Author's Notes:

Kept in reserve for today. Enjoy. Be back in writing after 27th, be seeing you soon.


As amazing as it appeared underwater with the light shining down into the riverbed of murky freshwater that he was, he was running on limited breath. With the evident danger in surfacing, thanks to the newest arrival to the field.

It had disappeared off into the open waters, but Jeevan was convinced it was still there. It exhibited some intelligence in the form of dealing with prey, it knew the late enemy Commander needed air to survive so dragged him down deeper while hurting him. The result was a man-sized snack, but it was still hungry. Jeevan could make out glints from the scales shimmering in the rays of light piercing into the water which said it was aware that there were more.

Even so, Jeevan had an oxygen limit that he couldn't exceed. Two minutes without struggling was his best during some water sports in the past. But struggle he definitely will, and he was already twenty seconds in on that ticking clock. He had virtually no weapons as he'd dropped both the M79 grenade launcher on the deck and his knife had been dropping somewhere into the river he didn't know where.

Forty-five seconds of breath left, at best. He tried to clear his mind to think of a way to get to shore whilst delaying that demon fish for as long as possible. Fighting that thing in water was suicidal, that thing was both powerful and intelligent. He heard his mentor once mumble something about rare animal handbags once concerning requests from Mumu Chiffon. Was this one of those "freaks" he'd mentioned? If so, they weren't like their more ordinary members of their animal family. Like Bishal was the archtype of all Bengal Tigers in Kyrat, Vajra was the rarest breed of Alpha. The Black Water Dragon was to the species of carnivorous fish that terrorised the waters when you least expected. Demon fish was its name and not one given lightly either. It tasted like tilapia when you were lucky enough to catch it, not very tasty but enough to feed and provide sufficient protein for a low-income family for a week.

He patted himself down for items that he could use. On his harness were four M26 "lemon" grenades with him which could make a hell of a concussion underwater. But he couldn't be near it or he would also be knocked out or even killed. Then, both him and the fish were food for the other fishes. No knife, he lost it falling into the water. His despair encouraged his timespan to shorten further, he knew he couldn't stay here long. But to reach the shore, it would require a resurfacing to gather his breath.

His eyes tracked the pale river monster gracefully swimming the area, it was aware that there was still someone else in its waters. It just didn't know where exactly.

Jeevan looked around in the riverbed for anything else he could use. And that's when he saw it.

In the distance, near a shipwreck long before he sunk any of the rebel boats was a long metal rod stuck on the rusting prowl. He could make it out because the light was shining through the waters down upon it, like a gift from heaven. But it was away from the shore, away from safety.

He had a quick thought and knew how he could deal with the black water dragon without being near enough to be concussed by the blast of his grenades. It involved a lot of risk as well as skill in keeping to his plan.

But it was better than not standing a chance at all. As the fish prowled around the area between him and the shore, he took this chance to make a mad dash for the shipwreck after bundling three of his grenades and pulling the pin on one of them whilst swimming.

The fish could sense even the slightest of vibrations in the abnormally calm waters thanks to the conflict that had died out above, it turned towards him and skimmed through the waters as quickly as Jeevan ran on land.

-Fuck! That's fast!-

He clearly underestimated the demon fishes potential underwater, it was now fifty metres away from him but would make it to him in ten. He had thirty seconds of air left, Jeevan did breaststrokes as fast as he could to the pole and released his grenade with the pin pulled to try and delay the fish between it and him. (BOOM) As he swam as fast as he could, a cloud of bubbles from the explosive force engulfed him, but was not far enough to concuss him. He continued on faster than before, with every vibe of muscle he could draw until he finally reached what he thought it was.

A steel reinforcement that jutted out of the derelict ship, just perfect enough from what he needed. He had only a few seconds more to act as he spotted the fish pierced through the cloud of bubbles, it really wanted a taste of human flesh after having a human sized sample.

After setting up what he needed to set he tossed another grenade between him and the fish, not twenty metres away.

The fish had clearly been able to shrug off the blast at close proximity where other water creatures wouldn't. So it was not at all phased by him throwing another towards it and swam with a renewed interest for Jeevan.

But that was what Jeevan was counting on, hoping that no matter how smart it was, it was still a creature of instinct.

(BOOM) Another wall of concussive force erupted from the centre of where the grenade was.

