From the Author: This is the first part of the story... I will send more when i have completed it. peace.
From the Creator of SC: An amazing piece of Fan Fiction from Adithya Vardhan of India. It's a very good piece and I really liked how he described the fire pyres. Its a very imaginative piece with lots of old characters from the SC storyline. Enjoy! Part 1 released on 19062012. Part 2 added on 21072012.
SCFF: The Second Return of Rama
Creator: Adithya Vardhan
September 10th, 2089, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, Republic of India [Sol]
Brigadier G.M.Gopikrishnan was pacing in his office. He had a decision to make. He was staring nonchalantly around the room, when the plaque on his desk caught his eye. He had to laugh at the memories that the words on the plaque produced. Those words weren’t from any philosopher or scientist, but from an old friend. A friend, he was sorry to say few remembered.
“A true scientist is not measured by the amount of garbage he carries in his head. But, by the amount of garbage he clears from others heads and his own.”
One look at that plaque, and he had made his decision. He could not forget him. He could not let the future generations forget him either. Not after everything he had done..both for them and their country. He would have to convince the General to make the documents and logs public. The people must be told the truth about the man behind India’s victory against the Hegemony, on Indian soil. The man that began it all.
MAJOR GENERAL ADITHYA VARDHAN. A.K.A. TEST SUBJECT ALPHA.
He pushed a button on his desk phone and very pleasant female voice answered. “ Yes, sir? "
“Anjali, let the General know that I will meet him today at lunch.” He then added as an afterthought , ” in the temple.”
“ The Temple, sir? “ the voice asked, puzzled.
“Yes.”
“Yes sir, I will.”
Whether it was due to anticipation or nervousness, he began to feel very light headed. He settled back into his chair, and closed his eyes. He felt them weighing like stones after three sleepless nights. He closed his eyes once, to block out the world.
He was asleep the next moment.
16th August 2293, Kathmandu, Dominion of Nepal, Indian Subcontinent [Sol]
“You’re crazy. You know that?” said Madhav.
“ Maybe I am, It worked miracles for me before. I prefer it this way.” replied Vinodh.
“ Yeah, yeah, joke all you want. But this is definitely loco. I mean, the guy is a myth. There is no evidence whatsoever that he made it out alive out of the god-awful shitty mess that was the great war. This is uber-crazy, even for you. “
“ Come on, Madhav, you know better than that.”
“ Yeah, I do. That’s why I said its crazy.”
“I have to find him. I have to. It was a promise. I have to keep it.”
“ Okay, whatever. Keep your pants on. We’re still 150 kms out of the target site and this crate just keeps shaking.” , he said trying to keep the shuttle level.
The fusion powered shuttle craft, from the USE Archeology department, arched high in the air, at 1500 ft. It was moving at 500 kmph in a Northeastern heading. Soon,they will have to be much higher than that. The Himalayan winds were notorious for messing up autopilots on shuttles. Ever since the Hegemony nuked the Himalayan glaciers to knock out India’s water supply, the area was highly radioactive and the air was highly ionized. It produced a sight that was akin to what used to be called Aurora in the history lessons. The lessons told him that they only used to occur at poles. Now, it was happening above the Himalayas. Scientists speculated that it would take another 100 years for the residual radioactivity to disappear. Till then it was called “The Himalayan dead zone.”
He felt that as long as he was here, he would enjoy it. Then a moment of regret for failing to remember what a great pain it was, that caused the phenomena to happen. Other humans thought differently about the Great war, but he knew the truth. The truth about the mass graves, gas chambers and comfort camps. He excavated most of them himself. But he was forbidden to share it with anybody but a few select individuals, for the fear that it may cause another schism in the human race.
There will never be another civil war. NEVER. He told himself. He would make sure of that. When he finds who he came to find, he will make sure of it too.
From the Creator of SC: An amazing piece of Fan Fiction from Adithya Vardhan of India. It's a very good piece and I really liked how he described the fire pyres. Its a very imaginative piece with lots of old characters from the SC storyline. Enjoy! Part 1 released on 19062012. Part 2 added on 21072012.
SCFF: The Second Return of Rama
Creator: Adithya Vardhan
September 10th, 2089, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, Republic of India [Sol]
Brigadier G.M.Gopikrishnan was pacing in his office. He had a decision to make. He was staring nonchalantly around the room, when the plaque on his desk caught his eye. He had to laugh at the memories that the words on the plaque produced. Those words weren’t from any philosopher or scientist, but from an old friend. A friend, he was sorry to say few remembered.
“A true scientist is not measured by the amount of garbage he carries in his head. But, by the amount of garbage he clears from others heads and his own.”
One look at that plaque, and he had made his decision. He could not forget him. He could not let the future generations forget him either. Not after everything he had done..both for them and their country. He would have to convince the General to make the documents and logs public. The people must be told the truth about the man behind India’s victory against the Hegemony, on Indian soil. The man that began it all.
MAJOR GENERAL ADITHYA VARDHAN. A.K.A. TEST SUBJECT ALPHA.
He pushed a button on his desk phone and very pleasant female voice answered. “ Yes, sir? "
“Anjali, let the General know that I will meet him today at lunch.” He then added as an afterthought , ” in the temple.”
“ The Temple, sir? “ the voice asked, puzzled.
“Yes.”
“Yes sir, I will.”
Whether it was due to anticipation or nervousness, he began to feel very light headed. He settled back into his chair, and closed his eyes. He felt them weighing like stones after three sleepless nights. He closed his eyes once, to block out the world.
He was asleep the next moment.
16th August 2293, Kathmandu, Dominion of Nepal, Indian Subcontinent [Sol]
“You’re crazy. You know that?” said Madhav.
“ Maybe I am, It worked miracles for me before. I prefer it this way.” replied Vinodh.
“ Yeah, yeah, joke all you want. But this is definitely loco. I mean, the guy is a myth. There is no evidence whatsoever that he made it out alive out of the god-awful shitty mess that was the great war. This is uber-crazy, even for you. “
“ Come on, Madhav, you know better than that.”
“ Yeah, I do. That’s why I said its crazy.”
“I have to find him. I have to. It was a promise. I have to keep it.”
“ Okay, whatever. Keep your pants on. We’re still 150 kms out of the target site and this crate just keeps shaking.” , he said trying to keep the shuttle level.
The fusion powered shuttle craft, from the USE Archeology department, arched high in the air, at 1500 ft. It was moving at 500 kmph in a Northeastern heading. Soon,they will have to be much higher than that. The Himalayan winds were notorious for messing up autopilots on shuttles. Ever since the Hegemony nuked the Himalayan glaciers to knock out India’s water supply, the area was highly radioactive and the air was highly ionized. It produced a sight that was akin to what used to be called Aurora in the history lessons. The lessons told him that they only used to occur at poles. Now, it was happening above the Himalayas. Scientists speculated that it would take another 100 years for the residual radioactivity to disappear. Till then it was called “The Himalayan dead zone.”
He felt that as long as he was here, he would enjoy it. Then a moment of regret for failing to remember what a great pain it was, that caused the phenomena to happen. Other humans thought differently about the Great war, but he knew the truth. The truth about the mass graves, gas chambers and comfort camps. He excavated most of them himself. But he was forbidden to share it with anybody but a few select individuals, for the fear that it may cause another schism in the human race.
There will never be another civil war. NEVER. He told himself. He would make sure of that. When he finds who he came to find, he will make sure of it too.
14th July 2013, University of Hyderabad, Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, Republic of India [Sol]
“Damn.” ,thought Gopikrishnan. He always pictured their graduation would be a boring affair. A medieval formality.” Why not just give us our degrees as tell us to get the hell out? It’s not like we want to advertise ourselves.” But, the tradition was ironclad.
“Don’t fret.” He heard a voice behind him and instantly recognized the heavy voice.
“yeah, right” , “I’m in an auditorium full of 1500 people and you expect me to be convocated without breaking a sweat. Impossible.”
“ Hey, you’re at number 8. I am number 1 . The first one to be called. I am okay. Why are you so nervous?”
“I don’t know. I just am.” said Gopikrishnan.
“you guys still talking?” Gopi turned around and saw the person. It was Ashwini Kumar.
“ yeah, about how fucking awful this convocation shit is.”
“really?? I thought it was a charming exercise.”
Suddenly the sound of the orchestra kicking in to gear alerted them. “ Here we go.” said Gopikrishnan.
The announcer called out. “ Student number one. Adithya Vardhan.”
“ Wish me luck. “ he murmured as he left the group towards the stage.
September 10th 2089, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India [Sol]
“ Do you understand what you are asking??” said General Nanakram.
“ yeah, I do. The truth. General .” said Gopikrishnan.
“ the truth, my foot. You are asking me to declassify above top secret documents, and give them to the global media. De-Tierra is going to eat me for dinner.” said the General.
“ De-Tierra full well knows his limitations. He can’t interfere in our matters. Otherwise he’ll have a shit storm on his hands. He knows that. As long as we don’t topple his totalitarian utopia, he doesn’t give a damn.” , told Brigadier General Lakshmikantha.
“ he has to let us do this,” said Gopikrishnan.
“ But, telling the world about this project is risky. What if they said they wanted more. Make more of that one killing machine.” , said Nanakram.
“ they won’t, the key technology was developed by the guy who tested it first. Without that data and the material that made the chain fusion possible, all they can make is a bunch of metal mannequins.” , said Lakshmikantha.
“ listen, let’s drop the military act for a while and talk like men. Indian men.” ,said Nanakram.
“you sure? I mean this is the temple..” , said lakshmikantha.
“ its not a real temple. It’s a name given by those eggheads to the core of the new PARAM 24000 supercomputer. No blasphemy intended.”
“ as you so like to point out, I am one of those eggheads.” ,said Gopikrishnan.
“ look, Gopi , I know you have no military background. But, you are military. Without you the science brigade would have broken a long time ago. Your scientific skills are just as valuable as our military skills. Remember that.”, said Nanakram.
He took out a box made of wood and removed from it a bottle with a whitish liquid in it.
“ no way.”, Lakshmikantha said wide eyed.” Where did you find it?”
“A farmer brought them over from Bellary today. I took a few cartons.” He said smiling.
