“No kidding, this is indeed poison and a deadly one.” Rose replies
“But this poison is very rare, you can’t just buy it anywhere” Mirana replies
“Wait, how did you even survive this?” Rose questions me. I Look puzzled by it myself.
“It’s the effect of Dark Energy flowing inside his body which protects us from such hideous acts” Raiken replies to Rose.
“So, if he was poisoned by someone, why?” Mirana questions
“That is exactly the reason I am discussing with you guys” Raiken says
“I don’t have the slightest of idea, who it might be?” Mirana replies
“Zunzar what are your thoughts?” Rose asks
“Huh… what… yeah… I think we should let Raiken handle this” I reply after spacing out in between the conversation
“What do you mean?” Rose asks
“Raiken is the only one who hasn’t been with any of us, he can judge anyone among us better than us, logical right?” I conclude
“Yeah, you do have a point” Mirana agrees
“He doesn’t have any attachment so he can see what we might miss” Mirana adds
“Okay, I will find him but this needs to stay between us till then.” Raiken commands. Everyone nods their heads in agreement
“If you are feeling ok, we should join the others or the culprit might feel suspicious and become aware of us” Raiken adds
“Yeah, I am fine. I will go and eat something to reduce suspicion” I reply
Training grounds – Haze Tech,
“It better be a good reason for stopping our training in between, I don’t have time for something nonsense” Ishaan says coldly while looking at Aniket.
he happens to have brought few crates with him. The crates have HAZE’s logo on it. Ishaan looks at the crates and wonders what’s inside. Every soldier on the ground including Rupal, Will and Tyler have gathered around as the audience.
“Haze has developed the next generation of weapons, whose prototype version are present here in these crates. The reason I have brought these here is that I would like to see if these weapons are any good than the present armament.” Aniket addresses
“What if they are better?” Ishaan asks
“If they are, we will use it for our own and I will not present it to any country.” Aniket responds
“That’s what I was expecting!” Ishaan exclaims and puts a friendly hand on Aniket’s shoulder.
“Okay, onto the first weapon” Aniket points towards the crate and two people pick the crate and put in front of the audience. One of them opens the crate to reveal the weapon.
“This is the XM-47 sniper rifle fitted with experimental laser shot technique, which enables this gun to shot at a distance of 10km without affecting the bullet’s trajectory. Meaning not a chance in the world that you would miss a shot.” Aniket says as everyone looks in awe
“I like it, but have you tested it?” Tyler asks
“No, that’s exactly the reason I have brought them here in the first place” Aniket responds awkwardly “You were not Paying attention, I guess”
“What’s next?” Ishaan questions
They bring in a new crate and open it up.
“This is the Haze’s new and improved grenade launcher, the Senator II” Aniket announces proudly
“I will test it if nobody minds” Rupal states
“Okay, and now the special weapon I wanted to showcase to everyone.” Aniket says excitedly. “Bring it on the ground.” Aniket continues and points his hand towards the ground as everyone looks behind them. The noise of a familiar engine rhymes and a big heavy-duty vehicle barges on the ground.
“I present to you, the Man of War Assault Machine-3 or the MOWAM-3” Aniket announces with a loud tone proudly.
Everyone looks in awe as the god of modern land warfare enters the scene.
“Simply put, it is way more powerful than its predecessor. Fitted with more accurate and powerful weapons without compromising the weight to fuel consumption ratio.” Ishaan smirks and Aniket looks at with pride.
“Your company actually completed model 3” Ishaan says as he looks at Aniket with a smirk
“Yeah and that means I have finally one-upped UN’s MOWAM-1 by two folds” Aniket says proudly as he shows thumbs down to Ishaan.
“How did you make it. Firstly, how did you even know about version 3?” Ishaan asks suspiciously
“Well, I have the ace in my deck” Aniket responds
“Speaking of ace, were you guys worried about me?” I say as I interrupt between the conversation which was heating up.
