1
1
"That would be all for today, next Monday we will discuss the Martial Law era in the Philippines," the tall history professor finally said as he closed his book. His students stood up and noisily exited the room.
The professor exhaled a sigh of relief. It's been a long week, but thank God its over. Being a teacher for college students is never easy, but Professor Michael Lee is happy and proud of his chosen career. It was his way of blotting out the terrible memories of the past.
Lee doesn't fit the stereotype image of a history professor. He stood six foot one, tall for a Filipino, with ruggedly handsome features of a Hollywood movie star. He is athletic, with well-built muscles and powerful limbs. He could be a model for cologne or underwear ad, but the scars on his body is a permanent testament to his once adventurous life. Lee never regretted his past, but he made his vow that he will never again return to a life that gave him so much pain and suffering.
"Hi sir," a female voice said from the door. It was Yuki, one of Lee's most talented pupils. The pretty girl is carrying something on a box.
"Hi there, Yuki. Why are you alone? Where are your classmates?" Lee asked.
"They're outside sir. Waiting for a bus. I just return from my locker to get something."
"Ah!" Lee laughed. "Is that a gift for your boyfriend?" he said teasingly.
"No!" Yuki exclaimed. Then her face went red. "It's...actually...for you...sir."
"Oh really? It's not my birthday."
"I don't see anything wrong in giving you a gift...sir."
Lee smiled. "Of course. I'm just joking. Thank you, Yuki. You're a nice girl."
Yuki smiled too, embarrassed, as she gave the gift. "I have to go sir," she said suddenly and ran out as fast as a cat.
Lee opened the box. It was a snow globe. Lee smiled and placed the round glass on his table. It was times like this that he really appreciates being a teacher. His students gave him joy more than anyone else. Lee turned towards the door carrying his book and jacket.
Suddenly and completely unexpected, a deafening explosion erupted outside the university. A car disappeared into a massive fireball, firing flaming metal and glass on all directions. A millisecond later the shockwave hit the university building at full force, blasting everything made of glass into billions of lethal shrapnel. Lee was hit by the shockwave, lifting him three feet into the air before smashing on the floor as glass fragments rained on him. The windows on his classroom are completely vaporized.
Honed by years of experience, Lee shook of the pain and the blood on his forehead as he stood. A massive plum of black smoke can be seen outside. Ignoring the blood on his hands and face, he jumped outside the obliterated windows and ran into the courtyard, where the bulk of the explosion happened.
It was a scene from hell.
Cars are burning; some are even exploding like fireworks. Debris is scattered everywhere. Bodies, and body parts, are on the ground. Most of the victims are students and civilians, many are dead but some survived and are moaning in pain. It was a complete carnage. Lee never imagined something like this would happen here, but he is prepared. Some of the victims might still be alive and he has to help them.
The all-to-familiar smell of death is overwhelming, but Lee is determined to save people. He saw a bus that was overturned by the explosion. He ran towards it. Some wounded maybe trapped inside. A few victims are stumbling out of the broken windows, bloody faces everywhere. "Get as far away as you can!" yelled Lee, knowing that there could still be explosives nearby. He ran into the front of the bus and saw the driver, headless. Ignoring the grisly corpse, he went inside the bus.
Two students are moaning in pain. Lee could see blood on their ears. Shouting at them wouldn't matter. He grabbed one and shoved him out of the bus. The other was hesitant, so Lee shoved him hard. Another victim, a female student is unconscious on her seat. Lee felt her pulse but there is none. Moving on, he found another victim, dazed but apparently uninjured. A student was next to him, screaming in pain while holding his broken leg.
"You have to help him out!" he shouted at the uninjured student. "He could still make it."
"No way," the student said. "I'm hurt."
"Move it!" Lee yelled furiously, voice full of venom. The student was stunned, but he stood up and helped his screaming schoolmate. "You wouldn't die, okay? Its just a broken leg. Go!" Lee said to the student to comfort him.