The demon fish didn't care as he headed towards the last known location of Jeevan at maximum speed, it even opened its mouth ready to swallow him.

The demon fish cut through the stream of bubbles, hoping to grab its stun stiff prey as all its victims had frozen at the sight of it.

(Stab)

What greeted it was the surprise of its life. A steel reinforcement had pierced through its upper jaw and prevented it from closing its mouth of getting away. And who was the cause of this? It had only itself to blame for moving at that speed blindly through the temporary concealment of the bubbles and vacuum caused by the grenade. It struggled to get free but the jagged piece of metal was like a fishing hook or harpoon that prevented easy retrieval.

Jeevan was nowhere in sight, not really. He was now where he needed to be, behind the cover of the wreckage. Because stuck to the steel reinforcement, were the last two of his grenades, just centimetres from its opened mouth.

(BOOOM) The same vacuum effect underwater occurred like before and caused the surrounding water to bubble furiously. With its insides forcefully exposed by the unclosable jaw, the blast had engulfed it and turned the surrounding disturbed waters into a red-dyed mist.

Jeevan's priority switched to survival and surfaced as fast as he could.

"(Gasp) (Cough)." He successfully reached the top for air.

And for the first time, he was able to bear witness to the destruction wrought by him. The river was filled with burning vessels from the Southern Rivine Guard aligned to the rebel movement.

A shadow rose to the surface of the still shaken waters which caught him off guard and made his hair rise. But it was in fact a false alarm, as it was the carcass of the once feared Albino terror called Black Water Dragon for some reason he didn't know. Or at least the tail end of it remained in the pool of blood he was floating it.

Jeevan quickly swam to shore with half his prize as fast as he could, there was no telling when the other demon fish would approach. He climbed onto a boat that happened to be closer to him than the shore for his convenience.

Thankfully, the winter had passed so it was not as cold as it should have been. Hypothermia was still a possibility if he didn't get warmed up or changed clothing.

"Mmm? Oh nice!" But that was quickly solved with what was in the wooden boat. A box that contained a set of clothing among other things. There was even an esky holding a whole crate of Shangri-lager. It gave him the impression that this boat belonged to a fisherman, but likely flee when the firefight erupted.

"Looks like I'm set." He declared contently as he finished changing to the dry clothing. He pulled the cord to start the engine after checking the oil levels and integrity of the motor.

(Brrrrrrrrr) The motor propeller winded to life and began his quiet voyage to his next destination. However, he was not heading to Shanath where the rest were. He was quiet convinced that they were alright as they were and if he were to find them, his movement would draw suspicion to the wandering patrols. He was now headed towards the next best option.

To aid the Tigers in their fight against the rebels.

Jeevan donned the cap he found on the boat and acted like fishing was his trade and these waters were a familiar route. All to fool the passing rivine patrols along the way to his destination. The tail end of the late Black Water Dragon provided the perfect alibi, he was going to collect the bounty on this fish.

Though that was not his priority now, Jeevan licked his lips, rubbing his chin thoughtfully thinking about how much that bounty actually was worth.


How many times was it already that Lanka had been besieged and by which faction had they yet to be attacked by? Golden Path, Yinkian, political critics and now Canton. What's next, Rakshasa?

Either way, the fortress was doing its job. Concentrating all internal conflicts to a single area and minimizing collateral in civilian populated areas, outside and within the walls of the fortress instead of anywhere else. Lanka was no longer populated with civilians, only military personnel now. They weren't going to let history repeat itself and the former residence respected that, though they were compensated for their losses and given homes elsewhere in the safety of the North. But the toll that the gastion forces took, was a whole different story all together.

Even with Amita's advice of caution in regards to an imminent attack, the Garrison Command was having a difficult time keeping out the rebel 2nd Hussars spearheading for three other regiments. Where urban environments should have been the least ideal for armoured forces, the Commander of 2nd Hussars was not falling for that logical trick.

If anything was keeping out the vehicles from traversing the streets quickly, it was the latest creation by Saraswati's ever-quick 3rd Engineering Company. Aptly dubbed "flak towers", like the old second world war German monstrosities that defended Berlin from air and land attacks. Although they were pale in comparison to the German ones, they still carried firepower unparrellel from the fixed emplacements. A single 122mm D-30 howitzer for destruction of targets long range. For heavy suppression of infantry and light vehicles, there were the good old reliable 40mm Bofors gun and rapid firing ZU-23 air defense guns. They kept the helicopters a step away from the fortress and forced them to release their passengers outside of the walls at most while being cautious about their approach. The rebels hammered the tower with heavy ordnance to try to topple it but to no apparent effect due to the honeycomb structure that kept it up.

