ass kicked' by his boss everyday while only showing the minimum amount of effort. And the way he walked—

—it was like a well-trained predator, pretending to be sheep.

The normal people, Okajima Rokurou was just an ordinary and simple Japanese salaryman trying to get through life.

But to the highest echelons of the intelligence community, he was the enigmatic security contractor named "Archer". The only information that could be unearthed about him was that he was formerly of the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force's Special Forces Group — and for a time, also formerly attached to the United States Army's 5th Special Forces Group as part of their Military Personnel Exchange program as Japan's Special Forces representative.

Other than that, no other information could be found about him, which puzzled and frustrated the world's leading intelligence agencies to no end. For all the world knew, Okajima Rokurou and Archer were two entirely different people. But, to a select few, they knew without a doubt that they were the one and the same.

As Archer, Rokurou had already found damning evidence that would implicate Asahi Industries in having a hand in illegal nuclear proliferation in violation of international law. He also found evidence of bribery of top government officials, money laundering, illegal trafficking of goods, and the list went on.

Most of the information uncovered was usually unavailable to Okajima Rokurou who was just a lowly employee. But as Archer, who had the skills and means to hack the Asahi Industries mainframe while leaving the bare minimum of digital footprints, the company's dirty laundry was up for grabs and they were all none the wiser.

All the incriminating information was stored on a flash drive in his fanny pack back in his cabin, while the disc that his supervisor had asked for him to deliver to the station chief in Borneo was the one in his shirt pocket. Of course, Rokurou had already duplicated the data stored in the disk onto another flash drive, which contained — surprise, surprise — detailed manufacturing methods for nuclear weapons.

Rokurou scoffed at that. As if Asahi Industries hadn't given him even more of a reason to completely obliterate the bastards. Being kicked around by stuffy office workers and managers while working there, even undercover, had strained even Rokurou's own legendary patience.

Now that he was far away from the cesspit that was Asahi Heavy Industries Tokyo Office, Rokurou could finally breathe a sigh of relief.

Even if he was on an Asahi Industries ship cruising deep into known territory of pirates, smugglers and traffickers. Oh well, he thought to himself, at least the sights were magnificent, and breeze was relaxing.

He was broken out of his musings by the sound of his earpiece going off, which was connected to his secure 'working' phone. Fishing out his phone to check the caller, Rokurou smiled to himself before tapping his earpiece's button to accept the call. "This is Okajima, how may I help you?" He asked in accented English.

"Hey Okajima, it's Mike from work," Rokurou smirked at the name 'Mike'. He knew of course who was on the other end of the line, but couldn't he find a better name than 'Mike'? "Do you have time to talk?"

Rokurou rolled his eyes good naturedly. "Yes, of course," he said, casually connecting a scrambler to his phone while he walked to the stern of the ship where the engines were located. The noise from the engines and the sound of the waves would easily muffle his voice. "Line secure, go ahead Scott."

"Line secure on our end as well," Scott Mitchell, leader of Delta Company, 1st Battalion, 5th Special Forces Group, replied. "How's your vacation in the South-China Sea going for you? Relaxing?"

Rokurou could picture the smirk the other man had on his face as he said that. "Har har, very funny Colonel," he snarked, causing the other man to chuckle. "I'm going crazy just getting cooped up here, but other than that, just peachy!"

"Glad to hear that you're enjoying yourself," Scott replied dryly. "Did you get the files we need?"

"All accounted for," Rokurou confirmed grimly. "Asahi Industries had fingers in more pies than we thought. They've got assets ranging from weapons smuggling to biological weapons development. This is big, Scott. Hope your bosses can see that."

"I'll believe it when I see it Archer, but I've known you long enough to know that you would never exaggerate on a threat," Having worked with the man while on exchange, Scott Mitchell was one of the handful of people who knew that he was Archer. Of course, Rokurou was also part of an even smaller handful of people who knew exactly who, and what group that Mitchell was leading.

After all, he had been part of their ranks for close to 2 years.

"Just a heads up, Archer," Rokurou narrowed his eyes at the slight tension he heard in the man's voice. "We've intercepted comm traffic indicating pirate activity in your immediate AO, part of an effort by the Russian Mafia operating out of Roanapur to cash in on the trade routes run by Asahi Industries subsidiaries. Thought you should know."

