April 20, Central Calendar Year 1639, 

Royal Assembly

Qua-Toyne

 

“Prime Minister Kanata.” A politician from the Opposition called once they gave him leave to speak by the Speaker of the Assembly. “As you know, the purpose of this emergency session of the Royal Assembly is about what happened at Maihark. Can you tell this chamber what has your government unearthed about yesterday’s incident?” The politician asked as his party cheered him on.

 

“We are currently investigating the incident that happened yesterday at Maihark.” Prime Minister Kanata said in reply, and the entire Chamber erupted in jeers.

 

“Investigating? Investigating?!” the politician from the Opposition mocked as he stood up to speak. “Prime Minister. Ever since you have come into office after the elections, you have been investigating! Louria’s aggression: Investigating. Coming close to being isolated diplomatically because of the machination of the Parpaldian Empire: Investigating. The Quilla Kingdom being, frankly, and with all due respect, useless on their side of upholding the integrity of the military alliance we have with them: Investigating! Prime Minister Kanata, when are you going to give this chamber and the people of this country some answers to the result of your investigation?!”

 

Prime Minister Kanata stood up to speak. However, he was drowned out by the long cheer his opponent got, and with a heavy heart, he had to sit down again.

 

---[+]---

 

Emerald Palace, 

Qua-Toyne

 

“Well, that was fun.” Prince Runsai Tsugoku said as Prime Minister Kanata sat in front of him, unable to meet his eyes. The sarcasm from the Prince was rolling out in waves. “I don’t think I need to tell you that you have indeed dug yourself into a deep hole, Prime Minister.”

 

“Yes, Your Highness.” Prime Minister Kanata said with a nod, increasingly resembling a child facing a disappointed parent.

 

“Now tell me what you really know about the incident in Maihark.” Prince Tsugoku said, and the Prime Minister knew this was an order.

 

“We… We know nothing.” Prime Minister Kanata said in a small voice, and Prince Tsugoku leaned back in his chair before giving a deep breath. Prime Minister Kanata continued. “The only thing we know are the reports of the wyvern knight that encountered the flying thing and the wyvern squadron from the Maihark Garrison that had tried to intercept it.”

 

“And… What have you done with that information?” Prince Tsugoku prodded.

 

“We’re analyzing it. The Foreign Office has also sent a few secret missives to our Legations in the First and Second Civilisations if they could shed some light.”

 

“Prime Minister… How long have you been in office again?” Prince Tsugoku asked after a few beats of silence.

 

“Around six months.” Prime Minister Kanata replied.

 

“194 days. But yes, around six months.” Prince Tsugoku said. “I think you remember what I told you when we met for the first time in your capacity as Prime Minister. I thought you were very brave in running as an independent and even winning the elections, despite that nasty scandal about your late sister that had broken out on the last day and severely robbed your projected majority.”

 

“Yes, Your Highness.” Prime Minister Kanata said.

 

“Frankly, I had been flooded by letters requesting me to not ratify your election and call for re-elections.” Prince Tsugoku said. “However, I gave you a chance and invited you to form a government.”

 

“I remember the faith you placed in me, Your Highness.” Prime Minister Kanata said again.

 

“Yet here we are.” Prince Tsugoku said with a sigh. “Your majority in the Royal Assembly is paper thin. If you didn’t know it before, today’s emergency session should have let you know.”

 

“That’s correct, Your Highness.” Prime Minister Kanata said with a nod.

 

“Louria’s aggression, Quilla’s uselessness, Parpaldia’s actions, and now this.” Prince Tsugoku listed out. “If tomorrow, a motion of no-confidence is passed against your Government, and it passes, and it then reaches my desk… I will have to ratify it and dismiss you from your post. You will go down as the most disgraceful Prime Minister in this Principality’s history.”

 

Prime Minister Kanata had nothing to say to that. He knew it very well himself.

 

“I’m not supposed to do this, but at this point, I think I should do something.” Prince Tsugoku said with a loud breath.

 

“Wait what?!” Prime Minister Kanata asked in surprise.

 

“I’ll give you one piece of advice. I would have said it behind a proverb, but I think you have too much on your plate to wrap your head on that. So I’ll say it bluntly.” Prince Tsugoku said. “Don’t try to please everybody at once. You will end up making nobody happy.”

 

“Your Highness, what are you even–” Prime Minister Kanata started before Prince Tsugoku stopped him.

 

“Unfortunately, I will have to cut our meeting short. I have a prior appointment with my grandchildren to meet within the next ten minutes.” Prince Tsugoku said with a smile. “However, we will continue this meeting in a few days. I will tell you the date and time after going through my schedule.”

 

“I understand, Your Highness.” Prime Minister Kanata said.

 

---[+]---

 

Mana-Communication Headquarters,

War Ministry,

Qua-Toyne.

 

Leonelis Folo came back to his desk as the head of MCHQ with a cup of tea. He had been working for more than 24 hours at this point. His usual nine hour shift had gone up in smoke when that flying beast appeared over Maihark. Now he was overseeing the officers under his command and constantly monitoring communications and contacting every military and militia unit within the Principality, forwarding orders that were coming from his superiors. If the higher-ups were the brain (joke of the century), then he, his office, and his subordinates were the nervous system of the Principality’s defense force.

 

Nonetheless, he sat down on his desk and started sifting through the orders and reports that had piled up on his desk in the short time he went to get a cuppa, for final approval. If his opinion is asked, he would be happy if he did not see any papers for the entire next month. Unfortunately, nobody asked for his opinion, so after taking a sip, relishing the warmth of the tea, he got to work.

 

“Sir.” one officer manning the mana-communication devices called as she raised her hand up. Leonelis was sure that two hours ago, someone else was sitting there. Unlike him, his officers were still working on their usual shifts, mainly to make sure that they did not burn themselves.

 

“What is it?” He asked as he made his way to that device, his cup of tea still in hand.

 

“We have just received a priority transmission from Captain Vansen of the 2nd Fleet who are headquartered at Maihark.” The officer said.

 

“Print it out, please.” Leonelis said. As he continued taking small sips of his tea while the transmission got printed out. A few minutes later, the officer plucked out the printed transmission and handed it over to him.

 

As he took the transmission and leisurely read it, before his eyes widened, he left his cup, letting gravity work its magic, snapping out of his reverie when he heard a crash, followed by a shriek. The cup was on the floor, shattered, its contents all over the floor, and the officer looked at him accusingly.

 

“Oh, for fuck’s sake!” Leonelis swore before he took a deep breath. He turned to the officer and asked, “You okay?” The officer nodded shakily. “Good.” Leonelis said. “Get someone to clean it up.”

