Grand Theft Auto: The Innocent Rose
Chapter 9: Downfall Part 2: Assault On The Estate.
Outside The Vercetti Estate.
The roads lay calm and quiet while the men and women of The Vercetti Gang; all protected with Bulletproof Vests and armed with Military-Grade Firearms as well as mounted weapons and snipers atop the building overlooking the grounds from a prime vantage point.
"Street Unit to Sniper Unit; all clear on street level… nothing but vans and not a soul in sight" spoke a woman with blonde hair tied back in a bun; the black earpiece communicator in her ear buzzing with indistinguishable audio before a voice came though.
"Roger that; keep an eye on those vans though… nothing on our side either" spoke a male voice on the other end of the communicator.
The woman walked out into the street with her jet-black M4 Rifle in-hand; noticing that the closest blue van's side door opened a crack before shutting again with a clicking sound, priming her rifle as she walked closer and closer to the van and knocking on its side door.
"Open up; I know somebody is inside! This area is restricted today by Boss Vercetti's order" The Woman shouted; banging on the door for an answer until the door opened up a crack once again, peering into the door to see who was inside; The Woman felt shock as a gunshot was the last sound she heard before falling backwards into the road with her own blood splattering from the bullet holes in her head when hitting the cold tarmac.
All at once; the uncountable vans opened their side and rear doors as the blue shirted and jeans wearing Haitians poured out in mass taking The Vercetti Gang Members by surprise, the entire gang of African American Gangster's swarmed the roads of Starfish Island only to open fire from countless M4 Assault Rifles and Grenade Launchers, the bullets and bombs tearing through the fifty of Vercetti's underlings stood on the street.
The Sniper's atop the roof looked on in horror before priming their rifles and taking shots though only being able to fire one high-power shot at a time was frustrating to the Gangster's as it seemed hundreds of Haitians had taken to the streets.
On ground level The Gate Unit fired their weapons through the iron gate; the bullets tearing through flesh and bone while dozens of Haitians pressured the gates with crowbars and plastique explosives to break the gate down while other squads of Haitians set the same explosives along the walls and fences.
"All Units; back away from the walls and faces! Hurry!" shouted a male Gangster into a communicator while watching from the main entrance but his warning came to late as multiple explosions tore down the gates and walls; killing dozens of Vercetti Gangster's and Haitians alike.
At the far end of the street; stepping out of a black van was Douglas Ender, smiling with pride as his attack on Tommy Vercetti's Estate was finally underway; years of planning, gathering weapons, underlings and he'd obtained the very information that would secure his victory this day: the existence of Rosa.
"Sir! We're counting the estimated heavy losses but the plan is going smoothly" A Haitian Subordinate spoke clearly though only reporting what Douglas could already see.
"Tell me something I don't already know…" Douglas spat with a venomous tone; shooting his subordinate with a deadly stare, his hand resting on the simple Handgun he had holstered.
The Haitians kept firing their Tec-9 SMG's, Sawn-Off Shotguns and Handguns as men and women of Vercetti's Gang fell to the wall of bullets; none spotting The Mounted Grenade Launchers mounted on either side of the patio leading into the Estate's Main Building, the propelled bombs arcing through the air before exploding atop the heads of the swarms of Haitians trying to overcome the defences.
Douglas sneered as the Grenade Launchers slaughtered dozens of his underlings at a time though he cared little for their lives and only valued the life of himself and his newest underlings that he'd sent to different positions to attack from.
"You two… are the big guns ready?" Douglas asked; his left eye peering over his shoulder with an icy cold stare at two Haitians stepping out of another blue van parked behind him.
"Yes sir! We're just waiting on your orders" Spoke the first of the two underlings; him being an extremely thin man with a shaved head.
"Target those Grenade Launchers… and then those irritating Snipers" Douglas spoke slowly' his every word spoken with his intent to commit mass murder.
"Yes; we'll get the weapons ourselves" spoke the second underling, a rotund female with long greasy hair.
Douglas didn't say anything more as his two underlings ran back into the van and came out with an RPG Rocket Launcher each; both weapons loaded with a Rocket primed and ready for firing, wasting no time whatsoever as the pair of Haitians targeted The Mounted Grenade Launchers while they stopped to reload their stock and fired.