Rokurou whistled slightly.

He had known that the Russian Mafia out of Roanapur had become a major player in Underworld politics in recent years, currently hustling in on the Chinese Triad in the region. But gunning straight for an industrial megacorporation like Asahi Heavy Industries was ballsy, he'll give them that. "Balalaika sure doesn't go for small fry, does she?"

"From what the CIA and FSB gathered, as well as from your own reports, I'm inclined to agree," Mitchell replied with slight amusement. "Whatever the case, once you've delivered the intel we need, we'll have everything we need to bury Asahi Industries for good."

Rokurou snorted. "Good riddance for that."

"Agreed," Mitchell concurred. "Once you can, meet your contact in Roanapur once you're done in Borneo. He's Fourth Echelon, so try to play nice with the man, alright?"

"Right," Rokurou said dryly. "And I'll try not to fill him with holes when he gets the drop on me."

A chuckle was heard. "Roger that," Mitchell replied. "And, as agreed, half a million US Dollars for your services rendered will be channeled into your bank account on completion of the intel transaction. A shame that you retired from career soldiering for private security contractor work. We could've used you here with us."

Rokurou smiled sadly, although he knew the other man couldn't see it. He knew that Mitchell still resented the fact that Rokurou had gone mercenary / security contractor rather than continue in the military as Mitchell had done his whole life. But he had his own reasons for doing so.

"I miss the Ghosts as well, you guys were like family to me," The raven-haired Japanese man could almost see the perpetual frown on Mitchell's face. "But you know I'll be chafing under all the red tape sooner or later, regardless of the Ghosts having what amounts to a literal 'license to kill'. I'm sorry Boss, but that's not my life."

There was a pause.

"Understood," Mitchell replied. "You were always too stubborn for your own good, and I have Diaz here to compare it to!"

Rokurou laughed at that. "You may come to regret that Colonel, 'cuz I might join a mercenary outfit just to piss you off," he replied, earning loud grunt from the other end that set him off into a laughing fit once more. "But seriously though, that might be what I'll be doing for a while after this; joining a decent merc unit — not the bloodthirsty war junkies, but proper ones — sounds reasonable."

Mitchell could be heard sighing on the other end, clearly unenthused. "I'll believe it when I see it, Archer." He sounded unamused, as expected of an old soldier like him. "You take care of yourself out there, Archer. Mitchell out."

Rokurou smiled as he cut the connection and disconnected the scrambler. Just another day on the job for him as a highly sought-after private security contractor. Now, all he had to do was sit tight and enjoy the weather.

\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/

It was 4 days after Mitchell's call that Rokurou's phone started vibrating from an incoming message. He was standing on the deck and leaning on the railing again, but with all his belongings on his person, including his fanny pack which had all his passports, spare clothes and cash for the journey. Although without any firearms, he had on his trusty Gerber MK II combat knife in a holster near his right ankle.

Flipping open his phone, Rokurou frowned at the message displayed prominently over his screen.

Pirates en-route to your location. Information disc most likely target. Caution is advised.

Double checking the disc still in his shirt pocket, Rokurou only had a moment to collect himself and put away his cellphone before the sounds of gunfire could be heard from the front of the ship. 'Shit, they're already here,' he thought sardonically. 'Hurray for a multi-million-dollar intelligence service warning me just seconds away from making contact! Fantastic!'

Hearing more shots, most likely from a high-powered pistol if the sound was correct, Rokurou stuck close to the walls and moved up to where he heard the gunshots. Discretely peering over the edge of the wall, he saw that the crew of the Melanesia Maru had already been rounded up and were laying face first on the deck with their hands behind their heads.

And standing over them was a tall, bald black man with sunglasses wearing green combat fatigues, flak jacket, and combat boots while brandishing what looked like a .357 Magnum at them. Before Rokurou could make out the words that the man was saying to the crew, he heard soft footsteps from behind him.