The last victim was lying on her side on the back of the bus. It was a female student. Lee quickly turned her to examine her injuries. He was shocked when he saw her face. "Yuki! Oh my God!" He felt her pulse, weak but she is still holding on. Blood is dripping from her ears and from a cut on her head. She is knocked unconscious with a massive concussion.
Lee smelled the stench of diesel fuel. Using all his strength he lifted Yuki and then kicked the back window of the bus. Carrying the girl in his arms, Lee ran out and made his way towards the clear patch of courtyard as another explosion consumes the bus and anything left inside of it.
Lee dropped Yuki on the grass and felt her pulse again. There was none. "Hold on Yuki. Don't die on me," he said as he ripped open her blouse. Lee applied CPR at near panic, then mouth to mouth breathing, trying to force life back into her. It was hopeless. After a few minutes Lee sagged on the grass beside Yuki's body, face on his palms. For the first time after so many years he felt that he want to cry. But there is no time for that. Yuki is dead, but some might still be alive and they would only survive is somebody helped them now. Lee used his handkerchief to cover Yuki's face.
It was then when his cell phone rang.
Lee have no time to talk, but a strange gut feeling made him answered the phone. "Hello?"
"Did you like what you see?" a man voice said. The voice is distorted but clear.
"Who the hell is this?"
"You don't know me, but I know you all to well, Michael Lee. Or should I say...Agent Palos."
Lee's blood turned to ice. This man knew his secret, a secret life that he is trying to forget. "Who are you?"
"I know you are Palos," the man said, ignoring the question. "The best secret agent of Neptune. An expert in stealing valuable information, counter-terrorism, hand-to-hand combat and assassination. And yet in the prime of your career you retired."
"You did this?" asked Lee, but he knew the answer.
"The bomb? It was my little way of getting you attention. Kinda neat huh? It took a kilo of C4 to attract your attention."
"You bastard! I'm gonna kill you myself--."
"Nah-ah-ah. Not yet. You still have to do something for me."
"What do you want?"
"You will have to get something for me. The Alpha microprocessor, hidden in a vault at the National Defense Archives. I want to tomorrow at 6:00AM. You are the only one who could do this. You will not notify anyone else. I will call you tomorrow on where and when we would meet."
"And what if I don't?"
A psychotic laughed, and then the man said. "I have another bomb, this time a truck bomb. Filled with twenty kilos of C4 and anthrax germ modules. If you don't do what I say, I will detonate it on a populated area. You got twelve hours. Goodbye Palos."
And the line went dead.
2
Lee quickly entered his house and locked the door. Typing a secret code on a hidden panel, the windows and doors of his five bedroom house were sealed and armor plating are automatically installed. After typing another set of code, an LCD display popped out on one of the books in the library. A touch screen keypad appeared. Lee typed L-E-E, and the words SYSTEM RECOGNIZED appeared on screen.
Lee breathed deeply. He never thought he'll do this again, but to save hundreds if not thousands of people, he didn't hesitate. He typed E-E-L.
This time the words are SYSTEM ONLINE. WELCOME PALOS.
The bookshelf itself opened into a large room underground. The dimly lighted room is filled with electronic gear, with three massive 70-inch plasma displays dominating the one wall. The other walls are filled with firearms of all sorts and sizes. Some are antiques but most are modern and some are like from the 24th century. But one display on the right side of the room is the most prominent. It was a mannequin, wearing a long black coat made of thick bulletproof textile, black turtleneck shirt, pants, gloves, and the most distinct of all, a black leather Gatsby hat. The Gatsby hat is the trademark of the most elite agents of a
secret spy bureau called Neptune. Only one in every generation has the privilege of wearing that coveted hat, and earns the title of Palos. Michael Lee is one of those exceptional men.
"I'd never thought I would have to wear you again," Lee said as if he is talking to the suit. "Assuming your terrible identity is something that is hard to do, but I have to do this. Dont worry, I won't wear you for too long. Once I kill this bastard and made sure that innocent lives are not in danger, you will be resting permanently."
It took five minutes to wear the suit of Palos. But for Lee, it was an eternity.
