[Sorry for not posting last saturday and its due to me having a lot of schedules for that week and by the time im posting this is that im out of town so enjoy the read and i will have action soon.]
A few hours later, at the Atlas Shopping Center, Rafael was relaxing at a cafe. Michael, seated not far from him, started the conversation.
"I have new information that your father might possibly send you to South Korea this coming summer," he said, sipping his hot vanilla coffee. Rafael gave only a small nod.
"Begin sending agents to South Korea and prepare for our entry. We might also begin a cleaning of the house," Rafael instructed. A waiter approached him with a folded note. Seeing the initials, Rafael unfolded it; it was from the Arima Group.
"Keep watch. I'm going to have a chat with someone. Order our boys not to move positions without my signal," Rafael said, heading deeper into the cafe. Michael tapped a few numbers on his phone and, after dialing, immediately ended the call to alert the nearby QRF to be on alert.
In a hidden corner of the cafe, Rafael saw an old man wearing a traditional kimono, his white hair curved upwards, with a pointy beard. He was smoking a high-end Cuban cigar, staring out the windows, lost in thought. A maid, estimated to be around 18 years old, stood next to him in a uniform, waiting for orders.
"Sir, Mir Villanueva has arrived," the head bodyguard who guided Rafael spoke.
"Ah, Mr. Villanueva, it's nice to finally meet you," the old man said, not speaking Rafael's name since Rafael already knew his identity.
"So what's the purpose of you calling me here? I thought we had a mutual understanding because of the last message I sent," Rafael said with a tone of mock curiosity. The head bodyguard flinched, having seen firsthand the message: an altar of body armor from the people they sent, with their ring fingers in small pockets and close-up pictures of their beaten, near-death faces.
"Well, the reason is that… Why did you escape and, mainly, lie on the questions that my granddaughter and her friend asked?" he raised an eyebrow, his voice low.
"Then how do you know they were lies?" Rafael shot back, raising his own eyebrow.
"Because I did a very deep background check, and there are a few holes with no answers, no matter how much resource I spend to know what that other identity of yours is," he said, puffing small smoke.
"Because I like to protect my privacy. And if you think that interrogating me will ultimately give my consent, or that the mics and cameras around me… well, I've already taken care of that," Rafael spoke, pulling an Acroball ballpoint pen from his pocket. It was a mini EMP device that disrupted waves, cutting off any signal to cameras and frying their chips.
"I see, that's why there's no signal," he said, putting the cigar down in the ashtray and sipping his coffee.
"Nothing beats Atlas technology," Rafael muttered.
"Okay, this will be my warning. I have the power and influence to destroy your proud empire that you built from scratch. So here's my pleading demand: cancel the engagement between me and your heir so all of this bloodshed will be stopped," Rafael said, his eyes meaning every word. The aura he gave off made the nearby bodyguards squirm uncomfortably, about to pull their pistols out.
"Don't. Even. Think. About it," Rafael said, never breaking eye contact with the old man. The old man himself turned to his bodyguards and signaled them to holster their pistols.
"So I will repeat myself again. I'm demanding you to avoid bloodshed and destruction. I'm demanding you, here and now, to break off the engagement between me and your granddaughter. This is the only demand I ask," Rafael said as the tension grew thick by the second. The maid was already slowly connecting the dots.
'Wait, if he has access to this kind of technology and this much influence within Atlas, he could be the administrator. He might be a representative, but the security detail is a much higher level for a representative. Damn it, he hid it very well,' she thought to herself. She also considered the benefits, since if he was the representative, she might have the chance to gain more benefit in the Japanese market and the Arima technology department.
"You might think I'm going to lose out on the benefits because of this engagement, but you're sadly mistaken. We are already well developed, even with the new nuclear reactors, and a new generation of technology will be introduced a few years from now," Rafael said, turning to the maid, then back to the old man who had been silent. Rafael stood up, his patience already at its limit.
"This has been a waste of my time," Rafael said, picking up the pen and turning to leave. Before he could walk away, he heard him speak again.
"Tell me, who killed my daughter and son-in-law?" he asked, wanting to know if Rafael might know about it.
"That I can't tell," Rafael said, having also read through the file. During that time, he had witnessed their death that day when he was touring the countryside of a kingdom.
A Few Years Ago
Rafael was casually sipping his iced vanilla coffee while sitting on the hood of his 4x4 grey jeep. He heard a crash not far away and, looking in the direction of the source, saw a kei car, beaten up and turned over. A few meters away, two black SUVs pulled up.
At the crash site, two men approached the car with their pistols drawn, while a second SUV arrived with a blonde man waiting inside to confirm the kill. Then they heard a vehicle coming towards them and saw a black jeep ram the SUV. After a few seconds, Rafael came out of the jeep with an HK-416 and emptied his mag on the two people near the kei-car. He drew his M9 Beretta and began firing on the other SUV, but it turned around and drove away quickly.