 

Leonelis then read the report from Captain Vansen three more times to make sure he was not too tired. Once he confirmed he was not, he turned to the remaining officers in the room, all of whom were still looking at him. “You.” He said as he pointed to an officer in the corner. “Yeah you. I would usually remember your name, but I’m too tired to bother. Contact the higher-ups. Tell them we need someone here.”

 

Leonelis then turned to another officer manning the mana-communication equipment. “You! Contact the Foreign Office and tell them to send a bloody wide-eyed idiot here ASAP!”

 

“What reason should I give, sir?” That officer asked.

 

“Tell them to just send the dumbest or freest person they have on hand. I don’t care if it’s both. For the reason, it's classified until the higher-ups decide otherwise.”

 

Annoyed by how slowly people were returning to work, Leonelis said snappily, “If I’m not able to go back home this evening, I’m making sure all of you will be here with me!” That made the room work more quickly.

 

---[+]---

 

April 20, Central Calendar Year 1639, 

Lotus Garden, Cabinet Conference Room,

Qua-Tonye.

 

A cabinet meeting was underway in the Lotus Garden, with key officials of the Qua-Toynian government. While the key focus of it was to discuss a myriad of issues, chief among them being the previous day’s incident, and Louria’s aggression on the continent’s other two nation states.

 

Prime Minister Kanata listened to the conversation of the officials, while he made mental notes about the recent increase of incursions and aggression from the hostile nation, as well as its increasing discrimination towards Demi-humans. However, a good part of his mind was still stuck on the beat down he got in the Royal Assembly and the verbal lashing (euphemistically, of course), he received from Prince Runsai Tsugoku. The Prince was right, his government was surviving by a paper-thin margin and he would be lucky if he was still Prime Minister by the end of next week. If not, he would go down in Qua-Toyne history as the most disgraceful Prime Minister. 

 

“Gentlemen, you all have read the report. Now, do we have any answers about yesterday’s incident?”

 

The Head of Information Analysis, part of the War Ministry, who had been quiet during the conference, lifted his arm up and began explaining, “From all the reports we have received, the most we could make out of it, was that it is a flying machine, made of out metal.”

 

“So, just like how Mu has?” Kanata asked curiously.

 

“The flying machine that is used by the Second Civilisations' Commonwealth of Mu, does not match the speed of the unknown machine. Their machine’s top speed is three hundred and fifty kilometres per hour, while the unknown one was definitely much faster. It is just the timing, however…” the Minister muttered at the end of his sentence.

 

“Almer, what do you mean by the timing?” Kanata gave the minister a confused look.

 

“There have been really alarming reports our Legations in the Second Civilisation sent. Apparently, a new nation has appeared, the Eighth Empire. They have declared war on the alliance of the nations from that civilisation.” Almer, the Minister of Information Analysis completed.

 

As far as the cabinet is concerned, they couldn't care less about the content of these reports. Why? That’s because this supposed conflict was taking place far away from their nation. Yes, they had legations in these nations, but that was where their relation with those nations stopped. They had no other economic, military or diplomatic relations with them. So they could care less. It was the view of the Qua-Toynian Government was to let the major nations do what they did best, as it did not affect them.

 

“Almer, even if they have weapons we have never seen before, there is no way they could reach us. The distance between us and Mu is over twenty thousand kilometers.”

 

That still did not explain yesterday’s events, and now they were back to square one. Already, Louria’s actions forced the nation to go into a state of semi-emergency every week. This just added more trouble for the small fledgling nation. 

 

Just before they could continue with the conference, an official hurriedly entered the room. The Cabinet members could see that he was carrying some papers, which he tightly held.

 

“This is a report regarding yesterday’s airspace violation!” The official announced, much to the surprise of the Cabinet. It was if fortune was smiling at them by giving them an update to one of their pressing issues so quickly. With hope in his eyes, Prime Minister Kanata spoke up, “Continue your report.”

 

“The Navy’s Second Fleet has contacted another naval fleet. This fleet belongs to a ‘Republic of India’. This nation has claimed responsibility for yesterday's airspace violation and they have issued an official apology for it. Onboard that fleet, there is even an ambassador, and they wish to establish diplomatic relations.” The official reported.

 

“What do you mean? We have never heard of this nation before.” One minister spoke up in a very unamused tone.

 

“They claim to be a transferred nation. The Second Fleet has sent confirmation that the ‘Indian’ fleet comprised metal ships, and they seemed to have the ability to even control underwater ships.” The junior official responded to the minister’s outburst.

 

This silenced all doubts that the ministers had. Although the entire nation's transfer was considered a product of myths, they nonetheless had to deal with what was happening right in front of them, and could not ignore this.

 

Once the shock of the report wore off them, they met the messenger and his message with mixed responses. They could not believe something like this could happen, and some suggested ignoring the ‘Republic of India’ as some sort of newly formed weak nation.

 

After the commotion calmed down, Almer Larnala, the information analysis minister, spoke up.

 

“For all the talk of being our ally, the Quila kingdom is weak, economically and militarily, and they have done nothing to improve it. Furthermore, our routes towards them are filled with wastelands and mountains. With Louria increasing their troop numbers on our borders, I ask these gentlemen: Can we afford to spare resources towards more hostilities?”

 

“We have confirmed yesterday's and today’s incidents. They have their magic aircraft and ships of steel, and they wish to open diplomatic relations with us.” Almer continued.

 

“Prime Minister, I suggest you accept their offer. Otherwise we could see them opening relations with our ‘oh so friendly neighbor’ and we would then be surrounded by hostiles instead.”

 

Kanata pressed his head as he attempted to calm his throbbing veins while he took a moment to think. This had to be one of his most stressful days in the past six months. “Contact the Lord of Maihark. Tell him to host and conduct the diplomatic talks as the Lord of the host city and prepare for ambassadors to assist him.”

 

With the conference concluded, Kanata headed back to his office, while a feeling of unease rose within him. He was unable to get rid of it and was thus left wondering what was about to happen to this nation.

 

---[+]---

 

April 20, Central Calendar Year 1639,

Port Town of Maihark

Lord of the East Residence

 

“Do you believe those commoners were speaking the truth?”

 

Captain Ine of the Maihark Defense Knights, nodded before speaking. “Yes. Your Grace. I saw it in his eyes, the eyes of a mad killer. He is speaking the truth, I am certain of it, we may have a diplomatic incident in our hands which if not handled properly might…” 

 

“Lead to open war.” Lord Hagama finished. 

 

Sweat permeated on the forehead of the Lord of the East, Head of the Maihark Government. 

 

He had never felt this helpless before.

 

Just moments ago he received orders from the Prime Minister to welcome the diplomats from the ‘Republic of India’, a newly risen nation in the east, to lead diplomatic talks with them until the diplomats from the Capital arrive.

