THE MYSTIC: PART I - THE SEEKER (Part 1 - THE SEEKER)

by Arindam Bhattacharjee

  Charlie to Command: Kill Zone Identified. Good To Go

  Within minutes of getting the specific information the different units of the teams were in position as specified by the supercomputer. The engineers were positioned from the north of the building to bring down the motion sensors with a controlled EMP explosion to knock down the defensive perimeter. Causing minimal damage to the server room was imperative and the simulations catered to the demand.

  The snipers with the blue unit were positioned in the southwest and south-east corners of the buildings to take down the guards. Additionally it would also provide cover for the red unit’s entrance. Vidyut was programmed to move in from the north west corner of the building entering from the top floor and moving downwards. Ironically most of the inmates were sleeping on the top floor from where Vidyut was supposed to enter.

  In the meantime, the red unit led by Capt. Chauhan hid themselves behind some boulders near the main entrance while the blue team provided them with cover. As soon as Capt. Chauhan took his position a message beeped on his radio.

  Charlie to Bravo: Server room shows two individuals. Over

  Presence of two individuals inside the server room meant a risk of damage to the server and the intelligence. The simulation had suggested the scenario of only one individual in room who could be overtaken easily.

  Bravo to Sniper1: Any visual shot a possibility. Over

  Negative. No visual to the server room. Over

  Bravo to Charlie: Assault starts when there is one in the server room. Over.

  Charlie to Bravo: Roger that. Over and out.

  After a wait of five minutes it was confirmed that the other individual had left the server room. The message was conveyed to the command and they confirmed that there was no external threat at the moment. Taking off the safety of his gun Capt. Chauhan made a fist showing his pugnacity for the assault.

  Command to All team: You are good to go. Attack Attack Attack.

  The delta tactical assault HAWK was part of a multinational task force to use computer simulations to shock and overawe the enemy. The technique was developed initially with the Pentagon’s requirement for building up a task force to take over civil and military nuclear establishments in rogue states like Pakistan, North Korea and Iran. Afterwards the Indian army practiced this technique with its counterparts in Israel and the United States to simulate taking over nuclear facilities in Pakistan.

  There was a fear that any rogue general in Pakistan could always get involved in launching a nuclear strike at India or Israel. Therefore the skill of this special unit was quick deployment and high precision strikes on any installation using combination of explosives and lethal firepower.

  Evidently they had the access to the most advanced technologies till date, although it was never meant to be used against insurgents inside the country, the government recently passed a secret ordinance bypassing the Parliament, which allowed use of special forces to tackle the problem of the Maoists but no one had expected that these forces would be so lethal.

  1.3 The Assault

  The actual assault was more like an orchestra playing a symphony than adrenalin junkies in action. The snipers took their first shots gunning down the guards. Next the engineers blasted the EMP pulse to knock down the alarm system and neutralize the mines. In addition the pulse also took down the electricity of the complete building and there was complete darkness for a few seconds when rockets fired from the helicopter gunships come down heavily.

  Six rockets hit the two storied building from different locations, creating a great fireworks display. Also the explosion blew off the part of the building where the dormitories were. Meanwhile the few fortunate ones who survived the first shots were completely clueless about what hit them in the middle of the night.

  The software had almost accurately predicted the damage inflicted on the building due to the blowup. Following the initial explosions Vidyut had lit up the designated kill-zone with artificial lighting and confused the survivors who were trying to exit. As instructed by the machine Vidyut entered the top floor from a hole created by the initial explosions. By taking advantage of the confusion and perfectly modeling the behavior of the survivors, Vidyut and the snipers were able to wipe out most of the inmates.

  Within minutes of the explosion, the main assault unit led by Captain Chauhan charged inside the building from the main entrance with the blue team providing him cover. As Captain Chauhan entered the war zone, the world around him appeared more like hell on Earth; the bombs and shells blowing off in his vicinity sent tremors down to his position of the building. He could see clouds of dust and concrete closing in on him, threatening to suffocate him which made him feel uneasy.

  Though from his helmet visor he could see the path well laid out; shouting instructions to his team to follow him was the sole comfort he had in this theatre of war. His shouts were filling the painful silence in an apocalypse orchestrated by supercomputers. As he progressed, his voice gradually began to sound more pained, desperate and fearful anticipating a miscalculation by the machine killing him and his comrades. It seemed all the nerves of his body begged and pleaded for him to break off and access the enemy positions.

  But HAWK required him not to follow his instincts and follow computer simulations results. By now the server room was not in sight as a thick fog from a recent rocket attack had filled up the hallway. Although he was not able to see properly and panicking to follow the simulation results, but with the intention of keeping the morale of the team high, his voice relentlessly rose, filling the thick atmosphere; he cried out to his comrades asking them to keep following the instructions provided by the simulations and not to panic. As he moved forward dirt and soot began to choke him, slowly covering the helmet visor as he struggled with all his might to keep his team focused on the mission.

