Mitra stands in the middle of the road near the Imperial Building, surveying the pathway the rebel fighters took to escape. The sun rises from behind the deep clouds of smog and dust. He is dressed in his rugged clothes and mask, the same as the previous day, as he roams the city observing its people. He looks into the eyes of the people—those without masks, suffering terribly in the streets, and those who beg. He cringes at the class division among them. The Imperial Building stands tall and secured, while the civilian buildings are broken, wrecked, and derelict remnants of an unknown past.
He notices the ration center, where people are purchasing water in liters at subsidized rates that change constantly. He sees the way the Imperial Officers are conning the citizens. One customer, who seemed to have a family, showed pictures of them, asking for four liters of water. However, the officer in charge declared that the man had no family, and only one liter would be allowed for the week. The common man looks helpless, trying to argue with the officer to be reasonable, but his voice cannot reach those cruel ears of authority. His demand is rejected, and he will not be getting any water for the next two weeks. He cries out in pain for his family and leaves the queue.
Mitra's conscience is pricked; he is saddened by the hardships of the people. In his mind, he does not feel that this is right. What made the world come to this? His true feelings cannot be observed because of the mask, but deep inside, he hurts from the injustice. There were times when he supported the rebels; the thoughts of unifying everything impressed him. However, he was always under the impression, because of that fateful night, that the rebels killed his father.
Whenever there was a protest against injustice, a bounty was announced against them: find them, kill them, and be rewarded. If any protesters were caught by an official, they would be tried in the kangaroo court. Mitra became part of the system, a gun for hire. He always regretted the killings, but the thirst for revenge drove him to this point. As he walks past the Imperial Building, he sees the artificial stream of water passing under the bridge at the edge of the city. The stream is preserved with trees and is heavily guarded. Dead bodies lie around the stream. He is disgusted as he sees an Imperial Trooper shooting a dead body for pleasure. It's either a drop of water or a bullet to the head. All luxuries are meant only for the Imperial workers, high-ranked officials, and the Imperial board members.
Anger runs through Mitra's veins. He feels the thought of killing the Imperial Trooper runs through his mind. He remembers his father, who was at times a rebel sympathizer, but also a hunter who used to tell him fascinating stories about the rebels, their courageous fight, and always respected the dead. He collected rebel belongings that he showed him and told him stories about.
He walks back to the Imperial Building and sees the Admiral, in his high-ranked uniform, having a conversation, most probably with Preston. He cannot recognize them because of their masks.
As Mitra approaches them, the Admiral recognizes his dress and asks, "Hello, Mitra! Preston is ready to lead the men!"
Preston looks at Mitra, extends his hand, saying, "No hard feelings!" He also gives the gun back to Mitra, who puts it in the holster.
Mitra shakes his hand but remains silent. "Where are they?" he asks the Admiral.
"One of the nomads from the Neutral Territory located them in one of the mining caves."
"I see."
"But the problem is the area is filled with rocks and boulders, so we will have to go on foot," says Preston.
Mitra turns to Preston and asks, "Don't we have land cruisers?"
"We had one, but it was stolen by the rebels last night. Still, we will go on foot, as they won't be a match for us in ground combat since they lack training!"
"That is true! How many of us are going?"
"Around twenty of us!"
"How many rebels are spotted?"
"Not many! Mostly children!"
"Are they using any kind of communications?"
"They are not online at all, which is the main problem in spotting them. They mostly use primitive stuff. That is why we fail to trace them nowadays!" replies the Admiral.
"They are quite cautious!"
"But one thing we know for sure is that they are stealing specific things from us!"
"What is it?"
The Admiral turns to Preston and says, "Would you give us a minute?"
"Sure! I will be waiting near the aerodrome facility and will have my troops ready!"
"Fine!"
Preston leaves the place.
The Admiral speaks to Mitra, "As you have been hunting the rebels for long, I will tell you this is a matter of trust. Over the last few years, there has been a theft of many data drives from many Imperial Buildings!"
"Data drives?"
"Yes!"
"What do these drives contain?"
"I am not sure! But there are rumors about a lost paradise, and these data drives contain the location data. And the rebels are hunting for it!"
Mitra is surprised. "Is it possible?" he questions.
