The town didn't operate 24/7, the shops closed their doors and locked away their merchandise at around ten on the weekdays. That day happened to be a weekday. There was not a soul in the streets of the town where the lanterns still shone throughout the night. Except for Sergeant Perkins and the marines in his detachment under the designation Hunter-One by Captain Goh.
"Move in quietly!" He said in a low voice to the marines and Sergeant Grilles who accompanied him. Up ahead at the end of the street was the checkpoint to the compound of the Arsenal, under a rotated guard.
Perkins hooked on his suppressor on the last minute to his rifle, not that he wanted to use it any way. The guards were civilians and they didn't need to die, they were here to blow the Arsenal not kill civvies. He had instructed the marines in his command to do as he said.
"Huh?- Muhhh!"
"Muuuhhh!"
Stew and another marine dispatched the only two standing guards at the checkpoint and moved into the gate to check the security surveillance that monitored the four corners of the compound. There were several watchtowers and a cabin nearby but Perkins had neither the time nor manpower to assume total control over the arsenal. The rest including Perkins moved in swiftly and reached the warehouse entrance which was chained, Grilles pulled out the bolt cutters they prepared earlier on to break the chains after throwing a cloth over it to muffle the sound of the metal to metal contact.
"Go go go!" Perkins made them go in one at a time before entering himself.
Entering the warehouse, they could see from the catwalks they were on the vastness of the operation that was going on. There was ammo being produced, old and worn weapons being refurbished to zero condition, there was even an assembly of rifles.
Grilles and his squad demolition expert distributed to them the C4 explosives charges.
"Plant the charges on both sides of the machines to crush all its working components in the blast, it'll make the machines less salvageable." Grilles advised the men as they went to plant the charges.
Perkins went to plant his charge on a rifling machine assembly, as the rest were in the process of doing theirs he picked up one of the rifles on the working benches to inspect it.
It looked like a Sterling Assault Rifle he'd seen from one of his friend's collections with some subtle differences. The gun was obviously well made even for such a simple design, then it hit him. It was precisely why this weapon was manufactured, Badala had intentions to create a domestic service weapon that didn't depend on imports at all. He was gearing the Northern Kyrat to have a prolong war against the Golden Path. Had they not found this factory in his land, the Golden Path would have been in for some serious hurt, especially when the airport was denied to them. The only way to bring in equipment was through the narrow mountain roads into Kyrat or by airdrops.
JSOC and the CIA weren't proving cooperative with Willis and them because the United States wasn't supposed to have involvement in Kyrat. Why Willis was so stuck on turning the current de facto monarchy inside out was beyond him. The man's mindset was like he was still living in the Cold War era where if they weren't Allies they were definitely reds or potential enemies. The Golden Path were now depending on a local arms dealer and Solomon's special connections.
"Whatchu' got there?" Stew came over after laying his set of charges.
"Some attempt to domesticate arms in Kyrat, we're lucky we got to it first before they went full fuck force."
Perkins passed the rifle to Stew who examined it.
"Bring it with us, Dave needs to see this."
Stew nodded and slung the rifle on his shoulder. Grilles rejoined Perkins as they gathered to make their way out of the warehouse.
"A little more and we shou-." "Hey! You're not supposed to be here!" Grilles was cut short by a guard that appeared from a back door shining a light at them. He was likely doing an internal patrol of the facility.
The guard pressed his radio. "Intruders in the comp-."
(Crack) The sound of the suppressed shot hit the man's skull ending his life.
Grilles rifle smoked from the shot. Perkins grabbed his vest and pinned him to the wall.
"What the fuck did you just do!?" He knew, it was pure and simple manslaughter.
"Don' gimme that righteous bullshit, Greg! You of all should know what's our occupation so don't give that double standard crap! If I didn't put a bullet in his head we'd all be compromise."
"That was the point! We were here to lure the Army to us, did you not get the memo?! Don't!- And I mean don't EVER step out of the line again!" He threw his hands off of him.
"Hmph!" Grilles ignored his threat and carried his bag ready to leave.
The alarm went off in the far end of the warehouse outside the compound.
"I thought we cut the wires!" Stew was sure he cut them at the guard post.
