Operation Dragon Strike

by Rahul Badami

  It was time to gatecrash into Zontai’s stronghold. He had counted nearly twenty guards. They all had guns. He was just one man. The odds were totally against him. It was a suicide mission. A surge of dread bubbled up in Armaan’s stomach. He fought off the nauseous feeling and focused on the objective.

  Baldev and the team. They were in danger.

  He had to risk it.

  He couldn’t let them die.

  Armaan squared his shoulders and started walking towards the mansion.

  CHAPTER 23

  The PLS man had come from the rear side of the mansion close to where he had discovered the underground staircase. Armaan thought it made sense that the man had exited from a service entrance. He now had to locate it. He started walking on the path the man had come from, holding the empty crate box with both hands. He rounded the corner of the building and discovered the service entrance instantly. The problem was it was guarded by two sentries.

  They immediately noticed him.

  Uh-oh. Trouble.

  Armaan continued walking without breaking a stride. As he approached, he saw one of the guard’s eyes narrow. It was obvious the guard had never seen him before. The guard raised a palm in his direction.

  “Stop! Who are you?”

  Armaan held up the PLS ID card, careful to cover Yan Shen’s photo with a finger. The guard had asked the question in Mandarin. He replied with equal fluency. “I am with Shen. We were about to leave but he got a call to send in one more box. It won’t take more than a few minutes.”

  “All right. Go inside, but make it quick.” The guard gestured.

  “Thanks.” Armaan passed by them and made his way through the entrance. He was in a corridor and on his right side he saw a wide door that opened into the kitchen. The kitchen staff were bustling around working on their stations. Armaan pictured in his mind’s eye where he had seen the guy disappear down the basement. It seemed to be ahead. But he had to make sure. Armaan spotted a thin young man mopping the floor. He made his way up to him.

  “Excuse me, I’m with Shen. Shen told me some guards in the basement wanted fruits. How do I go downstairs?”

  The man spoke without looking at him. “Down the corridor, turn right at the end.”

  “Thanks.” Armaan said.

  He passed the kitchen and walked the length of the corridor. Armaan turned right as instructed and found the stairs that went down to the basement. He looked around. The corridor was deserted. He stopped and pulled out his silenced Glock. He turned off the safety and held the crate in front of him with his left hand. His right hand gripped the weapon. He positioned the box such that the Glock was hidden from view.

  Satisfied, Armaan went down the stairs. He was quite sure there would be hostiles down there. The uniform and the crate would give him a split-second advantage. It was all he would need. He could see the stairs open up in a corridor. He saw steel doors on both sides of the aisle.

  What the hell? These look like incarceration cells.

  It certainly didn’t look like treasure vaults. And then his eyes fell on two soldiers sitting across a desk playing the Chinese board game Go.

  They would be a problem.

  As Armaan reached the foot of the stairs, he espied a third sentry at the far end of the corridor. The odds were against him. Three against one. The worst part was the third was quite far away for the surprise factor to work for him. A thousand options raced through Armaan’s mind.

  The men at the desk stopped their game and looked at him in curiosity. “What are you doing here?” The men reached for their guns.

  Armaan stopped ten paces away from them.

  “I was told to deliver fruits. Here. Catch.” He threw the crate right on their heads.

  The men instinctively used their hands to shield themselves from the incoming crate. They would be distracted for one second.

  It was all he needed.

  Armaan brought forward his Glock that had been hidden behind the crate and pointed it at the man in the far corner who had already pulled out his gun. Armaan squeezed two rounds. He had been trained to aim for the centre-mass for a far-away target. The guard took two bullets in the chest and fell. Armaan swung his gun on the recoil and trained it at the two men that were momentarily disoriented by the flying crate. He fired two more rounds.

  Both were headshots.

  Armaan looked at the three fallen guards. The silenced spits meant no one else would have heard the shots. He loaded a fresh magazine, while he looked around him for any other hostiles. There were none. Armaan took the bunch of keys from one of the guards and then fiddled with it as he looked at the numerous doors in the corridor. Many keys, many doors.

