Chapter 2: When the Boogeyman and the Wolf hunt together
Author's Note: Before we begin, I would just like to say, that I have changed the name of the ranks of the Indian Army. Now hear me out. The Indian Subcontinent has unique names for its Army ranks, especially the ranks of the Officers who are basically not Commissioned Officers. This includes, Junior Commissioned Officers, Non-Commissioned Officers and "Other Ranks". Therefore, to save the time of my readers into looking into what I mean using a rank, I have listed them down below.
Commissioned Ranks
Field Marshal (Ceremonial Rank) (FM)
General (Gen)
Lieutenant General (Lt. Gen)
Major General (Maj Gen)
Brigadier (Brig)
Colonel (Col)
Lieutenant Colonel (Lt. Col)
Major (Maj)
Captain (Capt)
First Lieutenant (1Lt)
Second Lieutenant* (2Lt)
You might have seen the star next to Second Lieutenant. I'll tell you why. Basically, the Indian Army has discontinued the use the rank of Second Lieutenant in the Army. I couldn't find any official reasons for it, but you guys can check it out on the Internet. However, long story short, I will be using this rank in my story (Remember, this is fiction. I don't want people getting offended for no rhyme or reason).
Now onto the Other Ranks in my story along with their Real Life ranks.
Warrant Officer 1st Class (WO1) == Subedar Major
Warrant Officer 2nd Class (WO2) == Subedar
Staff Sergeant (S/Sgt.) == Naib Subedar
Sergeant (Sgt.) == Havildar
Corporal (Cpl.) == Naik
Lance Corporal (L/Cpl.) == Lance Naik
Private (Pte.) == Sepoy
The ranks have been taken from the British Army's Wikipedia Page, as I thought Great Britain's structure would be the most closest to India (Which it was). Therefore I'll be using the Ranks on the left side, instead of the original Indian ranks on the right. If you wanna ask me why, you can do so in the comments and I will tell you why.
The immediate aftermath of the attack was very obvious. Confusion and mass panic. There were rumors being spread that these invaders were everywhere, but a quick response from the Armed Forces and every State Government put those rumors to rest. The Bombay Stock Exchange almost collapsed, and trading was suspended after the Indian Government bought all the stocks to keep companies floating and to prevent financial panic and hysteria.
All the surviving invaders that had been arrested were thoroughly questioned by the Army and RAW (Research & Analysis Wing). The Prime Minister got an answer for their motives, and would honestly be lying if he was not furious himself. The fact that the reason for these invaders to mercilessly attack everyone on sight was just because "they can"… Well, suffice to say no one in Parliament or the country was very happy about this and the clamor for retribution was loud.
RAW had also managed to learn their origins. These soldiers were of a Saderan Empire, from the continent of Falmart. Apparently, the customs, politics, government, etc. of these Saderans were reminiscent of the Roman Empire at its peak. It didn't take long for RAW to extract even more intelligence of other issues, such as their diplomatic relations among other things.
Arjun meanwhile, was given an immediate leave from his CO after receiving a Commendation from the Army Chief of Staff and a promotion to the rank of Major for showing exceptional valor, bravery and courage in a hostile zone, even though he was off duty.
In the International stage though, the United Nations Security Council had convened for an emergency meeting about this issue. This time, both India and Pakistan, were on the Council as Non-Permamanent members. Pakistan was the loudest in demanding that the Gate be bought under the jurisdiction of the UN. This was seconded by China, who asked that the "exploration" should be spearheaded by the People's Liberation Army and the Pakistani Army.
In reply, the Indian Diplomat simply replied, "Hell no. That Gate is firmly in Indian territory, not in any of the disputed regions. Furthermore, it would be a cold day in hell before India or her people will just allow Foreign military personnel to set even a foot in Indian soil. And yes, no one in my country is very happy right now. So I suggest none of the country's present in this meeting try any stunts. Or misadventures. It won't be tolerated."
When it came to the vote, the United States, Russia, Great Britain, and France voted against the joint resolution of Pakistan and China. This was combined with the remaining 8 non-permanent members also voting against this resolution. Ultimately, it was decided that, if the situation in the other side of the Gate turned into a situation like the Soviet Union's invasion of Afghanistan, only then would an International Taskforce be sent in.
Three weeks later. 8th September, 20XX. Arjun's House. Mumbai, Maharashtra, India.
