Author's Notes:
Yogi and Reggie are perhaps in the bottommost of the FC universe popularity contest and have the highest "please kill" requests, since Justin Bieber, Joffery on Game of Thrones, or Nikki Minaj at one time. I was considering at one point selling them to that man in Yemen that likes them young.
The road that Ajay threaded on spoke of an eternal hell, one he could never climb out from regardless of effort or success. The abyss kept looking at him from behind, waiting to drag him back into something inescapably sinister and frightening. On that, Noore couldn't help but shiver.
How Ajay always knew most of the personality and traits of everyone in the exact description even when they hid it from everyone. How he knew so much about the terrain of Kyrat and that lair of the Yetis up in the Himalayas. That story…. The young girl resembled Bhadra in the role of Tarun Matara, the man with the lost child's mentality was Hurk. And the mother of two and a husband in the possession of the King's henchman….
Was her.
"… But… how?" She dreaded the answer as much as she asked it, but curiosity doomed her.
"What if one minute you were at the brink of death, and the next….. you returned to where it all went wrong." He said in a tone void of emotion. It was the truth of the life he'd been living. Why he even bothered to tell Noore despite it not giving him any comfort was beyond him. When she asked, he just had to say it. To let her know that her suffering was barely a scratch on the surface of what true despair was.
Noore realised it too in De Pleur's compound. The reason Ajay was so terrifying in interrogating was he could imagine up the purest of hell for each and every person who crossed him. Paul's was Ashley, his meaning to live, Ajay showed him a possibility of what he would do to trample it and Paul despaired. He immediately caved into fear and lived the most terrible despair of all, not seeing Ashley grow. The greatest suffering, he could ever inflict to Paul. Because Ajay was living in the greatest hell of all.
"This is my reality, Noore. What I wake up everyday to. The possibility of this hell coming to this place and history repeating itself. I know the outcome and I will never let it happen again." Ajay loosened his hands and walked towards the window.
"But I'm just one man."
She now knew the weight he bore, the burden was not just of Kyrat, but his own Kyrat too. Noore reached out to him but an unknown force of uncertainty weighed it down and her hand collapsed.
She and Ajay were accomplices. But this sort of life was something she was scared of, she absolutely wanted to run away from him now.
But what about Ajay?
This was the life he'd been living all this while. Was she really going to abandon him like he did her in another time? Who was the one that reached out to her when she despaired? Who promised to avenge her family for her? There was only one answer to those questions. She knew that if he were to perish, there would be nothing holding her back from ending her own life.
-You can do better, Noore. No- you can do better.-
He hands rested on his shoulders and moved to his chin to lift up his head. Those two brooding eyes held a vortex that threatened to pull your soul into it from looking. But she endured, for the sake of her most trusted companion.
She bent down and placed her lips against his forehead.
Ajay's reaction turned into one of confusion. The vortex was still present though, while explaining to her he had reminded himself of the hell he was in.
"All this while you put a strong front for everybodies sake. These things happened to you and you kept it bottled inside, if no one asked they would never know. Even now, I'm scared. The prospect that drags us both further into the abyss. But then, what of now? How much you've sacrificed of yourself to make this all possible. You stood there for me when I wanted nothing left in life. So let me do the same for you now." She pressed his cheeks together.
"Let me make saving you my life's mission." Strength and determination radiated from her eyes with fire. That fire slowly lit back in Ajay's voidless eyes.
And to his shock she planted her lips onto his.
…
…
Sometimes I feel you truly are the only one in this realm that will understand my tragedy and sorrow. Time is irrelevant in despair.
A few breaths feel like hours, days like years. An eternity of pain.
It's precisely why your agony pierces my heart deeper than you could possibly know.
But this is why, what we do from here on is so important. Stay steadfast on that path you think is the right one.
We're not too far away, you and I. When we finally reunite, I will tell you everything. I promise. Please trust in me, that I will do everything I do because if nothing, my sincerest love for you.
Our hour is nye…
…..
…..
Ten Vedic talismans
Ten sacred guardians
Bind the wrathful Asura,
beneath the everwinter mountain for eternity
Three guardians perish, three talismans shatter
At the hands of the indomitable one
….
….