  One of them housed his team.

  But which one? He didn’t have the time to try every door.

  “Baldev!” He yelled, hoping Baldev would be behind one of these doors. Now that he had reached this place, Armaan realized there was no guarantee his team would be here. He had based his entire strategy on the word of an informer. In fact, they could be in some other place in Urumqi itself.

  A long anxious moment passed as he heard his echo die down.

  “Armaan?” A hesitant voice with an incredulous tone finally replied.

  “Yes, it’s me.” Armaan noted that the voice was coming from one of the cells on the left. He walked over and slid open the window slot. His eyes lit up on seeing Baldev, Roshan and Hitesh. They looked tired, but not worse for it.

  “It’s good to see you boys.”

  “Same here.” Baldev said.

  It took a few tries before Armaan found the right key and the door clicked open. Baldev rushed out and grabbed him in a tight bear hug.

  “I missed you so much, Armaan.” His eyes were full of gratitude.

  Armaan smiled. “Me too. I didn’t enjoy my time without you.”

  Armaan heard shouts of prisoners from the other cells. They clamoured to be let out from their cells. He regretfully ignored them. It was not his objective. Besides who knew if they would try to kill him the moment they were released.

  “Let’s go before someone stumbles in here.” Armaan said.

  “Not without my tablet.” Hitesh said.

  “Should be in there.” Baldev pointed to a locker next to the desk. Armaan selected a key and it opened on the first try. Baldev, Hitesh and Roshan picked up the gear that had been taken from them.

  “Grab their guns.” Armaan said, pointing to the three dead men. “Hide the bodies in your cell.”

  They had just plopped the bodies in their cell when one of the dead guard’s radio squawked. “Wong, report your status.”

  “Ugh,” Hitesh blurted. “If we answer they’ll know it’s a stranger speaking.”

  A moment later another guard’s radio came to life asking the same question.

  Armaan stood still for a moment. Then he came to a decision. He picked up the radio and spoke in a breathless voice full of agony. “P-prisoners are trying to escape. Wong is down. Request immediate backup to the basement floor.”

  Baldev grabbed Armaan, “What the hell did you just do?” He shrieked.

  Armaan shrugged. “What does it look like? I’m calling in the entire cavalry.”

  CHAPTER 24

  “But why?” Baldev’s eyes scanned the stairs expecting a horde of guards any moment.

  “Because I spent ten minutes scanning the entire mansion before entering. There were seventeen guards in total, not counting the three in here. That’s an unusually high number of guards compared to the two or four guards most multi-millionaires employ. It means Zontai considers his life is under quite a threat. Either he has a lot of enemies or he may have a lot to hide. The person who led me here told me Zontai masterminded the Aadhaar attack. I would want to have a quiet word with him with no guards to disturb me.”

  “So your plan is to bring all the guards to us thinking we can neutralize them?”

  “Yes. That’s my plan.”

  “That’s insane! Did you even realiz
e we have boxed ourselves in? There is only one exit for us and the guards will storm through it and massacre us.”

  Armaan shook his head. “Let me rephrase what you just said. There is only one entry for them and the guards will enter and we will massacre them.”

  Baldev gave a furious growl. “Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.” He closed his eyes for a moment, took a deep breath, exhaled and opened his eyes. “Okay, let’s get it over with. What are our odds?”

  Roshan gulped. “Less than ten percent.”

  “We can do this easily.” Armaan opened his backpack. “Maybe this will change your mind.”

  Baldev’s eyes widened as he looked inside. There were half a dozen flash bangs, grenades, a couple of assault rifles and Glock 17s along with scores of ammo clips. He picked up the flash bang and grinned. “Now we are talking.”

  Armaan smiled back. “I came prepared.”

  Hitesh kept staring at the staircase. “How much lead time we have before they come?”

  “Ten seconds at minimum and twenty max.” Armaan looked around at the team. “Take what you fancy and let’s spread out.”

