Author's Notes:

To clarify what Omegas brought up about the word Kshatriyan, it was a play with the word Kshatriya. For Gundam fans, its the name of a mobile suit piloted by Marida Cruz. But in our world pretext, it is a name given to a particular caste of warrior, rulers. These charming fellows ruler and conduct war and security for the cities and kingdoms. As you know, Caste differs from class system by the inability to move up in the work beyond your caste status. Unfair? For modern times it sure is, but it's still being practiced today though not in India or Nepal but some less known places.

My aim of the title was something much like the Roman Empires Praetor Lord title, which is kinda like a magistrates appointment. For this case, Kshatriyan Lords were meant to be a military title without parrallel save the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed forces. Because in a conventional army, there are limits to how it may react to certain a crisis which should be practical to handle but the soldiers are restricted due to doctrine or military order. However, a Kshatriyan Lord should be able to override this military orders and carry out the appropriate actions with due care and swiftness. That was the idea at least. Why eight? This was supposed to be Pagan's idea of countering Golden Paths Eight Devas. Ironically, one has become a lord at Ajay's command. But mostly, this was for propaganda purposes when they were prepping for war against Yinke.


Apart from the general clattering noise of the turboprop engines there was also the constant rattling of the airframe due to the strong Himalayan winds.

*Dear passengers, this is your captain speaking. Today's forecast is the usual shit weather up here in the mountains. Please remember to check all parachutes and buckles before you leave the aircraft by the side or rear doors. And once again, we hope you've enjoyed flying with Lupus Air travels. I'm your Captain, Paul Ferenc next to the lovely co-pilot Michelle. Happy landings!*

He still had the time to flap his mouth in this crazed weather, Ajay was impressed. But then again, he wasn't as crazy as himself who would be jumping out in the midst of a storm via HALO insertion jump.

Ajay didn't mind the noise as he was busy writing away into his journal. The small leather covered book contained accounts in his life, memories. Because he knew that on the road ahead, there would be more than one use of this cursed power that would rob more of his cherished memories. He knew this for a fact because he could still remember his life in Brooklyn, but when it came to a happy childhood with Daisy, all he had was a blank space. He couldn't recall where he met her nor how they got together now. Very soon, he would forget everything. There was no way to gauge how fast he would lose it, only hope that this conflict would end.

Michelle came out from the cockpit mumbling complaints in her native tongue.

"What's got you so on the edge?" Ajay as he put away his journal and went on to checking his gear.

"You still have the cheek to ask!"

"Weren't you friends?"

She went away with those swears again. Ajay ignored her and slung his weapons comprising of his signature slayer, a suppressed HK417 and the 4-gauge KS-23 shotgun to the container. Even this was considerably heavy added to his other equipment and armour carried with him. Michelle gradually quieten down by herself seeing he was in quite a focus.

"She must be really special to you….. for you to travel to such a loathsome place behind enemy lines." She said with a lighter tone than before. Ajay put down his magazine from loading.

"… She made me what I am, I wouldn't have been here now if not for her push."

"I see…" Michelle smiled warmly which was a rare sight to see.

"I'll need extraction for three when the time comes."

"You'll have places for four when we flyby. Just make sure you attach yourself to the harnesses properly or you'll be dropping out halfway, imbécile."

Michelle passed him the Fulton device carefully placed in a duffel bag. This was Ajay, Daisy and another person's only means of escape from that hostile place under fire. A special self-inflating balloon their harnesses were attached prior to inflation would snag onto a specially modified C-100 as it flew by. Picking them up and flying them out of a hotzone, that is….. if the balloon inflated quick enough and/or was not shot down before Michelle and Paul extracted them.

It would have to be a night ops, when visibility was lowest.

*Two minutes to dropzone.* Paul called on the intercom.

"You'd better get back before this cabin gets depressurized."

"Take care of yourself, or no one will be able to protect her and you. Voyages surs?"

"Thanks. If Paul continues to trouble you I'll remove him indefinitely from your attache group."

