Chapter 5

"The situation is this. Are we ready to operate, sir?" Anirudh reported to Headquarters in Morse.

"Yes." He got the reply.

"Tomorrow is going to be a huge day for our country. This mission is a secretive and no one will ever know about it. If you get caught, die or anything, you never were a citiz-" Anirudh was interrupted by Raj.

"C'mon, stop it. Don't start again with boring stuff. We should eat before the food gets cold and the drinks go hot." Raj said, coolly. "And you, Om. Don't touch the drinks, the drinking age is 25!" He added. Om looked at him, a pout evident on his face.

"But you're not in India so have fun," Raj grinned, making everyone laugh. All of them were having a good time, not really worrying about their mission except Anirudh who was a bit anxious. After a few happy hours, everyone fell asleep and Anirudh was on the lookout.

"Don't think too much. You're smart, you will figure it out." He heard Veronica whisper from beside him. He gave her a small smile. "Now go to sleep, big day ahead".

--

Day 12

"I am in position." Arjun spoke on his walkie-talkie.

Anirudh subsequently communicated with the others about their positions.

--

"It's noon. They have to be here." Jagrit said, looking through the binoculars. He changed the frequency of the walkie-talkie to Arjun from all.

"Arjun, why is this ghillie suit so uncomfortable and dirty from inside?" Jagrit whined.

Arjun giggled, "You won't be so glad to know it. Will tell you during the travel to Tehran."

Few minutes later, two convoys, one with 6 cars and the other with 4 cars came from the border.

"They are in. I repeat they are in, identity confirmed." Jagrit repeated. Everyone hurriedly got into their positions.

"Jagrit take the short cut!" Anirudh commanded.

--

The intel was laid out perfectly before the mission. They had talked and discussed everything time and again to execute accurately.

"Asghar Naseer. LeT commander, the one who trained the attackers. Rafique. He was guiding the attacks, straight from Karachi headquarters. And Mirab Khan, one of the most powerful men in the Taliban."

"Our mission is to kill all of them, gather relevant information and do so in the quietest way possible."

The Owaisi residence was no longer a home, but a fortress.

The plan had different stages. Dr. Vivek and Om had been working since eleven days and being the perfect partners. Om installed a camera, a hearing device and an EMP, which can disable communication of all things within the perimeter. Dr. Vivek changed the model completely. He decreased the speed of the rotors to make the sound as less as possible. He had also connected the quad copter to laptop for better control.

In current time, Jagrit joined the other three back at home.

'

"You smell awful," Veronica held her breath.

He sighed, "Now I know why."

Everyone disguised themselves as militants covering their mouths with cloth masks. Anirudh went inside the house, guarding the lower floor and joining the other militants.

"Taking down the outer guards, over." Jagrit and Raj snapped the neck of the two guards outside the house, dumped their bodies and took their respective places.

After a few minutes, Anirudh communicated with the two upper guards and asked them to come downstairs, using his fluency in Persian and Arabic. The guards went down the stairs where they were instantly grabbed and killed.

"Arjun, what are they doing?" Anirudh asked.

"Just sitting, eating and talking." Arjun responded from his position where he could see the targets from his sniper rifle's scope.

Anirudh commenced the order for Phase Two.

Veronica entered the mansion with the drone which was covered with a black cloth.

"Hey you stop!" An Arabic order made her stop, but she didn't turn around. "What are you carrying?" He continued, now walking towards her. Anirudh translated the reply and she quickly repeated it.

"Put down the copter and turn towards him, slowly."

She obliged.

"Can't get a clear shot, let him move towards you."

The guard started speaking and moving towards Veronica.

"Veronica, grab him!"

She did and with a quick suppressed gunshot, the man was neatly killed.

"The guards will be alert now; we need to end it quickly." Arjun said on all channels.

Anirudh opened the gate leisurely and put the copter right on the edge. Grabbing his microphone, he commanded, "Commence phase 3."

The copter turned on, inclined towards the ceiling and started moving forward.

"Starting the functions in 3...2...1," Dr. Vivek counted, "Now all of you will hear the conversation."

Everyone listened closely but after five minutes, when no one said anything, things started to get suspicious. The three men were not saying a word almost as if they were told to do so.

"Anirudh, something is happening. One of them stood up; he is moving away." Om said. Everyone became alert in their positions. In a matter of seconds, the guy threw something on the copter and it fell on the ground with a small thud.

"Using EMP, turn off th--" Dr. Vivek's dialogue was interrupted with static. The connection was cut between everyone.

"Jigsaw 1, 2, over " Arjun said, carefully. Jigsaw was the name given to every group.

"Jigsaw 2, over." Om replied.

The communication was further interrupted.

"Can't connect to the others." Veronica said from her position outside the room. "It's time to end it."

They barged into the room. The men were trying to contact through walkie-talkie, but thankfully EMP worked. Three against four, it was a difficult situation for the terrorists. The hustle happened in one moment. Mirab Khan took out his desert eagle and pointed it to Veronica who was closest to him. The militants started shouting in Persian to which Anirudh replied, making them even furious. Sniper support was impossible right now; the team was on its own.

No one moved from their positions and everyone was conversing here and there. Anirudh moved in the blink of an eye and turned off the lights. The moment the men were about to open their mouths, he turned the light back on. The terrorists' mouths were now hanging open and they were only centimeters away from Veronica, Raj and Jagrit.

Jagrit, with his fast movements grabbed the right wrist of Marib Khan who stood on his opposite and repeatedly started punching him to death. Raj grabbed Rafique's chest, made him bend and kicked his knee to his face, making him fall unconscious, and later shot him dead.

Veronica just kicked Asghar's balls but nothing happened. He smiled, and attacked her. Her lip started bleeding but she didn't move a bit from her place. She returned his smile and shot the man in an instant.

"We don't have much time." Anirudh said while dumping Asghar's corpse. He instructed them to execute the last phase as he will meet them at the extraction point now.

The other three left, changed their outfits and made their exit while Anirudh made another militant guard the door, just to make a distraction.

--

"Where are they?" Arjun kept looking at his watch.

"They will be here soon." Om replied, eating his food.

"But this train will leave in 10 minutes!"

The door of the compartment opened in the next second. Veronica, Raj and Jagrit entered with some bags.

"We found out everything. And now, we are returning home." Anirudh spoke on the receiver.