All Hope is Not Lost
The chopper carrying Ankit, Ratan and Wriddhiman lands on the helipad of a bunker. It is a bunker that has been designated for all VIPs. 2 army personnel move forward to receive them and they escort them inside. The bunker is state-of-the-art, well maintained and well-furnished keeping in mind the status of the VIP s. Ankit and Ratan make out a lot of people who not only belong to the highest class of the society but also hold high positions in various government organizations. “If you think I am proud to be in the same league as these people, trust me, I am not.” Ankit comments. “I didn’t ask or say anything. Though I cannot help comment on the fact that these people only have a lot of money and shell it out on useless stuff. You, on the other hand, son… are blessed with brains and deserve the money that you got. Don’t waste it, you may end up being the one saving the planet.” Says Ratan. They are shown their room which is equal to a 5-star suite. “The only thing missing is a swimming pool.” Ratan says. “When was the last time you ever went for a swim. I had invited you to come to goa with me once but you said NO.” Ankit comments. “I am too young to have a lust for such things.” Ratan responds, as he walks forward to take a closer look at a huge aquarium. Ankit and Wriddhiman looks at each other unable to understand what Ratan just said. “Not everything needs to be understood, Mr. Roy but Mr. Singh sure has style.” Says Wriddhiman. Ankit nods in agreement. He then remembers something. “Were you… able to get in touch with your men?” Ankit asks. “All communications are down, sir. This bunker has been activated a few hours ago so the phones and internet should be up any moment. I will have a word with one of the personnel to get an update.” Saying, Wriddhiman leaves the room. Ankit sits on a couch and checks his mobile. Indeed, there is no signal. “You are still worried about the artifact? Even if you get it, what will you do?” Ratan asks as he takes a seat and drinks a glass of water. “Uncle, I am sure it has the armor that can help us fight these things. We could have had it opened. If we had all information about how it works, I could have produced an army in a couple of days. We have the army over here. I am pretty sure they can help us. We are in war with an ancient but powerful army and the only way we could fight them is by equipping ourselves on the same level as they are.” Ankit responds. Ratan is astonished, he cannot help marvel at how even in such a critical situation, Ankit is still thinking for a solution. “Do you really think we can win, Ankit? I am sorry but why do I have the feeling that…” Ratan starts but is hesitant to speak the rest of the sentence but Ankit is quick to understand. “That this is it. This is how the world ends. This is how the human race ends.” Ankit completes the sentence. Ratan is not looking at Ankit, he is looking down trying think of a response. Ankit comes closer and says, “If this is our end, so be it…. but we are not dying without a fight. We may have failed history but history has never failed us. That is for sure.” Meanwhile, Amrita and Gaurav walk slowly through a road filled with empty cars and trucks. They are both mentally disturbed yet can make out the destruction. There are a few people lying dead but apart from that, they can make out ashes lying here and there. They look at each other wondering what could those ashes be. They move to an alley; Gaurav makes Amrita sit down on the footpath. He then put his bag down and brings out a water bottle from it. “Have some water, Amrita.” Says Gaurav, offering the bottle. Amrita is not looking at Gaurav, she is not only disturbed mentally but also in shock at Sneha’s death. Gaurav understands and places the bottle by her side. He then takes out his mobile to see if he is able to make a call but there is no signal. “She died right in front of us. We did nothing… nothing to save her. None of us came forward, we all stood there like cowards.” Amrita finally speaks and starts to cry profusely. “Please, Amrita. Take a grip. There was nothing we could have done. We have… we have no idea what we are dealing with.” Says Gaurav, trying his best to comfort her. Amrita hugs Gaurav hard. She cries uncontrollably and says, “So many people… so many people have died today. They didn’t have to die like this.” Gaurav remains silent. He allows Amrita to cry to lessen her burden of guilt and sadness. As she stops, Gaurav looks at Amrita and says, “We can’t stay here for long. There are more of those things. We cannot fight them. We have to find and reach an army camp or bunker.” Amrita wipes her tears, looking at Gaurav, she nods in agreement. As they get up, they hear a rumbling noise. Trying to