"Suddenly you're so sweet!" Michelle laughed at him as she helped doublecheck for him the parachute and respirator tanks as was required before he dropped.

"I'm a fickle employer, I can be like Oprah Winfrey. I can shower everybody with incentives, just remember not to get on my bad side. For evidence, I provide you the Golden Path." Michelle huffed rolling her eyes and left for the cockpit which was sealed against the de-pressurizing.

"Bring her back and yourself safe and sound, perhaps we can have a talk about our pasts over a few drinks." Ajay had to admit, if she wasn't looking at you with loathe, Michelle was a pretty sociable person. He was wondering himself what a person like her who sends seventy-five percent of her pay to the local orphanage in Utkarsh was like and how she used to be. Paul once said she was looking for her missing daughter but that was merely a rumor he heard in Prosper's Native Africa.

"Mm." Ajay neither agreed nor disagreed. Michelle wasted no more time as she went into the cockpit. Ajay went over to grab the respirator, goggles which he attached to himself along with his kit in a separate bundle drop with the Fulton device.

The lights flickered to red and the room began to de-pressurize to match the outside air pressure so that he would not suffer from Batotrauma when opening the doors himself. The rebreathing unit helped to keep him from passing out.

*Thirty seconds to drop.*

The ramp opened with and a whole blast of wind came rushing in. Ajay positioned the drop container near the ramp holding its own individual parachute and the rest of the equipment necessary for this mission.

*Greenlight, go! Go! Go!*

Ajay pushed the container ahead of him and he jumped out the rear of the plane. It was in the midst of a windstorm, but from satellite scans, there was a small window where the gust died out for a few minutes, that was the period when it was ideal for him to open his parachute and land. Ajay checked his altitude on his wristwatch, he was currently at 13,000 metres above ground.

Why he had chosen this method of entering the supposed mountain stronghold built by Golden Path and its young brothers of the Shining Way resistance was due to the mountains offering them a considerable protection and early warning to ground forces and helicopters. Their original locations of their Command post and Daisy could be shifted anywhere. Plus, it saved him heaps of time landing right pass their border watchmen and vigilant patrols of their outer perimeter. Adding the storm and the general security of the area, the Golden Path fighters wouldn't feel any safer than now.

5000 metres, his descent was rather quick and the snowcapped mountains were now in sight through the clouds he'd passed. He checked his GPS to locate his container of weapons and additional equipment. They weren't far out from his location.

At the 1,500-metre mark, he pulled the cod to release his parachute. Thankfully, the parachute opened without hitch. Thanks to a woman's meticulous check and touch? Either way, Michelle ensured he was on the ground safe due to the equipment.

"Shit." He spoke too soon as he was directly above a forest canopy. Of all the places that didn't have trees in Yinke, it had to be this spot. Those fir trees looked rather far reaching.

"Urrghh!" Unfortunately, luck wasn't on his side even when he manuevered himself out of the way. The ends of the parachute snagged itself to the broad branches of the alpine, he ended up dangling fifteen metres from the ground. Depending on how he landed, it would hurt. Ajay drew his kukri and cut the harness as it seemed to be jammed due to the amount of tension from his body it was putting on it.

"… Still can't believe we're here in this frozen mountaintop!"

"Shhhhh! You want the commander to hear you?"

"Relax, he's probably having a good nights rest by his warm comfy fire in a cave with one of those Yinke fanatics women!"

"Ha! I know the feeling!"

They conversed on a sleezy topic concerning the reverence the naïve Yinkian Shining Way members had for the Golden Path fighters and Mohan himself.

"Really. I'd love to hear all about it." Came a voice over the treetops above them.

At first, it was merely a look of surprise to see someone up in the trees. But as the figure descended upon them to break his fall. They looked in horror to find the reason Golden Path had fled Kyrat in front of them and worse…

They were helpless to a painful death.