Ajay woke up to a feeling of his head had just weathered a storm. He found himself on the chair with a blanket over his body. As he turned around, he spotted Noore sleeping next to him on the opposite chair. She had been there to listen to him in this period he dug so deep into his own psyche he nearly couldn't get out.
"Thanks, Noore." Ajay got up and went to wash up before he left her to sleep a few more hours. Leaving a note to thank her for listening to him and assuring him she'd stick by to watch over him. There was much to tell her concerning his worries but that would have to wait for a more settled time. The Winter was almost over, and the Golden Path were more than likely to begin an assault when the winds stop. From that point onwards, it was all against all. Mohan's Devas against Pagan's Demons. The Demoness of Durgesh, Yuma pledged to him when he met her in Lanka that she was going to participate in the battles to come. Her Royal Guard were mustering and standing ready at their staging area in Ratu Gadhi.
Ajay shook off the words in his dream, but now he had ignored it the more it happened. He was thankful that there were people to stand by him when he fell into depression. The fortress Lanka was in need of his supervision as was the completion of Unit 58s training switch to operational status. He felt an emmerse weight off his chest, Noore was the first person he told his most hidden secret and she accepted him for it. He had someone to rely on for the remainder of his days.
He looked down below to the men and women hard at work constructing the unfinished walls and structures of the soon to be mighty fortress that watched over Kyrat.
Somehow dying to save them all didn't seem like a bad option. At least he'll be remembered.
The house of his Mistress was where he stood making plans for the coming invasion across King's bridge and onto the Royal Fortress. Only the Devas, now exalted with the same abilities as Vasu were with him. They chose the same path as Vasu and shared the same fate as brothers by oath. Only Jason, the two missing Devas and that girl Vel were absent. It made Mohan wonder of about his oath with his younger brother, Arjun.
As time passed he forgave Arjun for staying, he finally understood why. Arjun's loyalty was to the crown not to the person. In other words, he could see his brother return to his side when they won. The only person who he felt had a shred of loyalty left in their relation, it was just Arjun's nature. Unmoving, like a rock. But loyal to the end. He'd put his brother in a difficult situation when he rebelled but it was all for the greater good.
"In one weeks time, the storm will clear and we will have a clear space all the way to King's bridge." Mohan announced.
"The logistics are prepped and ready." Bhishma confirmed.
"Arms have been distributed."
"What of the foreigners?" Sanjeev asked referring to the CNS operatives.
"They've taken a non-combat role of purely observation. Badala hit them hard with an Armored force that didn't exist before. They're depending entirely on Agent Huntley for food supplies now. Their Commander Crow informed me his airdrop of supplies takes place when the snow stops. Although he received distressing reports that the India Air force are watching the Himalayas."
India? The thoughts of the superpower being aligned with Pagan made things entirely different. Would Pagan be crazy enough to bring India into the picture?
"Arjun. He must've entered a deal with New Delhi, from his alumni days in the Staff College." Mohan was the first to guess. He'd been there to congratulate him on receiving his scholarship.
"This Duke of Lakshman, Badala is equally not to be trifled with."
They had all heard the tales of the Northern Demon and wondered if it were possible for one man to do so much damage and achieve so much. His ruthlessness showed it was a possibility.
"What did you learn from your fight with him, Vasu?"
"He's young, but don't let that make you think he lacks experience. He knew his limits and when he knew how strong I currently was he retreated. His original mission then was to sabotage the foreigners' supplies and perhaps understand their strengths."
"To make them dependent on Willis?"
"To make them understand the crime for invading Kyrat." Vasu responded.
While they may have been at war with a vicious demon, this demon still understood the rulings of a civil war. Not to let third parties get involved. So far, all they the Golden Path had done was invite more and more each time they failed. It went to show how talented he was at warfare.
"This Badala is incredibly shrewd, we cannot afford any mistakes when assaulting King's bridge. He'll definitely be there."
"What of the traitors in Baghadur?" Sabal got to joining the conversation.
"How about you handle them, brother? Defeat them, if that cannot be done deter them long enough for us to storm the King's bridge garrison and assist you." Mohan gave him instruction.
"I will do it, brother! You have my vow!" He exclaimed enthusiastically.
"We're counting on you then, brother." The rest agreed with the course that Sabal would take.
"I have a question." Vasu spoke.
"Speak."
"What are we to do against Darshan?"
