January 2 2000.

En route to Qua-Toyne Principality,

INS Viraat, Carrier Group West, Former Arabian Sea.

There was a slight drizzle, with the wind blowing across the aircraft carrier. Sunlight penetrated through the gaps in the clouds, brightening up what was supposed to be an overcast day. On the bridge of INS Viraat, Rear Admiral Karthik Salvi stood up from his chair.

He looked out at the flight deck, and observed one of the Sea Harriers preparing for take off as he recovered from the hangover from the previous day. Taking a sip of some tea from his mug, he could only grieve the loss of his vacation being cut short.

“Beautiful view isn’t it, Admiral?”

Turning his head to the side, he saw a man dressed in a suit and tie, something which one rarely sees on a navy ship, unless they were important individuals from outside the navy.

“Ambassador?” Salvi asked a question instead of answering.

Ambassador Pradeep Kumar Sandhu stood there, admiring the ocean and the happenings of the flight deck. He watched with childlike curiosity as the Sea Harrier on the deck took off from the Ski-ramp.

“I always wanted to fly in one of these jets, be a pilot and fight for the country. I was eighteen when I tried to apply for the air force. Too bad they rejected me.”

Upon hearing this, Rear Admiral Salvi noticed the pair of aviator spectacles the diplomat was wearing. Making an educated guess, he spoke up, “Poor eyesight?”

“Yes sir, poor eyesight it was. Eighteen out of twenty was my score, left me quite sad for some time, made me even question why I even took science.”

“But I suppose it was all for the best.” 

Salvi took a few moments to think what to say, as he could compare what happened to Ambassador Sandhu to what happened to him once.

“Well, you know what they say, Ambassador. It’s all God's plan. We just have to make the best out of what we face.”

“Indeed, Admiral.” Ambassador Sandhu responded. “But hey, I decided to not just wear simple glasses. At least when I’m aboard an Aircraft Carrier. How many times will I get the opportunity to look cool?”

The Rear Admiral smiled at that. He could understand the sentiment. “So, those aviators have numbered lenses?”

“Quite right.” Came the reply.

“That might have been expensive.” Rear Admiral Salvi commented.

“Cost me an arm and a leg.” Ambassador Sandhu replied, before finishing it with, “And two eyes.”

“Oh my God.” Rear Admiral Salvi groaned as he looked to the deck and saw the shooter from the ground crew giving the go ahead for the Sea Harrier to be launched. With a roar, the Sea Harrier was speeding across the deck and was then in the air within five seconds.

As the two looked at another Sea Harrier preparing itself for take off, Captain Amit Goswami, the XO of the ship and its second in command, entered the bridge with a clipboard in hand. With the current technology present, only documents on paper could be carried about.

“Admiral sir, the reports have arrived.” He announced.

"Good. What do they state?" The admiral responded.

"Firstly, Navy HQ has managed to reestablish contact with the Eastern fleet. The INS Chakravartin and her fleet are reported to be docked at the INS (Indian Naval Station) Jarawa in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands." Goswami reported.

Upon hearing this, Salvi smiled and nodded. The refitted Kitty Hawk-class carrier, formerly the USS America, is the flagship and pride of the Indian Navy, and it was treated as a strategic asset due to its power projection capabilities in the erstwhile Indian Ocean.

"Good thing those boys are safe, the last thing we need is to tell the government we lost their two billion dollar investment forever in this weird situation we are in."

Nodding, Captain Goswami continued, "However the location of the Islands have been changed. From the east of India, it is now located to the west instead, bearing 2-7-0 from INS Hansa." 

Hearing this, Salvi had a moment of confusion, wanting to ask the question again as he didn't trust what he heard, but took a moment before saying anything, "That's… interesting. I suppose they would be of use in the future, continue the report."

Hearing this, Goswami flipped a page in his clipboard, and continued, "Secondly, our major overseas naval base in Djibouti has appeared in the Andaman, near INS Jarawa, and it’s now  expected that other bases are similarly somewhere in Indian lands."