find the source of the noise, they are suddenly blinded by a light coming from a vehicle which is slowly coming straight towards them. Amrita clings on to Gaurav as they both try to understand what is going on. The vehicle stops, as they try to get used to the lights, they can make out 4 men come out of what seems to be a truck. “You both… what are you doing here?” It is Major Robert and his squad. Amrita and Gaurav look at each other and then back at the Major. “We were… attacked… by aliens. We are trying to reach… a bunker for safety.” Gaurav answers. Major Robert can make out the office ids on their necks. “Damn, make that… 25.” Amrish says, and the duo look at him confused. “Like seriously! You were counting!” Prateek reacts, staring at Amrish. “I don’t… understand. 25… what 25?” Amrita asks. “You are not the only people from that company we rescued. We have 2 trucks filled with survivors and some of them are from your company.” Major Robert responds. “Just 25, but there were 1000 of us. Maybe more.” Gaurav says. “There are other army trucks here and there trying to rescue the survivors. We have 2 over here. Get on any of them. Squad, our first run is over. We need to take these people to the nearest bunker, unload and move out again for a second run.” Says Major Robert, and the others agree. Amrita and Gaurav get on the truck. Indeed, they spot a few of them from their company including a very familiar one. “Vishal. Are you ok?” Gaurav asks. “Of all the people whom I am know and prayed to God to keep them safe, you guys were definitely on the list. Have a seat.” Says Vishal. As the duo find a space to sit, Vishal noticed someone missing. “Where is Sneha?” He asked. Amrita and Gaurav look at each other, the latter reveals the truth, “She was killed by one of those aliens. We couldn’t do anything to save her.” There is no reaction on Vishal’s face. Instead, he looks down and says, “Bravery is not always a good thing, Gaurav. I have seen those things while trying to reach a safe zone. It is foolishness to fight those things while being ill-equipped. I saw some army men firing at 4 of them. It took like several bullets to bring one down but the rest of the aliens killed 10 army men. The others had no other choice but to retreat. I caught a glimpse of a young army man, he might have been a new joinee in the army, begging for mercy from one of them but they are merciless. One strike from that alien’s sword and the painful yell of that young man… it is still stuck in my mind. It will haunt me forever.” Amrita and Gaurav couldn’t believe what they heard. Vishal had seen so much. “Honestly, we don’t get to hear such things from a normal civilian. I was in retaliation mode when you commented about bravery but as I continued hearing, I couldn’t help agree. We as soldiers have been trained against ‘human enemies’ but now, we are dealing with something that is beyond our comprehension. If one alien can bring 4-5 of us down… there is an entire army out there. They are hunting us. They are not up for negotiations… even surrendering to them won’t help though that is not the only solution, they are hell bent on domination and destruction, and they will continue doing it till the last human remains.” Prateek says. The trucks reach a safety bunker marked Bunker 38. After the personnel at the gate checks the trucks, they are allowed in. The people in the truck are able to hear a lot of hustle and bustle, and inaudible conversations from other survivors. The truck stops and the people are asked to get down. “So many people.” Vishal reacts. “Men, pack up on extra stuffs if required. Let us be ready to move in 10 minutes.” Major Robert orders and his men acknowledges. The trio trudges forward looking at the people and their condition. “Many of them have been rendered homeless. There may be a lot of them who may have lost their near and dear ones.” Says Amrita. “What have we all got into?” asks Gaurav. Vishal takes out his phone and checks the signal strength, nothing. “It will take a while before services are up. Agonizing, isn’t it? I have been trying to reach my mom but… I don’t know… I don’t know.” Vishal speaks up but stops. At that moment, they see a woman with a baby in hand pleading with an army officer to help her find her husband and family. She is wailing and the army officer cannot understand how to manage the situation. A female officer steps in and takes the woman to her side, she tries to calm her down and asks for details. Amrita then remembers her parents, she has no idea where they are, whether they are alive or dead. She starts to weep; Gaurav and Vishal notice it. “What happened, Amrita? Are you ok?” Vishal asks. Amrita doesn’t answer. She covers her face and continues to weep. Gaurav