A few hours later, Lee arrives at the National Defense Archives building. He studied the layout and plans of the building and he concluded that trying to steal the Alpha by stealth is a waste of time, something he didn't have much. He opened the trunk of his car and grabbed a tube-like device. He extended the five-foot tube and hefted it on his shoulder. Aiming the business end of the weapon in an empty car, he squeezed the trigger.
The rocket launcher barked like a pistol, but it was flash less so it didn't betray Lee's position. The antitank rocket slammed on the car and detonated, blasting it to scrap metal. Sirens wailed and security men from the NDA building rushed to the scene of the explosion.
Palos is already moving. Like a slippery fish in which he got his code name he moved with stealth and speed that is almost undetectable. He entered a service door on the back of the building. Tapping his finger on his belt buckle, a signal was sent to someone and magically, the surveillance cameras were all shut down.
"Thanks Marty," Lee said to himself as he entered an elevator. He pushed the 5th button.
A massive steel vault door appeared when the elevator door opened. Palos retrieved a small device on his back pocket. He set the device on the electronic lock and typed a combination of numbers. The device scrambled the lock of the vault and after a few minutes, the first lock was disarmed. A second vault door is inside, this time using an iris scanner.
Earlier, Palos stole the retinal profile of the security in duty and use it to create contact lenses for his own eyes. Focusing the scanner on his new "iris", Lee easily opened the second vault door. The final vault is the smallest, and it was only a simple screw lock. Lee checked his watch, he had no time. The security guards could come any second.
Using his skill as a lock picker, he successfully opened the vault. Inside is a small device wrapped in heat-resistant case. This is it. He grabbed the case as the alarm suddenly sounded. Palos expected this and he didn't worry. He is out of here before anyone could arrive.
When he stepped out of the vault, six guns are pointing at his face.
3
Lee froze as six security guards stood in front of him. All of them had their guns pointed at Lee. Two are armed with Glock pistols, two with shotguns, another with a revolver and the last one is totting an assault rifle. "Don't move," said the man with the revolver.
Suddenly the lights went out, plunging the vault into darkness. Chaos erupted on the ranks of the guards as they struggled to see their quarry.
Lee's code name is based on the eel, but he is as fast a cobra. Milliseconds after the lights went out he had his infrared aviator shades on his eyes. These special glasses enabled him to see body heat, and he pounced at the guards from the darkness. The first victims are the shotgun-armed duo. Lee went down, an extendable Billy club appearing on both his hands. Before the guards could react Palos clubbed them unconscious. Their weapons clattered on the floor.
The man with the rifle panicked and fired his gun at the source of the sound. One of the guards screamed in pain as he was hit by a bullet on the leg. Palos closed in like a ghost to the rifleman and smashed the butt of the club on his jaw. The guard fell hard. Lee then whacked the gun hand of the guard leader, causing him to drop the revolver. Before he could even scream he was silenced with a blow to the temple.
The last one fired his Glock as every direction until he emptied the magazine. As he fumbled for a spare, he received a sharp blow to the head and collapsed in a cold heap. Palos didn't have the time to check them all and he bolted towards the exits.
Footsteps echoed on the corridor as more guards arrive. They opened fire when they see Lee's shadow running. Gunfire erupted like Zeus' thunder on the corridor and bullets fly like hailstorms. Lee took cover behind a pillar and drew his Beretta PX4 Storm nine millimeter pistol. He didn't want to kill the guards, but he had no choice.
Or maybe he had. He spotted a big red fire extinguisher on the end of the corridor. He aimed the pistol on the tank and fired. Chemical foam sizzled from the hole and splashed on the rushing guards. They stumbled dazed as foam sprayed on their eyes and mouths. Palos took the chance and reached the plate glass window of he building. He knew 9mm rounds wouldn't penetrate the thick glass but something will break it. Palos activated his Technomarine watch with a built-in ultrasonic sound emitter. The sound is too low in frequency to damage the human ear but it can break any glass when close enough. Lee aimed the watch at the window and pressed the button. The huge plate glass window melted into millions of glass fragments.