“Huh… no we were planning to take your place” Ishaan responds to my question in a sarcastic tone.
I give him a wry smile. As if he can take it.
“As if you can take it” I reply
Ishaan looks at me with his eyebrows up. I understand the gesture and change the topic.
“You made it earlier than I anticipated” I say while admiring the MOWAM.
“Wait, you knew about this?” Ishaan questions.
Aniket and I look at Ishaan and Ishaan looks at us with a question mark. He then quickly gets taken back and responds
“You… you made the design for him, didn’t you?” Ishaan says to me
“Yes, I did” I quickly reply as Ishaan’s horror turns true.
“That explains why Aniket’s weapon’s division started expanding rapidly and why every weapon which came after that were familiar. You were helping him behind the scene.” Ishaan says as he understands our secret.
“Now that your hypothesis is in fact true let’s test the new beast” I say and suddenly Chang comes running from behind. I see him coming and stop to turn towards him. Chang pants as he hands a tablet to me.
“You should wear your comms, you know” Chang says hastily to me, currently busy looking at the tablet in my hand.
“Sorry Chang, what is this by the way?” I ask, completely unaware of what is that he wants to show me.
“Its… a recording I found which shows UN and USA’s talk about Area 51.” Chang says
I, Aniket and Ishaan take a look at the recording…
“Wait, that image… it’s impossible!” I exclaim shockingly
“What image?” Ishaan questions
“This” I show the image to Ishaan
The image is of a dagger in possession of Area 51.
“it’s a dagger, what’s so suspicious about it?” Aniket responds
“It’s not just any dagger, it’s a Relic Gear” I say passively
“We need to gather everyone immediately. Now! To the conference room” I command and all of them walk towards the Command room.
In the conference room,
Everyone has gathered on a short notice from their leader. Minal stands next to me and puts her files on the new table installed in the room after’s the previous table’s fate. Everyone is sitting around the round table. In clockwise manner, Ishaan, Aniket, Raiken, me, Minal, Mirana, Rose, Rupal, Tyler, Will, Sia, Kartikeya etc.
“Let us begin” Minal says
“We have located this thing called Relic gear. Raiken and Zunzar confirmed that this dagger is indeed a Relic Gear. US is still in denial of Area 51’s suspicious activity. Furthermore, within this chaos we have managed to find that UN is keeping a keen eye on Area 51 for even a little suspicious behaviour, that means it’s heavily guarded plus it has eyes in the sky.” Minal briefs everyone “I will let brother continue the rest”
Minal sits down and I take a stand.
“As she said, the dagger is a Relic Gear, that means we can’t let it stay in their hands. Relic Gear can harness power which can be considered ‘god like’ on earth. More the reason to take it from them as soon as possible. We don’t know what kind of things they might be experimenting with that Relic Gear.”
“How can we take it. I mean we can’t just walk in and take it” Ishaan interrupts
“That is exactly why we are here, I
suppose” I reply coldly
“First, we need to find a way to stop UN’s surveillance. I leave that to you, Chang” I say
“Okay, I will stop the data transmission using HAZE’s personal satellites but I won’t be able to give you much time as there is a risk of them tracing us” Chang replies with a sort of disbelief in his tone.
“A window of few minutes will do” I reply politely.
“Now to the plan of how this operation works…” I continue
After an hour…
“Everyone knows what they need to do, so get some rest we leave tonight at 0200 hrs” I end the meeting
“Zunzar?” Mirana calls from Zunzar’s back
“Yeah?” I turn towards her
“We haven’t had a decent talk since you are back…” Mirana says hesitantly
“let’s take a coffee as usual and sit under the tree, I have heard that sunset looks pretty from the beach nearby.” I respond quickly before Mirana gets to complete her sentence.
