Author's Notes:

Extra long for your pleasure (Dirty joke)


Within an hour from his order, the PDF battalions and platoons of garrison troops left had finished their work on the fortifications and reported for Ajay's briefing where the civilians were gathered.

The masses that gathered within the courtyard of the barracks were chatting away with an air of uneasiness in their tones, but Ajay couldn't blame them. It was a gruelling experience to be pincered by rebels and government forces in a conflict that no one asked for. He was quite surprised that they weren't frantic as he thought they would be, but all the better.

Ajay took a few steps to the steps where all eyes landed on him and a silence matured from the crowd to whatever he had to say.

"It has fallen to us to defend Lanka, and we've made our preperations to the best of our abilities."

Ajay allowed them to absorb his words before continuing.

"What is Lanka? A fortress to oversea the lands, to reign over the people through military might? Or a place for citizens to seek safe sanctuary from beast, man and idealism?... Lanka is none of these!"

It made all who heard baffled as to what he meant, eager to hear his reason.

"This fortress represents the will of those that believed that Kyrat was worth protecting from threats, foreign and domestic. Lanka is a monument of the people's defiance against oppression!"

"It held back the united armies of Golden Path. It now holds against this joint task force by the same aggressors and our neighbours turned enemy, the state of Yinke. And who did all of this? Not me, not the soldiers that stood by the walls, but the people that had come to call it home."

There was much gasping as his words.

"Every brick that was carefully laid to every bit of sweat that fell from the brow was what kept my liege's soldiers safe from harm's way. For this I owe you a debt of gratitude I can't possibly repay. But now…. The Golden Path want it, because to them it means full control over Pacchim Valley and all that reside. This fortress weighed heavily on their minds and they want the same for the people that dare to rise against them in future. That is soon becoming a reality."

Some voiced their concerns.

"What do we do then, your grace?!"

"I don't know for what reason Mohan refused to allow non-combatants out of the fighting area. But know this, you are our first and only priority. You, it's people are not just citizens. But men and women who inhabit Lanka, the very icon that there can be more done in Kyrat then just fighting for traditions, faith and status quo!"

All remained silent at his claim, not even the babies made any sound. A wave of excitement passed over them.

"In a strategic sense, the destruction of Lanka makes more sense than surrendering it to the enemy. However, I will not allow Lanka to be reduced to rubble. Why? I've already told you. I know I'm being beyond selfish in what I'm about to ask of you…. Is there anyone amongst you, that opposes the Golden Path way? Is there anyone who would prevent this monument from toppling? Is there anyone amongst you who would take up arms against Golden Path, the symbol of oppression?"

"Me!"

"Me!"

"Aye!"

"Here!"

Immediately there was some response as men and women stood up from the crowd amongst the civilians. Soon there was almost every able body men and women who stood up. The PDF drew their kukris and bellowed warcries taught to them by their instructors.

"Forgive me, loyal subjects of his royal highness. As I call upon you to form militia at this time and hour. I'll make sure his highness hears of your commitment and honor."

Ajay drew out his kukri and prepared to shout a catchphrase battle cry that had once been exclusive to the men under Badala.

"Then sons and daughters of Kyrat who will today fall under my command, hear and learn of our creed!" The newly assembled militia was clueless as to what he was about to say. Only the PDF who had been trained and taught under him, the garrison soldiers whom had seen his fabled Unit 58 shout it before their battles knew. And prepared to say it for themselves this one time that Badala called upon them.

"Courage!" Ajay bellowed for the entire barracks to hear.

"""HONOUR!""" Was the return the PDF and garrison forces responded with.

"Loyalty!"

""""ETERNAL! ETERNAL! WAAAAAAHHH!"""


Willis had been waiting with the soldiers that assembled with him outside the perimeter of the last bastion in the Royal Army's control. They'd cornered and cut off all possible escape routes, the Field Commander told them that the civilians had all left so it was ok to go all out to destroy the forces inside.

Willis knew it was a lie, that Field Commander was just impatient and wanted to end this fight with as little conflict as possible. He stuck with the engineering team that worked on the blastdoor to the command centre which was locked out to them. What they needed was Badala's key to open it in order to gain access to the intel on their logistics and troop positions. There was also the arsenal that was a coveted prize to gaining control of Lanka. To produce their own ammunition and weapons, which organisation could say no to that. That Arsenal was likely built to allow Lanka to maintain its defense against prolonged sieges, now it would help them to aid them in their assault on the Royal Fortress. That is provided they gain the authenticator key from Badala. And they were sure as hell he would make them ply it from his cold dead hands.

"Who the hell built this place…?" He murmured both annoyed it caused them such problems and in admiration that someone built a defense system from intrusion such as theirs.

"I was around during the infiltration mission. They say it was designed by Major Saraswati Roka. The Rhinos daughter."

"Hmm!" It was the second time he'd heard or seen of a women officer in the Royal Army. The other time was with the Royal Guard Hunter that captured him and almost delivered him to Yuma.

"So what do we owe the pleasure of the infamous CIA officer Huntley in our company?"

"Just looking around for some files on a top secret program the Royal Army's been running for months codename S-program. And the pleasures all mine, gentlemen."

The team laughed. "Indeed." Said the Head engineer who held out a hand to shake, Willis returned it.

"Five minutes to end of ceasefire! Prep your equipment and stand by your fighting groups!" Called out the adjutant commander to relay their orders to attack.

They stood ready at the buildings just a hundred and fifty metres away from the walls of the last bastion. Apparently, the moat design was used throughout the fortress which also acted as a water system for cleaning of clothing and other items for the households in the fortress. Their only entrance was a metal gate which could be broken with satchel charges. But they had to get close to plant it.

Willis checked his watch briefly, only a minute to the assault. Their group was hidden behind the wall on the roof of a house while the rest were ready for a soviet-style charge towards the gate to use their grapple hooks or C4 to blow the gates.

