Bang!
Rafael hit the side of the pickup and began firing his pistol at the driver's window. He purposely hit the brakes slowly until his front bumper was near the pickup's rear bumper, and immediately did a pit maneuver, causing the pickup to swerve to the left, hitting the mountain.
Rafael immediately stopped his vehicle, reloaded his pistol, and exited the car. Walking towards it, he pulled out a plain white mask and looked at the pickup, which had smoke coming out of the engine. He saw a man with a disoriented face coming out of the passenger seat.
Bang, bang, bang, bang!
Rafael fired four shots at the man, who fell to the ground after being hit in the chest and one in the head. After seeing the dead body, he looked around to make sure there were no cameras.
Since there were none, he went to check the vehicle's data and saw no problems connected to it; it was clean, very clean. So, he sent the chief of police of the Tacloban Police Department and the local police precincts a report.
"Well, shit, I'm gonna be late, aren't I?" Rafael said to himself as he looked at the time and saw the black SUV coming back. Luckily, his car had no plates.
Vrmmmmmm!
Soon, Rafael got in and hit the gas as he sped up, trying to catch up on lost time. Now he was going over 250 km/ph.
Night, 6 PMVan Hossen Mountain Manor
The mansion was located near the top of a mountain and had a big enough front yard where their fleet of cars awaited. Rafael, arriving close at the front gate, saw a detachment of foreign soldiers, but they were more like part of the Van Hossens' royal guards.
"Invitation, please," the man said with a neutral voice, and Rafael handed him the letter. After checking its authenticity, they allowed him to enter. He saw some Atlas field agents who nodded to him, and he nodded back, understanding their own separate missions.
After parking his car…
Tap, tap, tap!
When Rafael entered the mansion, he was greeted by the opulent and luxurious design and the expensive decorations lined up. After being guided by the servants to the main hall of the celebration, he heard a voice.
"Ahh, son, you're here and late," Hector said, with a few guards behind him.
"Well, had a few road bumps," Rafael said, not revealing the true incident since he had already sent the police, and this report wouldn't go through the usual channels but through his own, where he could control the true flow.
"I see, but next time, on an important event, don't be late," Hector said and gestured for Rafael to follow him.
"Sir," Graves' voice was heard behind Rafael, and when Rafael turned to look at him, he saw five armed guards wearing formal suits with bulletproof vests underneath. Hidden among some of the guards wearing trench coats were those equipped with MP5s and explosives. The guests around them, seeing the heir to the Villanueva family, tried approaching him but were stopped by Rafael's security detail.
In the Ballroom
As soon as Rafael entered the ballroom, he saw a lot of people wearing aristocratic attire, and others wore tuxedos. Most of the guests came from Europe. He saw kids playing in an area designated for them while the adults chatted among themselves.
Rafael blended into the crowd easily since he noticed one of the people he wanted to avoid.
"Ah, Hector, nice to see you!" Vincent Van Hossen, Grand Prince of the Hossen Principality, smiled as his blue eyes locked onto Rafael, who was not far.
"Nice to meet you, young man. I'm Vincent Van Hossen," he said with a small smile and shook hands with Rafael.
"Rafael Villanueva," Rafael said in turn and went to get some food while the two talked. A minute later, he saw a little girl walking towards him, holding a teddy bear.
"Hello," she said, waving at him, and he waved back.
"Hi," Rafael said awkwardly.
"Are you Rafael?" she asked innocently.
"Yes, I am," Rafael said.
"It's my birthday, where's my gift?" she asked, pouting at Rafael like an angry cat. Hearing it, Rafael nodded and snapped his fingers, where Michael brought him a Shiba puppy.
"Here, to the birthday girl, may it be your companion while you grow," Rafael said in an ironic speech, and the girl jumped happily, and the dog reflected her emotions as well, as a bond instantly formed between them.