"BOO!" A small figure cried. The figure was dressed in a pink T-shirt and pajamas. Covering the figure's face was an authentic Japanese Oni mask.
"Kyah! I'm so scared! The monster has caught me!" Arjun said in the most monotone voice he could muster while sitting on the couch and continue to avoid the little figure as he played on his Play Station 5. "Honestly, ever since I came back from Delhi, little evil spirits have been haunting me. Did I make some God angry with my actions?"
"How rude!" The little figure said loudly while ripping the mask off their face to reveal the face of a little girl, whose face right now had an expression of childlike anger. "Your 5-year-old niece should not be called an 'evil little spirit'!" The girl said with a pout that tried to show her anger but only succeeded in making her look more adorable.
"Yeah yeah," Arjun said while not even looking at his niece. "Run along now, kid. Your uncle's busy."
"Muuu… Aunty!" The little girl cried. "Uncle Arjun is ignoring me again!"
A brown haired woman's head peeked out from the kitchen. She was wearing a tank top that loosely covered her upper body and a very short and tight pair of jean shorts in her lower body. The woman frowned before calling, "Arjun, stop tormenting your niece."
"No," Arjun replied stubbornly. "It's too much fun."
"Uncle Arjun… is always… mean to me." The little girl said as she started sniffling.
"Shush honey, it's okay. You know how your uncle is." The woman said as she kneeled down to pacify the girl before growling, "Arjun…"
"Yikes," Arjun said as he shivered. "Sorry, Karishma. Uncle's sorry."
"Promise?" Karishma, the little girl, asked.
Arjun paused his game, put down his controller, looked at his niece and gave her a smile as he said, "Promise. You wanna go out with me and Aunty? Watch a movie?"
"Yes!" Karishma said with a smile and ran to her room to start getting ready. Arjun went back to his game, while the woman stalked to him and gave him a hug. She made sure to turn him on by pressing her breasts on his upper back.
"Anjali, are you trying to tempt me?" Arjun asked with a coy smile.
"Hm. And if I was?" The woman, Anjali asked back with a coy smile of her own.
"Well then, guess we won't be sleeping for another night then, will we?" Arjun replied.
"Oh yes," Anjali said in a sultry voice as she kissed his temple.
The intimate moment was interrupted when Arjun's landline telephone started ringing. Arjun immediately got up and saw the time was only 10:30 in the morning as he picked up the receiver.
"Hello?" Arjun said.
"Major Arjun Khare. This is Colonel Abhinav Singhania."
"Sir." Arjun immediately stiffened into attention.
"You're vacation period is over, son. A vehicle will be coming to pick you up in 24 Hours and take you to a waiting bird at Juhu. We got work. Understood?"
Arjun took a deep breath as he knew very well what this meant. His vacation is indeed over. Furthermore, this meant that the higher-ups have finalized the plans for the invasion. Well, he did take an oath to defend the country from all threats, no matter what or when. Therefore, he only had one answer.
"Roger that, sir."
A week later. En-Route to Site Alpha.
En route to the location of the GATE and the primary staging area of the Indian invasion force, two Chinook Transport Helicopters from the No. 117 Helicopter Unit a.k.a. the Himalayan Dragons cruised fast and low.
As the pilots flew towards their destination, their passengers sat in silence in the cabin. They were not ordinary soldiers. They were members of the 21st Battalion 3rd Division of the PARA SF, and for this mission, were renamed Task Force Wolfpack. The total number of people in this group were 24 soldiers armed to the teeth, with the latest military tech and weaponry, and would be a vanguard for the Indian invasion force.
In the lead helicopter, First Lieutenant Daya Divekar, the Second in Command of the 21st Battalion 3rd Division, sat in silence but deep down he was nervous as whack. After all, they were being sent into a new world, literally. He looked around, to see what were his colleagues doing and saw them doing whatever they could to keep themselves calm.
Some were reading books, some rechecked their gear, while some were just doing anything to keep their minds of the stress this mission would induce.
Divekar then turned to look at the man in front of him. His boss, the newly promoted Major, and the youngest commander in their battalion. Major Arjun "Demon" Khare. Maj. Arjun was sitting in absolute silence, with his assault rifle gripped loosely in his hands and his head tilted downwards to make it look like he was taking a quick nap. And for all the Lieutenant knew, he easily could be. After all, it's not like he could see his Commander's expressions as he was wearing that intimidating black and white skull balaclava and the black tactical goggles. Divekar always wondered how his boss could pull off such an intimidating appearance.