“ didn’t he complain?”
“ I paid him enough hardware so that he was very grateful.” He said beaming. Gopi had to laugh. The whitish liquid , “bhang” as it was called traditionally, was made from fermented cannabis. A very potent intoxicant.
“ you guys are having a sit and you didn’t invite me?” a voice called from the door with a distinct American accent.
“ARENA! Where have you been?”,both Nanakram and Lakshmikantha asked simultaneously.
“ Nowhere. Just taking a stroll.”
“yeah,right. Take a seat”, Nanakram pointed to the mahogany chair in front of him.
Arena was the only Non-Indian military personnel who was trusted with even the deepest secrets of India’s projects. He was always welcome at the core meetings.
“ I heard from Anjali, you guys are here to talk about Test Subject Alpha aren’t you?”, he said looking at Gopikrishnan.
“ Then I assume you are up to speed. What do you think?” asked Nanakram.
“I think Gopi is right. We need to tell the world about him. It’s already been too late. I talked to De-Tierra already. He doesn’t complain. He even gave us the prime time slot in the World television.”
“you’re sure? That guy is not very charitable.” Nanakram said while sipping from his glass.
“ He has an agenda. As always. But, if we play our cards right, we can outwit him.”, finished Arena.
“Then it is decided. Let’s have our drink and I will arrange for the declassification. Cheers .”
“Cheers. “ said all but Gopi.
He just lifted his glass and muttered. “Never.”
17th February 2067, Ezhimala Naval Academy, India [Sol]
The meeting of the core commanders was called urgently. There was no prior intimation, so most of them were present via video conference.
“ As I was indicating, the MC’s walkers have decimated our front lines. We can tackle them with drones but, it takes two to three drones to bring one down. Heavy losses in terms of resources. The MC’s have unlimited resources. We don’t. “ said Lakshmikantha.
“ so, what do you suggest?” asked one of the commanders.
“so far, the MC’s have not used walkers down south because of the jungle and mountainous terrain. The only place we have to worry about them was at the front lines. There lies our advantage.”
“what advantage?”
“If we devote a few resources to the new weapon system I just received a proposal for, then we might turn those walkers into smouldering wrecks.”
‘we have seen the schematics. But, what can a single prototype do?” ,asked another commander.
“ what one always does, turn everything else to zero.” A deep, heavy voice said from the shadows behind Lakshmikantha.
“Gentlemen and ladies, I give you Dr.Adithya.”
“Hello, I am Dr. Adithya. I will get straight to the point.”
“our impediment has always been the supply lines. Those MC bastards with small scale air attacks have decimated many supply chains and convoys en route to the front. Our solution is simple, design a soldier with a self-sufficient weapon system and no need for resupply.”
“what do you mean by no need for resupply?” , asked a commander, his voice patchy due to the bad connection.
“I’ll let my colleague Dr. Ashwini Kumar answer that question.”, he pointed to another person seated behind him.
“ Thank you, I am Dr. Ashwini kumar. I will begin my presentation now.”, he pressed a button on the holo-panel before him and immediately a floating replica of an eight foot armored suit appeared before them.
“ ladies and gentlemen, I am talking about complete bionic integration. No need for resupply, no food, no water or anything. All the energy needs of the soldier will be taken care of by the miniaturized chain fusion reactor, implanted in the armor. The power outputs are enormous enough to run a city for 10,000 years. Unfortunately we only have enough material to build one.”
“ Why? What are those materials that are so rare.?”
“That at this point is irrelevant. All I can tell you is that the material is not from earth. We recovered it from one our exploration probes in the Oort cloud. We don’t know where the container with the material came from, but when we studied it in Mumbai,” he flinched as the thought of the once great city, now a wreck, struck him. But then he continued.” We discovered some very interesting properties. It can produce tremendous power levels. We designed a reactor based on the material properties. It was thought to be just for energy until now. But, now we want to use it as a weapon. We have all the tools we need. We just need a go ahead.”
“ you have it.” , said the Prime Minister.
“ What are the success rates? With just one piece we can’t take chances. “, asked another commander. This one was present in person.
“ The prototype suit is ready. The subject suitable for research is a little difficult to find.” , said Ashwini.
“ Why?”
“The requirements are both physical as well as mental. We also need someone with a specific brain wave pattern.”
“ Did you find any?”
“Actually yes, but in the most unlikely of places.”
“where??”
“Here. Dr. Adithya is the perfect match for the prototype.”
“ How long will it take to find another suitable subject?” , asked the Prime Minister.
“ I really can’t say. The tests are very extensive.”
“Then I am afraid our choices are limited. Are you willing to take this risk Dr.Adithya?”
“ Yes sir. Considering the situation we don’t have any other choice.”
“All the required components have been simultaneously developed. We just need to integrate them.”, finished Ashwini.
“What about the side effects? “, asked a female commander. “Turning a person in to a living killing machine is bound to have some problems.”
“The only side effect of bionic integration of the whole body and brain, is that it makes the subject feel very, very detached.”
“ Detached?”
“ Yes. He won’t feel human anymore. He will be able to think 10 times faster and physical capabilities magnified a hundredfold. For weapons, we have a deadly combination of Directed Fusion Energy Weapons and nukes using the same unknown material. This coupled with the fact that the subject feels very detached, over long periods of time will produce brain wave patterns similar to insanity. He won’t be able to follow a chain of command.”
“But, how can we have a soldier who can’t follow orders? And this question about insanity…” she looked at Adithya.
“ the problem of the brain waves mimicking insanity is solved. Dr. Gopikrishnan’s research in non-equilibrium systems helped us design a damper shunt that can be put inside the brain attached to the brain stem. This effectively eliminates the problem. For the chain of command question, this prototype won’t be soldier, he will be a crusader. A crusader with one mission. Destroy the enemy.”
“But, I feel I have to mention that Dr. Adithya has no military background, no prior training to handle this kind of problem.”
“Ladies and Gentlemen, I feel that I haven’t been entirely honest with you. Dr. Adithya’s full credentials are as follows. Major General Adithya Vardhan, Artillery and Sniper corps IX, Indian army. Retired, of course, to perform scientific research.” , Lakshmikantha interjected.
Lakshmi had to laugh. He had known Adithya since his academy days. He was trained by him in marksmanship and yoga. He still made fun of him for getting the poses wrong.
“But, what about your age General?” , asked the female core commander, the cavalier tone gone from her voice.
“ My friend Ashwini’s research helped me make a few modifications to my body. I am now as agile and active at 78 as I was at 18.”
All the core commanders were silent. Whether due to deep thought or something else was unclear.
“ Very well ,Doctor. You have your permission.” , the Prime Minister said.
“Thank you, sir.” , Adithya politely bowed his head.
The meeting was concluded. He felt relieved, as if someone removed some invisible weight from his shoulders. It was a big gamble to make the changes before the go ahead was given. It paid off now, and all that was left was duty.
He smiled, wondering whether he will ever be the same again.
“Damn.” ,thought Gopikrishnan. He always pictured their graduation would be a boring affair. A medieval formality.” Why not just give us our degrees as tell us to get the hell out? It’s not like we want to advertise ourselves.” But, the tradition was ironclad.
“Don’t fret.” He heard a voice behind him and instantly recognized the heavy voice.
“yeah, right” , “I’m in an auditorium full of 1500 people and you expect me to be convocated without breaking a sweat. Impossible.”
“ Hey, you’re at number 8. I am number 1 . The first one to be called. I am okay. Why are you so nervous?”
“I don’t know. I just am.” said Gopikrishnan.
“you guys still talking?” Gopi turned around and saw the person. It was Ashwini Kumar.
“ yeah, about how fucking awful this convocation shit is.”
“really?? I thought it was a charming exercise.”
Suddenly the sound of the orchestra kicking in to gear alerted them. “ Here we go.” said Gopikrishnan.
The announcer called out. “ Student number one. Adithya Vardhan.”
“ Wish me luck. “ he murmured as he left the group towards the stage.
September 10th 2089, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India [Sol]
“ Do you understand what you are asking??” said General Nanakram.
“ yeah, I do. The truth. General .” said Gopikrishnan.
“ the truth, my foot. You are asking me to declassify above top secret documents, and give them to the global media. De-Tierra is going to eat me for dinner.” said the General.
“ De-Tierra full well knows his limitations. He can’t interfere in our matters. Otherwise he’ll have a shit storm on his hands. He knows that. As long as we don’t topple his totalitarian utopia, he doesn’t give a damn.” , told Brigadier General Lakshmikantha.
“ he has to let us do this,” said Gopikrishnan.
“ But, telling the world about this project is risky. What if they said they wanted more. Make more of that one killing machine.” , said Nanakram.
“ they won’t, the key technology was developed by the guy who tested it first. Without that data and the material that made the chain fusion possible, all they can make is a bunch of metal mannequins.” , said Lakshmikantha.
“ listen, let’s drop the military act for a while and talk like men. Indian men.” ,said Nanakram.
“you sure? I mean this is the temple..” , said lakshmikantha.
“ its not a real temple. It’s a name given by those eggheads to the core of the new PARAM 24000 supercomputer. No blasphemy intended.”
“ as you so like to point out, I am one of those eggheads.” ,said Gopikrishnan.
“ look, Gopi , I know you have no military background. But, you are military. Without you the science brigade would have broken a long time ago. Your scientific skills are just as valuable as our military skills. Remember that.”, said Nanakram.
He took out a box made of wood and removed from it a bottle with a whitish liquid in it.
“ no way.”, Lakshmikantha said wide eyed.” Where did you find it?”
“A farmer brought them over from Bellary today. I took a few cartons.” He said smiling.
“ didn’t he complain?”
“ I paid him enough hardware so that he was very grateful.” He said beaming. Gopi had to laugh. The whitish liquid , “bhang” as it was called traditionally, was made from fermented cannabis. A very potent intoxicant.
“ you guys are having a sit and you didn’t invite me?” a voice called from the door with a distinct American accent.
“ARENA! Where have you been?”,both Nanakram and Lakshmikantha asked simultaneously.
“ Nowhere. Just taking a stroll.”