"That's the rumor; even we don't know the actual truth! But the rebels are convinced about its existence."
"Even if it doesn't, they are fighting for a lost cause."
"That's the crux of it."
"Who made these data drives?"
"A person named, Abendsen!"
"Who is this Abendsen?"
"The last Secretary General of the United Nations."
"What happened to him?"
"The rebels assassinated him."
Mitra is surprised, "Why?"
"Because they never wanted to work with the Regime."
"That is foolishness."
"Sadly, it is true! Abendsen worked for unity, but nobody was ready for it. That is the tragedy!"
"What do the rebels want?"
"Another New World Order!"
"I thought of them as having honor; now I see they are the separatists."
"They are."
"Has anything been stolen from last night's chaos?"
"Not that we know! Our data drives are simply in order!"
"Better check everything from the activities of the past few days."
"I have asked my wife to do it."
"I must join Preston."
"Yes! By the way, the team and you will be tracked through the system. We have activated your barcode for the mission."
As Mitra leaves and reaches near the aerodrome facility, he observes four jeeps are in position towards the exit gate.
Preston comes forward, "Mitra! Come aboard!"
"Why don't we have aircraft for the mission?"
"The Imperial believes we don't need one because of budget constraints!"
"That's laughable!"
"Worse, Mitra! Worse! Still, you have to trust your troops! They can fight!"
"Hopefully, yes!"
He follows Preston and sits in the left rear seat of his jeep. Another Imperial officer sits on the opposite side. The vehicle can hold around nine to ten people, but most of the space is filled with rations. The vehicle is covered with bulletproof steel.
Four vehicles follow the GPS location provided by the contact in the neutral territory. The Captain instructs his fellow officer to give Mitra a spare SAT phone.
"We will reach by afternoon!" The Captain informs them.
"Alright!"
Mitra thinks, 'Just the beginning of the end of my old life!' He turns his head towards the window and looks outside through the covers. What about the Paradise, which is lost for ages? Is it possible it really exists? Is this revenge worth it? What do I get out of this? A separate rainforest, that's all! But the suffering…the people, what about them? Do I have an answer for them? Or is my thought for revenge ignoring the poor ones?
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The Rebellion is keeping its artillery ready—forty inhabitants, including children. Gayatri, with her mask, is supervising the children, helping them board the bus with ten other rebels. The boarders have disguised themselves as Indigenous Groups, who travel from one place to another looking for new settlements, as they have no home and no country. They sell old-world commodities collected from various parts of the world. Some Indigenous Groups work for the Imperial Regime and act as informers.
Judy comes forward. She is now wearing Capri-length pants with boots, as well as arm wraps. On her vest, a brown-colored tunic, there is a holster at her hip on the right, similar to all the rebels, and a sheath for her sword. She supervises the proper placement of the water tank on top of the bus, with Pritam's help and a few others. Gayatri gives the boarders many old-world commodities to avoid suspicion under Imperial Security. The camp has ten children, most of whom were born in the rebel camps. Some of their parents are serving life sentences in Imperial labor camps, and some are orphans. Along with the children, ten rebels volunteered to go with them. The remaining will stay back to fight against the forces of the Imperial Regime from the Ghost City, as children cannot be part of the violence.
Gayatri gives a map to Pritam showing the way to the Northern Territory Alliance and their rebellion base. If anything happens, they should remain under the guise of the Indigenous Tribe until everything settles down.
As the boarders put on their masks, Gayatri blesses every child in the bus. She takes off her mask; tears fill her eyes; she puts the mask back on her face. She turns, walks towards the driver, and puts her hand on his back.
She says, "So long, Pete! Be careful! Godspeed!" She steps down from the bus, which begins the drive to its destination.
Judy approaches her. Gayatri says, "It's hard to let them go!"
"I know!"
Gayatri exhales a deep breath, "Well, first things first! Let's get ready, shall we?"
"I am coming with you!"
Gayatri touches her shoulder, "If anything happens to me, you take care of everything!"
"I will!"
"I trust you! Always have and always will!"
"I don't know! I don't know whether I am ready for it!"
"You will be!"