  Even while going through the turmoil, he hoped for was some sort of escape from this living nightmare – anything that would let him go back to take cover till the dust settled allowing visibility. He thought if the computer program considers the nightmarish situation they were facing in its equations. And as he was thinking, suddenly a volley of bullets from Vidyut shattered the window panes in the room and a gust of wind whooshed out clearing the air indoors granting him his wish and giving him the much needed respite. The echoes of these shots filled the building and he could feel death swallowing up his enemies from the sounds of despair coming from the other terminal of the hallway.

  Overwhelmed with fear, with his voice quivering to give any further instruction, he saw the designated door of the server room and without saying anything to anyone – he made a run for it following the path suggested by the simulations. As he reached close to his target, the air grew clearer and so did his mind as all the weapons around him became silent.

  At the gate, he could no longer control his instincts and he threw away his helmet which was suffocating him and kicked open the radio room to see the lone survivor in the room standing dazed and befuddled. Captain Chauhan looked into his eyes and without any hesitation, opened fire on the fellow and emptied his magazine on him. Immediately then he came out to greet the rest of the team still waiting in the doorway (the captain had not passed on any instructions before storming in) and showed the sign of victory.

  The rest of the team also took out their helmets and felt relieved after successfully finishing the most confusing operation of their lives. By now all the inmates were dead and the commandos took over the server room, within a few minutes of the start of the operations. There were estimated about fifty casualties as reported to Capt Chauhan but one commando of the team also lost his life in a friendly fire from a sniper, as he was mistaken to be an enemy.

  After a while when the fog of battle settled, Capt Chauhan rushed out of the building and dragged out his dead comrade to the opening in front of the entrance. He was infuriated by this mistake of the sniper who had taken the fatal shot and he rushed to the sniper and pushed him down to the ground shouti
ng curses at him. But he soon regained his composure when the sniper pleaded the simulations asked him to point towards the commando. On hearing this Capt Chauhan became quiet. The very idea of him trained in so many warfare techniques, to be used as a puppet of computer simulations confused him on his role as an army man. But then he announced on the radio the success of the operation to his command.

  Bravo to Command: Mission Accomplished. One casualty to friendly fire. I warned you. Over.

  Command to Bravo: Roger that. Simulations are not absolutely accurate. Reinforcements will arrive in five minutes. Over and Out

  Captain Chauhan visibly angry and threw away the radio set. Within minutes of informing the command about the success, helicopter gunships started hovering over the region searching for possible backup units. Two more units of paratroopers were dropped near the forest to clear out any resistance. In the meantime the commanding officer of the unit had declared the mission as a success to the government, who were preparing to reach the scene to take credit of the operations.

  After gaining back his composure Captain Chauhan came to terms with the enormity of the task achieved after being briefed by the commanding officer. His mind, though still confused, was now in a euphoric state as professionally, he just achieved the best till date, in terms of body count without using any of his military instincts. But simultaneously the idea that he was actually a machine devouring the enemy with an exemplary display of power - kept him behave in a disturbing fashion with his troops. The idea that he did not actually led his men to combat would mean that he would not command the same respect which his peers in other units would, but then he will have more kills to his name then any of them and awards.

  During this stage of euphoria, without informing anyone, he ran to the terrace of the building jumping over the dead bodies. As he reached the top and looked at his men discussing their exploits. He was confused about the events of the day and started simultaneously to shout and whisper by himself, questioning his role in the mission.

  He shouted,

  “NOW I AM THE HAWK, DESTROYER OF THE WORLD OF EVIL.”

  but then he remembered from his training of the philosophy of the tiger style martial arts and softly whispered,

  “But I am also the tiger who stalks his enemy and strikes terror with utmost precision.”

  He shouts again after looking at his gun,

  “ACTUALLY I AM THE TIGER OR THE TIGER IS ME.”

  He again became silent for a while and spoke softly as if remembering his lessons about the psychology of the beast comparing it with himself,

  “A tiger is truly a majestic creature and an alpha animal in the jungles. He moves with such grace and elegance – no other animal can match it. Like a tiger, padding silently, we can now creep upon any creature and destroy them with a single swipe of our paws.”

  He became silent again and started pacing up and down on the terrace.

  He halted and again spoke in low voice.

  “Like the tiger’s knife-like claws ripping its prey apart, once the supercomputers build the simulations, it’s all but over for the enemy. The machine delivers sheer raw power and intelligence, delivering deadly results by silently lurking in the shadows.”

  Then he shouted again “JUST LIKE A TIGER”.

  He looked up and saw a chopper overhead canvassing the region and again spoke,

  “I wait on the prey with my glittering feline eyes from the sky and when I am ready I pounce with a coiled energy that is both fearsome and pitiless.”

  Then he shouted again,

  “JUST LIKE A TIGER.”