There must have been another in the cabin they avoided. "Shit! Grillles, we'll talk about this later!"
"Form up, we're leaving. Heath, take point!" Grilles still thought what he did was the right thing and went about ordering his squad regardless of whether David had put Perkins in charge of their detachment.
"Hunter-One to Hunter-Actual, we've been compromised but mission success. We're clearing the blast zone. If you're gonna strike the house it's now or never! Over!"
*…. Hunter-Actual copies, see you at the evac point. Out.*
"Let's get the fuck outta here! Its only set for ten minutes." Stew accompanied Perkins out last from the warehouse.
(BABABABAAM) A burst of automatic fire struck Heath who was on point. "Fuck! Spread out!" Perkins threw his orders out to the men to the ambush they received. They took cover behind the many crates laid about the compound awaiting shipping away and opening.
"Two O'clock! Cabin, nine targets!" Someone called out. A heavy blanket of fire from that position forced the marines into a prone position.
"Suppressing firing!"
Automatic carbines fired in the direction of the newcomers.
The silhouettes of the nine were performing rather advance firing maneuvers for civilian guards from what Perkins saw from overseeing the situation, in fact they were almost similar if not better than his groups'.
"Loro Fianco! Ricardo, prendere a sinistra! Sinistra!"
"Roger!"
He heard some of them shouting in Italian. There movements were highly disciplined with little commands given by their leader as they moved forward fluidly to flank the marines at the gate. Were these the mercenaries he heard about that double crossed that Arms Dealer? If so, they were put in a very tight spot.
"Grilles, take the left, I'll take the right! They're trying to flank us! That mustn't happen!"
"Right!" They gave their men orders to divide their forces to pincer the foreign forces.
As they were forced into a stalemate firefight between two sides, the opposing force split with two of theirs running into the factory. Likely to check if there was any tampering or sabotage being done by them. It was their chance to get out while the firepower had thinned out.
The gate was on their left and Perkins group was on the right closer to the factory. His men would fall back while Grilles's side covered them before getting out. "Fall back in an orderly fashion from right to left! Marlowe first, go!"
In about one and a half minutes the charges were about to go off, they couldn't be here for it.
The fighting continued on with Perkins as the last to fall back, his group had already run pass the gate in the direction of the house to support their Captain if they needed it. Leaving Perkins and Grilles squad left who were supposed to provide covering fire for him to fall back.
"Grilles, where's my cover fire?!" Perkins stared at the maverick sergeant as he casted a look of disdain towards Perkins. He saw him order his squad mates to fall back and leave Perkins in the mess.
"Fredrick, you sunnovabitch!" Perkins cursed him as he left with a malicious grin, but not before pointing his rifle at Perkins and pulling the trigger.
(Crack) The shot hit him in the thigh, immobilizing Perkins from making a run for it.
"FREEDDRRICCKK!" Perkins called out the name of the person who betrayed him. The mercenaries were now focusing fire upon him, now that he was the only one left. With his leg injured, ammo almost depleted and under heavy fire, he had little choices. It was either a bullet to the head by him or capture and an excruciating torture with low probability of rescue. Grilles would likely tell David he was dead, even when it was he who left him for dead. He had always been at odds with the other sergeant who was an aggressive rogue who liked to things on his own, Captain Goh was the only one who kept him in check. But when David wasn't watching he abandoned him here.
So Perkins was left with two options, suicide or capture.
He placed the handgun in his mouth, ready to depress the trigger. It didn't matter anyway as he checked his watch, the explosives were about to go off in ten nine eight seven six-…..
"Drop you weapon! Let's see some hands!" A woman came around the corner with her gun raised at him, when she saw him with the gun to the mouth she fell into a state of disbelief.
-Such a hottie!- To be blasted by the flames would be a waste. Five four three-…
Perkins jumped on the woman before she had time to raise her weapon, he wanted to shield her from the imminent blast. At least his death was able to save someone instead of killing for once. Perkins was a sucker for beautiful exotic women after all. Two one- (BOOOOMMM)
A series of detonations erupted from the Arsenal turning half of it into a wreck. Perkins looked to the burning building, the explosion didn't reach them. The men that separated from the rest seemed to have disarmed most of the C4 but not all and were caught in the blast of the last few.
