A few minutes later, after shaking hands with a few of the world leaders, including the President of Russia, the Premier of China, and the President of the United States, along with various diplomats, they were all guided to the largest room in the UN, where the recognized superpowers and members of the Security Council sat closer to the podium.
"Welcome, all leaders and diplomats, to this monumental event of inaugurating a permanent member to the UN Security Council," António Guterres, the current Secretary-General, said in a delighted tone as he turned to the table where the flags of each member were carved into the chairs and table.
Clap! Clap! Clap! Clap!
Everyone in the room clapped, and a few news agencies that were granted permission had their cameras trained on the podium. Guterres spoke about the history of the UN and the purpose of the Security Council. He turned to Rafael, or the Administrator, who was sitting on a nearby seat near the table where the Security Council members sat, while his entourage sat in a different room, witnessing it all.
"Now, let's bring up the founder and president of Atlas Corporation to the podium, where he will share a few words for the inauguration of his company into the UN Security Council," he said. Rafael walked towards the podium, exchanged a few greetings along the way, and stepped up to the podium, where the Secretary-General patted his shoulder and allowed him to take the microphone.
The claps immediately went silent after Rafael stopped them. After a few coughs, he adjusted his posture and spoke, activating the voice changer in his neck.
"I'm honored to be the first president of a global corporation to be part of the United Nations Security Council… First of all, my appearance today has been clouded by speculation and doubts: 'I'm already dead… my corporation developing nuclear energy.' That's why I'm here to address this speculation and doubts head-on," he said in a charismatic tone and raised his fist slightly.
"Am I dead? No, as you can see, I'm here standing and alive, speaking here in front of you all," Rafael said in a sarcastic tone, chuckling a bit. Everyone in the room also chuckled and muttered some jokes to those sitting next to them.
"Are we developing nuclear power? No, we are not… Because we already developed it." Everyone stopped clapping as others gasped in shock when they heard the last part. Even those watching at home were also shocked and shivered in fear.
"With all due respect, the term 'nuclear' seems very concerning, even though it powers cities, appliances, even the homes that you are currently living in. Also, the electric vehicles that you're driving with a mini nuclear-powered battery all came from Atlas-owned facilities." Rafael paused a bit to let them absorb the information.
"That's why Atlas decided, instead of relying on coal and non-renewable energy resources, to switch to nuclear energy since it has a lot of potential and has been held back for decades. And after we developed the first ever nuclear reactor that doesn't need the normal procedures due to the fact we developed advanced water treatment facilities, the water used to cool the rods of the reactor can be drinkable. Even I tasted it myself. And not just that, Atlas is also developing ways to harness true renewable energy, as the saying goes in Atlas," he paused and opened his arms wide.
"We Strive for a better world… For the old and new," Rafael said with a small smile under his mask, proud that Atlas, which he built from scratch, grew to this moment. Everyone moved by his speech clapped even harder, some having tears in their eyes.
António Guterres walked up to the podium with a bronze medallion, the first of its kind, called the Medallion of Security. It had the logo of the UN on the medal, while the Atlas logo was behind it with the mark of a permanent seat, and it was placed on a wooden platform where glass covered it. This was a monumental event for everyone. Atlas somewhat provided the funding for nearly all UN operations, and other nations in the council all agreed in a secret vote.
"Henceforth, with the agreement of all council members, Atlas shall be a permanent member of the UN Security Council," he announced, and everyone clapped. The session ended while world leaders chatted. But those at home were executives who wanted to have an agreement or chat with the Atlas leader in order to have some leverage in its position, but sadly, that was one of the rare moments they were going to see him.
Function Hall 1
Food was served in portions at the designated tables. Rafael ate at a table with his entourage and he was near to the table of the UN council, where they chatted about important political work.
During that chat, Rafael saw a notification in his helmet and heard distant gunfire, but it was thanks to his enhanced senses. His entourage was alerted by an operative who whispered in Graves' ear. Before he could walk to Rafael, the door to the hall burst open.
A tall European man wearing an aristocratic attire, but bloodied, entered, and with him were a few masked people wearing plain black masks and carrying swords instead of guns.
"My princess, I'm here to save you!" he shouted and raised his sword. At the same moment, Rafael's guards drew out their rifles, and Emir himself drew his sword and aimed it at the prince. Multiple lasers moved across his body, and Rafael was instantly surrounded as he was in the center of the hall and the prince was getting close.
"Stay where you are! Drop your weapons and hands in the air!" a Red Right Hand operative shouted and had his M4A1 trained on the prince's body, preparing to fire. A blonde woman was weaving through the crowd; she also wore aristocratic attire.
"My love! You commoners, step out of the way!" the woman, or the princess, shouted and tried to get through the crowd and push a few bodyguards before her own bodyguards stopped her.
"He's a wanted fugitive currently across several nations in Europe and tried to break that woman out several times. He even killed an Atlas worker because he didn't receive the desired weapon," Canute said, as he knew this man-child very well and had sent a bounty for the man's head.
"Emir," Rafael said calmly. Emir smiled and charged forward while the guards opened fire on the prince's followers who weren't able to reach him as bullets hit their heads and they fell to the ground.
"Men, keep your aim on that blue head, he's an idiot!" Graves shouted, and the bodyguards of the world leaders also aimed their guns.
Woosh boom.