Sabal grinned his teeth, he had learnt from Bhishma the real cause of his elder brother's passing behind enemy lines. This older monster was something he hated as much as the demon that took his precious life away from him. The feeling of death was nothing like anything the masses thought it was, Sabal dreaded every moment his life slipped from him at that time.
This person had become Vasu's primary concern, whether they were exalted by the Mistress or not Darshan possessed rather weird abilities that made him still dangerous. Mohan was aware of this too, he'd seen the damage done to Jason Brody, the formation that binded that wandering spirit to the vessel was in a horrible condition when he found him. And Vasu said it was done by a wooden sword. It only meant one thing. Darshan was medium practitioner that possessed offensive type spells to enchant inert objects into relics. Where did he learn it from? No sorcerers or witches were left alive in Kyrat. Not even the fabled Demon Banishing Clan.
"I'll leave the measures entirely in your hands, Vasu. I'm unfamiliar with him but if he is as you say then we might have ourselves the only person that can harm us, brothers."
A man that could harm their nye-immortal physiques, such a thing wasn't possible amongst man against something else. Those that fought Darshan only dreaded him further on this conclusion. If he ever fought alongside Badala with the might of Yuma and Pagan backing them, then even Mohan wasn't so sure they could win against them by themselves.
He hated to admit it but he depended on his mistresses powers and the extension of her hand that was Vel. Her powers seemed endless and yet she still sought the doorway into sacred Shangri-la. The lust for power was endless.
If Darpan were still alive he could have revealed where he hid the other half of the thangkas and they need not invade Uttar region to find the rest. Sadly, he was no more, Pagan had taken his life when he was reported to escort his son to Banapur. It was another reason Vasu hated Pagan more, Kyrat was a small world. Everyone was related to someone, a friend could be serving in the Royal Army while a brother could be opposing him in Golden Path. For the man who murdered his older cousin, he would boil him.
"Make everything ready by the end of snowfall, then we'll march out immediately to liberate Pacchim Valley." Mohan ordered fiercely, they saluted him and went on their way. Vasu, being the last man made a passing glance at Mohan walking towards his benefactor whom sat in deep meditation.
"Thank you, brother." Mohan said noticing Vasu's still apparent presence. He walked off and closed the door.
Mohan walked up towards the dias which his mistress sat in motionless. The hood concealed her appearance, Mohan had only seen it once and it couldn't be expressed in words. A beautiful face that could make all fall in love at first sight, a complexion that couldn't belong to a mere mortal but a fairy. Had his heart not suffered from great pain and depression, hardening against all else he would have succumb to it as well in that one instance he saw it.
But now his desire was getting to him, though it was offensive to do so he reached out to push the hood off. His hand almost reached as it was merely inches away when a gust of wind blew him against the walls.
"My patience with such presumptuous conduct will only go so far, serf!"
"Forgive my transgression, I let my desires to see that beauty that mistress hides away from the world get to me!" He said with part flattery and great difficulty as a force continued to press him against the wall and limited his breathing. A flick of her wrist sent the force to vanish and Mohan dropped down coughing.
Mohan got up to his feet and reported the current events to his mistress after her long meditation. A little while he noticed her posture was as if it was unsettled her hand placed upon her breast as if feeling in pain.
"Is something wrong, mistress?"
"Nothing that your weak self could manage on its own!" She snapped coldly at him.
"…. Leave me in peace."
"By your will." Mohan turned around quickly and left. His lips curled in displeasure, he harboured thoughts of usurping his master but with the power she displayed it wasn't possible. Perhaps if he were to steal her destiny from her in Shangri-la their fates might reverse.
Mohan left the room. Although she could read every treacherous thought he could think of she ignored it. Such a trivial matter, she could dispose of that fool with a thought.
But it was of less concern.
Her transcendence to seek that boy out had taken its toll. Not because of the power it drained but the pain that was engraved so deep within her. That boy had lost his way once more, a pathway full of agony and despair. How she yearned to be the one to be there for him. But her conviction restricted her, she had waited over a thousand years for this moment. She could not destroy that effort over a longing. So, that widow would have to do, being there on her behalf.
"Will you succeed where countless failed before?"
She looked down at a trinket gifted to her by the one she sought for millennia, in another lifetime. A bronze mirror with four missing inserts of flooded her, times of happiness, a time of tragedy. She grasped the trinket tightly in her porcelain hand.