The Min household mansion occupied the highest point in the Echelon Valley in the Canton District, these were the perks of being directly related to the King. Or so everyone assumed, they were nothing more than lowly henchmen during the days of Pagan's usurpation of Gang Min's criminal empire mantle. But follow Pagan they did, and with fierce loyalty. That was until he cease to be that man they looked up to when he fooled around with that Kyrati whore. Like Yang Guifei, the concubine that led the Golden Tang Dynasty to ruin for leading the Emperor astray from his duties.

"Bau Pang!" A certain individual declares a full house excitedly at the mah-jong table of the four Canton lords.

"Mou Gau Cho ah!" One complained.

"Whatever, it was your win anyway Ah-Kwan. Nobody is gonna steal that from you." Lord Khoo made a silent threat to Sun Kwan out of frustration of losing his big win.

"Mm Sai Haak Hei, I'll make sure you have enough to break even in the end." Sun Kwan said with a wide grin, his patience as always paid off. Lord Khoo got up angrily, giving the aura he wanted to fight.

"Sit down, Richard." The person at the head of the table who was currently the dealer said. Lord Khoo became hesitant to act further.

"That's right, Dick. Cower back, like with your little bastard that nearly cost us everything." Sun Kwan said with spite.

"You! Shut up as well!" The Dealer said, Sun Kwan raised his hands to indicate he was done where he was.

"Why are we even playing this game anymore? That wasn't the initial objective of this meeting." A member representing the Lau family but not for Yuma asked hesitantly due to his actions going against the Duchess of Durgesh and Queen of Kyrat.

"It was to wash away some of that guilt the next time you look him in the eyes and tell him what you were doing meeting together like this without him." The dealer said in regards to that man's treachery against Pagan and his lot cast with the rest.

"..." The representative for the opposing interest of Lau with Yuma quieten down as he knew his anxiousness was inslightly before the three lords.

"Regardless of what happened in the past, congratulations to your granddaughter's success in the war against Yinke and China. Who would have thought, eh? Sigil of Valor! I'm sure you're more than proud of him as a grandson." Sun Kwan said slyly, knowing he hated to associate that bastard child to his family. His son had disgraced him far enough for marrying that Canadian bitch behind his back on his studies when he had instructed him of his arrangement with the Foreign Minister's daughter. Instead he was publically embarrassed when that unloyal son declared his love for that woman in front of the party arrangement. It cost him a place with the rest of the triads whilst the rest of Pagan's group fled Hong Kong from the combine arms of the Hong Kong Police and Interpol. He would have been able to live like a King there, but instead he joined the fleeing exodus with Pagan out of desperation.

If that child Samuel were a girl, then he could have at least used her as a bargaining chip with the Hong Kong and Macau Triads.

"Dully noted." He said to get him to stop talking further on that topic.

"As much as you loathe his existence, he is quin essential to our plans, Old Guang." Sun Kwan reminded him.

"Are you suddenly the boss of everyone, Ah-Kwan?" Guang Min said in a low threatening tone.

"Perish the thought, my stake is with everyone here, that includes you as the shining white horse."

"Hmph! Little bastard. Don't forget who's the brains of this organisation here, that is why you aren't doing the thinking and only the actions."

"Still, smart enough to know that regardless of our preparation over the last fourteen years, things would go to shit if you plan to ignore Pagan's watchdog." He said before stuffing his mouth with an expensive cuban cohiba. At the mere mention of Badala, caused the henchmen around them to shudder. They had heard of the stories from relatives in the Army of what he was like and it was dreadful. If they weren't careful enough, he could be at the door this very moment. This was the state of paranoia that spread around the households in the Canton District and a few of the Noble households align to the Canton Families.

"I thought that was just rumors Pagan spread to create an image for him?" All faces looked at the Lau representative with disbelief and astonishment at his denseness or lack of information.

