"I've been asked whether in the years to come it will be possible to kill forty million american people in the twenty largest american towns, by the use of atomic bombs in a single night. I'm afraid the answer to that question is yes."
- J. Robert Oppenheimer
They thought he descended into insanity, calling out to his invisible guardian angel to help him. The concept of magic or mysticism in Ricardo and Paul's eyes up till this moment were just folklore or fantasy stories they read as children in troubled times. But she was no angel.
The appearance of the woman he called Esha proved them wrong, as she appeared out of thin air from some kind of magical rift and presented herself with an ungodly beauty that stunned them solid.
Added upon these emotions was an uneasy sensation that accompanied. An Aura that said, "do not get between me and him", and they were obligated to sit this one out.
Ajay stood before her silent as ever, he had been wrestling with an influx of nostalgia. And strangely enough, the Demon Seal Darshan bestowed him rattled within his pocket on its own.
….
….
Blood of the enemy unspilt
Kin of Eternal Heaven
Nemesis of humanity and of Rakshasa
The conclaves of Patriarchs sole desire
Destruction of all ties to Eternal Heaven-
…
….
Ajay shook those thoughts that recited in his head, there wasn't a single moment he didn't want to be near this device as it always had something to say about everything mystical he encountered. Although, this time the voice in his head wasn't calm as usual, it chanted fervently in an aggressive tone like it was insisting he kill her off, as if he could.
Ajay understood that it was useless to dabble with her, he should just get straight to the point. Now especially with the timer at three minutes.
"Help me transport this device and I will make it worth your while."
Esha didn't answer him immediately, she took her time walking closer to him and reached out her slender porcelain hand. She placed it on his chin as she inspected his physical traits. Ajay felt an unnaturally chilling hand contact his face as she moved it to rest on his cheek. He did nothing to resist or oppose.
"Help me send this to a place of my choosing, and-…."
"You will help us find the thangka of Kalinag?"
Ajay wanted to say if she knew then why did she force him into this state, it was precisely what she wanted him to do. Lately, he'd been falling into traps set by them one after another. What his peers couldn't see but he could.
"You cannot imagine how overjoyed I am to hear you call upon me by that name."
"Call me out again?" She requested from him with a face that pleaded of him.
Ajay wanted to refuse, but he was in no position to do so. He was asking her to deal with a problem he couldn't, the least he could do was show humility. That was what Pagan taught him, even though he was the furthest from following with those words.
"Was that the name your parents gave you, Esha?" He said it whilst inquiring.
A warm smile matured on her beautiful complexion that hardly seemed aged at all, this was the quirks of being immortal in both longevity and youth.
"My honoured father and mother would never dare of calling me by my name directly, even though it was their right to do so. It was my blessing to have such loving parents in place of my true blood parents, it was a shame I was not born from them instead." She scowled just thinking of it, yet her face didn't lose even a hint of beauty as she did so.
Then her expression returned to warmth as she looked upon him again.
"But you were the only one that dared to."
Ajay wasn't sure if she was referring to him or her brother.
"Am I Ajay Ghale, the vessel or am I your brother?" He wanted to know what he was to her.
"You may not have felt it, Bhaiya. But I've watched you your entire life, from the day you entered the cradle till this very moment that I've waited for so long. To me, you're both."
He couldn't read her expression at all. Ajay had a deep understanding of human psyche, but she wasn't a human being. She was something else, her expressions went beyond what a human could do and uncomfortably so. Was this why humans had naturally felt beguiled by these entities so easily in the past?
"No….. I knew. You watched from afar but did nothing, not because you didn't want to…. But because you couldn't."
For the first time in so long, a tear fell from her eye. In her heart, she was as ecstatic as she could be. Ajay decided he needed to be straight with her as it would help sort his emotions as well. He had to make a stand somewhere in this.
"I don't know if you'll succeed in whatever you're planning, but I will say this. I will stand against you with every fibre in my body, until there's nothing left. If not, I wouldn't be my mother's child, my father's son. Ajay Ghale."
A sadden smile appeared on her face.