'Well, that's a thought for another time.' Divekar thought and sat back on his chair and watched the scenery from the window. Their mission was to secure the immediate area in preparation of the invasion force and makes sure no one on the other side finds out.
Straightforward, like all of their missions. But very dangerous, this time around, not like their other missions were any less dangerous. If things went south, Wolfpack would be completely on their own with no hopes of reinforcements. Thus, it was very important for them to not screw it up, or they wouldn't even live to regret it.
The two helicopters were only 5 minutes out, but they already entered into the no-fly zone for civilian aircraft and started seeing personnel, combat vehicles and tons of supplies. They became more densely packed, the closer they got. In the middle of all of this was that honestly, ridiculous, structure. The Gate was surrounded on all sides by hundreds of soldiers armed with heavy machine guns, explosives, and even a few rocket launchers. It was fenced off with barbed electrical wires of a very high voltage and entombed within five feet of thick concrete and steel.
"Command, this is Sparrow 5-1, We're 500 meters away. Requesting permission to land. Over."
"Sparrow 5-1, you are cleared to land. Over."
"Roger that."
The chinooks soon began their descent into the makeshift heliports that were constructed. Over there, waiting for their arrival was none other than the teams' CO, Col. Singhania.
Once the helicopters safely landed on the ground, Maj. Arjun, or from now on, Demon, ordered everyone to disembark before he opened the cabin doors. The men quickly got out with their heads down and got a safe distance away from the helicopters before they took off again, their mission done.
The 24 men stood at full height and made their way to the Colonel. "Gentlemen." He said. "Welcome to Site Alpha. C'mon, we got a drive ahead of us." With that, he led the group to a convoy of five Tata Motors' Light Armoured Multipurpose Vehicle (LAMV). After entering the vehicle, the colonel ordered the convoy to proceed to the Gate.
"Any updates from the other side, sir?" Demon asked.
Col. Singhania looked at the man before pulling out the tablet and handing it to him. Divekar, who was sitting next to him, also leaned in to see. The soldiers in the other vehicles also had the intel and had their comms synced up.
"Six hours ago, our drones picked up a large heat signature about four clicks North of the Gate on the other side."
Everyone continued studying the intel when Demon asked, "Possible enemy camps?" He received an affirmative nod from the Colonel.
"We think so. They're probably there to report any incursions. We estimate that there are about twenty personnel, maybe more. You guys will have to take care of them before you do anything else."
"Have they moved from their positions, sir?" Staff Sergeant Karan Singh Chandok asked over the comms.
"No. Looks like they made camp there so they might be sleeping at this time with a few on sentry duty."
"Have any of those mages been spotted. sir?" 1LT Divekar asked as he studied the image.
"We don't know, as the ones we've captured doesn't even look close to a Dumbledore or a Gandalf, but I won't disregard it. They may be wearing different clothing or don't need wands and the such."
Divekar nodded, as he handed the tablet to another soldier, so he could study the image properly. "Lucky for us they didn't look up. Nobody ever thinks to look up or down until it's too late."
"No shit." The Colonel agreed before turning to Demon. "Primary objective is to take out the enemy camp and set up shops at the designated vantage points. If possible, capture the commander/s of that group and send him back here. RAW will do the needful in interrogating him. However, that's second priority."
"You don't want us to capture a mage?" Demon asked.
"Can't risk it Major. Not until we have a deeper understanding of their abilities and how we counter them. For now, terminate any mage you come across." Demon nodded. "Understood."
"Any more questions?" The colonel asked. There was no reply. "Good."
For the remainder of the trip, everyone sat in silence. They just reviewed the information they had received and what to do in hypothetical situations. They passed numerous checkpoints, which had become much stricter as they passed until they reached their destination. Col. Singhania accompanied his men until they reached the last checkpoint before the Gate.
"This is as far as I can go." He said before turning to them all: The best of the best the Indian Armed Forces had to offer. A junior officer came and handed the Colonel a bag that contained a special hard lined relay device and handed it to Hawkeye. "This is a special comms relay. We can't receive transmissions past a certain distance. You'll need to install it there so we can communicate."
Hawkeye nodded as he took the device and handed it to Staff Sergeant Karim Sheikh, their communications and Engineering specialist.
"Good luck. All of you." The Colonel said before departing to the command center.