"I assure you, if anything those stories you hear of him have been watered down. Because nobody has the stomach to talk about the bloodshed and massacres he's accomplished, yet ironically everyone of those Kyratis accept him for what he is." Sun Kwan laughed. Did he fear being in Badala's presence, yes. But what if he was not in the equation any longer, then what would Sun Kwan have to fear then.

"One way or another, he will be dealt with. I've already arranged for the 2nd Hussars to return to "refit", whilst the 1st battalion will go to Yinke to substitute them." Sun Kwan said and looked to Lord Richard Khoo to ensure his part was done.

"And I've gotten into contact with some of the aviation mercenaries in Lupus Caelum. They say, they can lend us a squadron of fighters as air support against any armed response. For a fee that is." The Cantons were initially shocked beyond belief that the Duke and the Marshal had built an air force behind everyone's backs. But it was to their favour, because that Airforce had one flaw. Almost eighty-five percent of the pilots were foreign mercenaries, they were here to get paid. One way or another, their stand was with the highest bidder. And Richard assured them he was the highest bidder with the enormous payday he gave them a preview of with a deposit of rubies. While not all were interested, there were always a few. Human greed knows no bounds, they knew this better than anyone. Lord Khoo turned to look at the Lau representative who shook with anxiousness.

"Uh- everything has been arranged as requested! The replicate costume and hired guns have been sorted out. As well as scapegoats and informants."

"Good. Then everything will be put into action once word of Badala leaving comes." Guang Min couldn't help but smile maliciously at the orchestrated plan playing out the way they wanted.

"The betrayal the people will feel, when word passes around… that Badala, murdered the King and Queen still with child in cold blood for the throne. We, the Canton Lords will step in to dictate marshal law and assume control of the Armed forces to hunt Badala down with every breath in our bodies."

It was the best of their plans made possible by the presence of Badala, the supposedly loyal right-hand of the King. But was after all, a foreigner with hidden agendas. This was the message they wanted to people to realize while they framed Badala for a crime he had not committed. The blood that flowed from his already drenched hands put him in the category suspected of actually killing the Royalty.

"I wonder what kind of face he'll wear when he returns…ahahahaha-.." Sun Kwan was already looking forward to the look as he placed a gun to his forehead and pulled the trigger. That's what he got for humiliating him in front of his family and subjects.

"""AHAHAHAHAHAHA!""" They began to evilly cackle in unison.

From the balcony of the mansion living room they gathered, Solomon gazed out into the starry night. He'd heard of their plans to usurp the throne and frame the demon for the crime. He had a part to play in this, his amnesty given by the Min family's Min Guang wasn't out of charity. They wanted his impressive arms dealing connections to keep their forces loyal to the cause equipped and the troubled loyalists in disarray. He was the one that talked to the traitor within the ranks of the Royal Fortress about the situation if they tried to simultaneously assume control over the Royal Fortress Command, Fortress Lanka and the territory of Lakshman for its weapons manufacturing plant. In summary, it was nothing short of possible failure. Not matter how good that armoured battalion was, it could only be in one place. The other two, they could forget about it. Knowing them, the Royal Fortress was on their list as one number. Lanka was guarded by a definitely Loyalist Commandant-Brigadier Kul and the newly formed Lanka Brigade. Although, Lakshman had not supposed military force. The people of Lakshman would never let them set a hundred metres from the Arsenal without a fight. Their loyalty was with Badala, even if he was criminal, there was also the Hunic tribesmen they hadn't accounted for.

From the very start, Solomon saw the failure in their actions too conceited to realize this. Even so, he casted his lot with the families. He would make sure it didn't fail. He had secretly sheltered a group of American operatives which was at his disposal.

Kyrat was capable of change, Mohan, Pagan and more recently Badala had proven it could change for the better out of strife. Kyrat was once an idling self-serving nomadic kingdom with little to no way of defending itself. It's only military force then was the Royal Guard regiment. Now, there were Cities being built. An Army of over four divisions worth and even an Airforce made possible.