-3….2…..1….-

(Whistle) A whistle was blown. That was the signal from the Commander to charge. There was a mighty roar that followed as the Golden Path fighters along with their bros from Yinke charged to last bastion walls. Willis observed from a distance over the walls with his head popped out.

At a hundred metres, to his surprise an all the assaulting forces, the gates creeked open slowly.

"What the f- (bbbrrrrrrrrrrrrrr)!" A sound of a like a cord being torn resounded through the area in a continuous stream. What came out of it was an entire row of warriors chopped down along with a few behind them due to the armor piercing nature of the 7.92mm B bullets, the corpses it penetrated had a distinct glow from where it pierced their flesh due to the incendiary compound. It was a rare type of cartridge in the inventory of any Kyrat armory, Golden Path or Royal Army alike. But it there was one weapon that fired it and was still being used to some limited extent in Kyrat nearly forty years since its introduction, it could only be-

"MG42!" Willis cried out to warn the soldiers and fighters alike. They weren't familiar with the weapon that tore up so many American sons and fathers on the beaches of Normandy. One had taken the life of Willis's grandfather, and it grew into his fascination for firearms at a young age.

He had seen it at Knob Creek Range during the machine gun festivals back home, he always imagined the impact of the weapon but was never close to understanding the true terror of that weapon his grandfather felt when he landed on those French beaches…. Until now.

And who was the one in possession of Hitler's Buzzsaw? It was none other than the fabled Demon that had taken his leg once before. Standing steadfast at the gate wide open, yet no one could pass through it because of the wall of lead he laid before them. No one was safe behind the walls or kelvar vests. That kraut high-powered ammo sliced through them like it hardly stopped it. But by now, his firepower was joined by the defenders spraying their automatic arms from the walls at the aggressors, them.

Badala wasn't just carrying the Buzzsaw to chop them down, his defensive equipment was also on him. There was a category of specialist trooper in the Royal Army and Guards once before called a Heavy. These were the toughest sons of bitches, who carried the meanest arms and heaviest armor. Until their highest authority forbade the use, probably because it wasn't cost effective. Yet Badala was making full use of it now.

"RPGs, bring up the RPGs and take that bastard out!" Willis advised them, knowing that nothing below .50cal could pierce his armour.

Some rocketeers came out of hiding and loaded their rockets to fire. Unfortunately, Badala's sharp eyes caught them and cut them down with a stream of lead.

"Goddamnit!" He didn't think he would need to tell them not to reveal themselves before loading and readying the rocket launchers.

By now, everyone was pinned or behind a wall hoping not to get hit by him.

Some who survived the hail of bullets and were wounded out in the open, Badala shot them with a stream of bullets each before visibly popping the smoking hot barrel to replace.

"Willis, is that you?" He called out.

"Come on, answer me at least so I can find you." As if he would reveal his location to get pulverized like his grandfather.

"Don't worry, I won't shoot you." Like it was any more assuring for him to say that. Some fighters took the opportunity when he was reloading the gun and switching the barrel to hit him. Not like it did anything with the kind of armour he wore. He proceeded to reward them with german 7.92mm bullets.

"Is this all you've got, Golden Path? Where was that zealousness a moment ago? Come, show me that the power of faith can overpower any obstacle!" He mocked them.

"Any minute now, you'll run out of ammo. Then what will you do?" Willis answered back.

"Well then, you'll be unlucky to have died in the least painful way." Was there ever an end to Badala's unyielding strength? Not even poor odds phased him one bit. And it gave the men under him courage.

It was at this moment, Willis heard a distant propeller noise in the distance. Instantly he knew what it was as he looked up to the breaking dawn sky.

A grin appeared on his face. "Times up, Badala. Your times over, whatever happens next, know that its nothing personal between you and I….. actually, no…. its every bit personal! Golden Path! Hit the deck!" He said before doing so himself, they acted on his warning quicker that previously and took cover.

The defenders up on the walls were baffled, but only Ajay knew what he was referring to. He didn't know why, but his eyes sharpness reached an unbelievable peak that he could see a hare in the distance like an eagle. He could also see what Willis saw in the distance of the night sky that was turning dawn soon because of the stretches of light over the mountain. Yet while Willis saw the silhouette, he saw the entire figure and even the designated markings upon the C-130 flying to circle them. Only that it wasn't the cargo derivative.

But an AC-130 gunship.

"Gunship! Ten o clock! Find shelter!" The men began to disperse but it was too late, as a stream of 25mm, 40mm and 105mm shells came raining down upon the bastion walls.

Willis watched the entire wall erupt with explosive shells and vaporising those unlucky enough to withdraw quick enough. The Golden Path warriors and Yinke Soldiers let out a cheer at the ordnance being poured upon their enemies. Even the demon took cover before blowing the gate to shut permanently. To them, it was the most beautiful thing they'd ever seen. Sending trails of light plumming bright mushroom clouds behind the walls of the bastion upon their enemies.

To Willis, it was the power of close air support, courtesy of the ever-bountiful Uncle Sam


In a situation as dire as this, Ajay had very little choice in dealing with an adversary he couldn't counter even with his strength. That was what Air power was like, to rain terror upon helpless infantry without air cover or air defense. And that was the situation they were in, all the 40mm Bofors guns were silenced thanks to Golden Path.

-So that was what you were planning.- He found it strange they didn't want to keep them to use against the helicopter fleets. So it was this, who else could call such a thing but Lynch.

Ajay was the only one calm in this situation to the frantic men and women running for cover or losing control of their bodies as the curled up into a ball. He knew that every second he wasted hundreds would fall prey to the turkey shoot that those gunnery officers targeting.

"Phanish! Pop your chaffs!" He said as he released some of his IR flares and threw them around the compound.

Phanish immediately understood his tactic. The gunship likely saw them through a thermal TV, so to hide their signatures, the use of infrared to clear a white patch were they were.

"Quick release your flares!" He relayed to his men and to the PDF.

"Light those fuel cans as well!" Biraj was observant enough to know what was happening and thought up his own way of adding to their countermeasures. The groups of men and women quickly ignited their flares and other incendiary devices and scattered it around the courtyards and on the buildings, they lit a shed and a house on fire to add to the IR spike.