“Okay” Mirana says and smiles
After a while,
“I heard you implemented brother’s designs and came up with the prototypes” Minal says
“Yeah, although the guns were easy to make, man of war wouldn’t have been possible without Kartikeya’s help” Aniket responds
“I understand the entire plan but I don’t get the part as to how are we going to enter Area 51 undetected? Considering that UN and US both are alert” Minal asks
“If you would follow me, I would like to show you how” Raiken answers “I am actually showing it to Ishaan and the entire squad.”
“Yeah sure, I am curious” Minal responds and follows Raiken.
Beach, EXODUS…
“How was it there, I mean…” Mirana tries to ask softly
“Don’t feel bad, ask whatever you want to” I respond
“How is it like outside, I have always wondered” She asks
“Well, I must say it’s pretty much the same as our world, just bigger” I reply
“How did you live? What were you doing? What did you eat?” She starts asking questions becoming hyperactive
“Easy, firstly I work with the Dark lord as you know. I have read a lot of books recently. Actually, I was either on a mission or I was reading books about the universe. It’s history, culture and different alien races, Relic Gears and a lot more stuff.” I respond pretty happily
“You must know a lot about the actual universe” She looks at me with her soulful eyes.
“Yeah, I do but still I have a long way to go. Leave me aside for a minute because I want to know about you” I say as I look into those pretty eyes.
“Uh… I was having a normal life, just that I was handling bunch of your lunatics rather than watching over England” She says sarcastically and we both share a laugh
“my lunatics…” I say while laughing
“Ahh… it has been stressful lately!” She exclaims as she stretches out
“You have been through a lot, haven’t you?” I ask softly
“Look who’s talking?” She responds and grows sensitive
“Seriously, how did you survive these last 6 months. I mean isolated and brought into a different world, it must have been scary” She says sadly as she imagines my scenario
“Hey, I am here now. Whatever happened, happened for good. Aren’t you the one who keeps telling me that?” I reply here modestly
“When did my boyfriend grew from a small kid to a responsible man” Mirana says sarcastically
“Well, you have to come closer to know that” I say and grab her by waist, look in her deep blue eyes. Everything around me slows down.
We come close enough to feel each other’s breath. She looks closely in my eyes and we kiss! Passionate yet gently locking our lips with a beautiful sunset as a backdrop.
Hanger, EXODUS…
Kartikeya is tinkering with man of war as usual in the hanger where all of Exodus’s vehicles have been kept including the Deathrider used by Raiken.
Raiken arrives with the entire squad including Minal and Aniket. He stands in front of an empty space and turns towards everyone.
“Well, here is the way to enter Area 51 without getting detected.” He says
“I don’t see anything here” Minal says
Raiken waves his hand from left to right and suddenly the Deathrider appears in front of everyone.
“WOW!” Minal exclaims
“This is the Deathrider, Dark order’s personal ship which can’t be detected by your radar” Raiken says proudly
“We will use this to enter the base and exit it” Tyler says
“Yeah and this ship doesn’t emit sound too.” Raiken says
“What did you find Kartikeya?” Aniket asks
“This ship’s internals are way ahead of time. The kind of mechanisms used inside it are just beyond our thinking. I tried to study the ship but it’s so advanced that I couldn’t even understand its 20% properly.” Kartikeya replies with astonished look.
“Okay, that’s that” Ishaan says
“Which fuel does it run on Raiken?” Kartikeya asks
“It runs on the same energy which flows through my body.” Raiken answers
“With this ship at our back, I don’t think we need to worry about anything” Rupal says
“You are damn right about that” Raiken replies
Everyone smiles while looking at the Deathrider.
At 0000hrs, Exodus Base of Operations,
Everyone is preparing for the mission and the entire facility is flowing with voices and noises. I am standing in front of a screen with map of Area 51 on it.
“As discussed, Tyler’s squad will act as the front of this attack.” I am briefing the team and Tyler nods his head in agreement.