Solomon believed that usurping Pagan and carrying out regicide was the most rational thing, part of natural order. After all, Pagan had killed his father for change. This was what Solomon sought out the most, change from stagnancy. As Pagan had taught him so long ago.

"(Sigh)… What naivety." He shook his head at the simple yet narrowminded thoughts of the people he called family.


For the two that went out for a night stroll, all that the search parties would find would be their mangled corpses from a painful and agonizing torture with subsequent death.

Once Ajay had collected what he needed on the surrounding environment they were disposed of in the quickest, quietest way. His next destination was to recover the container holding all his other weapons and equipment since his only armaments now were the kukri and a suppressed scorpion submachine gun used as a personal defense weapon. He followed the GPS transmitter to the container which was supposedly three hundred metres from him lodged in the side of the cliffs. His nightvision thermal slung on his head allowed him to see as clear as day in the pitch black. The sound of folk music and celebration resounded from where he was in the valley where lights and a massive row of tents were pitched.

-They still have the stomach to celebrate.- Ajay scorned the Golden Paths witless thoughts with no responsibility for their actions. All the better for him to sneak into the camp later. It also made it easy for his contact who infilitrated the camp grounds prior to his arrival in Yinke.

True enough, he reached the container lodged in the cliffside rocks. He was not surprised the Golden Path didn't hear it land over that loud racket of dancing, drinking and fucking. He had a sudden bloodlust to sneak a few C4 satchels and incendiary bombs into their camp lodgings, if he didn't already need these munitions to break out of whatever stalemate he might encounter. The shouldered the rifles and ammunition into his armour harness and was about to do the same for the duffel containing the "Skyhook" when- (Snap) A twig breaking sent Ajay into high alert as he spun around with his vz.62 Skorpion up and ready to dispose of the wandering straggler. He saw a distortion in the air in from of him and his wits were about him, it was a signature trait of thermal-optic camo cloak used by CNS.

"Woah-Woah! Its me, Bads! Just me." The cloak was thrown over the wearer's head to reveal a gingerbearded man. Hurk raised his hands in surrender.

Ajay took a minute to register as he wasn't the usual chubby fellow he was familiar with two months ago, when he did, his PDW was lowered.

"Why aren't you waiting at the extraction point?"

"Yeah, your welcome." He said sarcastically. Ajay stared at Hurk seriously, making him uncomfortable.

"(Sigh) Alright, I was anxious. Dais has been here for a good two months now, aren't you worried?" Hurk sure was, Ajay could see it in his eyes.

"I am, but that doesn't mean I let my emotions get in the way of my mission. How she turns out or what the damage that's been done will be left to later to reflect upon."

"I'm sorry." Hurk felt he was worrying over silly things when he hadn't even confirmed it with his own eyes yet.

"What's the status of the Exfil points surroundings?" Ajay asked to change the subject back to the topic at hand.

"Cold spot, no one within fifty feet. Everybodies either at the perimeters or partying out like a hot mess."

"Let's see the exfil point first." Ajay said before taking point in moving forwards, Hurk followed stealthily behind.

True to his word, there was barely any patrols or random walkers. Everyone was inside the tents doing seedy things. It almost made Ajay want to fire his machine gun across and kill them all but he stowed those dark thoughts.

Hurk switched places with Ajay in taking point as he had also brought some equipment of his own that would help them hold out as a contingency. He hurried ahead to heft the item he brought with him, but unfortunately for Ajay it was not the item he asked him to bring over the mountains.

-Goddamn it, not this again!- Ajay sighed exasperatively at the sight of nostalgia.

"Dude, meet the Impaler. It's not just for whales anymore man- I predict this will be the thing… in and out of the bedroom. With appropriate attachments- yeah…" Hurk lifted the harpoon with great finest since it was originally mounted on a steel rig on a whaling boat. Ajay was beyond frustration at Hurk's inability to listen.

