When you're on the paying side

Jean Raphael stood tall on the palace balcony, the white masonry speckled with blood and dirt, the table and chair tossed aside in a broken heap, a corpse leaning over the barrier. There was no green in this land, it was alien to him. As earth is to mars, his homeland was lush, ripe with dark forest and moist with the morning dew and casual rainfall, while this land was scorched, arid, and lay beneath an unforgiving sun. Jean gazed over the beaten city, the cloudless sky adopting plumes of dirty smoke which reached up and extinguished the sun. The pale, amber glow radiated from not to distant streets, and the accompaniment of an orchestra of gunshots told Jean he had done his job well. Below him, a squad of soldiers gathered and hauled the lifeless bodies of the demolished mob into one large horde, those who didn't run now lay silent in the vast courtyard. The faces of the soldiers were as lifeless as the bodies they tossed in a heap, they had been broken, and were now trained, uncaring, and an elite force for the General. His men overlooked the clean up, weapons ready, khaki gear darker from the fighting. Jean was admittedly impressed by the rabble. They had made it to the gates of the palace, knocked hem down, and were meters away from having their hands around the clients neck. If it wasn't for Jean's own guard, the client would of surely been dragged through the debris filled streets.
" It was too close," declared a heavily accented voice, a plump man in a green uniform joined Jean, "Far, far too close for my liking." Jean still looked down to the dead zone, "It does not matter how close these shitty people get, they never succeed. They are, as Darwin would say, 'Not fit for the cut'." He explained, illustrating the point with a chopping motion. The General waved his cigar, "No, they were too close, not good enough." He blew a puff of smoke towards Jean. Unfazed, Jean finally turned to the General, who pointed his cigar at Jean. "We need to re-discuss our deal." Jean raised his eyebrows in mock surprise, "Oh, Is that so mon ami?" Jean had experienced this before, this sense of invincibility these 'leaders' adopt after a brief victory. " Yes, it is," He poked Jeans torso, the blood from earlier still fresh on the white shirt, " You leave now. No full protection, no payment." Jean smiled, he truly hated this one. He removed his sunglasses, hanging them from his belt, beside his holster, his ice blue eyes staring coldly into the General's. "Well monsieur, you have really adapting to your position haven't you? Thinking you're the boss! Even though your..." Jean nodded to uniformed corpse beside him, " soldiers, if you call these bouffon that, now would lie dead in the city were it not for my men!" The General raised a fist, and two soldiers came out to the balcony, aiming rifles at Jean. The General was grinning, " You leave now Frenchie." Jean stood their a moment, amused at the clear nervousness of the men. He looked out across the courtyard, seeing his men were fully equipped for this situation. He was about to give the order to switch sides, when he something caught his eye, a quick glimmer of light. Jean realized what this meant, and laughed. He turned back, "Fine, we go, escort us out." He positioned himself between the General and the glimmer, and once the General was inside, he looked back to the courtyard, raising four fingers in command. His team silently swooped into the main entrance. Jean looked back to the spot of the glimmer, unable to make out the sniper. None the less, he smiled, put on his sunglasses, raised a hand, and waved, before entering the soon to be assaulted palace.
Jean's men were in position at the grand stairs, creating a tunnel on the steps, which the General triumphantly marched through. Jean simply stood at the top.The General reached the ground floor, and realized he was not followed. He looked confused and angry, "Well?" he commanded. A second after that, fighting resumed outside, and the screams of the General's men were quite audible over the torrent of rifle fire. Jean sighed, "Oh no, what a surprise!" He lied, enjoying the look of panic in the General's beady eyes. He turned to Jean, "What is happening?!" Jean smiled, he looked like a scared child to him. "Le Americans most likely, perhaps the UN, who is to say?" Shrugged Jean. The General began pleading, promising full payment, land, women or men, but Jean raised a hand and strutted down the stairs, "Ah ah ah ah mon ami! No, now we take it all, now, or we leave you to the dogs." Jean enjoyed the General's expression,it was of a man with no choice to make. With a whimper he declared the money was in the bedroom, beside the safe, blubbering the pass code before Jean sent two men to retrieve it.
As the sounds of the fighting grew closer,to the point where Jean guessed they must be in the courtyard, the two men returned with four large improvised curtain-sacks. Jean smiled, and turned to the General. "Thank you monsieur," He pulled out his USP pistol and fired two shots into the General's knees. As the General's cries filled the room, Jeans men were completely efficient of eliminating any of the present soldiers, than they hurried through the bloody hall to plant large bundles of wires and explosives on various points in the hall. Jean stood over the dying General, feeling no pity as he tried to stop the flow of blood. "I said we would not leave you to them." He explained, before emptying the magazine into the General's terrified face. He holstered the pistol, and ordered them to move out.
They ran through the palace corridors, straight through to the garage, where they planted more explosive, before taking the jeeps that were available. As the engines roared to life, and the jeeps tore out of the garage onto the empty streets, Jean looked back to see a foreign soldier step into the now empty garage. Jean smiled as one of his men handed him the detonator, "Au revoir!" was all he said, as the soldier and once beautiful palace were obliterated in the explosion.