“yeah,right. Take a seat”, Nanakram pointed to the mahogany chair in front of him.
Arena was the only Non-Indian military personnel who was trusted with even the deepest secrets of India’s projects. He was always welcome at the core meetings.
“ I heard from Anjali, you guys are here to talk about Test Subject Alpha aren’t you?”, he said looking at Gopikrishnan.
“ Then I assume you are up to speed. What do you think?” asked Nanakram.
“I think Gopi is right. We need to tell the world about him. It’s already been too late. I talked to De-Tierra already. He doesn’t complain. He even gave us the prime time slot in the World television.”
“you’re sure? That guy is not very charitable.” Nanakram said while sipping from his glass.
“ He has an agenda. As always. But, if we play our cards right, we can outwit him.”, finished Arena.
“Then it is decided. Let’s have our drink and I will arrange for the declassification. Cheers .”
“Cheers. “ said all but Gopi.
He just lifted his glass and muttered. “Never.”
17th February 2067, Ezhimala Naval Academy, India [Sol]
The meeting of the core commanders was called urgently. There was no prior intimation, so most of them were present via video conference.
“ As I was indicating, the MC’s walkers have decimated our front lines. We can tackle them with drones but, it takes two to three drones to bring one down. Heavy losses in terms of resources. The MC’s have unlimited resources. We don’t. “ said Lakshmikantha.
“ so, what do you suggest?” asked one of the commanders.
“so far, the MC’s have not used walkers down south because of the jungle and mountainous terrain. The only place we have to worry about them was at the front lines. There lies our advantage.”
“what advantage?”
“If we devote a few resources to the new weapon system I just received a proposal for, then we might turn those walkers into smouldering wrecks.”
‘we have seen the schematics. But, what can a single prototype do?” ,asked another commander.
“ what one always does, turn everything else to zero.” A deep, heavy voice said from the shadows behind Lakshmikantha.
“Gentlemen and ladies, I give you Dr.Adithya.”
“Hello, I am Dr. Adithya. I will get straight to the point.”
“our impediment has always been the supply lines. Those MC bastards with small scale air attacks have decimated many supply chains and convoys en route to the front. Our solution is simple, design a soldier with a self-sufficient weapon system and no need for resupply.”
“what do you mean by no need for resupply?” , asked a commander, his voice patchy due to the bad connection.
“I’ll let my colleague Dr. Ashwini Kumar answer that question.”, he pointed to another person seated behind him.
“ Thank you, I am Dr. Ashwini kumar. I will begin my presentation now.”, he pressed a button on the holo-panel before him and immediately a floating replica of an eight foot armored suit appeared before them.
“ ladies and gentlemen, I am talking about complete bionic integration. No need for resupply, no food, no water or anything. All the energy needs of the soldier will be taken care of by the miniaturized chain fusion reactor, implanted in the armor. The power outputs are enormous enough to run a city for 10,000 years. Unfortunately we only have enough material to build one.”
“ Why? What are those materials that are so rare.?”
“That at this point is irrelevant. All I can tell you is that the material is not from earth. We recovered it from one our exploration probes in the Oort cloud. We don’t know where the container with the material came from, but when we studied it in Mumbai,” he flinched as the thought of the once great city, now a wreck, struck him. But then he continued.” We discovered some very interesting properties. It can produce tremendous power levels. We designed a reactor based on the material properties. It was thought to be just for energy until now. But, now we want to use it as a weapon. We have all the tools we need. We just need a go ahead.”
“ you have it.” , said the Prime Minister.
“ What are the success rates? With just one piece we can’t take chances. “, asked another commander. This one was present in person.
“ The prototype suit is ready. The subject suitable for research is a little difficult to find.” , said Ashwini.
“ Why?”
“The requirements are both physical as well as mental. We also need someone with a specific brain wave pattern.”
“ Did you find any?”
“Actually yes, but in the most unlikely of places.”
“where??”
“Here. Dr. Adithya is the perfect match for the prototype.”
“ How long will it take to find another suitable subject?” , asked the Prime Minister.
“ I really can’t say. The tests are very extensive.”
“Then I am afraid our choices are limited. Are you willing to take this risk Dr.Adithya?”
“ Yes sir. Considering the situation we don’t have any other choice.”
“All the required components have been simultaneously developed. We just need to integrate them.”, finished Ashwini.
“What about the side effects? “, asked a female commander. “Turning a person in to a living killing machine is bound to have some problems.”
“The only side effect of bionic integration of the whole body and brain, is that it makes the subject feel very, very detached.”
“ Detached?”
“ Yes. He won’t feel human anymore. He will be able to think 10 times faster and physical capabilities magnified a hundredfold. For weapons, we have a deadly combination of Directed Fusion Energy Weapons and nukes using the same unknown material. This coupled with the fact that the subject feels very detached, over long periods of time will produce brain wave patterns similar to insanity. He won’t be able to follow a chain of command.”
“But, how can we have a soldier who can’t follow orders? And this question about insanity…” she looked at Adithya.
“ the problem of the brain waves mimicking insanity is solved. Dr. Gopikrishnan’s research in non-equilibrium systems helped us design a damper shunt that can be put inside the brain attached to the brain stem. This effectively eliminates the problem. For the chain of command question, this prototype won’t be soldier, he will be a crusader. A crusader with one mission. Destroy the enemy.”
“But, I feel I have to mention that Dr. Adithya has no military background, no prior training to handle this kind of problem.”
“Ladies and Gentlemen, I feel that I haven’t been entirely honest with you. Dr. Adithya’s full credentials are as follows. Major General Adithya Vardhan, Artillery and Sniper corps IX, Indian army. Retired, of course, to perform scientific research.” , Lakshmikantha interjected.
Lakshmi had to laugh. He had known Adithya since his academy days. He was trained by him in marksmanship and yoga. He still made fun of him for getting the poses wrong.
“But, what about your age General?” , asked the female core commander, the cavalier tone gone from her voice.
“ My friend Ashwini’s research helped me make a few modifications to my body. I am now as agile and active at 78 as I was at 18.”
All the core commanders were silent. Whether due to deep thought or something else was unclear.
“ Very well ,Doctor. You have your permission.” , the Prime Minister said.
“Thank you, sir.” , Adithya politely bowed his head.
The meeting was concluded. He felt relieved, as if someone removed some invisible weight from his shoulders. It was a big gamble to make the changes before the go ahead was given. It paid off now, and all that was left was duty.
He smiled, wondering whether he will ever be the same again.
19th March 2069, occupied Ahmedabad, India [Sol]
The Hegemony conquest of India was brutal, but unlike any other campaign. The most striking differences were the absence of comfort camps for the troops and prisoners of war camps. The Hegemony troops first entered into India through Rajasthan in the Northwest and all states in the Northeast.
The fights were severe and brutal. The Indian cities were literally razed to the ground. Before every city fell, those civilians that could not make it to the evacuation camps had a hard choice to make. The men, even the young and the old, died fighting. While the women, who could not be evacuated, built gigantic pyres of fire. They jumped into them one by one, even with infant girls a day old. The Islamic hordes knew only to rape and kill, and they did not see how young or old their victims were. The women burned themselves to ashes because, they were afraid of the stories. Stories they heard from survivors. That many in the Islamic hordes were Necrophiles, and were seen raping even decomposing corpses. It was told that it was the side-effect of some drug they were given. The women did not want to experience that dishonor even after death.
But, the choice was made easy by the army. With ammo and weapons they also shipped a batch of million or so Gamma Gluxitol injections per city. It numbed the nerves completely, so the people jumping into the fire did not feel anything. It was the army’s silent way of admiring the bravery and honour of those women. It was the reason why there were no comfort camps in India.
Adithya walked past silently the giant pile of ashes and bones in the middle of the city. The Hegemony soldiers were just past the pile of bones, and one soldier was urinating on the pile of bones. They could not see him because he was in visual camouflage. He felt his blood boil, then realized that he did not have any blood. It was his brain’s old habits refusing to die.
He felt that he could not forgive those men for the dishonor they caused those women, his country and his religion.
By Lord Ram’s will, justice will be done. He told himself.
He moved quick like lightning.
Those soldiers did not see what was coming. The urinating soldier was cut into three pieces in less than 1/3rd of a second.
Blood and gore sprayed everywhere.
The rest of the soldiers did not realize what happened until a second later, by that time three more of them were in pieces. When they opened fire, he was concerned for a second that he may get hit, then cursed his brain for refusing to let go of old habits.
He was untouchable. His shields had more power than a city block. He could even tolerate a tactical nuke going off a 100 yards from his position. Normal small arms fire was ridiculous, they might as well be spitting at him.
He then thought about the fear these hordes of vermin caused his people.
He then realized what must be done.
He could think ten times faster than a normal human, so his thoughts were finished in a tenth of a second. He removed his camouflage, so that the soldiers could see him.
Eight foot tall agent of death.
He then proceeded to kill them all with his bare hands.
He finally got to the city’s commander of the Hegemony’s forces, after 30 minutes. When he caught him, he was shouting something in Arabic.
The time has come to send the message, he thought. He retracted his facial armor to show his face to him.
The vermin wailed in terror at his face. It was a quite unexpected side-effect of the bionic integration, but he welcomed it.
His skin was blue.
He then told him the message he wanted to say, in the language he cherished most, the language of the Gods.
Sanskrit.
“-dharmān parityajya
mām ekaḿ śaraṇaḿ vraja
ahaḿ tvāḿ sarva-pāpebhyo
mokṣayiṣyāmi mā sarva.”
(Abandon all varieties of concocted religion and just surrender unto Me. I shall deliver you from all sinful reactions. Do not fear.)
Bhagavad Gita Chapter 18 , verse 66.
He then pulled him close to his face and looked him in the eye, and told him,” tell your masters, that VENGEANCE WOULD BE MINE.”.
He let him go.
Fear cripples faster than any weapon of war.
He had just planted the seed.
The Hegemony conquest of India was brutal, but unlike any other campaign. The most striking differences were the absence of comfort camps for the troops and prisoners of war camps. The Hegemony troops first entered into India through Rajasthan in the Northwest and all states in the Northeast.
