Flames And Arrows

by Jaidev Jamwal

Concrete intelligence regarding remaining three missiles had come in minutes after the meeting between GP, Angad and military representatives had ended. Two of the missiles had been detected at the Omara naval base. The base was approximately 230 Km west of Gwadar and had come up in the last two years with active but hushed Chinese assistance. Third one was further east on Chama, a small island less than 40 KM west of Karachi. The coordinates were hurriedly forwarded to the Air Force which had plans to neutralize any such target ready for years. Striker flight was the one chosen to destroy those missiles.

  The six Sukhois engaged afterburners and put the planes in to a steep climb. The engines screaming and the airframe under quite a bit of stress, pilots waited till they reached 8000m and then leveled out. One by one they fired off their Air to Land version of Brahmos. The missiles dropped for a few meters then the booster kicked in propelling them to near Mach 3 speeds. Their work done, all Sukhois turned over and started racing back to their base. Personnel aboard the Phalcon watched as six blips started racing towards their targets, two missiles against each target.

  “Missile launch! We've just detected a missile launch from Chama Island.” Excited voice of one of the radar operators broke the attention of technicians concentrating on the six Brahmos flight.

  MC rushed to the console and looked. “Damn it all to hell. They've launched that fucking missile? Keep tracking its trajectory. Send alerts to HQs immediately. Any idea where it's going? Dilli?”

  “Looks like its going south. If its M11 then Mumbai is one prime target.” radar operator replied without taking his eyes off the console.

  “What about the missiles at Omara? And how long before that satellite feed is available again?” MC asked getting more scared with every passing moment

  “No sign of launch yet. Satellite will be in range in 60 seconds.”

  “20 seconds to Brahmos impact.” radar operators tasked with tracking Brahmos flight announced.

  MC bit his lips willing the Brahmos to destroy the Chinese missiles before they took off. His charm worked with the rest. The four Brahmos directed towards Omara base slammed in to their targets without any of the M11s launching. The ones directed towards Chama Island destroyed the empty launcher killing only the personnel on ground. MC walked to his chair staring at the just launched M11 missile coordinates. “Assholes launched it even before they knew we were coming. They were going to launch it no matter what!” He stared at the screen connected to satellite feed wishing the images via satellite could come sooner. He clutched his chair's arm rest tightly as the satellite link was established. Images at first blurry, then more focused and sharp started streaming in. He could see columns of smoke rising out of the Paki naval base, but couldn't confirm if the missiles were destroyed. “Well?” he inquired loudly.

  “It's a kill. We've destroyed the remaining missiles.” was the reply.

  “Only if we could have destroyed that bitch too. Shit!” he groaned.