Inside the Rolls-Royce, Rafael asked Emir, who had gotten into the car before leaving and saw the logo Emir took when he killed the man earlier, "Who are they?"
"A group that was formerly a branch of the main family called the Crimson Scorpions had their true base of operations in New York and was somewhat neutral during the unification war, but the branch family operating in Italy wanted everything, so they rebelled," Emir explained, reviewing the information file.
"So wait, isn't Marcus engaged to the heiress of the Crimson Scorpions?" Rafael said, realizing what would happen.
"Yes, the file says here that she is quite the firecracker with her mouth and she's sharp and quite competent with her job and a family person, but not really a social one. It says here that she's not going to treat Marcus with the same level of care as her family members until they're married, and only then will she give her attention to him," Emir said and handed the file to Rafael. Luckily, they had field agents within their ranks.
"I see… I can already imagine him going back to his throne in a few months with blood and wounds around him," Rafael commented, remembering the blood that flowed. It seemed like a small war, but he gave the crime groups and gangs an option: accept his authority or face extermination. The war lasted for nearly a year, and he didn't even clean any blood remains from his body. He personally killed 3,000 people alone and was called 'The Demon of the North.'
"Okay, let him deal with the problems since Canute is going to talk some sense into him," Rafael ended the conversation. After a few minutes of driving on the same road, he arrived at a mall where a lot of people were already roaming inside. Different world leaders had arrived earlier this morning, and the event was quite big due to the number of state leaders and the main council members of the security council.
"Quite the crowd, isn't it?" Emir asked as he straightened his attire and wore a grey trench coat, while Rafael was officially roaming around the city, so he didn't need his mask for now.
"Yeah, let's get something to eat," Rafael said, and both of them headed towards the second floor where they ate in an Atlas-owned restaurant. After doing some window shopping and buying some souvenirs, they went back to the car and were heading back to the hotel when Rafael saw something happening in a hallway.
"Stop the car," Rafael said and pulled out a black balaclava and a military black mouthguard.
"Why?" Emir asked, sensing something wrong.
"A fight seems like it's an 8 vs. 1. Although it's not our problem to interfere, I would like to feel that good old adrenaline again," Rafael said, pulling out two kukri knives while Emir wore a white jacket and a mask.
When the two exited the vehicle, they walked casually towards the alleyway and saw a 19-year-old woman with fair skin, light green hair, and black eyes, fighting a group of not-so-normal thugs. Her stance was a bit broken due to the number of people fighting her. When one of the thugs threw a straight punch, Rafael showed himself.
Whoosh slick. He swung down his knife, and it immediately cut the man's arm off. He then thrust his other knife into the throat and twisted it, killing him. Three seconds passed, and he kicked his stomach, making him fall lifeless to the ground.
His other seven comrades looked back in shock as their friend choked on his blood, but they were not given time to process it as Emir thrust his sword into one of the thugs' backs and out through his chest.
Rafael swung one of his kukris, aiming for the head, but it only scarred one of the thugs' faces. Before screaming, a strong kick landed on his crotch, and he fell to the ground, clutching his balls. Rafael felt bad but decided to end his suffering and stabbed the man's head.
Emir took on two more people as he drew his sword from the man's chest and swiftly performed multiple swings, preventing them from getting close. Emir targeted their legs, which disabled them, before swiftly cutting their throats like a dance.
The rest were left to the woman, who quickly showed her wild side, but the last one was the leader.
"Who the f*** are you?!" the leader of the thugs shouted but was silenced when Rafael threw his kukri. It impaled the man's chest, and he was in shock and looked at Rafael before feeling weak. But before landing on the ground, Emir's blade thrust into his left side, exiting his right.
"We're done here," Rafael said, but he changed his tone to sound like a middle-aged man as he adjusted it to make sure he was not the same age as her. They cleaned their weapons and left for the car.
When they got in, they drove off immediately and made a few extra turns, trying to shake something off before heading into an underground parking lot and switching vehicles in under 20 seconds. They arrived back at the back entrance of the hotel.
Rafael's Room
"So, any information about her, and did you order the footage to be redacted?" Rafael asked as he was in the bathroom cleaning his kukri knives in the sink.
"I was able to corrupt it and prevent any recovery from the fight, arrival, and escape. As for her identity, her face doesn't match any US records in their database," Emir said since he was able to request the ASIB, and they acted swiftly.
"So she's just a nobody?" Graves commented as he stood near the couch, wearing corporate attire.
"How about those thugs, do you know them?" Rafael asked, leaving the bathroom.
