Elephant and Tiger
Disclaimer: I do not own Far cry 4, its characters or its story.
Warnings: Swearing, mention of violence.
Chapter 6 - From the ashes
When morning came, Ajay and Jessica headed to Chal Jama monastery, where the weapons shipment from Longinus should have been sent. Both Ajay and Jessica where in a good mood, even after what happened yesterday in the arena. For next few days there where planning on getting ready to attack Paul De Pleur's fortress Varshakot. But for now they decided to see, if the shipment from Longinus arrived.
They didn't go in to the monastery but to a side armory. Once Jessica opened the door she saw Amita. "Amita." Jessica called and Amita turned around and smiled. "Jessica, Longinus said this was from you. Thank you." Ajay was proud at Jessica, because she did it by herself, but that doesn't mean he was afraid for her. Sabal comes from the other side of the room. "Thanks, sister. And he also said the opium at the old tea factory was ready to ship. We need to wipe that poison out." Amita turned to Sabal with a surprised look on her face. "Wipe it out? Are you joking? We need to secure that shipment and those fields." Sabal shakes his head and says. "Amita, we talked about his. Turning Kyrat into a drug state is not the answer." "Sabal, we have no natural resources. What happens when we're free? The mines have been stripped, the fields have been ruined for years. So we liberate our people then what?" Amita explains and frowns. Sabal frowns back and raises his voice. "It's not our way. It never was. You do this, you're no better than Pagan. It's morally bankrupt." He turns around and walks to the right side of the room. "Better than being literally bankrupt." Amita shots back and goes to the left side of the room. "So what now? We clearly can't save and burn down the fields at the same time." Jessica says to Ajay. "Well you are right, but we can hear both their plans." Jessica agrees to Ajay's plan and she goes to speak to Sabal while Ajay goes to talk to Amita.
Ajay walks to the left side of the room and starts to speak. "Amita, can I talk to you?" She looks at him surprised and nods so Ajay continues. "What do you plan to do with the fields?" Amita proceeds to explain. " I know this isn't the way things should be, but Kyrat can't survive if Sabal keeps clinging to the past. So please get to the old tea factory and secure those fields." Ajay goes to the front door to wait for Jessica.
Jessica walks to the right side of the room and starts to speak. "Sabal, can I ask you something?" He looks at Jessica and nods. "I think you are right about this, so what does this mission entails?" Sabal smiles and says. "It's good to have you with us, sister. Mohan didn't start the Golden Path to peddle drugs. Amita she thinks differently. So once you are at the tea factory, burn down the fields." Jessica nods and goes to the door where Ajay is waiting.
Ajay quickly decides to speak first. "I think Amita's right about this. Since they have no natural recourses, it is the only way." Jessica frowns. "You are joking right? We are talking about drugs Ajay. Not tea or wheat. It's a poison, just as Sabal said." Ajay frowns back at Jessica, while something is steering in his stomach a burning feeling he dislikes instantly. "Come on Jess, you have to see the whole picture. Those people need something..." Jessica decides to cut him off. "Drugs Ajay, is not the answer! This shit makes people sick and more fucked up is that they don't see it!" She remembers what Longinus said to her about this being another terrible business. They are glaring at each other for a while but Jessica tries one more thing to convince Ajay. "There is another way. Once we burn down the poppies, farmers that would be protected by the Golden Path, would start planting tea or wheat. I think that's a better thing than to protect opium." Ajay thinks for a while and Jessica's plan makes sense. "Well this is a better plan but will Sabal and Amita agree to it?" Jessica smirks. "Well they will have to because it's flawless. Joking aside, I think it's a good plan, people will gain more from it." Ajay nods and asks. "So we head out?" "We head out." Once they are out of the armory they grab flamethrowers, one for each.
They run to the car, with Ajay as the driver and ride into the direction of the tea factory. Throughout the way Jessica is explaining her plan to Ajay and he likes it more than Amita's plan. Once they reached the place, Ajay contacts Sabal. "Sabal we reached the spot." "See those fields? That's opium. Burn all of it, the crops , the harvested shipment." Sabal says and Jessica just replies simply. "Yeah, we will contact you once the fields are burned. " The call ends and Jessica reaches for her bow. Ajay gets ready his sniper and says. "I hope they will both agree to your plan, once this is over." "I know they will." Jessica says and in her mind she adds 'I hope'. Ajay nods and proceeds to explain the plan he has. "Okay, I will move to a higher ground so I could take out the snipers and cover you, while you take out the soldiers stealthy with bow or dagger. Are you okay with it or do you want to switch?" Jessica shakes her head and says. "No it's a good plan. Let's do this!" Ajay nods and before Jessica can go he says. "Be careful." Jessica nods and replies. "You too." Ajay moves to a higher ground and kills two soldiers who are watching over the small hut. Ajay sees three snipers and takes a breath to kill each of them at the time. After he kills them he contacts Jessica. "The snipers are out. Way is clear. But be careful I see two guard dogs." "Copy that." Comes Jessica's reply. Ajay is covering Jessica while she kills more and more soldiers. Things are going good and shooting from both of them is great so far.