Everyone contributed in some way before hiding underneath a building near heatsources to avoid detection. He wasn't sure of how effective it was against the gunships sensors, but soon it stopped firing due to the lack of targets visible. Ajay crept towards where Phanish was.

"Your grace."

"Here's the a keycard to the special weapons safe in this bastions armory. Box marked S-14 is what you're looking for. Bring it back here and carefully." Phanish nodded.

"Your grace, what does it contain?"

"Stingers." Phanish instantly knew what he was referring to.

"Its heavy, bring five men along with you." Ajay said before prepping his rifle.

"A-And where will you go, your grace?"

"Someone has to give Golden Path a different idea about approaching this place. Once you've found it, go to a high heat source and fire them at the gunship. It won't kill it, but it'll make it think twice about approaching, understood?"

"Yes, sir. But how do i-."

"You won't need instructions, just insert the coolant battery into the front foregrip, flip and line the target to your sight and wait for the beep." It was a simple explanation but good enough for the officer to understand. After all, didn't the nomadic Mujahideen use them almost immediately after retrieving them from their crates?

He was just glad that the civilians were safe in underground shelters underneath the houses and buildings. But if the gunship pommeled the ground too much it could cause a cave in and crush everyone under there.

Ajay decided he wouldn't just ruffle up the Golden Path but also mislead the gunship. He was sure that it was just called to lay fire on baddies, but there were no IFF tags on either of the forces for them to identify. No blinking strobes like in Call of Duty, and neither was there a ground observer relaying info. A mischievious grin appeared on his face as a plan concocted in his head.

Minutes later, the Golden Path were slowly traversing through the streets towards the wall and over it. It had seemed as if that American plane had turned the bastion on the otherside into a blazing hell. Some time ago, the screams and cries ended. They could only imagine what the plane had done to them.

(Pow) "Arghh! (Bababababaam) A soldier let loose a stream of bullets that hit some of the golden Path fighters before falling to the ground motionless.

"What the fuck?"

(Pow) "ARGHHH!" The same thing happened again with that victim spraying lead all over from his hand that had been impaled by an arrow to initiate a runaway trigger.

"Hey watch it!" (Pow) That mysterious strumming sound of the bow string releasing caused them internal anxiety. They knew who it was.

"Don't fire unl-uhddh!" A commander was killed with an arrow through his mouth from another direction. Then, a visible shadow sweeped pass some buildings and between them were some soldiers

"Rarrrrghhh!" At first it was a single fighter, then it was the whole gropup firing at first sight of the shadow that appeared between them but always with one end of the guns pointed at friendlies. They increased their own casualty rate on their own accord. Willis was puzzled by this behaviour, why was he toying with them in such a way when clearly, he could kill them in shorter time.

By now, they were actively firing everywhere at one another. One group closest to the walls fired upon the ground that was in the cover of the buildings still.

"Ceasefire! Ceasefire you dumb- (BOOM) (BOBOBOOM) (Brrrrrrrrrrrr) A hail of explosive shells came raining down as he intended.

But it was too late, even Willis was too slow to understand what Ajay's true intentions were.

"Shit! Ceasefire! He's misleading the gunship! Goddamnit!" Willis tapped onto his satellite phone to get in contact with Lynch to tell him to manage his gunship.

The gunship began to tear up the Golden Path much to their horror that the very weapons that was on their side was used against them. They felt horror in a single instance.

"Come on! Come on…." Willis hesitatingly keyed in the digits to his phone.

"Hello there." Called out a cold voice in the havoc being wrought upon the wrong people. (Bang)

"Arghhh! Damn it!" Ajay had just shot him in his one good leg. He walked over and tapped his hand to release the satellite phone currently dialling. "Gimme that-… thank you." Willis returned to wailing in pain from the bullet that struck his knee cap.

"Who were you calling? Was it Lynch?"

"You bastard- urghhh- you shot me in the leg!"

"Pipe down, you." Ajay pressed his foot against Willis's gunshot wound causing him to scream louder.

Some of the Golden Path engineers came to his aid only to be gun down by Ajay's slayer. The Head engineer was no exception, who fell to the ground next to Willis in two pieces. Willis finally shut up.

*(Pick up) What is it now, Willis?*

"Why hello there, who would've thought you would be the one picking up." Ajay said as friendly as can be over the devastation caused by the misled gunship.

*Badala.*

"Call off the gun- arrghh!" Ajay kicked Willis to shut his mouth but mostly to exasp him of air to talk.

"We really should exchange phone numbers, or I can call you from this one you picked up from."

*….. What do you want?*

"What do I want? You couldn't possibly comply would you?"

*…*

"So what's so special about Willis here that you need him alive and good. What kind of dirty little secret do you both have here behind closed mountains?"

*I'll leave it to your imagination-.*

"You'd better make it a reality or else finding it will be next to impossible with a bullet in his skull."

*….Well go on then, save me the trouble so I can get out of this filthy place you call a home back to Langley!*

Ajay laughed in response.

"You think its that simple? You might already know what Willis is like, a cold-war agent bounded by hysteria. Everyone's an enemy, including his own people. He had contingencies for almost everything, including his own death. He'll never let you get away with what you've done to him."

Lynch remained silent behind the phone for a while.

*Just what do you want?*

"Not much, just a clue as to what you're looking for here."

*Just that? Why the hell would you be interested in that?*

"Because whatever you guys are interested in, gets me curious about as well. What could possibly warrant the CIAs presence in Kyrat. A lonely place that is so isolated from the outside it couldn't possibly affect the geographics of the modern world outside. What's so important here that you and Willis first came here to breakdown the governance in Kyrat? To support the Nationalists… and the assassination of the Devi Bloodline."

It wasn't just Lynch who gasped at his words, but Willis who was on the ground as well. How could Ajay have possibly guessed that? He was someone they should never have crossed paths with, and now he was trying to extort them.