"Mmm. I know you will, and I will do everything in my power to do otherwise. In whatever you chose to do, do not lose heart. These were the words you left for me long ago, and now I pass them back to you, my dearly beloved Bhaiya." She said resting her hands upon his once more, now those hands had a warmth that wasn't present before.
It had not turned out the way he had expected, however it had affirmed something in him. That they were now on the grounds of mutual respect for one another. He knew for a fact that they would not resort to underhanded practices, and neither would he as it would be detrimental to his peoples' growth in spirit and values. That was the most important quality he wished would take root amongst his fellow Kyratis.
"So what will you have me do for you this once, Bhaiya?" Ajay was sure she knew, but asked out of consideration and etiquette.
"I will help you find every single piece of the Kalinag thangka. The only map to the passage way into Shangri-la. On this I swear on my name as Ajay Ghale." He begun to understand why she'd recruited Mohan and assisted the Golden Path in their conquest. It was all for the Kalinag Thangka, the heirloom of the House Ghale. No one knew of its location, not even Mohan. But he did have a rough idea of some places Darpan hid them after passing it into his care.
Ajay on the other hand knew where they were hidden from Yogi and Reggie's maps bequeathed by Darpan a few months before he died which they proceeded to use as wrapping paper for their substances.
"In exchange, I want you to take this to a certain place I had in mind."
10th Carrier Strike Group was just being deployed after its maintenance cycle had been completed. The ammunition stocks and retinue of sailors were all fresh from home port in Virginia. Flagship CVN-75 had finished its nuclear fuel rod resupply and was operational for another twenty or so years till the next resupply.
Deployed within the Carrier strike group acting as its carrier escorts were four Arleigh Burke-class Destroyers, a Ticonderoga Cruiser and an attack submarine of the Seawolf-class with all the appropriate support vessels. And their latest addition attached to their formation, USS Zumwalt. The first of the DDX line of surface warfare optimised warships awaiting full-fledged commissioning. It had been attached with their Carrier Group to study the mission parameters of the new class of warship built to attack land targets.
As reluctant as the Carrier Group commander was, a Rear Admiral. He had been given expectations to follow, so allowed Zumwalt to proceed with the shelling of that backwater country called Kyrat based on satellite imagery and GPS coordinates all throughout the week.
To their surprise, they learnt that all Tomahawk cruise missiles being launched had been intercepted, every one of them till Zumwalt's magazine went dry. The labcoats and evaluators were satisfied with the performance of the ship, but the flag officer was troubled that instead of deploying the full might of the strike group, they were wasting strategic advantage over an executive order from Pentagon and the Joint Chiefs.
Then news came in from the top, that the Expeditionary force they'd ferried to Pakistan and into that place had suffered 100% casualties, not a single survivor. Their mission was to launch reconnaissance flight groups over there to assess the outcome of a nuclear strike in the region. To ensure that whatever the nuke was primed to destroy had done its job.
The staff of ship officers scowled at the use of nuclear force in this time and age. What could possibly justify the use of that weapon right now. The fleet commander was of the same mind, he however had his orders to fulfil.
"Sir, I have Indian flagship Vikramaditya and its escorts hailing us. They're demanding we drop anchor and await their further inspection." Tensions were rising from the plethora use of nuclear weapons, such that they were now locking down onto every force related to the nuclear weapon in Kyrat. It was reported that a week ago, the Indian armed forces and Russian ground forces were conducting a mountain exercise in that region. Did they get caught in the radius of the weapon?
That was not his prerogative to know or act. He was only meant to keep his fleet intact. Pressing the microphone to all loudspeakers on board the Carrier and on all escort vessels.
"Men. This is your Rear Admiral speaking. A few moments ago, I had received word from the President that we have been brought to Defcon Two and that the President has authorized a limited nuclear strike on the hostiles of the Himalayan state of Kyrat. Obviously, the decision to use nuclear force is a very serious one. We are still unsure of the exact nature of our opposition, but based on data gathered by the expedition and from satellite imagery. We believe, our planet is facing an imminent and very real threat. Whatever happens in the next few minutes, I know that each one of you will perform your duty with honor and professionalism. Now, all hands to battlestations. In the next twenty minutes, I want every available bird on this tub in the air." With his commands given, the sailors and officers scrambled to make ready all aircraft on board the carrier for immediate dust off. The flag officer exhaled exasperatedly, it was a little hard to imagine days ago, he was having a nice conversation with US Army Brigadier Farragut, the supreme commander of the land expedition. With the confirmation of survivors down to zero it meant him as well.