Demon rolled his shoulders and did one last check of his equipment, before saying, "Alright boys, we moving out." With that, the 24-man team made their way through the last checkpoint and towards the Gate.
They reached the electrical barbed wire that was deactivated to let them through. When they were 15 meters away, Demon motioned the unit to halt.
"Warlord, this is Wolfpack Actual. Ready to proceed. Requesting permission to enter the Gate. Over." He then ordered everyone to ready their weapons just in case. The other soldiers manning the heavy machine guns also did the same.
"Roger that, Wolfpack Actual."
While nothing happened for the first few seconds, loud alarms then started blaring from the structure as the doors began opening wider and wider until it was completely opened. Task Force Wolfpack was already pointing their weapons, just in case someone or something would jump at them. However, they were only met with darkness.
"Flashlights," Demon ordered. The team immediately switched on the flashlights attached to their Tavor Assault Rifles. "Warlord, we're going in."
"Copy. Godspeed boys." With that, the 24 man team of Task Force Wolfpack cautiously entered the Gate.
Once they were inside the Gate and moved deeper into the passageway, some members couldn't help but being a bit freaked out. "Yo, isn't this kinda strange? If y'all catch my drift?". Warrant Officer 2nd Class Ganesh Acharya asked.
"No kidding." 1LT Divekar mumbled. They all knew it would be some weird stuff, but none of them knew to was this freaky.
They kinda hoped it would be like an instantaneous thing, not walking in an abyss. Even though the team had read the data provided by the drone which listed the length of this tunnel.
The team had lost track of how long they had been traversing the Gate. Being ambushed by some weird shadow monster would honestly be a shitty way to die. Maj. Arjun knew Scorpion would never let him hear the end of it. The Teams' individual thoughts were interrupted when one of the soldiers said that he could see some light at the end of the passageway. Demon ordered them to keep low and prepare for possible contact after which, with a renewed vigor, Task Force Wolfpack jogged to the end as they just wanted to get out of the claustrophobic inducing passageway. They all may be some tough SOB's, but this Gate's passageway was creepy, even by their standards. Considering, all of them have seen creepy and gory shit throughout the course of their careers.
At the threshold, Demon ordered Divekar and half the team to go the other side of the Gate. He then held his fist up and the troops stopped before he gave them a signal to lay low.
Demon and Divekar carefully peered out of the Gate, looking for any signs of hostiles in the area with their thermal optics. "Clear." Demon said. "Clear." Divekar seconded. "Karim, install that relay once we've secured the perimeter."
"Wilco."
Cautiously, Demon and Divekar led the men through the threshold and into the continent of Falmart, and on this day, history was made. Not only for India, but also for the entire world back home. They were the first humans of Earth to ever set foot in an alien world.
"I think I can now understand what Neil Armstrong meant when he said, 'A small step for man, but a giant leap for mankind'." Demon said with everyone agreeing with him. "Though the circumstances are quite different from what that famous astronaut had experienced."
While S/Sgt. Sheikh set up the comms relay, the rest of the Task Force had secured the perimeter and kept a sharp eye on anything that moved. While there was nothing to report, they still remained vigilant. Even though the commandos knew they were in enemy territory, they couldn't help but admire the view, the new land had to offer. The sky was clear and illuminated with thousands of stars. The air smelled much cleaner and refreshing than the smoke-clogged air of New Delhi, and they just knew that the landscape was definitely breathtaking if seen during the daytime. Demon was reminded of the tour of the European countryside he had gone on with his then French girlfriend back when he was in University. 'I wonder how's Nicole doing?' Demon idly thought as he momentarily remembered his ex-girlfriend.
"Comms relay secured and online." S/Sgt. Sheikh said after a few minutes of work before he took up his position behind one of the pillars.
Demon nodded and attempts to establish contact. "Wolfpack to Warlord, do you receive? Over." Nothing but static. Demon tried again. "Wolfpack to Warlord, are you receiving? Over."
"Wo-fp-ck -s i- War-lo-. w- re-d you loud and clear. Good to hear from you." The men allowed themselves a moment of relief while Demon gave a fistbump to S/Sgt. Sheikh for a job well done.
"Warlord, we've successfully crossed over and secured a perimeter. No activity to report. Moving on to Phase 2."
"Understood."
Demon let go of his comm device and turned to S/Sgt. Chandok. "Deploy the drone."