*You have no proof.*

"Au contraire, Paul. What you've been scurrying about to search that Willis hid files on is all the conclusive evidence I need to put CIA on a leash."

*We don't negotiate with terrorists-.*

"You will with me. I have your asshole, and a few days in Durgesh is enough to break him to fess up to put you down for good as the last resort!" Lynch believed every word Ajay told him, how could he not.

*Do you even realise who you're messing with, Badala? You're not just confronting me, not just the CIA but the very system that raised you from young when you first came to our soil!*

"Oh. Then I guess that just makes me an ungrateful citizen turned enemy of state then. And stop trying to buy time for your gunship to target me!" Lynch reeled away from his phone in shock as Badala figured out what he had been doing behind his phone.

It was at this moment that shooting stars with trails of smoke flew out from the courtyard of the bastion and towards the AC-130 which began their evasion along with a dispersal of flares in the shape of an angel to fool the missile which it did just by a hairs breadth.

But it wasn't over as a second missile flew from the courtyard to counter the gunship who had broken off contact to get out of the engagement range of the missiles.

"Stingers?" Willis said in shock.

"They're yours, or rather the US armys' you snitched from their depots." Ajay explained what he did with the shipment of stingers he brought in from the states.

"I wonder what National Security would say about two rogue agents that've gone out of their jurisdiction and out of control. What if a certain whistle blower told them about the sneaky shit that went down in Kyrat I wonder?" Ajay said suggestively.

*What do you want?! Damnit!*

"Here's what I want, listen carefully Lynch." (Beep) He pressed the hang up button on the phone stating his interest in what Lynch had to offer was worth next to nothing in his eyes.

Ajay drew out the SIM card and threw away the phone, then looked towards Willis who for once in his life actually feared a death by Badala.

"Now its just you and me-." It was as if all the good parts were taken from him at the most inconvenient of times. This time it appeared in the form of a deadly feeling wash over him and telling him to evade before it was too late. He followed his instincts like always before a violet thread sliced the air where he was. The wall that was behind him crumbled to the floor from where it was cut.

Ajay now understood the reason why his Badala-senses went crazy to that cloaked figure that landed where he once was next to Willis who was equally shocked. Golden Path had dispatched the only person next to the devas who was qualified to contend with the demon of Lanka.

They sent the Violet Witch of Tirtha.


A report came in one day to the Royal Fortress which he reviewed by chance with Arjun's supervision. The report pertained the recount of how a cloaked figure singlehandedly disarmed and chopped down three entire battalions worth of men who blockaded the Golden Path base in Tirtha. The Commander of that force retired due to the events that tramatized him. He was the only survivor only kept alive to report back the loss of those battalions. Her, assuming it was female due to the slender figure and porcelain like hands was like a demon on the battlefield that could not be killed. A thorough counter to the Northern Demon in the eyes of the fighters at Tirtha.

Her weapon of choice, glowing threads that flowed in midair and gave her an almost celestial fairy-like appearance despite her hood concealing her face. It was that rumor that spread she was either very beautiful or covering a disfigurement.

To Ajay, none of these mattered. It was clear what she was here for, and that was to kill him. His wits were about him when the second time she lashed out her threads at him he kicked some rubble towards her and the threads changed direction to cut up those slabs of rubble instead.

But it gave Ajay time to bring out his slayer and he pointed it at her with extreme prejudice. It was the first time his would-be assassin left the place she stood as she too felt the deadly crisis of what the double barrelled .700 Nitro slugs could do to her.

(Boom) He fired one round that impacted the wall from where it missed her by inches. She had somehow used those threads to tug her in and evade a slug that travelled at 930m/s due to its unique sabot nature. She had not expected the round to detonate with a fragmentation blast which she had been in close proximity too. She gave a soft cry in response to the fragments that embedded itself into her flesh. It almost confused Ajay to think that she was just a normal human when compared with her Deva counterparts which stopped resembling anything remotely human in their fragility.

Seeing Ajay preoccupied in a deadly duel with one of the Golden Paths trumps, Willis made his getaway, albeit in pain from the bullet in his good leg as he slowly hobbled out of the danger of Ajay and the AC-130 gunship that could come back at any moment when it was sure there were no more stingers being fired towards it.

In that meantime, the Golden Path and garrison forces returned to their fighting. And it was a fight that was anything but clean. They were fighting on ruined rubble and craters, there were some cases of melee involved but it was minor.

They were equally matched, or so some would like to think with Badala being occupied with the Violet Witch, Vel.

"I don't believe we've been introduced, the names Badala. Perhaps you've heard of me, perhaps you've not." Ajay began giving compliments to his newest opponent that gave him a different feeling from the Devas. She was at least thrice as deadly as Vasu and twice as the three Devas now two combined. It was only the slayer that kept her rethinking her approach which made Ajay begin to think that she actually was physically human in physique. Yet those movements with the threads were anything but human. It was like her name, a witch.

But the witch responded in a way that even he was taken off guard by.

"Soren?"

"Huh?... No. It can't be-. Why is it you?!" Ajay's voice became frantic, though he had only met her once, her acquaintance with him was something hard to forget. She had slowly pieced back part of his forgotten memories lost due to the trauma he underwent as a two-year-old.

The girl he knew as Ashna was in fact the Violet Witch of Tirtha, Vel.

"So you weren't the charge of Badala's household, you were Badala." Her voice and emotion was unphased, as if her encounter with him was as trivial as her breathing air. He was her target all along, she had a personal grudge with him that he didn't know of. He was the centre of her mistress's attention, always.

"Die." Three streams of thread flew toward him diagonally, he put his hand up in reflex to block and three lines were cut straight through his armoured gauntlet to cut into his flesh.

"Arrrgh….." He retreated back severals steps to gain breathing space but she closed in on him.

"What could she possibly see in such a reckless soul such as yourself!" She sent an arching thread that battered down towards him. Ajay dodged it with every muscle he could muster.