"Or will you make me wait another thousand years?"
The hospital was not like the ones in the states, the different in funding and available technology to support their various healthcare services. A two-storey building occupied a fifteen acre grassland near the lake to a temple long burnt to rubble. Regardless, the view was impressive. It had meant to be that way, therapeutic and all. It would be even more impressive when the snow cleared, the staff assured her.
She'd come all this way from the warm and comfortable log cabin loaned to her friends by a long-time lover of hers. She was handed the key rather coldly by the rather gorgeous female officer who he requested to sort out things for them. It was clear what they were to her, this Captain Kadayat. Hurk said she had a bad run in with Jason once, since then her impression of him has been rock bottom.
Though Hurk had long left the hospital led by Dr Najjar, as did Oliver but Steve's injuries were more serious and required him to stay. She had heard of how he had gotten that way, taking the shot for Riley. It changed her impression of him from since they first encountered him whining. Dr Najjar was reported to have gone to the mountaintops on an appointment, so she even visited hard to access patiences. It was admirable of her.
She walked up the familiar steps she had been aqquainted with for over a month, carrying some snacks and books she bought from the bazaar with the help of a girl named Bhadra. Ajay was apparently her guardian, it made her wonder about a young girl staying in a house with a bachelor. But then, it didn't make much difference when Noore informed her that she wasn't the only one staying there. Noore herself was a paying tenant and the other two were freeloaders. One was Captain Kadayat and the other was in India.
So many women under one roof.
She couldn't help but wonder if Ajay's behaviour had changed to that of a player along the lines. They were all very gorgeous in their own way. Seducing women of all ages, she laughed at the thought but somehow felt it could have happened even back in school. Some of her classmates gossiped about him sometimes, girls loved a bad boy now and then. Noore assured her for whatever reason, Ajay was the least bit interested in relationships, he'd made that clear on several occasions.
Ajay was breaking the social barrier of having many girl 'Friends'.
She knocked on the door before entering.
"C-Come in."
She'd walked in on Liza giving Steve head once. She refused to walk in after that incident, waiting for the former to leave before speaking to Steve. Liza did not talk to her for the next few days following, in fact she hardly did for the whole time they were in the luxury of not being held captive.
On a daily basis, a woman named Elina would bring the food supplies to their cabin. She would ask about Ajay and she would reply she knew very little, only that he was working against time before the snow stopped. Because when it did, the Golden Path would go on an all-out assault. She went over to the Malla couples' cabin to pay visits now and then to keep them company, although they received the towns' utmost hospitality on the account of their lord's approval of them and their daughter who was a hero amongst the common folk.
Daisy opened the door to find Steve in bed and Liza sitting at his bedside, the latter avoided all eye contact.
"Hey, what bring you here Dais'?"
Daisy said nothing but raised a paperbag with a certain produce.
"Ohohoho! Come to papa!"
Daisy walked over and handed him the bag full of salted sweet buns fresh from the stall. While the winds were too strong to set make shop in the open, the council provided the community hall for all the stalls in the bazaar to stay out of the storm and sell their wares. Occasionally, people would come all the way to the community hall to shop for necessities and sometimes other non-essentials.
"So…. How're you guys hanging out? Did that Badala fellow visit?" Steve asked while wolfing down on the buns that became his favorite snack.
"Riley's been hanging out with Hurk after he left, they're trying to get him entry into that weapons factory where all of Hurk's toys are but with no luck."
"That's a given, I bet Badala even placed an instruction to refuse us entry."
"Why did you let them go?" Liza asked in a cold tone. Daisy was getting sick of her constant ostresizing, she'd been patient enough not to criticise her.
"Hurk promised to keep us safe, he brought us out whilst suffering heavy injury. I think that's enough to say that Riley is in the safest place possible. He is Badala's most trusted friend as well."
"Oh really? And here I thought it was because of you trying to worm your way back into a failed relationship." The was obviously worsening terms between Liza and Daisy, perhaps she'd always felt this way. But the circumstance wasn't safe enough for her to complain.
"Liza!-." Steve was shocked why she wanted to pick a fight in his presence. But Daisy didn't lower herself to her level and replied calmly.