The duo took control of the factory in hour and half. Jessica waved at Ajay to come down, which he did quickly. "Is that everyone? Didn't you see anyone else?" Jessica asked. Ajay shakes his head. "No that's all I think, but we should be careful any way." "Let's burn the opium then. But leave don't destroy the generators. They will be used for watering later." Jessica says as she gets the flamethrower from her backpack. Ajay nods and does the same. "Let's split up. You take the left side and I take the right. We meet up in the middle of the factory." Jessica nods at Ajay's suggestion and moves left. She burns the poppies and the fire spreads through the field. However through the gate leading to the factory a truck arrives with some of the troops from Pagan's army. Jessica notices and decides to call Ajay through the walkie-talkie. "Ajay, royal army soldiers arrived, we have to take them out first." "Alright let's see what this thing can do." Ajay replies. Jessica not knowing what was he talking about, suddenly sees a rocket going through the air right into the truck. The truck explodes and nobody survives that. She shakes her head and proceeds to burn the rest of the poppies. After burning the second field she moves to the factory and takes out the opium. Ajay burns down the other two fields and goes to the factory as well. They meet in the middle as they planned. "You got everything?" Ajay asks. "Yeah I think so. But just to be sure let's check out one more time." Jessica says and they check if they missed something. To their luck, they got everything. Jessica then calls Sabal to explain her plan for the factory and to say that the mission is complete. "The fields are torched." "I wish I was there to see it burn. Mohan wasn't just fighting for the people." At the mention of Ajay's father, Ajay himself rolls his eyes and thinks 'Again! I should get a dollar every time he mentions my father.' "He was trying to protect the land too. Our souls are tied into the soil and rock. That's what Amita doesn't understand." "I guess I understand. But I have an idea for what to do with the factory." Says Jessica. "Yes? What would you do with it?" Sabal asks. "You said that this used to be a tea factory. What would you say that it could be again?" "What do you mean?" "To renew it. For once again to plant tea here for natural resources. Yes it would be difficult to protect the farmers with our troops, but the pay off would be great." There is a silent time and Jessica thinks that her idea was shot down but Sabal surprises her. "Hmm, not bad idea. There isn't a big issue other than finding the people to work there. But I can put some people into recruiting in village Tirtha. People would be glad to see the factory in glory once again. You could also help some people in Tirtha if you welcome there. I will put this plan into motion soon as I get back to Banapur." "Thanks Sabal." The call ends and Jessica feels like she is on cloud nine. Her plan was accepted and soon will be working. Jessica turns to Ajay who is already smiling at her and Jessica hugs him. "He accepted!" Ajay is happy for Jessica and says. "See? You are smart too." "Oh do shut up." Jessica says while smiling.
In the next few days they decided to liberate more outpost and bell towers. Through the time Sabal was informing Jessica how her plan is going. So far a lot of civilians and farmers from the past wanted to work on the factory fields. So in those few days they already managed to plant one full field of tea.
One of those days Amita called Ajay to meet her in a little house outpost along with Jessica. While on a way there Ajay asked Jessica. " Do you think she is going to be mad for siding with Sabal?" Jessica nodded. " I think so. But we just did what we thought was right. Besides tea is better than opium." Ajay focuses on driving the car but he wants to ask about their attack on the Paul's fortress. " So when are we ready to strike Varshakot ?" "I asked the scouts around the fortresses' area. They said it's heavily guarded. Mines, snipers, guard dogs, heavy infantry and more. It will be tough. However they found two ways in. One is in well but we would have to swim there and the other on a small hill next to the fortress." Ajay thinks for a little bit which way would be best. "I think the best way is the hill we can take the snipers and then move inside." Jessica nods. " It's settled then. So when you are ready tell me. Because I was born ready." Ajay smiles at her enthusiasm. He really is lucky to have her.