Taking a second's moment to decide, Rokurou decided to play dumb and act the part of a scared crewman, raising his arms in surrender just as the footsteps materialized into what he could only describe as the sexiest — and deadliest — woman he had ever laid his eyes upon.

Plum-colored, roughly mid-shoulder length hair tied into a ponytail with a few bangs loose over her forehead. Her physique from what Rokurou could tell was very fit, and with curves in all the right places covered in tight black crop top with Denim shorts that left very little to the imagination but still covered enough to want more. Her whole assemble was topped off with a pair of combat boots, a tribal-like tattoo on her right arm up till her shoulders and a pair of shoulder pistol holsters for her twin pistols that she was aiming at him right now!

Her hair framed a heart-shaped face and amber-colored eyes that glared at him with a hint of malice and madness, while her plump lips were pulled into a sneer that was currently directed at him.

Rokurou could only sigh at his own observation. 'Why does all the hot ones have to be deadly or crazy?' he thought to himself, thinking of Alicia Diaz from the Ghosts.

"Going somewhere, asshole?" he heard the woman snarl. "Hey Dutch! We got another one!"

The black man Rokurou assumed was Dutch nodded. "Great, round him up with the rest." The man turned to aim his gun at him. "Alright, here's the deal, Mr. Japanese — we're looking for a package from Asahi Industries Headquarters that was scheduled to be shipped out to Borneo. You look important — where is it?"

Rokurou stared at the revolver pointed at him, while feeling the pistol from the woman dig into the back of his skull. Analyzing his surroundings, a plan rapidly began to form in his mind as he subtly positioned himself. "I don't know, maybe." He deflected, slightly enjoying to annoyance building up in the black man's posture. "What do you want with it then?"

He felt the pistol dig harder into the back of his skull. He smirked to himself — clearly, the woman wasn't amused. "Listen here, you dipshit! Unless you wanna die—!"

Rokurou took a deep breath—

—before he snapped his hand out towards the revolver in front of him, knocking it to the side before he ducked as he swept his leg behind him at the woman's legs, knocking her off her feet. A split second later Rokurou stood as he saw Dutch quickly reorient himself for a shot at him, only for the man to grunt in surprise at Rokurou yanking his gun hand with his own hands sideways, causing it to shoot into the walls as it fired.

Quickly ducking the large fist from the black man who had freed one of his hands to do so, Rokurou reared his head back before headbutting the man in the face, causing him to grunt in pain before Rokurou followed up with several quick jabs into the man's midsection. Trapping one of the man's arms in his hold, and despite being bigger and heavier than him, Rokurou executed a clean shoulder throw which threw the man onto the deck with a pained grunt.

He ducked just as the woman began firing at him with her dual pistols, a look of complete murder on her face.

Knowing that any hesitation on his part was going to get him a bullet to the side, Rokurou charged the distance between him and the woman who was sneering at his reckless charge into gunfire only to widen her eyes in shock as Rokurou effortlessly dodged every single one of her shots before he shoulder tackled her, throwing off her aim before he disarmed both of her pistols by knocking it painfully from her hands as they clattered noisily down onto the deck. He then quickly grabbed the punch that was aimed at him before using the woman's forward momentum to throw her into the man named Dutch who had just managed to get on his feet, crashing into one another in a heap.

Rokurou did a mental calculation before nodding to himself. He had just accomplished all of that in less than 2 minutes — acceptable, even with his sluggishness due to tedium.

'Well, for pirates they've got skills — unusually skilled even,' Rokurou thought to himself as he watched the two pirates reorient themselves rather quickly. Normal schmucks wouldn't have been able to get back up after the thrashing he just gave them, and that said a lot about these pirates. 'Probably ex-military or paramilitary, either which. Better get this fight away from the crew — less collateral that way.'

"I'm sorry about this!" He began cheerfully, earning a burning death glare from the sex—ahem! Deadly woman in front of him who was struggling to untangle herself from her partner. "But I don't much like guns getting pointed in my face, thank you very much!"

And with that, he bolted to the aft of the ship as another plan formed in his mind.

Staying in the shaded parts of the Malenesia Maru, Rokurou deftly climbed up the superstructure of the ship, keeping his footfalls as silent as he could just as the 'Ghosts' had taught him. Perching on top of the cabin superstructure in front of the bridge, he had a clear view of the pirates — as well as their transport, some kind of PT boat by the looks of the torpedoes — getting up and start searching for him.