Like a bat from hell, Lee leaped from the open window. Using his watch, he fired a small harpoon dart attached to a very strong tensile filament wire. The dart hit the side of the building and clamped securely. The hair-like wire could support 500 pound, and it held Palos' weight as he landed safety on the ground. Police mobiles are already in the area so he quickly disappeared.
Lee got onto his car. He pushed the button on he dash and a small LCD popped out on the center. A visual of a young man in thick glasses appeared. "You got it, Lee?" asked the nerdy man.
"Yeah. Thanks for the help Marty."
"No problemo, my man," said Marty Reyes, the resident computer expert and gadget nut of Neptune. He designed almost all the high-tech weapons and equipment used by Neptune agents. Lee saved Marty's life on several occasions so he didn't hesitate in helping Lee even though he is not an agent of Neptune anymore. "What do you plan now?"
"We'll start to outfox some foxes," said Lee, looking at the Alpha chip on his hand. "This is what he wants, so I'm gonna give this to him."
4.
Lee receives the call from the unidentified terrorist to take the Alpha chip to a dark warehouse near the harbor in Navotas. He drove a yellow Lamborghini Gallardo on its almost full speed. Reaching the warehouse late at night, he killed the headlights and drove the high performance car inside the huge structure.
It was too dark. Lee turned the engine off and opened the gull wing doors. He hopped out, still dressed on his trademark long coat and Gatsby hat. He's holding his Beretta PX4 on his right hand.
"Stay where you are," a voice called out. Lee froze. He couldn't see a dammed thing but he can feel he's being watch by several people. Sure enough, a beefy terrorist took his gun and coat away. "Where is the chip?" he asked.
"Where is the bomb?" asked Lee.
Lee felt the muzzle of the gun on his back. "Where is the chip?" the terrorist repeated.
"Its in my car."
The man approached the Lamborghini. He touch the door handle…then he was thrown three feet backwards by 50,000 volts of electricity, burning his hand and knocking him out cold. The special car was booby-trapped with Marty's "anti-theft" gadgets. Only Lee could open his car via a hand scanner on the handle.
"Interesting," the voice said. "We can't get the chip unless you disarm your nice car."
"Tell me where the bomb is," Lee said defiantly. "And I'll --."
He felt a sharp blow on the back of his neck. Then nothing.
Lee felt ice-cold water splashing on his head. He blinked to clear his head. He is sitting on a metal chair, inside a dark room with only a small light bulb for illumination. A table with weapons and medical equipment are on the side. His hands are handcuffed behind his back.
"Are you comfortable?" asked the voice.
"Let me guess, you will ask if I eat my dinner?" Lee asked acidly.
A maniacal laugh followed. Lee immediately knows that this is the psychotic man that called him earlier and ordered the bombing of the university. "We could get along very well, Palos."
"You bastard."
The man finally appeared in front of Lee. He was surprise when he saw the terrorist mastermind. He is quite young, not more than 30. He is very thin, dressed in white shirt and brown jacket that is two sizes bigger for him. His hair is just normal, but behind his thick glasses are eyes that burned with madness. His smile is a psychopathic expression of his dark soul.
Lee wanted to kill him as soon as possible.
"Allow me to introduce myself," the man said. "My name is Anton Gordon. I am a rocket scientist, seriously, and so I love blowing things up."
"Including innocent people," Lee said with venom on his voice.
"It's unavoidable. I need you to get something for me so I created the perfect calling card."
The image of Yuki's lifeless body flashed before Lee's eyes. "What do you want from me?"
"The chip, of course. Tell me how to open your car."
"Tell me first where your bomb is planted."
Gordon laughed again. He nodded behind him and four other terrorist appeared. Gordon pointed to the nearest man. "This is Omar, my bomb expert. He made the bomb that detonated in your university."
Lee burned the face of the man in his memory.
"These three men are experts on interrogation," Gordon continued. "It's very simple Palos. We need the chip. And we don't need you. So we will just torture you to get what we want. By the way these guys are experts in inflicting pain beyond imagination while keeping you alive as long as possible. See you later Palos, its gonna be a long night." Gordon and Omar disappeared, leaving Lee in the hands of the three thugs.
