Three days later
Saturday
The Sicilians attacked us.
On the other hand, maybe a better word would have been, ambushed. Fusion was off its game and that was worrying me, badly. The call had gone out; there was trouble in a part of the City where the Sicilians had gathered. Our intelligence gathering apparatus had failed us – I would be having personal words with my snouts – which meant that we had no idea of the well-equipped army that awaited us.
We also learnt who was behind all the Sicilian activity: The Godfather, himself.
That night
We departed in full force.
Something in the back of my mind told me that the D'Amico family were involved somehow – I just had that feeling. It was also the first night back out for Petra – she had passed an exhaustive set of checks administered by Cathy. Hailee had complained about the check-ups, but her mother had told her that she would backup Cathy if she was not fit enough to go back out.
I advised Hailee that it was not a good idea to argue with Cathy!
Safehouse F
Control Centre
It was always the part, which I hated: everybody departing for a potentially dangerous operation.
I knew Hal hated it, too. As we both watched, names appeared on the large vertically mounted screen on the right hand side of the main wall of the Control Centre, as Fusion members departed the Safehouses.
'HIT GIRL' appeared in purple as she accelerated up the ramp on her Panigale. Next came 'SHADOW' in blue as she followed on her own Panigale. 'JACKAL' joined the list in black as he followed Shadow on his tan Ninja ZX-10R. Three more names appeared simultaneously as Iron Hide roared out of the Safehouse, 'KICK-ASS' in green, 'SPLINTER' in orange and 'MIST' in grey. Finally, 'PETRA' appeared in pink as she joined the convoy on her own motorcycle.
Four other names were visible on the board as allocated to 'SAFEHOUSE F'. 'BATTLE GUY' in gold, 'HAL' in silver, 'MEDIC' in white, and 'HAWK' in red. Hawk and I were backup and Hound was ready to deploy at a moment's notice.
I watched intently as the variously coloured dots appeared on the large map of Chicago and moved northeast at speed.
Forty minutes later
Northeast Chicago
The ambush had closed around us.
Over twenty armed men, many of whom appeared to be mercenaries of various sorts. We had expected something, but we were still caught with our proverbial pants down! We were inside a large multi-floored structure that used to be a theatre – more precisely the Uptown Theatre on North Broadway. The place was a goddamn nightmare; it was immense and in a bad state of disrepair. There was no way that we were going to back down, so we dove into the fight, seven vs over twenty.
We had faced worse odds!
Uptown Theatre, Mezzanine Level
Bullets flew, striking our armour as Shadow and I dove for cover behind the seats of the mezzanine level.
On entering the theatre, we had split up. Petra and Splinter, along with Kick-Ass and Mist had stayed below, heading onto the main floor of the theatre. Shadow and I had headed up to the mezzanine level, slowly climbing the sweeping staircase that led upwards.
We had almost immediately come under fire from balconies above us. We both opened fire on anything that moved, dumping magazine after magazine – we were going through ammunition too damn fast!
I could hear shooting from down below as the other teams engaged the enemy within the seating and on the stage. The building was going be a nightmare to clear and we would be under fire the entire time.
Uptown Theatre, Main Level
I had not expected the night to go well, but things sucked!
The gunfire was heavy and bullets pinged off of my heavy chest armour as I engaged targets with my G36K. I grinned as the odd body fell from height and crashed into the seating. Mist yelled out a warning as men appeared from a doorway to our left and she dropped one with her chain whip, almost taking his head off.
Splinter and Petra were fighting hand to hand as more men appeared. Everything was going to shit – we needed ammunition and help, fast!
Uptown Theatre, Main Entrance
Battle Guy had put the call out and SWAT was inbound, but over ten minutes out.
I was on guard outside when I received the call for more ammunition. I cleaned out each transport and slung packs over my back as I accelerated for the main door – my trusty Ninja NX-10R smashing through the glass door. I skidded on the marble floor, but regained my balance and aimed for the right-hand of the two curving staircases.
I came under fire from the balcony to my left and took a moment to send a burst of automatic fire from my P90 that was slung across my chest into the balcony. Two bodies fell to the marble below and did not move. I accelerated up the stairs and onto the mezzanine level.
Uptown Theatre, Mezzanine Level
Damn, Jackal knew how to make fucking entrance!
I heard the roaring engine before he appeared, kicking a cunt off the level, sending him crashing into the seating below. He skidded to a halt beside me and handed me a pack of ammunition and magazines.
"Gotta go!" He growled and span his rear wheel as he turned about and headed back towards the lobby.
