Uninvited Guests
At a secret military base of the Indian Army, soldiers are looking at an artifact that was uncovered from the Rajasthan desert a few days ago. “What is this thing?” Amrish asks. “It looks quite old. There are markings on it.” Javed comments. “Old… look again, people. It is ancient. The markings are in Sanskrit.” Says Prateek, who takes a closer look at the artifact. “Alright officers, step away from it.” It is Major Robert; the others comply but not before glancing at 2 civilians standing behind him. Actually, not any common civilians. “It’s him, Ankit Roy… and Ratan Singh. What are they doing here?” Amrish whispers into Prateek’s ears. The soldiers keep a distance and watch Ankit look at the artifact closely. “Trust me, Amrish. I am not surprised. His company is leading the international market in regards to development of arms and ammunitions… for India and abroad. Moreover, he is a genius himself. He is believed to have facilities that are not just highly advanced but unheard of in terms of the Indian market.” Prateek whispers back to Amrish. Ankit carefully analyses the artifact, although a part of him is also excited at this new discovery. If there is anything amazing and profitable that can come out of this, it will the biggest score of his life. “I assume you already checked for any radioactive particles that this artifact may carry. All of you are in normal uniforms.” Says Ankit, his eyes still fixed on the artifact. “You are absolutely right, Sir. A few villagers had found this in the desert and informed us. We had it immediately transferred to a lab where the scientists analyzed it. There was a hint of radioactivity but it subsided after being the open for a few hours. We have an OK report from the scientists on that.” Major Robert explains. Ankit is now looking at the markings. His eyes widen as he reads through it. He starts to walk backwards; he starts to sweat and has to take out his handkerchief to wipe himself. “Ankit, are you alright?” Ratan asks. Ankit looks at Ratan and then at the others. He retains his composure, adjusting his tie and suit, he says, “I could understand a few of them but for the rest, I would require the support of my team back in office. If you permit, I may need this delivered to my tower so that we can get to work on our research.” “It will be done, Mr. Roy. We will have the artifact delivered. It will take a few hours but you have my assurance.” Says the Major. Ankit nods in agreement, he signals Ratan to walk with him back to his car and the latter agrees. The Major turns to his men and gives them an order, “I will contact the concerned people for the permit. Have this artifact loaded on a chopper… and yes, try to maintain a secrecy regarding this. No one… nobody should know what we found.” The others agree to the order. Back at the tower, Ankit sits on his chair thinking about the artifact and the markings on it. Ratan cannot forget the moment when the former was sweating profusely after checking the markings. “If you want to share something, you can. I am all ears. I have never seen you like this.” Says Ratan, trying his best to make Ankit reveal the truth. Ankit looks at Ratan, he is still unsure whether to spill the beans. He looks away and stares at the city scape again. Ratan pulls a chair, sits next to Ankit and says, “You have always revealed everything to me. Even if it is the dumbest thing. I have always been ears to everything you said. Count on me, son. I will not reveal anything. For once, just forget that you are my boss, the chairman… and tell me everything.” Ankit chuckles, looking at Ratan, he says, “You would have been the chairman. Post my Dad’s death, a lot of people were vouching for you but you chose to be my guru… and ‘forcefully’ put me on this seat.” “Oh yes, and that was indeed the best decision I took. God knows what you would have been doing if you were not on this seat. Not a day goes by when I don’t think of Ashok. I am not saying this because you are his son… but you are just like him, maybe more intelligent than him and no way I was going to allow you to waste that intelligence.” Says Ratan. Ankit sighs deeply, he looks at Ratan again and says, “You know pretty well that I don’t need my team to read Sanskrit for me. I only need them to find out what is inside the artifact.” “Yet you behaved as though you are completely ignorant. Anyone in my place would have spilled the beans but I understood your dilemma and kept my mouth shut.” Ratan comments. “I was able to read the entire thing but I was in 2 minds whether to reveal it or not. The artifact talks about an ancient race of powerful soldiers who received a boon that every 200 years, they would be reborn again and serve the Gods by working alongside them to protect the universe. However, about 10000 years ago, the soldiers realizing the power of ‘immortality’ they received grew greedy. They turned against the Gods and declared war on them. They were also hell bent on interplanetary domination and had destroyed several worlds. The Gods had to end this and therefore, took the help of another powerful breed of soldiers, THE NARAYANI SENA, to stop them. It is said that they won the war but at a cost. There were a lot of casualties.” Ankit shares his findings. “What else did you read?” Ratan asks, his eyes widened at this unusual story. Ankit continues, “They call themselves the USURPERS. Considering they were bestowed with the power to reborn every 200 years, the Gods created millions of armors based off the same armor used by the NARAYANI SENA and had these armors sent across the galaxy. It is said that the USURPERS, whenever they are reborn, they are reborn with the greed for domination over the galaxy and therefore, they set a target of a particular planet to reign hell. The Gods believed that they cannot always be there to help. Be it Gods, Demons, or any other species… we are bound by the universal timeline or… Destiny, if you want a simplified word. If anyone found the power armor, he would be called the true messenger of God or as the markings stated – A TRUE FRIEND to the people of the planet. The armor is powerful, it is stated to be blessed by the Gods to tear apart the might of the USURPERS.” Both Ankit and Ratan are silent now, both trying to understand what they just found. “So, this power armor… it is inside that artifact?” Ratan asks. Ankit is about to answer when suddenly, they hear sirens. They are loud and not the usual industrial sirens. “What is going on?” Ankit asks. He turns towards his TV and switches it on to see the news. “We are receiving confirmed reports from space centers all over the world of several meteors coming towards earth. NASA was the first to confirm this and the President of United States has sent out a message to all leaders of the respective countries to begin the evacuation procedures. Through our news channel, we advise you all to take only what is required and get in touch with the nearest possible volunteer, police officer or army personal to reach a safety bunker for protection.” A reporter says. Ankit and Ratan look at each other. They are thinking the same thing. “We are the targets, Ankit? Don’t tell me… they are coming for us. The world needs to know the truth then. They need to know of the artifact.” Says Ratan, stammering while he says that and also sweating profusely. That very moment, explosions are heard and Ankit could see the meteors falling. He goes outside and watches the city in a state of panic. He then looks up to see the sky which is not clear anymore, it is turning red in color due to the meteor shower. He watches in horror as a meteor crashes into his building. “We need to get out of here. Come on, Uncle. It is not safe. We need to the reach VIP bunker. See if you can inform the guards to evacuate the building as fast as possible.” Ankit says but Ratan is not paying attention, he is instead looking at the TV, horrified. Ankit joins Ratan and sees a footage released by the news channel. It is a video taken by a person who was in a mall. A meteor had crashed right in the center of the mall. They could make out about 10 people lying on the floor, killed due to the impact. Suddenly, the meteor implodes to reveal a structure that is metallic in nature. It didn’t take Ankit even seconds to realize that it was a pod shaped like a VIMANA, about 10 feet in height. A door can be seen that opened up and out came 4 humanoids, they were tall, close to 7 feet in height and they were wearing an armor system that a lot of people would say was similar to what the actors in the TV serials, Ramayan or Mahabharat would have worn though they looked more advanced albeit ancient. Ankit and Ratan notices that the humanoids were wearing helmets that sported a black visor and had bull-like horns on them. The humanoids looked at the crowd and then looked at each other. They nodded their heads agreeing to something and started firing at the people. The crowds panicked and started to run while some unlucky ones were brutally gunned down. Ankit watches closely as the humanoids are firing plasma rounds which are so powerful that the people who were hit burnt up right in their place. There were no remains, just ashes lying around. That very moment, the office door opens and a guard, Wriddhiman, comes in. He says, “Sir, we need to get out of this place. That meteor that hit our building, 4 aliens came out and started firing at us. I can’t explain how those people died. It was horrible. Most of them have left the building. We are all that is left. We need to move, Sir. We need to move now.” Ankit grabs Ratan and pulls him out of the room. “Those 4 aliens. Where are they?” Ankit asks. “Floor 15. Our men have engaged