"They were just a bunch of free militia mercenaries with a few dozen crimes under their belt, and now they're officially dead," Emir said, since Rafael knew that some of them were hospitalized, and Rafael sent an elimination team to kill them in the hospital.
"Good, for now, let's prepare for the event because it's tomorrow already, and a meal after that. The problem is that you can't eat while you have your mask on," Canute said and sat down on a nearby couch.
"Where's Michael?" Rafael asked since after arriving in New York, he didn't find him anywhere.
"Currently scouting places where potential sniper nests can be placed," Graves said, since they had been coordinating his escort and security and pulled out a digital map of the most confidential path to the UN HQ.
"So, in most cases, this will be a normal high-class event, but since a lot of state leaders are arriving, this will be the highest level of gathering, and the security is already being formed, and we have been coordinating with them," Canute spoke, and Graves began pointing out the added defenses.
"We enacted a no-fly zone enforced by the US Air Force and our air forces, while in a 3km radius, we deployed military forces and heavily armed police with tight checkpoints and a selected vehicle ban," Graves said.
"Yeah, we need patrol teams entering those buildings every 15 minutes, and make sure we have our own counter-snipers and drones to patrol," Rafael said and immediately thought of thunderstorms.
"Any thunderstorms nearby?" Rafael asked, and everyone was confused by it.
"Yes, it's 1000 km away from the city," Canute replied, looking at the weather monitoring app.
"Bring it in," Rafael said since they had a prototype technology that could redirect storms or weather clouds, so this could be another test whether it's possible.
"Sure, we can do it," Canute replied and made a phone call. For the rest of the day, they planned, and Rafael practiced his speech and made some changes before finalizing it.
July 16, 2020Royal Pacific Hotel, Rafael's Room
"Sir, the convoy is ready and waiting for you," Graves said, wearing a black tuxedo while a body armor protected him below with a concealed pistol.
Rafael fixed his suit. The suit had an embedded exoskeleton and covered his entire body, connecting to the mask to allow independent movement when the host was not available.
"Done, let's go," Rafael replied and looked at the mirror. He donned his mask, and his Atlas logo cuffs and a boldly embroidered handkerchief shined a bit. When he left the room, 10 bodyguards followed him to the convoy at the entrance.
"Sir, need an umbrella?" one of his guards asked, but Rafael just declined and walked towards the car where some of his guards and Graves looked around while the reporters took pictures in the rain. As the torrential rain continued, it only stopped when Rafael entered the vehicles due to its soundproof capabilities.
Along the way, NYPD vehicles blocked every street entrance with 8 officers each, while two armored SWAT cars followed the convoy of 8 cars. The 9th car, which Rafael was in, was in the middle.
20 Minutes LaterUN Plaza
Rafael arrived near the steps to the entrance of the UN HQ. There was a barrier blocking the large crowd of over 30,000 from flooding in. The perimeter guards were from the National Guard and Atlas regular soldiers from the 1st division, while an inner perimeter consisted of Secret Service and more Atlas soldiers.
Officially, a no-fly zone was enforced with a squadron of F-22 Raptors from the Atlas Aria Tactical Aviation and anti-air missiles. Due to the rain, reporters wore raincoats, and cameras began rolling as the convoy pulled up and saw the Administrator coming out after the bodyguards secured the area.
"As you can see, the black vehicles parked near the stairs towards the HQ are the same vehicles as the Administrator of Atlas, and the vehicle is almost used by the President of America," a tall, dark-haired man said, wearing a yellow raincoat.
Rafael's POV
'Okay, Rafe, deep breaths. You know you hate this kind of job, but you can't do anything about it. You've done this a couple of times; no need to panic,' I thought and fixed my clothes again. I saw Emir and Graves talking seriously before giving the nod to Rafael and opening the door.
Tap.
As soon as I stepped out of the door, I was greeted by an array of photographers and journalists, plus the rain, but thankfully my mask shielded my face from the rain, and I walked forward.
Clack, Clack, Clack.
As his shoes tapped on the ground, many cameras focused on him, while Canute, Emir, Graves, and Michael followed behind. The security stayed at the flanks and rear. Upon arriving at the entrance, a reporter tried approaching Rafael in a forceful manner and broke through the first layer, but before reaching the second layer, he was shot by a stun bullet, hitting his chest 3 times.
He was immediately arrested and cuffed, later dragged away, but everyone didn't mind him and focused on Rafael entering the building, where his security and the security of the UN building closed it off, while two Atlas-operated Blackhawk helicopters filled with a sniper team/QRF hovered nearby.
They do take the security of the Administrator very seriously.
To be Continued.