As well as the woman's curses.

"That's it!" He heard the woman yell. "That fucker is going to DIE! I don't care whether he has that disc or not! I'm gonna rip his balls off and shove it so far up his ass he's going to taste it coming out from his mouth!"

Ouch.

Rokurou winced wryly. Even Diaz hadn't been as pissed at him when he had replaced her shampoo with orange hair dye as a prank. And boy, does that woman had a mouth on her, which coincidentally made her even more attractive in his eyes. Make's him wonder if he was an understated masochist if his preference in women were of that kind to begin with.

Rokurou overheard the black man's response. "Things just got a whole lot more complicated," Rokurou noticed the man checking his surroundings. "Bastard's got some serious skills — makes you wonder what Asahi Industries has been doing when they had to send that kind of guy as the courier."

Watching them from his perch as they systematically searched through every passageway and bulkhead, covering each other's backs as they swept their weapons left and right with textbook precision that surprised him, and it made Rokurou's earlier assumptions come to mind; that they were ex-military or military-esque trained at the very least.

Silently dropping down to the deck, Rokurou crept to the place where he had the best approach for an ambush, keeping his back flat against the bulkheads and to the shadows to minimize detection. The passageway was darkened and narrow with both ends opened to the breeze leading to the sides of the ship, with only one passageway leading down the middle from the front of the ship where he last saw the pirates moving into. He waited a moment and as expected, he watched as the pirate duo emerge from the passageway, weapons sweeping left and right.

They were about to move on and continue their search when he pounced.

Hearing movement, the duo turned to him and tried to get a shot off, but Rokurou had already closed the distance and caught both of the man's arms in a lock — who was closest to his hiding place — redirected his aim skywards before forcing enough pressure into the joints and the man was forced to let go of his revolver. Catching it with his right foot, Rokurou kicked the revolver high into the air just as he threw the man over his shoulder into the bulkhead beside him.

What could he say? All kinds of throws were very effective incapacitation moves.

The woman fired both her guns with a vengeance, surprising him with how accurate they were despite firing akimbo. Running at her now, he dodged the bullets using the superstructure railings on top of the passageways to parkour over by essentially 'wall-running' his way over to her before diving under her spread legs as he slid under her.

The woman barely allowed such an insane maneuver to shock her however as she spun around to greet him with her bullets. Rokurou managed to get on his feet just as she spun around to clamp his hands on her pistols, before he jump-kicked her in the midsection while disarming her of her weapons.

Quickly emptying the bullets from the pistols, he threw them back to her just as the revolver he had kicked into the air landed in his hand, the weapon now trained on their former users — just as he had planned.

Rokurou grinned as he patted himself on the back. 'I still got it.'

"Well, that's not very nice," He chastised in accented English, watching his former victims get on their feet. "I told you before that I don't like guns being shoved in my face, and what did you do? You guys did exactly that — why does everyone keep doing that even when I told them not to?"

The woman, still glaring daggers at him, flipped him off. "Piss off, dipshit!"

"Revy!" the man — Dutch — bellowed. "Enough! We've been had, and he's got a gun pointed at us, so keep it cool!"

The woman — Revy — just grumbled while still giving Rokurou the stink eye, still clearly pissed.

Rokurou raised an eyebrow at the byplay. That was interesting — intelligent pirates. Now there's something you don't see every day. They were as rare as an honest politician in this day and age. It was honestly refreshing — most pirates just keep fighting until they die, even when outmatched.

"Now, it's my turn to ask the questions," Rokurou's tone was light, but they could clearly see that his dark brown eyes were as hard as polished diamonds. "Why do you need the disc for? It's supposed to be private company information."

He knew he was regurgitating the established Asahi Industries company line, but he needed to see who else was on the board for the intel on the disc.

"Our client got wind of it through one of their contacts in Jakarta," Dutch replied, nursing the light bruises forming on his lower back. "They hired us to retrieve it from the company representative who was scheduled to pass through here on a company ship. You the man they sent?"