Now this completely stumped the Admiral. An island moving to another location was somehow acceptable, but infrastructure from literally another country? That sounded like something from some random fantasy book and not real life.

“You sure this is not a joke or a typo? There is no way something like this could happen. Unless what the message from the Chief of Naval said is true, and we are really in another world.”

“Admiral, we are in another world. That’s why I have been attached to this fleet, to interact with the people of this world, and the country right next to us.” Ambassador Sandhu spoke out, reminding the Commanding Officer of the Aircraft Carrier of his assignment while rubbing his glasses with a cloth. He then held it against the glare of the sun, turning it around to make sure there was no dust left.

“I know that Ambassador, I just need some time to get used to this. It is not everyday something like this happens. Now Captain, is there anything else left to report?”

“Yes Admiral. Lastly, the Coast Guard has sent us a request, a fishing trawler with approximately eight souls on board has disappeared since yesterday, and they are requesting us to conduct a search in the open ocean.” Captain Goswami said as he finished his report and tucked the clipboard under his arm.

“I see…” Rear Admiral Salvi said in thought. “Bring up the map. The one that had been sent to us based on the photos that had been taken by our Air Force.”

The maps were brought and Rear Admiral Salvi, Captain Goswami, Ambassador Sandhu and other high ranking officers were huddled around it.

“So, based on what Captain Goswami’s report said, the Andaman-Nicobar Islands, and thus, the INS Chakravartin and her fleet, should be around here.” Rear Admiral Salvi said as he took a pencil and made an elliptical circle, before lightly shading inside it, in an empty portion of the map. “What’s our present location?”

“We are currently heading due south to this small bay area where a port town is supposed to exist there.” The Navigations Officer said in reply, as he took a pencil for himself and began drawing the route plan on the map. “Based on our current speed, we should be seeing the coast in about nine to ten hours.”

“So, how much of an area are we looking to cover if we have to find that missing fishing trawler?” Ambassador Sandhu asked.

“That’s a very good question you ask, Ambassador.” Rear Admiral Salvi said as he kept his eyes trained on the map. “At first glance, it's a pretty big area. Obviously, we did not see anything when we were ordered to make our way to the destination after we landed. That narrows the area. Unfortunately, by not much.”

“Even if we split the fleet in multiple task forces and put all air assets in the air, it’ll still be like looking for a needle in the haystack.” Captain Goswami said, and his superior officer nodded in agreement.

“How many subs do we have again?” Rear Admiral Salvi asked.

“A total of nine submarines on the Western Coast, sir.” Captain Goswami replied.

“How many are in the open sea?”

“Two sir. The Shishumar Class INS Shalki and INS Shankul.” Captain Goswami said and Rear Admiral Salvi breathed out loudly.

“Are they still hungover…” The Rear Admiral muttered under his breath, before loudly saying, “So the only subs we have are the two attached to us. Very well.”

Rear Admiral Salvi then turned to the Communications Officer. “Get in touch with the INS Chakravartin and her fleet. Tell them that this is a request for assistance on a search and rescue operation. Give them the details about the Coast Guard’s request. Hopefully, they should know the situation. If not, give them a condensed form of the report we received from Navy HQ.”

“Sir!” The Comms Officer said and made to leave before the Rear Admiral held him.

“I’m not finished.” Rear Admiral Salvi said as he turned to all officers and gave out his orders. “Split the fleet in multiple task forces. Spread out but make sure all vessels are visible by the naked eye. Once spread, make a general direction due south. We’re gonna go through the sea like a fine-toothed comb. Send the submarines ahead to make sure we don’t encounter anything funny from under the sea. Finally, have as many planes and helicopters in the air to make sure we have a bird’s eye view.” The Rear Admiral then turned to Captain Goswami. “Did the Coast Guard send details about the trawler?”