"He's fucking nuts!" Shadow growled with a slight chuckle.
Uptown Theatre, Main Level
Normally I would have put riding a motorcycle inside a theatre down to Hit Girl, however...!
I saw Jackal roaring onto the Mezzanine Level above, before accelerating away. He had given Hit Girl and Shadow much needed ammunition. I had no idea where Jackal was heading next, but a minute or two later he appeared on the main stage and started to take shots at cunts with his P90, ignoring the return fire as bullets struck his heavy armour.
Splinter and Petra took the opportunity to make for the stage where they would have better coverage as they took down cunts. Petra fended off a pair of cunts while Jackal reloaded his P90 before accelerating off to clear the private boxes that ringed us on both sides.
Then I heard a scream and looked up to see Hit Girl plummeting towards me; she had fallen off the Mezzanine Level. Hit Girl struck me and we both collapsed to the floor. The bitch was giggling!
"Just thought that I'd drop in!" She growled before running for the nearest stairs that would take her back up to Shadow.
Uptown Theatre, Mezzanine Level
Fuck, I was starting to tire.
Hit Girl was fighting with an enormous cunt, who then threw her over the balustrade into the seating below. Thankfully I heard her voice over the comms as it appeared she had crashed into Kick-Ass! I shot the cunt who threw her, in the head.
Hit Girl reappeared two minutes later, her Tanto in her hand and dripping blood.
"Having fun?" I enquired as I punched another mercenary in the face, busting his nose.
"I've had better days!" Hit Girl replied with a laugh.
I could hear the roar of Jackal's Ninja as he engaged cunts around the theatre – Mindy was going to be mad at him for upstaging her with that stunt!
Finally, the level was clear and we headed up between the seating to clear the rooms behind.
..._...
We found a room being guarded by a dozen men; they covered the corridor, but moved out as we approached and caught us in a crossfire. Bullets flew all around and several struck my armour, which fucking hurt. We were majorly outgunned, but then our saviour arrived!
"Incoming!"
It was Jackal and as he approached on his Ninja, he skidded and put his machine flat on the marble floor where vigilante and motorcycle skidded past us, taking out gunman after gunman and sending them flying. Jackal was firing his FN Five-seveN pistols as he skidded down the corridor on his back, dropping many more.
I cringed as I saw my man and his machine smack into the wall at the end of the corridor. Hit Girl and I both jumped up and ran after him, killing anybody that moved.
Well, that was fun!
I jumped up and dumped my magazines, inserting fresh ones before I turned, ready for action. There before me, were my two favourite girls running towards me, Hit Girl had her Wakizashi drawn, with a pistol in her other hand. Shadow brandished her bō-staff, itching for action.
"Fusion, Battle Guy; SWAT is onsite and engaging!"
"Copy that – about time, too!" I growled.
We approached the room that they were guarding, unsure about what we might find. The door was now unguarded and I kicked the door in, so Hit Girl and Shadow could dive in.
"Clear!" came the call.
..._...
I entered the room cautiously.
There was a large screen TV, a laptop and a webcam setup on a table in the otherwise empty room.
"Am I the only one who is confused?" I enquired.
The screen came to life and we saw a man sitting in shadow. His face was obscured, but he chuckled appreciatively.
"Well done, Hit Girl – I am impressed, but annoyed, to see you still in one piece, let alone walking about!"
"Sorry to disappoint you, I have a tendency to survive!" Hit Girl growled back, stowing her blade and pistol.
I moved to cover the doorway while Hit Girl's attention was taken by the TV.
"Hit Girl, we are at war..."
"Why?" I enquired.
"You know of the Genovese?" The man continued.
"Should I?" I replied, genuinely at a loss.
"The Godfather, my Grandfather, is Vito Genovese..."
"Look, I have not got time for a Goddamned history lesson, so cut to the fucking chase!" Hit Girl growled impatiently.
"... And he had a daughter, Angie..."
"Oh, fuck!" Kick-Ass growled as he entered the room, catching the end of the sentence, but it took me a few more seconds to join the dots on a certain family tree.
"Angie D'Amico!" I growled. Chris D'Amico's Mother.
"Well done!" The man chuckled.
"The family honour is at stake – we have no choice but to avenge Angie, Frank, Ralph and young Christopher."
"Why, they were all fucking nutcases and they were a cancer on New York and Chicago. Oh, by the way, we never killed Angie."
"That may be, but you were involved, which is enough..."
"Who the fuck are you?"
"I am Anthony Genovese, son of Carlo Genovese, son of Vito Genovese."