Driving in the military SUV, the hunters didn't question Ajay where they were going as he took the wheel. Strangely enough he seemed to know where he was going. All of them remembered what he last told them, they thought he was absurd. The reason they were called strongholds was because they there the fortresses that overlooked the regions they were placed in, whoever owned the stronghold owned the region.
"Where are we going?" Maya broke silence between him and her.
"To the outskirts of the stronghold, didn't you listen to what I said back in the palace?" Ajay exclaimed in an annoyed tone.
"Which one?" Maya demanded.
Ajay sighed. "Patu Gadhi."
"That's mistress's-!"
"Not anymore. The Golden Path took it two days ago and their using it as a staging area to bring fighters safely through the South-West across the King's bridge." The info was apparently censored by the propaganda department to the general public and ranks in the royal army to prevent anarchy and break in morale.
"Ajay, we're only doing reconnaissance, right?" Bipin asked from the backseat.
"For the time being….." Ajay said then concentrated on the wheel.
The rest of the fighters were quiet in the back, Darshan began to light his marijuana pipe, taking in deep puffs. He was by far the calmest besides Ajay. His teammates admired his fortitude. Ajay opened the windows.
Not too long, Ajay finally reached the base of the mountains the Stronghold also faced and parked below. The hunters got out with Bipin.
"Bipin, stay here and radio us if anything happens to you." Ajay threw on his harness and slung the AK rifle he found in the armory. He checked his weapon and ammo to make sure he was ready.
"Ah!- Ajay! I should follow you instead, it's my responsibility." Bipin insisted on following, his sister was about to stop him, for once she agreed with Ajay. His recovering injury would only get worse especially with all the climbing.
"Bipin! Think of your injury!" Maya told him.
"I'm gonna make them climb all the way up the mountain, don't worry! The next part is crucial so I'll need your help later." Ajay made it sound less like he was a burden and more of a critical component to his plan.
Ajay tested the mobile phones radio functions and ensured they were synced, he passed one to Bipin. He dug into the boot and retrieved a submachine gun and gave it to Bipin for self-protection.
"Relax, I'll take care of things!" Ajay assured him as he went up to lead the hunters up the mountain.
They had walked up for nearly two hours, although the grounds were not as dangerous as what one might expect from a steep mountain it extended the trip by a few minutes. Either way it was extremely safe, how did Ajay know these routes?
"You might want to watch out, this place is a popular breeding ground for Tigers!"
"Uh?…. Ajay, sir!- How do you know all these things?" Prayan asked inquisitively.
Ajay pointed to the droppings on the cliff. "Oh."
"You're not what we expected, Ajay!" Laughed Prayan.
"I get that a lot, America isn't as safe as everybody thinks! I did some trekking way back so I have some knowledge on climbing." Ajay fashioned an excuse to his pre-timeline knowledge.
"Move aside!" Maya pushed her subordinate so she could walk alongside Ajay. Prayan walked back with the rest upset he was pushed by his leader.
Ajay didn't start anything with her and just continued to navigate for them as they followed him.
"Thank you….for saving my brother." Maya said awkwardly.
"No worries. He did me a favor then as well."
"Which was?"
"Taking the hit for Pagan."
"…"
Maya wondered why Ajay cared so much for King Min, he was the rebel leader's son and yet he was doing these things for and not against the King.
"I'm sorry for shouting at you those times, it was because I heard that my dear brother was sustained a life threatening injury."
"And making a fuss outside his operating room was gonna help him?"
"Like I said I'm sorry!" She shouted flustered again.
"No you're not." Ajay told her coldly as he walked ahead of her.
"Tsk!" Maya bit her lower lip hard, he was becoming more and more intolerable by the second.
Finally, after much walking up the steep slopes and using the grapple to climb certain areas, they had come upon a decent surprise.
A natural path led all the way towards the direction of the Stronghold. It would allow them to walk above the stronghold and theoretically rappel onto the stronghold from the cliff above. So that was why Ajay had them climb they figured. But the question loomed over their heads again, how did Ajay know about this path?
"We'll take a break." He told them as he observed the condition of the hunters, they were all exhausted from climbing with the equipment he made them carry. Apart from climbing mountains not being their thing, they were originally light infantry shock troops. Most of the times he encountered them, they used light bows rarely firearms. But that didn't make them hold less firepower. The arrows could be incendiary, explosive or poisoned depending on the effectiveness against their opponents. He encountered a few which used the standard royal guard weapons but they were the small exceptions.
As it turned out all except Darshan were holding rifles, truly a coincidence he bumped into this rare group. He went around with his bottle of water to hydrate them as they lay flat against the rocks.