“Yes sir.” Captain Goswami said in reply. “They sent us images, hull registration number, the name of the trawler and the photos of the Captain and First Mate. The Captain is a former jarhead.”

“Really?” Rear Admiral Salvi asked. “Anyway, send all the information to the rest of the fleet. Make sure they know what they’re looking for. Dismissed.”

“Sir!” All officers acknowledged before leaving to do their assigned tasks.

“I think I should have tried for the Navy.” Ambassador Sandhu said.

“Well… You’re kinda late to enlist.” Rear Admiral Salvi said. “But I can give you a cap. You can keep that as a souvenir.”

“You know. That seems like a great idea.” Ambassador Sandhu admitted. “Thank you, Admiral.”

---[-]---

Qua-Toyne Navy 2nd Fleet

Off the coast of Maihark

Captain Vansen stood near the wheel of the ship, observing the open waters. It was cloudy and a chill breeze blew across. The water was gentle and the ship’s hull gently rocked in it. Many things were already running through his mind, including the recent Lourian naval incursions and the previous day’s incident.

His internal monologue was broken as his first mate spoke, “Umm, captain, there is something off to the Portside.”

Captain Vansen groaned as he was interrupted, “What is it? It better be important.”

“It is Captain, it looks like ships.” 

“What?” The Captain was immediately interested, as where his first mate pointed towards the open ocean, as they were already facing Lourian waters.

The first mate handed his telescope as he pointed, “There, I saw some shapes similar to ships.”

Captain Vansen accepted the telescope, adjusting it and looked towards where the first mate pointed. Observing, he could see those silhouettes slowly getting closer and more details being seen. He handed the telescope and ordered,

“Helmsman! Take us portside! We are going to intercept the unknown ships!”

“Aye Captain!” The helmsman responded.

Orders were passed, and two other ships turned as well to proceed to investigate. The rowers below the deck of Captain Vansen's ship helped in aiding the ship move faster, whilst the sails moved the ship forward as they caught the wind. Suddenly, a series thump could be heard in the air, as if something was cutting the air itself, but the fleet ignored it. Captain Vansen continued to look into the telescope as he saw more details of the ships, seemingly grey in colour. All this time, the thumping got louder.

Captain Vansen was now getting annoyed by the loud thumps and was about to order someone to figure out what was going on until it was in plain sight. A rotorcraft with seemingly magical powers hovered in front of them, out of arrow's reach. Captain Vansen was not even sure an arrow would be able to reach it based on how much air and sea water was being displaced. A loud voice then boomed out of it.

“THIS IS THE INDIAN NAVY! YOU ARE TRESPASSING INTO THE MARITIME BORDERS OF THE REPUBLIC OF INDIA! YOU ARE ORDERED TO TURN BACK! WE REPEAT! THIS IS THE INDIAN NAVY! YOU ARE IMPEDING INTO THE MARITIME BORDERS OF THE REPUBLIC OF INDIA! YOU ARE ORDERED TO TURN BACK! WE REPEAT…”

The crew looked at the rotorcraft, terrified of its magical qualities as it continued to order them with further instructions. An overzealous ship hand loaded a ballista. However, just before anything else could happen, a sharp noise was heard in the distance, quickly making its way towards the fleet. With rising panic, Captain Vansen looked up behind him. As he did the noise reached its sharpest pitch, and Captain Vansen witnessed four metal swords cutting through the air at incredible speeds as they reflected the sun. Then, someone from one of the other ships loudly yelled and pointed at the sea. The entire fleet turned to look at it, and could see the water behaving strangely. Much to the fear of the Qua-Toyne Fleet, an unsettlingly long, dark shadow could be seen becoming increasingly larger, when not even a minute later, a large black sea monster (an Indian submarine) emerged from the dark depths and revealed itself.

Now completely taken aback by this horror show, Captain Vansen was distracted by the time he noticed more ships that could be seen in the distance. These shpis continued their approach at mind boggling speeds. Before he could even issue further orders, activity from the black sea monster captured his attention again, and much to his surprise, he saw what looked like humans come out of it. He looked at them with the telescope, and they seemed to be waving him to move up forward with their hands and flags, towards the ships coming towards them.