The fights were severe and brutal. The Indian cities were literally razed to the ground. Before every city fell, those civilians that could not make it to the evacuation camps had a hard choice to make. The men, even the young and the old, died fighting. While the women, who could not be evacuated, built gigantic pyres of fire. They jumped into them one by one, even with infant girls a day old. The Islamic hordes knew only to rape and kill, and they did not see how young or old their victims were. The women burned themselves to ashes because, they were afraid of the stories. Stories they heard from survivors. That many in the Islamic hordes were Necrophiles, and were seen raping even decomposing corpses. It was told that it was the side-effect of some drug they were given. The women did not want to experience that dishonor even after death.
But, the choice was made easy by the army. With ammo and weapons they also shipped a batch of million or so Gamma Gluxitol injections per city. It numbed the nerves completely, so the people jumping into the fire did not feel anything. It was the army’s silent way of admiring the bravery and honour of those women. It was the reason why there were no comfort camps in India.
Adithya walked past silently the giant pile of ashes and bones in the middle of the city. The Hegemony soldiers were just past the pile of bones, and one soldier was urinating on the pile of bones. They could not see him because he was in visual camouflage. He felt his blood boil, then realized that he did not have any blood. It was his brain’s old habits refusing to die.
He felt that he could not forgive those men for the dishonor they caused those women, his country and his religion.
By Lord Ram’s will, justice will be done. He told himself.
He moved quick like lightning.
Those soldiers did not see what was coming. The urinating soldier was cut into three pieces in less than 1/3rd of a second.
Blood and gore sprayed everywhere.
The rest of the soldiers did not realize what happened until a second later, by that time three more of them were in pieces. When they opened fire, he was concerned for a second that he may get hit, then cursed his brain for refusing to let go of old habits.
He was untouchable. His shields had more power than a city block. He could even tolerate a tactical nuke going off a 100 yards from his position. Normal small arms fire was ridiculous, they might as well be spitting at him.
He then thought about the fear these hordes of vermin caused his people.
He then realized what must be done.
He could think ten times faster than a normal human, so his thoughts were finished in a tenth of a second. He removed his camouflage, so that the soldiers could see him.
Eight foot tall agent of death.
He then proceeded to kill them all with his bare hands.
He finally got to the city’s commander of the Hegemony’s forces, after 30 minutes. When he caught him, he was shouting something in Arabic.
The time has come to send the message, he thought. He retracted his facial armor to show his face to him.
The vermin wailed in terror at his face. It was a quite unexpected side-effect of the bionic integration, but he welcomed it.
His skin was blue.
He then told him the message he wanted to say, in the language he cherished most, the language of the Gods.
Sanskrit.
“-dharmān parityajya
mām ekaḿ śaraṇaḿ vraja
ahaḿ tvāḿ sarva-pāpebhyo
mokṣayiṣyāmi mā sarva.”
(Abandon all varieties of concocted religion and just surrender unto Me. I shall deliver you from all sinful reactions. Do not fear.)
Bhagavad Gita Chapter 18 , verse 66.
He then pulled him close to his face and looked him in the eye, and told him,” tell your masters, that VENGEANCE WOULD BE MINE.”.
He let him go.
Fear cripples faster than any weapon of war.
He had just planted the seed.
12th August 2071, occupied New Delhi, India [Sol]
“ I am death.” , thought Adithya, speaking to himself.
He had been deployed behind enemy lines more than two years ago. Since then, he watched as the seed he had planted grow into a banyan tree.
A banyan tree with its roots saturated with blood.
He could monitor all their communications, even if they were encrypted. They helped him both plan his attacks and keep track of his tree of fear.
The Chinese rats called him “The Blue Lama.”, as a reference to his blue skin and his religious attributes. He had to laugh. The Chinese were at one point so paranoid about the Tibetan Buddhist revolution that, it formed their whole perspective on religion. They thought the heads of all the religions were called Lama, like The Dalai Lama.
The Islamic vermin on the other hand, called him something far more beautiful.
“Malk-al-Maut”. They called him.
The angel of death.
I can live with that, he said to himself smiling.
He then intercepted a call from the Chinese CENTCOM ,to the manufacturing unit in Tibet, for walkers. The conversation was in mandarin, but he could understand it completely. The walkers were scheduled to arrive in two hours via the karakoram road high in the mountains. He prepared to move out. He primed his thruster pack for speed against maneuverability and took off towards North.
There were vermin to kill.
September 10th 2089, World Television Headquarters, New York [Sol]
“Are you sure about this report?” asked Mark.
“Jesus,Mark. I told you three times already. It’s an order straight from the Big man.”, his editor said.
“ we’re live in three minutes.”, the cameraman shouted.
The make-up artist put final touches to Mark Bennington ‘s make-up.
“we’re live!!” , the cameraman said.
Mark took a short, deep breath and straighted himself.
“ Hello, and Good evening. I am Mark Bennington. Your host for this evening’s prime time. In the news today, we have a breaking news about a new truth about the great war. For more information let’s go to Chester in India.” , he turned towards the screen at his back.
A young African- American woman wearing woolen clothing came into view.
“ Thank you , Mark. As you have stated there is a new breaking news about a secret Indian military project codenamed Operation RAMA, whose documents were made public today with special permission from President De-Tierra. The project consisted of an advanced battle suit that is designed to be entirely self-sustaining, without even the need for food and water for the occupant inside. The revolutionary new power source which made this possible, which is shrouded in secrecy at the moment, is said to have been lost along with the prototype when the Hegemony were pulling out of India. No more details are available at this point, however we will be tracking the story as it develops. From India, this is Chester Karey.”
11th September 2089, The President’s office, New York [Sol]
De-Tierra was sitting in his chair, while having a virtual holographic conference with his advisers.
“so how authentic do you think is this information.?” , De-Tierra asked his right-hand man Ramses.
“ it appears legit. The Indians are sneaky, cunning bastards. They kept this from us this long. We are collecting all the intel we can to pinpoint the location of the suit. We can learn a lot from it, and use it for a lot too” , Ramses was saying, with his face stern.
“so, where did he go? Was he taken out by the nukes the Chinese launched when they were retreating?”, De-Tierra looked at his intelligence officer.
“ Unclear sir, but there is a high probability.”, replied the intel officer.
“ we may have something,”, his chief scientific adviser said and pointed to someone off camera.
“this transmission was received by our SIGNINT team on station in Agra when the Chinese were retreating.
It has the subject’s voice message. We highly doubt the Indians have this intel. Listen.”,
The voice in the signal was distant, and very melancholic.
“Purpose? What is purpose? Can it exist? Or can it not? Where does our purpose start? When we are born? Or before we are born? To whom to we owe our purpose? Or is it just an illusion? Created to blind us from the truth? I intend to go to the source to find out.”, the transmission ended.
“ what did he mean by all that? What is this source?’, De-Tierra asked his scientific adviser.
“ that guy was suffering from the suit’s side effects. So he’s experiencing a glorified nervous breakdown, so to speak. The source, we think in this case means the Himalayas.”
“ The Himalayas? Are you crazy? That’s a dead zone.”
“For humans, this guy is no longer human. We believe he went there to sit and go to the only place he has left.”
“ which is?”
“ His mind.”
“ okay, dispatch the search parties, I want that damn suit found before those Indians do.”
“Yes,sir. Search parties en route.”
15th November 2087, Nanda Parbat, Himalayas, India [Sol]
“ Do we really need to climb this mountain, while wearing all this protective gear?”, the mountaineer asked his friend.
She replied, saying that it was a tourist hotspot before the great war.
Yeah,yeah, thought the first mountaineer.
Suddenly, without warning, a side portion of the mountain crumbled, and produced a deafening sound.
They scrambled for cover thinking it was rock avalanche.
It wasn’t.
The mountainside now revealed an opening in the mountain, what looked like the entrance into a cave.
“ hey, check this out !!”, shouted the first mountaineer.
They looked at the giant opening in the mountain and decided to explore the inside.
They went only ten feet inside, when they heard a strange humming sound.
It was like a tape recorder was playing at 100 times normal speed.
They peeked inside and what they saw, terrorized them beyond sound.
It was a metal robot, they thought, looking at the metal body, until they saw the head.
It was a human head.
Except the hair was long and black.
The skin was blue.
The cave started crumbling and rocks were falling on him but they were strangely being deflected by an invisible shield. The cave entrance started to crumble, and the female mountaineer was pulled outside by her friend screaming that they needed to get out.
When they were outside, she asked her friend, “ who or what was that?”
“ I don’t know Tanya , I really don’t know.”, he said panting.
“Do we tell somebody about this?”, she asked him.
“tell them what? That we saw a giant humanoid robot meditating in the middle of the Himalayas? They would report us as crazy and have us executed.”, “ let’s just get the hell out of here.”
“yeah, whatever you say, Rajesh.” ,she said looking at the collapsed cave entrance.
14th September 2089, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India [Sol]
Gopikrishnan was unable to sleep. Ever since he got the word that De-Tierra was looking for the prototype suit, he was unable to sleep.
His phone rang suddenly, startling him from deep thought.
He answered it “ Yes?”, “ Hey, Gopi. This is Lakshmikantha. We may have someone, who has seen the prototype. In the Himalayan dead zone. “
“ who?”
“ Her name is Tanya. She is a civilian running a mountaineering school.”
Finally, he thought. Some information. “ I’m on my way.”
He somehow felt that he knew what was going to come.
“ I am death.” , thought Adithya, speaking to himself.
He had been deployed behind enemy lines more than two years ago. Since then, he watched as the seed he had planted grow into a banyan tree.
A banyan tree with its roots saturated with blood.
He could monitor all their communications, even if they were encrypted. They helped him both plan his attacks and keep track of his tree of fear.
The Chinese rats called him “The Blue Lama.”, as a reference to his blue skin and his religious attributes. He had to laugh. The Chinese were at one point so paranoid about the Tibetan Buddhist revolution that, it formed their whole perspective on religion. They thought the heads of all the religions were called Lama, like The Dalai Lama.
The Islamic vermin on the other hand, called him something far more beautiful.
“Malk-al-Maut”. They called him.
The angel of death.
I can live with that, he said to himself smiling.