And the reason they were able to maintain a hold over Lanka was because Brigadier Kul had performed a sweep of his ranks for any sort of sympathy towards any one group and placed them under detention. He had contingencies in place in case one of even his most loyal officers turned on him, and that was in the form of a single battalion sworn in with him to the end. A brotherhood of Lanka, his glory was theirs and theirs was his. Such ritualistic formalities were often frowned upon in the modern Kyrat despite the traditional Banashavism being the only recognised cult religion in Kyrat.

But Gopan Kul was convinced that whosoever went through the process of initiation was worthy of his trust. So it was no surprise that when Canton sympathy arose from their ranks to take over the fortress behind their backs, the Brotherhood mobilized and cut down all of the sympathizers. As for the ethnic Cantons, they didn't even ask if they were in on it, it was death for them as well.

The odds were quite against them despite the advantage of highground and defensive provisions against a numerically superior foe, but they could hold out for a while at least.

Brigadier Kul had dispatched a small group to inform Amita and the other garrisons of the treason involved in Pacchim Valley. But for the North, there was little he could do but pray they were ok. He always knew a day like this would come, he saw it in a younger Lord Kwan's eyes when the bulk of the Canton forces fought the Golden Path at the Royal Fortress to rescue Pagan back in 98'. The Cantons had long given up their fervor for their leader. And what better time than when they were weakened by prolonged fighting against Golden Path, when all the elite assets were overseas assisting Yinke in rebuilding its Economy and Military. When Amita and the Marshal informed him of Badala's current comatosed state, if they Cantons knew, then it was now or never.

"Have you identified the Commander of the rebels?" He asked his reconnaissance leader. But the latter shook his head.

Colonel Min is nowhere to be seen amongst the Cantons, sir. Only the Fang cousins."

"And young Kadayat?"

The reconnaissance leader felt ashamed he could not report properly due to the limitations in their communication resources.

(Boom) The structure of the Command Bunker rattled with an artillery shell striking its fortifications.

"…."

Gopan thought about what his predecessor, Comandant Gurung had gone through during the atrocity at Lanka. No doubt he laid down his life to draw the demon's attention. Gopan shook off the thoughts as it was directly related to the death of his son as well. Badala had already gone to Lanka to punish the Yinkians while forgiving the people. It was the responsibility of the politicians and military leaders that they assumed. And he crushed it down to its bare bone, leaving only certain loyalists like the long missing Tenzin and famed Colonel Dema.

"I have something of interest I'd like to report."

"Speak."

"About ten minutes ago, on Bastion One's end. There was a firefight occurring between some rebels that broke off from the siege to engage some force heading from the North. My scouts say there were about four of those-… um-…. Pancake boats." He had difficulty making out what that meant, so it was a low priority message.

Gopan thought a bit about what he was referring to till he got it.

"It's the Northern Rivine Guard, those vessels are probably hovercrafts, only 3rd Battalion operates about a Company of them. So it must be that group, where were they headed?"

"In the direction of Naccarapur."

"You sure not Baghadur?"

"Absolutely."

Brigadier Kul had a moment to himself while the rest of the Commanders were busy keeping the situation under control.

"Naccarapur is not their final destination." Gopan concluded.

"If so, then where?"

"They're clearly heading in a direction furthest away from a fight, could it be?-….." His adjutant was already getting a vibe about who they were transporting.

"That's good, at least his grace is out of harm's way."

"But not in fighting condition either, sir." Clearly, if the demon was in top shape, he would've been coordinating fights in the North.

"No, but even so, it proves that the North isn't entirely going with the flow of things. Worst case, the Royal Fortress is in their control and the Royal Palace is being attacked."

"Then that's not the least bit good!"

"Calm down, when has the King ever been so easily fooled. Remember the game of poker in 09'?"