"I'm not even gonna argue with you on that. My relation with him was something that kept all of us safe. Did you know what was the damage we did on the day we escaped? De Pleur attacked local partisans the Tigers in league with the Royal Army. Three hundred and thiry-eight people died that day because they thought we sought refuge in their territory. Paul even threatened to kill a child that day. And where were we? Enjoying comforts in a house on the mountain smoking pot and drinking liquor."
Hearing this made Liza and Steven's stomach turn. Steve put down the cakes. Liza's mouth was sealed, it was as Daisy said. Her previous relation to the Northern Demon was what allowed them to go scot-free from these charges that had Daisy not been around, Badala would certainly punish them regardless of whether Hurk knew them or not.
Hurk had gone AWOL to convince Jason otherwise regarding their presence in the Golden Paths grasp. Ajay put him under probation for a month after his recovery, followed with heavy labor. He had an example to set amongst his peers and Hurk was no exception to these rules.
"Right, enough of that. How's the body, Steve?" Daisy initiated the change in conversation.
"Doing fine, the nurse says in a week I should be able to go out in crutches at least. Starting somewhere aren't i?" Steve said cheerfully to nullify the previously hostile atmosphere.
"That's great, you should be out by the time the snow melts, then at least you won't miss a thing."
"How's Riley doing? Has there been any update on Jason?" Daisy's face turned poor, she had indeed. Noore had told her of the situation was far worse than they imagined. At this moment, she couldn't help but glare at Liza with fierceness. Steve regreted ever asking that as it triggered off another-
"W-What? You've got a problem?" She replied defensively.
"As a matter a fact I do, you insecure bitch! Exactly what part of taking care of Jason did you fulfil?"
"Still going on about it! OK! I freaked out! I was scared! It was my fault! Everything about Jason going crazy is my fault!"
"Yes it is, but you know what, it wouldn't if you'd just asked us for help like a normal person would when he or she has a relation problem! Who got us off the island in the first place, Liza?!"
"Who got us off? You meant who got us into that mess in the first place?" She retorted. While it had been true that it was Jason who insisted that they take the trip to the mystery island that the spotter Doug suggested. They were just as oblivious as him, not even Grant suspected anything despite his military service.
"And don't speak like you actually cared for him. Where were you when I left? Did you ever call him yourself?"
"Every week on Saturdays, 1pm after lunch for an hour and a half. I was surprised he even kept you breaking up with him a secret for so long till I suspected your absence." Daisy laughed sarcastically.
Liza bit her lips.
"Forget it, your relation was just a way to satisfy your real longing for Grant. Using him as a substitute, even I have to hand it to you. That's cruel." Feeling she went this far she decided to get it off her chest. The way she stared at Grant from a distance while she was with Jason. She didn't really overcome her lost to Daisy in being with Grant.
"Daisy! That's enough!" It was Steven who shouted to quiet them down and not to engage in a catfight. But by now it had gone to the point of no return. Liza looked at her with all the hate she could muster, wishing to strangle her right there. She instead ran out with slightly teary eyes.
Steven sighed. These were just things that happened before him.
"I'm sorry."
"You shouldn't be saying that to me, Daisy." He said with a wry smile.
"….. I'll work on it some time."
"Be sure that you do, I look forward to having nice chats with you and Liza. Think Vegas, babe!" Steve shone a bright ending to their adventure together.
"Thinking of having us both share a bed with you?" She said with a smirk.
"Hardly. You were this Demon's woman way back, which means you've got some moves that'll make men into slaves. I'm afraid for my life." He laughed with her.
"Also, you're not my type." He added.
"You're not my type either, but you are a good man. Liza is really lucky to get back together with you again. It's just the Family name Brody's been getting into a lot of disasters lately. Their Father dies in '98, Grant in 2014. Who'll be next?"
"Just now I asked but you didn't say, what's Jason's status?" Now that they were alone, Daisy sighed as her prepared to enlighten him on the situation.
"He's aware of our safety. But didn't leave, Noore said he was leading the rebel soldiers that were under Paul. He's engaging in the same activity as those pirates back then."
"Jesus."
"This has gone beyond split personality, there's only one person controlling Jason's body now."
"And what about Badala, what does he have to say about all of this?" He asked without expecting a response.
"….."
