March 17, 2007. 02:33 AM
Rafa pushed the door open. Nothing. No one was there.
The door led him outside of the building he crashed before. He ran as fast as he could, heading toward the nearest hangar.
Above him, helicopters swept their searchlights across him, beam of lights spotted him through the night.
"Stop right there, Captain Reinarcher!!" the pilot's voice shouted from the loudspeaker.
Rafa tried kept running, but ahead of him, soldiers lined up, ballistic shields raised, pistols aimed.
He spun his body around. More soldiers blocked the way behind him, shields and pistols forming another wall.
He glanced upward. The helicopter's light grew brighter, blinding him.
The helicopter descended slowly. The rotor blown Rafa's hair and the tall grass around him until they danced.
From the opened door, Sera appeared.
"Raise your hands, Rafa. We can do this the easy way," he called out nervously.
Sera lowered himself with a careful move, rope ascender in his hand, boots braced against the device as he slid down.
Rafa could be seen hesitated from Sera's eyes. His right hand tightened around the grappling gun. His left shoulder hung stiffly, the pain hidden beneath his silence.
Sweat glistened on Sera's face.
Slowly, Rafa lifted both hands. One steady, the other trembling from the wound.
Suddenly, Rafa threw already cooked smoke grenades to the sky, clusters arcing upward.
Four thick trails of smoke blossomed from the ground to up. Rafa fired his grappling hook into the haze and pulled himself through the thick smoke like a swarm of bats., vanishing behind the curtain.
Gunfire erupted, rounds slicing through the smoke, but they all missed.
The helicopters' searchlights locked onto Rafa's position they predicted, but blinded by the dense cloud of smoke. Rafa managed to hide behind the smoke.
Rafa burst out from smoke, sprinting hard. He landed on the rooftop of a nearby building.
The helicopters chased and swung their beams toward him, locking his position.
Soldiers with machine guns emerged from the helicopters. Sera was behind the soldiers in one of the helicopters, looking away from Rafa.
They opened fire. Rafa lunged forward with his grappling hook, his body horizontal, legs pointing to the taut line.
Bullets shredded the air but they missed. He swung too fast, too fast until he landed and vaulted off the edge of the building. He fired the hook again toward a taller building.
From several rooftops of buildings and windows, soldiers fired their weapons at Rafa's position mid-air,
He crashed through a window, glass shattering around him. It was the building he previously flew at.
The soldiers inside raised their weapons, already waited for Rafa.
But in an instant, the room flooded with gray death. It was because of smoke grenades that were detonated by Rafa. The soldiers coughed, blinded. They cant shoot at anything. Their weapons nothing but a useless metal without thermal vision.
There were 10 soldiers inside.
Phantom movement.
Rafa lunged at the nearest soldier, body bent down, low, driving a savage right uppercut into his jaw. The soldier collapsed instantly.
The soldier beside him heard the impact. He turned around, muzzle flashing yellow, enlightening the smoke, but—
Thump!
Rafa slammed him sideways. The man crashed against the wall with a heavy thud.
One of the nearest soldier realized, Rafa had the advantage behind the smoke. He take out a grenade.
"Grenade!" he shouted, warning everyone.
Rafa reacted instantly, he quickly dragged two of the fallen soldiers into cover with him.
The other eight dove behind walls and pillars.
BOOM!!!
The blast shattered down the glass, windows exploding into million shards. The smoke vanished in just a blink.
From behind the wall, Rafa peeked. At the corridor, three soldiers were advancing, hugging the wall, while five more covered from behind them.
Rafa quickly leapt through the broken window, grappling hook firing upward. The line snapped tight, pulling him into the air.
The soldiers from inside looked up, weapons immediately aimed at him.
But—
Rafa swung hard toward the rearmost soldier.
THUMP!!!
His boot smashed into the man's head, dropping him to the back instantly.
Gunfire immediately erupted, bullets flying toward Rafa, but he had already hooked onto a pillar, swinging behind cover.
In the same momentum, he flew out again, kicking another soldier in the chest.
As the man collapsed to the floor. Rafa flew until braced against the wall.
The soldiers aimed again, unleashing a storm of bullets.
Rafa fired his grappling hook at the farthest man. The line pulling Rafa into the air.
He soared above the gunfire, dodging every bullets.
He got more closer into the farthest soldier,
THUMP!!!
The soldier dropped down in a blink, his body hardly hitting the floor.
Five more remained.
Rafa fired again, hook snapping onto the front soldier. He threw himself forward, fist aimed.
THUMPP!!!
The man fell. Rafa quickly dropped down to a prone, bullets screaching past his overhead. He flew again, grappling hook fired, pulling him behind a wall for cover.
The soldiers chased him, rounding the corner.
But Rafa's hook was already set.
He launched forward, smashing into one soldier's head with a flying kick as he fall out from the shattered windows.
The air pressure was ignored. Rafa swung upward, twisting his body mid-air, and eyes locking on the three left.
They fired, bullets flying toward him. Rafa twisted mid‑swing, dodging, then crashed onto the upper floor.
The soldiers threw down their empty rifles, switching to pistols. No time to reload.
As expected, Rafa leapt again.
Shots rang out.
One bullet tore into Rafa's left bicep.
He gritted his teeth, hook snapping forward. He flew to the farthest soldier, left‑hand punched into his face.
The others fired immediately, countering Rafa's attack.
Rafa jumped with his body bent forward to the pillar, but a round clipped his right leg.
He hissed, then fired again. The hook pulling him out of the kill zone.
The soldiers shoot at Rafa mid-air, but his hook grabbed into one of the soldiers. He shoot it, a bullet pierced into a soldier's right shoulder.