"Aren't you tired?" Prayan asked him as he seemed as alright as he had appeared to not even sweat while he was carrying loads as heavy as them.
"I've had training, open your mouth." Ajay poured the water into Prayan's mouth and the same for Anish. There was strangely enough no change in Darshan, he offered but the latter politely refused. He still smoked the pipe contently, but it was clear to Ajay that Darshan though older was a notch above the rest here.
He came over to Maya to offer his bottle to her. Tired and thirsty, she had not strength to refuse it and Ajay tilted the bottle for her to drink from it as she sat against the rocks. When he was done, he sat down and looked at the map and charts again to confirm the distance and direction.
Maya was feeling skeptical about Ajay's treatment towards them, he stated early on he would use them and yet was concerned enough to monitor her men and their well-being, her brother who couldn't travel by foot he also took that into consideration and didn't force him.
"Ajay, how much longer to the stronghold?" She asked panting.
"Quarter the time it took to climb, it should be a joy stroll from here on out then we'll wait for nightfall."
Even the way he described it was also pleasant.
"I-… I see!" Was all she managed to say.
Ajay checked his watch, three hours had passed. He decided he should check in on Bipin just in case. He may be a guard but he was alone and anything could happen. Taking out the mobile phone and pressing the call button, unfortunately the signal wasn't strong enough from where he was. The walkway which they were on was a cave so the hard rock was sheltering them from the harsh glare of the sun but also blocking his signal.
"I'm gonna check in on your brother!" He said before standing and walking towards the ledge with the mobile phone raised.
While Maya watched him Prayan moved over to her and asked her quietly.
"Do we kill him here?" Prayan asked his leader. Maya thought about it, there was not much benefit for her to kill him here.
Although the conditions were just right, they could throw him off the cliff and declare it an accident. Maya wondered why she was starting to have second thoughts about killing him, was it because her mentor had yet to give the ok? But there was also the possibility that they could lose the opportunity to take back the stronghold for Mistress Yuma by themselves.
Prayan was already aiming his rifle at him and dialing in his sights just for small calibrations. Making sure not to miss at him.
"Prayan, w-wait-." Maya stopped him from being too reckless although he turned around. But not to her, but what was behind her.
A wet growl was heard from behind Maya as she slowly turned her head.
"TIGER!" Prayan howled as he sprayed lead at the wild cat. The cat went for him first being the most threatening target in the area. "Oh god! No!- ARRRGHHH!" The tiger pounced onto him and went straight for his neck instantly ending his life.
Maya was frightened beyond belief that such a creature could come all the way up here. She crawled backwards to get away, stumbling as she did so. Far on the right, her comrades were staying a distance, as frightened by the tiger as she was. She would not have help from them, it was hopeless.
The Tiger turned to her as the next easy prey and pounced towards her. In that instant, she felt time slow down as the Tiger was in mid-air about to land onto her and devour her in a second. She had so much regrets, Mistress Yuma, Bipin, the orphanage. She looked upon the avatar of her doom. A beautiful specimen with brilliant white fur and a large powerful jaw dominated by its piercing eyes and gorgeous stripes.
But in the end, she still didn't want to die! She shut her eyes tightly to avoid seeing the gore.
-Somebody!-
The Tiger was almost upon her when a lightning quick strike slammed into the two hundred kilo body and sent it flying in a different direction. The Tiger landed neatly on its feet just like all cats did.
"Yo- girl! Didn't think I'd find you so soon!" Ajay stood between Maya and the Tiger.
Maya opened her tearing eyes, she looked at Ajay grinning maliciously at the Tiger armed with nothing but a kukri. He was going to challenge a Tiger?
The tiger locked on to her new opponent that dared to injure it. The coat at its stomach area was stained red by the dripping blood where Ajay had punctured it with his knife as he slammed into it.
Ajay had not seen this coming, in fact he never expected it to be here. It being the legendary man-eating white tiger, aptly named 'sky-tiger'. Due to the generally high places it liked to perch on but also because of the clear and beautiful white fur. He knew this because Chiffon sent him in the past to claim a tiger handbag out of it.
"Come on!" He taunted the tiger. Unable to take Ajay's arrogance over its recent miscalculation it pounced angrily once more, determined to show him it was a mistake to go against it by himself. Ajay dived under it as it flew over him and he held the kukri above his head to let the sheer size of the tiger be used against it. The knife sliced a whole portion of the tigers hide but the brutal force of the two hundred kilo body took the knife from Ajay's hands as it was left embedded in the tiger's lower body.