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After long hours of driving, the Imperial Troops stop near one of the settlements of the Indigenous Tribes in the Neutral Territory in the afternoon. The Captain steps out from the jeep and immediately sees someone approaching them.
Mitra notices it, gets down, and thinks, Probably! Our contact!
The Captain shouts, "Qasim!"
The contact waves his hands, covered with gloves, and moves forward with two of his own people.
"You have to go on foot, Sir. I will show you the place!" says Qasim.
"Did they cross with a land cruiser?"
"They did. But four of your jeeps are not advisable; there are too many large boulders."
"Alright! Show us the way!"
"Sir, the rations!"
Captain Preston looks back, asks Sam to unload all the rations (water and food). Qasim with two others takes all the rations and puts them in their stock. The Imperial troops take out their M4 weapons and other artillery. A desert operation is difficult, but they are trained for this and have experience with similar operations.
Mitra stands behind them. The Captain commands them to move forward and follow the contact. All of them form a line formation and walk towards the dune above. They look at the rocky terrain. The Captain activates the zoom in his mask, and the other troops do the same thing. They spot a few rebels standing above the mining caves, some walking around the caves on alert. They can't use the M4 to shoot from this distance, but they can defeat them with a ground assault by firing from the nearby ground.
"It's too easy!" says Preston.
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Gayatri moves above the cave along with Judy, and they wait for the Imperial Troops. Gayatri switches on the zoom and sees the Imperial troops approaching them.
She instructs Judy, "Keep it ready! We won't be killing anyone!"
Judy waves at the people in position and instructs them to hold the attackers without killing.
Mitra has his M4 ready as he follows the troops, holsters his mini-revolver, walks at a brisk speed, and goes on flanking tactics. All of them reach near the rocky boulders and spread out quickly, one by one, taking many different sides to find an angle to attack the rebels. The Captain and his men now crawl to move through the rocky path.
Gayatri fires a shot, followed by others, but not to hit anyone on the Imperial Troops, but to divert them.
After a few shots, Preston and his men retreat for the moment, hiding behind the boulders. Mitra hides too. No one is hit. Unexpectedly, they see many people climbing down from the boulder with the help of a rope. They jump on the Imperial Troops and push them hard into the middle. The rebels have camouflaged themselves in rocky black clothes in their shooting position. One of the rebels pushes Mitra hard, and he loses his M4, but he quickly takes out his revolver from the holster and fires two shots against the attacker, giving him a flesh wound.
The rebel fighter picks up Mitra's M4 and hits him on the face, which breaks the mask into two pieces. The other Imperial troops are brutally cornered and are trying to fight back, but it's no use. It is as if an unknown power has conjured the Imperial troops to forget the ways of hand-to-hand combat. It is twenty against twenty, but the Imperial troopers are failing to gain an advantage over the rebels. The well-trained army is clueless.
The rebel leader, Gayatri, watches over them, but she is not happy about it. She asks Judy to stop the rebel fighters and imprison the enemy. Judy takes the instruction and commands one of the guards to hold the fight and tie the enemy up. The guard announces with the megaphone trumpet, but it fails. The fighters cannot hear; they are bloodthirsty for revenge. They beat up the Imperial troopers.
Mitra is helpless; yet, he gets up and jumps over the attacker, hits him hard, pushes him towards the rock, and pulls out the mask from his face. Mitra tries to wear it, as his face is burning from the heat of the sun's rays. The rebel punches Mitra back on the face, and the mask drops. Mitra hits with an uppercut but misses. The rebel hits him on his shin with full force; he retreats, and the rebel comes up fast, connecting hard with Mitra's chin. He loses balance but controls quickly. Before the rebel throws another punch, Mitra throws a brutal punch to his face and belly.
The rebel pulls back and kicks Mitra's shin again. Mitra roars and hits the rebel very hard in the face. The rebel fighter bounces back and puts his weight into a square punch right into Mitra's nose. The impact makes him fall backward; he hits the large rock and falls down. The rebel staggers back, breathing hard, looks up at his fellow rebels, and sees the entire Imperial forces are defeated, with their masks broken and some of them unconscious. After the win, they bring the enemy towards the mining cave, and Gayatri applauds them, with a feeling of guilt.
To be Continued: Chapter 6: The Rebel Rises