“How much time will it take?” Taksh asks
“Well, if I estimate the prep time and the positioning of satellites, about 2-3 hours.” Pran replies calculating in his mind
Taksh looks at him for a while and then looks at the screen with a concerned and overthinking face. Pran notices his concern
“Don’t worry, whoever the enemy of Area 51 was won’t be able to stop us. Because they won’t have enough time to react against us. You thought about it, didn’t you?” Pran says with confidence
“Yeah I thought about it but still I am not so sure…” Taksh says and stops. He puts his hands on the table and looks down. A sign of fatigue is clearly visible
“You should take rest I will call you once it’s ready” Pran suggests
“No, I am fine” he replies firmly
“Well, suit yourself” Pran shrugs
“I will be back. I have to check something” Taksh says and walks away
Deathrider is on the ground and everyone is inside the facility. They dropped the scientists in an open ground and flew away. Scientists then found their way to civilisation.
Exodus Base of Operations,
Zunzar keeps the container on the table in the conference room. Everyone looks at it as Zunzar opens the container and reveals the dagger.
“This is a Relic Gear?” Ishaan asks curiously
“Yes, one of the many.” Raiken replies
“Many? How many are there anyway?” Mirana asks
“We don’t know, by far we only know that there are many more which have not been found yet” Raiken replies
“How many have you found?” Aniket asks
“Everyone in the universe knows about 20 of them but the history says that there are many more which are lost in the depths of space” Zunzar replies
“You know a lot?” Ishaan asks
“Yes, I read a lot” Zunzar replies
“So, what are we supposed to do with it” Aniket asks
“We will take it to Razor and he will find a place to hide it somewhere” Zunzar says
“Who’s Razor?” Mirana asks
“He is one of members of Dark order” Raiken replies
“So, you will take it away from earth and give it to someone else to hide it” Mirana says a bit suspicious by Zunzar’s statement
“Precisely” Zunzar says without understanding Mirana’s gaze.
“Why?” Mirana gazes at him
“Because anybody who uses their power can easily conquer our earth” Zunzar says
“Basically, we are trying to save our earth by disposing it off” Ishaan remarks
“Exactly” Raiken says
“If you guys won’t mind, I will deliver it to Razor” Raiken adds
Raiken closes the container and takes it out of the room. Everyone looks questionably at Zunzar.
“What? Is something wrong with my face” Zunzar says
“No, you look great” Mirana replies unaware
Everyone in the room starts laughing and Mirana blushes as she looks down with embarrassment
Chang enters the room and slides a tab on the table.
“We have a problem” He says
“What happened? You sure know how to ruin the mood” Zunzar asks and everyone in the room suddenly stops laughing altogether
“It’s UN, they are sequencing some kind of scanning.”
“What? How?” Ishaan awkwardly asks
“Actually, I kept an eye on UN’s activities just to make sure they don’t come in our way and I found out that their satellites are moving. By their estimated trajectory they are lining up for a massive uplink.” Chang says hastily
“Can you figure out what are they exactly doing?” Aniket asks
“I know, they are using the satellites and recalibrating them to work collectively and scan for something” Chang replies
“Shit, they must be trying to locate the Relic Gear” Ishaan says
“It’s possible but did they really figure out a way to scan Relic Gears?” Zunzar asks
“I am sure they are looking for it” Chang says
“If it is so, then we really need to stop them before they scan because we also happen to have one at the moment” Aniket says
“The satellites will line in about 2 hours from now.” Chang says
“Dagger will be out of earth by then but we can’t risk letting them scan because if there are any more on this planet… an all-out war could break.” Zunzar says
“That’s not our problem” Chang says
“Then?” Aniket asks
“Zunzar and Raiken give off the same kind of energy that channels through Relic gears, making them a target as well.” Chang says hastily
“Do we need to worry then?” Rupal asks
“Yes, because the Relic gears only give off energy signature when in use or when they are somehow active. The Relic gear in Mauritius is currently inactive as per them, that means if they scan”
“They will scan me” Zunzar completes the sentence.
“Giving away our position and our credibility” Aniket concludes
“We need to stop them” Mirana commands
“Then let’s get to it” Ishaan replies
Command Room,
Ishaan, Zunzar, Mirana, Raiken, Aniket and Chang are sitting in the central deck of the command room and looking at each other’s face while constantly thinking…
“Is there really nothing we can do?” Zunzar asks with a lost hope
“I can so much as delay them” Chang replies
“That’s not helping” Raiken says
“Chang, can you use HAZE’s satellites to destroy UN’s satellites completely” Ishaan asks
“I won’t say it’s impossible but for that to happen I need a lot of time and I don’t think you can buy that much” Chang disapproves
“We will buy you time, can you do it” Ishaan says
“Yes, I guess but it’s not just time, they will surely see someone trying to hack in their systems, our fire wall can’t keep them from back tracing us” Chang replies with uncertainty
“Leave that to me” Mirana says
“Then I guess you have no problems now” Zunzar replies
“Ok, I will do it” Chang says
Within 15 minutes they all start their next operation, to stop a satellite network and completely disturb world’s biggest organisation. It’s like rush hour in an office as people keep running around the command room with things in their hands. Mirana is wearing the uniform of squad in her room while Zunzar, Minal, Ishaan, and Raiken are discussing about the plan. Aniket is busy with Chang to load their payload in HAZE’s satellite while managing the computers.