The Tigress roared in agony, shaking and trying to ply the knife from its body. Ajay did not give the Tiger a chance to act. Peppering the tiger with the rifle was not an option, he didn't know how much rounds it took to take it down with. He leaped onto the tiger's back and slung his rifle around its neck, pulling back to strangle it to death. The tiger fell on its back trying to get up but Ajay yanked the rifle back with all his strength with a roared outmatching the tiger. The tiger struggled for a while till its body went limp and spasmed a few times, a minute later Ajay loosened his grip around the rifle which had bent out of shape from the tiger pressing against it. He breathed a sigh after what seemed like forever for the tiger to lose its breath.
"I'm gonna need a break now." He said panting, but there was no response. He turned his head to Maya and the remaining boys.
They stared in shock and fear. They couldn't believe their eyes, many had gone up the mountains in search of the sky-tiger to claim its rare and expensive fur and none had returned. A testament to the tigers ferocity and deadliness. Some had gone up with assault rifles, shotguns, elephant guns.
But the way Ajay killed it was even more absurd, he killed it with his bare hands. Maya and the rest looked at Ajay as if he was a monster. If they told this story no one would believe them, and yet here they were to witness the awe inspiring image of Ajay wrestling with the tiger.
"That-….was…..AWESOME!" Anish declared cheering as he jumped up and down.
"Did you see that?! Did you?!" He went from Darshan to Maya to confirm with them that his eyes weren't playing him a fool then went to the tiger's carcass and checked to see if it was still breathing.
"It's dead! It's dead! Holy cow, Ajay! What the hell are you made out of brother?!" Anish slapped him on the back. Anish had never approached Ajay due to skepticism of about Ajay's true ability in acting on what he said regarding the Golden Path. But he no longer dared to question it, he did something that no one would, where Anish had just stood there shocked and afraid. It was the natural reaction to encountering a wild cat so close to one, did that mean Ajay was abnormal?
When Ajay had caught his breath he ignored Anish's praise and turned to where Prayan was. He got up and walked over to the corpse and knelt beside it.
He checked Prayan's body for breathing or a pulse but there was none. Prayan's eyes were still open in shock from the tiger mauling him, so Ajay closed them for him.
"Did he have a family?" Ajay turned to Maya who had just recovered from her stupor and walked over to Prayan's corpse. "A wife and child just recently." Tears formed in her eyes as she looked upon her dead subordinate and dear friend, Ajay remained silent to respect her wishes to the dead.
She reached into his shirt and pulled out a simple beaded necklace held by a string, clasping it with her two hands to her chest as she wept for him. Anish had read the mood quickly and stopped celebrating. Darshan went over with a pendant and chanted a prayer over Prayan's body, performing some sort of Kyrati last rites for his body.
When Ajay judged they had more a less settled down he ordered the two, Darshan and Anish to carry the tiger's body on a stretcher to their intended location, Ajay carried Prayan's body on his back.
"Urgh! Ajay! Why do we have to carry to tiger?" Anish complained.
"You want to carry dead Prayan?" He asked in return. Somehow Anish got a little discouraged by the idea. It was superstitious to hold a corpse perhaps. Ajay didn't make Maya carry anything except one of the packs while leaving the rest, it wasn't professional letting a woman do the dirty work. Just as they were about to move on an animal yelp came from behind the rocks. Ajay put down the corpse and went to investigate. The rest were traumatized by the tiger attack and were fearful of going in deeper. There were sounds of struggling again.
"Ajay!" Maya called out of concern.
But she and the rest didn't have to worry as he returned and in his hand was a little surprise.
A white tiger cub, only a few months old possibly the cub to the tiger he killed was dangling from his grip as he held it by the back of its neck.
"Here, hold him. We're bringing it back later." He said as he threw the corpse over his back once more and continued walking.
"Ah!- Should we?" Maya wasn't sure about bringing it out of its lair.
"It will die anyway if we don't take it, the choice is yours." Ajay led them once more along the preplanned route to the designated location vertically above the stronghold. Throughout the trip Ajay did not complain once as opposed to Anish. He took turns with them dragging the tiger on the stretcher, thank god it was a straight road going down slop or else it would have been nearly impossible to carry it.
The tiger cub made no attempt to escape from Maya's arms, realizing that its only means of survival was to depend on them now that its mother was killed.
At last they reached their destination almost one hundred and sixty metres above their target, Ajay placed the corpse gently against the rock wall and the two collapsed from exhaustion once again.
"'Huff' 'Huff' We should have just left Prayan back there then you could have helped us carry the tiger, three men instead of two!" Anish sprouted nonsense again and earned a slap from his superior.
"Not another word!"
"Shhhh! Do you idiots want to compromise our position after all the effort coming up here?" Ajay warned them as they were directly above the stronghold presently swarming with Golden Path fighters.
The three quieten down and rested once more.