Emir did a straight kick to the chest and swung his sword with inhuman speed. The prince raised his sword and tried to block it, but after making contact with Emir's sword, it broke instantly. But Emir wasn't done; he unleashed a flurry of attacks, his sword moving like a tornado, and the prince with his half-broken sword tried to block each one.
BOOM!
But midway, he was punched in the face and was thrown a few meters back. Emir was releasing an aura that made some of the bodyguards take a slight step back.
"End this already, Emir," Rafael ordered coldly, and the prince could only shout and scream as Emir began his work.
Boom boom boom boom boom!
Each strike from Emir was a basic skill of a swordmaster, but this time he was punching harder and harder across the body. After 5 minutes of beating, he was on the ground looking defiantly at Emir.
"You vermin, you just surrender, for my love shall win!" he said with a hoarse voice, and Emir cringed at it and slammed his fist into his face again.
"Take him away," Emir said and grabbed his sword and broke the prince's finger. The Alpha-1 operatives immediately arrived and zip-tied the man.
"To the island he shall go," Graves said in frustration since a report came that a large mob of people tried to break through the outer perimeter, but they held out and were forced to surrender their weapons.
"As you can see, ladies and gentlemen, he thought he could be a hero, but remember, every plan fails upon first contact in action," Rafael said, proving that Atlas security is very serious about the protection for Rafael, and the princess passed out in shock after seeing her love's disfigured face.
"Pardon me, what's his crime?" one of the diplomats asked in a curious tone.
"Basically, a Romeo and Juliet situation, stating that their love goes above the nation that they live in, which caused their own nation's fragile peace to tear apart. This woman tried to marry in secret, which failed and it repeated itself again, but this time she involved Atlas and tried hiding in a factory, which caused a standoff and chaos between their people and tried to tear them apart in order they can run away. That caused me to step in personally and mediate the parties before total war ensues, and the aftermath was him being exiled to Russia and she was under house arrest. But this man was able to gather his loyal followers and caused this incident, but luckily our forces and the Secret Service and National Guard were able to stop them," Rafael explained.
Upon exiting the room, he was approached by a man who had blonde hair and blue eyes, similar to the woman he saved, and this brought a terrible feeling within him.
"Hello, Mr. Rafael, it's nice to meet you. I'm Nelson Rockefeller," the man greeted him. Although he used Rafael's first name, there are a lot of people who share the same name, and thanks to his voice being a bit older, they will mistake him for a middle-aged man.
"Nice to meet you too," Rafael curtly replied with respect and shook hands with him and saw the woman who he saved wearing a casual but expensive attire.
"I would like to thank you for saving my daughter; she told me that it was maybe you two who saved her," he said and pointed at Emir, who was leaving in the background, and thankfully he controlled his emotions.
And internally, he was already thinking if it was worth it to save her.
"Sadly, you're mistaken; I was at my hotel for the event that you speak of," Rafael replied with no emotion and excused himself along with his subordinates and walked away. The Rockefellers were also one of the factions competing for control over Northern America.
'This boy knows when to hide it and show it,' Nelson thought as he looked at the disappearing figures of Rafael and his subordinates and glanced at his daughter, who had a downcast expression due to the rejection. When she decided to say thank you, he had already disappeared.
Outside the UN Building
"[Find anything about the Rockefellers, and we can consider them as competitors of Marcus. And that woman's identity was blocked, so find anything related to her]," Rafael ordered Canute, who also nodded seriously.
"[Copy]," Canute replied. When they entered the car, they soon heard a rush of footsteps and ordered the driver to step on it.
"Drive," Rafael said in a serious voice, and the driver understood that it was time to run away.
"Anyone up for drinks and food?" Graves asked, breaking the silence.
"Sure, let's go somewhere cozy and silent," Rafael commented with a tired sigh.
'I don't want to add more problems to my list,' he thought and laid back into his seat. After Graves looked up different locations that were far away from the reporters, he requested a platoon of Phantom Wardens, who only followed Rafael's orders since the two other units couldn't be commanded without having a report of their movements. So he founded the unit after 2 years since Atlas's founding, and their identities were erased from history. Only they could say their first names, and this unit is under his sole control, and the squad captain has minimum perks.
A Few Minutes LaterCentral New York Bar
A bottle of beer was poured into Rafael's pint as the group drank outside of the pub that is near the coast, where they could see the Statue of Liberty as the sun set behind it.
When food was being served, Rafael received a text from his father, who told him that he was eating somewhere with his friends. He texted Gab, and a response was sent that she's currently living in her estate in Tacloban, and the NBI was sent to station a unit to monitor her movements, but they can't really get close without alerting them. So the ASIB was deployed, and around 10 field agents were embedded into her guards and were currently monitoring her movements. For recent reports, there were no large events other than Yakuza groups, or mainly a single group with a large manpower, has been skirmishing with their forces and has been trying to gain a solid foothold. Even in Atlas-controlled cities in Japan, they have been receiving attacks, but luckily, the Anti-Organized Groups that were part of the police department of Japan joined the fray and began arresting them, and the attacks were increasing day by day but they were being slowly contained after a company of Alpha-2, also known as the Left Hand of Justice, was deployed.
And soon, they used multiple fast breaches and CQB, also intercepted contraband to prevent their forces from increasing over time.
"For now, guys, let's enjoy this peace before going back to reality and back to work since we will face more trouble in the coming days," Emir announced, raising his glass of soju with a small smile, and everyone followed suit and cheered as they remembered their first drinking in a mission that eliminated different groups of mercenaries and only they came out alive.
To be continued.