"When I said mounted weapon I meant-….. what did you do with the Kord Machine Guns at the Armory?" What Ajay had instructed him was to bring a mounted weapon like an automatic grenade launcher or a heavy Machine gun like the Kord guns the russians' supplied. They were supposed to hold out the onslaught of Golden Path converging on their location in the exfil. Instead, like the usual buffoon he was, he brought this "mounted" weapon instead. With only few shot to use against tens of thousands of fighters

"Ops….." That single word tripped a few fuses in Ajay's patience.

"Hurk." His said with great control.

"Yeah?"

"Are you even serious about saving Daisy?"

"Totally!"

"Then why-…..wait. Are-… when you're nervous-…. Do you make mistakes?" Ajay had trouble gathering the evidence but matching the numerous events he'd witness him do stupid things matched with his insecurity about the missions that he proposed himself.

Hurk looked flushed and scratched his head sheepishly. Ajay had hit the spot.

"Hurk…. Perhaps you shouldn't continue with this."

Hurk looked at Ajay with shock and was about to refute but Ajay raised his hand.

"Perhaps if it was before I would have asked you, it was my fault for pressing expectation upon you. I'm sorry about that." It was his mistake to think that Hurk had just become a cold-hearted killer like him, he forgot that Hurk was but a lost child in the battlefield. All he really needed was someone to depend on what he could already do, it didn't need to be killing. Now, his lack of care had put Hurk in the most dangerous place to be it, behind enemy lines. He could not afford to let him fight with the soldiers here. Especially with the limited munition and weapons they had.

"No! Its fine, I'll go with you in th-."

"No, Hurk. As you are right now, you will put yourself in danger."

"Why? Didn't you allow me to chip in for rescuing Daisy together?"

"Golden Path aren't who they used to be, from that engagement in Xue Lu, you and the battalion would have already figured something amiss about them. This exceeds all of our understandings of them now."

"Wha-…what do you mean?"

"Golden Path is no more, all that is left are mindless soldiers, creatures of desire that follow only basic animal instincts. And they follow the commands of something worse than Mohan. Each and everyone of them are almost as strong as the Devas are and equally hard to kill. We're all playing on very thin ice here."

Hurk didn't know what to say, but he was most bothered that Ajay no longer trusted him to reliably carry out a job. In a way, it hurt his gentle personality.

"Even so, I'll-."

"Stay hidden, till I've gotten Daisy out. If I don't come out in thirty minutes from now, hook yourself to the Fulton system and await Paul's retrieval." Ajay didn't let him finish his sentence, he knew that if he did, Hurk would have confidence in following him all the way to the top. Ajay didn't waste time as the window to find her was narrowed down to half-an hour as he'd said to Hurk just now.

His GPS indicated the tracker was somewhere 300 hundred metres above sea level in his North-East direction, which led to a supposed lair where Mohan and the Command retinue of his stayed in overlooking the whole encampment. Ajay dialled in the codes for a napalm strike on the location where the camp was with time to spare for his getaway without any for the Golden Path to leave the site.

Call him cold-blooded but from his point of view, he was no longer dealing with humans with souls. Only monsters with unsatiable desire. Thankfully for him, his armour allowed him to scale the mountains without much trouble and to avoid the checkpoints within the cave ahead. The cable quickly reeled him to the top where his grapple hook had latched on. Within five minutes he'd reached the top where he was level with the GPS tracker and conveniently at an open part of the cave with several tunnel networking about. There was almost no one in these caves, it gave the feeling of grandeur that Mohan possessed as a leader and spiritual leader of two massive organisations. Again, Ajay had the weird uncomfortable feeling about this setting. He knew Golden Path generally wasn't very good in keeping military order but…..

It was too convenient.

He doublechecked his weapons. Slayer, assembled. 4-gauge shotgun on the hip holster and HK417 battle rifle at the ready. Loaded with the new APEX ammunition Samar engineered, he took off the silencer as having explosive ammo was defeating the purpose of silence. Carefully scanning the corridors for any sudden contacts, it couldn't be that this massive place didn't have even a few attendants cleaning up the accomodations.

