Persona Non Grata

Scene 11 - The Harbor Heist

I.

"Fire on the west side! We need to hold them off until the cargo is loaded onto the boats! We have to wait for Pedro's signal!" I ordered my men as we rushed towards the enemy, charging with bolos drawn.

I signaled my men to disperse and find cover wherever they can find it. The Guardia Civil is now alerted to our presence...again! What is it with Pedro and his aversion to following directions?! I told him to take out the guards quietly at the harbor. His job is so simple. Silencing the guards at the harbor would be very easy since we are attacking at the dead of night, and yet he still manages to ruin it all!

This diversion is supposed to be a last resort and yet twenty minutes into the plan and he somehow fucks it all up! We were just situating ourselves to stand by in our position when one of that bastard's men fired a shot when I expressly instructed him and his men not to.

"Father, I see reinforcements! Left side of the school!" Tano announced as he fired his rifle in succession. And indeed, I see seven men converging with their allies, who have entrenched their fighting positions near the walls of the shops. As I tracked these men with my sights behind cover, I noticed that these men seemed to be carrying a large wooden crate. What in the hell are those men carrying? Ammunition? Explosives? Rifles?

In any case, the crate seemed important, and so I immediately directed my men to shift their fire.

"Focus on the men with the crates! They must not reach their comrades!" I ordered them as I fired.

"Focus on the men with the crates!" echoed Tano to his comrades, who is busy reloading his rifle.

Two of my men have already fallen in the skirmish, with two more wounded. We're now down to sixteen men including myself, and the signal doesn't seem to have any chance of appearing anytime soon. To make matters worse, the men holding the crate reached their comrades unscathed, and whatever's inside that box...they're unloading it now.

I swear, if those crates has a Gatling gun ammunition inside it-

"The enemy's deploying a Gatling gun! The crew's emerging from the northeast! They are loading it now!" Tano announced as he rose from cover, returning fire as he did so.

"Goddamn it! Retreat to Calle Cabildo! Now!" I roared as my men and I fired back in quick succession to cover our retreat.

II.
From the distance, a fierce battle can be heard as Telesforo and his men defend their position near Calle Victoria. Sure enough, the harbor will be crawling with Civil Guards soon. The shots fired by Pedro definitely caught the attention of the soldiers. But it seemed to be a matter of no consequence, for they were able to secure the weapon crates stashed inside one of the warehouses near the port. Pedro snickers, for Peralta wasn't lying about the weapons after all. He thinks to himself, 'After all these years...Peralta may still have his uses.'

"Pedro, we've loaded the boats and we're ready to go. We only need to fire the signal for Telesforo's group so they can retreat." one of Pedro's men reported, handing the rocket to him.

"What signal? We're not going to fire this damn signal! Let Telesforo's group sort their situation out." Pedro sneered as he threw the firecracker into the water. His underling was utterly shocked and disgusted at this act, to say the least - for Pedro is obviously sabotaging the operation - first, by intentionally firing his gun to alert the soldiers after the harbor guards have been taken out...and now this!

"Curses, Pedro! Just what in damnation did you just do?!" the man protested as he pushed Pedro, tipping off his balance for a bit. Pedro then, shockingly, immediately retaliated with a right jab, hitting the man square in the face and causing him to stagger. Seeing an opening in his opponent's defenses, Pedro followed up the attack with a punch kick, putting his opponent to the ground. And like a berserk feral hound, Pedro pounced at the defenseless man and began throwing punch after punch upon the man, battering his face with every strike. This continued on for several seconds, until four of Pedro's men stood in to break the fight - the three pulling Pedro away from the defeated man, and the other one helping the battered man up on his feet. It took about a full minute before the three men were able to calm Pedro down.