Ajay took out his camera to observe the stronghold, actively taking pictures while the rest were trying to restore their strength. Maya had to admit he was a hard working fellow, but why was carrying the tiger's body necessary.
She approached him after he had finished recceing with photo shots.
"What do you intend to do with the tiger's carcass?" She asked him straight.
"To sell it….." Maya felt a temper boil up inside of her like none had ever seen.
-You want to sell it after it took one of my friends?!-
"… How else am I gonna compensate his family?"
"Eh?" Instantly Maya's rage vanished.
"That thing is probably worth what….two-three hundred grand American? That should at least cover his families living for a decade or two here!"
Maya was too astounded to say anything. He was not going to claim the reward for killing one of the most infamous beast in all of Kyrat but was intending to send the proceeds to his wife and child instead. It should have been his right to have it in the first place as much as she grieved her friend's passing but he was passing away a fortune for the victims of Prayan's death.
"Ah! If I remember there's also a reward for killing it, talk about double bonus! I guess his family won't need to work on the fields for much longer, eh?!" Ajay laughed out loud.
"Why?..." Maya trembled.
"Hmmm?"
"Why are you doing such a thing? Are you taking pity on Prayan? Are you looking down on him for being so sorry?!" She lashed out at him. Ajay looked at her and spoke calmly.
"I do feel sorry for him." He said and continued. "This whole excursion was my idea to begin with, and it had gotten him killed in the end! How can I not make amends for it?" His point of view startled Maya once again.
Maya started to have complicated feelings about Ajay now, she thought he was initially a spoilt child looking for adventure to please King Min, arrogant in his attitude. Yet he thought about the consequences of his actions and was willing to do all he could to make up for it the best he could. The thought of plotting against him completely vanished from her, after all the fright that had happened today she was still recovering from the most eventful day she had just undergone.
Maya didn't know was words to convey to him, her head was in pain. The tiger cub looked up licking her chin from where she held it, all her negative thoughts diminished and she turned her attention to the cub again.
"Um…. Could we at least have a cut from the tiger's profits?" Anish asked timidly. Ajay chuckled.
"That'll depend on your performance later!"
Night had fallen over all of Kyrat, the stronghold had lit it's torches and turned on its lamps. Ajay and the hunters had a quick meal from the MRE's he brought along. Maya begun to have a growing attachment to the tiger cub, she fed it most of her portions in the meal. Since it was process meat it was technically ok.
The night patrol details had already taken over the day guards allowing them to have their meals before sleep.
It was time to take action with use of the night as cover. Ajay disassembled the bags Maya carried and took out four pairs of night vision goggles he got from the armory. Handing it to each of them to wear.
Anish secured the ropes to rappel down off, he was especially eager to prove himself to Ajay to get entitled to a portion of the lump sum waiting for him. Maya scorned him while Darshan looked the same as always, Ajay ever wondered if the man ever said anything or expressed himself. He seemed to be almost high all the time, even though he contributed quite heavily as Ajay asked him to.
"Ready!" Anish whispered so as not to alert the guards.
"Darshan, maintain overwatch." Ajay told the crack head, the man grinned so he wasn't sure if it was a yes or no.
"Maya, let go of the cub!" Ajay told her. She seemed reluctant to part from her new friend.
Ajay sighed and went to his bags he left behind retrieving a cloth. He wrapped the cub and slung it around Darshan so that it was snug and wouldn't roam about.
"No problem, right?" He gave Darshan a thumbs up.
Maya went to take her position by the ledge with Anish.
"Finally, some action!" Anish was raring to go after being made as a travelling mule for half a day.
"Bipin! Come in, are you there?" Ajay called out on his mobile.
*Yeah! Yeah! I'm here, Ajay! What do you need?*
"In the back of the SUV you'll find a rocket launcher. I want you to fire it sixty degrees to the South-East. In sixty seconds starting from…..now! After that, head to the stronghold in five minutes. Out!"
*Ok! I'll do it! Stay safe ok?*
Ajay put away the mobile phone and attached his harness to the rope Anish attached to the rocks. He waited a while.
Bipin fired the rocket launcher and an illumination round went off in the distance. The on duty guards responded with a small group assembled on a jeep sent out to investigate the flat land where it was lit above.
"Alright, here we go, in….3…..2…1….go!" The three of them rappelled down the lines towards the highest roof of the stronghold.
No one suspected a thing when they touched down upon the roof quietly. Ajay screwed on his suppressor onto the sidearm he was carrying, he'd lost the rifle to the tiger so he had to make do. Although he could leave the ammo there making his trip easier without the assault rifle ammo and lighter.
"We'll go for the power box. Anish go for the sniper nest, Maya you go for the alarm box." Ajay gave his orders and they split up. He wasn't sure how they fared separately but he was confident they could maintain stealth.