 

The same diplomats about whom he was informed by the Admiral of the Second Fleet this morning. He explicitly ordered the Admiral to not let their ships too close to the city, but according to him he had already given his word to let them come and now one of their vessels has sailed quite close to Maihark. Well, ‘close’ was an understatement. It was right in the bay, with its starboard side facing Maihark. God forbid what would happen if the cannons on that beast turned the same direction.

 

Ultimately, deciding to ignore the intimidating ship and still considering them as nothing but barbarians, Hagama dressed himself in his most regal attire in his wardrobe. He would be the one to show these barbarians how a true civilized lord looks like. 

 

As he was about to leave, the Commander of the Knights burst into his room, her face drenched in sweat and taking heavy panting breaths as if she had come to his residence running. Then there was the terrified expression on her face as if she had just seen a demon lord from ancient times. 

 

Hagama personally knew the Captain. He knew she was one of those officers in their army who never showed a hint of fear, even when in the face of imminent danger. 

 

Concerned, he inquired on what had her so terrified and the reply he got shook him to his very core. 

 

The Maihark guards had unknowingly captured a group of Indian fisherman who had by mistakenly crossed into their territory. As the law dictated, they were apprehended for trespassing. Their boat was seized and the crew were detained and interrogated. It was common procedure, but if this new nation had already gone to war and won against an Empire in their previous world (he still found that hard to believe) for mistakenly killing one of their fishermen, what wrath would befall on Maihark if they found their people had been humiliated.  

 

The belligerent Lourians were already causing a lot of trouble at the border, their privateers attacked any ship flying the colors of the Qua-Toyne Principality. The government was in almost permanent fear that a war might break out soon. 

 

Now with this, Qua Tyone was in danger of being dragged into a two front war. Something the nation ill-afford at their current strength.

 

Lord Hagama sat on his desk lost in thoughts, contemplating how to deal with this. First, he thought of silencing the fishermen permanently. Eliminate all of them and hide their bodies in unmarked graves. 

 

But he gave up the idea in fear of what will happen if they find out and declare war. That added to the fact he would tarnish his honor for resorting to such a lowly act on innocent folks.

 

The other option would be to pay a hefty compensation with an official apology. Even this act would dampen his prestige, but it was a bloodless alternative. Decision made, he nodded to himself in agreement. 

 

He quickly brought out two pieces of parchment and took his quill before he began scribbling his orders on it. He handed one parchment of his page.

 

“Take this to the treasury at once.” The page bowed before bolting. 

 

He then handed another parchment to Captain Ine. “Show this to the warden and have the prisoners released. Ensure that any injuries they suffered when under our… hospitality… are treated swiftly. Finally, persuade them to speak with no ill will about us. I don’t care if you even have to bribe them with gold.”

 

“As you order, Your Grace.” Captain Ine said as she bowed and then turned to leave as well. 

 

After Captain Ine left, Lord Hagama walked up to his balcony and stared at the imposing metal ship in his bay. Once again, he could not help but admire the craftsmanship of the vessel. At first glance, it looked as if it had odd angles. But the more he looked at it, the more he realized that it was truly a vessel fit for its military purpose. Then there were the other ships he could see a little in the distance, especially the one whose deck looked oddly flat save for an upward facing curve at the bow.

 

Once more Lord Hagama’s eyes were drawn to the flag proudly fluttering on the ships and could not help but wonder what it meant, what it represented, what was so great about a flag that looked so… plain, that men would be willing to die to ensure it remained flying in the breeze. Lord Hagama’s brows furrowed at the last thought. He didn’t know why, but he had a feeling that despite its ordinary appearance, that flag which had three lines of orange, white, and green along with a blue spoked wheel in the centre had perhaps seen young men give their lives for it.

 

‘Now I must prepare for my own battle ahead.’ Lord Hagama thought as he turned and left his room to continue the preparations for the arrival of the foreign diplomats to Maihark. 

 

---[-]---

 

Maihark

 

The atmosphere in the town was tense. There were rumours of an invasion targeting the town, especially after the previous day’s incident. At the moment, the average person of Maihark was trying to get as much as they could, before evacuations could be ordered. In such trying times, traders began charging exorbitant prices for even basic items, and the continued increasing demand led to fights breaking out amongst the people. Every time this happened, the city guard had to be called in and multiple people had already been arrested.

 

Cirque du Sol gripped his bag that was nearly overflowing as he made his way through an alleyway, not knowing what might have forced him to take a detour.

 

Everyone knew that Louria was going to invade them eventually, but everyone lived in ignorance, and soon they might have to pay the price for the bliss they lived in.

 

“Hand over the bag and your money!” a gruff voice boomed from behind him. Turning around, he saw one demi-human with a dagger and another weak looking human man standing next to the former. Both beings wore hoods to cover their faces.

 

“Now gentlemen, we don’t have to do this…” Sol said as he slowly put his bag down on the floor, before he sneakily picked up a small stone small enough to be covered by his palm as he readied his nerves.

 

“Stop talking and hand me the-” the demi-human growled as he grabbed the elf’s arm, only to get smacked straight in the middle of the demi-human’s temple with the stone in Sol’s hand. Blood dripped from the side of the demi-human’s forehead as he stumbled back and collapsed to the ground.

 

“Tur!” the hooded human yelled at seeing his friend go down. “You asshole, you’ll pay for that!” The human yelled as he punched Sol's face. The unexpected strength behind the punch surprised the elf and left him dazed as he stumbled onto the wall, disoriented.

 

The human lashed out at the elf by straddling him, clutching his collar and repeatedly landing punch after punch on the disoriented elf. The alleyway was some distance from any road, which meant that no guards could intervene in the fight, as two children peeked in the alleyway's corner.

 

With the elf on the ground, the human grabbed the dagger of his downed comrade and approached Sol with murderous intent. “Say hello to my grandma when you die, you elvish scum!”

 

Right as the human came into arm's reach, Sol tackled the human to the ground by kicking down his legs from the floor. The shouts of struggle could be heard as Sol wrestled the dagger out of the hands of the human and attacked, despite the human resisting with his strength.

 

“Give up, you have no chance…” The tip of the dagger started to get closer and closer to the chest of its victim.

 

“Let’s finish this…” Sol whispered. But it was loud enough for the two men involved.

 

“Stop, let's stop! Listen to me! Let’s stop!” The hooded human said as the knife crept closer to his chest.

 

“It would be much easier for you, much easier… You’ll see, it’ll be over immediately.” Sol said. With that, the knife pierced the man’s chest. As Sol felt the knife breaking through the first layers of skin, he applied more force behind his thrust, eventually hearing a very faint sound which meant that the knife went through something. Now whether it was the human’s heart, lung or part of his ribcage, Sol didn’t know, but pushed until the hilt touched the skin. Then, he twisted the knife and pulled it out, and the blood sprayed on Sol’s clothes and face.

