Plasmatropolis

Chapter Seventeen - A Citadel of Stone

"Can you feel the adventure, Osivian?" Hubris asked, as the two of them faced each other in the back of an armoured truck in the center of the joint Nestoris-Sendaris convoy heading to the Citadel.

"Shut up and let me concentrate in peace." Osivian replied. "This isn't going to be a walk in the park, Hubris. We're going to lose plenty of our troops in this raid."

"Relax, it'll be worth it. We'll have a Prime in our hands when we're done!"

"Keep up that attitude and you'll be one of the dead ones."

Hubris said nothing, but gave Osivian a sly smile. The other scoffed, fed up with the Nestoris and just wanting to get this over with.

The Citadel was a former military base which had been converted into a BPO complex some time ago. Originally built during the Trans-Continental War in preparation for a Galadorian naval landing, it was composed of various buildings and trenches, and housed one of the four Prime Songs - the Protisium Prime.

Their raid plan was, hopefully, well thought out. The Citadel was structured specifically to resist a conventional ground attack, even by heavily armed soldiers. Swarming it with vehicles would be a disaster as well, seeing as it was protected by trenches. As such, the massive joint convoy had been divided into multiple groups.

The first group only consisted of a few small cars with RPG wielders inside, who would destroy the turrets outside the Citadel. Next up were multiple trucks pushing giant ship crates with wheels fitted to them. The crates were meant to be pushed into the trenches and allow the next group of vehicles to cross, a bunch of vans laced with explosives that would run into the Citadel walls and detonate. Only then would the final group in the convoy - cars and trucks carrying armed goons - approach, thus beginning the actual attack. In addition, there was a backup convoy to provide reinforcements if necessary.

Thankfully, the Citadel was isolated, so the authorities interfering with the operation wouldn't be much of a hindrance until they were there.

Perhaps it was for the best that the two gangs had waited so long to commence this raid after all, seeing as it had been planned greatly given all this time. Even so, Osivian had his doubts. Many things could go wrong, especially if the execution was poor.

"The first group of cars is approaching the Citadel." Another Sendaris reported to Osivian through a transmitter on his arm.

"I'll be ready." The gang boss replied, before shutting off the transmitter. He fastened his trenchcoat and cocked his shotgun. His phone rang in his pocket, and to his surprise, he realised the call was from Ria when he went to decline it. Why she was only choosing to contact him now was a total mystery.

"Something the matter?" Hubris asked, raising an eyebrow.

"...No." Osivian replied, declining the call and putting his phone away. As much as he wanted to talk to his daughter again, he knew now was not the time.

He only hoped he'd get another chance.

*****

Conaya had his eyes set on the BPO headquarters, as he approached from afar on a boat. Fortunately for the Shapeshifter, the Cloaked Cobra had access to some stolen BPO vehicles, and this was one of them. The TCC operative driving the boat was also dressed in a stolen BPO uniform. Once they were close enough for sentries on the island to see them, they wouldn't suspect anything. He just needed to apply his disguise before it was too late.

Speaking into his earpiece, he addressed the friend of his he'd asked to hack the BPO retinal scanners from afar. "Rat, how's progress so far?"

"Slow, but I've found a weak point in the software." Came the voice of Matthew Ravens, Conaya's tech-savvy colleague who went by the nickname 'Rat'. Personally, Conaya thought 'Mole' was more appropriate, but who was he to judge?