The two rockets flew through the air leaving a smoky trail behind them as the two rockets flew directly into the building and exploding with tremendous force; the explosion rocking the main entrance and damaging the hinges of the main doors though The Grenade Launchers lay seriously damaged and their operators lay dead with their blood pooling around their bodies.
Douglas couldn't help but smile as black smoke rose from the estate but that smile was quickly washed away as the sounds of Police Sirens echoes in the distances and grew closer with each passing second, "You two… reload those Rocket Launchers and fire on the incoming Police".
No words needed to be spoke; the two Haitians quickly reloaded their weapons before turning to the entryway from the Bridge connecting Starfish Island to Downtown Vice City, the weapons primed and just as two Police Vehicles came into view: two large trucks carrying a fully armed Swat Team, the rockets were fired leaving a smoky trail before the two trucks burst into flames with an almighty explosion.
"Fucking Police… they have no right butting their heads in today" Douglas smirked; enjoying the sight of Police Officers die within seconds though the sound of Police Choppers soon came into earshot.
Main Office.
"This is bad… Douglas Ender and The Haitians are gaining ground… who could have expected that they'd have Rocket Launchers! Thank God that the main entrance is reinforced" Tommy spoke grimly; his grief for the dozens of men and women falling to gunfire and explosions apparent in his expression while he watched from the bulletproof glass windows overlooking the firefight.
"How did they know about the structural weaknesses in the fences? Let alone learn the secret about Rosa… only those amongst us along with Marco knew" Lucas pondered; trying to figure out how such closely guarded information could have been leaked to the enemy.
"Then who could find out?" Mercedes asked; slamming her hands down on the desk and knocking off an empty mug that had once held coffee, that same mug clattering and shattering upon hitting the floor.
"Despite my past with Douglas; I swear I did not tell him; I hadn't seen him nor spoken to the man since he became the Leader of The Haitians until he showed up at The Malibu four days ago" Marco spoke bluntly; his eyes narrowing as if the mere memory disgusted him.
"Then who else was close enough to learn that secret?" Rosa chimed in; glancing around the room and noticing that Marco simply puffed on a cigarette like he always was and Lucas was standing near her with a friendly smile on his face even though he was armed with multiple guns.
"Well that would be… Ken Rosenburg" Mercedes answered; her eyes widening with sudden realisation as soon as she spoke his name and turned to meet the deadly gaze of Ken's eyes.
Ken Rosenburg kept standing in a corner of the office; his eyes burning with an intense hatred aimed solely towards Tommy Vercetti, his hand that was priorly folded behind his hand motioned revealing a simple Handgun only to aim it at Rosa's head.
Rosa's eyes widened; the one place in the Estate that she felt safest with the company of both her parents only to switch to feeling like she was in the most danger with Ken pointing a gun at her.
"You… fucking traitor! I trusted you Ken! How could you do this to me? To my family?" Tommy's expression contorted into a look of anger; his voice bellowing at his former friend in light of his betrayal.
"Simple Vercetti, you didn't send me to cement an alliance with the triads… you exiled me! You pushed me away when I'd done so much for you and you barely gave me any thanks at all! All of this began when I pulled you out of that ambush of a drug deal when your friends were gunned down by Diaz's Men! I gave you the invitation to Juan Cortez's Party where you met your bitch! I helped you break away from Sonny by creating the counterfeit money and keeping it secret from Lance! I was the only ally left standing by your side when Sonny and Lance were lying dead in this very building!" Ken's expression was one of fury while he screamed and shouted at Tommy and his family; his voice full of anger and rage until his voice went silent with the sound of a gunshot.
Lucas stood by Rosa's side with his Combat Pistol sidearm in-hand; a light smoke emanating from his barrel after firing a single shot, the shot that had killed Ken Rosenburg and silenced his betrayal forever.
Ken's voice went silent as blood trickled from a bullet exit wound in his forehead, Ken's body having died long before he fell to the ground for once his head reached the floor Ken's blood splattered out from the bullet holes and across the rug.
This wasn't the first murder Rosa had ever witnessed but it was by far the most personal for she'd known Ken Rosenburg for years due to his repeated visits to El Swanko Casa but to now stare down at his dead body brought her no emotion whatsoever.
