CH64: PREPARATIONS COMPLETE, LET THE WAR BEGIN

This is a passion work. So, I would really appreciate it if you leave behind a review when you're done reading.

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CH64: PREPARATIONS COMPLETE, LET THE WAR BEGIN

Korede sent a status report to Special Agent Ndike to let the man know of his plans. He also detailed some things he needed for the success of the plan including an organised response from the DSS to all the locations he sent to the gangs so that surviving gang members could be arrested after their battle.

Special Agent Ndike forwarded the report to Special Agent Danjuma. The latter was impressed by the youth's simple but effective plan. It also reinforced his determination to poach the youth to the NDI.

With the way things were progressing, Korede predicted Operation PythonSlaying would come to an end tonight or latest tomorrow morning. The major events would start in the evening, so he decided to get some rest beforehand.

While Korede rested, the other parties put their plans into motion.

The NDz, on the Duke's orders, distributed most of its men to its various businesses.

It should be noted that the NDz had two categories of members. Ordinary members or Affiliates and True members or Initiates.

Ordinary members were the outer sphere of the gang and made up the bulk of its membership. They mostly carried out petty crimes for the gang. Burglary and home invasion, carjacking, petty theft, loan sharking, assault and battery etc. 'Minor' crimes like these are executed for the gang by these affiliates.

As for the initiates, they handle the truly important activities of the gang. These include Drug trafficking, Human trafficking, Gunrunning, Smuggling, Oil Bunkering, Murder and Assassinations etc. They're the members exposed to the true face of the gang.

While ordinary members might still be easily reformable, these initiates were too far gone and were incredibly difficult, if not impossible, to reform as each of them had killed nothing less than ten people for the gang as well as committed other major felonies during their initiation ceremony into the gang. Such was the rite of passage into the gang. There was no turning back.

As such, the legal businesses of the NDz were handled or protected by affiliates as the Duke didn't trust them enough to let them know about the gangs' core businesses.

These core businesses were handled by the smaller but loyal elites that made up the initiates.

Therefore, even though the NDz had the largest membership count amongst the gangs in the country, the number of men it deployed to each of its core businesses were not as much as one would expect due to the Duke's paranoia.

While most of its initiates were deployed to protect its illegal businesses, a small team was gathered into a strike force. This small team had two tasks.

First, they were to move around and provide reinforcement wherever and whenever they could, with preference to the core businesses should they come under attack.

Second and most importantly, immediately the location of the two gang's hideout had been found, they were to storm it and kill everyone there.

As Korede expected, after the NDz put its plan into motion, the guards around the Duke, who were mostly composed of these fewer initiates, were reduced by more than half. He was more vulnerable now more than ever.

As for the two gangs, their plan was simple. After buying Korede's intel file, they discovered that they couldn't come up with a better plan than the one in the file given their circumstances. So, they decided to follow it to the letter exactly as the youth predicted they would.

Ironically, when he found out about this, Korede was disappointed for some reason.

Peter and Esther's group were ingenious in hiding their traces. Unfortunately, while they were able to hide their tracks from the NDz, there was very little they could do to hide from the professionals at the NDI. Their every move was clear as day to the agents of the department.

Peter had gathered his men for a direct approach. Using the chaos of the gang war as a cover, he planned to attack the Duke Mansion while its defences were at their lowest.

Also to his advantage, he had men loyal to him that were part of the guards still protecting the mansion. All he was waiting for was the right moment to start the Coup D'etat.

As for the authorities, using the intel gathered by the NDI, the Internal Affairs Division of the DSS was able to carry out a quiet clean-up operation. It helped that those on the NDz payroll were just five low-level agents without much authority or influence. With its house cleaned, the DSS also got into position to mop up the gangs according to the plan.

After a three hours long heated meeting, the uppers echelon of the DSS and NDI in Onitsha reached two decisions.

One, the local police would not be informed of the Op until the last possible moment.

According to the intel gathered by the NDI, the rot in the local police force was too deep to be cut off within the short time before the Op commenced. So, they would not be involved lest they risk a leak.

Two, Korede's plan asking Law Enforcement to move in only after the fight was concluded was also accepted.

Before an agreement was reached, this caused a lot of arguments during the meeting. Some persons at the meeting felt that it wasn't right for the DSS to just watch as gang members fought in front of them. Eventually, the plan was passed because of a simple fact.

The DSS lacked enough manpower to prevent the gangs from going to war. Since they couldn't rely on the police, they had to make use of their limited manpower.

While law enforcement outfits like the DSS would like to save as many lives as possible even if they were gang members, in this case, the department didn't have enough manpower to safeguard the lives of its men and ensure a successful Op if they did so.

Reluctantly, the plan to wait until after the gang raid to arrest survivors was approved.

So, all parties involved busily put their plans into motion while the Grand Architect of this situation rested.

8 pm.

This was the time the A4 and Saints decided to attack the eight locations on Korede's list. According to the plan, the gangs were to commence their attacks on all locations simultaneously, presumably to prevent the NDz from forming an organised response.

A lot of manpower was invested into this plan because of this. Each of the two gangs committed almost a hundred men to it, meaning a total of almost two hundred men.

The eight locations on the target list were a warehouse, a secret vault, an underground fighting club, an illegal high-stakes casino, an illegal auction house, two small illegal oil refineries and a jetty.

The warehouse was used to store most of the NDz guns, drugs and other exotic smuggled goods.

The vault was where the NDz kept most of its secret underworld money awaiting 'laundry' through its various businesses. The money did not only belong to the NDz but also to some other gangs, individuals and even corporate organisations that wanted to 'clean and store' their money for some reason or the other.

The auction house was used to sell exotic goods rarely seen, or impossible to see, on the open market while the jetty was used for their smuggling operation.