With only his ship moving forward, he watched the ship grow bigger as it approached his vessel. He analyzed the metal ship, noting a large cannon was placed near the bow of the ship.

He also noticed the lack of a mast, instead a metal superstructure took its place, complete with windows and spires. Several smaller cannons adorned the sides of the ship, along with weird alien tube-like objects.

As the ship got closer, he could see more humans, they were waving at him and the crew as they seemed to point behind them as well, just like how the humans on the black monster did, which Captain Vansen summarised as some sort of underwater ship. Confused, he waved back and awaited what the humans were pointing towards. Similar metal ships passed him, seeing to form a large perimeter for what was coming.

A massive flat-topped vessel with a ramp at the front approached. It was even bigger than the ships escorting it, and it made Captain Vansen's ship look like tied matchsticks. Mouth wide agape, he started at the massive floating fortress, at least the height of three of his vessels, nearly equivalent to three Qua-Toynian war ships in length and width of two to three of his ships.

"What in the world is th-that… th-thing?" One of his lieutenants stuttered out as they observed the floating fortress, wondering what they should do.

"It's a ship! Just think of it like that. It might be massive but it’s still a ship and we must fulfil our duties." Captain Vansen spoke out, observing a contraption moving downwards to them.

"But Captain, how do we even board the vessel?" One of his other lieutenants could only ask.

A segment of the fortress had lowered itself down half way, after which a ladder was thrown out. The humans on board motioned for them to come on board, waving their hands. 

"I believe we should climb up that ladder and board on their magical platform." Captain Vansen pointed at it.

Captain Vansen, some of his lientants and a few guards climbed up the ladder and stood on the platform. He inspected the men on the platform, some were in full white and unarmed, while the others were in some sort of mixed colour uniform which was better suited in a forest, and were carrying some strange black muskets, aligning them to the side as they stood like statues, watching Captain Vansen and his men's every move.

Although it was just for a few moments, Captain Vansen could look inside of the ship. A massive space illuminated by magical lifts and what looked to be cargo. He even saw what looked like a wing before the platform had raised itself to the top. He wondered if this was a cargo ship as they reached the top of the deck.

Before he could even observe what was around on the deck, one of the winged objects hovered above the deck before landing. Captain Vansen watched the magical artifact in wonder, all the while he took a surprised step back with the wind that had blown over before he managed to balance himself. He wondered how it was capable of even hovering in such a way even impossible for wyverns. He was already in awe of the artifact as he looked around the deck while he turned and whispering to his men

“Good God… Look at this! The top of this vessel is so large, we could probably have a good game of colf!” Captain Vansen whispered in astonished wonder while he now secretly yearned for his next shore leave so he could play his favourite game at his estate.

His men agreed and whispered amongst themselves as well, trying to figure out how this all worked.

Similar to the other ships, this one had a large tower with windows and similar looking spires. Two flags were also flying, one of which felt familiar to Captain Vansen. It had three colours in a horizontal stripe, orange white and green with a blue wheel in between and middle of the white stripe. Below that flag, was another flag. This one had a white ensign, with a horizontal red stripe and a vertical red stripe (Cross of Saint George), and the same flag as the first one was above in the upper canton next to the staff. Both flags were proudly fluttering in the wind.

Approaching from that tower were two men with guards around them, one dressed in full whites, while the other was in a dark navy blue suit. As they approached near, Captain Vansen continued with the procedure.

"Men, standby and present yourself as honourable sailors of Qua Tonye!" Captain  Vansen shouted as he walked towards the two important figures, giving them a Toynian salute.

"Greetings, I am Captain Vansen of the Qua Toyne Second Naval Fleet. You have entered our territorial waters, and we would like to know your vessel's affiliation and objective." He said.