Rokurou nodded, pleasantly surprised. Courteous pirates? What sort of loopy land had he stumbled into?

"Yes, that's me," He confirmed. "But that's only part of the reason I was sent."

Revy, who was retrieving her guns from the deck, snorted. "Oh yeah, what are you — a spy?"

"Something like that." His reply was flat, earning two incredulous stares that made him laugh inwardly. Sighing to himself, he fished the disc from his shirt pocket. He already had a copy of it so there's no harm to it. "I was hired to investigate the company's shady business deals that violate international law, and I was on my way to Roanapur after the stop at Borneo to meet my contact there."

"Wait — you're fucking serious aren't you?" Revy asked, a stunned look on her face which made her look quite fetching.

'Focus, damn it!'

Rokurou nodded. "As a heart attack," He looked down at the disc in his hand, then tossed it at Dutch who caught it effortlessly. "There, the disc's all yours — I've already made a copy of it to send to my client, so you can have it."

He then spun the .357 Magnum in his hands, popping out the cylinder and emptying the rounds in his hand before popping back in again. He spun the revolver once more before holding it out handle first to Dutch who warily stepped forward to retrieve his weapon.

"It's a good weapon you got there, make sure you don't lose it," He handed the man back the weapon, as well as the emptied ammo. "Haven't seen a .357 Magnum in such mint condition — what a masterpiece."

Dutch nodded as he holstered his weapon. "Never left home without it," He was clearly still wary of the supposed Japanese salaryman. "So, are we done?"

"Yeah, we're done," Rokurou replied, holding up his hand when Dutch was about to speak. "Unless you do something for me first — how much are you getting paid for this job?"

Seeing Revy about to go off on the Japanese man, Dutch beat her to it. "Twenty-grand."

Rokurou nodded, slightly put off by the low payment but he digressed. They were obviously expecting an easy job out of this. It was just their bad luck that they got him in exchange. "Tell you what, I'll throw in fifty-grand as a deposit for taking me to Roanapur for the hassle. Obviously you were expecting somebody different," His dry response earning a death glare from Revy and a nod from Dutch. "After we reach Roanapur, I'll throw in another fifty for services rendered. Sound good to you guys?"

Revy looked like she was about to explode in a cloud of nuclear fallout, and Rokurou could imagine her spitting nails if she could. But, as pirates, she couldn't — wouldn't — pass up on a chance for such a big pay day. Dutch was nodding as well but was still suspicious.

"How do we know you won't overpower us and hijack our ship?" Dutch asked, making Rokurou tilt his head curiously. "As you have shown us — we're no match in close-quarters against you, weapon or not."

Rokurou sighed. "If it makes you feel better, you can settle me in your brig as a hostage," He suggested, shrugging at the look he received from them. "I have no quarrel with you guys, and I don't fancy continuing our little brawl any more than you do."

While Revy looked like she still wanted to explode, Dutch only sighed tiredly before he nodded, gesturing for Rokurou to follow them to their boat. On closer inspection, the Japanese man could see that it was an Elco-type PT Boat from World War II, stripped of its machine guns but still retaining its four torpedo tubes.

As they boarded, the boat, Rokurou could hear them talking as Revy, having reloaded her guns, brought up the rear.

"If he tries anything, I'll drop him quick." She snarled.

Rokurou looked back at her with a smirk and a wink before ducking inside the boat, missing the tick mark forming on the woman's head and a string of curses that would make a sailor blush.

He laughed to himself as they got underway. Things were about to get really interesting.

\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/

"What d'ya got for me Benny-boy?" Dutch asked a few hours later while en-route to Roanapur.

The resident geek and computer expert wearing a Hawaiian shirt with blonde hair and glasses with grey eyes was typing away at his computer for the past few hours trying to find any information of their 'guest'.

"Working on it," Benny began, taking a sip of water from his canteen as he scrolled through his data feeds. "The guy's name is Okajima Rokurou. Born and raised in Tokyo, Japan to a well-to-do family and has an older brother working in the Japanese government. No records of wrong-doing or anything that would indicate any psychological trauma growing up. Completely unremarkable in every way, unless you count that he joined Asahi Heavy Industries only 6 months ago."