Due to the different scales of each location, the number of men the two gangs sent to each location varied.

The warehouse and the vault received the most attention.

Honestly, without Korede's detailed intel and plans, even if the two gangs knew the locations of these two places they wouldn't have attacked them because of how well defended they were.

The warehouse was defended by forty men well armed with assault rifles while the vault had almost fifty men also with assault rifles protecting it.

In comparison, the other six locations were lightly protected.

By 7 pm, the gang members had arrived at all eight locations. The new second-in-command of each gang led a group of thirty men each to raid the warehouse and vault. Other key Mid-bosses led the groups to raid the other six locations. The gang leaders stayed at their hideout to oversee the entire operation.

The gang members were eager to start the raid as they kept looking at the time. Following Korede's plan, the gangs had made a lot of preparations beforehand and were feeling confident about the success of the mission.

Ada Adesuwa and Azuka Okoh both looked at the time. It was 8 pm. They looked at each other and nodded.

"Alright men of the A4 and Saints. Tonight, we strike a blow to the hearts of the NDz. Tomorrow, we strike the Duke himself. Time is upon us. For Amadin! For Okoh! For the A4!! For the Saints!! ATTACK!!!"

Thus, Adesuwa commenced the attack.

The gang members attacked all locations at the same time. Soon, gunfire erupted at all eight locations in the outskirts of Onitsha.

Around the same time, Korede had just finished gathering his equipment and was about to head out.

Dressed in an army-green tank top on black jeans, he left the apartment. Along with the duffel bag, this time, he was also carrying a rod-like object wrapped in cloth on his shoulder.

He got into the Chevrolet Spark and made his way over to his target.

The Duke Mansion.

After almost an hour, he stopped at a secluded location about 500 metres away from the mansion. From here, he had a very good view of the place.

He opened the duffel bag and brought out a combat body armour(Bulletproof vest) which he wore on his torso. He equipped his Beretta M9 in his leg gun-hoist, wore his sword across his back and carried his rifle. He found a suitable spot to set-up on.

Done with his little preparation, he put his comms in his ear.

"This is Operator. Come in Homebase." Korede said.

"This is Homebase. Reading you loud and clear." Special Agent Ndike's voice was heard.

"Everything in place?"

"Yeah. The battle at all eight locations just ended. The NDz lost at five locations including the secret vault. The warehouse, auction house and the jetty were however able to successfully resist the raid, if only barely. Both sides suffered massive casualties as both sides went for the kill."

"Then all locations are weakened enough for the DSS?"

"Yes. At most only ten gang members survived at each location. It'll be easy to round them up. DSS agents were also able to intercept the NDz strike team. Aside from rounding up the survivors, they'll be moving in to raid the gangs' hideout to apprehend the leaders of the two gangs."

"Copy that. I'm ready to go after the Kingfish."

"Alright. The green light has been given for use of lethal action. However, it is advised that you leave Jonathan Duke alive."

Korede paused a little before he responded. "Copy. If the situation allows."

Though Special Agent Ndike understood what the youth was thinking, he ignored it and changed the topic as he received new intel.

"DSS has moved in on all eight locations. The thugs at six locations surrendered immediately while two are putting up a resistance. DSS reports that they were able to prevent any information from leaking out. So, no one outside knows what's happened. Also, they've begun their raid on the alliance hideout."

"Copy that. I'll also take action once the last player is on the board."

"Alright, Operator. Good luck." Special Agent Ndike said, leaving Korede to concentrate on his mission.

Korede set up his sniper's post at his location.

He was waiting for Peter Duke to make his move. Whoever won between the two brothers would become his target. His money was on the Duke though. He just couldn't shake the feeling that the man had more in store.

Not long later, three SUVs pulled up in front of the mansion. About fourteen people got out, including Esther and Peter. Korede had a perfect view of them in the sights of his MK14 rifle.

This time he had gone with the MK14 modified as a sniper rifle(1) over the L115A3 and Barrett rifles, because of its faster rate of fire and lighter weight.

'All it takes to kill someone is a headshot. Besides, using the other rifles at this range is overkill.' Korede thought.

Peter's group made their way onto the property through the front gate, unchallenged. The thug at the gate joined the group showing he was one of Peter's men.

Soon, the group made it past the large garden walkway and got close to the main building. A patrol spotted them and walked up to them.

He didn't notice Peter and Esther at the back of the group. So he asked, "Which group are you from? Why are you back?"

To his shock, he didn't get a verbal answer. Rather, he got a bullet to the chest. He fell to the ground. Even as he died, he couldn't comprehend why a fellow gang member shot him.

Another patrol further away heard the shot.

"We're under attack!!" He shouted.

Very quickly, every NDz member in the mansion went on guard.

Jonathan Duke looked at the CCTV in his study and saw that the group attacking was led by none other than his brother.

"Peter, you chose to betray me at the end. For a WOMAN?! Fine, if that's what you want." He turned to Chike. "Kill all of them."

"Sir…" Chike wanted to say something.

"I said KILL ALL OF THEM!! Since they've chosen to betray me, they're no longer family."

"Alright, sir." Chike walked out of the study to lead his men.

[A.N: Please, don't forget to leave a review of the work to encourage me. Your opinion matters to me.]

AUTHOR'S NOTE/RAMBLINGS.

1 (MK14 mod 0 Enhanced Battle Rifle

Weight: 5.1Kg

Length: 89cm

Rate of Fire: Semi-Auto

Muzzle Velocity: 975m per sec

Calibre: 7.62mmx51mm NATO rounds

Magazine: 20 rounds detachable box magazine.)

[A.N: Please, don't forget to leave a review of the work to encourage me. Your opinion matters to me.]