The man in the suit smiled as he shook Captain Vansen’s hand, “I am Ambassador Pradeep Kumar Sandhu, and this fine gentleman is…”

“Rear Admiral Karthik Salvi, and welcome onboard the INS Viraat.” He shook Captain Vansen’s hand as well.

“Now for our affiliation. We belong to the Republic of India, and our objective is to establish contact with our neighbours.” Ambassador Sandhu said as he presented the map of India that had been drawn by the Survey of India with its current location in mind.

Captain Vansen took the map and looked at it. For a second, he had to double take with the landmass, and while he could not understand the words, the numbers were something he was able to understand when he saw the scale and then did the mental calculation in his head. He then looked at the two men, taking note of the seriousness in their faces, before he looked at the map and ran the numbers again.

“I apologise, but I have never heard of such a nation. And if your map is correct, along with your country’s supposed distance from us, surely we would have met each other before!” Captain Vansen said.

“I understand.” Ambassador Sandhu said with a smile. “But what if we tell you, that for all intents and purposes, we are a transported nation?”

“A transported nation?!” Captain Vansen asked in disbelief and even some of his officers subtly turned their eyes towards each other.

“Quite right.” Ambassador Sandhu said as he took off his shades and replaced them with his normal glasses. “A sudden storm, the likes of which was never recorded before, engulfed the general area where we used to be situated in our previous world. Next thing we know, we could not contact any of the countries we knew and we were… here. What’s the name of this planet by the way?”

“Well… about that. We never thought of one.” Captain Vansen said as he ran his hand behind his head with a little embarrassment. “We reside in what is considered as the ‘Barbarian Area’, outside the ‘Civilised Regions’. You may want to contact nations like the Parpaldian Empire to help you with that. Forgive me, what are you doing here, exactly?”

“The Government of India has tasked me with the objective to initiate contact with local civilisations in the area. Your nation of Qua-Toyne falls within that category. After first contact, I am supposed to work with your country, on behalf of my government, to pave the way for establishing diplomatic relations.” Ambassador Sandhu said in a voice and tone that reminded Captain Vansen of someone giving him a report on a military engagement.

“More than 24 hours ago, we had sent one of our reconnaissance aircraft, a Canberra PR.57, to conduct photo reconnaissance. Unfortunately, our aircraft inadvertently breached your airspace. I have instructions to convey my Government’s official apology for intruding in your airspace.” Ambassador Sandhu said. Captain Vansen wasn’t sure, but he thought he spotted a flicker of surprise pass by the Rear Admiral. Nonetheless, he accepted the apology with a nod and, “Of course. Thank you very much for that. I am sure the people and my government will receive your apology well.”

“I thank you.” Ambassador Sandhu said with a smile. “Of course, we do have a much more urgent matter on our hands as well.”

“Oh? What would that be?” Captain Vansen asked.

This time, it was Rear Admiral Salvi who spoke.

“We are searching for some of our people. A boat of fishermen, who disappeared from our waters twenty four hours ago.” Rear Admiral Salvi said with a smile of his own.

Now Captain Vansen remembered where he had seen that flag before.

Rear Admiral Salvi’s smile turned to resemble a shark that smelled blood in the water.

---[+]---

Principality of Qua-Tonye

Port Town of Maihark

Maihark Prison

1st Floor

Prison Cell

Suriya held on the bars of the window, looking out through the only hole which provided them a light source in the prison cell where he and the other Indian fishermen were held. Nearly all of them were sulking, huddled up in a circle as they kept discussing their luck.

Their luck was amazing, yet awful. As if they were being punished for trying to fish more than usual. They saw another boat in the distance and wanting to show off their catch, they got closer to begin their antics. But when they got closer they realised something was wrong, very wrong.

It was not a Sri Lankan boat! Forget fishing boats, these things had sails! The only vessels with sails they had seen were those yachts the rich people from Mumbai and Goa had.