The woman pushed him off of her as she got up gazing into the fire.
"Antorio…Alberto…NOOOOOOO!"
(Smash) Ajay was beside Maya still half-asleep after feeding and attending to her when she needed it the most, when he heard the sound of breaking glass coming from the patio downstairs.
Heavy footsteps made an inevitable creak in the wooden decking, clearly unfriendly company.
Ajay made a quick check of inventory, he was still in his combat harness and Kukri with him but that was it. When they returned he didn't change but instead went to treat Maya's fever.
"Maya, we've got intruders indoors." He shook her and whispered into her ear.
"…Mnnnn…" She moaned in pain still, her temperature was off the charts, it was induced by the remedy he gave. It required that she had an uninterrupted rest for a night to fully kick in, Ajay was in a hitch with avoiding collateral when he was near to her. He had to distance himself from Maya and Bhadra who was likely awake with the noise out front.
Ajay carried her quietly to Bhadra's room while he still had time. "Badala-." Bhadra was indeed woken by the loud sounds downstairs. He tried his best to keep the noise down as it would only incur itchy trigger fingers to the sounds he might make.
"Shhh! Stay here, and watch Maya. They're after just me. Call this number and tell him I'm being targeted. Understood?" Bhadra nodded her head quickly in response.
"Good."
"Be safe, Badala!"
"I will."
Ajay ran to Bhadra's window and jumped out of it. His commotion alerted the intruders who were in the midst of climbing the stairs to the private rooms and hastily searched the house.
(Bang) They kicked the doors one by one. Until they found Bhadra holding on to Maya.
"Clear! One woman and a girl." A few men cladded in black wearing helmets with green glowing night vision goggles scanned the room at the ready.
"He's not here!" She shouted at the assassins. The window was opened with the blinds fluttering from the cool night breeze.
"Shit! He's outside, go! Out of the house now!"
"What about the girl?"
"Don't go off mission!" The leader warned his subordinate.
They went down the stairs quickly to try to find their target. Bhadra took the opportunity to call the number Ajay redialed.
"Come on!-Come on!-Come on!"
Every second that went by was one Ajay had to wait for help. And then, finally after ten rings the other side picked up.
"Heelllloo?" the other side answered in a peculiar way.
"Please you have to help us! Badala is in danger! Come quickly!" She shouted into the smartphone. The other side remained quiet for a period of time.
*….. Excuse me for a minute, dear- Gary! Fetch the chopper and call Arjun, my boy's being attacked!... Right, my dear! Help's on the way.* The voice in the phone was talking in a rather cheery tone to her despite the jeopardy Ajay was in, although he did ask for preparations to be made like he instructed.
"Uh- ok!..." Time elapsed after the recipient's answer and Bhadra and the recipient with nothing to do.
"Sooo… you must be Bhadra, the Tarun Matara that my boy Badala brought back!-….. So tell me, have you enjoyed your stay in the North?"
Ajay sprinted through the forest which he managed to reach, there was no cover except for the rocks found around the house so he needed to get cover and concealment immediately. Over his shoulders was the bag holding the Honey Badger Guro who was rudely awakened from its sleep when Ajay grabbed it from the patio before running off. Guro growled and groaned within the mesh bag.
Ajay made sure to leave some tracks to his location so as to lure the assassins to his location faster. He reached a clear ground in the midst of the forest, a perfect place to lay his trap for his pursuers.
Ajay immediately went to work on building his unique sure-kill trap.
David wasn't having a great time, upon entering the house which he expected Badala to stay and fight in had instead run out. The reason could be seen with the girl and the sickly woman in her arms, Badala was trying to bring them away from them where they wouldn't get hit by shrapnel or stray shots.
David and his men had no choice but to follow, they spotted him running into a nearby forest but was too far to hit with the weaponry they had at their disposal. But, Badala had run out in such a rush that he didn't bring any firearms with him as they found so they still have a good chance. But it was obvious the place he headed was still familiar grounds to him and not them, he had the home field advantage.
"Tracks lead here." The point man indicated for them.