 

Sol stumbled away from the dying man and dropped the dagger. He wiped off the blood from his face and clothes with a dazed look before he picked up his bag. Just before he left Sol looked back at the two dead men. There was now a child tugging on the dead man’s hands trying to wake them up.

 

Sol Ignored the child, and walked away with a new limp. He survived being attacked, and that was all that mattered to him. All he had to do was get home and take care of his family and nothing more. He didn’t owe the world anything else, and he certainly didn’t want to deal with the issues plaguing the nation.

 

As Sol made his way to the main street, he looked at the coast. The ominous steel ship was still present and a foreboding feeling saw a shiver crawl up his spine. Before he could look away, a strange metal box wyvern flew over his head, with a loud chopping sound which receded in the background as the strange flying object flew away in the castle's direction.

 

“Well, that’s the lord’s problem now….” Sol muttered as he limped away, dusting his clothes and hiding the blood on his sleeves as he cursed himself for getting into a fight.

 

---[+]---

 

South Solar of the Governor’s Palace,

Lord of the East Residence,

Port Town of Maihark.

 

Lord Hagama and Pradeep Kumar Sandhu from the Ministry of External Affairs of India sat across from each other. When Lord Hagama saw the diplomat arriving at his castle in a flying object, called a ‘helicopter’, he had already decided to pay better attention to this diplomat.

 

Then there was the fact that 16 more individuals who were in the strangest clothing he ever saw accompanied the man, wielding strange black staffs and were apparently the diplomat’s ‘Security Detail’. The way those men carried themselves just screamed trained soldiers. The moment that ‘helicopter’ hovered a few centimetres in the air those men opened the door and dropped off the helicopter and then immediately pointed their staffs in all directions before slowly walking five steps before relaxing as if they were seemingly satisfied there were no threats. After that, one of the men put his thumb and forefinger in his mouth and gave off a shrill whistle as he turned back towards the helicopter. This was apparently the signal for the diplomat to grace Lord Hagama and his household with the former’s presence.

 

Despite it not being shown on her face, Lord Hagama knew that Captain Ine, who had accompanied him in her capacity as Commander of the Maihark Garrison was positively terrified when she was introduced to the leader of those soldiers, the same man who gave out the whistle. An officer of the ‘Indian Navy Marine Infantry’, Lieutenant Shubrant. While Lord Hagama was not fully sure what that meant, from ‘Marine’ he could understand that it was something related to the Navy. What Lord Hagama could not fathom was why on God’s Green Earth was this ‘officer’ dressed just like the men under his command? Even if he was a mere lieutenant. 

 

‘Isn’t it obvious that an Officer should be dressed in the way befitting his rank?’ Was the thought running in Lord Hagama’s mind when he was introduced to the Lieutenant. Nonetheless, for a lieutenant, the Marine spoke with enough eloquence and grace to Captain Ine on the subject of working together for the duration of this meeting to protect their charges. Lord Hagama gave him passing marks for that. 

 

Once all the theatrics and song and dance was dealt with, both men went to a room with multiple exits that were manned by both security teams to discuss terms. From the minute Lord Hagama laid eyes on the Indian diplomat, he constantly searched for any mannerism which could indicate his, and consequently his country’s, barbarism. So what if they had such technological marvels? A barbarian was a barbarian no matter how they presented themselves. At least that’s what Lord Hagama believed in. Over here, unfortunately, he came up with nothing. That along with the compelling fact that the man in front of him wore a ‘suit’, the fabric of which was of such a high quality that even Kings would kill for, was enough to make the Lord of Maihark treat the Indian with the respect that was usually reserved for diplomats from the civilised nations.

 

Now, both men were sitting discussing inconsequential things when there was a soft knock on the main door, and a maid carrying a tea set entered the room. The door was opened by the second-in-command of Captain Ine’s team and the second-in-command of Mr. Sandhu’s security detail stood well in view of the room’s occupants, his face carefully blank. Once the maid completed her work, she gave the two men a small bow, before she left the room along with the tea set. Once the maid exited the room, the door was once again closed. Following the maid’s departure, both men took their respective cups and took a sip.

 

“I have to say, this is some exquisite green tea. I really like the sweetness in its taste. I don’t believe I have ever tasted something like this before.” Mr. Sandhu praised after he took a sip from his cup, and then placed it back on the table and wiped his mouth with a napkin.

 

“I see you like your tea, Mr. Sandhu. You have fine taste. The tea leaves used to make this can only be found in the Principality.” Lord Hagama said as he wiped his forehead before he took a sip from his cup as well.

 

“There are only a few things I am very particular about. Tea is one of them. I would say the only tea that would trump this one would be the one my wife makes.” Mr. Sandhu said as he took another sip, after which both men laughed. As he continued, Mr. Sandhu noticed that Hagama was sweating and that the Lord’s face was tense. “I must say, the weather is rather fine today, Your Excellency.”

 

“Oh yes, it is.” Lord Hagama said in agreement. Yet, Mr. Sandhu knew the other man was nervous. He had an inkling on the reason why, yet he confirmed it.

 

“Yet it seems like you are sweating quite unnaturally. Is your health alright? I am no medical professional, but even I can tell when something is wrong. Forgive me for saying it so bluntly, Your Excellency, but your face seems rather pale.” Mr. Sandhu said as he took a page from his wife and expressed the most genuine sympathetic expression he could muster, despite not really meaning it.

 

Lord Hagama realising that his face was giving him away, tried laughing it off as he said, “Oh thank you for your concern, Mr. Sandhu, but it is not the weather. It’s just that my clothes for the occasion are quite heavy.” Even Lord Hagama knew this was bullshit. ‘I can do better than this!’ The Lord of Maihark thought as he chided himself.

 

Mr. Sandhu, being an experienced diplomat for nearly eighteen years, could easily pick up on the nervousness of the Maihark Lord. His children came up with better excuses. As far as he could tell, Lord Hagama may be an excellent negotiator, but the Destroyer in the bay, the helicopter that dropped him off, the marines that accompanied him and he himself obviously threw the Lord off his game.

 

Of course, the diplomat could also tell that the man in front of him was an administrator, not a diplomat. His tactics may work when answering to whoever his superior was (if he even had one), but the world of diplomacy was an entire different battlefield filled with so many proverbial tripwires and mines that places like the Korean DMZ, the Line of Control between India and Pakistan or the Line of Actual Control between India and China back in his old world are tame in comparison.

 

Compared to the shrewdness of Soviet, Pakistani or Chinese diplomats (to name a few) he used to deal with, this man in front of him would be even easier than the diplomatic training he went through before he had officially joined the Indian Foreign Service. It felt rather refreshing, instead of the usual stress, and dare he say… amusing.