Tyler, Rupal and Will are standing in front of the Deathrider, ready to go on a mission. Mirana walks out of her room to the command room. Everyone’s gaze turns towards her. She is wearing a tight leather suit with a Kevlar vest, tied hairs making her look kind of badass.
“What?” Mirana asks as she looks at everyone
Zunzar looks around and turns angry “I guess we have a situation that needs to be dealt with” His eyes turn Red and everyone goes back to doing their work.
Mirana holds her laugh after looking at Zunzar’s reaction.
“What are you doing?” Zunzar asks confused
“As I said, I will stop UN from tracking us, so I am going in field” Mirana replies.
“Well, now that you are suited up, I can’t stop you, can I?” Zunzar says smiling
“Don’t smile ok, I am an agent. This is what I do” Mirana says firmly
“I am not smiling I am just proud, that’s it” Zunzar says
“Fine, by the way, Ishaan you are going to give me the details of situation first hand”
“Yes” Ishaan replies plainly
Mirana walks away and Zunzar grabs her hand
“Be careful”
“Yes, love”
Zunzar leaves her hand and she walk away. Aniket ends his conversation w
ith Chang and comes to Zunzar.
“We are set” Aniket says
“Yeah, okay” Zunzar looks little uncertain.
“Are you alright?” Aniket asks
“Yeah I am fine” Zunzar says with a smile
Minal notices something wrong with Zunzar
Hanger, EXODUS,
Mirana, Rupal, Tyler and Will are standing in front of Deathrider…
“That should be easy” Rupal says
“Yes, pretty much but we need to be quick or else we are doomed” Mirana says
“Fooling the UN, that’s a big one for sure, right Will” Tyler remarks
“Yes, I am a bit scared though.”
“Don’t worry, they won’t see us coming” Mirana says
“I hope so” Rupal adds
Raiken arrives at the scene
“Ready to go?”
“Yes” Mirana replies and puts on the headgear.
The Deathrider launches in the sky. Ishaan sits on his chair and puts on the receiver.
“Command to Deathrider, we have you loud and clear” Ishaan says
“Copy, Rider out” Rupal replies
“They are ready” Ishaan says as he turns to Chang
Chang starts hacking into the UN satellite grid. HAZE’s satellite is positioned right behind one UN satellite.
“Everyone, start hale fire sequence, once we are in grid, we will be exposed in minutes, so, Mirana you have to be quick” Chang says
Chang’s team start typing rapidly and start hacking the UN satellite grid.
“With HAZE’s tech, it should not take long” Ishaan remarks
“No, it will take time” Aniket replies
“Let’s hope for the best” Zunzar says
Half an hour pass…
Chang and his team are still trying to breach the grid. Mirana’s squad is on standby. Zunzar, Aniket and Ishaan are looking up the screen. Minal walks up to Zunzar and shows him something on her tab. Zunzar’s starts explaining something to her. Minal looks at Zunzar rather than focusing on his explanations.
“Minal, did you get it?” Zunzar asks softly
“Huh… yes, thanks” Minal asks
“okay?” Zunzar says concerned
“Yes, are you?” she questions back
“Yes, I am” Zunzar says firmly with a smile.
“We are IN!” Chang screams and raises his hand in rejoice
Everyone starts looking at him. Chang looks at Ishaan, who looks at him without any excitement on his face. Chang quietly sits back on his chair and clears his throat. He realises he got too excited.
“We are in, Mirana get ready” Chang says in a low voice
“Copy that” Mirana says
UN SDC,
2 mins to Satellite scan…
“We are almost done sir” A operator says
“Good” Pran replies.
He sits back relaxed on his chair. Stretches his legs and relaxes his neck muscles. Taksh walks in and looks at the screen with a smile.
“Finally, we will know if there are any more out there including the ones we know about.” He says with hope
[Alarm rings and the red lights turn on]
“What now?” Taksh says as his expressions change with the sudden change of events.
“Sir, someone has hacked into our system. They are inside the system” A operator says
“Then do something” Taksh replies angrily
“Yes, sir”
“That was unexpected” Pran replies and stands up
“Not the time to joke, Pran” Taksh says still agitated
“Sorry, don’t worry we will have their location any minute” Pran replies
“I know”
They start looking at the screen with the world map. Suddenly a location pops up on the screen. Taksh looks at it. He puts his hands on the comms and the location shifts.
“Shit, they are using decoys to stall us” Taksh says
“Nothing we can do?” Pran asks
“Well, we can” Taksh replies with a smirk
He picks up his phone and dials a number.
“Hello, Taksh here, we have a situation.”
“Yes, they are hacking in the grid.”