At this point, he was considering whether to call upon the power of the demon. But he was still unsure of the effects that it had. The demon had definitely taken something from him, but he didn't know what it was. It was what he dreaded, could it be? That the demon took the most precious thing of all to him?

His memories.

It caused a shadow to appear in Ajay's convictions. It was truly the scariest thing that had happened to him yet. To forget the cherished memories among all the pain and suffering was like taking the only comforts he had in this pain ridden and cruel world.

"Vel, I don't wanna hurt you so stay out of my way!"

"Really, that's funny. Because I intend to fully destroy you, in body and soul!" She then dug into her pouch and retrieve a paper talisman that caught fire and she ate. The next moment, Vel disappeared and reappeared behind him with her hand raised to give the finishing blow. (Boom) Ajay fired the second shot back handed by her disappeared again. Its not that she was invisible, but his eyes had difficulty tracking how fast she was going. Just what the hell did she do just now?

(Bang) Ajay flew like a kite that had its string cut and slammed into some concrete.

He coughed out flesh goblets of blood and struggled to get up. His slayer was a distance away from him and Vel stood between him and his gun.

A thread stabbed into his chest striking a sensitive nerve.

"AAAAAHHHHHHH!" It brought out the pain from where Karkadann's ivory horn struck him.

A thread passed by and swipped his mask off him revealing his face clear to her.

"See? Behind that façade, those masks of authority and fearlessness, you're nothing but a boy that longs for his mother." She said in the most icy of tones, contrary to what he'd recalled when talking to her.

"So….. was everything you said back then also a façade." Ajay asked with great difficulty to the large thread stuck in him.

And for the first time, he saw her hesitate.

"Don't lie to me, Ashna. And don't lie…urgh… to yourself." Her expression turned hostile once more.

"Don't lecture me! You couldn't possibly understand what it means to lie to yourself!"

She used the thread to fling him away and he landed a few feet away. Ajay remained with his back to the floor, he was losing strength to continue on.

"Do you have any last words?" She asked expecting her fight to be over,

"Please don't….." She snorted laughing.

"I can't believe it, the demon begging for his life? You've become far less and les-."

"Please don't make me turn someone I thought of as a great benefactor into my enemy." He completed his last sentence which was contrary to what she thought he said.

"You overestimate yourself." But Ajay seemed like he was struggling with something.

"It's not me you need to worry yourself over. Please don't do this. I don't think I can keep him back-…. Much-…" Ajay bent over on the ground wrestling a grounding pain from his heart.

At first it was a swelling feeling in his heart, but it turned into a pulsing that built-up rage. It was the demon again. But unlike that time with Vasu, which it had detested his presence due to some foul nature in him. For Vel's case, it wanted nothing other than to annihilate her existence from the earth. It smashed itself against the barriers in Ajay's mind trying to break free and assume control to destroy that abnormality that stalked the province of the mountains.

He was on his last legs, Ajay looked at her in pain but he mustered enough strength to say one last thing.

"Vel….. RUNNNNNNN!"

His cry distorted into an animalistic roar, the bellow of call of the demon who assumed control for this brief moment to crush the abnormality. His irises turned the familiar yellow primodial hue and his muscles bulged.

"Wha-(Bang)" She hadn't the time to comprehend what had just happened when a powerful wave struck her and sent her flying up in the air. She had felt the full blunt of that force he had just delivered, her threads had thankfully absorbed some of that energy but that was only a single blow. But worst of all, her threads caught fire with not a normal fire but a viscous black flame. She looked back at her target to find said black flame emulating from his body that stuck to his body like a miasma.

"Those flames…" Her heart pounced with dread as she recollected what her master had once said.

-Blackened flames of unquenchable fury, ignited by the inner desire to crush the bloodline of his betrayer.-

Her bloodline.

Vel understood why her mistress had always cautioned her of the consequences of approaching the first apostle of the vengeful Asura, Yalung. It was powers that even she could not stand up to on her own.

Vel bit her lip at her missed opportunity and turned to leave, but would the demon let her?

"DEvi! TraiTor!" (Bang) A kukri was swung to chop her head off and she sent her threads to block once again but not the brute force of the swing which sent her flying again. She slammed into a wall losing almost all of her strength to get up. The demon landed before her, picking her up by the jaw and lifting her off the ground. Vel thoroughly regretted what she'd done but it was too late, she'd stepped on the beast's foot and provoked something she didn't fully understand. Badala had tried to warn her but she stubbornly did things her way and would pay the price now. Worst of all, she had accelerated the changes in Ajay as her mistress initially planned when sending her here.

Just as she had lost all hope, a shadow flew towards them, its silhouette was slender. The demon backed away in time for a broken black metal sword to zip pass him and strike the concrete embedding it to the hilt like the 'sword in the stone'. Vel had taken this opportunity to flee from the field.

"I may push you to assert your standing between the realms. However, I will not let you lose yourself."

The ethereal voice called out from the surroundings without any pinpoint location. Then a series of chanting began that hurt to demon's ears from listening, like a mantra was being recited to an evil being. The demon was suffering greatly till it retreated to the safeties of Ajay's body awaiting another chance to reign supreme.

"On the day we meet, you should have already understood that the price for change in always something you hold most dear. But then comes the second trial which would be greater in challenge than the first."

Ajay dropped to the floor reverting back to normal but the strain had caused him to collapse and puke out clotted blood like a waterfall. His injuries had worsened to the point that it was difficult for him to walk.

"This blade. If you can wield it, its yours. You'll need it for your trial to ascend beyond the human boundaries. I pray that your next meeting will be soon."

After saying all it needed to say, the voice's presence vanished. Leaving the trinket it promised him. A black iron broken sword like the one wielded by the witch against Darshan. A weapon of a bygone era.

An Astra.


Ajay balanced his consciousness, that he had taken a few minutes since that attack from Vel and her mistress still unseen. The sun shone on his face but he felt hazy. The sound of conflict was still present but far away from the initial fighting ground he was in.

"What the hell was that?..."