 

Despite his inner thoughts, Mr. Sandhu knew he still had to give a reply. “Oh, I truly understand Lord Hagama. Every time I attend a wedding and I’m forced to wear restrictive clothes to match the atmosphere, I usually end up counting down to when it will end so I can go back home and return to my pyjamas.” At seeing Lord Hagama’s weak laugh at his joke (Hey, it was a good one), Mr. Sandhu decided that this charade had to end.

 

“Enough with all the unnecessary formalities, Your Excellency. We both know why we are facing each other, so we might as well start off the talks and proceed with the niceties afterwards.” Mr. Sandhu said as he hit the point home, knowing he could get the Lord to mess up.

 

“Mr. Sandhu, I’m merely your host. I am only required to cater to your needs and, if required, provide you…” Lord Hagama stopped for a moment before he continued, 

 

“and your security facilities for lodging for the duration of your stay in this town. The diplomats from the Foreign Ministry are already on their way from the Capital. I am merely… your guide.” Hagama replied, despite his stress about the situation. He mentally patted himself in the back for giving a better reply than the previous one. Nonetheless, what he said was true. 

 

His only experience with diplomacy was when he had to talk to the Lord of the neighbouring provinces for any and all reasons under the sun. But considering how he knew the Lords of those provinces from childhood, it was considerably easier. Foreign diplomacy, especially one as important as this, was an entirely different ballgame for him.

 

Mr. Sandhu hid his disappointment about that. Yet, he had to give credit where it was due. The Lord of Maihark handled this much better than when he inquired about his health. Still, Mr. Sandhu felt like he was being denied an amazing opportunity to get an agreement that would benefit India, as he knew that the diplomats from this country’s capital would obviously be more skilled than the Lord in front of him. There was nothing he could do about it, but that didn’t mean he was out of options. ‘As the saying goes… I didn’t hear no bell.’ Mr. Sandhu thought as he readied his next salvo.

 

“Say, Your Excellency, while I was flying over your city, I couldn’t help but notice something.” Mr. Sandhu started following a brief lull, where both men drank their tea.

 

“Oh? And what would that be?” Lord Hagama asked. He hoped that the Indian Diplomat was talking about some local flora or fauna, but he had an idea what was going to be asked. ‘If wishes were horses, beggars would ride.’ Lord Hagam thought as he waited for Mr. Sandhu to clarify.

 

“I saw a boat in the harbour.” Mr. Sandhu said in reply.

 

“A boat?” Lord Hagama asked. ‘Come on… say it already!’ The Lord of Maihark thought.

 

“Yes. A boat. It was quite peculiar.” Mr. Sandhu said as he got his hands together. “Not like the other boats I saw in your bay. It looked… familiar. At least the type of boat did.”

 

“That sounds amazing, Mr. Sandhu.” Lord Hagama said as he filled more tea in his and Mr. Sandhu’s cups. “Please, do tell me more.”

 

“Thank you.” Mr. Sandhu said as he took his cup again. “The most striking thing about it had to be the flag. It looked very familiar.”

 

“Was it familiar to you?” Lord Hagama asked again, mentally growing weary about the fact that the man he was hosting wouldn’t just spit it out already.

 

“Oh very!” Mr. Sandhu exclaimed. “Yet, I believe it should be familiar to you too.”

 

‘Wait what?’ Lord Hagama thought, as he was proverbially blindsided from left field. “I should know this flag as well?” Lord Hagama asked.

 

“You should, good sir.” Mr. Sandhu said as he stared directly into Lord Hagama’s eyes, not even bothering with his tea now. “After all, you have been seeing the same flag proudly waving on the destroyer that is currently sitting in Maihark Bay. For around…” Mr. Sandhu made the motion of looking at his watch. “Two hours, I believe.”

 

‘Finally!’ Lord Hagama exclaimed. Relieved to have finally stopped running around the bush.

 

“I believe you have already been informed by your Second Fleet Commander that my nation’s Navy is looking for lost fishermen from India.” Mr. Sandhu said, and Lord Hagama noticed the coldness behind the man’s tone now. “Considering the fact our Navy has encountered nobody else, I hope… nay, I pray you ‌might know something about their whereabouts.”

 

‘Of course I do!’ Lord Hagama wanted to scream. This was so tiring for him. Yet, he still took his time to carefully word what he knew while he faced the icy stare of Mr. Sandhu head on. He took everything he knew about India into account, mainly what Captain Ine had told them. They had defeated an Empire in mere days. Not even before the end of the week. The reason? Because of that Empire, or at least its sailors had killed a fisherman.

 

Now, Lord Hagama knew there was something else behind the scenes about that. The issue was, he had no way of knowing it to prove or disprove his hypothesis, so he had to go on Captain Ine’s words who herself had heard from a half-mad fisherman who was probably also a murderer. Because of all that, he was cautious.

 

Yet, the way they had behaved till now; not respecting maritime boundaries just because they had bigger ships, practising gun-boat diplomacy by making a destroyer sit smack-dab in the middle of Maihark Bay, and now giving him a veiled threat that if the reply was not good, the Indian diplomat would be the most displeased. Forget the Parpaldian Empire, these people could give even the Diplomats of the First Civilisation a run for their money!

 

This diplomat going back to his ship displeased could translate to a naval bombardment of his town in retaliation. That would then mean soldiers occupying it. The men would be killed or forced into labour, and the women would become the soldiers’ playthings. He could not allow that to happen under any circumstances.

 

“We do have them.” Lord Hagama said. These were his first words from the careful reply he had decided upon. 

 

“They had accidentally strayed into our waters, so our Navy arrested them. I hope you understand. We already have the threat of war looming over our head and then there was yesterday’s airspace violation. Our sailors and soldiers were already nervous as it is.” Lord Hagama then took a sip of his tea, and pretended to mull over what else he wanted to say. 

 

“Because they presented a security risk to us, we detained them. Rest assured, they were treated well, and after we were informed about your request by the Navy and finding out that they are innocent, I have already personally arranged for monetary compensation from my own treasury.”

 

Mr. Sandhu concealed his surprise. He was expecting a stupid, verbal wild goose chase, which was why he decided to start it. Of course, he knew that the Lord would say that he had them. If he didn’t, despite the boat sticking out like a sore thumb, that would mean either his officers were incompetent or disloyal or both, or that he would behave like an ostrich and stick his head under the sand waiting for the trouble to go away.

 

What Mr. Sandhu was not expecting to go away with monetary compensation. But was it going to be paid to the Government of India or the fishermen personally? He didn’t know. ‘Regardless, the paperwork is going to be troublesome to deal with.’ Mr. Sandhu thought. 

 

He still replies to Lord Hagama with a smile. “You have our gratitude for taking care of our people. In strange times such as these, the Government of India places great value on every single individual, regardless of their social status. Even if they are, say… fishermen.”