Tommy let out a sigh after several long silent moments of watching his former friend explain his betrayal; knowing that Ken was truly right about his he felt but went about venting that frustration the wrong way whereas if Ken had simply come to him he would have treated Ken better but instead he'd gone and betrayed them, turning his eyes to the doorway where Lucas stood with his bulletproof vest damaged and blood splattered over his shorts and shoes.
"Well done Lucas; you too Marco… for all that you two have done for me, now will you obey my final order?" Tommy spoke with an emotionless voice; his eyes locked on the cold dead body of his former friend and ally, slowly turning towards the two members he'd personally assigned to protect his daughter.
"Wait what? What do you mean by final order?" Rosa yelled in surprise; taking a step towards her father only to be stopped by the warm embrace of her mother.
"Rosa dear… please be silent" Mercedes spoke solemnly; wrapping her arms around her daughter with tears in her eyes.
"Yes sir; what do you wish us to do?" Lucas spoke first; with Marco by his side they both saluted Tommy Vercetti for his was not only their employer but the head of his own criminal organization and both Lucas and Marco felt honoured to be the ones to receive his final orders.
"I want you both to take my Squalo Speedboat to The Airport and board my Private Jet; take Rosa to Los Santos and keep her safe no matter the cost! Everything you need in already on board that Jet so please… take my daughter" Tommy spoke slowly and clearly; his expression one of clarity and knowledge of what awaited him.
"But…" Rosa gasped before Mercedes took her daughter's hands into her own; looking Rosa into the eye and speaking in a resolved and resolute tone of voice.
"Don't argue! You're leaving for your own safety and with any luck we shall see each other again" Tommy raised his voice with a tone of authority, Rosa felt the intimidation that Tommy often used to talk to enemies or Gangsters who didn't fall in line and/or filed his assignments.
"I'm not leaving! I'll… I'll fight too! All I need is a gun" Rosa shouted at the top of her lungs; tears beading in her eyes as shed realised what was to come and she'd likely never see her parents again, her mind flooding with images depicting herself fighting alongside Tommy and Mercedes in hopes that they'd might survive and live together as a happy family though naïve as that thought was.
"Now you're sounding like my daughter, but you need to listen… you are leaving" Tommy couldn't help but smile with pride upon hearing his daughter's plea; cupping her chin with his hand and kissing her forehead goodbye.
"But…" Rosa started to speak only to get cut off by Marco's sudden cut-in.
"Now is not the time to talk… it is time to run" Marco stated after cutting Rosa off; taking his burnt out cigarette from his lips and dropping the butt into an ashtray.
"I don't want to leave either Rosa; but we need to listen to our Bosses and your father's order" Lucas spoke; his hand touching Rosa's shoulder only for a moment before she stepped out from his reach only to walk towards her parents.
"Ok… I will leave" Rosa spoke; opening her arms to her parents, both Tommy and Mercedes smiled warmly as they embraced their daughter in their first family hug for when felt not only like the first time but also the last time.
Estate Foyer.
As soon as Rosa, Marco and Lucas exited the office an explosion tore the main entrance open; splinters of the destroyed double doors flew through the air while two men who'd been standing either side of the doorway were blown backwards both with a chuck of the door lodged in their necks.
"Oh god…" Rosa muttered as Haitians rushed in through the blown open door only to open fire on the survivors of the blast; men and women laying shellshocked on the floor having their lives taken with a single bullet to their heads.
"Rosa; we don't…" Lucas began to speak just as a female Haitian in the same dark blue colours of the Gang's normal attire spotted the trio standing atop the stairway; grinning and tossing a live Grenade at the trio only for the bomb to land right at Rosa's feet.
"GET BACK!" screamed a Vercetti Gang Member as he dived on top of the Grenade; the bomb exploding against his bulletproof vest though it would not save him for when the Grenade blew up; the man's blood splattered out from under him staining the clothes of the trio.
"Dammit Josh…" Marco muttered while staring down at his dead ally and friend; whipping his sidearm from the holster on his hip and firing three shots, each bullet flew through the air within the blink of an eye before burying themselves in the head of the female Haitian leaving her dead.
Lucas didn't wait to be attacked; seizing Rosa by her arm and pulling her into an adjacent corridor, pulling his own weapon from its holster and firing down into the foyer, each of his bullets finding a mark.
"Good shooting Lucas; but we need to get moving" Marco stated with a slight grave tone in his voice after watching so many people die; he and Lucas both taking Rosa's hands and guiding her down into the long winding corridors of the estate.
