PREVIEW:: THE CRIMSON CONSPIRACY

General Majid intervened, 'let's assume you reach Turtuk with these
hundred men then what the eight commandos would do? They are no match for Indian command post in Turtuk.'

'Commandos have nothing to do at Turtuk. Other men will take
over Turtuk. Commandos will capture Thoise. Our further targets are Khalsar, Batalik and Zojila axis. In near future, Kashmir on one side and Siachen on the other. I……'

Zojila axis is Srinagar-Leh National Highway-1A.

Majid intervened mockingly. 'Khalsar! Batalik! Kashmir! Siachen! With your eight commandos? What kind of bullshit is this?
Daydreaming is neither my hobby nor habit.'

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General sprang up on his feet, leaned on the table and piercing
Ahfaq's gaze with his, spat in scorn.

'Listen Kamran sahib…… I am not General Musharraf. My remarks are coming a bit too early and rather rudely since your
presentation is not yet over but let me tell you, with this foolish and
savage plan, this dream of yours is going to turn into a historical
nightmare. I know, I can't stop you from pulling this off but I do not intend to take any responsibility of the glaring disaster which I see looming to strike. Should I wish you all good luck?'

****************************************************

'So you are Varun Kaushik?' The man in khaki stepped forward
and bent down to stare straight into Kaushik's eyes as Kaushik noticed the emerald green colour of his adversary's eyes. 'July 1999, Kaushik, you killed my father in the name of operation Vijay. You remember Hamid Malik? I am his son Nissar Malik standing on the bosom of your motherland to avenge my father.'
Kaushik returned in his heavy voice. 'During operation Vijay I
had killed several Pak sponsored mujahid pigs and didn't count,
remembering them is out of question.'

****************************************************

The main door of the comms room left the hinges and came
down, hitting the floor violently. Enemy soldiers filled the room. He straightened his armed hand and kept the trigger squeezed, switching the gun to automatic mode while moving it in small arc. Not bothering as to how many he killed, he didn't stop shouting into the microphone, '……around 125 enemy….drop your soldiers….I
repeat drop your soldiers……….Now! Now! Now!'

Bullets riddled him all over, plunging their way into his abdomen,
limbs and face.

'La ilaha illallah Muhammadur Rasulullah (There is absolutely no
deity worthy of worship except Allah, and Mohamed (saws) is the
Messenger of Allah.)!' Ibrahim, drenched in his own blood, slumped down to the floor, beside his empty gun, dead.

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'No, Verma Ji.' Rajeshwar Karma replied in a calm whisper,
'tomorrow we shall declare your name for the Chief Minister
succeeding my father.'
'But RK…'
Rajeshwar Karma held his hand up indicating no further arguments. 'I am both, party's national chief and state spokesperson. Release my formal statement,' Rajeshwar's calm tone caught an icy
edge. 'Prime agenda of our party, now, is to locate and eliminate
Bhanu Majumdar and his entire army of goons.'

Bhanu Majumdar was the leader of Naxal's People's War Group.
*****************************************************

For a fraction of a second Siddiqui's attention drifted towards
Bidha. E Five Five grabbed Glock's barrel in Siddiqui's hand, fingers wrapped around the top firing mechanism and thumb inside the trigger guard. Simultaneously, the line of fire was redirected away and down from his chest somewhere towards right hand side. Glock boomed once and bullet ricocheted off the floor. The strong grip blocked the top slid from firing anymore. He moved in towards his shocked prey, closing the distance. With one foot planted ahead, E Five Five pressed the grip further below. An agonized cry bellowed from Siddiqui's throat. With a strong blow of elbow over the bunch of nerves on the side of the neck, E Five Five snatched the gun. He gave Siddqui's wrist a firm twist. Crying like a crushed cat Siddiqui came to his knees. The radius bone in his forearm disconnected Humeral Trachea – the joint between upper and lower arm – with a distinct crack. The Carpus – that joins the wrist with arm - twisted a few degrees too much. At the same time E Five Five let himself fall backwards on the floor pulling the trigger. The bullet entered the stomach of the guard on left hand side at the back. Before the guard could leave his rifle to grab his bleeding stomach, E Five Five straightened up, heaving whimpering Siddiqui as his cover, plunged Glock's barrel in his cheek and dragged him away towards the wall.
******************************************************

'Very impressive. Extremely smart.' Ashfaq said keeping his gun
pointing steadily at Nissar. 'You move and I will shoot your prized
capture now.'
Nissar started on this shocking change in the scenario. He could
never have expected Ashfaq pointing gun at him.
'You haven't brought him this far just to dispose this terrorist
now.' E Five Five said.
'Try me and see. This man is precious yet expendable. Several
others can replace him. If I have to choose, I will save me and my
people.'
'Sooar ke bachchey! (You son of a swine),' Nissar hissed in
contempt, 'how dare you…'
Ashfaq looked at him and said, 'shut up Nissar or I will shoot…..'
First bullet blew away Ashfaq's head.
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Targets: three. Distance: twenty meters. Target size: pretty small – the heads. Weather: clear. Air: still.
Samarjeet gripped Glock in both the hands, took the right stance,
rested his elbows on the stone and took the front one's head in the
sight. He squeezed the trigger. Glock recoiled with a muffled 'phut'
and bullet entered the forehead of the target. Even before the dead
man could hit the ground Samarjeet turned Glock's barrel two degrees right and took his next successful shot. The last one, remaining, looked frantically on either side for cover. Finding himself out in open, he pulled his rifle up to open fire in Samarjeet's direction. But he couldn't. The shot into the back of his skull from Malwanker's hand gun killed him instantly.
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'Go ahead.' Makker replied.
'Stay alive boy.' Vir Bhadra Singh said, nervously wetting his lips.
'Sure I will.' Samarjeet's reply was heard.
After a few moments, on their radios, Makker, Vir Bhadra Singh,
Mohan and Sathya heard two continuous gun shots, the shrieks of two or more persons then a series of deafening blasts accompanied by a loud crack.
'Retriever. You okay!?' Makker shouted.
Retriever! Come in.' Vir Bhadra Singh almost screamed in
desperation.
Sathya was shouting, 'VB! What happened!? VB!'
Sakshi and Naidu were flabbergasted.
'Retriever, you okay? Retriever…' screaming on the top his lungs,
Vir Bhadra Singh stood up in his place mortified with the fear of the worst. Then his voice chocked and died in his throat. To his horror, with eyes spread to their limits, Vir Bhadra Singh witnessed the disaster on the screen.
Entire structure in the valley was blown up as if it had been sitting
on a live, raging volcano.
With great deal of effort, Vir Bhadra Singh found his voice back,
'Destroyer, Wiper move in. Retriever dead. Terminator down. Move in, move in, move in!'