He would allow Jason to defect, this was only one the basis of a favour to Grant on Daisy's accord and wellbeing. But if Jason continuely refused to cooperate then he couldn't blame him for wanting to kill him. Daisy had known Ajay for years and he did of her. While he didn't lie, he also didn't hide the hatred he felt for Jason as a whole. His presence supplied the Golden Path with false hope, Ajay was forced to kill more of his countrymen because of a foreigner's meddling. Thinking this way, she understood why Captain Kadayat's demeanour to them was cold.
He wanted Jason to make the foolish mistake of denying his friends' help. He wanted him to pay for the pain he caused him with the death of the girl whom he held most dear.
"Hey, Dais! What's with Liz running out just now?" Oliver came into the room as soon as he heard Daisy had come.
"Don' worry about it, Oli. Just Daisy being a bit of a bully that's all." He laughed awkwardly but covered for Daisy.
"Oh- Ok. Don't be too hard on her, man. She's been through some real shit since we left."
"Excuse me?"
"What? Didn't you know? She came over to visit Riley and me couple of times for some smokes and drinks."
-Shit.- Daisy realized the weight of her words had been to harsh on her friend.
But the question was...
Was it too late to return them?
In the back drop of the strong snowy winds, one could almost make out a dark silhouette in the distance where King's Bridge was. It was a testament to how humongous Lanka was, and it was barely even a half of the whole construction. Just three bastions were finished, the interiors furnished and the lightings and cables were laid. The Third Arsenal was partly operational in the ammunition production and the weapon refurbishment facilities which was sufficient to sustain the fighting capability of the garrison regiments. Amita had also made a base of operations in her given bastion, the official status of the Mukti Tigers were as a paramilitary organisation of the Kyrati Armed Forces so they could requisition equipment and supplies from the armories when they were available.
There was a unique surprise in the building of the super fortress, during the digging to lay foundations a geothermal deposit was found somewhere in the area closest to the communications and dispatch centre. For a fortress of this magnitude it had a rather gluttonous upkeep in energy. The deposit provided sustainable energy to meet those electricity requirements. An engineer drafted out a steam turbine to build to generate the energy.
In terms of the armaments, the Royal Fortress stockpiles were brought in. This included the Stinger missile launchers recovered from Willis's shipments during the Meh Teh Offensive. While the Golden Path had no aircraft of their own, the CNS operatives were a different story all together. It was better to be safer than sorry. A few batteries of heavy mortars, recoilless rifles and autocannons were mounted on the walls to provide heavy firepower against large groups that attacked in overwhelming numbers. All the troop armories were fully stocked and furnished. Food and water supplies were no exception.
Ajay stared at the mighty walls from the outside in the winds of the blizzard. He was already feeling the oppressive might of the giant fortress discouraging him from storming it. The Golden Path fighters would naturally feel the same way when they approached. There weren't only high walls but sloped parts that almost encouraged you to walk up its incline, but it was a death trap to slow momentum and a killzone area for anyone foolish enough to assail the walls on those areas. There were a combination of moats and ditches, everything possible to make life difficult for the attacker and for the convenience of the defenders.
Saras's design was a statement onto its own, her name would go down into the history books as the genius that designed the inpenetrable fortress. Ajay suspected that Mohan would bring a force that made Sabal's last look like a child's attempt to rule the world. Perhaps around ten thousand or more as a vanguard force led by the Devas now that Sabal wasn't calling the shots. Currently, there were three elite regiments garrisoned in Lanka. Around three thousand soldiers, when compared with the Golden Path they had quality over their quantity. But they weren't indestructible, and they could die from flute shots or carelessness. He was sure they'd split a force to subjugate Baghadur once and for all, but if he could funnel all there forces towards Lanka, then the Tigers homebase would live to see another day and its people would be safe. The three battalions, 1st Hussars and 5th and 6th Dragoons might not be enough with the additional minimal garrison of Tiger forces in Baghadur.
Should they lay a minefield along the borders that defined between Baghadur and the rest of the Golden Path territory? Or maybe he should give them priority to call fire support from the S-23 heavy field guns now based in Yuma's staging area at Ratu Gadhi.
He walked up the mountaintops to the edge of a cliff that overlooked the fortress to deal with another business, already there were four silhouettes. Two belonged to Fortress guardsmen tasked with delivering the captives Yogi and Reggie to the appointed location. The latter two were exactly who they brought along.
Naked and shivering in the snow.