The booms of the explosions and echoes of gunshots echoed throughout the building as Rosa ran through the normally glorious corridors with their red walls and vases of flowers standing atop pedestals though those vases were laying in shattered pieces across the floor while Rosa ran for the dock with Lucas and Marco guiding her every step of the way towards the Docks where the Speedboat lay waiting.
"Oh Rosa! You aren't running away… are you?" called an all too familiar male voice that caused Rosa to stop dead in her tracks; a shudder of fear ran down her spine as along with Lucas and Marco they turned to meet the barrel of an AP Pistol held by Angelo now dressed in the colours of The Haitians but with a sickening happy smile on his blood-smeared face.
"Angelo…" Rosa muttered as she breathed; a look of horror in her eyes as she met the murderous gaze of her former friend now pointing a pistol at her head.
Starfish Island Streets.
Police Choppers fell from the skies amidst flames of destruction as the two Haitian continued to fire their Rocket Launchers at any Police Vehicles that dared to come to Starfish Island; the weapons being loaded with the last two rockets when Douglas set his hand to one side and signalled them both to hold fire.
"Hold off on those last two… we may need them later" Douglas smiled to himself before beginning to walk towards a blown apart section of the fencing; eyeing the Helicopter sitting atop The Vercetti Estate and surrounded by Snipers of whom continued to pick off Haitians one by one but he ignored them for their ammunition wouldn't last.
A rattling sound of gunfire sounded as bullet flew through the air from what could only have been a scattering round from a Railgun; the bullets tearing through Vercetti Gang Members as men and women fell to the cold concrete dead or screaming in pain as limbs were lost in the volley or merely lay bleeding out in the roads.
The Snipers on the roof struggled to acquire a clean shot as Haitians hid behind the few remaining vans and stone walls surrounding the other mansions, only managing to get a shot in whenever a Haitian rose from their cover to fire a round of bullets or chuck a Grenade only for the grenades to explode and flush out targets ripe for shooting.
Tommy and Mercedes both held their rifles close to their chests while a group of their men and women held their ground in the gardens against a hoard of Haitian gunmen; the sounds of guns firing and grenades exploding long with Machete's cutting through flesh companied with screams of pain and death echoed.
"Haven't charged into a firefight in a long time…" Tommy spoke with his back turned one the left side of the doorway leading to his estate's gardens; priming his Combat Assault Rifle and disengaging the safety.
"To think we'd go into battle together this time" Mercedes spoke; taking position on the right of the same door, priming her own Combat Assault Rifle and disengaging the safety.
With a simple nod to one another; Tommy and Mercedes ran out into the gardens with their guns cocked and ready to open fire, joining the ranks of their gang members raised their morale tremendously as the bullets flew before being buried in the bodies of Vercetti Gangsters and Haitian Gangsters alike, one by one the bodies fell to the soft grass that quickly absorbed the blood of the fallen.
Alongside the many men and women of The Vercetti Gang; the hail of bullets fired from the rifles of Tommy and Mercedes felled Haitian after Haitian while their allies threw Grenades and forcing enemies out of hiding only to be picked off by the Snipers.
The minutes faded in almost a full hour of firing, reloading and exploding the enemy forces though taking some heavy losses as Gangsters with Grenades kept in cover when their supply was spent and Snipers ran out of bullets, the members of The Vercetti Gang hid behind cover as The Haitians opened fire once again; bullets ricocheting off the tall marble statue that stood as the centrepiece of Tommy's hedge maze, Grenades exploding within the maze and killing any Gangsters hiding inside while they reloaded their weapons.
"Damn it… what are those Snipers doing? Just sitting up there?!" Tommy muttered to himself risking a glance up at the helipad sitting atop the estate's roof only for a massive explosion to rock the building and likely having killed any men and women still up there.
Tommy barely had time to react or give an order for his gang members rose from their cover in a moment of fury for the loss of their friends and allies, every man and woman pulling out of cover only for a fresh wave of bullets to be fired and end each and every one of their lives from a flanking group of Haitians, each one of the dark-skinned men grinning as one particular man stood at the head of the new group.