He then intercepted a call from the Chinese CENTCOM ,to the manufacturing unit in Tibet, for walkers. The conversation was in mandarin, but he could understand it completely. The walkers were scheduled to arrive in two hours via the karakoram road high in the mountains. He prepared to move out. He primed his thruster pack for speed against maneuverability and took off towards North.
There were vermin to kill.
September 10th 2089, World Television Headquarters, New York [Sol]
“Are you sure about this report?” asked Mark.
“Jesus,Mark. I told you three times already. It’s an order straight from the Big man.”, his editor said.
“ we’re live in three minutes.”, the cameraman shouted.
The make-up artist put final touches to Mark Bennington ‘s make-up.
“we’re live!!” , the cameraman said.
Mark took a short, deep breath and straighted himself.
“ Hello, and Good evening. I am Mark Bennington. Your host for this evening’s prime time. In the news today, we have a breaking news about a new truth about the great war. For more information let’s go to Chester in India.” , he turned towards the screen at his back.
A young African- American woman wearing woolen clothing came into view.
“ Thank you , Mark. As you have stated there is a new breaking news about a secret Indian military project codenamed Operation RAMA, whose documents were made public today with special permission from President De-Tierra. The project consisted of an advanced battle suit that is designed to be entirely self-sustaining, without even the need for food and water for the occupant inside. The revolutionary new power source which made this possible, which is shrouded in secrecy at the moment, is said to have been lost along with the prototype when the Hegemony were pulling out of India. No more details are available at this point, however we will be tracking the story as it develops. From India, this is Chester Karey.”
11th September 2089, The President’s office, New York [Sol]
De-Tierra was sitting in his chair, while having a virtual holographic conference with his advisers.
“so how authentic do you think is this information.?” , De-Tierra asked his right-hand man Ramses.
“ it appears legit. The Indians are sneaky, cunning bastards. They kept this from us this long. We are collecting all the intel we can to pinpoint the location of the suit. We can learn a lot from it, and use it for a lot too” , Ramses was saying, with his face stern.
“so, where did he go? Was he taken out by the nukes the Chinese launched when they were retreating?”, De-Tierra looked at his intelligence officer.
“ Unclear sir, but there is a high probability.”, replied the intel officer.
“ we may have something,”, his chief scientific adviser said and pointed to someone off camera.
“this transmission was received by our SIGNINT team on station in Agra when the Chinese were retreating.
It has the subject’s voice message. We highly doubt the Indians have this intel. Listen.”,
The voice in the signal was distant, and very melancholic.
“Purpose? What is purpose? Can it exist? Or can it not? Where does our purpose start? When we are born? Or before we are born? To whom to we owe our purpose? Or is it just an illusion? Created to blind us from the truth? I intend to go to the source to find out.”, the transmission ended.
“ what did he mean by all that? What is this source?’, De-Tierra asked his scientific adviser.
“ that guy was suffering from the suit’s side effects. So he’s experiencing a glorified nervous breakdown, so to speak. The source, we think in this case means the Himalayas.”
“ The Himalayas? Are you crazy? That’s a dead zone.”
“For humans, this guy is no longer human. We believe he went there to sit and go to the only place he has left.”
“ which is?”
“ His mind.”
“ okay, dispatch the search parties, I want that damn suit found before those Indians do.”
“Yes,sir. Search parties en route.”
15th November 2087, Nanda Parbat, Himalayas, India [Sol]
“ Do we really need to climb this mountain, while wearing all this protective gear?”, the mountaineer asked his friend.
She replied, saying that it was a tourist hotspot before the great war.
Yeah,yeah, thought the first mountaineer.
Suddenly, without warning, a side portion of the mountain crumbled, and produced a deafening sound.
They scrambled for cover thinking it was rock avalanche.
It wasn’t.
The mountainside now revealed an opening in the mountain, what looked like the entrance into a cave.
“ hey, check this out !!”, shouted the first mountaineer.
They looked at the giant opening in the mountain and decided to explore the inside.
They went only ten feet inside, when they heard a strange humming sound.
It was like a tape recorder was playing at 100 times normal speed.
They peeked inside and what they saw, terrorized them beyond sound.
It was a metal robot, they thought, looking at the metal body, until they saw the head.
It was a human head.
Except the hair was long and black.
The skin was blue.
The cave started crumbling and rocks were falling on him but they were strangely being deflected by an invisible shield. The cave entrance started to crumble, and the female mountaineer was pulled outside by her friend screaming that they needed to get out.
When they were outside, she asked her friend, “ who or what was that?”
“ I don’t know Tanya , I really don’t know.”, he said panting.
“Do we tell somebody about this?”, she asked him.
“tell them what? That we saw a giant humanoid robot meditating in the middle of the Himalayas? They would report us as crazy and have us executed.”, “ let’s just get the hell out of here.”
“yeah, whatever you say, Rajesh.” ,she said looking at the collapsed cave entrance.
14th September 2089, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India [Sol]
Gopikrishnan was unable to sleep. Ever since he got the word that De-Tierra was looking for the prototype suit, he was unable to sleep.
His phone rang suddenly, startling him from deep thought.
He answered it “ Yes?”, “ Hey, Gopi. This is Lakshmikantha. We may have someone, who has seen the prototype. In the Himalayan dead zone. “
“ who?”
“ Her name is Tanya. She is a civilian running a mountaineering school.”
Finally, he thought. Some information. “ I’m on my way.”
He somehow felt that he knew what was going to come.
SCFF: The Second Coming of Rama.
Tue, 19th June, 2012
A secret weapon is created in India and unleashed on the Hegemony during the Great War and disappears into memory... until it is discovered once again and a race against time begins to uncover its secrets. Written by Adithya Vardhan. A fan fiction based on the Shattered Citadel Universe.
14TH September 2089, Dehradun, India [Sol]
“I’m falling.” Tanya thought to herself.
She tried to open her eyes. But something stopped them.
With Herculean effort, she managed to open her eyes.
She then immediately wished she hadn’t .
She wasn’t falling. She was suspended in mid-air. In a freeze-frame type setting , of the same situation she faced in the Himalayas almost two years ago.
She was being carried out by Rajesh. She was looking at the thing in the cave. She was looking at its face, when suddenly its eyes opened.
Too quick for humans to see. It was looking right at her.
Watching, with either amusement or indifference, she couldn’t tell.
But, then the unimaginable happened.
She heard it speak. Too fast to understand, but it spoke.
Then suddenly the cave collapsed on top of them.
Tanya woke up from her sleep, with sweat drenching her body.
Rajesh immediately woke up and asked, “Are you okay Tan?”, his expression was grim.
“ yeah.” She replied. “ it’s the same dream.”
“you say that so casually. The first year you used to scream so loud, I almost shit my pants every night.”
“ Liar. I know because I can see when I take off your pants that there was nothing like that.”, she said with a mischievous smile.
“I love you, Tan”
“I love you too.”
Tanya closed her eyes and wondered, could she ever muster up enough courage to face what was coming?
She then thought she would be better off without an answer.
15th September 2089, On board the Jatayu class stealth transport, en route to Dehradun, India [Sol]
Gopi woke up with a start.
“ Are we there yet?”, he asked the pilot.
“ ETA Twelve minutes, sir.”
It was bad enough that he had to wait a day to spice up a good cover story about his disappearance.
Worse, Lakshmi couldn’t come. It would raise too many questions.
He mentally went over the events of the previous day. As soon as the call from Lakshmikantha came, he had a platoon of Ghathak commandos posted at her house. In complete stealth. He didn’t want to tip any one off. But he liked having back ups.
Just in case, De-Tierra’s intel network got a whiff of the call between them.
Then came the long and arduous task of conferring with Lakshmmi, Nanakram and Arena on how best to cover his search. The fix, as Arena called it, was a heart attack. As far as the rest of the world knows, he is in the ICU of the Naval hospital in Ezhimala.
No visitors allowed.
He was startled by the sudden buzzing of his personal comm link to the commander of the Ghatak platoon.
He answered it. "Yes ?”
“I’m falling.” Tanya thought to herself.
She tried to open her eyes. But something stopped them.
With Herculean effort, she managed to open her eyes.
She then immediately wished she hadn’t .
She wasn’t falling. She was suspended in mid-air. In a freeze-frame type setting , of the same situation she faced in the Himalayas almost two years ago.
She was being carried out by Rajesh. She was looking at the thing in the cave. She was looking at its face, when suddenly its eyes opened.
Too quick for humans to see. It was looking right at her.
Watching, with either amusement or indifference, she couldn’t tell.
But, then the unimaginable happened.
She heard it speak. Too fast to understand, but it spoke.
Then suddenly the cave collapsed on top of them.
Tanya woke up from her sleep, with sweat drenching her body.
Rajesh immediately woke up and asked, “Are you okay Tan?”, his expression was grim.
“ yeah.” She replied. “ it’s the same dream.”
“you say that so casually. The first year you used to scream so loud, I almost shit my pants every night.”
“ Liar. I know because I can see when I take off your pants that there was nothing like that.”, she said with a mischievous smile.
“I love you, Tan”
“I love you too.”
Tanya closed her eyes and wondered, could she ever muster up enough courage to face what was coming?
She then thought she would be better off without an answer.
15th September 2089, On board the Jatayu class stealth transport, en route to Dehradun, India [Sol]
Gopi woke up with a start.
“ Are we there yet?”, he asked the pilot.
“ ETA Twelve minutes, sir.”
It was bad enough that he had to wait a day to spice up a good cover story about his disappearance.
Worse, Lakshmi couldn’t come. It would raise too many questions.
He mentally went over the events of the previous day. As soon as the call from Lakshmikantha came, he had a platoon of Ghathak commandos posted at her house. In complete stealth. He didn’t want to tip any one off. But he liked having back ups.
Just in case, De-Tierra’s intel network got a whiff of the call between them.
Then came the long and arduous task of conferring with Lakshmmi, Nanakram and Arena on how best to cover his search. The fix, as Arena called it, was a heart attack. As far as the rest of the world knows, he is in the ICU of the Naval hospital in Ezhimala.
No visitors allowed.