Defcon Two, the preparation stage to use nuclear weapons. What sort of intel did Langley pick up from their satellites to confirm the outcome of twelve thousand soldiers in an instant and report such a thing to the Joint Chief of Staff to decide this sort of option?
Still, orders wer- (siren) The alarms went off wildly in the bridge where he was.
"Status!" He demanded.
"Breach in the reactor room, sir!"
"What? Get me engineering, I want a full report and explanation of why our core is on meltdown!"
"Sir, it-… it's not a meltdown… We have intruders in the reactor room!"
"What in gods-…. How the hell did anyone sneak aboard this vessel?! Let alone enter one of the most secure chambers?! I want answers and I wanted them yesterday!" He shouted at his officers who dispatched the security details to apprehend the intruders.
"Bring me a video uplink!" He demanded.
"Aye, sir!" A bridge operator sent a video feed directly to the Captain's screen in front of his seat.
"Holy-…." What he saw was a black-cladded figure with a mask on his face standing next to a woman clothed in a white gown. The black armoured figure stood around a blood-soaked reaction control room filled with the corpses of the nuclear engineers looking at the camera.
*Hey. Nice ship you got here.* He said with a grin.
"Who the hell is that?!" He demanded from his bridge crew and security officer.
*Wouldn't want anything to happen to your ship, would we? Anyways, don't mind me. I'm just here to drop off something your expedition left behind.* He said as he stood aside revealing a device sitting in the middle of the control room.
"What the hell is that thing?"
"Oh my god….. Sir!-…. That's a B83 hardcase!" His air traffic commander informed him, having experience behind the deployment of such devices.
"What?! Where did that come from?!"
"It's not in our inventory, sir!"
"I know that! That's why I'm asking, why is it there?! How did they bring it on board without a single person noticing it! How!?" Nobody could answer him, no one could explain such a freak phenomenon.
*In case you're wondering what I'm doing here with your bomb. Well, I want you to know that when you go to heaven or hell, the person who armed this bomb was your boss. You have about-…..* He looked at the timer on the interface.
*Fifteen seconds to pray to your god. But a little heads up for those new…..*
An explosive sound appeared behind him as a swirling black hole opened up in the room.
*I won't be listening.* He said chuckling away sinisterly before entering the rift along with that woman, leaving behind not a trace of his existence save for the object that belonged to them ticking away.
"Dear god-."
The fleet commander and his bridge staff barely had any time to do what he said as a pure white light engulfed them and grew to such proportions it overlaid not just the carrier's circumference and all of the vessels that comprised of the Carrier Strike Group, but anything within a five-mile radius.
Sailors on deck were fried in an instant, munitions detonated from microwaves cooking them off on-deck and inside the magazines blasting the hulls of the warships into scraps of metal shrapnel flying in every direction. 7,380 personnel didn't even know they had vanished from the earth by the very pinnacle of weapons in their own military's arsenal. The carrier, the cruiser, the destroyers, even the submarine looming close by experienced what was the full effect of nuclear weaponry at one megaton used on a naval fleet.
But there was only one group that survived to witness this horror of destructive power unleashed upon a naval force. The Indian Naval Squadron complementing Flagship Vikramaditya, who were miles away from ground zero and out of the danger zone of the nuclear blast and fallout. They emerged onto deck to stare up at the bright mushroom cloud that dominated their forward portside as the fleet turned around to avoid possible radioactive clouds carried by the winds.
They knew not what had happened as an obvious use of a nuclear weapon had detonated amongst the carrier strike group. Before, there was no sign of ballistic missiles entering the earth's atmosphere, not that the US fleet wasn't capable of intercepting it on its own accord. Which meant it was a surface detonation.