Ajay flung a bottle of scotch that landed on the snow in front of them. They timidly reached out.
"Did I say you could touch it?"
Although there wasn't a shed of hostility in the tone, they were nonetheless weighed down by the aura of the guards standing beside them. So they returned to their original places.
"This cliff has a long history of suicides, lost loves, despair or just plain insanity. This place is the first venue on their schedule. Both of you might be the very first unreluctant deaths in the history of Kyrat."
(Gulp) Went both of their throats. It was the death flag for them.
"Look… we're just tourists roaming the lands in search-."
"Spare me the bullshit, donald. You've been engaged in petty thefts, cons, human trafficking on the first, second and third degree as long as Noore was still running the arena."
"It's yogi.." He murmured and earned the back end of the guard's rifle to his gut. He moaned in pain.
Ajay took out a revolver, unloaded the cylinder and threw in a cartridge then threw it to the ground in front of them.
"Ever watched Deer Hunter?" Ajay gave them an analogy.
Their faces turned white as a sheet. He was about to play with them Russian roulette.
"The game is quite simple, I'll keep asking questions and if I feel they are good you'll earn your life. But the other lad won't, the moment you don't answer them or have anything to add it's the trigger for you. Are we clear?"
The guards stood a few feet back and readied their rifles at the two.
"First question, an easy one. Do you acknowledge that you had taken part in numerous cons, theft, scams and human trafficking run by Paul Harmon taking place in Kyrat on locals and tourists alike for the last few years? Yogi? Reggie?"
They squinted their eyes at the detail of the question like it was a confession.
"Yes!" "Yes!" Reggie betrays Yogi by saying it earlier.
"God fucking damn it! You cunt!" Yogi curses. He turns to Ajay expectantly, but was surprised to see a recording device in his hand. He had indeed just gotten their last-minute confession.
"Roll the die then." Ajay suggested.
Yogi picks up the revolver and places it against his head reluctantly. The guards shout loudly threatening to kill them on the spot.
Yogi breaths heavily and presses the trigger whilst squeezing his eyes shut.
(Click) An empty chamber.
"Fuck!" He sighs in relief.
"Right, next question." They looked at Ajay with fear and trembled, he wasn't taking breaks.
"Look we're sorry we-!"
"Get on the fucking floor!" Shouted the guard when Reggie overstepped his boundaries. "Right! Right!" Quickly succumbing to force.
"With Paul no longer running the operations, who leds it, who organises who goes where?"
"S-Solomon! The chinaman from Hong Kong! Gun runner in his spare time an all!" Yogi says frantically.
"Gets the renegades to cap'em and sell on the blackmarket to some really sickfucks! The younger the better! And he-."
"Shut up! Lemme have a go!"
"No you shut it!"
"Reggie speak in less than five seconds." Ajay solved their answering problem with who answered too much.
"They operate in that brick factory where they ship the fresh meat off to-." Reggie never had the chance to finish when Ajay burst out laughing. He stood up from the boulder he sat on and drew his kukri and pressed it against Reggie's face.
"Do you take me for a fool? Or have you never been to Rochan Brick Factory before?" The factory was rubble thanks to Paul and Hurk. It was probably a trap in case anyone interrogated them.
Ajay swished the knife around.
"Take off his ear." The guard nodded and grabbed Reggie who screamed like a little girl as the guard swiped his ear off with his knife.
"Fuck! Fuck! AAAArhhhh! Jesus fuckingchrist!"
"Slow and painful death seems to be where you're both currently headed." He made it clear that if it was a lie or not satisfying enough he would take off parts of them too.
"Next question, if I were him were would I be? If you know then answer….. if you don't… don't answer." He said grinning, a trap.
"Shanath-."
"Sleeping saints! Sleeping saints statues!" Yogi answered.
"What happens there?"
"Human trafficking! I-It's near Vyatha or what the locals call City of Pain! Plus its near the border!"
The guard motioned Reggie to pull the trigger which he did and picked up the gun ever so slowly. The guards jeered at him to do it, but this time they were joined by Yogi in the shouting.
(Click)
"Wheew!" He sighed
"Don't get too comfortable yet. Third question, what is the time he frequents, the number of soldiers and prisoners that's always present? Where are they exactly being held, where does Solomon usually settle?"
"That's more than one question." Said Yogi trying to be smart.