He passed the lamps through the darkness and on to the generator where he cut the wires on it. Instantly the lights went out in all of the locations. Power outages were common in Kyrat so one of two soldiers would automatically go to fix the generator. He left a trip mine near the generator while he went to the barracks full of sleeping men, placing a C4 charge inside the room and closed the doors.
He regrouped with the two after they had accomplished their tasks. "What now?" Maya asked.
"Two more things, kill the stronghold commandant and the patrol they sent out."
"I'll take the care of the sentries on the walls." Anish volunteered.
"That just leaves the commandant." Ajay said.
"Guess it's settled then." Maya added in.
Ajay and Maya carefully climbed the steps to the commandant's office. There were torches lighting his room from the window. Ajay and Maya stood on either side of the door ready to storm the room. Ajay moved the door open silently with his silenced handgun raised, but he did not anticipate his adversary would detect foul play so quickly. The commandant slammed the door on his body from behind the door and Ajay lost the grip on his pistol. The commandant proceeded to send a wild haymaker towards his jaw, which Ajay countered with a cross elbow and jab to his throat to silence him. Grabbing his hand had spinning him onto the floor but the Commandant crushed the table with his body causing a racket.
But the Commandant was a large man and wrestled with him on the ground nearly overpowering Ajay. The Commandant reached out for a fountain pen to stab Ajay in the throat as he was held down by the Commandant's body weight.
Ajay struggled to fight back against the point of the pen facing his chest. (Crack) And the Commandant fell to his side motionless, Maya had cracked his skull with the wooden stump of the table.
"Thanks."
"No worries!"
The trip mines he set near the generators path got set off and killed the unfortunate mechanic. This woke everyone from their slumber.
"Attackers in the perimeter! Sound help! Wake up the Commander!" Someone shouted from the barracks.
-Shit.-
Ajay pressed the detonator to the C4 he left in the barracks. A huge explosion engulfed the barracks and anyone caught in it died instantly. Although some made it out from responding faster to the call.
"Let's kill them before the patrol comes back!" Maya nodded her head and followed closely with her rifle raised.
"Commander-!" Some fighters had come up to inform the Commandant and await his orders only to stare down the barrels of Maya's assault rifle as she peppered them with auto fire.
"There! Intruder on the wall!" The Golden Path fighters who guarded the roads inside the perimeter caught sight of Anish dispatching the last of the sentries up on the walls and pinned him down with automatic fire.
Taking opportunity of their distraction, Ajay and Maya attacked the unsuspecting guards with their backs turned.
"We're is the Commander?!"
"Why aren't the lights turning on?!"
"The alarms been cut!"
"Oh god! We're doomed!"
All the golden path fighters panicking voices were music to his ears. He no longer went the stealthy approach and went in guns blazing. The fighters noticed him as he converged onto them. Firing his handgun at a few with potshots as he used the running momentum to impale a fighter with his kukri. A few fighters appeared from a blind spot, so Ajay turned the dead body towards them and pulled the pin on a lodged grenade before kicking the dead man towards their direction.
The explosion from the grenade killed them all. Ajay turned to another group rounded up behind sandbags and fired his pistol with aimed shots, the men dropped like flies before Ajay's true aim and all but two remained. The last two in the entire base.
Looking upon the fierce appearances of Ajay, Maya and Anish who joined them they instantly gave up all intentions of fighting.
"W-We surrender! (Bang) Aurrgh!" Ajay gunned down one of them and turned to the other. "Wait! Wait! Please, I have a family!"
Ajay lowered his pistol as he walked towards the submissive fighter. "I'm sure you do, but you know what? So did they!" Ajay stabbed his kukri into the man's temple all the way through the other end.
Ajay and the two walked to the roof, just on time the patrol vehicle had returned. Seeing the fire in the stronghold from the exploded Barracks they rushed back immediately.
"Hey! Look what I found!" He carried a rocket launcher over to them. He passed it to Ajay who placed it on his shoulder and aimed it at the incoming patrol jeep, but then he lowered the launcher.
"Maya, do you want to take the honors of reopening Yuma's Stronghold?" Ajay smiled as he held the launcher in front of her.
Maya was genuinely surprised but in a good way, she smiled back with a heartwarming feeling it made Ajay stumble from seeing such a beautiful smile.
The patrol jeep blared the car horn for them to open the gates still oblivious to the situation inside. Maya took up the launcher and aimed it at the jeep. She depressed the trigger igniting the rocket and it flew to its final destination, which was the driving compartment of the jeep.
The patrol jeep exploded into flames, there by ending the Golden Paths control over Ratu Gadhi and the end for the counter attack on the North-east protected regions. Ajay and the hunters had single handedly ended the offensive capabilities of the Golden Path across King's bridge.