"Gotcha, boss." S/Sgt. Chandok took off his pack fished out the indigenous made Nightmare Valkyrie Drone. A portable reconnaissance drones equipped with the latest surveillance tech, allowing soldiers to have a real-time bird's eye view of the battlefield.
S/Sgt. Chandok deployed the drone and started controlling it with a specialized computer tablet. The drone rose to a height of 1000 feet before beginning to survey the area. "Drone's live. Getting a clear picture of the area."
Demon nodded. "Warlord, the drone's in the air. Prepare for the live video feed. Over."
"Roger that. Standing by."
"Chandok, sync up to Warlord."
The man nodded and began to make the connection. After a few seconds, the process was complete. "Done. The feed should be coming their way."
"Solid copy on that feed, team."
Demon and 1LT Divekar went to the man's position and looked at the surveillance feed. The drone had started scanning on a ten-mile radius. Everything was clear, save for a few small heat signatures that were perhaps local fauna. Demon, however, thought that he had just seen one of them have a human form. He quickly disregarded that theory though. After two minutes, they got a hit. 4 kilometers up north of their position. The thermal images had shown 30 hostiles. The intel was correct.
A terrain map that was quickly pulled up, saw them at the foot of a small hill which was surrounded by shrubbery on two sides. The team decided to use the vegetation as cover for movements and go around the back of the camp.
Demon pointed at three small ridges about a hundred meters from the camp in the North, North-West, and North-East. WO2 Acharya, S/Sgt. Sheikh and 1LT Divekar would be the snipers while three, two-man teams would infiltrate and kill everybody in the camp. The rest would be on guard duty (making sure no one goes in or out) and Chandok would be everyone's eyes and ears, and the rest would stay around the camp's perimeter to make sure no one leaves or enters.
Saderan Encampment. Four Kilometers from the Gate.
A soldier of the Saderan Empire, Greyas Del Punto, had just finished sentry duty and made his way to the center of the camp for something to eat and drink before he retired for the night. He had joined the army three years ago because he had no way to support his growing family. As they had no money, and his wife was pregnant, the couple didn't know what they would do until an Imperial Envoy came to his village calling for all able-bodied men to be conscripted into the army, as the Empire was about to launch an offensive against the Warrior Bunny tribes. He enlisted after he convinced his wife, that this was the only way he saw them earning any money for the family. While initially against it, his wife relented seeing that they had no other choice. Now, after three years, he became an official soldier instead of just a conscript, which saw a stable income flow to his family which included his beautiful wife and two lovely daughters.
The other soldiers greeted Greyas when he reached the campfire. One of the men handed him a loaf of bread, cooked meat and a pouch of water. The other soldiers continued discussing the matter of the Gate, and how of the 80,000 men strong force sent in, only a few hundred managed to come back and only told of some fantastic and unbelievable nonsense of steel elephants, steel dragons, mages, and demons. No one really believed them because after all, they were the Imperial Army. They were the best army in the Continent of Falmart. No one could ever beat them.
Greyas meanwhile finished his meal and bade his comrades a good night, as he made his way to his tent. He fished out a letter from his pocket, that was addressed to his wife and quickly read through it with a small smile. However, he soon noticed a soldier on sentry duty. Sleeping.
Shaking his head with a huff, Greyas decided to wake the man up, while being careful to not disturb his sleeping comrades. "Hey, wake up! You should know better than to sleep on sentry duty. Wake up before someone sees you." Greyas shook the man harder but the poor chap actually fell to the ground on his face.
'Fellow's knocked out cold'. Greyas thought, as he kneeled to pick him up while mumbling, "I'm really not paid enough to deal with this shit." Greyas' hand had gone to the underside of the guard to face him when he felt something wet. He turned him around only to watch in horror as the guard's throat was slit open and his eyes were wide with fear. Greyas stumbled back, frightened himself. He took a breath in to yell.
"In-" was the only thing he could say before he felt a clothed hand clamping his mouth and dragging him in the nearby bushes. In the bushes, Greyas tried to escape but suddenly felt his neck being torn open. He tried wheezing to breath, but couldn't because his trachea and carotid artery had been severed and was already losing his blood.
He felt fear grip him when he saw his killers face. More accurately, the lack of faces. The only thing he saw were two pairs of eerie green eyes. The one who had just stabbed him, however, had a face. It was a skull. "Hardy's demons…" Greyas murmured through the hand that covered his mouth before he slumped to the ground and departed the mortal realm. His last thoughts being of his family he had just left behind.