"….." How could he forget? Pagan regularly had meetings where he just invited his generals over for games or dinner. On one such game he exhibited ingenuinity and fine memory from a game of poker with five other senior officers. It didn't matter if they were prepared to lose just to let him win, he would have won even if they were serious. He even mumbled the likely cards that each of them held. It said one thing, the King was always a step ahead of everyone, as flamboyant or hazy as he seemed at times.

"All we have to do is ensure that Lanka remains in our control, repel the rebels at best and corner them for the bulk of the regrouping army to encircle and kill off."

"Easier said than done."

"Have some faith. Major Phanish."

"….."

"I've called for Amita to send reinforcements and given her authorisation of the Airport. In case, we do lose, the Tigers will at least be able to stand a chance against the rebels." The Phanish couldn't fault him for looking at their alternatives strategically, that was his job.

But there was an overview of their situations in that sentence as well. The odds weren't looking in their favour, contingencies were being made as they spoke to mitigate their losses.

"Dispatch report!" Then as if things hadn't gotten worst, a dispatch soldier arrived huffing, carrying grave news.


"We're so screwed! If we can't find'em, Winnie's gonna kill us." One of the men from the sweep and clear teams put out his case which was actually a problem for all of them as well.

"They can't do nothin' without the birds in the air. And that's all that matters." His leader straightened him out.

"Ten minutes, then we'll assume they ran to the nearest outpost instead." The leader confirmed with them another patrol around Sagarmatha Air Base to clear it of unwanted presence. His men were only happy to oblige as they followed him taking point onwards with much scrutiny in his search.

"(Sigh)." Paul crawled out from the vents that had hidden him and his significant other.

"Coast clear, cher. Unless you wanna wait this whole affair to blow over."

"Incroyable…." (Unbelievable) Michelle rolled her eyes at his lack of eagerness, to actually think he could hide his head in the dirt like an ostrich at a time like this.

"Hey, it's your call. Since our generous employer went down under, these snooks have been talking about whether the next paycheck was coming or not."

Even though he wasn't wrong either. They had been in Logistics when gunfire erupted everywhere, a group tried to subdue them as well but failed for obvious reasons in fighting experience. Michelle interrogated a survivor of information to what was happening before dispatching him. The news wasn't great.

"…" Michelle was familiar with the vibe, in fact. Years ago, her and Paul had been through it before.

"This is Africa all over again." Michelle murmured.

That nostalgic feeling was like the approach that their former merc buddies had taken in the past. At the first sign of trouble, they threw their lot with the side with the largest reward regardless of the morales.

Paul's relaxed expression for the first time crumbled and switched to a serious look.

"That's not even remotely funny."

Paul sighed as he gathered his thoughts ready for another crazy attempt by Michelle to do something really stupid instead of sneak the next plane out.

"What's the plan?" He passed her his Desert Eagle sidearm whilst cocking his own SPAS-12 shotgun. Weapons they were adeptly familiar with during their trips.

Michelle received the oversized handgun and appropriate ammo from Paul as she cleared her throat.

"We need to ascertain the current status of Commandant Rohan, Commander Singh and Chef Khalid."

"If I were the mutinier, these people would have been the first I popped a cap into." Paul stated his belief they were already dead. Michelle gave him an annoyed look that he chose to be pesimmistic about their chances.

"Fine. Command and Control?" Paul stated their next destination where they were likely held.

"Command and Control, merci Paul." Michelle smiled as her friend had stuck by her.

Paul mumbled something along the lines of being in a bad spot. Michelle rested a hand on his shoulder to show her gratitude to him.

"Right, let's prove to Winnie he fucked with the wrong group and wrong employer." Paul took point in their careful movement towards the Command and Control centre, where highest authority members were being held, but also likely where the heaviest concentration of enemies were.

"Let's cut through via the munitions depot. Sound good?" Michelle nodded to his suggestion.

"We could stock up on firepower from the armory there as well." Michelle added onto Paul's advice.

They moved under the guile of quiet footsteps and use of the darker areas to conceal themselves from passing patrols. And there were many.

They had all been a part of a hundred-employee mutiny rallied by former-SAAF member Winnefred Coriolanus. The mutiny, being of Lupus Caelum LLC. Ajay's mercenary company in charge of handling much of the experienced technicians and pilots of the airframes of Kyrat. And who was Coriolanus? The Wing Commander of the Royal Kyrati Airforce 2nd Strike-Fighter Squadron comprising of reactivated Russian MiG-29Ks from the Soviet Navies decommissioned aircraft carriers. But as of late, they were one of the Squadrons who had not deployed on strike missions of any kind. Mostly because they were intended to play as the reserve in Kyrat in case there was any attacks domestically while they were abroad.

