The Vercetti Chronicles - Vol. 2, Issue 5
Dusk is breaking in Vice City. The setting sun casts a shadow of blue, pinks, oranges and reds across the sky. A black speck can be seen coming from the east island. It grows larger as it comes towards the Vercetti Estate. Finally, the helicopter begins to land on the roof of the mansion. Tommy can see from the pilot's seat his two men waiting near the helipad. Both are holding the Ruger machine guns Tommy had Ken pick up. One of the men also has a black case with Ammunation's logo on the front. Tommy has bought many of these cases in his year in Vice City. It's contains about 15 rounds of ammo for the two machine guns. As the heli starts to descend onto the helipad, both men duck. The engine stops and the propellers start to slow down as the helicopter lands safely on the roof of the mansion. First, Frank gets out carrying a small, red gas can. He goes to the back of the helicopter and starts to fill it up. Tommy gets out a moment later and walks over to the two men.
"You guys all set? Ken got you the stuff?" Both men nod, keeping stern looks on their faces. "Alright. Frank, we good to go?"
A voice comes from somewhere behind the helicopter. "Yeah, Tommy. All set."
Tommy nods his approval. "Let's go."
He walks around to the pilot's seat and gets in. Both men get in on the passengers side, one in the front and one in the back. Tommy starts up the engine as Frank walks down a ramp and into the mansion. The propellers start to spin around, gaining speed with each revolution. Soon, the helicopter is airborn. Tommy spins it around and they're flying towards Escobar International. He looks over to his henchmen and taps him on the shoulder. Once he has his attention, he points to his ears. The soldier nods and puts on a pair of headphones, the other one does the same.
"OK, there are some helipads at Escobar that are never used. We're gonna land on one and wait until Fratelli starts to move. We're gonna have to keep our distance, but we should be able to follow them fine. No one make a move until I tell you. I don't want any loss of life tonight besides theirs."
"Sure thing, boss," one half-says, half-screams over the roar of the engine. The other one nods as well. They fly over the ghettos of Vice, Little Haiti and Little Havana. Tommy looks down and sees some Haitians and Cubans in a gunfight, with a copcar coming up the street. If he didn't have a job this important to do, he would have stopped and popped a few Haitian's heads. But this is too important. This is the opportunity he's been waiting for, to teach those Liberty scumbags a lesson, to send a bold message: Tommy Vercetti doesn't fuck around.
Soon, they are coming up on Escobar International. Tommy looks down in front of the airport and sees a white Stretch, similar to the one that Tommy has at his mansion, parked next to a black Sentinel, just like the ones the guys who shot some of Tommy's men were driving a couple of nights ago. The helicopter goes up and over the terminal roof. Tommy flies over a vacant helipad and circles around. He brings down the chopper smoothly, resting it right on the big yellow "H". He shuts off the motor and sits back.
"So, Tommy. Any idea just why these guys are all of a sudden after us?"
"Well...word is that they're a new family in Liberty and trying to move there game down here. They run the spank game up in Liberty City, much the same as we do down here, just not as powerfully. Now they're trying to muscle in on our business. That can't happen."
"I get it. Why don't we send up some guys to talk to them, try to work out an arrangement?"
"I don't think these guys are the sharin' type. If they just wanted a cut of the action, they would have sent someone down right from the start to work out a deal, not try to ambush us. Besides, I don't take too kindly to wise guys killing my soldiers. This is war now."
All three men have grim looks on their faces. A henchmen coughs, but other than that, they sit in complete silence. The sky is dark now, with the moon starting to rise in the sky. Suddenly, Tommy sees it. The white Stretch driving down the road with the black Sentinel following behind. He starts up the engine, as all three men put on their headphones.
"That's them. It's showtime."
The propellers start to spin around faster and faster, suddenly they're airborn. As they lift up, Tommy can see his targets driving along at a medium pace. There isn't much traffic on the roads, just a few cars here and there. Tommy keeps following the men as they turn out onto the main strip of road of the west island and pick up speed. Tommy goes back behind buildings, always staying a little bit behind them. Suddenly, they turn up onto a bridge and start going toward the east island. Shit, Tommy thinks. This makes things a little harder.
"Hold on, boys!"
Tommy thrusts the steering stick forward as the helicopter dips down belows the bridge. Tommy pulls back just before they hit the water and continues on just far enough away from the bridge so he can still see the mafiosos. A minute or two later, they're off the bridge and back on the road. Tommy lets the helicopter rise up, high above the traffic. The cars run along, passing the marina where Col. Cortez used to be docked. They drive along Ocean Beach, before the cars pull up a sidestreet and into an alley. Tommy flies down a block and sets the helicopter down on a roof. He and his two men get out and quickly walk over to the edge of the building, keeping low as not to be seen. All three men walk to the edge of the building and lie down. The two soldiers get in position to fire at the mafia crimeboss, and Tommy also has his Python drawn, just in case. Tommy hauls out a pair of binoculars and looks down at them. He sees a man in a black suit with a pair of black gloves on get out of the limo and walk to the back door. He opens it, and an overweight man with grey hair and a thick mustache gets out. The man stands up straight, looks around and goes to the trunk. Another man in black opens the trunk, and the fat man, Vichenzo, as Tommy has gathered, hauls out two black briefcases.
"Alright, guys, that's him. Aim carefully, and give em hell!"
Both men steady their guns and take aim. Tommy watches through his binoculars as two shots ring out. Vichenzo is shot twice in the back, a stream of blood exploding from each bullet hole. Another shot rings out as he gets shot in the neck. He falls down to the ground dead. The henchmen standing outside all take out a Colt .45 and aim up at them, but don't shoot. I guess they can't see us, Tommy thinks, because of the dark.
"Get those men, but let one live."
Tommy looks back into the binoculars as three more shots ring out and three bodyguards go down. Two are dead, one is shot in the leg, screaming.
"Take out the car."
Both his men stand up and start to spray the car with bullets. All Tommy can hear is the "RATATATATATATATATA" of machine guns as little silver holes appear all over the black paintjob of the Sentinel.
"OK, THAT'S GOOD," Tommy yells. The men stop firing. "C'mon."
The three men walk back down a flight of stairs and jog over to the crime scene. Blood is splattered everywhere.
"Check the car," Tommy orders.
One of the men goes over to the car and looks in. All the men are riddled with bullet holes. Blood is smeared on the windows and the upholstery.
"Yeah, they're dead, Tommy. Real dead."
Tommy gives a quiet laugh. "Good." He walks over to the wounded soldier, still whimpering and cursing. "Shut the fuck up. Now. I know your probably in a lot of pain, but I really couldn't care less. I'm gonna let you live for one reason and one reason only. To send a message to all your goomba bosses up in Liberty. You're gonna-" The man spits in Tommy's face. Tommy takes a hanky out of his back pocket and whipes the hawk off his cheek. He smiles and looks back down at the man, his eyes burning. He raises his gun, as the man's mouth drops open. "That wad of saliva just cost you your life." Tommy pulls the trigger and shoots the man in the chest. His body tenses up as a cloud of blood sprays forth from his midsection, and then goes limp. A police siren grows louder in the distance. "Come on, lets get out of here."
The three men turn around and run back down the alley. They go up the stairs and hop into the helicopter. The propellers start to spin again and they take off into the starry night sky just as a police cruiser pulls into the alleyway.