After hiding the body, Demon searched the body for any useful information. He found a parchment that had a letter written in it. The parchment was stored away as intel.
"Alpha Point, clear." Demon reported
"This is Team 2. Bravo Point is secured."
"Team 3. Positive on Charlie Point. Waiting for the green light. Over."
"Roger that." Demon acknowledged. "Chandok, got anything?"
"Negative, sir. Drone's not picking up any activity. We're still undetected." S/Sgt. Chandok said from his position at one of the ridges, with a sniper team. "You have execute authority. Happy hunting."
"Solid copy. All units, green light. Move in." Now with the order given, the three two-man infiltrator teams began their work. Systematically killing every Saderan Empire soldier in their sleep.
While the three teams infiltrated and killed whoever was in the camp, the three sniper teams and Chandok remained on overwatch. The remains members of Wolfpack were spread out all over the outer perimeter as security and back up.
Demon and 2LT Harsh Kartik silently entered the first tent and found five hostiles in deep sleep. They died two at a time after being stabbed in the neck.
As they exited the tank, they heard voices coming their way and the two quickly took to cover. They saw six hostiles coming towards them. "Sniper teams, we have six hostiles coming our way. Do you have a shot?" Demon whispered.
"Negative. No clear shot."
Demon only gave a hum, as he had been in such situations before. "Let's wait and see if they separate." The two men waited in the shadows to see if they would split up. Which they did and began heading into the tents, with only two remaining. "Take the guy on the right." 2LT Kartik acknowledged the order and leveled his silenced Beretta 92 pistol on his target. "On my mark. Three. Two. One. Mark."
A few surpassed shots and the hostiles died instantly. With the threats dealt with, they resumed their game of playing Babayaga (Boogeyman).
After clearing their third tent, the pair started hearing shouts and the Saderan soldiers trying to wake their comrades. So the pair once again took to the shadows. "What's going on Chandok?"
"Heightened activity all over the camp, sir. I think they found some of the bodies. 'About damn time.' Demon thought before replying, "Roger. Keep us posted. We continue as planned. Snipers and Security teams, you see anyone making a run from it, you are cleared hot."
"Understood."
"Copy, boss."
"Roger that."
Demon nodded to 2LT Kartik and continued their hunt.
"What the fuck is going on over here?!" The camp commander roared as he saw his men in a frenzy. The man was enjoying his beauty sleep, after ravaging his slave. A young Warrior Bunny that was given to him by the Crown Prince after the Empire's military campaign against the Warrior Bunny tribes.
"M-Milord, we're under attack!" His second-in-command yelled frantically. The news made the Commander's eyes widen.
"Bandits?"
"I don't think so, sir. Whoever the enemy is, they attacked us silently without any of us noticing. By the time we found the first body, more than half of the camp has already been killed!"
'H-Half…' The camp commander had to stop himself from falling. The only thing that came to his mind was assassins as this completely fit their MO, however, the Empire did not offend any of the Assassin guilds recently. 'Could it be…?' The commander thought as he looked towards the Gate. After all, it did make sense. Assassins from the other side were already here.
"What do we do, sir?"
"Send a rider back to the Capital, Sadera. Inform them that the enemy has come. I shall rally the men."
"Y-You mean-" The second-in-command trembled.
"NOW!" The commander roared and the there man scurried to complete his orders.
Unknown to both the men was, that they were being watched.
"All units be advised. We have eyes on the enemy commander." Team 2's leader, Sergeant Kabir Singh reported as his teammate took aim. "There is also a woman in the bed."
"Do you have PID on the commander?" Demon asked.
"As the old saying goes, sir, 'Leaders love to point'. He's doing just that. Though he is also barking."
"Should I be offended by that statement, Sergeant?" Demon asked. Though everyone on the channel, even Warlord, knew he was just joking.
"Not at all, sir. If I have a problem, I will tell it to you directly sir. Just like you taught us." SGT. Singh said.
"Good. Capture that commander if possible. Otherwise, just terminate him. Leave the woman alone. I'll determine whether or not she's hostile." Demon ordered.
"Roger." With that, SGT. Singh and his teammate disappeared in the shadows again.
On the North-Eastern Ridge, Sniper Team 3 was observing the camp. The Saderans would try to find the interlopers but would lose men at every turn. It wouldn't be long until they were all dead.
