Mwamba stood frozen, eyes darting between the shadows, as though he could will himself to see what haunted him. His chest rose and fell rapidly, his mind teetering on the edge of panic. The others at the table were no better—desperation and fear radiated from them like heat off a dying fire.
"Loyalty?" Mwamba asked, his voice barely a whisper. "To who?"
I smiled, though he couldn't see it. I took a step closer, allowing my presence to be felt just at the edge of his senses. "To me, General. You can either walk out of this room as the man who saved his country or the man who lost everything trying to hold on to an illusion of power."
He blinked rapidly, his body tense as if waiting for a death blow that never came.
"Nyx," I whispered. "Let them see a glimpse."
[Understood, sir,] Nyx responded, and for a split second, I let my form shimmer into view—nothing more than a silhouette, a figure cloaked in a black mist, indistinct but menacing.
The effect was immediate.
Mwamba gasped, stumbling back, his hands grasping the table for support. The others stepped back in unison, their eyes wide with terror, as if they were staring at death itself.
"Witchcraft. Dear God..." The same man from earlier muttered with his thick accent.
I let the figure fade again into invisibility.
"Do you understand now?" I asked, my voice a low, steady force. "You don't need to see me to know what I'm capable of."
The men murmured amongst themselves, but none dared to raise their voices. Mwamba swallowed hard, forcing himself to speak. "What do you want us to do?"
"You will majorly continue your plans as if nothing has changed," I replied. "The president and his loyalists need to be removed, disposal is unnecessary, I'll find use for them in time, or maybe not, and you... you are still the best tool for that. But now, you're under my guidance. I will direct you to secure not just Kinshasa, but the entire country. You will be my hand, General Mwamba, or you will be nothing."
He nodded shakily, clearly weighing his options but understanding that he had no real choice. "We... we can still take the palace. The president's forces are stretched thin, but we need reinforcements in key areas. Some of the military officers—"
I cut him off. "I'll take care of your reinforcements. You'll have more than you ever expected by the time you make your move."
Behind me, Nyx's quiet hum filled my ear once more. [Sentries are standing by, for insertion sir. Should I deploy them?]
"We have Sentries?" I questioned.
[Yes sir. We have two sentries awaiting planetary insertion.] Nyx needed to stop pulling these rabbits out of the hat in all honesty.
"Interesting. Send them to pacify the resistance around the palace. Take out key officers and disable communications. We don't want the president knowing we're coming until it's too late."
[Right away, sir.]
I turned back to the men, my voice hardening. "Gather your soldiers. Make your final preparations. You will move on my signal, and when you do, I expect complete and absolute obedience."
Mwamba's face tightened as he nodded, finally regaining some of his composure. "We'll be ready."
As the men moved to leave, I stayed hidden, watching as the weight of the situation sank into them. They were not just fighting for control of Kinshasa anymore. They were fighting to survive, and they knew that.
As they exited the room one by one, I remained invisible in the shadows. The last to leave was Colonel Odunze, still visibly shaken but attempting to mask it with a sense of duty. He turned to Mwamba, speaking in hushed tones.
"General, what if—what if we're making a mistake? We don't know who… or what… that was."
Mwamba's eyes flickered, the fear still fresh in his mind, but he forced a cold grin. "A mistake? Odunze, we're already beyond the point of mistakes! If we don't go through with this now, the president will have us all executed for treason. Whoever that was… they're right. It's either loyalty or death."
Odunze nodded grimly, and together they disappeared into the corridors of the palace, leaving me alone once again in the room as I said softly, "Monitor their movements. I want eyes on all of them until this coup is complete."
[Already tracking them, sir.]
Satisfied, I left the room as silently as I had entered, still cloaked in the shroud Nyx provided. Outside, Kinshasa lay before me, a city on the edge of chaos. But now, it was under my control. I could already see how the night would unfold — Mwamba's forces would strike, aided by the sentries, and the president's regime would collapse. The people of this broken city would wake up tomorrow to a new reality, one that I would carefully shape.
As I walked through the crumbling streets, Nyx's voice crackled in my ear again. [Sir, the drones are in position. The loyalist forces are unaware of their presence. Shall I initiate the strikes?]
"Non-lethal approach. Their hands might prove useful for rebuilding the damage caused."
A few moments later, I heard distant explosions and the crackle of gunfire in the distance. The sentries had begun their work, silently neutralizing key targets and weakening the president's defences. By the time Mwamba's forces arrived, the loyalists would be too disorganized to mount any real resistance.
"Nyx," I asked as I walked toward the palace's main gate, "how long until the coup is complete?"
[Given the current rate of neutralization and the speed at which Mwamba's forces are mobilizing, I estimate Kinshasa will be fully under your control within the next four hours, sir.]
"Good," I said, my gaze shifting to the horizon. "And after that?"
[Once Kinshasa falls, it will send a clear message to the rest of the country. Most regional governors and military leaders will either align with Mwamba or be forced out. Within days, you will have control of the entire Democratic Republic of Congo.]
I grinned. "Then the revival will truly begin."
Nyx's hum was almost a purr in my ear. [Indeed, sir. But remember, men fear what they cannot see. Let that fear be your greatest weapon.]
I nodded, my eyes gleaming with purpose as I stepped into the night. "Oh, I intend to."
As the night wore on, I had positioned myself in an abandoned warehouse. Going through the finances that Nyx extracted from their records, and saying they embezzled it was an understatement. It was more like, they became 'the' national budget.
Hundreds of millions of dollars, gone! Just poof! Shell account after shell account, split across randomly, repeating itself for dozens of officials, Mwamba included, but his was still minimal in comparison, though he would have to go, once he's served his purpose that is.
I soon walked outside, to the distant rumble of explosions that echoed through Kinshasa, as Mwamba's forces carried out their coup under my silent guidance. The chaos would soon sweep through the streets, but I had no interest in the clatter of soldiers or the gunfire that would follow. That was merely the first step in a much larger game.
My true interest lay beyond Kinshasa, or even the DRC. This city, fractured as it was, had to fall, but it was only a symbol. The Democratic Republic of Congo, with its immense resources and strategic location, would be the centrepiece of something much larger. The rest of Africa would soon follow. A vision had been taking form in my mind, and tonight, the seeds of that vision were being planted.
As I walked through the abandoned streets, the devastation of decades of corruption was everywhere: crumbling buildings, streets littered with debris, power lines sagging above like the veins of a dying beast.
The infrastructure of the city was barely holding on, as if it too were waiting for its end. The hollow faces of people peered from the occasional window, fear written across their expressions, but they stayed hidden. They could sense the coming storm.
"Nyx," I said quietly, more a murmur to myself, but knowing she was always listening, "what's the current state of the population? How many civilians are in active resistance against the coup?"
Nyx's soft voice chimed in my ear. [Civilian resistance is minimal at the moment, sir. Most of the population is unaware of the coup in progress. Initial intelligence suggests that while fear is prevalent, active support for the government is limited to isolated factions within the military. If the capital falls quickly, civilian unrest will likely subside.]
I nodded, unsurprised. The people here had long grown accustomed to betrayal and disappointment by those who claimed to lead them. A new regime, even one ushered in by violence, was hardly something that would inspire resistance if it promised stability.
"And what about Mwamba?" I asked. "Are his men still loyal?"
[Yes, for now,] Nyx responded. [His forces are disciplined, though there is internal tension. Mwamba's ability to maintain control depends largely on how quickly the coup succeeds. Should it drag on, his officers might begin questioning their allegiance.]
I smirked. "They won't get the chance."