After that, Rafael finished eating and relaxed at the edge of the balcony while Michael and the guards formed a wall near the entrance to the balcony. While relaxing with a drink in hand, he saw the similar blonde girl who ate at his pub.
So he jumped down since the balcony was on the second floor, and after landing, he saw the blonde girl swinging the sword with grace, almost like a female knight in the Renaissance era trying to fight off her enemy using her flexibility and fast attacks. Rafael released a bit of his killing intent, and she paused after feeling it. A second later, her rapier whipped near his face, intending to scar it, but Rafael pulled his head back.
Whip!
After doing so, Rafael pulled out his APOC Gladius and a Gerber Mark II, and with no words exchanged, Rafael rushed forward, further releasing his intent, testing how she would defend herself in this unorthodox fight.
CLING! CLANG! CLANG! CLING! CLANG!
Rafael swung his gladius down, and she raised her rapier. When they made contact, she bent her arm so his gladius slid off, but the knife in his hand thrust towards her non-vital parts. He masked his target using the gladius; this way was to chip her defenses and mobility.
'Come on, you're not just taught on fencing,' Rafael said internally as she dodged his knife to her neck, but he thrust his gladius to her exposed thigh, aiming to graze it, while his knife was redirected to her shoulder.
'Now choose: stand your ground or retreat,' Rafael thought coldly, and she chose the latter as she jumped a few meters back, but Rafael moved forward, closing on her as he gave no room for her to breathe and swung his gladius, but she parried it and took her eyes off him, looking for an opening to exit.
"That's your mistake to look away from your opponent," Rafael said and stopped after tucking his knife and punched her in the left rib, causing her to grunt in pain as she was pushed away by the punch. Rafael approached her slowly, but a second later, he heard rustling in the bushes near her.
"Death to the princess!" a man wearing tight combat attire with a steel breastplate and a sword in hand charged. In quick reaction, Rafael drew his Pit Viper pistol and fired three shots at the man, killing him.
"Bringing a sword to a gunfight is real classic, bitches!" Rafael commented. And for "bitches," it was a weird signal for him to call his guards, but they were not far since they were watching it, and so they ventured out the perimeter, leaving the enemies that appeared to Rafael.
BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!
Rafael didn't waste time and fired multiple rounds, halting the hostiles with swords. The lady with the rapier saw the battle, and the enemies appearing made her regain her energy and fight.
"Die!" one of the hostiles with a longsword charged at Rafael, but Rafael took the first step, rushed forward, and stabbed the knife into his chest and twisted and moved it, causing immense pain for the man. When he tried pushing him off, Rafael pulled it out and stabbed it under his jaw.
A second later, Rafael's exoskeleton activated instantly, and he kicked a nearby enemy, and the leg quickly caved in to his chest and was blown away.
"Who the heck is he—," one of them shouted in surprise. They thought that they could overwhelm him since they had more people, even with a gun, he would most likely miss, and now he was impaled by a dagger thrown by Rafael.
'What is this boy made of?' one of the insurgents said and sighed in frustration, and he forced himself to sprint towards Rafael, but Rafael turned to him and aimed his pistol and fired the last remaining shot and changed magazines in quick succession. Within 2.50 seconds, he fired again, but this time killing intent rose, and those enemies nearby felt the intent, and those veterans recognized it.
'He's… T-The Red Storm,' the man felt primal fear well up again as he was lucky to hide from the Red Storm who wiped out all of its core members and supporters in a single night, and he touched the grazed wound that had now healed on his left eye after being hit by an incendiary round when he was with his fellow compatriots and was abolished by the wolf.
"Oh, I remember you," Rafael said as he pinned the man down and aimed the muzzle of his pistol.
"You're the man who was able to run away from my hunt," Rafael commented since after that operation, he counted the dead bodies and recounted a few 'half alive' people, and with a bloodthirsty smile, he fired and killed the man.