Equipped with thermal optics, the snipers and their spotters had no trouble in seeing what was going on.
"Yo, I see something." S/Sgt. Chandok mumbled beside Sheikh on the radio. "Yep, three-foot mobiles with two horses, going North of the camp. Probably trying to escape."
All three snipers who had the entire camp in their site turned their attention to the North. Knowing that no one was allowed to live today, all three snipers took one shot each.
The riders mounted their horses as the second-in-command gave them a missive each. "Make sure this gets to Sadera! Don't wait for anything!"
They nodded but before they could spur their horses, the riders faces blew up simultaneously. The horses screamed in fright and ran away while the second-in-command just stared in horror. 'I did not even see what killed them! What is this?! Do the invaders have their own branch of assassination magic?"
These were his last thoughts, as his head jolted back and he fell to the ground like a puppet with its strings cut. The look of shock was forever etched in his face which now had a gaping hole, the size of a grape, leaking red colored blood right between his eyes.
Those sudden deaths only fueled more panic and chaos to the remaining Saderan soldiers.
Twenty minutes after the Wolfpack began their hunt, the Saderan camp was devoid of life. They tried to put a decent defense to weed out the Indians but thanks to modern military tech, tactics, the environment, and the PARA SF's fear tactics, they were all hunted down to the last man.
In every corner, one or two Saderans would lose their lives, which made them even more jumpy and skittish. The ones who tried to escape in the wilderness were either picked off by the sniper teams or the security teams.
After everything was said and done, Demon ordered his men to rally at the center of the camp. "Good work, men. Sweep the camp. Find anything that could be even remotely useful. Move!"
"Yes, sir!" With that everyone started sweeping the camp except for Sgt. Singh.
"Sgt. Singh. I hope you have something for me." Demon said.
"Of course, sir. Please follow me." With that Sgt. Singh led his boss to the camp Commander's tent. The commander was tied up with a cloth covering his mouth.
"Sergeant, why are his shoulders bent in such a weird way?" Demon asked.
"I didn't like the way he was bastardizing Latin sir. And the girl." Sgt. Singh replied bluntly.
"Girl?" Demon asked. "I thought you said there was a woman."
"Yeah, but turns out it's a girl." The sergeant replied.
"Where is she?"
"Through that flap there. Be careful though, her physiology is a bit… different."
"What do you mean?"
"You'll see."
Demon went through the flap and looked at the bed. It turns out his subordinate was right. It was a goddamn girl. A pretty thing for her age. The only thing that struck out about her ears. They were long and pointed upwards, like a rabbit. Demon went towards the girl who had a frightened expression on her face after she saw him.
"Shh, shh, shh. It's okay. I won't hurt you." Demon said in the Saderan language, which honestly was bastardized Latin and Italian. Good thing he knew both so it wasn't hard for him to learn the new language.
The girl calmed down for a bit, however, her guard was still up and looked at him with wary eyes.
"Can you tell me your name and age?" Demon asked.
"Wh-Who are you?" The girl asked obviously frightened by Demon's appearance.
Demon recognized that his mask really wasn't helping matters so he slipped it off and gave her a smile. I'm not going to hurt you. I'm here to rescue you, okay? Now, can you tell me your name?"
The girl finally calmed down after she realized that it was a human who was just wearing some weird clothing. She had heard the commotion happening outside.
"My name is Gena. I-I'm 19." The girl, Gena, replied.
"I see. Gena, I know this may seem weird, and please forgive me for asking this. But… what exactly are you?" Arjun asked.
"A-Are you from the other side of the Gate?" Gena asked.
"Yes. I am. Don't worry, my subordinate already gave me a probable reason for your presence in a military encampment. You have my word, nothing wrong will happen to you now. I promise." Arjun said.
"I'm a Warrior Bunny. I was given to that man by the Imperial Crown Prince, Zorzal after the Empire ravaged my homeland. That vile man raped me and my mother… repeatedly, before I was just given away like some used thing." Near the end, the girl just started crying and even Arjun, who has stared death in the face so many times that his callsign came out of the fearsome reputation he carried among terrorists and even members of the Criminal Underworld, could feel his heart crack at the girl's plight. Therefore, he just took his hand and petted the crying girl. Just for a minute, Arjun was reminded of his niece and how she would cry sometimes when she missed her parents.
"You're safe now," Arjun said. "Come on, let's go outside."