It would be a day till New Delhi would piece together what had happened after a phone call from a certain mountain demon. Before then, they had never taken him seriously. Only to the point that they acknowledged he was an "earth shaker" to their Himalayan region.
But now they knew, he was truly terrifying. The Chinese patted their chests in relief, knowing that had they proceeded further, they would suffer a similar fate from this guardian entity protecting the Himavana's called Badala. And like the Chinese and Americans, the Indians' too coined a name for him.
It came from a passage within Bhagavad Gita, once quoted by the father of atomic bombs, Oppenheimer.
"Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds." The commander of INS Vikramaditya recited in his crews' stupor.
And so, the demon became the destroyer.
Twenty Minutes Prior to Detonation –
Three of them upon two of the Raptors, he should be thankful there wasn't any more than these two. Yet, one more than one was somewhat of a formidable force multiplier. This was what he'd realised in the previous engagement with the raptor pair, he was damn sure that this was the same pair that killed his partner. Because if it wasn't, then they were in for a world of hurt to come.
Luckily, he had the present advantage of being at one of the Raptor's tails engaging him. And as Sokol 1-1 had said, the pilot made very little manoeuvres that would compromise its energy. Not that it would lose it so quickly with its ability to supercruise without afterburners, a function that was unique to F-22s at present.
He kept his IRST pointed at his prey to let him know he was IR locked for the time being, but Pravi never fired his IR missiles. Partly because with the energy the pilot had he could take evasive action successfully, and partly because he wanted to gun him down.
(Brrrr) He fired a short burst to zero in on him making the Raptor fly vertically in order to out-turn him and switch places.
Pravi decided he would patronise him, so he let him lose out that energy and appear behind him. When that happened, he immediately received an IR lock from the Raptor's Sidewinders. But Pravi took no evasive actions he built up momentum till he was at 1.8 Mach, outpacing the Raptor.
(Piiiiiiii) Laser warning alerted a missile launch as the sidewinder chased his engine exhaust.
Pravi hit the throttle to ascend, jettisoning his extended fuel tank as well. The missile chased after him but Pravi was not watching the missile, he was observing the Raptors next move. Seeing that no possible evasive action could prevent that missile from hitting him, the Raptor pilot disengaged to assist his partner against the two Su-35s that were Sokol 1-1 and Tiger 1-5.
The two mentioned had chased their Raptor with no luck on their side despite advanced tactics employed. The Raptors still had an edge to their modern fighters, it wasn't a game changer for nothing. It was literally a symbol of US air superiority, and it would not easily fall to the likes of a hastily assembled joint squadron.
*Oh shit…..* They saw the other Raptor come behind Tiger 1-5 ready to take him out and free his partner from engagement.
Tiger 1-5 received an IR lock which he responded by releasing countermeasures.
"Don't break from me, Tiger 1-5! I need you to keep me covered or we'll both be dead!"
As reluctant as he was, he listened to Sokol 1-1. But he was having trouble believing the reality of the situation. Pravi, Tiger 1-3 might've been shot down.
His warning lights blinked as the Raptor pursuing him had him in an IR lock with relative ease.
*Madarchod! He's fired! Deplo-(static)* A fireball ignited behind Sokol 1-1 as Tiger 1-5 was blasted into oblivion. He only saw the flash and not the pilot eject as he turned to focus onwards with the Raptor he was pursuing stubbornly.
He did all he could to shake the one chasing him while keeping the crosshairs on the one in front, but as it stood he was bleeding energy faster than usual. Making him an easy target for missiles.
(Piiiiii) An IR sidewinder flew from the Raptor behind him towards his rear. Which he quickly released flares to counter, thankfully luck was on his side as the missile whizzed away from his aircraft and swirled in the air aimlessly.
But his sensors were still picking up a lock from his pursuer. That wingman was doing all he could to free his buddy and was focused on solely that. But that would also be his eventual downfall.
(Brrrrrrrrrr) 30 mm rounds shredded the F-22 behind Sokol 1-1 from above as a Sukhoi dive-attacked it. The Raptor burst into flames and engulfed its pilot.