Ajay had no idea what had just occurred during his fight with Ash- no, Vel. Didn't he control the demon with the price to pay? But then he sensed that during the demon's takeover it swelled with even more unfathomable power than it usually wielded. Did this power have a boundary?

"Huh?" His eyes landed upon an ancient sword embedded into the rubble next to him. Suddenly the images of what the ethereal voice told him were recollected. Ajay knew that voice anywhere.

It was the one that brought back Mohan in his dream. The truly frightening enemy he had to face, an enemy that was the stuff of legends. Who might not even be human. What defense did he have against that? Her chant had cancelled out the demon too.

-This place….- Kyrat was a place full of mysticism and lore, that it often confused a person to what was real and what was fake.

Ajay's eyes landed on the sword, the witch's words took root in his memory. The trials he would have to face, so why was she giving this to him? He could feel something was off about the blade, like it emited an aura of denial, an origin power that had once created and now destroyed all that it swiped. His hand landed on the hilt and he gave a tug like King Arthur, but the sword refused to pull from the concrete works.

"Am I not worthy?" He mused.

Ajay gave up on the sword, he had more important things to do like assisting the bastion. He wasn't sure of the outcome of the battle but knowing Mohan and the Devas, they would likely do anything to win.

Ajay got up and sprinted towards the bastion after picking up the slayer that had been discarded previously. His mask was a goner and his body was in worst shape than it had ever been before. But he couldn't stop now, not when they needed him in this fight.

There was a tinge of guilt that rested on him. The guilt that he would have to cross paths with that girl, Vel again, and more importantly. Her mistress. He would have to kill the person that helped him restore the most precious of memories to him.

"I truly deserve damnation…" Ajay left a trail of blood where he sprinted with difficulty towards the bastion where the fighting was.


In the absence of the demon, the Golden Path could do anything. It was always like that, because there was nothing they feared except a painful death by him. Sadly, they thought wrong when they encountered Jatayu Company. They had been held back by a mere militia and it infuriated them.

Somehow a rather, Biraj had effectively taken control of the entire Company as Nehal managed the logistic flow like she was best at doing. They had not been having the best of luck during their fight to defend bastion three. The Companies had reduced to only one-third strength and the garrison soldiers were the worst of all, being reduced to only Captain Phanish and three men. The Golden Path were still strong with their Yinke comrades who were exerting the most pressure from their combat experience.

The real worry was their own morale, they were just PDF and civilians who took arms to join the fight. Most of the civilians had been discouraged by the battle unfolding and returned to the shelter of refuge underground.

But the worst situation was that they had lost grounds in Bastion three to the point they were held up in the barracks.

"They're trying to pincher, kill them!" Biraj pointed towards the enemies out manuevering the building they had held fort in.

The sounds of screams from the enemys' side could be heard that grew louded.

"Its Badala!" The hearts of the PDF rose at the sound of hope, whilst the Golden Paths in dread.

Badala wasn't using any of his firearms but instead his knifes to cleave through the flesh of the fighters and soldiers alike. He had only passed through the gate to find bodies of the PDF he'd trained lying dead on the ground, and it infuriated him to the marrow.

"You've just gone a new low, Golden Path! Killing children?! Today… NONE OF YOU WILL DIE PEACEFULLY!" The PDF and Biraj had never seen him that way before. He was a complete berserker amongst the Golden Path that were trying to storm the barracks but were forced to fight him instead. What was most concerning was the state he was in when he returned.

There were red gashes all over his body and where he walked was a considerable amount of blood dripping. It looked as if he was on his last legs. He still wanted to fight in that ruined state, he made a promise to his people he would allow them to see tomorrow, so he would give everything he still had. The Golden Path saw a wounded Demon ready to fall at any moment, so they switched priorities towards slaying him.

The bullets impacted him to serious effect as his armour absorbed the bullets. But how long could it withstand? It might be durable and composed of dragonskin-like armor but it too had limits. The fabric was torn from all places, his face now no longer protected by the ruined mask was grazed where bullets flew pass and cut him.

Biraj could visualize it in a landscape picture already. Like a vengeful wargod that punished deceitful soldiers by the hundreds as he hacked them down with his blade through their bodies and their spirit.

But just then, they saw him get struck on the leg and flinch. A bullet had passed through his armour by some miraculous means and put him on one leg kneeling. The Golden Path saw this as an opportunity to catch or slowly carve him up and charged with their knives instead of their guns. A whole thousand of them.

"Today you die, demon!"

"For the Golden Path!"

"Death to the demon!"

They wanted to prove that the simple will of the 'people' was enough to conquer all.

"Shit! Jatayu, form up! Fix bayonets!" Biraj ordered and they complied, they knew what he wanted to do and the feeling was mutual.

"Jatayu, CHARGE!"

They left the sanctuary of the barracks and into the fray in assistance of their lord.

A loud banging noise resounded from the bodies impacting one another. As the entire bastion was ruffled into a mass melee. People were fighting with hands, blades and rifles clubs.

Ajay was the first to notice this, much to his horror.

"Get back you stupit cunts!" He shouted at the PDF in vain.

To his surprise as he fought to keep alive, the PDF fought to get to him through the sea of fighters despite their poor morale. They'd abandoned every sort of firearm in favour of knives and clubs due to that one chance they saw to end the conflict with the head of the demon without the need of a Deva to do it. As they cut through the lines to where Ajay was, they created a defensive circle around him to give him breathing space.

What they found was him completely battered. His armor filled with tears and blood soaked wounds, some from a fight they had previously not seen before. Who could do something like this? Only a Deva.

"I've got you!" Biraj lifted him up from the prone position he was in when he coughed out more blood than usual.

Even despite his seemingly grievious wounds and dangerous amounts of blood pouring from him, Ajay grabbed him firmly by the front collar.

"Who asked you to help me!"

"Jeez, your welcome would have been nice."

"Do you see what you've gotten them into?!" He pointed to his Company and the other PDF Companies that joined in.

"And what about you?!" Biraj shouted back to Ajay's amazement.

