Operation Camouflage

by Amit Sidham

  Countries started approaching them directly. The government felt as if it was losing its importance in many areas. Already GALAXY had become the biggest company and got the industry policy strengthened to ensure compliance of environmental friendly measures, which was interpreted by some as tweaking to GALAXY’s advantage. GALAXY did not fear the police. They carried out operations and avenged in their own way. They had challenged the judiciary system. And now even other countries were coming close to them.

  Government felt, that the departments that should be controlled by the government viz Industrial Policy, Home Ministry, Law and Justice, External Affairs were now being interfered and dominated by GALAXY. Government started to perceive this as a threat. And as a result GALAXY became an object of envy in the eyes of the government.

  Aadi began his address, ‘We have been progressing year on year with the help of our employees, vendors, business partners, customers and together we have made a significant impact on preventing the deterioration of this planet and restoring some of its green cover. The significant highlights of this year’s report are

  1. Sixty Five Lakh solar cars sold and Four and a half Crore fuel engines replaced with solar ones. These have travelled more than One Lakh Crore kms and as a result, carbon-di-oxide emission of 7.2 Crore tons has been avoided cumulatively. One tree in its average life time of 40 years can absorb 1 ton of CO2. So this is equivalent to plantation of 7.2 Crore trees or bringing an area of 1.65 Lakh acres slightly more than the entire city of Hyderabad, under green cover.

  2. Visible impact seen in the Air Quality Index across the country. For an example, AQI at Delhi which is one of the worst had moved from 348 or very poor category to 297 or poor category during last November.

  3. Electricity generated through domestic solar panels and wind turbines stood at 1800 million units, roughly 3% of the total annual requirement of the state of Karnataka.

  4. An amount of Two lakh ninety thousand crores has been donated to different NGO’s, and a total of fifty-three thousand green projects carried out cumulatively. Major achievement include revival of five rivers, restoration of 309 lakes and plantation of more than three crore trees.

  5. As a result the forest cover has increased by 4% in last three years and now stands at 25% of the total area of the country. An average temperature drop of 2.8 degree centigrade has been experienced in the summer season across the country.

  6. Rainfall has increased by an average of 60 mm where the trees have been planted and the nearby towns and villages have seen significant improvement in water table, leading to no water scarcity in summer season.

  7. From Twenty thousand wildlife crimes in 2015, the number has come down to six hundred and fifty in 2018. Thanks to the justice done in the Tigress poaching case followed by the movie on Rocky Zutshi.

  8. Average per capita plastic consumption in India has come down from 11 kg to 3.4 kg per annum. Twenty-seven thousand crores of subsidy have been provided to units manufacturing plastic alternatives.

  9. Chemical fertilizer consumption has reduced by one third. From an average of 165 kg per hectare the consumption has come down to less than 110 kg per hectare. At the same time use of organic fertilizers has grown multifold to fill the gap. Thirteen thousand five hundred crores of aid have been provided to farmers for set up of organic fertilizer units or purchase of organic fertilizers.’

  Before Aadi could proceed to the next point the emergency alarm bells started ringing. The Anti Terrorist Force (ATF), a counter terrorism unit of the Government was heading towards GALAXY. GALAXY was on the verge of an attack.

  Chapter 29

  GALAXY IN DANGER

  7th January’ 2019

  The attack was inevitable. Aadi, Samir and Avanish knew it was going to happen one day. With the ambitions they had and the means they took to fulfil them, they were sure to antagonize many people including the government and retaliation was just going to be a natural outcome of the same. But they could not stop their mission due to the fear of retaliation. Best was for them to be prepared for such a situation. And that was the reason Aadi had always emphasized on having a strong defence system.

  The attack was spear headed by the Prime Minister of the Nation. He had a very clean image and was loved by all the citizens. He was a five-time Member of Parliament, two times a Minister and did not have a single charge of corruption against him. He had dedicated his entire life for the service of the Nation. Like the other citizens Aadi and team also had a lot of respect for him, with just one problem for GALAXY.

  He was power hungry and looked towards the rising power and popularity of GALAXY as a threat. For him gaining support from the corrupt politicians who had been at the receiving end in the past from GALAXY and industrialists whose industries were under a threat due to GALAXY, was a cake walk.

  People support in stopping the attack at this junction was not going to be of much help. Majority of the citizens who supported GALAXY, were also those who would not go against their Prime Minister.

  GALAXY was now facing one of the toughest situations in their entire existence. The Prime Minister too was an environmentalist and had pioneered quite a few projects for protection of the environment. The nation had also progressed phenomenally well under his leadership. Hence GALAXY had no intentions of causing him any harm ever.

  The ATF also was respected tremendously for their valour and patriotism, not just by other citizens but by GALAXYians too. While Mother Nature came first for them, they also respected their Mother Land and forces like ATF which did commendable service for the nation. Being a reason for death of any of the ATF commandos was not something they would ever want.

  In a nutshell, GALAXY could neither kill, nor afford to die, nor stop the attack. A fight with the ATF and Prime Minister in any form definitely meant losing out on the people support garnered over the twelve years. How would they deal with such a situation?