Bipin rode the SUV up to the gates of the Ratu gadhi stronghold, from far in the dark he could see the fire from inside and was genuinely worried for Ajay's safety but also his sister's.
"Ahoy there!" Ajay called out from the wall with a smile plastered to his face.
"A-Ajay! Did you manage to take down this entire Stronghold yourself?!"
"Of course not. I had the hunters! Anish! Open the gate!"
"Aye sir!" Anish pulled the lever to release the complex mechanisms that powered the gate, the doors creaked open slowly.
Bipin drove in and bore witness to the carnage that Ajay and his sister's group had delivered upon the stronghold, his mouth refuse to close.
The Stronghold that was declared Nye impossible to capture without at least a battalion of soldiers was taken overnight by six men.
Bipin got out of the SUV and walked towards Ajay whom he saw talking casually with his sister Maya. Bipin was starting to become more baffled by the minute, didn't his sister despise him yet now she was having a normal conversation, even showing off her beautiful smile to him. What the hell happened?
"Ah!- Bipin! Good job!" Ajay turned to Bipin.
Maya ran over to embrace him. "It's good to see you're ok!"
"I should be saying the same to you, how in the world did you take down a stronghold on your own? I just find it hard to believe even now!" Bipin shared his doubts.
"Common strategy in defense is to use the terrain as defense, for this case it's the mountain Cliffside the stronghold used to cover the rear. So when they were posted to guard the place, they were confident no one would attack them there, so they devoted all the energy into protecting the flanks and front."
"A-Ah!-" Was all Bipin managed to say as Ajay went lightning speed on his explanation.
"You were quite essential in getting their attention to the front with the illumination round, thereby heightening their guard to the front. While we rappelled down the cliff, there was a possibility of being spotted by a random patrol but not if all faces turn to the sudden bright light!"
"Ohhh!" Bipin understood now. "So what now?"
"Call communications and tell them Ratu Gadhi has returned under Royal Army control! Kudos to Yuma's hunters." Ajay said as he walked to the generator to fix his recent sabotage.
Bipin turned to his sister for answers. "Don't look at me, you have a job. Be quick about it!" Bipin froze for a while and quickly went to the comms room where the antenna was.
Maya went over to where Ajay was, the latter was reconnecting the wires he cut and checking the condition of the generator. His experience as an automotive mechanic granted him the ability to make it work.
Maya sat by the crates as Ajay was working, he was preoccupied to entertain her at present.
"It's really been an eventful day today, Ajay. I wonder if every day working with you would end up like this! It'll be tiring, yes! But, probably unforgettable, I might even crave for the excitement after we're done!" She laughed naturally.
"….."
"Hey, Ajay…"
"Yeah?"
"I'm sorry for all the things I said…. And…. Thank you-… for saving me!" Maya said it this time with a genuine smile.
"….No worries!"
With the generator fixed Bipin could send a message to the Communications back in the headquarters, they were sending a group of guards by helicopter and would be inbound any minute.
Ajay took this time to slowly lower the corpse of Prayan and the Tiger's dead body down the cliff. Darshan came down after all the remaining equipment was lowered, Maya removed the cub from the sling. It seemed that it was all she really cared about as she played with it.
Bipin stared at the Tigresses carcass wide eyed. If capturing a stronghold wasn't enough, there was the legendary Sky-tiger lying dead before him. He rested his body against the wall of a hovel to manage the dizzy spell he was having. The kind of accomplishments they were having in just one day, there was no way this couldn't escape the ears of the people or the propaganda department for that matter.
Anish bragged to Bipin concerning the method that was used to kill the white tiger.
His heart dropped from his chest into a deep pit. Turning to Ajay who was scratching the itchiness behind his ear.
-Just what kind of monster is he?!-
Ajay noticed Bipin had returned.
"Ajay, I've sent the message. The reserve troops sent to become the new garrison will be in bound."
"Good! We'll stick around until then, help me organize the intel in the commandant's office to find out what the Golden Path have been up to." Ajay gave him his next task, he was surprised at his efficiency and focus regarding the situation instead of celebrating like he should be.
"Yes, Ajay!" Bipin went up the steps to the Commandant's office.
Ajay dragged the bodies to the centre square of the stronghold where he gathered all the bodies, Darshan and Anish did the same to clean up the place without being asked to. After they were almost done, Anish went over to Ajay.
"So Ajay, what do you think about our performance?" Ajay deadpanned to Anish.
-This fella only thinks about money, well I guess that's alright! But if he takes it too far…..-
"You've earned it!" He told him.