  After saying this he quickly ran towards the entrance from where he could see a few of the dead bodies and growled at them loudly, “AAAAUUUUUMMMM”

  He growled again

  “AAAAUUUUUMMMM”

  and again

  “AAAAUUUUUMMMM”.

  One of his subordinates witnessed this and shouted

  “Captain, are you alright.”

  On hearing this Captain Chauhan snapped out of the hypnotic trance. He went back to the terrace and no one came to disturb him till the sun rose. He just sat quietly in one corner with his mind completely blank of any thoughts gazing straight into the stars.

  The combing operations continued till next morning where the commandos engaged in minor skirmishes with small enemy units. In the morning, minesweepers were sent to the location to clear the area of mines and by afternoon the press came to the remote location. That was probably the greatest single achievement the government had scored against the Maoists in recent years.

  Till then the government officials were just sitting ducks to the Maoists. The Maoists had innovated their techniques in the recent years and had even started booby trapping roads and also the dead bodies of soldiers, to score their hits against the government.

  1.4: The Media Misfire

  The next day after completing the combing operation, the Special Forces decided to invite the media to spread the news and the local politicians also joined them. The politicians hailed Captain Chauhan as the hero of the operations and briefed him to pose as the face of the new technology. The politicians asked him to be photographed along with his men by picking up the scattered body parts – a tribute to his latest exploit.

  A thorough professional, Captain Chauhan objected to such vulgar display, but had no choice but to obey instructions coming from the civilian authority. Following this, the media took photos and videos of bodies of men brutally killed in the mission with Captain Chauhan and his men as the backdrop.

  Nevertheless, it was a disgusting situation for Captain Chauhan but when the media personnel asked some soldiers to carry severed heads and torsos as a proof of the exploits in front of the camera, the height of insult was reached. As a result Captain Chauhan could control his anger no longer and reacted immediately by shouting at the media.

  “What on earth are you people asking my men to do? Don’t you have any regard for human life? What are you doing”?

  Meanwhile the Commanding Officer of Captain Chauhan’s unit who was standing not far from the place where the incident happened, immediately sprang into action and ordered the cameras to stop rolling. He then asked the troops to fall in immediately to provide a guard of honour to the politicians as a step to cool down the situation. In no time, all the troops fell in line and started performing the military rituals.

  Subsequently the media, uninterested in the military routines lost interest in Captain Chauhan , as now he resembled any other military officer and not a hero. Slowly all the media persons moved away to take pictures of the carnage from inside the building. After tactfully getting Captain Chauhan away from the media’s attention, the CO quickly drove him out to their command center away from the media glare, to save his career.

  Captain Chauhan while being shoved out so unceremoniously thought that this moment of glory of his came to be wasted by an inhuman attitude of the media. It was always his dream to amble along the lines of cameras focusing on him in complete military fatigues. There was always something to be said for the silvery allure of honours and the medals, he proudly wore over his uniform which had brought him laurels yesterday.

  Moreover, he thought that the pride that surrounded him and the polished brilliance of the officer training he received in the academy had a way of breaking into the soul of millions of individuals through the cameras. Whether it was to be a discussion on the micro-details of the HAWK or the complete sweep of the enemy with minimal collateral damage, the details would have provided multisensory nourishments to all the patriots in the country. Also, this interview was to be caviar for the soul of those affected by the conflict, but he thought first one has to get past the horrendous attitude of getting maximum TRP from the coverage.

  Immediately he looked back and could see the building from the base with the cameras still lined up to take photographs. Again he was lost in the bliss of his own creative imagination of him showing off his battle exploits in the highest o
f military traditions with the truffle-white clouds, or what little there were, and the hazy horizon bathed in sunrise-pink glo basking in his glory. Such inelegant media ruined the most important day of his life.

  In addition the cameras seemed like indented slabs of black marble, still glistening with the afterglow of their journalism era that changed politics around the world. But now they lacked the triggering mechanism that spelt truth while pouring defiance against evil. But somehow he could see something like fungus sticking to the cameras, which looked like the peaceful, monk-brown weed that he came across during his survival training days in the forests of Manipur. In reality, these were actually the facial tracking units integrated with the new cameras to track the movement of the people in focus.

  But now Captain Chauhan could even smell the fungus from this distance as a disease creeping through the media. Suddenly his daydreams ended with the sound of squawking and quarrelling coming from the site which signified the end of the most important of morning Captain Chauhan had ever had in his lifetime. They were the politicians who had just arrived. Afterwards he did not look back.

  Later the media televised live scenes from the location with soldiers and politicians posing next to the mutilated remains with Captain Chauhan explaining the operations. Also the videos circulating over the social networking sites showed mutilated bodies piled up near the doors and windows as if lined up for an orchestrated execution. Those who came under the fire from the unmanned vehicles Vidyut, were mutilated beyond recognition with body parts scattered all over the place. The social networking sites also tried to showcase these gory images as a revenge for the victims of bomb blasts, by comparing the images of the two events with each other.