"Keep an eye out, he's expecting us soon." David cautioned his men. They maintained a close distance to one another to support if one of them were attacked, they could gang up and take him down together instead of individually. They kept their assault carbines at the ready for a sudden attack.
They reached a clear area within the forest and scanned the surroundings with extreme prejudice.
(Plop) The sound of a bag hitting the ground behind them made them turn their guns towards the sound. A gunny sack appeared before them with stifled movements from inside. The rope holding the bag came undone and a mole-like thing came out growling, the resolution of their NV goggles was not enough to discern all the characteristics of the creature as it grunted and sniffed the air. The moment the marines let down their guard to the creature was the moment they had already fallen into the vices of the Honey Badger Gulo.
Gulo pounced onto the nearest marine with amazing agility pinning him onto the ground. "Ahhh!-Get it off! Get it off!" The honey badger mauled his face and bite onto his neck. David and the rest of the marines were too surprised by the tenacity of the creature to respond.
"Keep still!" One of the marines aimed to shoot the badger off. The marine Gulo pounced on plummeted to the ground motionless and Gulo disappeared into the bushes only to jump on the next marine and do the same.
"Shit! What the fuck is that?!"
"Keep still!" David rushed forwards to ply the badger off of the marine that was now bleeding from his neck as well and would perish at any moment. How could such a small creature do so much damage.
"Arghh!" As he pulled it off of the gravely injured marine the creature turned around and bit his hand. David threw it a distance and the Honey Badger landed on its feet like a feline. David fired a few bursts of his rifle at Gulo, scoring a few hits. He thought the creature dead and was sadly mistaken as it rushed towards him like it hadn't even been hit! "Holy fuck, what is that?!"
The marines added to the firepower and shot at the Honey Badger as it went for the closest one to it and mauled another marine, but this time the Honey Badger was limping towards them and slowly with the added firepower, Gulo was riddled with holes until it could no longer stand. The honey badger still grunted rebelliously but lost the ability to chase.
David walked forward to put it out of its misery. (BAAM) A clean shot to the head ended the poor badgers suffering once and for all since its capture that morning.
David went to assess the damage of the damnable Honey Badger. "Two dead, three injured! Sir, we can't do go after him any longer."
David thought heavily about the options and agreed. "Alright, we've bit more than we can chew. Hopefully Perkins has done some damage to the Arsenal at least. Walt, Alex, help carry the wounded. We're linking up with Hunter-One and leaving… Walt? Alex?" David turned around when there was no answer. His alertness level heightened, he had made a serious tactical error. He disregarded Badala in the middle of the confrontation with the Honey Badger that was released from the obvious trap.
He looked to where the remaining four and saw a shadow descend on the only two remaining marines that were still unharmed. "Guurrgghh!" A Kukri impaled one of the marines from behind.
"TED!" David called out to the recently decease Ted, their likely target pulled a pin to a grenade on his jacket as he kicked him towards the remaining marines. David was quick enough to see it and vaulted in the opposite direction for cover as he shouted "grenade!"
(BANG) The grenade had been of the flashbang variety and instantly burnt out the nightvision that the marines were wearing, blinding them for a moment. David could hear the muffling sounds of shouts and cries but he was helpless himself at the moment, both blinded and deafened. David pulled off his pair of goggles and threw his helmet after unbuckling both. And just as he turned to where his men and Badala were a blade came for him.
David raised his rifle to block the descending arm and successfully stopped the strike. The blade cut against the surface of the rifle causing sparks to fly off the friction.
And for the first time, David and Ajay were face to face with both arms holding their weapons to lock each other.
"I really underestimated you, jarhead!" Ajay said with little effort.
"So did I!" David kicked against Ajay's torso to break from the lock and turned his gun to face him. Ajay saw his intentions and threw the Kukri towards him.
David had little time to react and raised his arm out of reflex to block the flying knife. "Urrghh!" The Kukri impaled itself into his left arm rather deeply. David tried to balance the rifle with his right to shoot Ajay one handed, but wasn't quick enough as Ajay appeared before him and elbowed his arm aside and used his palm to hit David square in the jaw sending him flying backwards and hitting the ground with a thump. David tried to get up but Ajay was quick as ever and pressed down on the knife still stuck on his left arm and nailed him to the ground. "AAAHHHHH!" David roared in agony and lost a majority of his strength to the pain. Ajay kept him pinned to the ground. David turned his head from side to side to wrestle the pain and in doing so he could see the opened eyes of his men lying on the floor in a pool of their own blood. Ajay had killed them all. David closed his eyes, knowing he was next. He'd let down all of his men.