He was startled by the sudden buzzing of his personal comm link to the commander of the Ghatak platoon.
He answered it. "Yes ?”
14th August 2071, somewhere in central India, India [Sol]
The war with the Hegemony had hardened the Indian army to the level of complete indifference to death. The front lines would shift so fast that people in refugee camps one day could find themselves behind enemy lines the other day.
The earlier day, a refugee camp of 500,000 people came under heavy fire from the enemy. The division of the army stationed there reasoned they couldn’t fight. Not with these many slow movers.They had to evacuate, and fast. Communications were down, so they proceeded towards the last known safe haven.
Only to find the Hegemony waiting for them.
They tried to put up a fight, but it was too little, too late. The army division was all but wiped out. The civilians were rounded up in a clearing of 1000 acres.
Hegemony commander Havildar Suleman looked over the infidels. He felt disgust beyond belief. He wanted to kill them all now, but the orders from the king representative were clear.
Interrogate them for information about the Angel.
“What is the count of the infidels?" He asked his lieutenant.
“ 500,454. My lord.” Replied Nasir. “Umm, my lord?”, he hesitated.
“What is it?”
“Of the division members we were able to capture, all of them are Muslims.”
Suleman nodded. Muslims were a portion of the infidel land populace when they started the cleansing. Most of them, instead of joining the glorious cause, killed their brothers who were asking for them to join the Holy Empire. Many of them, along with half of India's young men, left their families in the protection of the infidels in the south, and joined the army.
Almost all of them were dead now.
“Any one who joins with the infidels is an infidel. Execute them, when the interrogation is over.”
“Yes, my lord.”
“What is the female count of the infidels?”
“More than 400,000 my lord. Shall I order the soldiers to add them to their harems?”
“Yes, they haven’t had any to add in this infidel land. All of them were burned to ashes.”
The lieutenant gave the order, and crowds of armed and hungry looking soldiers marauded through the crowd. Then, after they attempted to rape them, the women pleaded them to allow chanting one prayer, before their honor was soiled.
The soldiers jeered, calling that their gods won’t help them now.
The whole crowd started chanting something. Collectively singing in that ancient infidel language, that disgusted Suleman.
Then, the whole world exploded.
All that was left in the clearing was a fleshy mass of tissue and bone.
“What in the prophet’s name was that?” , he asked his lieutenant.
“My lord, I think they activated the nano explosives inside them. We thought they were activated by radio signals , so we set up a jamming signal. It seems they work with chants, not signals.”
Curse them, he thought. He should have waited for the representative to come. Now, all information the infidels had , was gone.
Every woman in the armed forces, civilian corps or refugees was injected with a serum of metallic nano explosive bots. They manufactured their own explosive and turned 3 % of the whole body’s weight into biological explosive. They can be programmed to be triggered by anything.
Every female had it.
Even newborns.
Even the Prime Minister’s wife.
Adithya knew that too well.
Because, he designed it.
After they saw the unprecedented horrors unleashed upon the women in Gandhinagar, it was decided, that every woman in India, would be injected with the serum, so that they could die with their honor intact.
If he had not waited they all could be alive.
He then decided that he would make these vermin pay, and make their leaders realize, that they did a grave mistake.
He took one look at the encampment.
45,000 infantry.
4,000 armored tanks.
459 walkers.
789 combat drones.
The odds are one sided, he thought. For them.
All the women were dead but, almost all of the male refugees were alive.
His first priority was their safety.
He moved towards the nearest encampment and started killing the soldiers, starting from the ones on the outside, so that any incoming fire would not harm the surviving refugees.
The whole vermin camp came alive. The walkers and tanks were manned in under a minute. The soldiers took positions beside the tanks and walkers and formed a line impenetrable to any standard military attack.
He,however, was not standard.
He stood before them, in camouflage, so they couldn’t see him.
He walked as close to them as possible. He was almost near the commander’s tank.
Then, he removed his camouflage. This camouflage was not possible in normal military machines, because the power levels required would be staggering. He did not have that problem.
He just, appeared before them, as if out of thin air.
Like, an Angel.
He then, proceeded to do what he did best. Annihilate them, down to the last one.
His only thought was to the one sentence in the Gita, that enchanted him the most.
“I am Death. Destroyer of Worlds.”
15th September 2089, the Himalayas, Indian Subcontinent [Sol]
Colonel Hans Vosen scanned the map again.
More than a thousand mountains. He had to scan them all and look for the suit.
Not an easy task.
He then looked over his men.
His unit was composed of the best in De-Tierra’s personal force. They were ruthless, and sometimes went a little overboard with violence.
That , was not necessarily a bad thing.
Because, he was one those men.
He was interrupted by the tone of his personal SATCOM link to the President.
He answered it. “ Yes, sir?”
“ Hans, we have new intel. Something that can help us narrow our search. Go to Deharadun with an extraction squad. I will send the rest of the information on more secure channels.”
“ Understood sir.”
His secure laptop beeped as it received the information.
He felt a pang of excitement as he saw the target’s profile. A woman. Good. Will the President let him torture her? It was intel work, so he assumed he would.
A mountaineer. That too a good looking one. All that stamina would be nice to play with.
He felt like a kid on Christmas.
A bad kid, but one who could bully the Santa into giving him the best gifts.
15th September 2089, Dehradun, India[ Sol]
Major Rajaram looked over the house of the civilian. Not a very luxurious one, but good.
But from what he heard of the target, she should be able to afford more. May be she didn’t want to draw attention.
His thoughts were interrupted by his recon unit radioing in.
“Sir, we have a contact bearing 329. Registry reports as USE special forces. It’s a Halcyon class jet transport. Incoming bearing and the paratroopers it dropped confirms an attack vector. Orders sir?”
“Stand by”, he had to call the general for orders. He was there to watch, not to engage.
“ Yes?”
“ sir, we have incoming USE special forces on the targets location. Orders?”
“ use any and all means to protect the target. Use deadly force if necessary.”
“ Sir..”
“Were my orders unclear Major?”
“ No, sir. Orders acknowledged.”
He signaled his platoon to take up defense positions.
The paratroopers were using ultra silent gliders for their final approach. If they could use them, it meant they were hard core professionals. They would be difficult to deal with.
For anyone else. Except it was the Indians who trained everybody in para jumps.
The moment they landed, the platoon signaled him, for acknowledgment.
He gave it. Along with orders to engage them.
“ this is Colonel Hans Vosen. All USE forces stand down. Now.”, a voice said with a heavy German accent.
“Negative Colonel. I have orders from higher than you. You have no jurisdiction here. If you attempt anything we have orders to engage. Back off.”
“Such a waste. May you all burn well in hell.”
“ Everybody. Engage. Now.”
All hell broke loose. The firefight lasted 15 mins. When it was over, all the incoming forces were dead, along with 5 members of the platoon.
They then proceeded to secure the target. When they got in they realized that the target had vanished. The damn firefight was a distraction.
He cursed aloud, in Hindi. He then heard a voice from under the bed.
“ who are you?”
“ we are Indian special forces, Sir. Who are you.?”
“ I am the husband of your target. I hid here so you will have a chance to save her from them”, a man in his late thirties came out from under the bed.
“I am Rajesh. She didn’t mention that I saw what she saw too. She didn’t mention that I was here. So they didn’t search for me. She wanted to protect me, she said. She also said to trust only Indian forces.”
“ You are safe now. We will take you to the General now.”
“So what are we still here for? Let’s go. We have to save my wife from those monsters.”
“ We will do just that, Rajesh. Then we will ensure that whatever you saw, is explained”, a whispering voice said, from the shadows.
All the soldiers straightened and saluted.” General sir!”
Gopi walked forth from the shadows and spoke.
“So, tell me exactly what you saw, where you saw him, and how long ago was it?”
The war with the Hegemony had hardened the Indian army to the level of complete indifference to death. The front lines would shift so fast that people in refugee camps one day could find themselves behind enemy lines the other day.
The earlier day, a refugee camp of 500,000 people came under heavy fire from the enemy. The division of the army stationed there reasoned they couldn’t fight. Not with these many slow movers.They had to evacuate, and fast. Communications were down, so they proceeded towards the last known safe haven.
Only to find the Hegemony waiting for them.
They tried to put up a fight, but it was too little, too late. The army division was all but wiped out. The civilians were rounded up in a clearing of 1000 acres.
Hegemony commander Havildar Suleman looked over the infidels. He felt disgust beyond belief. He wanted to kill them all now, but the orders from the king representative were clear.
Interrogate them for information about the Angel.
“What is the count of the infidels?" He asked his lieutenant.
“ 500,454. My lord.” Replied Nasir. “Umm, my lord?”, he hesitated.
“What is it?”
“Of the division members we were able to capture, all of them are Muslims.”
Suleman nodded. Muslims were a portion of the infidel land populace when they started the cleansing. Most of them, instead of joining the glorious cause, killed their brothers who were asking for them to join the Holy Empire. Many of them, along with half of India's young men, left their families in the protection of the infidels in the south, and joined the army.
Almost all of them were dead now.
“Any one who joins with the infidels is an infidel. Execute them, when the interrogation is over.”
“Yes, my lord.”
“What is the female count of the infidels?”
“More than 400,000 my lord. Shall I order the soldiers to add them to their harems?”
“Yes, they haven’t had any to add in this infidel land. All of them were burned to ashes.”
The lieutenant gave the order, and crowds of armed and hungry looking soldiers marauded through the crowd. Then, after they attempted to rape them, the women pleaded them to allow chanting one prayer, before their honor was soiled.
The soldiers jeered, calling that their gods won’t help them now.
The whole crowd started chanting something. Collectively singing in that ancient infidel language, that disgusted Suleman.
Then, the whole world exploded.
All that was left in the clearing was a fleshy mass of tissue and bone.
“What in the prophet’s name was that?” , he asked his lieutenant.
“My lord, I think they activated the nano explosives inside them. We thought they were activated by radio signals , so we set up a jamming signal. It seems they work with chants, not signals.”
Curse them, he thought. He should have waited for the representative to come. Now, all information the infidels had , was gone.