 

‘Strange times. Is that what we’re calling it?’ Lord Hagama sarcastically thought. Despite that, he was glad that he didn’t decide to bury them six feet under in an unmarked grave a suitable distance away from the town. He was not a genuine fan of paying compensation, but it was something he knew he had to do. Plus, he wasn’t sure whether he and his town were fully out of the woods yet, but decided to take a leap of good faith and trust the Indian diplomat. He only hoped that the fishermen wouldn’t do or say anything stupid.

 

With one of the primary sources of tension dealt with, the two men continued talking in a more genial atmosphere, where Mr. Sandhu made some general inquiries about the nation such as its history, geography, government and similar topics relating to the region’s, if not the world’s, current affairs. He deliberately did not ask anything related to military matters, as he knew that the Lord may not be so forthcoming with that. Especially if the comment he made about ‘threat of war’ was true.

 

To assist him in the report, he would send it to his bosses in the Ministry of External Affairs. He had snuck in a mini tape recorder. Usually this was a big no no in diplomatic convention, however as far as the Ministry of External Affairs were concerned, they had no choice but to break a few rules. Thus, this recorder was given to him by a representative from RAW and had it placed in his coat’s inner pocket. He had switched on the recorder the minute the soldiers had left the helicopter. According to the good gentleman from RAW, this recorder could record for more than 48 hours. As far as Mr. Sandhu was concerned, it better do as advertised or he would be very cross with them as he would then have to rely on memory. That was much easier when he had an entire delegation who also attended the meeting assisting him.

 

Despite all that, Mr. Sandhu could understand the rationale behind all this cloak and dagger business. Information was power. In their old world, the Indian Government had information coming from everywhere. Chief being from nations such as the United States, Israel and other Western European countries. Japan, South Korea and other Asian countries also gave them things now and then when it mattered, the rise of China in East Asia following the period that was considered as the ‘Desolate 90s’ for the entire Eastern Bloc because of the cracks that had begun to appear in the seemingly impenetrable and imposing Central Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO), formerly known as the Warsaw Pact Alliance, had seen India beginning to increasingly cooperate with them as well.

 

But here, in this brave new world, India was blind. They did not have access to any form of intelligence from any country they could consider allies. Thus, they had to do the grunt work. Was it a pain for everyone involved? Yes. Would they hesitate to do it? No. From what Mr. Sandhu could understand, in this world, he who wielded the biggest stick, got his way. Earth had such countries, chief among them being the United States, who loved its ‘Freedom Stick’ and the Soviet Union, who used its ‘Proletariat Stick’. But even then, both countries swung their sticks only after they had all the information. ‘Well then, time to teach them a fresh approach when it comes to swinging sticks.’ Mr. Sandhu thought as he made a lot of mental notes on the important information he had gleaned.

 

Two hours later, Lord Hagama and Mr. Sandhu were informed that the diplomats from the Capital had arrived. Taking the time into account, Lord Hagama suggested they all have a late lunch, which Mr. Sandhu agreed to. Not like he had a choice. Diplomacy was exhausting work even if it were seemingly with an easy opponent. Following the lunch, the proper diplomatic talks began with Mr. Sandhu alone, representing India and the Qua-Toynian Diplomats.

 

Few hours later, both parties agreed to open diplomatic relations, based on which basic information about both countries would be exchanged, and embassies would be opened to allow continued communications and negotiations between the Qua-Toyne Principality and the Republic of India. When the subject of a visit to India was brought up by the Qua-Toyne diplomats, Mr. Sandhu thought for a moment, before he took what could be considered as a dangerous risk because he was technically going beyond his mandate.

 

“Well then, gentlemen, to answer your question. In a few weeks, on 26th January, India is going to celebrate one of the most important dates as a nation. It's the day when we promulgated our Constitution, and we officially became a sovereign Republic with the President as the nominal head of our nation. We call it Republic Day.”

 

He noticed the unimpressed expressions on some of the diplomats' faces.

 

“Now perhaps, the name may not seem so inspiring, but I can assure you, gentlemen, the celebrations are. The highlight of these celebrations is the Parade that happens in our Capital City, New Delhi, and in which the President, whoever he or she may be, dutifully attends. The major highlight of the parade is the fact that the unity and diversity of our country is on full display for everyone to see. Especially since we broadcast it live. It is a... tribute to our country.

 

Now usually, we have a practice of inviting foreign heads of state or government as a Chief Guest. I believe this year we had invited the Presidents of Vietnam and South Korea. Unfortunately, they won't be able to attend now as per the bizarre circumstances India finds itself in. So we have an open slot. Of course, if my government is willing, they will most probably extend an official invitation to Qua-Toyne. Usually this is done months in advance, instead of weeks, but I’m sure they will manage it. Ultimately, you will have to decide who comes.

 

During this period, it’s highly probable that our governments will talk to each other on more pressing matters for our country such as trade and whoever comes leading the Qua-Toyne delegation will of course meet the Prime Minister and almost definitely the President in different capacities. Not to worry, however, the details of all that will be hashed up on later dates.”

 

The Qua Tonyian delegation entered  a short deliberation amongst themselves before deciding on their reply. 

 

“If your Government extends this invitation to us, we will be honoured. However, we would like some time to discuss this matter with our government before deciding to accept it.”  

 

Sandhu nods with a smile. “Of course, I understand. You may consider this as an informal invitation, then. I will return in a week with an official invitation and hopefully by then your government will have a positive reply.”

 

He then turns his attention towards Lord Hagama. “Lord Hagama, it was a pleasure to make your acquaintance. Once the fishermen and their vessel are returned to our custody, our Destroyer will vacate your bay and port with immediate effect. I will make sure to inform the Fleet Commander.”

 

“Of course, Mr. Sandhu. I appreciate the swiftness.” Lord Hagama replied.

 

“If possible, I would appreciate it if some of the Marines who came as my security could be escorted to the boat, from where they, along with the fishermen, will go to the fleet?” Mr. Sandhu asked, and he was given a nod by Lord Hagama who charged Captain Ine to make sure they completed the transfer as quickly as possible. “Once again, I personally thank you again for taking good care of them.” Mr. Sandhu said.

 

Soon Mr. Sandhu bade farewell to the Qua-Toyne diplomats, who looked on in awe at the helicopter that had arrived to pick him up. Half of the Marines who came with Mr. Sandhu as his security already left with Captain Ine for the prisoner transfer, while the other half boarded the helicopter with Mr. Sandhu.

 

The Qua Tonyians remained rooted to the spot all the way until they could see the same vehicle land at the flat ship in the distance, before they too boarded their Wyverns to head back to the Capital despite the relatively late hour.

 

Once all the excitement of the day was finished, Lord Hagama went to his office, where he tiredly slumped into a nearby chair. “We avoided a major war.” He said to himself. Despite that, he made sure to once again dispatch orders ensuring that the fishermen were released and the rather hefty compensation was paid.