them. Their armor is too strong. We are not able to bring anyone down. We already lost 4 guards.” Wriddhiman answers. “Call everyone and tell them to come upstairs. Signal our choppers. We are getting out of here. I am not leaving anyone behind.” Says Ankit. Ankit grabs his mobile and contacts Major Robert. “Major, what is the status of that artifact?” he asks. There is no answer from the other side. Ankit, already irritated and confused with the turn of events, is also frustrated. As he enters the lift and Wriddhiman presses the button to the helipad, he yells on the phone, “Major, I asked a question. We are under attack from an unknown enemy. I need to know the status of the artifact.” “Mr. Roy, I am sorry but… our chopper was on the way. The chopper… it… it got hit by a meteor. It might have crashed somewhere in the city. We are aware of the situation and have our assets going in to control it at all cost. We have assigned 2-3 squads to go and retrieve the artifact if they find it. We are doing our best, Mr. Roy and that is all I can say for now. As for you, like all other VIPs, we have provided you the location of where you need to reach safely. My request, Mr. Roy is to reach that target location and not think of anything else for now. Over and out.” Major Robert says and disconnects the call. “I don’t believe this. This is not done.” Ankit reacts angrily. “What happened?” Ratan asks. “That Artifact, they were bringing that to my tower but the chopper got hit by a meteor. It has… crashed landed somewhere in the city.” Says Ankit, he punches the wall of the lift hard. They reach the helipad and sprint towards the choppers. The other guards are already waiting for them and come forward to escort the VIPs. That very moment, a meteor crashes on the helipad. The people watch in horror as the meteor explodes to reveal a pod the same as they saw on TV. The door of the pod opens and 4 armored humanoids come out. One of them fires a plasma round at one of the choppers, it explodes in a ball of flame and the impact throws the people back. “Get Mr. Roy and Mr. Singh on the other chopper, Sir. We will handle them.” Says a guard as Wriddhiman fires his weapon on the humanoids. Wriddhiman looks at his team, they will not survive but he has to take a call. With a heavy heart, he rushes towards Ratan and helps him up. He then looks at Ankit and says, “We need to get out of here. We need to reach the location as stated by the Major. Get on the chopper.” “But Wriddhi, your men… they will die…” Ankit starts to speak but Wriddhiman stops him, “Sir, your security is top priority. Besides, we may not have a solution now but I know about you. You will find a way but you will have to live.” Ankit stares at Wriddhiman. He then hears a guard yell in pain and looks in horror as a humanoid mercilessly stabs him with a long sword. The other guards continue to fire, 2 of them lunges forward to bring a humanoid down but to no avail as the latter catches hold of both of them, smashes them against each other and throws them sideways with such force that they fall from the tower to their deaths. Ankit grabs on to Ratan and gets him and himself on the chopper. Wriddhiman enters the cockpit and frantically signals the pilot to take the chopper up. The former keeps the door open and keeps firing his weapon. As the chopper goes up and flies away from the tower, Wriddhiman catches a glimpse of one humanoid falling to the ground yelling in pain and dying. “Well, what do you know, Mr. Roy!? These things do die but… we may need a bigger gun.” Wriddhiman comments and looks at Ankit. Ankit doesn’t respond to the comment but he is definitely thinking something, “None of us ever designed weapons thinking about aliens from outer space. These are not aliens though, they are ancient hindu warriors with serious anger management issues. We need something more powerful than a weapon; we need the stuff that they are using to counter our weaponry. That artifact… we need to find that artifact.” 25 minutes before the attack, at Amrita’s office, the employees are jolted by the sirens. They are immediately asked to leave the building and get to a safe zone. “What is going on?” Amrita asks. “I don’t know. This siren is not the usual one that they ring when an earthquake strikes. This is different.” Says Sneha. It is a mess at the transport area where people wait trying to understand what is wrong. The chairman appears and with a mike in hand tries to calm every down. “Ladies and Gentlemen, sorry for the inconvenience but we have received confirmed reports of a meteor strike. The meteors are said to be heading in our direction and could hit us any moment. We cannot take the risk of sending you people home. The army will be here and they will be taking you to secret bunkers for safety. We are in a state of emergency people and so, I would request you