*Yeeeeehhhhaaaa!* Shouted the cowboy who faked his death.
Sokol 1-1 and the Raptor he was chasing undoubtedly stared in shock as Pravindra took the first actual Raptor kill in history.
*Tiger 1-3 here to support.*
"Better time than any, 1-3. Give me cover while I kill this one."
*Roger, 1-1.* Pravi stayed close to Sokol 1-1 as he continued to pursue the Raptor. Seeing his comrade ablazed and without backup, the pilot decided to disengage and fly home.
This proved to be a fatal mistake in the account of this Raptor pilot as well. As he was flying away from Point 2153, meaning they were flying out of the radar jammed area. Sokol 1-1 and Pravi flicked their Radar on to begin detecting the Raptor for their more advance complement of weapons.
*I have a target, it's really small but I'm taking it. Tiger 1-3, converge and force his energy to deplete. I'll disappear for a moment.* Pravi could see it as well on the screen, it was almost undetectable but it was there.
"On it." Pravi pushed the throttle to the max and chased the Raptor from his position as Sokol 1-1 began to ascend to get a better vantage for firing his beyond-visual range missile but kept his radar off so as not to alert the Raptor to his position. He flew in a diagonal position, giving the impression he was bugging out.
The Raptor pilot was late in realising his Radar returned into operation and seized the opportunity by turning around to engage. Pravi could only guess that it had been equipped mainly with radar lock missiles under its bomb bay for this mission. So it had its capabilities seriously imparted by the radar interference, forcing the pilot to rely on guns and IR sidewinders which it had less of. The situation was bad for both of them, however they had the advantage of numbers to outmanoeuvre it. Forcing the Raptor to pay attention to two targets at all times.
(Brrrrr)
The Raptor flew right by him as he fired a salvo head on as it started to make a high-G turn to get around him and make Pravi fly on the receiving end of his missile array. Radar lock was already detected from his warning system that the F-22 had him on lock.
"I'm gonna give you a 45 second window, you either take it or I'm dead." He told Sokol 1-1.
*Copy.*
"Here we go."
He made a high-G barrel roll as the F-22 had almost had him in his sights and it chased after him, hoping to finish him off before dealing with the last pursuer to return to base.
His 9G turning was aided by the new engine and airframe, but there was only so much a person could withstand from fainting at that level of G-force. A good pilot could stand thirty seconds, Pravi had pushed the envelope to forty-five. In doing so, Pravi was throwing the Raptor's radar lock in overshoot. Unable to keep up with his high-turning angles, realising the severity of leaving this pilot alive to harass him further, the F-22 continued to chase him using its outstanding performance to keep up with Pravi.
It was highly impressive, both the pilot and the machine. Pravi saw a few times it almost overtook him and made itself a target for him because Pravi was slower than it in acceleration. If only India could produce something as elegant and outstanding as this craft, there were few things Pravi wouldn't give to fly in that sort of aircraft just once.
"Arrrrrrrrrghh!"
Pravi's mind struggled to keep up as the G-force was causing his consciousness to blackout, yet there was still no sign of Sokol 1-1. The Raptor somehow was still able to keep track of him just fine, it was proof that this wasn't the machine that was brilliant but the man or woman flying in it. But Pravi would not be outdone this day, Sokol 1-1 said he'd arrive so he believed he would. He never valued team work as much as now, he had always seen his fellow pilots as a hindrance or decoys. Now, he was feeling exactly how they felt with his antics. He could only summarize that feeling in one word.
Tough.
It showed his comrades were extremely tolerant of him and made him feel very lucky to be flying with them as his wingmen. "Bring it on!" He continued to expend energy he built up with high turning manoeuvres at a constant 9Gs. It started to exhibit signs of physical damage to his body that the G-suit couldn't mitigate, his blood vessels in his eyes were popping and he bled from his eyelids.
Looking from the back mirror on the canopy, he could still see the Raptor chasing after him. Seeing such a thing made Pravi laugh fanatically at the sight. He realised he wasn't fighting just some dude who got to fly a Raptor.
He was flying up against a kindred spirit.