Once they arrived at Amita's place both of them were ready to be yelled at. Ajay was the one who knocked on the door. They didn't even wait for minute before the door was open and angry Amita in it. "What were you two thinking ? Winners don't do drugs really ? Is that it?" Before Ajay or Jessica can explain that the fields are now actually tea Amita continues. " Those fields you burned, they weren't just drugs ... they were books, they were medicine we could have build a proper clinic. But no. Sabal says drugs are bad and you torch our fucking future!" Ajay finally interrupts her. "I don't think you understand..." But he is quickly cut off by Amita. " I'm sorry. Did I speak out of turn? Should I walk ten feet behind you with my head bowed?" Once again Jessica tries to interrupt her." But we figured..." Amita once again cuts her off. " You didn't see Kyrat before the war. I was six years old when my parents told me I had to marry. Six! That's the world that Sabal is pining for." Amita stopped talking and put her hands to her face as if she was crying. Ajay took this as opportunity to finally explain. " If you would have let us finish you would know that the fields are actually tea now." Amita looks up to Ajay. " What did you say?" "Jessica and I burned the opium yes. But we thought of a plan that instead of poppies there can be tea. It's the better way." Ajay finishes as he smiles on Jessica who smiles back. "You mean that there will be tea once again there?" Amita asks in shock. Both Ajay and Jessica nod and Amita smiles. "Well I didn't expect this. I don't know what to say." "You don't have to say anything I know it will take more work than it should have been but it will be better I promise." Jessica says as she smiles on Amita. "I wasn't sure about you two. That first time, in Banapur, all I saw were two tourists. You already made a difference. I may still think that keeping those fields was a better idea but I don't think your plan is bad. Why didn't you tell me before you went?" Amita asked and Ajay explained. "We thought you might not agree because we had to burn the fields in order to plant the tea." Amita nods. "Yes most likely. Well what is done is done. But I need to ask for your help." "With what?" Jessica asks. " Protecting Statues of Kyra. Paul is trying to destroy them as part o his campaign to turn the people against the Golden path." "We are in don't worry." Ajay says and Jessica nods. "Thank you two. You both are great fighters." Amita says as she turns back to her house. "Well that went better than I thought I expected more yelling." Jessica says as she and Ajay move to the car. "Yeah but I'm not really sure who should we support in the end." Ajay admits. "We will figure it with time don't worry not let's protect these statues."
The night was closing in so Ajay and Jessica needed to hurry up. They got under the statues and both of them saw that they needed to use Ajay's grappling hook. Ajay threw the hook up and started to climb. After he got up he motioned Jessica to climb after him. She did just that and was shortly with Ajay. This happened two more times. When they finally got up they saw wonderful statues. "That's an eye opener for sure." Jessica said as Ajay nodded in wonder. This wonder was short lived as the statue on their left exploded. Both of them stared in horror. " We need to stop that count down." Ajay said and Jessica nodded. Both of them went to the action but first stealthy. Each of them took some people down but it wasn't long before a sniper spotted them. This meant that the detonator was active. Ajay went to cover and contacted Jessica via walkie-talkie. "Jess, the detonator is active I don't know how long it takes but maybe give or take five minutes. I will make my way up cover me." "Roger that Ajay." Jessica says as she goes back to shooting and covering Ajay as he makes his way to the detonator. It takes some time but Ajay manages to get up the structure. He kills the sniper and disables the detonator. Ajay grabs his walkie-talkie and contacts Jessica. " Jess come up here I will cover you." "Will do. But I heard one guy calling reinforcements." Jessica responds through the line. "We can deal with them don't worry." They didn't expect what came on them. Two helicopters had to be destroyed by rocket launcher that Ajay found while Jessica grabbed sniper rifle and shot as many soldiers as she could.
It wasn't long before it was done and while Jessica was looking if any more soldiers will come, Ajay called Amita to say what happened. " Amita it's done we defended statues, well one at least." Amita sighed. " It's shame about that one statue. But I'm going to need you to do one more thing. I know it's an imposition after everything you two have done, but I need you to find a way to block the way leading to the statues." "What? Why?" Ajay asks surprised. "Because Sabal's going to waste fighters protecting it. We're fighting a war. The Golden Path has bigger concerns." The call ended with that. "But how are we supposed to block the way?" Jessica asks. "I will check up there next to the statue you go and check the gate." Ajay says as he grabs his grappling hook. " Be careful up there." Jessica warns as she goes to the gate. " I will be."
After a while Ajay discovers a big rock formation that could easily block the way. "Jess I need you to get away from the gate. Do you see the zip line? Meet me at the end of it." Jessica's voice comes through the walkie-talkie in a second. "Alright have fun with blowing stuff up." When Ajay sees Jessica from the range of the place where rocks should fall he fires the rocket from his rocket launcher. The rocks freely fall down and block the path to the statues. Ajay uses the zip line and meets Jessica at the end of it. "We did it. Great team job as always." Jessica says as she hugs Ajay. " Indeed." Ajay says as he hugs her back. "We should get some rest." Just then voice from Ajay's walkie-talkie starts speaking. " Ajay, I need to see you and Jessica. It's important, but I can't say more over the radio. Please come to Shanath tomorrow morning." Both Ajay and Jessica look surprised. " Was that Noore?" Jessica asks. " Pretty sure it was. Come on let's head to the outpost for good night rest." Ajay responds and Jessica nods. With that they hop on a quad bike. However they get one more call from one certain person. " It's really funny. When you two came to Kyrat, I thought we'd clean house together. Dust the shelves, kill some terrorists. You know, Kyrat could use a good Spring cleaning. Out with the old, etc, etc. Being someone else's hired gun doesn't suit either of you. Why do you think Amita and Sabal are trying so hard to woo you two? They're afraid of you. And they damn well should be."