“The enemy is strong don’t underestimate them” Taksh says and keeps the call
“Keep working on the satellites, hackers don’t have much time left” Taksh says
“Whom did you call?” Pran asks curiously
“UN’s hacknet. They are the best in UN” Taksh replies proudly
“Hacking a hacker. Interesting play” Pran says
Exodus Base of Operations,
Zunzar is sitting near the cliff outside the facility. He is thinking deeply and Minal suddenly walks in on him.
“You seemed off. I knew something was wrong” She says
Zunzar looks at her and then turns again.
“What’s wrong. You have to tell me” Minal says
“They are going to fail” Zunzar says in a low voice looking towards the ocean with disbelief
Minal gets taken back by Zunzar’s negative statement
“That’s not like you. You can’t say that” Minal replies
“I know, but I also know that we are trying to stop UN. They don’t know, they can never stop Taksh once he decides to do something. He always has a way out”
“He is persistent but then you are his brother” Minal replies
“I know, I already had a plan to stop UN. Come with me” Zunzar says and stands up.
“You have a plan, that doesn’t involve anyone else” Minal says
“Yes, coming?”
“Yes, are you seriously planning on doing that?” Minal asks as she gets a hint “I mean, have you thought this through”
“Yes, it’s the only way” Zunzar says
Inside the facility,
“Chang how long will it take?” Ishaan asks
“Half an hour at max” Chang replies
“Half!” Ishaan says shocked
“We will hold them off, Chang keep at it” Mirana replies
“Thanks, Mirana” Chang says and continues his work.
Suddenly a red marker pops on the screen and Ishaan squeezes his eyes.
“Shit!” Ishaan says as his eyes widen rapidly
“What happened?” Aniket questions
“UN pinpointed on a location” Ishaan says horrified
“What location?” Aniket asks
“Us” Ishaan says in a low voice and everyone’s facial expression change as if they have seen a ghost.
“That can’t be” Aniket says
“Our trackers are on, how can they...” Mirana says
“I… I… don’t know, shit, Everyone Bail out!” Ishaan says
“What now?”
“UN just launched an assault on our position. Jets are coming our way… for… bombing run” Ishaan says
“Everyone, code red, code red, immediately leave the facility, leave the facility right now!” Aniket says on the speaker
“How did this happen?” Ishaan says as he bangs his hands on the table.
“Where is Zunzar?” Chang asks
“He was here, right?” Aniket questions
“Great, Zunzar’s missing and a squadron of jets is coming to wipe us off the earth. Just great!” Ishaan yells
“Calm down. We have to move out of here, Chang shut it down” Aniket says
“Mirana stay in the Deathrider, Facility is ground zero” He continues
“Okay” Mirana replies
In Deathrider…
“We can stop the bombers. They won’t see us coming” Raiken suggests
“No, we can’t expose this ship to enemy. We have no choice but to stay low” Tyler says
“What about the others?” Mirana questions
“Let’s hope they get out of there in time.” Rupal says
“Our trackers should work. How did they get past it?” Mirana asks
“It was UN’s hacknet” T
yler says
“What? You knew about them?” Mirana asks angrily
“No, I just got a message saying UN’s hacknet just engaged a target. Perks of being a UN operative” Tyler replies and shows her the message.
“That’s convenient” Rupal says sarcastically
“What do we do now?” Will asks
“We wait” Raiken says and leaves the control of the ship to lean back on his seat. Everyone looks disappointingly towards each other.
UN SDC,
Taksh smirks and looks at Pran
“Let’s see what our enemy can do against airstrike.”
“They won’t be expecting this”
[Taksh’s phone rings]
“Hello, who’s this?”
“What?”
“You have to be joking”
“OK”
“Are you sure?”
“OK”
“I’ll be there”
The call disconnects…
EXODUS,
The facility is in high alert as the radar picks up 7 jets coming their way. The jets are approaching and Ishaan is still looking at the screen as his death flashes in front of his eyes. The jets lock on the facility,
“Target locked, ready to fire”
Ishaan closes his eyes, Aniket ducks beneath the table and Chang clings to his computer. The Deathrider hovers a few kilometres away from the facility. Mirana looks through the windshield. The sound of jet zooms in the sky and…
The jets pass by the facility and suddenly all the noise stops. Ishaan opens his eyes.
“We are alive?” He says
“I think so…” Aniket says coming out of the desk
Everyone in the facility cheers in joy. Chang hugs his computer. Aniket and Ishaan share a gesture of joy as they shake hands.
“What happened though?” Ishaan says
“For now, I am happy to be alive rather than being below thousands of kilos of concrete.” Aniket says
The Deathrider lands on the facility’s runway. Mirana runs to the command room. Everyone is rejoicing but Mirana seems concerned.
She comes inside the room and looks at Aniket and Ishaan
“Where is he?” Mirana questions
“who?” Aniket says
“Zunzar!” Mirana says
“Now that you ask, he is been missing for a while” Ishaan says
“It was him…” Mirana looks at Chang with a sad look
“ME?” Chang says
Universal War- the New World Page 13