all to stay inside.” Says the chairman. Amrita and her friends can’t believe what they just heard. The former immediately gets on her phone amidst employees who are demanding answers and not willing to comply to safety protocols. “Amrita, are you hearing the sirens? It is all over the news. There is going to be a meteor shower and we have been asked to move to a safe zone. The police and the army are here, and are requesting us to move to their transports.” Amrita’s mother says. “I know, Mom. Even we have been asked to stay inside the building. They are not allowing us to go home. I don’t know, Mom… I… just keep your mobile switched on, ok… I will be reaching a safety bunker and see if we can meet up.” Amrita says, feeling confused. 4 TVs are switched on in the transport area and the news of the meteor shower is being confirmed. Suddenly, the people hear multiple sound of explosions. It is loud enough for people to hear inside the building. “What is that sound?” Sneha asks. “Hey look, on the TV.” Gaurav points to the TV showing a meteor that had crashed into a mall. It is the same news that Ankit and Ratan were watching. The people including Amrita and her friends stare in horror as they see 4 humanoids coming out of the meteor and firing mercilessly at the people. “This is… this is… it is not a meteor shower. We are under attack. Guys, we are under attack.” An employee speaks up causing panic among everyone. “We are under attack all right. But who is attacking us? And… what are those things?” Gaurav asks still looking at the TV screen. “Ladies and Gentlemen, please don’t panic. We are trying our best to keep the situation under control. The army is here with their trucks. Please move out of the building in a proper formation. We need to reach the designated bunkers ASAP.” The chairman makes an announcement again. It is obvious that no one is going to move out in an orderly fashion, the employees rush outside to the ground floor with people trying to reach the nearest possible army truck as fast as possible. “Don’t panic. Stick together and we will be safe.” Says Gaurav. The trio hold each other’s hands and walk out of the building. They try to hold on to each other but the panic-stricken crowd is now getting impatient, the people are now pushing each other in their effort to reach the army trucks. They can make out the meteors falling in the distance and are also looking at the sky which has turned red. Gaurav looks back and stops in his path, and a confused Amrita asks, “What happened?” “Sneha!? Where is Sneha!?” Gaurav asks. Amrita realizes that Sneha was holding on to her hand and now, she is nowhere to be found. “Look out, a meteor… it is headed straight for us.” An employee alerts but it is too late. The meteor crashes on to a group of people killing them. Amrita and Gaurav watch in horror as the people who were close to the impact are thrown into the air like ragdolls. Some are injured while a few falls to the ground dead. The meteor opens up to reveal a pod. As the people come to their senses and try to understand what they are seeing, the pod opens and 4 humanoids come out of it. It is at this time that Amrita spots Sneha, she is badly injured and not able to get up. 3 of the humanoids stand guard near the pod while one humanoid, who seems to be a squad leader walks forward looking at the people. Most of them including Amrita are standing in their position paralyzed by fear and confusion. The lead humanoid then spots Sneha who is trying to crawl away to safety. “Sneha… No… please don’t.” Gaurav speaks up. The humanoid, almost 7 feet in height, catches hold of Sneha by her neck and looks at her from top to bottom. Amrita and Gaurav notices the armor that the humanoid is wearing, it is similar to what the soldiers of ancient times wore yet it is more advanced. There are small lights blinking on the helmet, on the chest, bracelets and its legs. Also, the helmets the humanoids are wearing had bull-like horns. The humanoid then looks at the others. Before anyone can react, the humanoid draws out a sword from his wrist and brutally stabs Sneha. The latter screams in excruciating pain, this is followed by the screams of the others who start to run from the place. Amrita cannot believe this; she continues to stand in one place letting out an agonized scream as she sees the humanoid throw the lifeless body of Sneha onto the office stairs. Gaurav pulls Amrita away from the place. “We have to run or we are done for.” Says Gaurav, as they run as far as possible from the building. They notice more pods falling from the sky, a few of them falling close to the crowds. Before, they leave the area, Amrita catches a glimpse of a bronze armored humanoid firing at a truck full of people. She continues to watch in horror and agony, as the truck explodes in a ball of flame killing everyone who were inside it.