Chapter 6
Gunshots rang just outside the Great Valley Airlines headquarters as Soldatos under the command of Don Giovanni battled it out with the security team provided by James Burnett. The opening shot, fired from a motel room across the street, had penetrated the window of Littlefoot's office and missed him by a couple of inches. Less than five minutes out, the QRF on standby was being scrambled and the first of the AH-1 Little Birds were lifting off from their respective helipads.
Thanks to the nerve center set up by Charmaine and her team of security experts, James knew what was going on and personally scrambled an extra team of mercenaries to deal with the threat. In addition a van carrying six Soldatos were also being scrambled from Roquebrune Cap Martin. High in the sky, an unmanned surveillance drone provides a live infrared feed of the situation back to the computer screen in James' office and the Don was watching the scene unfold anxiously.
If something serious happened to Great Valley Airlines, Littlefoot could face a serious drop in profits or worse, bankruptcy and a return to financial hardship. Charmaine knew her husband had no appetite for breakfast so she made him a cup of his favorite coffee from the Black Rifle Coffee Company.
"Grazie." James stirs the coffee before taking a sip, all while staring at the monitor. "My dear, you don't know how lucky I feel to have married you."
"You're welcome." She smiles. "Just curious, you aren't going to kill Don Giovanni are you?"
"No, I'll just neutralize his organization to the point where he can no longer strike us or our associates."
"Good to know you're keeping your promise with Marcus."
"Heh, I'm more benevolent than my father. But trust me, I'm not a softie." He presses the intercom button. "Send a few Firescouts loaded with Hellfire Missiles, it's about damn time I showed Don Giovanni how not to mess with the Burnett Family."
At an undisclosed black site operated by the Mafia, a huge flight of unmanned Firescout Helicopter drones take off from their helipads. In total, there were six of these highly advanced unmanned choppers and each had eight Hellfire Missiles on their pylons. Previously no criminal organization had employed such hi-tech weaponry, mostly because they lacked enough funds to purchase such gizmos. Charles did have the funds but he was more of an old school guy.
His son however had a different mindset. James had worked with the R&D department of Delta Arms during his short tenure as head of the company and realized the importance of going one further than your opponent. That's why he sacrificed a small portion of the family's massive vault of gold to purchase unmanned drone helicopters and teams of mercenaries. He also understood the importance of military precision when putting his armed wing into action either defensively or offensively, which is why he implemented a nerve center when Don Giovanni declared war.
As Giovanni and his Soldatos fought against their better equipped and better trained mercenary opponents, they suddenly catch a glimpse of yet another wave of aircraft approaching. Only this time these didn't seem like they were ferrying more mercenaries in. Without warning, a missile flew off the one of the choppers' racks and and detonated the car just a few steps ahead of the black van Don Giovanni and his goons were hiding behind, killing three Soldatos.
Realizing they now had the support of UCAVs, the mercenaries began advancing on the remnants of Don Giovanni's force, firing their guns as they walked towards him. A pair of Soldatos emerged from behind the van and opened up with their Beretta M12 submachine guns but they were unable to hit anyone before being mowed down by accurate semi-automatic carbine fire mixed in with occasional bursts from the Stoner light machine guns.
Things quickly took a turn for the worst when the van ferrying six of James' Soldatos arrived on the scene along with an armored GMC Yukon. Though the Capo Di Tutti Capo had not scrambled the Yukon, the Soldatos felt they needed extra firepower and had their request granted by Luca Clemenza, who was in charge of all Mafia Muscle in the Roquebrune Cap Martin area. Giovanni thought little of the SUV until it deployed its deadly M134 Gatling gun which spewed lead at a rate of sixty rounds per second.
In an instant, the head of the Italian Mafia had been caught in a deadly crossfire. Somehow he managed to avoid all the lead in the air and scramble into the motel he had been staying in. Knowing more gunmen would be waiting inside, the Soldatos pulled back and allowed the mercenaries to begin moving in. But just when they were about to take the stairs, they received an unusual order from their boss.
"Stand down, I'll take over." He said. "We can't risk taking casualties, not in something this trivial."
Unbeknownst to anyone, James had direct communications with one of the Firescouts' pilots, having connected to the communications uplink with the help of George Francesco who coincidentally also studied IT while in college. Switching over to thermal imaging, James spots his rival just as he reached his room. His surviving men helped him in and shut the door behind them. Contrary to what he said, James' mercenaries would suffer little to no casualties if they breached due to their superior training and equipment.
And to be frank, he only pulled them back because he had an ulterior motive. James gives the order to lock onto the motel room with the onboard laser designator of the Firescout UCAV.