"What would happen if Golden Path succeeded in vanquishing the demon? Not just our lives would be in danger but everyone at home! I cannot turn my back on something like this, if not I'll never be able to face Bhadra again!... If need be, the Jatayu Company will sacrifice their lives for you to stand once more!" Ajay saw a ray of determination and courage in his eyes he'd not seen previously before. Who gave them this courage to waltz right out here to get to him?

"""WOOAAH!""" Jatayu Company gave out a collective warcry at his words that resounded the battlefield.

"Then you can all die with him!"

"Die, Demon-loving scum!"

The fighters roared back at them.

He did. He had brought them to certain death. As he watched more and more of the young militia fall to the ground amongst the hundreds of bodies that stacked so high the rubble floor was no longer visible.

"Fall back." Ajay got up from his knees and stood steady. (Whistle) He blew on the chain whistle.

"Withdraw!"

The whole lot of them withdrew step by step. Biraj and Phanish carried him by the arms back, Ajay watched as the Golden Path cut down the PDF one by one. But they still wouldn't retreat till he was in the safety of the barrack walls. It was pure agony for him to watch as the people he was suppose to protect were the ones doing the protecting and were dying.

-Because of me.-

Biraj and Phanish placed him against a a chair and begun to apply first aid to him. The fighting begun to sound more intense. Phanish took up his weapon and went to the door.

"I'm going to lead them. I'll leave him in your care. Your grace, may fortune be with you." Phanish said with a smile.

Ajay had never felt this helpless, not since the time when Sabal had organised a group to kill him at the Ghale Homestead. Whatever the witch had done, he could no longer feel the demon raging inside of him. He couldn't call upon it even in this desperate situation.

The fighting increased in sound till he could hear the shouting and yelling from behind the door. The women and children underneath him from the shelter entrance he was placed against whimpered and cried.

"Enough…" Ajay pushed his hand aside from applying a stitch.

"What are you-."

"I'm done sitting around."

"It that condition you're i-." Ajay placed his hand upon Biraj's shoulder.

"It's alright kid, your Company needs their demon to lead it. Stay here."

"I'm not gonn-."

"That's an order. Go against it an I'll hold you for treason if you survive! (Cough)." Ajay shouted with difficulty as he raised his battered body up.

He turned back to a flabbergasted Biraj, his wounds were so serious he thought Ajay would drop at any second. Yet he wanted to continue fighting, his fighting style may be unmatched, his prowess and strength might be demonic…..

But his willpower was unconquerable.

"I leave Bhadra in your care." Ajay gave his blessing before running out with his slayer cocked, there were only three shots left in his pocket, but he'd make full use of it.

Out in the open, the PDF had reduced considerably, Phanish was lying on the ground gravely injured and one Company was decimated to the last man. The Golden Path were surrounding them and attacking viciously.

A shadow burst out of the entrance of the barracks swept pass the golden path that broke through their lines causing a stream of gore to splatted onto their comrades just behind them. That black star was-.

"It's the Demon! Here's our chance! "

"Kill!"

"GOLDEN PATH! WHORESONS! I AM BADALA! I AM THE DEMON! AND I AM YOUR WORST NIGHTMARE!" Ajay held nothing back in his slaughter, without care for himself, without consequence of killing the fighters or soldiers. All that remained in his mind was the slaughter of his enemies. Golden Path, Yinke, the CIA. All were his enemies!

He wished that he could have done more for the PDF that were dying because he asked them to. He wished that with his death, he could allow them to escape. But the Golden Path were stubbornly cutting them off. In the midst of battle, Ajay found the culpit of these actions. He found the Field Commander relaying orders to his fighters from a distance. He charged towards that bastard that ordered his fighters to be so atrocious yet sat back doing nothing.

"Badala's coming!" An adjutant reported causing the command team to look up in shock to see him running through the hail of bullets and knives to cut him down just so he could kill them.

And they did what he expected of weasels, they ran.

(Boom) His third shot of .700 Nitro from his slayer struck and killed two members of his command team.

Ajay's hand reached out and clasped the Field Commander's collar from his nape as he ran with his tail between his legs. The visage of blood flowing from all possible parts of him made it seem more terrifying up close. He brought the kukri blade down and stabbed through his cranium sending brainjuice spewing all over and his eyes turned white.

Unfortunately, it did not discourage the Golden Path from continuing their assault, they were too absorbed in bloodlust. Ajay rejoined the PDF in a deadly struggle, but he did not stop fighting even for a second. Nehal had moved Phanish to the triage to get treatment which just left Ajay and the PDF now comprising of only fifty people. To his surprise, Biraj came back and rejoined his Company.

"What? You can't tell me what and what not to do." He said with mischief.

"You bloody fool….." But Ajay smiled at him wryly.

"Men and Women of Jatayu. If we fall here, I will forever remember you in the afterlife."

"""WOAHHH!""" The PDF responded.

The bloodly close quarter battle that took place in Bastion Three was unlike anything Kyrat had seen. Making the trenches of Somme look pale as men and women fought with shovels, knives, and fists in their brawl not to win but to kill their opponent in front of them. It made Namdak who was watching from a distance in the Central Keep appalled by what he saw. The Golden Path got anxious and began using their rifles like they should have and the PDF did so as well. The Golden Path were mostly focused on Ajay so it gave the PDF breathing room.

There was so much blood that caked the area that the ground permeated with its iron smell. Grips on weapons became difficult due to the slipperiness of the fluids splattered all over.

If there was anyone left to remember this fight, they would have recalled that this fight was hardly a battle, but a slaughter of men.

It was now that the droning of the AC-130 came back. But everyone else was too preoccupied to notice. It was already in an attack vector ready to fire, even though there were friendlies in the area. Ajay snorted over the loudness of the conflict. It was apparently running under executive orders from a cowardly Lynch, hoping to eliminate him.

"Willis, you sunnovabitch!"

"Damn CIA!"

The Golden Path screamed in vain.

The bird unleashed its deadly payload of autocannon and howitzer shells filled with High-Explosives upon the masses that detonated on the grounds and gobbled everyone, including him.