"How do we open the door, punk?" asked the man on left.
"Use the key," Lee answered.
Behind his back, Lee's two fingers found a secret slit on his belt. Good thing the terrorist are dumb enough not to take his belt away.
The man on the left suddenly pumped his fist into a punch on Lee's jaw. His head snapped sideways to absorb the impact. It hurts, but not enough to knocked him unconscious or cause him to loose his concentration. "How's that jackass?" the terrorist asked.
Lee successfully retrieves the handcuff key on his back. He just hopes that the terrorists aren't using a different type of handcuffs.
"Hell Jim," the man in the right said. "He will talk sooner or later. Don't waste your energy."
"Look here," said the third man as he lifted a pistol from the table. "This is your gun right?" he asked Lee.
"Yes. Be careful of that, its explosive."
The three laughed. "The punk is gonna die and still he cracks jokes," one of them said.
Lee felt the handcuff loosen.
The terrorist interrogator took a wicked-looking scalpel from the table. "Lets start carving this bozo," he said as he approached Lee, holding the knife on his right hand.
Suddenly the Beretta PX4 detonated on the hand of the second terrorist. Lee knew that his gun would be confiscated so instead of bringing a real and loaded weapon, he brought a Beretta replica, almost identical to his standard gun but this replica is very special. It was design as a distraction device. Filled with plastic explosive, the gun detonated with a bright flash and incredibly thick smoke but with little sound. It did not do any injury but the terrorist are distracted long enough for Lee to pounce.
Lee bolted from the chair and delivered a vicious kick to the man on the right. His heavy steel-toed boot smashed on the goon's groin. He gasped and doubled in pain. Lee turned to the man with the scalpel. He grabbed the terrorist right hand and shoved it in his own face. The scalpel buried itself on the man's right eye, plunging into his brain and killing him instantly. He collapsed dead on the floor.
The man holding the Beretta threw the gun away when it explodes, but he was also stunned and didn't have a chance. Lee took the metal chair and drove it on the man's meat section. Then he grabbed the terrorist head with both hands and pumped his right knee into a bone-crushing Muay Thai strike on the victim's chest. The blow broke two of the terrorist's ribs, driving it like a spear into his lungs. The man coughs blood and doubled in excruciating pain. Keeping his right hand on the terrorist's head, Lee ran towards a concrete wall and drove the head onto it with full force. Skull cracked open and blood exploded on the unyielding concrete. Lee released the dead man and he fell on the floor.
The last man, hit on the gonads, finally recovers and attacked with full fury as he tackles Lee. But Lee easily avoided him and tripped him with his foot. The terrorist fell face first into the floor. Acting quick, Lee lifted the man's left leg and delivered another kick to his balls. His already ruptured testicles detonated in extreme pain. Lee then lifted his right leg and he positioned himself on the back of the terrorist. A variation of the Boston crab, Lee drove both of his knees to the lower back while locking on both legs. The terrorist's spine couldn't contain the pressure and it snaps like a twig. His body went limp and Lee released the hold.
After killing the three interrogators, Lee quickly checked the table for anything he could use. He found his Gatsby hat and slapped it on his head. He is lucky; the terrorist left several loaded weapons. He took a Heckler & Koch UMP-45 submachine gun, several magazines, and a Walther P99 pistol. He quietly slipped outside the torture room into the main warehouse. Scaling the catwalk, he found Gordon and his goons beside his Lamborghini.
5.
"We don't have time," said Gordon. "We must get the chip now."
"But we can't open the damned car," said one terrorist. "Only Palos could open it. Jimmy is still unconscious after touching it."
"Use your guns," ordered Gordon.
The terrorist stepped back and readied their weapons. Then they all open fire, peppering the Lamborghini with different caliber bullets. They only stop when they ran out of ammo. Amazingly, the car remained undamaged, even the paint remained immaculate. The terrorist are awestruck.
"What the hell is this?" Omar said. "What kind of armor is on that car? Even the thickest limo armor couldn't withstand that kind of abuse."