Rafa swung again. He crashed into the soldier with his pistol in his hand, punching him with Rafa's pistol grip. The gun flew upon contact.
He rolled forward, body low, right-hand fingers on the floor. Only one remained.
1 vs 1.
Bare hands.
Rafa and the soldier ran, coming closer to each other.
The soldier swung his right arm.
He blocked. Body twisted, attacked with a brutal right jab into his face.
The soldier collapsed instantly.
Then, the sound of roaring rotor blades grew louder. A helicopter approached him, its spotlight sweeping across the shattered room.
Rafa quickly pressed himself against the wall, hidden in the shadows.
The light swept across the wreckage room, searching, but found nothing.
As the helicopter turned around, Rafa fired his grappling hook.
The line snapped tight against the aircraft's frame. In one violent pull, Rafa launched himself out of the room into the night air.
Rafa managed to land inside the helicopter cabin.
Three soldiers was in there, rifles in their hand.
They couldn't fire, afraid of damaging the Helicopter.
Behind the soldiers, Rafa spotted Sera. Sweat glistened on his face, his eyes trembling.
The front soldier lunged at Rafa, swinging his rifle. Rafa blocked, then instantly driving a sharp left jab into the soldier's face.
But from behind the soldier—
Thump!
The stock of a rifle smashed against Rafa's cheek.
He stumbled backward, but didn't fall.
Rafa quickly regain his composure, both hands raised, ready to fight.
The rifle stock swung again. Rafa blocked, dropped low, and swept his leg, knocking the soldier down.
He rose quickly, then blocked the last soldier's attack.
Rafa slammed him into the body of the second soldier. As they fell together, Rafa stomped down on the soldier's head, not killing him, but leaving him paralyzed.
"Look, Rafa, don't do this," Sera said.
Rafa's eyes locked onto him, unflinching, cold, and unwavering.
"Bullshit. I need to leave." Rafa said in a cold tone.
"No. Listen to me!... You're my closest friend..." Sera pleaded, voice cracking.
Rafa didn't wait. He suddenly threw himself out of the helicopter, grappling hook snapping tight on the helicopter's rotor. His body pulled and rotated by the moving rotor.
With a precise angle, he released himself off, launching him through the night sky, straight toward the hangar.
He's flying.
Falling into the hangar.
Closer, closer, and—
Ckringgg!!!
The rooftop window shattered. His body pierced through, bones fracturing, breaking under the violent impact.
He hit the floor hard. Blood splattered, but he was still alive.
Groaning, Rafa slowly pushed himself up, every movement weak, trembling. Step by step, he staggered forward, dragging his wounded body toward the jet.
Suddenly, the hangar doors burst open, boots stomping everywhere. Soldiers comming in.
Rafa quickly leapt inside the jet, blood still dripping, body trembling, but his hands steady. The engines roared alive.
With a violent push, the jet blasted forward, tearing through the hangar doors and into the night sky.
Outside, turrets locked onto him.
Drr-drr-drr!
Tracer rounds streaked across the air, but Rafa had already pre‑dodged, banking hard. The bullets missed, slicing trough the empty sky.
From behind, five jets appeared, engines screaming, wings cutting through the air. They opened fire, 20mm rounds shredding the night.
Rafa twisted, his jet dancing between the streams of fire. Sparks lit the sky, but he was untouchable.
He pulled the throttle, then did the unthinkable.
Rafa launched himself out of his own jet, then firing his grappling hook toward the nearest enemy aircraft mid-air. The line snapped tight, dragging him across the night.
He slammed into the cockpit canopy, shattered it, and forced the pilot to eject. The parachute burst open, drifting helplessly below.
20mm bullets screamed past, but Rafa swung again, hooking onto another jet. He tore the canopy open, ripped the pilot out, and hurled him into the night with his parachute opened.
The turrets fired again, streams of bullets tearing through the night sky and locking onto Rafa's jet. In an instant, the aircraft was shredded, collapsing in flames.
20mm rounds walked toward him, but Rafa twisted sharply, dodging, and fired his grappling hook to the jet.
Before he could act, the turrets struck again several rounds ripped into the wing of the aircraft.
Rafa slipped and fell into the void.
His hands hovered in the air,
Then... Snap!
The line pulled tight, dragging his body back toward the jet. He swung hard, narrowly avoiding the storm of turret fire.
Landing on top of the fuselage, Rafa wasted no time. He ripped the canopy open and ejected the pilot. The parachute burst open, drifting the pilot helplessly below.
But the sky was merciless. 20mm rounds and turret fire piercing toward him at once.
Rafa quickly leapt high, body crashing downward as the jet itself was torn apart, spiraling into destruction.
Mid‑fall, Rafa fired again. The hook latched onto another aircraft. He swung, smashed into the canopy, and ripped the pilot out. Another chute opened, mixing with the chaos.
One more jet.
Rafa threw himself toward the last jet, grappling hook firing.
The turrets locked on him, rounds shattering across the sky.
None of them hit him, but only one tore into his right leg.
Blood spraying as he landed hard on the wing. His foot slipped, crimson streaking across the steel, but he held firm.
With a final surge, Rafa tore the canopy open. The pilot was ejected, parachute snapping open. Rafa pulled himself inside, bloodied and broken.
The turrets fired at him, one by one throwing deadly iron into the sky.
Rafa didn't care. He slammed the throttle forward, the engines' fire stretched behind him.
He flew hard, weaving through the storm. Bullets streaked past, but none touched him.
The night sky burned with tracer fire, explosions flashing across the clouds. Rafa's jet cut through it all, untouchable, unstoppable. And escaped...
#7 End.