White men were on the boat. Again, they thought that those rich tourists from Goa were doing some kind of roleplay or something. Those same men spoke in English, which none of them except the Captain and Suriya could properly understand. While Suriya tried to speak in broken English, the captain stayed quiet.

More of these weird ships came and surrounded them, and before they could do anything, they were boarded, had arrows, swords and spears pointed at them. They were all taken prisoner by the weird white people with long ears and archaic clothing and armour. But that was not all. After taking them prisoner, the Captain was forced to drive the boat at spearpoint, following which they arrived at the unfamiliar coastal port city which not supposed to exist as per the map, thank you very much. They were then greeted by something cut out from a history book or those western movies of kings and their knights. 

Their boat was confiscated and tied up to the pier while the Indian men and the boy under guard were marched through the streets of the port city drawing a lot of attention from the locals who were all staring at them as if they never saw men before. 

As soon as they arrived at what appeared to be the city’s guard station they were all locked up in a prison and one by one brought before a higher city official where their interrogation started.

Fortunately none of them were able to speak English fluently, which made it hard for the officials to get any kind of important information for them. Their captain acted mute in front of the long ears just to fool them and the only thing their captors could get their names, the purpose of their visit into their waters which was to do some fishing and the land they all hailed from: India. 

But one thing was certain, the Qua-Toyne sailors were never going to forget a boat filled with obnoxious men dancing and teasing them while showing off a large fish they had caught. 

After the short failed interrogation session, where a few of them, including Rajini, were roughed up a bit by the officials, they were brought back to their cell and left for the day.

“Well, at least we get a good view.” Rajni said as he peeked through the window as well. His companions quietly giggled at that. They could see the port and bay in the distance. Yet, none of them could wrap their head around what was happening. They had been arrested by Sri Lankan authorities before. In fact, at this point the warden of the Sri Lankan prison that detained, processed and then released Indian fishermen personally knew the entire crew and would give them a good meal and a warm cup of tea or coffee every time they graced his prison.

But obviously this was not Sri Lanka. Sri Lankans didn’t have pointy ears. Sri Lankans didn’t use crossbows, spears and bows and arrows. No sir, they used rifles. The same type which the Captain had kept hidden under the floorboard along with ammunition magazines and pistols in case any Somalian pirate decided to be brave and come all the way to India. Rajni simply chalked that up to the Captain’s paranoia following his service in Somalia. Though he wondered why the Captain wasn’t speaking.

Frankly, Rajni knew that he should be panicking. Since this was not Sri Lanka, it was obvious that he and the crew would not be allowed to go back home by the evening. But he felt oddly calm about this. He had been in such situations many times before. Only the actors were different. Plus, it looked like these knife-eared clowns felt offended by the crew’s antics. Not that he cared.

One thing Rajni was sure of was the fact that the government probably already knew about what’s going on. Now, he wasn’t a fan of governments, but he would take their help in getting himself and his crew out. Hopefully the Coast Guard has already alerted the Navy who may have started a search and rescue mission. Hopefully, for them. Maybe not today or tomorrow, but he knew at some point his country would send someone here. In this strange new land.

The next morning, Rajni was woken by a loud cheer from Suriya and Murugan. “What is it?” Rajni asked sleepily.

“Anna! Anna! We’re saved! We’re saved! Look! Look!” Both boys exclaimed while jumping up and down. Everybody got up and crowded the small window to see what the boys were pointing at.

“One at a time!” Rajni exclaimed, before he pushed through everyone and looked outside.

The first thing he noticed was the massive flat top deck of a ship, which had a ramp at the bow. But that was at a distance. What he saw better was a gray coloured destroyer sitting right in the middle of the bay. The ship’s starboard side was facing the town and thus, the prison. On the mast, he could see a white ensign, with a horizontal red stripe and a vertical red stripe (Cross of Saint George), and the national flag of India in the upper canton next to the staff, fluttering proudly in the wind. That’s when Rajni came to a realization.