  Meanwhile armed commandos supported with tanks, artillery guns and helicopters were at a distance of less than fifteen minutes from the mountain.

  ‘What’s the plan of action, Avanish?’ asked Aadi.

  ‘While they may have the numbers, we being at our bastion still have a stronghold. We are launching a multi-phase operation D.E.A.T.H.

  D – Defend, E – Exhaust, A – Arrest, T – Torment, H – History

  Phase 1, Defend. We are strengthening the I-field and activating the E-field.

  Phase 2, Exhaust. We will give the opponents dummy targets to exhaust their energy and resources.

  Phase 3, Arrest. We will arrest some commandos to give out the message that while we may not kill we will not hesitate in capturing them to thwart the attack.

  Phase 4, Torment. We will inflict severe physical suffering on the opponents outside. They will not die but at same time not be able to bear the pain.

  Phase 5, History. I hope the opponents stop the attack and reach a settlement before this phase. Because today if the situation comes in front of me to make a decision between making the opponents history or letting my team become history, without hesitation I will choose the former one. Our mission can still continue without people support but it cannot continue without us.

  Between each phase we will give them the chance to stop this attack.’

  ‘Good’ said Aadi ‘I agree with your reasoning on Phase 5 but I still hope we do not reach that stage.’

  The ATF reached the place of action and surrounded the mountain. Without any call to surrender or without any announcement they directly launched the attack. This simply meant that the orders were to kill. Twelve helicopters surrounding the mountain fired simultaneously and there was a loud explosion. The helicopter pilot saw a huge screen of fire in front of them and their helicopters trembled. But they sensed something was not right. And when the fire screen subsided they saw that the target was intact. Not even a scratch. None of the shots had hit the target. The helicopter pilots were perplexed. They checked the recording and couldn’t believe what it s
howed.

  ‘Oh My God,’ said the Commander and to confirm his suspicion this time he ordered only one of the helicopters to fire.

  The shot exploded mid-air, some twenty metres away from the mountain.

  Avanish smiled inside his defence control room. The I-field or the Impact field which enveloped the mountain would normally be activated till a distance of five metres. Same had been strengthened and extended till twenty metres now. The I-field provided a cushion of nano particles around the mountain and gave the same result to an explosive device as an impact. So instead of exploding on impact with the target, the device would explode on contact with the Impact field itself, and prevent any damage to the target.

  The commander tried different variations to breach the I-Field like simultaneous firing at the same spot, firing at the same spot with a gap of micro seconds but none of the approaches could breach the I-field. Even the debris did not land on the mountain and fell outside the zone of the I-field. Seeing that this strategy was not working, he ordered the commandos on ground to scale the mountain. They moved forward but as soon as they reached a distance of twenty metres from the mountain they felt a strong electric current and were thrown away backwards. This was a result of the invisible E-field or electric field that surrounded the mountain.

  About three hours after the first shot, Avanish spoke to the Commander, ‘I know you are not doing this willingly. We are not a threat to the country which I am sure your conscience agrees but I know you are bound by your duty to follow orders. Please go back to your bosses and convince them to stop this attack. As you have been entrusted with the responsibility to attack I have a responsibility to defend.’

  The Commander did not deviate from his path even a bit and continued with his task. While he was thinking about ways to breach the fields, he was alerted by one of his men who showed him a chopper leaving the mountain. He was about to give his choppers the command to attack till his sixth sense alerted him and he said ‘It’s a mirage. When they have invisible choppers why would someone leave in this manner? Ignore it.’

  Avanish saw that the commander did not fall prey and Phase 2 of the approach had not worked. But seeing that things were in complete control Avanish suggested others to continue with their work and he would call them if need be. Samir and Aadi went to Aadi’s office to discuss strategy for the peace treaty.

  Meanwhile, Avanish moved onto Phase 3. As anticipated by him the soldiers had come equipped with masks and oxygen cylinders. After Dhara’s kidnapping episode, the C blast though not public knowledge was also not a secret anymore. Avanish deployed another option to accomplish Phase 3.

  Outside, ten commandos in the front row suddenly lost their balance and fell to the ground, as if someone had pushed them. Neither they nor others could understand what had hit them. Next moment, the other soldiers saw the ten soldiers being lifted and carried away. The soldiers realized that somebody was lifting them but who it was, was not visible. The other soldiers started firing around but the bullets had the same fate like the explosive devices. The invisible bodies were surrounded by the I-field and the bullets could not penetrate them.

  The invisible bodies fired some shots but upwards in the air. This was just to give out a message, ‘We too can fire but do not mean any harm.’ The guns from both sides stopped firing. The eyes of the other soldiers silently followed their ten colleagues. For a moment, they felt they saw something. They concentrated again and they saw it again, this time for five seconds. Avanish had deactivated the invisible cover momentarily and intentionally. The soldiers were being carried by robots. The commandos and their Commander were now perplexed. The level of complexity kept on increasing. An invisible cover making it difficult to detect the opponent, followed by a protective layer that could not be penetrated by the weapons they had and even if these two were cracked below them lay just a robot, a machine. Neither capturing them nor destroying them served any purpose.