Once everything was sent to command, Demon decided to call Warlord.
"Warlord, we've secured the camp and sent all viable intel. Also, we have rescued a civilian."
"Is it one of ours?"
"No. A local. She is ready to help us for the next three days and has valuable intel."
"What do you mean, Wolfpack Actual?"
"According to her, an Imperial Army consisting of 200, 000 soldiers will be trying to hit New Delhi again. The guys we slaughtered was the bloody recon team. The fact that they will not get any missive saying "everything is normal" will definitely send alarm bells ringing." Demon explained.
"I see. How long out are they?" Warlord asked.
"On normal stance, they are 5 days out. But on forced march, our local resident expert says, will definitely have them here in 3 days." Demon replied.
"Is your source positive?" Warlord asked.
"She's got no reason to lie to us, sir." Demon replied.
"What do you mean?" Warlord asked.
"Let's just say, she was in a very good position to obtain this intel." Demon said.
"So our boys need to be ready for combat immediately, right?" Warlord asked.
"That is correct, Warlord." Demon said.
"Very well. You have permission for using that local. Our Lt. Gen will meet her later when the force comes in. Now, proceed to Phase 3."
"Oh yeah, we also captured the commander, alive." Demon informed.
"A RAW Strike Team will have him extracted in 6 hours. Looks like you boys really wanted that bonus." Warlord said.
"Damn straight we did." Demon replied.
"Fine. Continue your mission."
"Roger. Wolfpack Actual out." Demon said.
"What do we do about the camp, sir?" 1LT Divekar asked.
"Let Mother Nature work her magic." Demon callously said. "Proceed to Phase 3." For three days, they were to stay hidden from view until the full might of the Indian invasion force came through.
The Warrior Bunny looked curiously at the damage the Special Forces team did to the camp and couldn't help but respect the foreign warriors. Apparently, it was only six men who wasted an entire camp of more than 25 men of the Imperial Army. She knew she made the right decision by sticking with them. That, and the man she left the camp commander's tent with was kinda good looking as well, when he wasn't wearing that scary mask, that is.
No one in Task Force Wolfpack knew they were being observed by none other than Rory Mercury, the Apostle of Emroy, the God of War and Madness, and she was very pleased with what she saw.
When she was walking the lands merrily, four weeks ago, she felt a change in the air. The change told her that this world would change, forever, and Rory knew her fellow Apostles felt it too. She had previously heard rumors that the Empire in all of its stupidity had stepped through the Gate and waged a war.
'Looks like Hardy's bored again.' Rory had thought back then.
It was only when her Lord, Emroy himself, had visited her in her dream did she learn the truth. Hardy was bored and just wanted to cause some chaos. Emroy instructed his Apostle to observe the Otherworlders when they came.
Therefore, she was here. She could even feel Giselle, Hardy's Apostle, who might be here to observe and report on her Mistress's new pet project. And as long as she stayed away from Emroy's business Rory wouldn't lay even a finger on her.
She stayed in the same place for weeks. But today, no tonight, was when they came. They were few, but Rory felt it. They reeked of the stenches of war and that made her lick her lips. However, the one that caught her attention was the one in the lead. The one face, or skull, among all the faceless ones. This one radiated war. She decided to call him, Mr. Skull. In all the years she was alive, she never felt anything like that from anyone before. Mr. Skull was completely soaked in blood and war. She almost greeted him personally.
'They have strange contraptions. Could their staves be their medium for battle magic?' Rory thought. She saw as the small contraption flew in the air and was also surprised with the skill and efficiency the entire group possessed.
Like wolves or tigers, they stalked the Saderans and quietly killed them all. All of them were perfectly coordinated and no one was injured, let alone killed. While it was a far cry from her way of just going Commando and slaughtering everyone while laughing hysterically, she did like the subtle approach. Carried a lot more suspense.
Emroy, who watched through her eyes was also quite pleased. He commented that if this is the opening act, he couldn't wait for the main event, i.e., the main army. Seeing that her task was completed, Emroy's Apostle, decided to leave to deal with a certain itch in a certain place.
'Let's meet again, Mr. Skull.' She giggled in anticipation before heading North. What better way to sate her appetite than to hunt a few hundred bandits?
AN: So, as you saw the 3rd Division of Para SF 21, was sent into action as Task Force Wolfpack. I also kinda gave a glimpse of Arjun's home life. How did you like his niece? Constructive criticism is always appreciated.