  Armaan overturned the desk table the guards were using and propped it sideways using it as a makeshift cover. Baldev took position behind the locker. Roshan and Hitesh lay prone in the doorway to their cell, their guns trained on the staircase.

  Armaan heard the sounds of running boots above him followed by sharp commands. The guards are here. They would be storming down the stairs any minute. His heart pounded with the anxiety of the upcoming ambush. Even though he had told the team they had a good chance of getting out unscathed, things could go wrong very quickly. But he counted upon his experience and training that they would be successful. He gripped his gun tightly and rechecked that the safety was off. He could do this, he told himself.

  Armaan whispered to Baldev. “You start the party. We’ll finish it.”

  Baldev clutched his flash bang and nodded silently.

  Armaan heard boots trample down the stairs. A moment later he could see three pairs of boots running down the stairs followed by three more. The guards were descending in rows of three. He counted a total of nine guards. He ducked his head down before they could see him. The guards would never have seen their prisoners put up a fight.

  That was about to change.

  Armaan focused on the sound of guards’ boots. He estimated they had reached the bottom of the stairs. He closed his eyes shut and covered his ears knowing what was going to happen next.

  Clink!

  The guards yelled as they saw the flash bang land in their midst. They started running up the stairs. But it was too late. The stun grenade exploded emitting a blinding flash and an ear-splitting bang that rendered the guards temporarily blind and deaf.

  Now!

  Armaan rose out of his hiding spot behind the desk and let loose a barrage of rounds. He downed two of the guards immediately. Next to him, Baldev, Roshan and Hitesh also unleashed their guns. The fight was over in five seconds.

  “Where are the others?” Baldev looked around.

  “I think they are still up there. Nine down. Eight remain.” Armaan rummaged in his backpack and pulled out his binoculars. He switched to thermal vision and saw four soldiers right at the entrance to the staircase. Based on their body language, they were discussing what to do.

  “I see only four near the stairs.” Armaan pulled the pin out from a grenade, ran to the staircase and lobbed it to where he knew the soldiers stood. He ran back to cover immediately.

  Boom!

  An ear-shattering explosion roared in his eardrums. The entire building shuddered under the impact of the blast. Powdered debris started falling all around them.

  “Let’s go.” Armaan rushed up the stairs. His gun trained in front of him. Baldev and the others were right behind him. He reached the top and saw the four guards lying dead near the stairs. Around him, he could hear the screams of panicked housekeeping staff. Armaan made a wry smile. Nothing like a grenade blast to get everyone’s attention.

  But where were the remaining four guards?

  And where would they find Zontai?

  Armaan made his way to the corridor from where he had entered in the mansion. The entrance was deserted. He took a passageway he hadn’t traversed before and followed it; the others right behind him. The passageway ended at a staircase that went to a floor above. Armaan pulled out his binoculars and scanned the floor above him.

  “I’ve found Zontai.”

  Baldev looked at him. “How can you be so sure its him? It could be any of the staff.”

  “It’s because everywhere the staff are running helter-skelter. But there is one room in which there are five men. All of them are sitting still. I have no doubt its Zontai and his four guards. They are taking their last stand.”

  Armaan handed his binoculars to Baldev. Baldev scanned them. “You are right. The four guards are positioned outwards in the room protecting Zontai. But why don’t they simply call in the police?”

  “It’s because of the prison cells downstairs.” Armaan replied. “At least I believe that’s what they are. I could hear the cries of people who were held down there. No doubt illegally. If the police come here, Zontai would have to do a lot of explaining.”

  Baldev nodded. “You are right. Zontai told us he kept his enemies as prisoners in the basement.”

  Roshan looked at Armaan. “So what now?”

  Armaan bounded up the stairs. “Zontai thinks he is safe with four guards. It’s time to prove him wrong.”

  CHAPTER 25

  Armaan made his way across the hall and corridors towards his destination. The team followed him. The place was already deserted. Many of the housekeeping staff had fled in a few seconds after the grenade blast when the entire building had shook. Nobody would have wanted to stay behind. It made his job much easier.