Every woman in the armed forces, civilian corps or refugees was injected with a serum of metallic nano explosive bots. They manufactured their own explosive and turned 3 % of the whole body’s weight into biological explosive. They can be programmed to be triggered by anything.
Every female had it.
Even newborns.
Even the Prime Minister’s wife.
Adithya knew that too well.
Because, he designed it.
After they saw the unprecedented horrors unleashed upon the women in Gandhinagar, it was decided, that every woman in India, would be injected with the serum, so that they could die with their honor intact.
If he had not waited they all could be alive.
He then decided that he would make these vermin pay, and make their leaders realize, that they did a grave mistake.
He took one look at the encampment.
45,000 infantry.
4,000 armored tanks.
459 walkers.
789 combat drones.
The odds are one sided, he thought. For them.
All the women were dead but, almost all of the male refugees were alive.
His first priority was their safety.
He moved towards the nearest encampment and started killing the soldiers, starting from the ones on the outside, so that any incoming fire would not harm the surviving refugees.
The whole vermin camp came alive. The walkers and tanks were manned in under a minute. The soldiers took positions beside the tanks and walkers and formed a line impenetrable to any standard military attack.
He,however, was not standard.
He stood before them, in camouflage, so they couldn’t see him.
He walked as close to them as possible. He was almost near the commander’s tank.
Then, he removed his camouflage. This camouflage was not possible in normal military machines, because the power levels required would be staggering. He did not have that problem.
He just, appeared before them, as if out of thin air.
Like, an Angel.
He then, proceeded to do what he did best. Annihilate them, down to the last one.
His only thought was to the one sentence in the Gita, that enchanted him the most.
“I am Death. Destroyer of Worlds.”
15th September 2089, the Himalayas, Indian Subcontinent [Sol]
Colonel Hans Vosen scanned the map again.
More than a thousand mountains. He had to scan them all and look for the suit.
Not an easy task.
He then looked over his men.
His unit was composed of the best in De-Tierra’s personal force. They were ruthless, and sometimes went a little overboard with violence.
That , was not necessarily a bad thing.
Because, he was one those men.
He was interrupted by the tone of his personal SATCOM link to the President.
He answered it. “ Yes, sir?”
“ Hans, we have new intel. Something that can help us narrow our search. Go to Deharadun with an extraction squad. I will send the rest of the information on more secure channels.”
“ Understood sir.”
His secure laptop beeped as it received the information.
He felt a pang of excitement as he saw the target’s profile. A woman. Good. Will the President let him torture her? It was intel work, so he assumed he would.
A mountaineer. That too a good looking one. All that stamina would be nice to play with.
He felt like a kid on Christmas.
A bad kid, but one who could bully the Santa into giving him the best gifts.
15th September 2089, Dehradun, India[ Sol]
Major Rajaram looked over the house of the civilian. Not a very luxurious one, but good.
But from what he heard of the target, she should be able to afford more. May be she didn’t want to draw attention.
His thoughts were interrupted by his recon unit radioing in.
“Sir, we have a contact bearing 329. Registry reports as USE special forces. It’s a Halcyon class jet transport. Incoming bearing and the paratroopers it dropped confirms an attack vector. Orders sir?”
“Stand by”, he had to call the general for orders. He was there to watch, not to engage.
“ Yes?”
“ sir, we have incoming USE special forces on the targets location. Orders?”
“ use any and all means to protect the target. Use deadly force if necessary.”
“ Sir..”
“Were my orders unclear Major?”
“ No, sir. Orders acknowledged.”
He signaled his platoon to take up defense positions.
The paratroopers were using ultra silent gliders for their final approach. If they could use them, it meant they were hard core professionals. They would be difficult to deal with.
For anyone else. Except it was the Indians who trained everybody in para jumps.
The moment they landed, the platoon signaled him, for acknowledgment.
He gave it. Along with orders to engage them.
“ this is Colonel Hans Vosen. All USE forces stand down. Now.”, a voice said with a heavy German accent.
“Negative Colonel. I have orders from higher than you. You have no jurisdiction here. If you attempt anything we have orders to engage. Back off.”
“Such a waste. May you all burn well in hell.”
“ Everybody. Engage. Now.”
All hell broke loose. The firefight lasted 15 mins. When it was over, all the incoming forces were dead, along with 5 members of the platoon.
They then proceeded to secure the target. When they got in they realized that the target had vanished. The damn firefight was a distraction.
He cursed aloud, in Hindi. He then heard a voice from under the bed.
“ who are you?”
“ we are Indian special forces, Sir. Who are you.?”
“ I am the husband of your target. I hid here so you will have a chance to save her from them”, a man in his late thirties came out from under the bed.
“I am Rajesh. She didn’t mention that I saw what she saw too. She didn’t mention that I was here. So they didn’t search for me. She wanted to protect me, she said. She also said to trust only Indian forces.”
“ You are safe now. We will take you to the General now.”
“So what are we still here for? Let’s go. We have to save my wife from those monsters.”
“ We will do just that, Rajesh. Then we will ensure that whatever you saw, is explained”, a whispering voice said, from the shadows.
All the soldiers straightened and saluted.” General sir!”
Gopi walked forth from the shadows and spoke.
“So, tell me exactly what you saw, where you saw him, and how long ago was it?”
August 2071, somewhere in Central India [Sol]
He was almost done with the vermin.
The only forces left were guarding the commander. He scanned and found, three walkers, thirteen tanks and 500 soldiers. He engaged the tanks first, knocking them around like toys. He then turned the walkers into spectacular displays of Modern art.
Finally, he thought as he reached the tent of the commander.
He had maybe 15 soldiers with him. He didn’t care.
They were kneeling.
They were all unarmed. They were chanting something in Arabic. He recognized it as part of their book.
He was about to slaughter them but, then remembered his pledge.
“One who kills those who come to him for protection is guilty of the most heinous sin possible.”
{ a verse from The Ramayana.}
He lowered his hands. They were still chanting. This time he focused on what they were chanting.
“ Oh, glorious God. Show us mercy. We atone for all our crimes of association with non-believers. Please spare us the wrath of your Angel.”
Curious, he thought. He could use this to aid his people in the war. These vermin were already fighting against the Chinese rats. Although, on a smaller scale than them. The Indians seem to be the focus of both forces. He could use his presence to stoke further conflict. Dividing them, to concentrate more on each other.
He clapped his hands.
They opened their eyes.
He retracted his facial armor, and looked at the commander in the eye. He motioned for him to come forward. When he came, he put his hand on his face and scanned it. For them, it looked like he was showering him with divine light.
He lifted his hand and produced a hologram of the Hegemony flag.
Then he showed it burning, in the hands of the commander present before him.
The commanders eyes shone with tears.
Superstitious vermin. He thought.
He then left without looking back at them.
The refugees were in the final effects of intense shock. Most of them were catatonic. One however, was holding on to his son, in his arms. He looked at him and his eyes went wide.
It was then that he realized his mistake.
His face was not covered.
The young man threw himself at his feet and started shouting,” JAI SHREERAM! JAI SHREERAM!”
I am not our Lord, he thought. But somehow, he could not voice his protest.
His people needed hope. If that hope needed lying, then so be it. He would bear the wrath of Lord Ram when the time came. For now, however he was the divine lord for these people.
Protecting all who asked him to.
He looked at the young man. He was now surrounded by a group of thousands.
He had been thinking for more than half an hour, but it felt like just a second.
He looked at them, and spoke in that divine language of the Gods.
“Yada yada hi dharmasya glanirbhavati bharata
Abhyutthanamadharmasya tadatmanam srjamyaham -
“Oh, descendants of Bharatha, when there is a decline of righteousness and an abundance of unrighteousness, at that time, I take form.”
The Bhagavad Gita. Chapter 4, verse 7.
He then activated his camouflage, and vanished in the blink of an eye.
(Note: According to Indian scriptures, all Indians are called descendants of Bharatha, after the legendary emperor of India, Bharatha. The land which he ruled was called Bharath. Which is the official name of the Republic of India.)
16th September 2089, Nanda Parbat, Himalayas, India [Sol]
The bitch can take torture well, thought Vosen.
He had been torturing her for the past 7 hours and she had given him only the barest of information. He thought about going sexual torture, knowing how high these Indian bitches thought of their honor, but it was against his rules.
He would only take her when she had given up everything, lost all hope. Then at the moment of his climax, he would slit her throat.
She lay there unconscious. Covered in sweat and vomit.
He knew the suit was in this mountain. What he didn’t know was where. Scouring the entire mountain would take weeks. Time they did not have to waste.
Then , he decided to threaten her about the sexual thing.
Tanya thought about the importance of what she had found. When General Gopikrishnan told her, she refused to believe. Until he showed her proof. She knew full well the horrors that would ensue, if these people got hold of the prototype. It was something she was prepared to die for.
Her only hope was that, they left Rajesh alive.
The torturer, was now speaking, threatening her with something. She didn’t care. Soon it would all be over. She tried to speak. The torturer assumed she was going to talk. He removed the gag.
“ I will tell you what you want to know. But first you must let me pray.”,she told him.
“ go ahead.”
She remembered the drill to activate the nanobots clearly.
First you said your given name. Then you said your true name. The name known only to your father, husband or son. The final step would be a sloka of forgiveness towards Goddess Durga, for committing suicide.
Then, it would be sweetness.
“ my name is Tanya. Mamah nijanaamah Shakunthala (Note: Its sanskrit for, Shakunthala is my true name)…”
Before she could complete, the whole mountain shook.
He was almost done with the vermin.
The only forces left were guarding the commander. He scanned and found, three walkers, thirteen tanks and 500 soldiers. He engaged the tanks first, knocking them around like toys. He then turned the walkers into spectacular displays of Modern art.
Finally, he thought as he reached the tent of the commander.
He had maybe 15 soldiers with him. He didn’t care.
They were kneeling.
They were all unarmed. They were chanting something in Arabic. He recognized it as part of their book.
He was about to slaughter them but, then remembered his pledge.
“One who kills those who come to him for protection is guilty of the most heinous sin possible.”
{ a verse from The Ramayana.}
He lowered his hands. They were still chanting. This time he focused on what they were chanting.
“ Oh, glorious God. Show us mercy. We atone for all our crimes of association with non-believers. Please spare us the wrath of your Angel.”