understands what is going on in Amrita’s mind, he consoles Amrita and says, “Your parents will be fine. They must be in another bunker or safe zone.” Vishal spots a desk that is taking note of missing survivors. He wonders why the lady with the baby didn’t go there instead but then realizes the situation that the people are in. “Gaurav, that help desk over there. We can go and state the names of the people missing. Our parents… Amrita’s parents… we better give all details.” Says Vishal. “Good call, Bro. Come on, Amrita. Take a grip. We are all in the same boat now but we are together here. Come on.” Gaurav says. Amrita looks at the help desk, she then looks at Vishal and Gaurav. She wipes her tears and agrees to that decision. As they move forward, they could feel a rumble. They look around and see a lot of people feel and react to the strange rumble. It slowly starts to get stronger and the place starts to shake. “What is going on? What is that rumbling sound?” Vishal asks. Suddenly, the sirens in the bunker start to ring and the people start to panic. The officer at the help desk looks around and says to his fellow officer, “These sirens ring only when there is a breach. Go and find out where the breach is.” As if it is an answer, the trio and the other people around them watch in shock and awe as an explosion occurs from the roof of the bunker and a pod comes out of the hole caused by the explosion. The pod lands on top of a few people brutally killing them while injuring a few caught in the blast radius. As the dust and smoke clear, the people can make out that it is a pod that has a driller installed. 4 humanoids come out and look around. The lead humanoid gives an order to his squad and Amrita can make out it is in Sanskrit. The other humanoids point their guns and are about to shoot when Major Robert and his men start to fire at them. The people start to run from that place while the trio takes cover behind the help desk and look at the firefight. The weapons the army men are using are of no match to the armor system of the humanoids. “We are wasting bullets on them. These weapons have no effect. We need something bigger.” Says Javed. “The ammo depot is on the other side. We need to get past them.” Says Prateek. “Say what? We just went for a tour outside the city and you are saying we don’t have rocket launchers with us. Not even grenades.” Says Amrish. Major Robert throws a grenade at the humanoids. The explosion is not enough to kill them but they stagger. Due to constant fire, the armor system of one of the humanoids start to fail. The Major throws another grenade and it kills the humanoid. “One down. 3 to go.” Says Major Robert. The others throw their grenades at the humanoids but something interesting happens. The humanoids seeing the death of their squad mate goes into an armor lock mode which lessens the impact of the grenades. “This is not good. This is going nowhere. We are out of grenades.” Says Prateek. The Major looks at his squad and then at the direction of the ammo depot. He checks his weapons again and finds a flashbang. He then looks at his men who notices it. “I am going to take a chance. I will throw the flashbang and you will provide suppressive fire. I will make a dash for the ammo depot. Try to get a rocket launcher or something powerful to kill them all. Copy.” The Major says, and the others give a signal that they agree. The humanoids come out of their armor lock mode. The Major takes a deep breath and throws the flashbang. The effect of the explosion is strong and the humanoids stagger on their feet. The Major then makes a dash for the ammo depot, he almost reaches when he suddenly falls to the ground yelling in pain. The trio who are hiding behind the help desk could see the lead humanoid shoot a spear tipped lasso that painfully clings on to the Major’s left leg. The humanoid mercilessly pulls the lasso along with the Major. The latter tries his best to escape from the lasso but is unable to as the humanoid grabs him by his neck and looks at him. The Major is in pain but he is not giving up. He pulls out his pistol and tries to shoot the humanoid on his head but the humanoid is fast enough to grab the Major’s hand. The humanoid releases his hold on the major’s neck and holds him by his hand. The trio can make out a sword coming out of the former’s wrist. Suddenly, there is another explosion from above, close to the helpdesk and another driller pod comes out. The pod opens, the trio and the army squad watch as another humanoid majestically comes out of the pod. The people couldn’t help notice the armor system of this humanoid. It is a mixture of gold and platinum. What is even more interesting is that along with alien weaponry, it also has an advanced highly