Anish couldn't hide his excitement and zipped around dancing but went back to diligently finish up with the bodies.
Soon they could hear the distant chopping sound of the helicopters coming, it was still midnight so Ajay wasn't expecting them to come this fast. As the choppers entered visible range of their markings, Ajay knew why they were early.
"Anish. Call Maya and Bipin over immediately! ASAP!"
"Uh- Oh! Ok!" Anish replied before running off. The first chopper landed and out came the protection Royal guards who stood in a defensive formation awaiting the landing of the second chopper holding the guest of honor.
Maya appeared with her younger brother. "You called us? What's the matter, Ajay?"
Ajay didn't answer them verbally, instead he motioned his head towards the chopper who had just landed. The doors slide open and out of the passenger compartment came Pagan. The hunters were taken by surprise by the arrival of such a high level person, the head of state.
Pagan walked towards Ajay smiling, he lifted his arms emphasizing the feat which Ajay had achieved here.
"""Your Highness!""" The hunters saluted him crisply, he waved a quick return and looked to Ajay again.
"Hahahaha! Ajay, my boy! You really know how to take the breath out of me dear boy!"
"I wasn't expecting you here so soon." Ajay grinned.
"Did you really think I'd not be watching out for you, Ajay? Besides, what else can I do in the palace?" Pagan chuckled.
"….."
"Ohhh myy! What have we here?" Pagan noticed the majestic tiger's carcass.
"And I suppose you did this as well?" Pagan smiled through his teeth.
"Nope. It was him!" Ajay pointed to the dead corpse of Prayan.
The hunters were stunned by Ajay's claim, because it obviously wasn't the case but they couldn't say anything. Maya realized he was probably trying to set a good image for Prayan to his family and King Min.
"Ohohoho! For me? What a loyal subject! His king is truly blessed that he'd give his life to present me the gift of a new Tiger jacket!" Pagan, too use to taking things laid claim to the tiger's fur.
Maya couldn't believe what she held, as upset as she was that the king was taking the prize which was supposed to fund Prayan's family she sure as hell couldn't convince the king to spare a few coins.
"Actually, this tiger belongs to his family! You see if he hadn't been there I'd be mauled by the tiger, Pagan." Ajay said it without a hint of tension.
"Oh! So the tiger fur wasn't for me?"
Ajay laughed at Pagan, that's when the hunters were truly afraid. He had the audacity to deny the king and laugh at it.
"No! No! No! Pagan, I have another surprise in store for you! I'm sure you might quite like it!" Pagan's temporary frown turned upside down into a contented smile.
"Really?...Do tell!"
It was early in the morning, sunrise and the newly arrived convoy of Golden Path fighters were eager to enter the frontlines. Sitting in the passenger seat of one of the trucks in the troop convoy was Amita. In the Golden Path, Amita's faction had made considerable progress where Sabal failed twice in getting Ajay Ghale and assassinating Pagan. When he entered the HQ with the bandages wrapped around his face, Amita laughed her head off. But soon stopped when Sabal revealed to her a frightening side of him to her, she avoided all contact with him after. And that was why she was out in the front where the action was. Two days ago, her fighters had taken Ratu Gadhi stronghold. It was a significant victory for the Golden Path as it over-watched the region around the King's Bridge, the only way through to the North-East Royal Army controlled territories. She was now on her way to lead the counter offensive against Pagan's forces from this fortress.
Already in the lead of supporters, she had nothing much to worry about Sabal hampering her ambitions unless she screwed up this one and lost control of the offensive.
"We should be there in a few minutes!" Her driver informed her.
"Mmmm!"
"Didn't think this day would come, to take the fight to Pagan is what our predecessors have long dreamed of!" Exclaimed the driver happily.
"Neither did I, if we weren't mucking about those old statues this day would have happened a lot sooner!"
"Umm…I'm not really sure about that Amita! If Sabal hear-!"
"Sabal is a vessel for long dead wishes! The Golden Path needs to get out of the stone age of tradition and culture or there won't be anything left after we retake the country!" Amita shouted.
"My subordinates did a good job at capturing Ratu Gadhi days ago. I'll need to congratulate him when we get there, this is a turning point for the Golden Path and for my faction!" Amita was content with the way things were going.
As the stronghold entered in sight and the convoy was on the road heading to the gate of the stronghold, the driver horned the guards inside that they had arrived.
(Crack) (Splat) The wind shield was smashed and splatted with a red blood stain.
"Huh?" Things happened too quickly as she looked up to see her driver had been shot by a heavy slug to the face causing his head to explode and the gore stained the seats and trickled onto Amita's face.