“Next, Rupal’s squad will be tasked with the Retrieval of the Relic Gear” Rupal nods his head in agreement
“Lastly, Will’s squad will be the overwatch.” Will nods
“Raike… I mean Boss and I”
“You can call me Raiken till we are here” Raiken interrupts
“Okay, Raiken and I will keep the enemy distracted while Rupal’s squad retrieves the Relic Gear.” Raiken nods
“We will enter the perimeter from the southwest region. Once we enter, Chang, you will disable the UN satellites” I continue
“You will have a window of 2 minutes to position yourself on the field then the satellites will come online again” Chang says to the team
“Once inside, we will sweep the entire area and remember, do not leave a single person alive, soldier or not.” I say firmly
“Once the Relic Gear is in our hands Tyler’s squad will arm the explosives and we will leave the base while Chang buys us two more minutes to get out of Area 51.”
“Everyone knows their drill, let’s move out and get this done” I command
“Yes, Sir” In unison
“Area 51 is officially turning to history tonight.” I conclude the briefing
“What about the weapons?” Aniket asks
“We will put them to test in the mission itself” I say. I Hope that we made them properly.
“I hope they work then” Ishaan says sarcastically and laughs. I also join him as Aniket looks at us and gives a wry smile.
At 0145hrs, Exodus Base of Operations,
The squads have lined up in front of the Deathrider. Raiken and Rupal are piloting the ship. Raiken is helping Rupal with the controls. Meanwhile, Aniket, Ishaan and Mirana are monitoring from the command room with Chang by their side. Tyler and Will stand in front of the entire team and I am standing facing them.
“Tonight, we are no longer soldiers, we are not some army, we are Relic Gear Hunters!” I state with a loud tone. Trying to motivate the audience.
“I can’t promise anything but if you are with me, I am sure as hell ready to complete this mission without any casualties. Is that Clear!”
“Are you ready!”
“Yes Sir!”
they collectively reply
“Let’s move out!”
Exodus may have tried to do an operation before but this time they are actually going to go through. As the collective mind of everyone on Exodus gets ready to annihilate Area 51 and retrieve the Relic Gear. On the other hand, Area 51 isn’t even aware of them and is continuing with their usual activities. At 0200 hrs the assault begins…
To Be Continued………
CHAPTER 9
Operation Annihilation
Strong winds blow through the vastness of the Nevada desert. The star-studded sky above the plain runway of Area 51. The only visible thing on the ground is the hanger and the lights of soldiers roaming the perimeter. Out in the sky, UN satellite keeping an overwatch with crystal clear photomapping. Suddenly, the satellites come to an immediate halt. The UN satellite goes dark.
In all that, a gloomy transparent ship comes flying in and hovers over the hanger. A rope drops from the invisible ship. Bunch of soldiers roll down from the ship on to the roof of the hanger. They slowly cut an opening in the roof and drop down on the floor by the rope. Slowly more soldiers start dropping from the ship and gather in the hanger. Soon, all the soldiers are in the hanger and two black armoured guys also drop from the ship in the end.
“Well, that was easy” Zunzar says
“Quiet, Rupal take your squad and secure the entrance. Will secure a location and be on the watch. Make sure you use the camouflage to cover yourself. UN satellites are good, I mean really good.” Tyler orders and everyone moves out to their respective job.
Tyler’s Squad arrives at Rupal’s location. Two dead bodies are lying on the floor while one of the squad members is scanning the door.
“There is almost 3 feet of steel behind this” He says
“There must be a way to open it?” Tyler asks
“Maybe I know where it is” Raiken says and pushes a lever to reveal a screen with number code, fingerprint and a retinal scanner. Like it’s an everyday thing for him
“They must be locked by the guards.” Rupal says
“Open their eyes and hurry up we can’t stay here much long” Zunzar comments
Tyler takes a guard and uses his body to open the door.
[The machine hones as the door’s mechanism kicks in and it opens with a huge thud.]
Universal War- the New World Page 11