His literal American counterpart. There was a rush of inexplicable ecstasy that was coursing through his body, the excitement of the dogfight.
"It's you! You're the opponent I've been searching for!" Pravi said over the open channel, hoping the Raptor pilot would hear him as he laughed maniacally.
(Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrr)… (Brrrrrrrrrrrr)
To his surprise, 20mm rounds were being fired his way but were overshot due to his turn. The Raptor pilot was getting frustrated, Pravi only laughed more as he saw more of him in the pilot.
He no longer cared of Sokol 1-1 would come or not, he just wanted to go against this pilot and see how far he could go against him.
Pravi had lost significant momentum from his turns and would soon be helpless to the Raptor's onslaught, this was evident from the longer ping sound of that the radar lock warning was giving him before he avoided it.
"Guess it's time!" He steadied the aircraft in level flight with the Raptor coming right behind him as anticipated. The radar lock was now dead on from the Raptor's weapon suite.
It was at this moment that Pravi hit the brakes to let Raptor fly by him, the Cobra manuever which Sokol 1-1 had used previously to force the Raptors to split. He dealt with another moment of G-force acting on him from the sudden braking with his aircraft nose raised and put it down to return to level flight. But to his surprise, the Raptor was still behind him.
The Raptor pilot had in that very split second made the decision to do the same manoeuvre with made him entirely spent of energy like Pravi was. But he had the advantage of being the attacker, and could finish of Pravi with ease thanks to Pravi depleting his.
(Piiiiiii) His radar sensor went wild with warning.
Pravi knew he was done, but he didn't feel upset at the outcome. It was the most enjoyable experience he'd had. And it made him feel grateful to be able to fly against this pilot who had bested him at his own game.
*Missile away!* Called Sokol 1-1 as he fired his active radar missile at the Raptor spent of energy.
Seeing no other alternatives for himself, the pilot ejected as the missile swooped in to blast the F-22 out of the skies.
*Uraaa! One for the Motherland!*
"Great time to pop in, 1-1."
*Ahd. I came anyway.*
"Thanks, I was at my wits end back there."
*No worries, Tiger 1-3. Drinks on me when we return, ya?*
"Sure, any time."
Pravi looked back at the falling wreckage of the most outstanding opponent he'd ever had. He could make out a parachute falling down to the earth as well. He checked the map temporarily to find out where he would drop in. Somewhere in the region where the Army was fighting against the enemy codenamed "Rakshasa" as well as the US expeditionary forces. If he was lucky, he would be able to get rescued by his fellow soldiers as they fell back.
For god knows if infantrymen found downed pilots, the most unfortunate things could happen that would make being sent to a POW camp appear more generous. Pravindra said a silent prayer for the wellbeing of the pilot he'd come to respect.
*Tiger 1-1 to all units, remaining PAF boogies are disengaging and returning. Engage and destroy, do not let a single one return.* Pravi was a little surprised by his superior's tone in which he delivered that message. Not the usual calm under pressure sort.
*Sokol 1-1 to Tiger 1-1, that is ill advised. We are twenty miles till the Pakistani border, invading their airspace will create tension.* The Russian commander became the substitute for that.
*Then why are they here!? If you will not assist then Tiger group will pursue on their own.*
"Tiger 1-3 here. Sir, with all due respect. We've accomplished our mission and we got ourselves a bonus Raptor kill.* Hearing this on the open channel sent waves of chatter over the net. Pravindra hope that this was enough to dissuade the bloodlust that his Commander was experiencing. Which was weird, considering he was always the calmest. What in the world had triggered him?
*From this moment on, I cut my ties to the IAF.* Tiger 1-1 declared and shook their worlds as he turned and pursued the PAF fighter group.
*Shit, what the hell!-..* Astra cursed.
"Tiger 1-2, what happened?" Pravi asked.
*I dunno, he just murmured something about that F-16 pilot and broke formation leaving us to fight the rest.* From what his fellow pilot gave him to work with, Pravi had one wild guess about what had happened.
Commander Singh had found his squadron's killer, the one from the Kargil War sixteen years ago.