"What do you think we should take off, gentlemen?" Ajay turned to the guards. As it was Yogi's turn to lose something.
The guard chose the pinky of Donald. He screamed for a while.
Ajay tossed the bottle of scotch to them to drink and pour over their wound so they wouldn't die so fast of hypothermia or freezing.
They drunk like thirsty sailors on the boat for days without water.
It was a combination of the two this time. Ajay had faith they knew all of these things because they were likely the biggest contributor in human commodity, particularly foreigners. Solomon was a businessman and they were con artists, those two went hand in hand.
He learnt a great deal about Solomon. Until now he had never seen him, only seen a picture and heard about him from Yuma. The man was from a relative's clan in Hong Kong to Yuma and Pagan, human trafficker and arms dealer. He found sanctuary with Pagan and Yuma in Kyrat from Interpol, his influence expanded to East asia where he became the biggest supplier to Phillipine rebels, Moro muslims terrorist groups, Cambodian rebels and a certain privateer enterprise in Rook Island. But human trafficking was his specialty.
Why Ajay wanted him was because he was the closest person of any other next to Willis. The big game he wanted all along. Solomon was just an appetizer for Yuma to slowly peel apart for turncoating. Yogi and Reggie were inevitably engaged in human trafficking from their days being on Noore's blacklist she cheated them of their passports which they needed to leave country to slowly work them back.
But after Noore disappeared and they scavenged for their passports and found them with luck, they decided to stay for some pocket money. Made a partnership with the careful Paul and Solomon.
Golden Path were literally giving them allowance to takeaway citizens to sell in exchange for cash and guns for the cause, a necessary sacrifice in their eyes. But an abomination in Ajay's.
At the end of the fifth empty chamber they had told him a sizable amount, the luck they had getting this far without shooting themselves. But it was the end of the line.
They knew it was a six shooter so the last one was for whoever was the unlucky sod.
"Final question-."
"Wai-WaiWait! Parley!" Reggie tried to go around it and negotiate on his terms. The guard delivered harsh justice on him with the heel of his boot.
"Which is more guilty?" Ajay said with a vicious grin.
To his surprise neither whistle blew the other but kept entirely quiet. They stared at one another.
"You're a good man, Yogi."
"You too, Reg."
They patted eachother on the back. Ajay watched the charade with a blank expression. They started to visibly sweat as Ajay showed he was not convinced by their act. And then-
"Kill him! He's the fucker that screwed the most!"
"You prick! Now who's the worst, fucking hypocrite!"
They argued and demanded Ajay execute the other. It was like a British comedy playing in front of them. But Ajay wasn't paying much attention as the guards that were chuckling away. He was watching the hand reach for the revolver in front. They had apparently seen Deer Hunter it seemed.
With a flick, Yogi swung the revolver to face Ajay.
(Boom) The force of a .700 caliber slug blasted Yogi in half and his incomplete corpse fell down the cliff.
Reggie was shivering where he stood, the blood of his friend was smeared all over him. He had never expected it to exchange so quickly. It was clear that Ajay was not so easily fooled. The guards were shocked, for a moment of lax and they nearly compromised the Duke's safety.
"Right, thank you for all you've explained to me. You can go now…." Ajay said dismissing him.
"Uh-….." He looked back in shock where his long-time friend had once been, to see nothing left his heart couldn't except it. Such cruelty taken out on them, he'd never witnessed it before.
He got up on shakey legs and walked down the cliff, he stood at the lower end of the cliff and became curious as to what had become of his dearly departed friend's corpse, walking nearer towards the ledge when- (Boom)
The second round in Ajay's slayer discharged and blew him off the ledge to be with his partner in death. The guards were not surprised by this, Yuma and her interrogators had done much crueller in Durgesh. But those crooks had already confessed to crimes that legally warranted death but firing squad. His grace merely accerelated the proceedings. Those two weren't worth the paperwork for the Judges in Uttar Region. Ajay looked down at the two sets of separate bodies, he had yet to complete his previous sentence so he finished it.
"To hell that is."
Author's Notes:
Deer Hunter, Robert De Niro and Christopher Walken. If you don't know the reference the fastest way i recommend is to see the russian roulette part on youtube. Forced to play by their Vietcong captors, they gamble their odds on a luck to a row of bullets to kill their captors.