"I knew Willis would send someone else to do his dirty work, how confident are you he'd let you leave this place after witnessing the things he's done, Captain?" Ajay took a quick look at the man's rank under his webbing.
"Arrghh….. We didn't have a choice!... We were his patsies the moment we landed here!"
"I don't wanna kill you as well, Captain but I'll need something as a guarantor to your life!" Ajay told him in a ruthless tone.
"Stop talking and just get it over with!" The officer gave his final answer, he would rather keep his mouth shut that expose his remaining comrades and country.
"Semper Fi, eh?" Ajay twisted the blade to pull it free.
"Dave!" And not a moment too soon, Hunter-One came to his aid after running from the destruction of the Arsenal which could be seen from the flames and smoke rising from that general direction.
Ajay removed his Kukri from David's wound. "We'll play again some other time then, Captain!" And melted into the forest.
David gripped the wound that the knife cause to his left arm, thankfully there were no major arteries there when he pierced it and twisted the knife.
"Glad you could drop by…" David thanked the remaining marines for coming when he needed them the most. Stew helped him to his feet, as David looked at them he noticed a few missing.
"Where's Perkins?" David asked in a worried tone.
"He…. He died." Grilles informed him.
"Are you sure, Fredrick?!" He demanded angrily if the sergeant had seen with his own eyes and not assumed like he always did.
Grilles nodded.
The news hit him hard and his expression was void of emotion. "We're getting out of here!"
"But-."
"We've done all we can! I'll not waste another marine on a fool's errand!"
"…."
"You heard the Cap, let's move out! Jared take point!" Grilles organized the remaining eight marines out of the nineteen that came over the mountains.
Stew carried him on his back the entire way.
"Sir, what the hell happened?" Stew quietly asked.
"We got our asses handed to us! And Stew-…."
"Yes, sir?"
"Did you really see, Gregor fall?" It was common knowledge within their platoon that Captain Goh and Staff Sergeant Perkins shared a uniquely exclusive comradery with one another. They were best friends out of the uniform. So when David had yet to see his corpse with his own eyes he couldn't be certain Perkins was gone.
"I-…. I don't know! We went ahead as he ordered us and it was just Sergeant Grilles and his men. I don't wanna point fingers but I don't believe it either!"
"Ok, Stew…. I'm sorry you have to lug me all the way back!"
"For you sir, anything! We still need you to handle that asshole spook, yunno!"
David chuckled briefly but not for long, he still failed at his attempt on Badala's life. While they managed to sabotage the Arsenal it was of little consequence compared to a still breathing Northern Demon. They had given their very best in their shot at Badala and he still overpowered them, it wasn't just his close quarter combat fighting as David experienced but his tactical wit and ingenuity. While weaponless, he used the nature to his advantage and in very split second decisions. And for once in his life, David believed the rumors had some truth to it.
Badala couldn't be killed.
The marines struggled to escape the North before the QRF forces came to hunt them in their current weakened state. And thankfully for them, with patience and guile they evaded them successfully as Ajay learnt later from Army High Command.
Ajay dragged the bodies of the late marines out of the forest one by one and popped a flare in his possession for the QRF helicopter to find him. In a matter of minutes, the quick reaction heli-troops disembarked and secured the area around him.
"Load the bodies back to the Royal Fortress, have the general notified of the transfer." Ajay told the lieutenant.
"Yes, your lordship! And you, milord?"
"I'm fine, I can make my way back on my own. Just bring the corpses back."
The lieutenant saluted him and dispatched his men to bring the bodies on board the helicopter for inspection and investigation by the more familiar in the field under Arjun's command in the Royal Fortress.
