Inside the armoury, Rama Setiaji and the rest of the Special Ops squad were approaching their target location.

Rama sent a pre-recorded reply through a device hidden in his uniform upon receiving Director Chiang's message, confirming that they are already within range of the target. Once they reached the munitions depot, the squad split into two groups – one led by Rama and the other led by Sidarto. Rama's group entered the building to plant the explosives, while Sidarto's group stayed outside to keep watch in case the mission goes awry.

The munitions depot was a three-storey building with grey walls and floors made of reinforced concrete. Though groups of rebel soldiers patrolled almost every corner of the armoury, the munitions depot was not as well-guarded as the other buildings within the compound, allowing Rama and his team to make their entrance relatively unnoticed.

Steady, he motioned his team upon entrance. Above and ahead, the sound of heavy boots hitting the floor broke the cold silence. Rama and his team of undercover operatives then assumed the wedge formation before moving briskly across the hallway.

They were interrupted by a group of rebel soldiers at the hallway intersection ahead. "Halt," the lead rebel trooper exclaimed. Rama had little choice but to play along, hoping no one would detect his disguise.

"What's the matter?"

"Where are you going?" The lead rebel trooper asked. "Marshal Siregar has ordered all units to get to their positions and prepare for the enemy attack. What are you still doing here?"

"We just finished our patrol," Rama said.

"Give me your ID."

"Here it is."

The lead rebel trooper looked briefly at the ID before continuing. "Sergeant Pratomo," he said, staring at Rama. "According to our records, you returned from patrol duty exactly ten minutes ago. You should've received the order by now."

"My device malfunctioned," Rama replied. "I was only aware of the order when you mentioned it just now."

The lead rebel trooper looked askance at Rama and his team for a moment. "Alright," he finally said. "Get to your positions quickly."

The team waited until the rebel soldiers were already out of sight before continuing their journey. A few minutes later, they came upon a pair of big green doors near the end of the hallway. Rama guessed this must be where the rebels kept most of their munitions.

"Arseno, Hadid," he motioned two members of his team. "Stay outside and keep watch while we place the explosives." Both replied in the affirmative.

Rama and the rest of the team broke into the storage room soon after. Once inside, they carefully scanned the area, trying to figure where to place the remote-controlled explosives. All they needed were three bombs to blow the munitions depot apart and create a distraction, allowing Task Forces Cisewu and Kujang to begin their surprise attack against the enemy defences. Once the rebel forces have been surrounded, Rama and his team would regroup with the rest of the squad to carry out their next mission – which is to seek out and capture the rebel leader Field-Marshal Siregar.

"We'll place the bombs next to the ammo crates," Trooper Seto suggested. "That should be enough to blow this place to rubble."

"Good idea," Rama replied. "But hurry. The rebels will put this place on lockdown the moment they realise we're here."

"This may take a while." Seto went around the room to place the explosives. "There," he said after a moment. "Now let's get out before –"

Seto did not get to finish his sentence as three rebel troopers suddenly emerged from the rear entrance. "Hey! What are you--"

They weren't quick enough. The rebel soldiers crumpled to the floor as Rama fired three shots with his silencer-equipped RK-5 handgun.

"Alright gentlemen, it's time to scoot." Rama signalled the team to regroup before making their way towards the exit. "This is Sahdev to Field Command," he called over his comlink. "Barnacles are now attached to the Whale. Over."

"Message received," the automated voice response said. "Over."

Rama and his team regrouped with the rest of the squad and headed off towards a derelict-looking warehouse at the edge of the compound. Upon reaching the warehouse, Rama took out his remote detonator and pressed the button at the centre. A hot fiery blaze roared from inside the first floor before making its way to the rest of the building. The burning ammo crates exploded next to each other, creating a chain reaction which blew the depot apart and threw out vast quantities of debris into adjacent buildings. It was effectively a large grenade that rocked the enemy stronghold and wiped out their ammunition reserve in an instant.

From behind, Rama and his squad saw a thick column of smoke rising high into the sky from the now destroyed munitions depot. All they could do now is to evade detection and wait for the Imperial offensive to begin before moving on to their next target.

-----------

Inside Tiger's Nest's Operations Centre, Prawiro and Kusnanda were watching the security camera displays for signs of enemy activity when the munitions depot exploded.

"Deploy the garrison!" Kusnanda shouted. "Find and capture the enemy operatives and don't let them escape!"