"Makes sense," Gordon said. "This is top technology of Neptune. Lee has it, so we must assume he is still working for Neptune."
"Maybe he didn't return the car when he retired for his own protection," Omar suggested.
Gordon shook his head. "No. I know a man from Neptune that makes high-tech weapons and equipment that will make James Bond piss his pants. I believe Palos is working for Neptune again, or someone in Neptune is assisting him. We must have the chip now."
"Maybe this will do the job," a tall, muscular terrorist said. He hefted a rocket launcher in his shoulder.
"Be sure not to fry the chip, Jack," said Gordon as they all took cover.
Jack fired the rocket launcher. The missile hit the Lamborghini on the driver side door. The shaped-charge warhead didn't penetrate but detonated with a massive explosion. When the smoke clears, the door was completely destroyed and the car is burning. Other terrorist rushed in and quickly put out the fire using extinguishers. They quickly searched the wreckage and found the chip in the passenger glove box.
"Found it!" yelled one terrorist as he held the chip high. Incredibly it wasn't damaged by the blast.
"Good work," said Gordon as he took the chip. He places it on a special case that will protect it from damage. "Lets go. We don't have much time."
"Look out!" cried one terrorist as he pointed on the catwalk. A dark figure stood there, aiming a gun at them!
Lee opened fire on full auto, the submachine gun pumping on his hand. The terrorist ran for cover but three aren't fast enough. Forty-five caliber slugs devastated their bodies and broke their skulls open. All three collapsed in dead heaps. Lee tracked the escaping men with gunfire and dropped another one.
Jack and Gordon returned fire with their pistols but Lee is already running for a better position. Lee fired the UMP until he emptied the magazine. Dropping the empty, he slapped another one and continued to fire while running towards the next cover.
"Kill that son of a bitch!" shouted Gordon. His four men continued to return fire while Gordon, Omar and Jack ran towards the back. They hopped on a pickup truck and quickly sped off, leaving the four to fight against Palos.
The four terrorists found a good cover and engaged Lee in a shootout. Lee stayed on his position and kept on firing. Then he stopped. The terrorists figured out he ran out of ammo and they could rush him, he couldn't shoot them all at once.
Suddenly, the wall beside them exploded in a cloud of dust and concrete. A big, black sport utility vehicle rushed inside the warehouse. It was a Hummer H2, modified with high-impact panels on its body. The tank-like machine roared like a giant monster out of hell, terrifying the terrorist at its mere presence. They fired their guns at the Hummer but just like the Lambo, bullets had no effect on the charging beast.
Two wicked-looking contraptions popped on the hood of the Hummer. Before the terrorist could guest what the hell are those things, the hood guns opened fire, shooting .50 caliber rounds in full auto. Two of the terrorists were immediately cut down, the heavy slugs mutilating their bodies into unrecognizable forms.
Another man tried to run away but the guns tracked him and he was hit in the back. The last man also tried to escape in the opposite direction. But Lee appeared in front of him and smashed the frame of the submachine on his head. The terrorist fell unconscious.
The Hummer stopped and Marty came out of the driver side. "How'd you like my new toy?" he asked.
"Nice. You arrived just in time," answered Lee.
"Did they fell for it?"
"Yes. They took the chip. Good thing they didn't have time to check it thoroughly or else."
Marty smirked. "It was really hard to create a fake chip with a GPS transmitter in short notice you know."
"I guess I own you a beer," Lee shrugged. "Did you send the real chip to headquarters?"
"Yes. They are analyzing it now. Neptune agents are also in search for the bomb."
"I met the leader. His name is Anton Gordon. Pretty nerdy guy, but he is scary as hell. He is a pure psychopathic terrorist."
"You smoke him?"
Lee shook his head. "I let them escape with the GPS chip. This Gordon knows about me and Neptune. We have to know where he obtained all those intel. I must keep him alive -- for a while."
"You have something on your mind?" asked Marty.
"I think he is planning something big. And that chip is part of it. Tell me immediately if you have info. And I need your Hummer. They blew my ride."
"Just bring it back on one piece," Marty sighed.