---[+]---

 

Unknown Location,

United Nations Protection Force,

Srebrenica UNPROFOR Base Camp 02  (India) 

 

Captain Ratan Singh and his section stood near the helipad in front of their commanding officer. They were armed with the best weapons their base had and were currently being briefed on what their mission was.

 

Utter confusion had reigned in the UN deployed battalion, as the soldiers from the Indian Army’s Rajputana Rifles walked out of their base to an unfamiliar landscape on the new year’s day. The soldiers who were on sentry duty reported about an unnatural storm which had crashed the New Year’s party and forced the men to take shelter in their barracks for the night, dampening many men’s jolly mood, and their chance to have a dance with beautiful ladies from the locality. 

 

The guards themselves could not look a few metres farther away from their posts. When the sun rose and sky cleared, instead of the artificial and bombed out heights of Srebrenica, they were greeted by lushy grasslands and mountains.

 

“Listen up men, we clearly do not know what has happened to our lovely base, and the fact that a horrid storm had to break all of our long distance communication radios has left us completely in the blind.” Major Udham Kuman raised his arm to show the small tower where a few soldiers tried to fix the antennas. 

 

“And the fact is we are definitely not in the crater-laden city in Bosnia in the Balkans. Thus, we are sending you on a recon mission, you would have already been briefed about this mission, so if you have ‌questions, raise your hand.”

 

One of the soldiers raised his hand, and the Major asked for his name, “Havildar Samik Kamidalla, sir! What are the rules of engagement?” Havildar Kamidalla asked.

 

“Standard procedures, do not fire unless fired upon, any other questions?”

 

“Sir. Requesting clarification on mission objectives.” One of the soldiers said as he stepped forward. The officer gave him a nod and the soldier stepped back into line.

 

“Gentlemen, your mission is to contact the Pakistani Army UN Peacekeepers at Base Camp 01. Now, as I know you are already aware, the landscape does not look like Bosnia, thus, you are only required to go in the general direction based on our maps. Taking everything into account, we are taking a safety first approach. Report back in 3 Hours or 25 Kilometres or if you come across something that catches your attention. Whichever comes first.”

 

“Yes, sir!” the section replied in unison.

 

Giving a salute to their CO, the soldiers boarded up the UN UH-60 helicopter and prepared for take-off. The loud whine of the turbine engines grew as the ground crew cleared the helicopter for take-off. As they took off, a line of Bosnian civilians could be seen standing in a line in the base, entering one of the structures, as they were trapped with them as well.

 

Captain Singh held onto the seat-straps and straightened himself, as the helicopter lurched in the air towards the general direction of the other UN base. They didn’t expect to be welcomed there, but given the situation, it was better to make contact with the Pakistanis instead.

 

The atmosphere was tense inside the helicopter as they surveyed the surrounding terrain. It was obvious that they were no longer in Europe as everything looked alien compared to the European terrain they had been deployed in originally, as there were too many mountains, valleys and hills in the area.

 

The helicopter flew close to the ground, because the flight-crew were not having a death wish to bait a shoulder launched anti-air missile, and they did not want to get shot down in case of any hostile units looking for any air assets.

 

“Do you see that, sir?” the co-pilot said.

 

“Yeah, that seems to be a suitable spot.” The pilot commented while observing. The conversation sparked the interest amongst the passengers, while Captain Singh leaned to take a look out the side glass.

 

“What is it, pilot?” he asked.

 

“Sir, we spotted a flat section of land we could use as an LZ, with enough space that we do not need to worry about hitting any stray objects, plus there seems to be some cattle nearby, so we might make contact with the other Base Camp 01.” The pilot replied from the cockpit.

 

Captain Singh got up from his seat and stepped forward, poking through the gap between the two pilots. Looking, he saw the landing zone the pilots were talking about, and saw two domesticated looking cows standing ‌away from where they were hovering.

 

“Put us down there then. Me and my section will move on foot while you maintain orbit around the area. I’ll contact you on the radio if we need to get out ASAP.”

 

“Roger that.” The pilot replied and brought the helicopter out of hover and reduced the main rotor collective. The rotors of the Blackhawk pushed up a wall of dust around it as it landed on the clearing.

 

One of Captain Singh’s soldiers slid open the doors of the Blackhawk and got out with his SLR rifle in hand. He was followed by the rest of the soldiers, each armed with a rifle, while one carried the bulky radio system on his back.

 

Captain Singh jumped out with his C7 rifle in tow as they formed a perimeter around the helicopter. He waved the helicopter to take off immediately, and they did so a few seconds later.

 

With the helicopter out of the way, the ten-man section made their way up the hill in front of them, where two cows stood watching them, busy lazily chewing away at the grass next to them.

 

“These are domesticated cows sir, you can see from the rope around its head and neck.” Havildar Kamidalla spoke up, standing a bit away from the cow. 

 

“And I’ve seen these cows back in our country, and there is no way someone in Bosnia would import these ones. It is easier to take care of European breeds over there.” Captain Singh added.

 

“Sir, there is no way you are saying that.” Havildar Kamidalla said quietly.

 

“I am not sure myself, but it's just a feeling that we are probably in the subcontinent again.” Captain Singh replied with a hushed tone.

 

Before the two could discuss this further, one sepoy began praying and rubbed the cow’s head, getting a lick in response by the cow.

 

“Oh Gau Mata. Please forgive your humble servant, as he is blind and wishes to find the rest of his kind!” The soldier said loudly in prayer.

 

“Oh, someone shut that dumb Bihari up! He is going to make us look crazy.” Havildar Kamidalla shouted as well, which made the Sepoy (Private) shut up immediately after that. As the Private got scolded by the Havildar (Sergeant), the cow mooed and pointed its head at the direction of the peak of the hill. 

 

“She shows the way.” The Sepoy said in awe. His voice had a tone of him feeling vindicated.

 

“Shut the fuck up before–” Before the Havildar could discipline his man again, rustling could be heard from the direction the cow had shown. 

 

“Contact! Ahead of us!” One of the soldiers shouted, and within a split second, everyone trained their rifle towards the contact. It was a small kid, around ten to twelve years of age standing frozen next to another cow, as he stared down the Indians who were pointing their rifles at him.

 

“Mummy!’ the child shouted as he began to run, quickly disappearing to the other side of the hill.

 

“Quickly! After the kid!” Captain Singh ordered as the section ran up the hillside, trudging their gear along with them. It took them ‌longer because they were ‌lower than expected.

 

“Hey boy, stop running!” Havildar Kamidalla shouted as the section crested the hill, only to find a village at the bottom, with the kid running into one of the buildings, still crying for his mother.

 

Upon seeing this, and spotting the helicopter flying overhead, Captain Singh called the radio operator and ordered him to get him a line to the helicopter crew, while he held the handset and began to speak.