She screamed and reached for the steering wheel as the truck began to tip to the side and crashed overturned. The passengers in the back were flung from their seats around in the compartment, some were knocked unconscious others suffered fractured bones. Being the lead vehicle in the convoy it naturally stopped it as the trucks hit the brakes to behind and next to the crashed truck. Men and women got out of the trucks to check if they were alright, still oblivious to what had actually happened. One reached to ply the passenger seat door to check if Amita was still alright.
"Amita! Are you alright-!" (Splat) The person who checked on her had his head explode too as a high-velocity shell passed through it.
"Ambush!" Amita warned her oblivious comrades to the danger that was present.
"What's happening?!"
"I dunno, did she just say ambu- Fuurrghh!" Another got hit by the shots
"Tulasi!- Ambush! Enemy in the open!"
The Golden Path warriors in the convoy started to get wary and get out of the vehicles and draw their weapons.
"Where's it coming from?!"
"There!"
"But that's the stronghold!"
"What? You don't think-…!"
Just as the fighter had thought of the correct answer. Rifle flashes came from the walls of the Stronghold at them.
Bullets started to rain onto the convoy.
"Enemy in the stronghold! Fire back!"
"What?! I thought we captured it recently?!"
"Who cares, just shoot!" Indiscriminant fire laced the air in the direction of the stronghold but the range of the assault rifles was not as effective from three hundred metres away. But they still fired hoping their comrades would bring up heavier weapons like the machine guns to support them.
The Golden Path Fighters struggles to put up a fight, several capable commanders regrouped them and formed a firing line to cover the rest of the convoy.
Unfortunately, they had not expected the next form of attack which came in the form of howling bombs. A mortar was present in the Stronghold and it was used to great effect against the bunched up fighters. Shells were lobed into the convoy supply trucks as well, one carrying high explosives ignited into a massive fireball taking out anyone near it.
The fighters and commanders had no choice but to fight where they were, they were out in the open fields that surrounded Ratu Gadhi so there was no available ground cover. To retreat would sustain heavy casualties as well.
Amita came out of the wreckage apparently shell shocked by the events that took place around her, the screaming, explosions and bullets cutting down her soldiers. It wasn't a losing battle, it was a massacre!
"Amita! My group is providing support fire have the rear fall back orderly!" The field commander told her as she was a strategic commander and not one involved in combat.
"How could it turn out like this…" Amita still had trouble accepting the reality of her situation.
"Amita!"
"Y-Yes?..."
"Fall back-(Splat)." As he was telling her to leave a bullet passed through his neck and killed him instantly and the blood splattered against her face once more. Amita fell on her back in shock at the sheer brutality of the killings that were happening.
Those precise shots that killed her driver of the lead vehicle to stop the convoys' approach, slowly picking off the commanders in the field and heavy weapons soldiers all came from the same shooter.
That shooter was Ajay, firing high-caliber slugs from the anti-material rifle on top of the wall three hundred and fifty metres away from the convoy. Maya provided spotter intel on targets of opportunity. Next to them were the Royal guards from Pagan's escort firing the machine guns at the convoy and suppressing the firing line of fighters.
The Golden Path fighters were losing comrades left and right to the combined firepower of the garrison and the mortar fire manned by more Royal guards. And just as things couldn't get any worse a helicopter flew out from the protective walls of the stronghold towards them.
The helicopter approached them and turned to the side exposing a minigun and wielding it was none other than Pagan Min!
"Hahaha! Have at you, shit-throwing monkeys!" Pagan taunted maniacally as he depressed the trigger unleashing a three thousand round per minute hail of lead at the convoy and shredding the unprotected Fighters standing behind the trucks.
The appearance of Pagan's helicopter gunship shattered the morale of the fighters and they began to run, every man for themselves. Regardless of the strict orders from the experience commanders who were lessening due to the crack shot Ajay was.
Seeing the hopelessness in the situation the next field commander ordered some men to take Amita away before she got killed by a stray round. Several men dragged her hollow shell away from the killing field.
Moments later the same commander lost his life to Ajay's .50 caliber shot. Ajay zeroed the scope onto the group carrying Amita. Through the crosshairs he could see the shattered expression on Amita's emotionless face.
"That's right, I want you to suffer…" He murmured as he released his finger from the trigger allowing her to flee back to Banapur.
The intelligence from the commandant's office on the roster told him a large convoy was inbound early in the morning, it also informed him who was the Commander due to arrive.
This was his gift to Pagan, a turkey shoot of unsuspecting Golden Path fighters fresh to the field. And Pagan couldn't be happier as his minigun tore away at the fleeing fighters.
"Running away are we? I think not!" Pagan cackled from the troop compartment in the helicopter as he spun the Gatling gun at the defeated Golden Path warriors.
"This is the best gift, Ajay! EVERRR!"