“It’s a message.” The Captain said. Deciding to start speaking after an entire day.

Rajni had a few quips on the tip of his tongue, but he held them to instead ask, “For whom?”

“For them, hopefully.” The Captain replied before breaking out a grin. “Classic Gun Boat diplomacy.”

“Why does that sound so wrong?” Rajni asked.

“Because it used to be what the Western countries used to do a long time ago. Best example is the United States in Japan back in 1853. Commodore Matthew Perry, I believe his name was. The man who led a squadron of four US Navy ships. He had essentially ordered the isolationist Japanese government at the time to open their country for trade. At the threat of bombarding Tokyo with cannon fire, of course. To be honest, however, for the Japanese at the time those four ships would have looked very intimidating. Just like ours is looking now to these people.” The Captain explained. “Though now that I think about it, there were many examples of it in the previous century too.”

“History lesson in a prison?” Rajni asked. “Now I’ve done everything. But what’s the message? Why’s the destroyer like that?”

“Who knows. Maybe our country is playing hardball. I could hope that it is for us. ‘Let us go, and the destroyer will leave the bay’.” The Captain said.

“Or what?” Rajni asked apprehensively.

“You want those guns turning starboard?” The Captain asked and the tone of the Captain’s voice made Rajni feel a shiver crawl up his spine. “Want to know what kind of hell they are capable of unleashing on a small town like this?”

“The navy wouldn’t do that. The government won’t like it one bit.” Rajni shakily said.

“You are right.” The Captain said as he nodded. “But these knife-ears don’t know that.”

Meanwhile the rest of the crew was in a euphoric state, after seeing the Indian Navy destroyer and aircraft carrier in the distance. They began to sing and dance in their cell, causing a ruckus in the prison and disturbing the guards who came to see what was going on. 

Arriving to see their uninvited guests back at their antics and even going as far as teasing them.

“Na nana na na, na nana na na.” Suriya teased one of the guards with an obnoxious grin on his face. The guards were both shocked and utterly confused on how to deal with this rabble. It didn’t help that the Captain of the Maihark Garrison had shown up as well. 

“What the hell’s going on?” The Captain yelled. From the voice, Rameshwar noticed the Captain of the guard was a young woman and he broke a small smile. He remembered she was also present during their interrogation session, Ine was her name if he was remembering properly.

‘It has been sometime since I saw someone with such a beautiful face like hers.’ he thought to himself. 

“I say again. Stop this commotion or you all will be subdued and put in solitary confinement for a week!”  

“Oh, I am certain your government will not make that mistake.” Rameshwar said as he decided to reveal his little secret to the locals, that he can actually talk and that too in their language. 

The female captain’s eyes widened as she took a step back

“What?! You can speak in our language too?!”

Rameshwar nodded as he walked up to the iron bars and stared right at the Knight Captain's eyes and then smirked.

 

“Apologies for the disturbance, Captain. But my boys here are just happy to see their nation has finally come to take them home.” He then gives a thumb towards the window past the dancing rabble. “It’s not everyday that the most powerful warships in our nation’s navy comes to rescue us.”

“What?!” Ine responded in surprise.

“Oh please. Don’t tell me you haven’t seen the massive ships lining up in front of your city.” Captain Rameshwar said with a smile.

For a few moments, the Knight Captain had no response.

“Why would your nation care about a bunch of commoners, low born fishermen and nobodies?” Ine retorted back.

These words caused Rameshwar to lose his nice demeanor. The smile turned cold.

His crew also had stopped their celebration as they focused their attention on their captain.

“You don’t know, my dear Captain of the Knights, and I honestly in good conscience cannot blame you for not knowing, but around 39 years ago, my nation went to war. The country we had gone to war against was an Empire, and in the grand scheme of things, we should have lost. But you want to know what happened?” Captain Rameshwar asked, but continued without hearing Ine’s answer. “In just two days, we beat them bloody.”