He turned his attention to the kei car and approached it, seeing a couple with severe wounds, as the car was not made for durability and protection. Looking around, he saw a CCTV and fired two shots, destroying it. Looking back inside, he saw the woman woke up and saw Rafael.
"Please… tell… my… father… to… take… care… of… her," she said as blood flowed out of her mouth. Rafael called Michael to call an Atlas ambulance helicopter and had High Table agents do some digging. His agency did a deep investigation and found out the mastermind: one of the chief branch managers, who planned it and was building an army of mercenaries, trying to hire Atlas soldiers. But Rafael ordered the council not to allow it to happen, and he would not interfere with the Arima Group after that incident.
At the Present
Rafael exited the cafe and saw Michael still drinking his coffee. They decided to see the girls and saw Ruby trying on some dresses. Ruby dragged Rafael to a section of the store where she showed him different kinds of dresses. Rafael gave some comments.
"Hey Rafe, how about this!" Ruby asked, showing him a white sundress that left Rafael speechless for less than a second before he recovered quickly, giving a thumbs up and speaking,
"Looks great, but please, we're going to a countryside rest house that the family owns, so please choose something that can't get wet," Rafael said with a smirk. This was a first for him, casually joking around.
"Well, at least I'm showing it off to you," Ruby retorted and went back to the clothing section, showing different dresses until it got to the point she showed off some nice swimming clothes that would make any man drool, but Rafael, already used to psychological torture, controlled himself.
"Rafe, why don't we have a sparring match in the rest house later?" Sylvia spoke next to him. She only wore normal nobility clothes, her sword strapped around her waist.
"Sure, why not? We have an entire week to rest," Rafael replied and went towards the groceries, buying a lot of stuff to feed them for two weeks. In truth, the second most gluttonous person was Sylvia, since she consumed half of the week's food supply in the mansion in three days, mostly because she frequently persisted Rafael to cook for her at midnight.
A few hours later, they rode in a convoy heading down south to the very edge, to an isolated part of an island, where a rest house awaited them for relaxation. For additional supply, an air package could be sent.
It was a seaside beach with a two-story modern Japanese beach house that had an open viewing deck, and water and electricity were provided separately. For security, they didn't have to worry much, as Atlas combat drones – the police version, not officially released yet – were piloted by the security team but had strict orders to patrol different areas. The number of personnel they brought was 25 men, most of whom were stationed outside of the house.
Since the NPA were still active, the Philippine Army was alerted to prepare to assist them in case they acted, yet they still wanted to try to take a big prize in the den of the dragon.
In a Hidden Base Inside the Jungle
Multiple men wearing old Cold War military clothes, armed with AK-47s or other late Cold War weapons, most of them not well-trained, while those hardened by skirmishes with the government were the ones prepared.
"We received intel that a princess from Europe has arrived from Tacloban and is staying in a seaside house with minimal security. Our plan is to storm it with all of the available fighters, kidnap her, and demand a large ransom," the leader of this cell group in Leyte spoke with a huge smile. This would be the biggest catch ever.
Meanwhile
Rafael loaded his M240 with incendiary rounds. He brought it with him since he just wanted to test it out by the end of the week, and he could carry it despite its weight. Michael brought a Galil ACE with the same incendiary rounds.
Ruby just looked at the two as they displayed them on a separate table. After that, Rafael prepared lunch and laid out a huge slice of salmon, Angus beef slabs, and some pork belly to make into a soup with a sinigang mix. He doubled the ingredients since he knew that the big eater of the group would consume a lot.
Thirty minutes later, Rafael laid the food out and the group began eating. Ruby had already changed into her swimming attire, with her sundress over it. Michael was wearing some swimming trunks and a short-sleeve Hawaiian polo shirt.
Sylvia wore a really alluring swimming attire, her hair tied back into a ponytail, and a blue one-piece swimming attire.
'Damn,' Rafael thought internally, but on the outside, he maintained his expressionless face and began digging into his food. After eating, they began swimming hard. He actually swam a kilometer away from the beach and back, and after that quick dip, he was approached by Sylvia for a fight, and he agreed.
"So we're going to use blunt weapons instead of wooden swords, and we can go all out," Rafael said and picked up dual swords while Sylvia had her trusty rapier.
"Okay, for the rules, I will determine if the person can't fight anymore, and the entire blade is covered in paint so a strike on a body part will determine if they can continue or not," Michael said while sipping a bottle of beer.
"Begin!" he shouted, while Ruby sat in one of the beach chairs and sipped her orange juice.
To be continued.