So it was to no surprise for Paul and Michelle who were in the airbase everyday that the entire squadron had been edging into vanity and complacency. Having been paid to be here on standby.

They were still unsure of what set off the trigger for Coriolanus to defect, perhaps a faction hidden in Kyrat had employed them to doublecross the Crown.

Paul waited for a patrol to pass before approaching the doors to the kitchen that would take him to the corridor where the Armory was. As he pushed the door open gently, a muzzle came through the door and pressed against his forehead.

-Shit.- Paul was too late to regret what he'd done, he dropped the gun and pushed Michelle out of the line of sight of the door so she wouldn't get peppered.

"What's the magic word?" A question was passed his way from the group of employees aiming their weapons at him.

"…. Guess this is what I get for not going to temple."

The crowd broke into snickers as they lowered their weapons and helped him and a stunned Michelle to her feet.

"Paul."

"Paul, the main man." The mercenaries patted him on the shoulder as he walked through the sea of of the crowd where they parted. Michelle chuckled lightly, it was Paul's easily sociable attitude that earned him some camaraderie points with most of the technicians and pilots.

From the end of the sea of employees were Chief Khalid and Commander Singh, seated discussing a way out of this mess. It was clear that these people were not part of the mutiny.

"Mr Ferenc. Good to have you with us, and Miss Dachss as well. The fortune that is with us." Commander Singh got up to shake their hands.

"A pleasure, Commandant."

"Hey, see you turbans are in great shape." Paul said in his usual chirper manner.

"We'd be merry and about if we could get to our birds." Pravindra said.

"Buddy, not to get between you and your metallic sweetheart but we've got a big problem on our hands from us outsourced boys and girls." Paul was referring to the nature of their mercenary background of all of the men and women in this room. Whatever force that was taking over could not afford to harm the Indian officers, for fear of incurring the wrath of India herself. Nobody was that stupid.

"Fill us in, chef." Michelle changed back to the topic at hand.

"It's the Cantons."

"The who?" Paul asked oblivious.

Michelle sighed and explained. "The relatives of the Kyrati King Pagan."

"I see, then Winnie must've been bribed by those sons of bitches. No cash or that paper garbage, all in stones, uncut and worth a heck of a lot. Drives men wild." Paul knew that best of all, from that adventure over eight years ago, still fresh in his head even after almost a decade. To be fair, he sometimes felt that he had left a part of him behind, an irrecoverable piece. Michelle did too. The crowd including the two leaders were shocked when he mentioned who was the ring leader.

"I should've known!" Chief Khalid swiped the food can from the kitchen table.

"Was this expected?"

"I handled all of the recruitment applications of the Company, Sir Singh." Khalid formally addressed his Indian Counterpart, even though he had no apparent rank equivalent. Even so, Commander Singh respected the former UAE Airforce Commander.

"Captain Winnefred Coriolanus, age 34. Dishonourable discharge from the South African Air force for multiple counts of insubordination and assaulting a Female officer in a collaborated gangrape."

Michelle instantly scorned at the pig's history, a little astonished why he was even tolerated in the company application that was supposedly scrutinous.

"So why was such an-…. Undesirable person in this company?" Pravindra couldn't help but ask even though it was a sensitive topic but asked the same question as Michelle.

"Because, pilots don't grow on trees, Lieutenant. Winnefred was a squadron leader, so where would you find one roaming around, huh?... (Sigh) When your boss hires you to form an Airforce within eight months instead of a natural five years, you're pushing boundaries that even National Militaries wouldn't dare risk! He's brave for attempting it, I give you that. As for Winnefred, he even failed the psychological evaluation, but the boss made the executive decision to give him a chance. So I wasn't going to question him on that. In fact, on day one, I'd never seen a rosier cheek employee than him. So even I had a good feeling about him at first. Who knew he was good at hiding his emotions that well, slippery bastard." Chief Khalid cursed.

Paul had a feeling that Winnie was also fearful of Badala, though he never indicated it. So this rebellion started because the bogeyman was bedridden and he gave it to greed shamelessly without guilt.