To Ine’s credit, she only looked shaken by that statement. Meanwhile the other guards looked like they were moments away from shitting their pants. Of course, Captain Rameshwar knew that he did not mention the only ones who India had beaten was the garrison force of 3500 military personnel, 1 frigate and 3 inshore patrol boats. That against 45,000 men, 16 naval vessels and 42 aircraft from India, obviously that would have been the result. But the Maihark Garrison’s commander didn’t need to know that. 

“Do you want to know why we went to war in the first place?” Captain Rameshwar asked again. This time waiting for an answer. None was forthcoming but the Captain could see the curiosity. “Very simple, really. They killed one of our fishermen because he crossed into their border by accident.”

“J-Just for that-” 

“Look in my eyes and tell me am I lying to you, Captain Ine.” Captain Rameshwar said with a deranged look in his eyes as he pulled himself closer to the bars that saw the guards shakily pointing their spears. Once again, Captain Rameshwar applauded the bravery of this young Captain for the fact that she remained rooted to her spot. It was either bravery or she was frozen solid. He’ll prefer the former.

“I..I..” 

“Those guys outside?” Captain Rameshwar said as he pushed himself from the bars and pointed outside. “They’re being nice. They are restraining themselves. Because opening diplomacy with your country, by burning down your port town to the ground, is not a very good look for them, or our government. But believe me, I have seen them unleash volleys that took out armies!” Even Captain Rameshwar knew he was exaggerating. But at this point he was just having fun. “We’re a bunch of violent folks from where we come from. A little push is all that’s needed for us to beat the living daylights out of entire countries. We’ve done it multiple times before.”

Now Captain Ine’s face began to crack. But she still put up a valiant effort in maintaining her composure.

“Just think about it Captain, what will happen when they find out how we have been treated? Just how long exactly do you expect your beautiful city to be left standing?” Captain Rameshwar asked as he went in for the kill. Letting the young woman’s imagination do the rest.

Ine said nothing, but she remembered that screeching monster that had come to this town. She remembered the fear that had permeated through the city for the rest of the day and how even her hands shook for the entire day after that beast left.

Ine had heard rumours on how the steamships of the Parpaldia Empire looked like. She did not know whether the steel beast was the same, but she did not want to find out. She had heard the Parpaldian Navy was capable of unleashing heavy firepower, and that was the reason why they were such a prominent power in the sea of this region. She had no illusions on what would happen if the owners of that steel beast currently sitting in Maihark Bay decided to give the citizens of the town a taste of what they could be capable of.

After taking a deep breath motioned the guards to stand down. She then hurriedly left the prison to inform this crucial information to her superiors as quickly as possible. 

Rajini walked up to Rameshwar. 

“What did you say to her that made her face look like she saw a monster?” He asked him in Tamil. 

“Oh nothing, just give her a compressed account of our war with the Portuguese back in 1961. Hehehe.”

“You did the deranged look, didn’t you?” Rajni asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Heh. Works every time.” Captain Rameshwar said with a grin, before slowly letting it fall as he remembered his service in Somalia.

“Cap?” Rajni asked.

“I learnt something in Somalia. Especially when we used to interrogate those savages.” Captain Rameshwar said, his eyes hard. “If a man plays the fool, he’ll only persuade fools. But play the devil… and everybody submits.”

“Were you the devil then?” Rajni asked. It was not everyday the man talked about what he did in Somalia.

“Aye sir. For an audience. It’s a performance you know.” Captain Rameshwar said as he looked forward. “Give your target something to fear, something hellish. Something straight out of a fevered dream. And men will drop to their knees, pleading for God before all else…” As he spoke, Captain Rameshwar’s face twisted into something ugly, something his First Mate could only see half of.

“H-Help…” A voice squeaked, and Rajni turned to look at the guard outside, who was shaking in fear as he slumped down to the floor.

“Captain, you scared the poor bastard!” Rajni said matter of factly.

“Ah. Fuck.” Captain Rameshwar said in English as he facepalmed.