 

“Pilot, are you seeing this village?”

 

“Affirmative, we just spotted it moments before you contacted us. We have ten more minutes of fuel to burn, and after that, we have to RTB.” the pilot responded.

 

“Understood.”

 

Captain Singh and the other soldiers began their descent down the hill and made their way into the village, only to be met by casual looks of the villagers who continued on their daily routine. Only a few people were interested in what they were doing as they walked down the main path in the village. One major point was the villagers looked similar to the Indians and spoke something similar to Hindi.

 

“Well this doesn’t look like Europe at all,” Havildar Kamidalla said as the soldiers walked down the main path of the Village.

 

Captain Singh and his men felt tense as they walked through something so familiar, yet so foreign at the same time. As they continued down the path, they came across a house at the centre of the village, where a young fellow saw them and instantly went back to the house and within a few seconds, a much older man came out. The old man had a cane and everyone could tell that not only was he leaning into it, his face showed the strain he was feeling to even stand, let alone walk.

 

As soon as the Old Man saw the Indian soldiers, a smile formed on his face and he beckoned them over.

 

“Finally, some form of authority…” The old man gave a calculated glance at Captain Singh’s uniform.

 

“Gentlemen, are you lost? You don’t seem to be part of the Royal Nepalese Army.”

 

Captain Singh sighed in relief as he finally found someone who could speak a language he understood. 

 

“No my good sir, I’m Captain Ratan Singh, Rajputana Rifles, Indian Army.” Captain Singh said as he extended his hands. 

 

The old man accepted Captain Singh’s hand. “Sergeant Thapa, 6th Queen Elizabeth's Own Gurkha Rifles. Retired. I welcome you boys to our humble village.”

 

“Thank you.” Captain Singh replied. “Pardon me, but you were part of the UK’s Royal Gurkha Regiment?”

 

“Oh no. The 6th was merged with the 2nd King Edward VII’s Own Gurkha Rifles to form the Royal Gurkha Rifles back in ‘94.” Sergeant Thapa said with a small smile. “I was wounded in action during the closing days of the Malayan Emergency. Had to be discharged on medical grounds then, unfortunately.”

 

“Ah… I see.” Captain Singh said as he noticed how the old Sergeant was favouring one leg over the other while he leaned on his walking cane.

 

“So anyway, what’s the Indian Army doing so deep in Nepal?” Sergeant Thapa asked, after he sat down on a chair that one villager got for him with a content sigh before turning his attention back to the Indian soldiers. The question made all the soldiers go still and look at the old man in varying degrees of shock and confusion.

 

“I’m sorry. Where are we again?” Havildar Kamidalla asked before giving a nervous chuckle.

 

“The Kingdom of Nepal. Looks like you boys probably stumbled across the border. Are you having a training exercise?” Thapa leaned back on his chair as he casually answered, to the shock of the soldiers.

 

As the group of the soldiers discussed amongst each other as to what the Gurkha in front of them said was true, Captain Singh quickly asked the question which was floating in his mind, “Did the village experience any weather that could be seen as unnatural?”

 

“Yes, there was a massive storm the other day, just during New Year’s. Honestly, the amount of rainfall we received that night was probably more than we got in an entire year! Entire roads were submerged and some villagers were forced to remain where they were and avoid travelling.” Thapa took a glass of water from a child who had come out of the house carrying it.

 

"I see.” Captain Singh said. “Our base experienced something similar. We had to ground all flight operations and all personnel and vehicles were ordered to be interred inside buildings. This is truly odd behaviour." Captain Singh said as he pondered his predicament while trying to rationalise what was going on.

 

"Tell me this.” Thapa said, refocusing Captain Singh and his men’s attention back to him. “Why are you wearing blue helmets? Last I checked those were for UN Peacekeeping Missions not exercises."

 

"That’s because we are UN Peacekeepers. We are deployed in Bosnia. At least we were, before that weird storm.” Captain Singh replied, surprising the old Sergeant. The latter wondered if the appearance of these soldiers was related to some of the strange things he heard about in the last few days. He decided to let them know about it.

 

Scratching his chin, Thapa decided to reveal what they discovered before the Indians arrived, seeing that it could help both of them, "Some of the men noticed a lot of different and new terrain down south, maybe you would be interested in investigating it."

 

After getting all the necessary information and talking for a bit more, Captain Singh and his men moved out of the village and called for the helicopter on the radio. The old sergeant’s doubts were confirmed when he saw a UH-60 painted entirely in white with UN in bold letters written on it.

 

Meanwhile, Captain Singh and his men were nervous as they climbed back into their helicopter. For all they knew, they were in an alien world with barely any support. 

 

As they continued south, familiar terrain could be seen, something they have seen a hundred times before. Captain Singh looked out, and started to notice the traces of civilization. Even the pilots were surprised and got them a bit closer.

 

"Is that what I think it is?" Havildar Kamidalla commented in awe as he looked out of the helicopter at a building with a flag on it.

 

"It is… That's our flag on the police station building…. Holy shit, have we actually made it back?" Captain Singh looked out as well, with the others peeking out through the other windows. They watched as they flew past a town and they saw more people. 

 

"This is an Indian UN Helicopter Viking-2-3 to air control, requesting assistance, over." The Co-pilot spoke into his mic as Captain Singh peeked to see what the pilots were doing, noticing the co-pilot reading a checklist as well.

 

"Viking-2-3 to Air control, we are too low on fuel to continue to the assigned airport, requesting priority landing at… uh… GKP station, over." The co-pilot continued speaking as Captain Singh listened to only the pilot's side of the conversation.

 

"Copy on your last, Air Control. We are vectoring to GKP. ETA Five mikes out." The co-pilot quickly responded as he informed the pilot of the developments.

 

The helicopter swayed as it adjusted its course, forcing Captain Singh to hold on. He didn't want to disturb the pilots at the moment, as they seemed focused.

 

After five minutes, they hovered over an air force base and landed on the landing pad. Looking at the base, he could see some soldiers were also armed and prepared in case something went south. Looking out some more, he could make out IAF Jaguars parked on the ground.

 

The other soldiers aboard were confused beyond belief. From Bosnia to Nepal to now back to India. This sounded like something from a Sci-fi movie, but it was true and happening before their eyes.

 

"Looks like we have a lot of explaining to do." Havildar Kamidalla commented as the doors of their helicopter were being opened.

 

"Indeed, this is going to be a headache to explain to the Major and Brass over here." Captain Singh replied as he got out of the helicopter and waved at the ground crew and security teams heading towards them.

 

Captain Singh let out a long sigh of relief. He and his men were finally back home. Yes, the way they came back is bizarre and unbelievable, and their return flight ticket was useless now, but honestly, that was the last thing he could even be bothered about.