Dutch frowned as he cleaned his sunglasses with a cloth. "Something's not right about this," He said. "If he's as unremarkable as you say, then explain to me how he got the drop on us on that cruise liner, then proceeded to wipe to floor with us without breaking a sweat. I know those CQC moves — aikido, jujitsu and Krav Maga to name a few. He dodged bullets as good as Revy in a shootout!"

"Did not!" Revy denied from her place leaning on the doorframe leading into the computer room. "I'm still better than the fucker!"

Dutch sighed. "Anyone even close to your skill is a threat worth noting, Revy."

Revy could only nod, grudgingly admitting the fact that Mr. Japanese — Okajima Rokurou — was good. Too good for a supposed Japanese salaryman was expected to be. She couldn't remember a time when someone charged into her guns without getting hit while simultaneously taking her out in closequarters.

Benny did more searches, only come up to a problem as several alarms sounded on his computer. "Uh oh, I think I just found out why Mr. Japanese has such an ordinary background," He rapidly hacked and re-hacked into the information mainframe. "His personal data are all locked behind some impressive firewalls — I would've expected something like this whilst breaking into the Pentagon!"

That got their attention. "You've gotta be fucking kidding me, Benny!" Revy exclaimed, leaning off the doorframe to join her team at looking at the screen. "Either he's very good at hiding his tracks, or someone else is helping him hide!"

"Makes sense," Dutch nodded. "Makes you wonder what his credentials are with that kind of security on his personal details."

"Well, whatever the case, I can't crack these walls," Benny declared, shutting down his system for a hard reboot while he scrambled his IP address. "Anymore and I might trigger a security reaction or virus that would fry my systems. If we want to know about him, we've got to straight up ask him about it and hope to God that he comes clean with us. Doubtful though."

This information gave the Lagoon Trading Company something to think about on the way back.

In the hold of the PT boat which had been jury rigged into a temporary brig, Rokurou hummed a tune to himself as a pair of handcuffs they had slapped on him lay opened on the floor in front of him, his hands behind his head as he stared at the ceiling.

He couldn't place, but there was something different about this group of pirates that he had unintentionally ran into here in the South-China Sea. From what he had learned, Dutch was the leader while Revy was the gunslinger of the group of pirates. As he came in, he took note of another member of the crew who looked out of place in a ship of pirates. While Dutch and Revy had this tough and seasoned about them, this Benny guy was most probably to most normal person in the group, which intrigued Rokurou to no end.

Of course, he had understood when Benny had announced he will be monitoring radio-traffic and the radar for any threats.

And now, they were on the way to Roanapur, 'City of Thieves', 'City of the Dead', and the list went on with the most derogative terms to describe the hellhole of debauchery and murder that was Roanapur.

'Well, not the first time I've been in that shithole,' Rokurou thought to himself. 'But I guess fate wants me to put some roots down there to pass my time before the next big operation. I think I might join these guys — they seem like a fun bunch.'

Of course, the deadly eye-candy was a bonus as well.

'KAMI DAMN IT, ROKUROU!' He yelled inwardly at himself, thumping the back of his head on the bulkhead. 'You really are a masochist if you find those kinds of women sexy as hell!'

He let his head drop as a cloud of depression formed over his head. He might've been more broken than he initially thought.

Kami knows what fresh mess from Hell would come knocking on his door in the future…

\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/

And Done!

A new crossover story, and the first for me, in the Black Lagoon universe crossed with Ghost Recon / Clancy-verse! Take it easy on me okay? I have not abandoned my other stories for this one, the advice that I was given was to try writing other stories while trying to unclog my brain. So, this was the result.

I hope I got Rock's characterization right for this story. He is an experienced soldier / security contractor / mercenary with a code of honor and despite being immersed in the blood and shit of his working life, it hadn't contaminated him as severely as others of the trade, which puzzles a certain gunslinger to no end.

As per usual, I make it pretty obvious who the pairings are going to be, and I won't put it in the tag lines until they become official. Curel of me, keeping you all in suspense, but its for the sake of my story!

This is HEIROFROHAN signing off,

PEACE!