Ajay felt like there was barely a second that passed when he walked through that spatial rift. Such that he was in time to see the bright light of the nuclear weapon he sent back detonate and create such an unusual phenomenon. Even when they were over a thousand kilometres from the Arabian Sea. A spectrum of lights was seen in that general direction.
"Paul. Do you want a souvenir?" The fellas noticed his return right behind their backs along with that entity they had the jiggers from standing in close proximity to.
Paul shrugged his shoulders that he was alright with anything, Ajay passed him a base cap he looted off a deck officer he shrew. Placing it in Paul's hands who stared at the emblem on it.
"CVN-75….. USS Harry S. Truman. Holy god-…." Ricardo looked up to Ajay to affirm what he'd done.
Ajay simply gave him a wry smile, but it gave the impression of a hungry wolf to him. Paul was simply content with the free headwear.
From there, Ajay's attention was back to Esha.
"Five days, bring them personally to Akaash." Ajay nodded in agreement, he promised her the Kalinag Thangka and that was what he was going to get for her. It might've accelerated their plans by a mile, but it didn't change the fact that she had singlehandedly saved over thirty-four million souls' in the Himavanas alone. Even though she was an enemy of the mortals on the mountains, this was still her home as it was to every Rakshasa that fell under her protection. For this alone, he was eternally grateful.
"…"
"As long as I am there, no harm will come to you."
"Tell that to Sabal and Purushartha."
"If they dare to I will-!"
"Just joking." He said with a smile, he knew they wouldn't dare act wildly in her midst. If it were other people doing this to her, she would've smite them.
"Pfft-…" Instead she let out the most pleasant-sounding giggle. Completely destroying the façade of a powerful entity above humanity. Ajay was suddenly inclined to chuckle along with her until she laughed and laughed to tears as she wiped them from her eyes.
The more he saw this side of her, the more it made him internally conflicted about what he knew of her.
Contrary to what he felt and what she said, Darshan had a much darker story in relation to her which he believed were her true colours over a mask of deceit. But as far as he'd conversed and fought with the Rakshasa, their very being was above underhanded play. They still had a code of honour they abided by as warriors and they didn't shame it. Although that would also be subjective as there was that one fellow they call the Great Betrayer who was of their kin and a highly regarded individual as well. His betrayal triggered a turning point in their war against their favour till their eventual defeat.
"I guess, this is it, huh?" He talked about this sort of small measure of peace from their truce before they went back to being enemies.
"Mmm. At least till you've given me what was promised."
"You'll know if I would break it." Ajay turned around.
"…. Esha." He called her in a tone of inquiry.
"Why me?... What criteria makes me an incarnate of your brother? Is this a curse because I didn't live to the expectations of my former life? Why must I suffer over and over? Tell me it isn't because you're the one doing it but fate pulling the strings." Ajay looked at her with weary eyes that seemed like he would crumble at any second.
She looked like she wanted to open her mouth but sealed it and shook her head.
"You will know the truth when we see each other again in Shangri-la."
Ajay placed a hand to his face to cover the anguished expression he had and looked away. Getting a hold of his emotions, he nodded in a reply.
"Goodbye, Esha."
A sigh rang out like an eternity had shattered.
(BANG) The spatial rift opened once more with a flick of her hand and she walked forward, ready to leave.
"Ajay!" He turned to the voice of Vasu that called out to find him, Maya and Han Feng had arrived.
He thought Kamran would pick them along the way and find shelter but it seemed they had lost contact at some point so naturally he didn't mount a search with so little time. He didn't know how he was going to explain to them that a nuke was about to be set off.
The portal was still left swirling from what Ajay heard behind him and he turned around wondering why she'd stayed. A look of distress passed over her as she stared in the new arrivals' direction. Particularly at one person, it wasn't Vasu she gazed at with pique.
Ajay sensed something wrong when she didn't leave and proceeded to raise her hand towards them. Vasu had his wits about him when the individual showed hostile intent.
[Azure Sky]
A chilling aura passed over them and froze them in place.
"What're you doing?" Ajay called out in distress.
She ignored him for the first time, sending a powerful traction power to draw that individual towards her.
The one that came flying towards her was Maya.