  Finally, he came to the room that housed Zontai. The room was barred shut with a wide double-door made of the finest mahogany and decorated with an intricate gold engraved design. Armaan had a wry smile as he appraised it. It would be a shame to breach this door. A waste of opulence. But then again, the man inside deserved it. Zontai should have known not to bite more than he could chew. He should have anticipated the repercussions of staging the Aadhaar attack.

  Armaan crouched next to the door hugging the wall. “Zontai,” he yelled. “I have killed all of your guards downstairs. This is your last warning. Tell your guards to surrender or everyone in the room will face the same fate.”

  A barrage of gunfire answered him. The shots splintered one of the doors and whizzed by him. Armaan was glad he was not in the way. So be it, he told himself. Zontai still believed he could get out of this mess.

  Armaan and the team backed a safe distance away from the door. He rummaged in his backpack and handed a flash bang to Baldev. Then he pulled out a grenade himself. He nodded to Baldev. “You know what’s going to happen next.”

  Baldev simply grinned.

  “Boys, take cover.” Armaan took cover behind a pillar and pulled out the pin and threw the grenade underhand in the direction of the door. The grenade rolled along the floor and stopped right in front of the double-door.

  Boom!

  The entire mansion reverberated for the second time. Armaan could feel the pillar against which he leaned shudder and crack as a burst of shrapnel embedded themselves into it. He waited for an instant for the dust to settle and then took a quick peek. The entire door and a part of the wall near it were missing leaving a gaping hole.

  “Now!” He commanded Baldev.

  Clink!

  Baldev’s flash bang zoomed through the air into the hole blasted by the grenade and landed into Zontai’s room. Armaan covered his ears even though he was a safe distance away.

  Bang!

  He could still hear the loud boom through his closed eardrums. Zontai and the guards would be in a world of pain.

  “Let’s breach in, boys.” Armaan roared and brought his gun ar
ound in a firing position. He raced through the gap and quickly took in the surroundings. The room was huge by any standards. Full of opulent paintings, statues and various adornments. The four guards were at the far end of the room next to Zontai who was sitting behind a large desk. Everybody was jostling here and there groping their way around blinded by the flash bang. He aimed at one of the guards and scored a headshot. Then he swivelled his gun and pointed at another guard and pulled the trigger. The man went down. The remaining two guards were popped by his team.

  Zontai was groaning and rubbing his eyes. Armaan sprinted across the room, pulled down the curtains of a window behind Zontai and tied his hands behind his back. The effects of the flash bang would take a minute to go away. He wanted answers and Zontai better give them to him.

  Zontai who could neither see nor hear what was going around him stiffened as he realized he was being tied up. But he was too disoriented to resist. The disorientation slowly dwindled away and his eyes widened as he saw the carnage around him. All his guards were dead and he found himself surrounded by four men with guns pointed at his head.

  He whimpered, “Please… take everything you want. I can give you whatever amount of money you desire. But please don’t kill me.”

  Armaan snorted in disgust. Zontai believed that anyone could be bought with money. Or if not, they could be threatened and intimidated by his minions. Zontai had lived so many years thinking he was untouchable and it had instilled a veneer of arrogance in him. But karma catches up with the high and mighty too. This was the man who thought he could hack into the Aadhaar database and sell all Indians’ data to the Chinese government and make a quick buck. Today he would realize that neither his wealth, nor his power could stand in the way of an unstoppable Armaan.

  Armaan raised his gun and pushed the barrel hard in Zontai’s cheek. “You’ll die. The only choice you get is either a quick death or a live show where you will watch me cut off your limbs one by one. So which one do you want?”

  “No, no, no,” Zontai spluttered.

  Armaan smirked. For all his bravado, this guy turned out to be a wimp. The threat of imminent death did that to people. He grabbed Zontai by the back of his head and smashed his face into the desk. Zontai yelped like a dog.