Ajay was sent flying from his initial position five metres away whilst spinning in the air. His sensationless body struck hard on the floor and rendered him completely immobile. He knew that everyone else was either killed or at death's door. He watched as Golden Path and PDF alike were chopped down by the spray of shells and shrapnel. His eyes caught Biraj lying nearby with blood foaming from his mouth. Ajay wrestled with his weakness and crawled through the heavy rain of shells towards Biraj.

"…..Hey…" His said softly.

"…..Hey…." Biraj responded.

"Don't die now, ok?... I won't let you miss your shot with Bhadra any day."

Biraj laughed in pain and more blood pouring from his gut that had been struck by a shell shrapnel.

"Don't worry, we'll get you patched….."

"Mmmm….. Ajay…"

Ajay pulled him over his shoulders as he struggled to stand.

"Ajay….. can you hear me?..."

"Mmm…."

"…. I need to give you something…."

"Sure…." Biraj was held in a piggyback by Ajay so he dug into his jacket and held it in front of him.

"….." Ajay retrieved from his hands what appeared to be the scrolled-up portrait now smeared with blood.

"For safekeeping….." He didn't want to stain or crush his gift to Bhadra so handed it to Ajay to hold. Talk about priorities.

"I know….." But he took responsibility for both him and the scrolled picture.

"Hey, Ajay…?"

"Yeah?"

"Thank you….."

Ajay chuckled as he lifted Biraj's body and moved throught the rain of shells towards the triage centre in the barracks. Whether the shells hit him a second time or not didn't matter. The screams had died down till they were the only ones alive in the fight. Then the firing stopped, apparently to reload their guns in the plane. Ajay made the agonizing trip step by step towards the safety of the barracks under shelter. But now, the morning sun had risen and daunted over the smoking battlefield. The gunship no longer needed to rely upon its thermal cameras to see, he was clear in the open making a slow get away to the barracks.

He could even feel the gunsights trailing on him from thousands of metres above ground. The crosshairs aligned to his centre of mass. He knew that he would be killed at any second, but he chose to continue with what he was doing. He wanted to defiantly oppose to residing to his fate to a bunch of dickless bastards who killed hundreds at a push at a button by showing his back to them.

Any moment now- (BOOOOOM)

Ajay stopped dead in his tracks at the sound that he thought was the shot that ended his life. But it wasn't for him, it was the gunship that exploded and dropped to the earth in a fiery wreck. And out of the smoke.

Came shining swords glistening in the dawn sky, followed with a loud resounding roar that shook all manners of life awake from slumber to this unfamiliar sound.

These weren't swords, but Suhkoi Strike Fighters.

The flight of Su-30 jet fighters flew over the fortress and dropped their guided munitions upon the sites that had been overrun with Golden Path and YLA forces. They weren't the only aircraft that appear however, a pair of Su-25 jet and A-29 turboprop close air support aircraft loitered overhead performing strafes at fleeing enemies and performing the role that they were built for which was tankbusting. Destroying the battalion of tanks parked outside of Lanka from where they bombarded it.

This was a sight to behold for the Golden Path and YLA forces who looked up in horror to find and unfamiliar faction hosting impressive air support firing upon them and killing their men by the hundreds. The first thought they had, what their commanding officers had was to flee, Badala's words resounded in them as deeply as he had told them of his plan to invade Yinke. Only now, they realised the reality of the situation and the capacity for him to actually be true to his words.

After all, in any host warfare. He who had air superiority was king of the battlefield.

But their nightmare had not ended even as they fled into the forests, as over the forest canopies, out came Mi-28 Havoc attack helicopters that mowed them down where they stood with autocannons and unguided missiles.

So where did all of these aircraft suddenly appear in Kyrat from? The Indian Air Force? No. These aircraft were thoroughly painted and marked in the new insignia that belonged to the top-secret program that Ajay and Arjun had heavily funded and equipped to operate.

The S-program or as its preferred designation after declassification. The SkyGrasper Program was their attempted to bring to Kyrat, what had become the Royal Kyrati Air Force.

They had effectively become the first Himalayan nation to adopt an Air Force that had the ability to deter actual first world nation interventions upon them or any of their allied neighbours.

Ajay looked up and sighed in relief. To him it was merely an air display by the mercenary and Indian Pilots having free reign in the skies. Among them was most likely Pravindra, at home in his Su-30 which was similar to the airframe he piloted back home.

"Looks like the cavalry arrived not too late, ey Biraj?"

No response came.

"Biraj?... Oy, brat..." He intentionally said to agitate him into responding.

"Biraj… hey….. don't tell me you fai-." As Ajay placed him down to check on his vitals. His actions froze in place over the expression that Biraj had, or at least… his last expression.

It looked as if he was having a wonderful dream, one with Bhadra no doubt. Ajay slumped against the rubble and chuckled, then his chuckle loudened into laughing as if he heard a hilarious joke.

He finally understood what Biraj meant by thank you. "Thank you for promising to deliver it on my behalf." Was what he had meant to say.

Soon the armored troops that were long overdue to arrive to Lanka's aid found not a single garrison force left save for Nehal and Phanish, and a demon laughing alone by a dead body of a teenager in a cacophony of hysterically maddened laughter, with tears falling from his face.

And so ended, what became known in the Kyrati History Books as the greatest tragedy to ever occur in Modern Kyrati times.

"The Atrocity at Lanka, 16th March 2015."


Author's Notes:

S-Program. I can't believe i finally made it to show case it. I think i first brought it up in Chp 20, that's like fifty chapters away. Far out! So yeah, SkyGrasper Program is its full name i didn't want to use so i used the acronym for it so as not to reveal too much. I know most of you out there knew already, you are goddamn gifted!

You have no idea how much research it took me to realistically draft an airforce with the demographics that Kyrat had and what were the suitable options. I drafted like seven sheets of paper to work it all out. In future, i will post on my dramatis persona page to give you a clearer understanding of how i did it and what ever my workings and accountancies on it.