Scared out of her wits to have something like this done to her in such a fashion. A talisman flew out and struck the floor before Maya, creating a barrier that prevented her from slipping any further into her gasps.
"Bhaiya!-." She stood surprised when looking to Ajay who pointed his slayer her way.
"Whatever your reason, I don't wanna hear it. She is the one person you have to get by me if you want to deal with."
Her face hung full of anguish that he turned against her, her teeth grit when the gun was pointed at her.
"You do not understand even a fraction of what you are doing!"
"Don't-….. Just don't…"
"She will betray you! It is in her bloodline!"
Hearing this sent him into a stupor. "….. What?" Those words came out not believing what he just heard.
"So that is what you have been planning, 9th Demon Banisher." She seemed to have made an assumption based on the situation. She lowered her hostility and disabled the spell of paralysis by fear. Returning control of their bodies to them all.
"Then heed my words and heed them well! Our enemy, your enemy is he and those that bear the Eternal Heaven Bloodline. She may not bear grudge against you today, but she will eventually. She is born from Eternal Heaven hence her life has been decided for her."
She passed a warning to him as she walked closer to the spatial rift. Looking Ajay's way once more, she said one last thing to him.
""Eternal Heaven fears the Asura, but relishes the Demon." Do not fall as so many others have, or this world will truly become theirs." She said with a strong bearing, hoping that he got every word of it.
"Farewell until the next, Bhaiya." Disappearing through the spatial rift and closing forever.
A silence stalked through the valley as five other souls besides Ajay were robbed of their speech and thoughts to what had taken place.
This wasn't the first time he'd heard that name, the medallion had said the same thing. Just as that name was an unfriendly to the Rakshasa, so too was it for the Demon Banishers. A mutual enemy, yet both sides were still at each other's throats.
"Eternal Heaven… bloodline…." Ajay murmured as he met face to face with Maya who was confused by what she'd seen.
Ajay went over to confirm Maya's wellbeing, reaching a hand out to her to be helped up. She accepted it readily and asked.
"Who in the world was that, Ajay?" As hungry for answers as Ajay was, Maya was just the same.
"Mohan's mistress. And don't ask me what she meant, I haven't the slightest clue."
He said before tapping his radio to inform all forces to regroup and fall out from this battlefield, for they would return home victorious.
At the same time, he dialled in Jeevan. Hoping to get an update on his chase with Brody.
Immediately, a message was sent to his phone.
"….."
"What is it?"
Ajay showed her the text. Jeevan was unable to grab or kill him, but he was able to narrow his temporary hideout within a sacred cave on the mountains with a dilapidated bell tower nearby. The local police forces had cordoned off the area and set a barricade to seal him within his hiding place.
"Shall we go?"
"No, I'll handle this myself. You and the boys need rest, after what just happened here you won't wanna hear what the lads have to say." They were an inch from death by nuclear fireball and they didn't even know.
"Are you gonna kill him?" When Maya asked that question, Ajay had a sudden reoccurrence of a fragmented memory. She stopped as she saw he was feeling a physical pain.
"You alright?"
"….. I'm fine. When Darshan comes back, do me a favour and ask him what she meant by your bloodline. He's kept enough shit hidden from all of us this long, if he isn't going to share every bit of detail then I don't wanna be included in his grand design."
Maya was under the assumption he was in cahoots with darshan and therefore denied knowing, but knowing him this long she found it was not the case. She nodded and left with the boys to seek extraction.
Meanwhile, Ajay gazed at the picture Jeevan sent to him. It was a rather common looking place like many in Kyrat. Caves were often prayer sites to the local deity after all. But from closer examination, Ajay could see that this particular cave wasn't as ordinary as everyone thought it was. Ajay had a new mission that coincidentally needed him to visit it as well.
Because deep within, that seemingly ordinary cavern housed one of the five Kalinag thangkas.
Author's Thoughts:
(Master Chief) "Permission to leave the station, sir."
(Lord Hood) "For what purpose, Master Chief?"
(Master Chief) "To give the Covenant back their bomb."
(Lord Hood) "…. Permission granted."