"Yes sir," the security officers replied.

Prawiro remained behind as Kusnanda left the room with a squad of Red Berets in tow. It was obvious that whoever had carried out the sabotage were still inside the armoury, given that the security cameras did not catch anyone escaping through the compound's sole entrance. The task of identifying the perpetrators, on the other hand, would require him to retrieve all footage taken within the past few days for inspection – an impractical course of action given the present situation. Nevertheless, Prawiro still asked the security team to do just that.

"I want every footage taken today called up for inspection," he said. "Contact me ASAP if you find anything."

"Yes sir."

"Captain." Prawiro motioned his aide to come over. "Stay here and keep watch, will you?"

"On it, sir."

Prawiro left his aide in charge of the security team before leaving the Operations Centre. He then headed for the commander's quarters to meet with Siregar, hoping to ask him what his plans were to address the Imperial attack.

For some inexplicable reason, Prawiro felt uncertain. I have a bad feeling about this.

-----------

From his chair inside Bogor Aerodrome's war room, Assegaf received news of the munitions depot's destruction from General Hadisubroto.

"We've just begun our attack," the Marine General reported. "Reksonegoro's 300th Raider Battalion is engaging the insurgent forces, with my men following closely behind to act as fire support."

Assegaf nodded with approval. "Excellent. Anything else?"

"Wait a moment," Hadisubroto said, turning to his left. "Reksonegoro wishes to speak with you."

"Put him through."

The hologram changed from Hadisubroto to a swarthy-looking officer with hair closely cropped in a crew cut. "Yes, Colonel?" Assegaf asked.

"Sir," Reksonegoro said. "Requesting air support against enemy armour. The insurgents have begun sending their tanks into battle, and they are firing at my men as I speak."

"Permission granted," Assegaf replied. "Send all air units on standby into battle."

Colonel Zulfan relayed Assegaf's instructions to Ground Control. In an instant, DI-39 Gripen fighters took off, followed by a mixed flight of shovel-nosed Su-32 Fullback fighter-bombers and Su-25 Frogfoot close-support aircraft. The Gripens and Fullbacks would perform search and destroy missions against static enemy defences, while the Frogfoots would seek out and destroy enemy armour. And if the Frogfoots aren't enough, a DI-130 gunship belonging to BKN Field Operations Division stood inside the fortified hangar at the opposite side of the airfield, ready to provide support to the troops fighting in the armoury anytime.

Behind Assegaf stood Chiang, his expression as inscrutable as ever. "You should send the gunship into battle," he suggested. "It'll save our troops a lot of hassle."

"The Raiders and Marines can take care of themselves," Assegaf replied. "Right now, we want to surround the base first and seal off all potential avenues of escape for Siregar's forces. We'll use the gunship once the enemy has fallen back to their defences."

Chiang did not say anything. There was only so much he could learn in his first time commanding a large-scale military operation. But even early on, the attitude of the officers and men in charge of this mission had struck him as exceptional. Everyone from Hadisubroto down to the lowest-ranking private knew their exact role, with each trying to complete their assigned tasks to the best of their ability – unlike the lacklustre Army officers he'd worked with in the past who were simply going through the motions.

The reason, of course, was obvious: Assegaf is in command.

The Arab Marshal was not only a man of great military prowess, but he also had the unique ability of rubbing off his talents on his subordinates. Chiang had seen his ability firsthand in Surabaya during the Civil War, where he left his aide in charge of Republic forces while going off on a personal mission. By the time Assegaf returned to resume his command, the Islamist militias had been driven off the neighbourhood where the battle took place; with Republic forces claiming some more while beating them back.

Chiang turned at the sound of the doors parting behind him, whereupon his aide, BKN Colonel Farrell Prastio, entered. "Sir," Prastio said. "If I may have a word with you in private."

Chiang looked at Assegaf and nodded before taking his leave. Upon joining Prastio, the two went off to a quiet corner to speak.

"What is it?" Chiang asked.

"BKN Field Intel detects a suspicious convoy of trucks heading towards Empang District," Prastio said. "As you know, Empang is home to some of the Islamic extremist cells we've been keeping under surveillance these past few years. We suspect they might be pro-rebel militias trying to sabotage the ongoing operation. I request you permit me and my men to stop the convoy and inspect its contents."

"Very well," Chiang said. "Do what you need to do. Inform me as soon as you find anything of importance."

"Yes sir."