'Okay, how many left?' Rafael looked around and saw there were two left, and they were fighting the girl or lady. He saw Vincent and some of the guests exiting the mansion with a few guards in the vanguard.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
Rafael fired more shots at the insurgents, and the one who was about to hit the girl got hit and died, while the other used this chance and pushed her off and ran, but a bullet landed on his hip, causing him to fall and begin crawling away.
"That's enough, son," Hector said as the guards went behind him and heard gunshots from the bushes and saw someone familiar.
"Damn, they are quite the runners," Graves' voice was heard, and he came out with a suppressed MP5, and a few guards under Graves' command came out behind him. Dead bodies were seen sprawled in defiant defense.
"How many were they?" Rafael asked as he reloaded the Pit Viper pistol and pulled out another.
"Around 20-25, but a few were able to pass us and head through you," Graves reported, and Rafael walked away from the group and headed to Michael, who said in a low voice to make sure no one really heard it.
"It seems our information is a bit right," Michael said as he saw the rest of the guests got out of the mansion.
After a few minutes of talking, the Van Hossen guards took over the cleanup, and Hector approached him and spoke.
"Rafael, I would like you to meet your fiancée," he said and gestured to the blonde girl he fought alongside and dueled. The blonde girl's eyes widened in response, and Rafael turned to his father, who chuckled.
"And this one is also your second fiancée," he said, and a recognizable, chummy girl he instantly recognized, wearing a red-black gown while her hair was tied in a ponytail, approached.
"Rafe? I didn't know you were here," Ruby said with a small smile, and her guards followed her, and Rafael just gave a brief nod before turning to Graves.
"Call the Osprey, it's almost time for the meeting," Rafael said to Graves, who in turn gave a signal to Michael.
"Yes, I thought this was a normal birthday to attend, not a meet and greet," Rafael commented and headed to one of the dead bodies of the insurgents and pulled out the dagger that was still in place, and a bodyguard gave him a handkerchief, and he wiped the blood off.
"Well, I never said it, and I had a hunch you knew their identities," Hector said and knew that his son was connected to the death of the previous dean, and he was still investigating about it deeply.
"Of course, as Atlas' representative here in the entire Southeast Asia, they make sure to never disappoint their representatives," Rafael said in a sarcastic way and waited for the Osprey.
"Well, your fiancées are going to start living at your estate from now on," Hector announced, and Rafael just nodded.
"They already have mansions of their own; why must they stay at mine?" Rafael couldn't help but ask.
"Well, both parties, including you, agreed to it, and it's a way for you to build bonds rather than killing each other," he responded.
"Fine, but their chief of security and three more guards are only going with them inside the mansion, and they can have their own detail when they're outside of mansion grounds since the entire mansion is already a fortress, and worry not since my mansion could survive a nuclear warhead," Rafael said and saw the V-22 Osprey that was sleek jet black and landed on the ground. Rafael fixed his suit and checked the Pit Viper pistol.
Later, the cargo hatch opened up, and 20 Alpha-1 operatives wearing dark combat attire came out and created a perimeter around the Osprey.
"Well, I have a meeting to attend, and I don't know why they sent this unit here, but tell them to gather their belongings and meet me at the estate on Tuesday, and the address will be sent to them," Rafael said and turned around facing the Osprey. Before moving forward, he aimed at the last remaining insurgent who was crawling helplessly and getting weaker as blood was draining away.
BANG!
The last insurgent died, and Rafael along with Michael and Graves boarded the Osprey, and the operatives began filling back to the Osprey. The two Black Hawk helicopters lowered their altitude as the Osprey began lifting up the ground, and when the three aircraft were leveled, they headed towards a location where the Osprey fired its flares from the side, and this shocked the people on the ground.
"Well, that's one way to leave in style," Vincent said, and Hector had to agree to it. Meanwhile, in the parking lot, Rafael's car, the Ares Evo, was picked up by the field agents who loaded it onto a trailer truck and was sent to Rafael's home with a convoy.
To be continued…