The Vercetti Chronicles - Vol. 1, Issue 5
The Patriot Tommy is driving, along with the two Vercetti gang soldiers riding with him, pulls up onto a side road and stops on the sidewalk. He hauls out a pair of binoculars and looks up at the roof of a big blue building. He sees his compadre Phil Cassidy looking around, with a sniper rifle in front of him. He waits as a red Rancher pulls up next to the Patriot. The man in the passenger seat rolls down his window, as does the driver of the Rancher. It's another one of the soldiers of Tommy's crime family.
"You guys go in first, we'll follow you in."
"Sure thing, boss."
The Rancher pulls up the road, with Tommy following close behind. There is no one in the parking lot yet. The Rancher pulls up and stops. Tommy backs the Patriot up next to the Patriot, in case a quick getaway is needed. Tommy still hasn't shaken the eerie feeling surrounding this deal. He can almost write it off to just nerves. He gets a little jittery whenever he does a deal with a new client. But there's still that little bit of uncertainty in his mind that he can't dismiss, possibley to make sure he doesn't become too sure of himself. The Spank trade is a dodgy business, but it's good money, so it's a price Tommy deemed worth it a year ago. He's drawn out of his meandering thoughts by one of the soldiers tapping him on the shoulder.
"Mr. Vercetti, they're here."
Tommy looks up and sees two black Burrito vans pull into the parking lot.
"Alright, showtime. Now, no one look to the blue building to our left, Phil is up there for some insurance. Everyone be cool."
The two vans stop and the back doors open up simultaneously. Tommy keeps his gaze on the vans as two young men get out of each of them. The vans lights dim as the engine dies. The drivers of both vans get out, along with the passengers. Tommy can see that these four men are carrying Tec-9 Uzi's, less powerful then his men's MP5's and his own Python 6-Shooter. The men that got out of the back all have Mac-10 Uzi's, a little more powerful, but not much. Tommy and his henchmen walk towards the men. Two of his henchmen are carrying silver briefcases, containing 50 grand in counterfeit $100 bills.
"You got the money?"
This kid doesn't sound like he's broke 20 yet, Tommy thinks to himself, bewildered.
"You got the spank?"
"Yeah, here it is."
The kid motions for the two others to hand over the cases. They set them on the ground in front of Tommy and his men, Tommy never taking his gaze off the young ringleader. Tommy turns and nods to the soldier carrying the two silver briefcases. He steps forward and lays them in front of the young man directing business. He then leans forward and takes the two black cases. He steps back and opens the cases. Sure enough, they're packed with bags of spank. He looks up at Tommy, smiles and nods.
"Alright, Gentlemen. Pleasure doing business with you guys."The young man nods nervously and looks around at his other companions. Tommy's party turns and walks back towards their vehicles. Suddenly, two more Burrito vans screech to a halt outside the gates of the parking lot, blocking the exit. More men get out and point their guns toward the Vercetti gang.
"A-alright! You guys, give us the spank and none of you will get killed!"
Tommy looks around at the scene in front of him. A bunch of young punks, about 15 in total, trying to pull a fast one over on the Vercetti mob. Tommy glances up at Phil on the roof, who's aiming right at the face of the leader of the gang. Tommy looks at the young man and can see the red dot shaking on his forehead. His eyes are wide and his gun is raised at Tommy. Suddenly, a shot blasts and the kid's face goes red as the bullet crashes into his head. Phil manages to get 4 more people before anyone can react. By this time, Tommy and his men have dove behind their vehicles as the remaining ten men spray the vehicles with a rain of bullets from their sub-machine guns. Tommy can see one of them firing blindly up at Phil, but knows the kid isn't a good enough shot to cause any damage. One of the Vercetti henchmen pops up and starts firing, spraying the kids with bullets. Tommy can hear screams as people are hit, and the men hops back down, his clip empty. The firing stops and Tommy peers out from behind the Patriot. He hears a roar as his men in the van tear out of the parking lot of Escobar and stop just short of the kids in the car. Tommy waits to hear the gangsters remaining scream in pain as their bodies are riddled with bullets, but the sound never comes. Instead, he hears some talking.
"They're behind their cars."
He looks out again and sees three men wearing black suits and matching gloves. Each of them has two Colt pistols in each hand. They step out in front of the black vans in the parking lot and line up. Tommy can tell these guys are professionals, but he doesn't know what family they are. Tommy turns back to his men, who are all crouched on the ground, waiting for instructions.
"OK, when I say go, everyone pop up firing. I don't know where our backup is and Phil had to high-tail it, so we're on our own. OK...1-2-3- GO!!"
Tommy and his men pop up, their guns rested on the hoods of their jeeps, firing away. The men in the suits take cover behind the black vans. Tommy manages to catch one of them on the back of his leg. He falls to the ground and rolls over, firing away. Two of the soldiers direct their attention to the man, as his guns run out of ammo. His body starts to shake violently as he's pumped full of lead. Tommy ducks back down behind the Patriot to reload. His men follow his lead and do the same. Tommy puts 6 more bullets in his gun and looks over to his men, some fumbling with clips. Suddenly, he hears a crash on the hoods of his cars and looks up to see the two suited men on the cars, guns drawn.
"LOOK OUT!"
Tommy rolls out of the way, 4 of his men also roll under the Rancher. One of them, who was still reloading, wasn't so quick. The two men each send four bullets into the man's, whose name is Carl, chest. The two men hop down. Tommy catches the one nearest to him in the gut with a shot. The man falls down, face twisted in a grimace of pain and anger. Tommy brings his gun up and aims right at the mans head. The scene is almost in slow motion, Tommy pulls the trigger, he hears the hammer fall and the bullet shoot out of the barrell with a dull roar, it makes a splash as it enters the man's head. A cloud of red fills the air as his head explodes. His guns drop to the ground and his body goes limp. The one remaining assasin turns around, blood soaking his right leg. He aims his gun down at Tommy but suddenly gets a chest full of lead as two henchmen empty their clips into the mans midsection. The white shirt underneath his black blazer goes red. Tommy looks at the two men and nods his gratitude. The three reload and get up. There are a few men now left, holding their guns in their shaking hands. Tommy and the 4 men all step out from behind the Patriot guns blazing. Tommy catches one man in the shoulder, he flies back and hits the van, leaving a big dent glistening in a streetlight. The other punks fall to their knees, all but one of them dead. Tommy walks up to the young man, whose red shirt is getting darker, with the bullets in his chest. He points his gun down at the man's head, their eyes locked.
"Who do those men work for? WHO?!"
Tommy, now enraged, glares down at the men. He opens his mouth to say something.
"From-Liberty.."He coughs, his breath getting short. His eyes start to roll back into their lids as his head hits the pavement, dead. Tommy's mind is racing. Liberty. Liberty City. The Forelli's operated out of Liberty. One of the Henchmen, carrying the briefcases containing the spank walks up behind Tommy.
"What'd he say?"
"He said...those guys were from Liberty."
"Liberty City? Didn't Sonny.."
"Yeah, he did. Looks like they're trying to get their revenge on us. C'mon, we can worry about this tomorrow, we need to head back to the mansion."The two walk back over to the Patriot and climb in. The other 3 men are already in the Rancher, waiting to haul out. Tommy climbs into the drivers seat, as the guy sets the briefcases containing the spank on top of the briefcases containing the counterfeit bills. Tommy's eyes start to go screwey, reminding him of the time Phil's boomshine got to him. He lets his head fall back onto the headrest as the henchmen climbs in the passenger's seat.
"Mario, I think you better drive, I don't feel so good."