The GPS tracker grew more aggressive in beeps in his headset integrated into his composite mask. His nightvision was no longer required due to the consistent distribution of torches hung on the walls around the corridor. Twenty-five metres away from his target, the next round of the corridor should be where she was. Ajay's caution grew greater as he had not even encountered a single person in this cavern abode.

He retraced his steps to that opening he climbed up from with light sticks tossed every fifteen metres away. Along with a few sets of claymores trip mines to buy him time to escape.

Turning around the corner, lo and behold was a figure tied to a cave support pillar, apparently unconscious. In the surroundings, nothing. It was a storage area apparently due to all the boxes lying around but not densely packed. He ook each step towards the figure which seemed to resemble a woman's with extra caution as he got closer. He was just next to her a foot away, using the rifle muzzle he lifted the traditional garb veil off her head. What was revealed was a bloom of golden blonde hair, Ajay took a knee close enough for him to bring her unconscious head up to see her face.

But luck had it that it was the person he'd been looking for.

"Mmm….." She began to stir, as her eyes opened slowly. Ajay placed his palm over her mouth to prevent her surprise from making a scene at this time.

"Mmm?!" Thankfully, it was fast enough as her recovery was quick.

"It's me, I've come to get you out."

"Mmmm! Mm! Mm!" She continued to make a racket from his hand muffling her.

"Daisy, you need to be silent or else I can't-." It was only a brief sight but he saw that her eyes weren't looking at him but behind him. A reflection of a figure was standing at the entrance of the storage room she had been dumped in.

(Bababababaaam) Ajay didn't hesitate to turn around with haste and let loose a barrage of 7.62mm APEX rounds.

But all he hit was the wall and nothing was within sight. His sight remained at the door with the rifle raised in alert. By now, the Golden Path guards would have responded to that. He didn't have long.

While his eyes remained front, his free hand took out the kukri and cut her bindings loose in a single sweep.

Daisy undid the rest without slowing and went into a crouch.

"Karma is a very strange thing. An invisible string of fate that binds us together…" A voice from everywhere spoke. Ajay's eyes darted around to scan his surroundings as he walked forwards.

"Follow me closely." He told Daisy who had a sorrowful look like she'd caused this.

"Ajay I-."

"We'll talk about everything later, just follow my instructions for now. Can you do that?" He asked calmly. As they approached the corridor on the way back, shouts could be heard of the guards trying to locate the source of the commotion just now. Ajay with Daisy at his back, moved carefully through the claymores he lay for the approaching guards.

"A boon of good fortune, a collective misfortune, or simply… destiny. Just like the destiny I once had and still have to rule all of the lowlands."

Ajay cared more about helping a fairly weak from malnourishment Daisy across the traps.

"Because from the very beginning of my career in the Royal Guard, I had been aligned to a sham. The Devi bloodline that everyone knew was not the one of ages past."

Four guards popped out in front of him, Ajay didn't hesitate to spray them with the high-powered ammunition. They spasmed from the shots impacting their dense skin and penetrating their flesh before detonating. The considerable loss of blood and flesh caused three to fall to the ground dead, but one survived and charged at Ajay with wild abandon. He quick-drew his 4-gauge and blasted a shot square in his torso. The force knocked him against the wall but not dead yet. As he tried to get up, a foot pressed down upon him and a muzzle pushed against his forehead. (Boom) The shotgun decapitated him from the amazing power of the double oo buckshot, ending his life once and for all.

Ajay reached out his hand for Daisy to follow, she was instantly shaken by the way he fought so viciously and hesitant to reach out. Ajay didn't give her that benefit to take her time as he grabbed it and ran with her back towards the exit.

"The true Devi bloodline ended with the rise of Yalung- no….. Kalinag's resurgence to wrought havoc upon everything the Royal Devi Bloodline owned. For it was the Devi bloodline that betrayed everything he stood for."

