Vimana

thought the Chinese were bluffing, another satellite pass showed one more submarine surfacing near the first sighting. It had been Ganesha playing with the satellite's systems, but to the astonished US operators who saw the pictures, they had no way of knowing otherwise.

The hotlines between the two countries were abuzz but when the US President tried to get through to the Chinese Premier, the line dropped suddenly, courtesy Ganesha's hacking of the computerized system.

It had been a calculated gamble by Ganesha. He wanted the sense of alarm in the US to be enough to generate some action, but at the same time, not so drastic as to trigger actual conflict. As the day wore on, he noted with satisfaction that the plan was working just as he had hoped.

A US carrier battle group with the aircraft carriers Theodore Roosevelt, Abraham Lincoln and eight other ships was steaming at maximum speed towards the last known sighting of the Chinese submarines-less than twenty kilometres from Kalki's base. The US ships would reach there within the next five or six hours. Yet another battle group with another aircraft carrier was headed there, likely reaching there a few hours later.

Aaditya and each of the airborne Devas heard Brahma's voice on their headsets, updating them on what was happening. 'With such a powerful battle group practically on top of his base, Kalki will have to react. They are looking for submarines and he can't risk his base being discovered. That will give us the opening we need. You know your holding areas, when I give the order, head for Kalki's base.'

The Devas had picked up some powerful allies for the coming battle.

SIXTEEN

The opening salvo in this historic battle turned out to be a stroke of sheer good fortune for the Devas. They had not really counted on the US forces getting dragged into a shooting match with Kalki's forces. Brahma had just hoped that unnerved by the approaching US battle group, Kalki would send out a couple of vimanas to reconnoiter the group, leaving the sphere that carried the vimanas to the surface exposed.

As things turned out, the attack on the Asura main hangar had been successful beyond Aaditya's wildest hopes. It had not only given him the opportunity to escape, but had resulted in the death of at least three Asura pilots. That, coupled with the loss of Maya, had left Kalki with only a handful of Asuras. They were waiting for Kalki's order to launch, while the armies of daityas had been massing in the fields below, waiting to be loaded into transport vimanas to take them to their targets according to Kalki's invasion plans.

Just two hours before the quakes were to be triggered, a US Navy S-3 Viking Anti-submarine aircraft started patrolling the area ahead of the Lincoln task force, trying to ferret out the Chinese submarines lurking in the area. The pilot had been deploying dipping sonars to try and get a fix on the submarines and much to Kalki's growing frustration, had been straying closer and closer to his base. He did not worry about his base being detected, located as it was at the bottom of the ocean, but he had to lower the sphere. He wished Maya had still been around. Then Kalki's attention had been diverted by reports of another carrier battle group closing in from the other direction, when a daitya controlling the defenses mounted on the sphere panicked and sent up a single shot. The beam hit the Viking mid-ship, breaking the aircraft into two and sending it crashing into the ocean.

That unleashed a beehive of activity in the US forces. The loss of one of their aircraft led the commander to order the launch of two more anti-submarine aircraft, escorted by F/A-18 fighter escorts, while the two Los Angeles class nuclear submarines accompanying the group now streaked towards the last reported location where the Viking had gone down. With discovery of his troops imminent, Kalki's hand was forced.

What happened next was played out in detail on the screen before Aaditya as his vimana screamed towards Kalki's base. Brahma had informed all the airborne Devas about the latest happenings, and they were now converging on the scene. Aaditya's screen filled with red dots as Kalki launched no less than a dozen drones and at least three vimanas piloted by Asuras. He watched four green dots representing the US aircraft approaching Kalki's base. The US F/A-18s must have picked up the drones on their radar since they accelerated towards them, trying to protect the slow and lumbering anti-submarine aircraft, while they urgently radioed back to their carrier to ask for reinforcements. They however had no way of picking up the vimanas on their radar, and both fighters fell to a volley of missiles from attackers they did not even know existed. A second later, both Vikings were blotted off Aaditya's display by missiles fired by the drones.

By now, the US fleet commander was apoplectic with rage, having lost five aircraft without even getting the chance to get a shot in. He was bewildered as to where enemy aircraft had just appeared from, seemingly out of the middle of the ocean, but now eliminating this threat was on the top of his mind.

'The drones are cloned on the Sukhoi and the F-22. With their pilots, the US fighters should be able to hold their own against them. But even three vimanas will wipe out a squadron of human fighters without any effort. We need to take out the Asuras first, and then some of us can stay back to help against the drones. The attack team will need to go into Kalki's base as soon as we spot an opening. We have less than an hour to go.'

Indra's plan was sound, though Aaditya knew that many human pilots would surely die, flying into a conflict that they had little idea about. Something struck him. 'Brahma, the moment we enter the fight….'

Brahma anticipated what he was about to say. 'Yes, the moment we enter the fight, our existence ceases to be a secret. Ganesha is already taking care of that. Explanations and introductions can come later, but for now, we just need to ensure that we and the humans do not get in each other's way.'

At that moment, a message of historic proportions suddenly appeared on the command screen of every US warship in the vicinity. 'We are coming to help and are on your side. Do not attempt to fire on us. Your radars will not pick us up, but if any of your pilots sees us, know that we come to fight by your side.'

Aaditya could only wonder what the US officers must have made of this message, but he imagined that they, like him, were too preoccupied with trying to survive the fight than wondering about the implications of the revelation they had just witnessed.

Aaditya was now just a few dozen kilometres away. He watched his display fill with dots as one of the US carriers launched a brace of additional fighters to join the fight and the second carrier launched a squadron of fighters to help out the Lincoln. The third carrier was still some distance away, but the US forces were throwing everything they had into this battle.

Indra had assumed command. Aaditya heard his voice boom over his headset.

'Launch astras!'

More than ten thousand years after they had last clashed on such a scale, an all-out war between the Devas and Asuras had once again erupted. And once again, the fate of mankind hung in the balance.

***

The Devas had closed to no less than fifty kilometres before they fired. Indra had told them they needed to make every shot count and moreover, give Kalki as little warning as possible. Aaditya fired two astras, targeting one of the Asura vimanas that was now rocketing towards the US fighters and he saw blurs of blue on his peripheral vision as the other Devas fired as well. He gnashed his teeth in frustration as the Asura pilot intercepted one of his astras and rolled out the way of the other. However, one Asura had fallen to the first volley as the Devas now joined the drones and remaining Asuras in a swirling, massive dogfight.

Aaditya and the Devas were patched into the American pilots' communication system. Several of them shouted 'Fox 3', as they launched their long-range AMRAAM missiles at the drones that were now rapidly filling up their radar screens. Aaditya heard one or two of them whoop in triumph as a couple of drones disappeared. But they had no idea of the vimanas that were lurking in between the drones, invisible to their radars. He watched the Asuras launch a volley that took down four American fighters. They had to take down the Asura vimanas before they made mincemeat of the American fighters. Aaditya zoomed in closer, seeing a drone come at him from his right. He swiveled his head to lock in on it, and sent a burst from his vajra. The beam caught the Sukhoi drone near its cockpit, and it disintegrated in a flash. Aaditya rolled out of the way of a missile that had been headed his way