Ajay walked the entire way back, blood caked his body but none of it was his. Somehow everything turned out alright but Ajay was far from contented. At that moment, he had actually endangered both Bhadra and Maya with his lack of initiative and carelessness. He let optimism cloud his better instincts and judgement. He even had the feeling they were watching this morning and yet he didn't stay somewhere else or vacate them temporarily.
Ajay arrived at the top of the hill where the Homestead was, a helicopter bearing the King's insignia was parked next to it. He could make this out because the light was already breaking over the horizon although it had not reached sunrise yet.
Sitting in the porch at the front door was Kamran, Pagan's personal helicopter pilot. Bishal was nowhere to be found, where had the scaredy cat gone when the marines were at the door? Kamran saw Ajay come up to the steps of the porch and stood up.
"At ease, Kamran. When did Pagan arrive?"
"A just few minutes ago, the Royal Physician is attending to your lady friend."
Ajay sighed in relief, as Maya received immediate medical attention after what happened last night.
"Thanks, Kamran. For coming early."
"I did it for his Royal Highness so don't mention it, Ajay." He took out his cigarette and lighted it.
"Could I have one before I go in?" Ajay asked, Kamran took out a stick and lighted it for him as well.
"Thank you." Ajay took a puff to calm his nerves which he needed to do right now.
"You look like hell! Are you sure you're alright?" Kamran looked at his tired expression and the mess of blood splatted all over him.
"I'm fine, I'm going in. Thanks for the bud."
Kamran waved as he opened the door for Ajay.
Walking up the steps to the living quarters, Ajay could hear Pagan and Bhadra talking with one another. In an ironic twist of fate, Pagan was sharing stories with Bhadra in a normal fashion, much like a father telling his daughter a bedtime story. Bhadra was not at all frighten or put off by Pagan, much to his relief. The man had come all the way to help him.
"-And so I said…. Ah!- My boy returns! Did you deal with the intruders?" Pagan looked at the amount of blood all over his clothing and face.
"Badala!" Bhadra was glad to see him back in one piece.
"Not all of them, but they won't try this again any time too soon! Thanks for looking after Bhadra, and I'm sorry I called you at this time." He went over to receive an embrace from Bhadra who was under a lot of pressure for a young adult.
"It's fine! That's what family's for, get used to it!"
He looked around them. "Is-."
"Ah yes!- Yuma's girl, right? I had the doctor look at her just now, they should have been done by now. Go have a look, my boy!" Pagan sent him off in the direction of Maya's room.
Inside her room, the Royal Physician was browsing through his duffel bag to find the appropriate tonics and remedies. Gary was assisting him keeping Maya's condition under control.
"How is she?"
"Your lordship, might I inquire how long she's been having this fever?"
"Since last morning I think, the night before we had a drink together."
The physician nodded and contemplated on the situation.
"I'm afraid this isn't a common fever, your lordship!" The news was pass to him in the gravest of manners.
"What is it, and can it be cured?"
"Her symptoms exhibit signs of her anti-bodies fighting a neura-toxin."
"What?!" Ajay could believe what he just heard, Maya was poisoned?
"My lord please calm down and let me finish! T-This neura-toxin is a very rare type not commonly found unless one ventures into certain caves or caverns where a certain mushroom releases its toxic spores, but it can be only be done under moonlight."
Ajay started to make sense of the possibilities, he brought Maya to the secret cave for a drink that night under the light of the moon shining through the cave top. She must have inhaled some of the spores from the bottom of the cave. In other words, this was his fault she was now in this state. Ajay's mind raced and his heart beat rapidly.
"What's the cure, what's the remedy?!" Ajay grasped the physician by the collar.
"W-We've run out of the herb in the dispensary b-but! I-It's a rare type of snow flower that grows in the Himalayan mountains! Records indicate it grows quite abundantly in the mountain tops of Hajura 'Amako Hatama."
Ajay's eyes and body froze stiff at the mention of that mountain. "S-Say that name again?..."
"My lord, I said Hajura 'Amako Hatama."
Ajay had heard it clearly on both accounts, the second time he had heard it word for word slowly. Its name was unshakeable in Ajay's memories, the one piece in Kyrat that almost cut short his adventure.
Because it was where the sacred Relic of the Yetis lay.
Author's Notes:
There will be Yetis.