"Take the shot." He said.
"Sir, you might risk killing Don Giovanni." The pilot responded. "You sure?"
"Just take the bloody shot you baldracca!"
"Yes sir."
TSSSSSSSSH
WHAAAAAAAAAAAM
Shrapnel flew in all directions the minute the missile exploded inside the motel room, accompanied by a large cloud of dust which filled the room. For a moment, there was no movement inside the motel room.
"Gentlemen." James' voice came through the mercenaries' radio. "Move in once the smoke clears. If you find Giovanni, rush him to the hospital."
All of a sudden, the Capo Di Tutti Capi felt a large load of emotion bricks strike him and he covers his face with his palms. Images of the day he made a deal with Marcus Giovanni to let a true blood Italian run Italy flashed back in his mind. James slumped back in his seat, thinking about the time he shot his father because he was a monster. Truth is, he was no better than his father. At the end of the day, he was just like his father Charles. He was a godfather; the boss of all bosses; the one who deserved respect.
Today he grew more matured and understood the cruel nature of friendship in the criminal underworld. A man could be your best pal in one moment and your worst foe in the other. And when a friend becomes foe, drastic actions are required. There might be an emotional weight but these weights are negligible when you talking about the future of your own organization.
The battle in Menton made headline news all over Elysium. Images captured by news crews after the gunfight was over reminded everyone of the photos taken by war photographers during the conflict between Elysium and the Kingdom of North Cretaceous. In fact the pictures didn't look like they were taken from the streets of Menton at all given the amount of bullet riddled walls, shattered glass, and destroyed vehicles.
Under James' orders, Don Giovanni was evacuated to the best hospital in the area and doctors were fighting furiously round the clock to stabilize him and drag him from the grim reaper's grip. While this was all going on, Don Burnett sat in his office, wondering if he should've done what he did. The amount of stress and burden he felt made him contemplate smoking one of the cigars he had for display but fortunately for him, his wife prevented him from doing so, albeit indirectly.
"Why did you do it?" She asks. "Don't say you didn't, the pilot spoke to me."
"To lower the risk my men would face." He answers. "They would most certainly have been shot if they went up."
"They had body armor, James. Do you think I'm that stupid? You wanted to finish what your father had done!"
"No I didn't."
"Yes you did, liar!"
Disappointed with her husband's actions, Charmaine storms out from his office. James tried to run after her but one of his security team members interrupted him. Turns out the president himself was getting a little concerned about his citizens, given the amount of violence which played out today. He wanted an end to all this before things started to get out of hand.
"I know what you're going to say, Signore Beauregard." James spoke. "Truth is, I wish not an incident like this to happen again."
"I'm glad you do." He responds. "But why? Why a god damned hellfire missile?"
"I didn't want to risk my men. I didn't know that thing was this powerful."
"We didn't develop them to counter tanks for no reason, y'know?"
"Like I said, it won't happen again."
"You'd better make sure to keep your word, because I can send the entire national guard to crash down on your organization."
"Mr. President, you have my word."
"Good."
The President of Elysium shook hands with the most powerful Mafia boss of the nation and left with his entourage of bodyguards just as Littlefoot reached the compound. He bumped into the president who on the way out and they exchanged nods. Unlike Beauregard, the Apatosaurus was here to thank his friend for coming to his aid when things went to hell, though he too disapproved of the hellfire trick. In fact, almost everyone disapproved with that particular order.
James was on the phone with the motel owner discussing how he would transfer the compensation money into his account when Littlefoot entered the office.
"Once again I'm really sorry." He gently places the phone down. "So, what brings you here?"
"I just stopped by to thank you." Littlefoot answers. "Still, I have to say that Hellfire missile-"
"Yes yes, I know. It's too much and I agree with you."
"Question now is, are you going to pay the motel owner?"
"I was discussing how I was going to transfer compensation money; that and a couple hundred thousand extra to compensate for the momentary drop in profits."
"That's good to know."
"So, anything else?"
"Yeah, what on Earth are we going to do about my ex?"
"With Giovanni gone? I'm pretty darn sure she's harmless enough that you can deal with her yourself."
"Harmless? Hardly. She's probably going to lead a revenge strike on the compound to pull you down with your old rival."
James' eyes immediately widened in shock when he heard his friend's words. So focused was he on his rival that he had completely forgotten about Max and Danielle. Of course Ali would attempt to get them out of the compound, they were her adoptive children for Pete's sake! And unlike last time, she could actually pull off such an endeavor since the Giovanni family would certainly not pass up an opportunity to return James' "gesture of kindness".