Curious, he thought. He could use this to aid his people in the war. These vermin were already fighting against the Chinese rats. Although, on a smaller scale than them. The Indians seem to be the focus of both forces. He could use his presence to stoke further conflict. Dividing them, to concentrate more on each other.
He clapped his hands.
They opened their eyes.
He retracted his facial armor, and looked at the commander in the eye. He motioned for him to come forward. When he came, he put his hand on his face and scanned it. For them, it looked like he was showering him with divine light.
He lifted his hand and produced a hologram of the Hegemony flag.
Then he showed it burning, in the hands of the commander present before him.
The commanders eyes shone with tears.
Superstitious vermin. He thought.
He then left without looking back at them.
The refugees were in the final effects of intense shock. Most of them were catatonic. One however, was holding on to his son, in his arms. He looked at him and his eyes went wide.
It was then that he realized his mistake.
His face was not covered.
The young man threw himself at his feet and started shouting,” JAI SHREERAM! JAI SHREERAM!”
I am not our Lord, he thought. But somehow, he could not voice his protest.
His people needed hope. If that hope needed lying, then so be it. He would bear the wrath of Lord Ram when the time came. For now, however he was the divine lord for these people.
Protecting all who asked him to.
He looked at the young man. He was now surrounded by a group of thousands.
He had been thinking for more than half an hour, but it felt like just a second.
He looked at them, and spoke in that divine language of the Gods.
“Yada yada hi dharmasya glanirbhavati bharata
Abhyutthanamadharmasya tadatmanam srjamyaham -
“Oh, descendants of Bharatha, when there is a decline of righteousness and an abundance of unrighteousness, at that time, I take form.”
The Bhagavad Gita. Chapter 4, verse 7.
He then activated his camouflage, and vanished in the blink of an eye.
(Note: According to Indian scriptures, all Indians are called descendants of Bharatha, after the legendary emperor of India, Bharatha. The land which he ruled was called Bharath. Which is the official name of the Republic of India.)
16th September 2089, Nanda Parbat, Himalayas, India [Sol]
The bitch can take torture well, thought Vosen.
He had been torturing her for the past 7 hours and she had given him only the barest of information. He thought about going sexual torture, knowing how high these Indian bitches thought of their honor, but it was against his rules.
He would only take her when she had given up everything, lost all hope. Then at the moment of his climax, he would slit her throat.
She lay there unconscious. Covered in sweat and vomit.
He knew the suit was in this mountain. What he didn’t know was where. Scouring the entire mountain would take weeks. Time they did not have to waste.
Then , he decided to threaten her about the sexual thing.
Tanya thought about the importance of what she had found. When General Gopikrishnan told her, she refused to believe. Until he showed her proof. She knew full well the horrors that would ensue, if these people got hold of the prototype. It was something she was prepared to die for.
Her only hope was that, they left Rajesh alive.
The torturer, was now speaking, threatening her with something. She didn’t care. Soon it would all be over. She tried to speak. The torturer assumed she was going to talk. He removed the gag.
“ I will tell you what you want to know. But first you must let me pray.”,she told him.
“ go ahead.”
She remembered the drill to activate the nanobots clearly.
First you said your given name. Then you said your true name. The name known only to your father, husband or son. The final step would be a sloka of forgiveness towards Goddess Durga, for committing suicide.
Then, it would be sweetness.
“ my name is Tanya. Mamah nijanaamah Shakunthala (Note: Its sanskrit for, Shakunthala is my true name)…”
Before she could complete, the whole mountain shook.
15th August 2071, Vaishno Devi Temple Ruins, Jammu and Kashmir, India [Sol]
He was unable to forget the scene of the mass suicide of women yesterday. He came to the temple for peace, but could not find it. The temple was long gone. Destroyed by the vermin. But still, he felt the presence of peace all around him. Just not in him.
He then swore to the goddess. That he would never let anything like that happen again.
Every nanobot, sent a signal outwards, in the event of its activation. Usually, the protocol was, to recite your name when captured by the enemy. To recite your given name, in the first sign of confinement. Finally, the forgiveness sloka, in the event of impending molestation.
The average timing between step 1 to step 2 was two hours. He primed his comm packages to receive any signals of nanobots. Two hours would be enough for him to cover half the globe.
He then lifted off and moved towards the front lines.
19th August 2071,the king’s palace, unknown location, Holy Islamic Empire [Sol]
The Wazir to the Godking , bowed his head and entered the chamber of the King.
“my lord.”
“Yes, my Wazir, I heard about the news on the Angel.”
“yes, my lord.”
“what do you gather from it?”
“God has chosen us, my lord. His punishment was for the sin of associating with unbelievers. We have to intensify our campaign against them.”
“Yes, of course. Order the forces appropriately.”
“Yes, my lord.”
16th Sepember 2089, Nanda Parbat, Himalayas, India [Sol]
Hans Vosen was furious.
He thought the shaking was an earthquake. Until he looked at the mountain. A whole side of it was down.
The bitch knew something more than the location, he thought. She said something to activate some sort of defense system. She would pay.
Now he gagged her, so she could not even move her tongue.
He would rape this bitch in front of his men, then he would make the whole group rape her too.
The bitch deserved it.
He dragged her outside .
He threw her on the seat of a truck. He then saw a bottle of vodka, and took a gulping.
Little did he know, that it was his last drink.
UNKNOWN, UNKNOWN, UNKNOWN…
This is the void. This is the only truth.
He didn’t know how long has it been, since the start of his meditation.
He did not care.
This was sweetness. This was fulfillment. The pure and simple beauty of thought.
Here he was, lost in time and space and the infinite beauty of the mind.
Here, in this endless void of void, he heard a beacon.
No, it was more like a scream.
Something flickered inside him, a memory of a promise, it was more like a distant image.
Then, he remembered everything.
All his peace was shaken. All the things he built so carefully inside his mind, destroyed by a tidal wave of human suffering.
He did not expect this can happen.
The horrors of the war were so great, that he thought humanity would cease violence. That subhuman manifestation of weakness.
He was wrong.
There was a soul, here, now, who was calling for his help.
He tried to move, but felt a weight constraining him.
No weight is too great. He thought. He unleashed a blast of energy to repel the weight.
And then, there was light.
He got up and started moving towards the beacon.
He reached the spot of the beacon. A woman was being dragged by a soldier. He was wearing unfamiliar clothing. He did not recognize the uniform.
He then hit her, and said something to her in a heavy German accent.
He dragged her to a truck and threw her in the back.
Adithya followed him to the truck. He was two feet away from him, and still he was unnoticed.
The soldier took a bottle out of the truck and drank.
After he was done, Adithya spoke.
It was after so long, that he spoke. It was more like a thundering rumble. He did not recognize his own voice.
“Gewalt.... ist ..der... Weg ...der....... Untermenschen …”
( violence… is… the… way… of…. sub-humans…….)
He was unable to forget the scene of the mass suicide of women yesterday. He came to the temple for peace, but could not find it. The temple was long gone. Destroyed by the vermin. But still, he felt the presence of peace all around him. Just not in him.
He then swore to the goddess. That he would never let anything like that happen again.
Every nanobot, sent a signal outwards, in the event of its activation. Usually, the protocol was, to recite your name when captured by the enemy. To recite your given name, in the first sign of confinement. Finally, the forgiveness sloka, in the event of impending molestation.
The average timing between step 1 to step 2 was two hours. He primed his comm packages to receive any signals of nanobots. Two hours would be enough for him to cover half the globe.
He then lifted off and moved towards the front lines.
19th August 2071,the king’s palace, unknown location, Holy Islamic Empire [Sol]
The Wazir to the Godking , bowed his head and entered the chamber of the King.
“my lord.”
“Yes, my Wazir, I heard about the news on the Angel.”
“yes, my lord.”
“what do you gather from it?”
“God has chosen us, my lord. His punishment was for the sin of associating with unbelievers. We have to intensify our campaign against them.”
“Yes, of course. Order the forces appropriately.”
“Yes, my lord.”
16th Sepember 2089, Nanda Parbat, Himalayas, India [Sol]
Hans Vosen was furious.
He thought the shaking was an earthquake. Until he looked at the mountain. A whole side of it was down.
The bitch knew something more than the location, he thought. She said something to activate some sort of defense system. She would pay.
Now he gagged her, so she could not even move her tongue.
He would rape this bitch in front of his men, then he would make the whole group rape her too.
The bitch deserved it.
He dragged her outside .
He threw her on the seat of a truck. He then saw a bottle of vodka, and took a gulping.
Little did he know, that it was his last drink.
UNKNOWN, UNKNOWN, UNKNOWN…
This is the void. This is the only truth.
He didn’t know how long has it been, since the start of his meditation.
He did not care.
This was sweetness. This was fulfillment. The pure and simple beauty of thought.
Here he was, lost in time and space and the infinite beauty of the mind.
Here, in this endless void of void, he heard a beacon.
No, it was more like a scream.
Something flickered inside him, a memory of a promise, it was more like a distant image.
Then, he remembered everything.
All his peace was shaken. All the things he built so carefully inside his mind, destroyed by a tidal wave of human suffering.
He did not expect this can happen.
The horrors of the war were so great, that he thought humanity would cease violence. That subhuman manifestation of weakness.
He was wrong.
There was a soul, here, now, who was calling for his help.
He tried to move, but felt a weight constraining him.
No weight is too great. He thought. He unleashed a blast of energy to repel the weight.
And then, there was light.
He got up and started moving towards the beacon.
He reached the spot of the beacon. A woman was being dragged by a soldier. He was wearing unfamiliar clothing. He did not recognize the uniform.
He then hit her, and said something to her in a heavy German accent.
He dragged her to a truck and threw her in the back.
Adithya followed him to the truck. He was two feet away from him, and still he was unnoticed.
The soldier took a bottle out of the truck and drank.
After he was done, Adithya spoke.
It was after so long, that he spoke. It was more like a thundering rumble. He did not recognize his own voice.
“Gewalt.... ist ..der... Weg ...der....... Untermenschen …”
( violence… is… the… way… of…. sub-humans…….)