Ajay ignored the obvious voice of Mohan, trying to confuse him during his escape. trying to get him to think about his story instead of acting as he should in leaving. Nothing mattered more than to leave this place that was the hornet's nest, Ajay knew that.

That voice distracted him for a second when he rounded a corner, only to bump into another search party, this time twice the original group.

"It's Bad-(Boom)" Ajay took the head off one of the soldiers with a close 4-gauge blast to the head, leaving seven left. They abandoned their rifles and took up their knifes wearing a madden smile on each of them. They wanted to test their newly found powers on Ajay, not noticing that the trooper he blasted hadn't gotten up yet. His shotgun went dry and he switched to his battle rifle in a sub-second and fired automatic into the narrow corridor.

The Golden Path fighters wailed in pain and disbelieve that they were getting killed painfully by this non-standard load of cartridges. Three survived the onslaught of bullets by using their comrades' bodies as a meat shield to the APEX rounds. They laughed insatiably, knowing he was out. That was their first mistake to think that Ajay fought solely with rifles and explosives. His shadow appeared in front of them and a quick jab sent the kukri impaling one of the fighters through the eyes. He twisted the blade to wretch it free and in the process, killed the fighter. The remaining two gazed up in shock. They had no idea he would be this terrifying, and neither did Daisy who watched it all happen from behind. She'd heard quiet gruesome tales about Ajay, but never did she expect something like this, not even Jason or that man in his place was anything close to this.

The last two struggled to pull out their knives in time before he delivered an uppercut to one and chained with a roundhouse kick to the other. He then pressed the barrel of the shotgun against one while he threw in a shell and charged the weapon. The man was pushed against the floor while the muzzle pointed at him all the while before Ajay delivered the killing blow with a pull of the trigger. (Boom) His head turned into a gory mess. Ajay preloaded another shell while the other one tried to recover. The fighter reached out but Ajay swiped his hand away and placed the muzzle against his chin. The fighter tried to frantically get away- (Boom) But he wasn't quick enough.

He returned to drag Daisy away as she seemed in a daze from all this bloodshed, too new to her.

"On that day, I learnt of this truth was the day that Pagan took the throne by regicide. The old prophet provided me with proof of this with the Kalinag scrolls and the vision it bestows solely upon the bloodline of Kalinag. This was our family's destiny to take the throne as it is in my rightful place, destiny determined by my blood…. And your blood."

Ajay continued on without paying much attention to the words Mohan passed on to him. The pursuing fighters behind them tripped the mines and got themselves killed by the hundreds of thousands of metal ball bearings flying about.

"Betrayal against us is no coincidence in our family, it is a more common occurance than you could ever imagine and it has been going on for generations. That is why, your encounter with the abode of Yalung wasn't by chance. Your destiny had been woven by higher powers even you don't fully understand."

"Shut up." Ajay moved onwards with Daisy in tow.

"It is something even I fail to comprehend yet long for it happen. After all, even I wasn't aware of the façade you created for yourself. Who would have suspected that the fabled demon of Kyrat, the greatest enemy of Golden Path and right-hand to Pagan. The man who won the reverence of the armies of Pagan, the respect of the echelons of nobility, the hearts of the people... was none other than the son of the arch-enemy of the false crown, Mohan Dij Rran Al Ghale-…."

Ajay continued on till he finally reached the exit. But waiting there was the one doing all the talking all this while.

"… And so happens to be none other than my son, Ajay."

Ajay stood firmly where he was in a defensive-ready stance with Daisy close behind him shivering at the sight of Mohan. The man before him looked not even near the age he should have been currently at of sixty years but appeared in his late thirties instead. There was a small noticeable resemblance in his features to Ajay's, but beyond that was inherited from his mother.

Contrary to his and Daisy's expectations, Mohan let out a warm loving smile at Ajay that seem to look behind the fearsome visage of the demon. Not that Ajay wanted to be around to see it, but his window of escape to safety was getting smaller and smaller as the rest of the guards approached and surrounded them from all other tunnel corridors.

"My son, it's been too long."