modified assault rifle which bears the seal of Roy Industries holstered on his back. The humanoid is not looking at the people around him, his gaze is fixed on the other humanoids. While the lead humanoid is fixed on his spot, the other humanoids start to backtrack which confuses everyone. The ‘new entrant’ takes out his pistol and shoots at a particular spot on the helmet which opens it up to reveal the face of the lead humanoid. The people gasp as they look at the face and it doesn’t take a few people to realize that it is an ASURA. Another shot and the lead asura falls to the ground dead, the Major falls to the ground too released from the clutches of the fallen asura. The Major then looks at the one who shot the leader, the latter takes out what looks like a painkiller and without saying or asking, injects it on to the Major’s legs. The Major winces in pain but soon realizes the pain subsiding, so much so that he can stand up and get to safety. He looks on as the new humanoid signals him to watch him deal with the other. The new humanoid proves to be stronger as he kicks one Asura who is thrown backwards and falls on the ground with a thud. He then pulls out 2 daggers and as if as a demonstration to the others starts revealing the weak points of their armor. He punches holes on the armor around the armpits which opens up, he stabs both the armpits, the Asura yells in pain and falls to the ground, he then points at the armor on the knee caps. Breaking them, he stabs the knee caps and the Asura is handicapped. With brutal force, he removes the armor of the Asura and brandishing the assault rifle he is carrying, fires a barrage of bullets killing the Asura. The other Asura helplessly watches while the new humanoid saddles the weapon, and then looks at him. He takes a deep breath and brings out the daggers again, he lunges forward and stabs the last Asura on both sides of his neck. Before releasing, he looks at the army squad giving a signal again that this is how they could tackle them. He takes out the daggers from the neck and watches the lifeless body of the Asura fall to the ground. Major Robert and his squad come forward as the new humanoid slowly walks up to them and looking at the Major, asks in a deep voice, “Are you alright?” The people gasp again, the trio come out from their hiding. Amrita out of curiosity joins the army squad and stares at the humanoid and his armor. “I will be a fine but who are you? And how do you know them?” The Major asks. “When the time comes, you will all understand what is going on. Right now, I need you to pass on this information to the armed forces so that they can tackle our new enemy. Gather as much knowledge as possible about them so that we can fight them. If possible, try to find out where Mr. Ankit Roy is so that he can help you design the weaponry and armor required.” The humanoid says. As he walks away, a light emits from his armor. He kneels down and the squad can make out that he is trying to teleport. As he teleports, he looks at Amrita and says, “I am sorry about your friend. I promise you… either I will avenge her or die trying.” The moment he teleports; all the others look at Amrita. Vishal and Gaurav come forward unable to understand what just happened. “He knew about Sneha? How come? Was he there when it happened? If he was, why didn’t he come forward to save her?” Gaurav asks. Amrita did not have an answer to that. Instead, she remembers something else. “They were speaking in Sanskrit; however, this alien was speaking in our language. I don’t know whether he is a friend or foe but… I guess all hope is not lost. We have an ally… and wherever you people go or whatever happens to all of us, that alien will protect us. I have a feeling that he will always be around and we have to capitalize on that if we have to survive this storm.” Amrita says. The others especially the army squad couldn’t help agree to that statement, however, Prateek has a question, “What did they say in Sanskrit?” Amrita hesitates at first, she takes a deep breath and translates what the lead humanoid said, “Kill them all but try to leave a few. We need slaves to maintain our dominance on this filthy race.” The people look at each other shocked at that statement except Major Robert. “I am not surprised. We are a planet of 7 billion, they wouldn’t be foolish to kill all of us. They are showing their power of domination through their weaponry and armor, creating an atmosphere of terror and bloodshed… but not for long. They have their weaknesses and it is time we pass on a message to them… that they have chosen the wrong planet to dominate. Domination, eh! We will define domination to them.” Major Robert says, a smile sprouts among his squad and they nod in agreement.