It was a basic “whack-the-bush” strategy designed to channel a surprised and scared enemy in a direction productive to the attackers. Kamidalla being the crack shot on the team had delivered that initial shock which had the desired effect on Muzammil. The main Pathfinder force was now directing accurate rifle-fire against the jihadists on the road, south of the mud huts…
“Panther, this is pathfinder-one,” Pathanya spoke into his comms mouthpiece as he stepped over the rocks on a shallow, icy fjord. He saw the two other pathfinders a dozen meters away.
“Panther reads you five-by-five.” Jagat responded as calmly as though running a peacetime exercise.
“Panther, pathfinder is in play and under fire. We have eyes on target in the convoy behind lead vehicle. Do not touch that area. Light up the other vehicles!”
“Roger. Panther is detaching leopard to play merry hell!”
Pathanya tightened his rifle into his shoulder closer and switched comms: “Pathfinder-one here: watch your backs and make sure the infrared strobes are active. Leopard is entering the fight!”
Their first inkling of Dutt’s helicopters entering the battle was when three fireballs rose into the sky and sent three trucks at the back end of the convoy on fire. Pathanya instantly kneeled as the orange-yellow flames of the convoy rendered a hellish glow on the valley. More unguided rockets struck the road soon after. Pathanya heard the rumble of the helicopters as they streaked overhead. Tracers raced after the fast-moving helicopters as survivors of Muzammil’s security force struggled to meet this new and sudden threat above them.
It was a nightmarish sight to behold even for battle-hardened soldiers such as Pathanya. For someone like Muzammil, more used to ordering people to their deaths in battle rather than enduring the same, it was just too much.
“Rooster is moving! Making a run for it!” Kamidalla’s urgent voice came through in Pathanya’s ears. He was almost about to ask for directions but Kamidalla beat him to the punch: “Northwest! Northwest! Northwest! Go! Go! Go!”
Pathanya jerked his head to the see the silhouette of a man run past the orange-black glow of the flames near the two mud huts and into the woods. He immediately got up and splashed past the fjord as fast as he could, breaking branches and slipping over the icy stones along the way. He made quick progress on his evasive enemy. Kamidalla’s voice chimed in again: “Target moving west now! Heading to you!”
Pathanya saw the confused Muzammil run towards him, not knowing that he was being pursued. He finally saw Pathanya and his two men a dozen meters away and stood in shock. Pathanya saw him raise his AK-47 just in time to hit the dirt: “Down!”
Muzammil let the three men have it at full blast, firing the ready AK-47 from the hip. The bullets went on a wide arc trajectories and slapped into trees and branches all around Pathanya and his men, showering them with broken branches and snow. But the frenzied burst of fire and the rough terrain meant that Muzammil count attain no accuracy. In a few seconds his rifle clicked on empty chambers. He looked at the rifle in surprise and instead of reloading, threw it on the snow and began running further up the slope.
Pathanya got up on his feet and ran after Muzammil. He had noticed that he was alone as one of his two pathfinders had taken a bullet in his leg and was down where he lay. The other team member was no-where to be seen…
You are not getting away, you bastard!
Pathanya ran up the hill, sweating as he did so. He heard the whiz of bullets flying past his head and crouched behind a tree trunk to see another of Muzammil’s men clambering up the hill in his salwar-kameez, firing a G3 rifle as he struggled through the snow.
Your boss isn’t expendable. But you are!
He brought up his MCIWS rifle to shoulder level and fired a three-round burst. The bearded jihadi fell face down into the snow with his hands stretched and his back pooling with blood.
“You are going to miss our man! Forget these guys! Go! Go!” Kamidalla’s voice shouted in Pathanya’s ears.
Pathanya let out a breath and forced himself up to see Muzammil further up the slope. It was clear to Pathanya that the man was not nearly in the kind of fitness required to outrun the Indian special-forces soldiers on a slippery mountain slope. He made quick progress on him until he was almost behind the man. Muzammil knew what was in store and tried to turn, but slipped in the process. As he lay on his back, he saw the Pathanya’s sweating face walk up to him.
By now Muzammil was not worthy of Pathanya’s honor. Pathanya pointed the barrel of his rifle to the man’s temple: “You son of a bitch! Do you know how many people are dead because of you? Do you?”
Muzammil realized he was going to be taken alive. This allowed him to recover some of his composure. “Not enough! We will kill you all before this war is complete, as Allah is my witness!”
Pathanya growled, reversed his rifle and let Muzammil have it in the chest with his rifle butt. Muzammil shrieked like he had been gutted and splattered blood from his mouth on to the snow.
“Pathfinder, this is panther!” The comms squawked in Pathanya’s ears. “Do you have the package or not?”
He took a few seconds to catch his breath. He turned to see his other team member helping the third man limp over to his position. To the south, he could see the raging fires from the truck convoy and the Dutt’s attack helicopters streaking through the valley, looking for targets…
“Roger!” He said, still huffing and puffing. “Package is secure and alive! I say again, package is secure! Panther, get us out of here!” He kneeled to help him gather his breathing.
Jagat changed comms at his end: “Panther to leopard: you heard the man. We don’t need you holding back anymore. Kill any and all bastards still alive!
Pathanya heard Dutt’s crews respond by firing salvos of unguided, fin-stabilized rockets into all of the remaining trucks on the road. Most of the vehicles burst to pieces under the impacts, sending shards flying in all directions…
“Pathfinder, get your men and establish perimeter! We are coming to get you! Out.”
Jagat turned to see the trees and saw the loadmasters of his three Dhruv helicopters running back to their individual helicopters. He turned to his co-pilot and nodded. Moments later the three helicopters were spooling up their main rotors. Jagat turned to the back to see is loadmaster clambering aboard after stowing his rifle.
“All clear out there?” Jagat asked sarcastically.
“All clear, sir. No enemy to be seen.”
“Good. Let’s keep it that way.” Jagat turned back to his controls and lowered his helmet night-optics and locked it into position. The hellish green-scape replaced his bluish-black moonlit view of the Himalayas. He looked around the control panel and then tightened his grip on the controls. He keyed his comms.
“All panther elements we are dusting off!”
“-Two copies.”
“-Three copies all.”