"Nice to see you again Vercetti… its been too long" spoke a voice from the flank group; for Douglas Ender stood with only a simple Handgun in his hand, his clothes being denim jeans, wingtip shoes with a blue shirt under a leather jacket, but it was his wicked smile that irritated Tommy the most.
Tommy raised his rifle with one hand and his revolver in the other; gritting his teeth at the very sight of the man who'd ruined his home, murdered his underlings and caused him to be parted with her own daughter, but before he could pull the triggers the rattling of gunfire rang out as pain wrecked Tommy's legs before he fell to the ground; bullets riddled his legs rendering him immobile but still able to fire a gun if it hadn't fallen from his hands.
"Douglas Ender… you are a fucking bastard" Tommy muttered; gritting his teeth to ignore the intense burning pain of the bullets lodged in his unprotected legs and left shoulder.
"Tommy?!" Mercedes yelled in surprise as Tommy fell to the hail of bullets; dropping her weapon as she rushed to his side just as the sound of a gun firing a single bullet resonated before the bullet struck Mercedes in her hip sending the woman crashing into the grass, "Douglas… you sneaky motherfucker".
"You kiss your daughter with that mouth?" Douglas spoke with a malicious smirk when walking towards the downed couple like a predator stalking its prey; striking Tommy Vercetti's face with the buff of his Handgun leaving a purple bleeding blotch on Tommy's face though ignoring Mercedes while she bled out.
"Don't speak of her with that filthy tongue of yours!" Mercedes shouted; his voice sounding with anger only to be silenced by a swift slap across her face by one of the eager gunmen pointing their weapons at the couple.
Douglas chuckled under his breath; his eyes leering down at Tommy and Mercedes while both had already suffered the pain of betrayal and the agony of having bullets pierce their bodies, "You're not in any position to order me around; you pompous bitch!".
"If you're going to kill us then just get it over with! You'll never find Rosa for she's out of your reach now" Tommy spat his words out like speaking to Douglas Ender was equal to speaking to The Devil himself.
"I'm not going to kill you just yet… I notice that Marco Lower isn't amongst the dead and neither is Lucas Winters" Douglas smirked; having been watching as hundreds of men and women had fallen to The Haitians weapons but he did not notice any sign of the pair he wanted to kill with his own hands.
Tommy cursed under his breath; he'd forgotten about the shared history between Marco Lower and Douglas Ender and would know that Marco's well-honed ability to drive anything thus making him the perfect person to ensure Rosa's safe escape.
Mercedes kept her mouth shut; mentally putting her trust in Marco's hands to keep her daughter safe though the thought of her daughter both being safe and never seeing her again brought a tear to her eye.
"Oh; are you crying Lady Cortez? Don't worry yourself for you'll see your precious Rosa again soon enough" Douglas knelt down to Mercedes as he spoke; all Mercedes could see through her tear-filled eyes was Douglas' smile, his wide smile lit up his face as a gunshot sounded in the air before Mercedes crumbled to the blood-splattered grass.
Tommy's eyes widened in horror as Mercedes' lifeless body crumbled to the blood-soaked grass; her eyes staring blankly into nothingness with tears lingering in her eyes and a bullet wound under her chin, "YOU FUCKING BASTARD! I'LL KILL YOU!"
Before Tommy could rise to his feet; another gunshot sounded from behind Tommy's back moments before a searing pain struck Tommy's spine sending him crumbling into the grass and barely clinging to life.
"Really now Tommy? Were those really your final words?" Douglas kept smiling while he stared down at Tommy's body; his eyes glinting with surprise as Tommy began moving for he desperately tried to crawl towards his Revolver laying only a few inches away only for any feeling in his legs to have faded with that last gunshot.
"Nice shot kid… you severed his spine with a single bullet; care to fire the kill shot?" Douglas spoke solemnly; grinning widely as Tommy's barely alive body kept crawling for his gun only for Douglas tap the gun with his wingtip shoes into the reach of Tommy's fingers.
"With pleasure Douglas… after all he is the father of that little bitch" spoke a young sounding voice from behind Tommy's back; the young man's footsteps crushing the grass underfoot, waiting until Tommy reached his gun to fire the final shot; that final gunshot hung in the air for what felt like an eternity.
Tommy's deceased eyes stared unseeingly at his shooter and killer; his own body crumbling and dying in the very gardens of his own estate, but his last thought and last image in his mind had been that of his daughter.