"Is Commander Rohan with you?" Paul asked if the Kyrati Air force Commander of the entire operation was with them. But he was met with shaking heads.

"He's likely in the-."

"Command and Control. Yeah, we had that feeling and were on our way till we met you charming bunch."

"Sit down and join us, we'll do a quick overview before moving. Time is of the essence." Khalid said.

(Bang) The door opened with force and all guns trailed to the person that opened it.

"Bad news, chief! Their preparing to roll out the MiGs!" The informant said undiscreetly as urgent as it was.

The two leaders visibility frowned. It meant that someone was already been marked as a target for an airstrike.

"With those, MiGs. It'll likely be a precision bombing, 500kg, laser-guided." Commander Singh gave his thoughts.

"Or napalm." Pravindra gave a different view before his co-pilot nudged him.

"Damn! It could be for anyone, Baghadur, Lanka, the Royal Palace, even a settlement!" Chief Khalid was most concern that the ordnance he was in charge of was being used to harm innocences instead of his employer's enemies, the Golden Path terrorists.

"Are they off yet?" Commadner Singh asked the informant.

"They're loaded and on the tarmac."

"We won't be able to stop them from leaving in time….." Khalid laughed in defeat.

"Looks like we'll have a secondary objective then." Commander Singh was not at all daunted.

"Sir Khalid, how willing are you to lose millions of dollars of hardware instead of the lives at stake?" Khalid looked up at him, he knew what he was implying. For a professional like Khalid, he didn't need to hesitate at all. He nodded, giving his permission to destroy the turncoat 2nd Squadrons' MiG fighter fleet that was preparing to take off.

Commander Singh turned to Pravindra.

"If we can get you two up is the sky, can you intercept the bombing squadron with escorts under fifteen minutes?"

Pravindra broke into a gleeful smile as he was being asked to do what he did best.

"I'll own the skies for you."


...

...

The crimson valley was filled with clashing of blades to wake the hollow empty world. How many days had it been since he declared he would defeat this demonic iteration of himself? He didn't know, and didn't care. Because if he started to think about thoughts on how long, it would affect his concentration entirely.

And so they fought to a continued stalemate in a world where the natural law was different from reality. Where fatigue and wear were non-existent, but wounds were. With the exception of the demon itself, relying on instant regeneration and superhuman strength like the inhuman Golden Path or perhaps even unparrellel to them.

It was a battle fated to continue on to eternity or loss, because Ajay would not yield despite his wounds and would only truly end with the demon's victory when his body was no longer functional.

But something did change.

The more he fought, the more he understood the demon's pattern, he understood his own pattern of fighting like he was engaging himself. The demon had unadvertently given Ajay a precious opportunity to surpass his own abilities. So how does one exceed himself?

Strengthening the body? Quicken the reflexes? Predict the pattern of attack and counter?

While all these ways were correct, in providing one with that edge. Albeit, only a marginal increase in ability and prowess, but Ajay took a different route to improving himself. He chose to hone and sharpen his mental fortitude, his will and his spirit.

Fortitude kept his mind intact even in the most stressful times and sudden surprises. Will was not stubbornness, but his ability to overcome mental obstacles and endure torture of any kind. Spirit was something he shared with the people, his ability to stand tall against odds inspired and rousted the flames in the hearts of the men and women that followed him into battle.

After all, even if you have the most powerful hand weapon implementation ever devised in your possession. It was nothing without the person that wielded it, the resolve and training in its uses. And what made the difference between the wielders were these traits, not strength nor talent. But the will to use it against his or her foe. That was what made a weapon a weapon in the hands of a willing person instead of a mere tool to the ignorant.

At some point, the demon grinned wryly. And Ajay understood that the demon was not truly against him despite its boasts, but with him and always a part of him. It chuckled in defeat as it felt a shift occur in favour of 's counter of his herculean blows became more refine, and used less effort to deflect, whilst delivering an auto-counter that impaired the Demon's ability to deliver another blow as quickly. It had lost the initiative now, but that was just the first step in subduing it. He had to find a way to pass the hard-ballistic fused carapace of the demon whilst doing enough damage to disable it.

Even so, Ajay let loose a fearless grin. He looked forward to triumphing over it and walking out a new and improved person.

"I wonder which of us is the actual demon here."

...

...