  The robots brought the commandos inside, scanned them and took away all their weapons. The commandos were standing in a line wondering what was going to happen next, when a person walked in the room.

  ‘Hi, I am Avanish, Head of Defence. Welcome to our headquarter. You are ATF commandos and would be treated with due respect here,’ saying so he shook hands with each one of them. ‘Please come along with me.’

  They felt they would now be imprisoned in a cell but having no other option followed Avanish. They were in for a really big surprise. Avanish opened a door and asked them to walk in. The first soldier just stopped at the entrance. Others gathered around him and peeped into the room. They couldn’t believe their eyes. The room was not a cell but resembled an airport lounge replete with comfortable chairs, televisions, food and beverages. Avanish said ‘Make yourself comfortable. If you need anything more press the bell, someone will come. We will fulfil all reasonable expectations’ and left the room.

  The commandos could not understand what was going on and were undecided on the next steps. Sometimes, goodness also becomes difficult to digest and this was one such situation for them. For a moment they also felt this could be an inducement to make them change sides and hence decided to refrain utilizing the comforts. They did not touch the food nor did they sit on the comfortable chairs. They simply sat down on the floor.

  Avanish observed this on his screen and made an announcement in the room, ‘While we do not expect anything from you, we respect your decision. Press the bell in case you need anything,’ and focused back on the situation outside.

  Avanish spoke to the Commander once again, ‘What you have seen so far, is just the tip of the iceberg. This battle can go on for years if you want or you can decide to end this now and get into a discussion.’

  This time the Commander did get into a thinking mode and started thinking what each word meant. ‘What you have seen so far, is just the tip of the iceberg’ – did it mean there are many more technologically advanced warfare mechanisms they had? Probably yes. ‘This battle can go on for years if you want’ – It meant closing the battle was in the Commander’s hands, on his side. Why? Because they had attacked first? Probably yes. Or did it have a different meaning as well? Maybe. The opponents could have attacked, could have killed if they wanted but they did not do so. They captured ten soldiers but the Commander felt they would be safe. It meant this was their weakness. Did they fear killing? No he knew that was not true.

  So it meant they feared killing the commandos or they did not intent to kill the commandos. ‘Or you can decide to end this now and get into a discussion’- The opponents were ready to stop this battle. Was this a sign of weakness? Did the opponents fear defeat? Though it did not look so from what had happened so far but in the end they were just a handful and the Commander had huge numbers on his side. Or was this humility? Was this a mark of respect towards the ATF. Not to Attack but only defend. Could be. If this was the case he definitely started feeling respect towards them. At the same time he had his task in front of him. Whatever the reason was, the Commander had found a weakness in the Opponent camp, ‘Opponents did not want to harm the ATF commandos.’ And he decided to leverage this weakness of his Opponents.

  He utilized special protective suits that would prevent the soldiers from electric shocks and explosions and air dropped them on top of the mountain. They landed on the mountain top but were immediately welcomed by an acid rain sufficient enough to rupture their suits. This was followed by a C blast and the unconscious soldiers were picked up and carried inside.

  Seeing that the battle did not stop even after Phase 3, Avanish initiated Phase 4 of the attack. He showered a solution on the commandos below. The solution went in through their clothes and once it came in contact with the skin the commandos started feeling uneasiness. They felt an uncontrollable itching sensation all over the body. At one moment their body temperature would rise dramatically and the next moment they would start shivering. Few minutes later they again started feeling extremely hot and sweating profusely. The docto
rs were puzzled. They did not understand what medication to give. They had to experiment but the trial and error backfired. The soldiers started vomiting out any medicine given to them.

  The Commander’s interpretation had gone wrong. He recalled what Avanish had said right from beginning and one statement struck him ‘As you have been entrusted with the responsibility to attack, I have a responsibility to defend.’ Maybe the right interpretation would have been ‘Opponents did not want to kill the commandos, but it did not prevent them from causing harm.’

  One peculiar thing about Aadi’s office that everyone noticed on entering was the chairs. The visitor chairs were exactly same in shape and size as Aadi’s chair.

  He believed in according respect at par to his colleagues or visitors visiting his office. Following him everyone at GALAXY had adopted this and many more such principles. It was this attention and action to small things that separated him from other leaders. Nobody felt inferior while talking to him. He ensured no one felt dominated by his power, his stature. Irrespective of their age or background, knowing him for years or meeting him for the first time everyone felt comfortable with him. It was not without a reason that his colleagues respected him so much and had bestowed upon him the title of Chief.

  Aadi knew that Samir’s twenty years advance warfare technology combined with Avanish’s defence strategy will surely bring the attack to a state of ceasefire, which would be followed by a peace treaty. And as always, Aadi wanted to make the best out of this situation.

  Samir and Aadi discussed a lot of options but nothing seemed to work, at least in a manner they would want it to… And finally, they arrived at an approach. A small smile appeared on Aadi’s face and slowly extended to Samir’s.