Chimera

The one-hundred-fifty kiloton nuclear-warhead exploded over the town and the ball of flash and flame expanded radially over the town, instantly enveloping thousands of unfortunate citizens. It flashed over Paru airport like a brick wall of flame and debris that swept aside the two parked An-32s on the ground and smashed past the bombed-out remains of the terminal buildings as well as dozens of army trucks and other vehicles.

North of the town, it wiped out the forest and ate up the convoy of resupply trucks that were moving to Fernandez’s unit. A second later it swept past the Pinaka launchers, rolling them into the wall of debris and flame along with all of Paratroopers from the 12TH Battalion posted there…

BARSHONG

NORTHERN BHUTAN

DAY 15 + 0632 HRS

Pathanya, Vikram and the other members of Spear team dived for cover. They were six kilometers west of the village occupied by the 11TH Para Battalion, when they saw the flash of light over the ridges to their east.

The snow on all peaks around Barshong instantly flashed away under the intense heat and revealed the brown rocky layers underneath. Vikram saw the pressure wave rapidly approaching them as it engulfed the valley and the village and he covered his head with his hands behind the boulders a few seconds before the shockwave swept past them…

NORTH OF BAGHDOGRA AIRBASE

INDIA

DAY 15 + 0635 HRS

There was one unique strategic aspect to the nuclear chaos.

When Chakri had been told that the Heron UAVs had provided them with the most crucial piece of real-time intelligence of this war, he had also recognized that it had given them an advantage not shared by Beijing.

They knew that China intended to use nuclear weapons before they actually used them. And so while the launchers in Tibet were being readied for launch, perhaps the Chinese high command was as well?

Chakri had ordered Iyer to confirm via Malhotra and his RISAT-1 satellite what the status was at a particular location west of Beijing. Following that, he had given Iyer the one special order aside from the preemptive strike against the DF-21C launchers. That order now went into play just as the explosions ripped the Bhutanese mountains apart.

The citizens of Baghdogra were once again witnesses to yet another Indian ballistic-missile launch as a massive Agni-III ICBM lifted off from its canister north of the town and climbed into the early morning sky with a loud, thundering rumble. It climbed slowly, gathering speed as it accelerated into the low hanging clouds, its hot exhaust parting them like god’s hand…

WEST OF BEIJING

CHINA

DAY 15 + 0655 HRS

The surprise was total. But then again, it was meant to.

The RISAT-1 satellite had confirmed to Malhotra and Iyer that members of the CMC were still arriving at the helipads near the underground complex used as their national command center. The satellite had shown Mi-17s parked on the ground and other Z-8s and Z-9s arriving from Beijing.

The window was short, but usable.

The massive two-thousand kilogram high-explosive unitary warhead of the Agni-III dived past the stunned ground-radar crews around Beijing and exploded directly above the helipads. It caught several of the helicopters on the ground and others in the air as spherical pressure wave smashed them aside along with the parked vehicles. A massive shockwave expanded on the ground in a circle and flattened all of the trees in the forests near the helipads while a smoke filled mushroom cloud rose into the air…

THIMPU

DAY 15 + 0830 HRS

//BRITISH JOURNALIST//BBC //IAN SHARP //PHONE INTERCEPT //THIMPU // BEGIN TRANSCRIPT//

“… something has happened! … No, we saw two flashes! … I haven’t seen anything like it in my life. One was definitely over Paru. The other was to the north somewhere! We have heard from the Indian soldiers here that all communication with Paru has been lost. … Thimpu? Utter confusion here. No idea if I will be able to call you chaps back or not. In any… Hello? Can you hear me? Ah, okay. Yes, two definite nuclear detonations over Bhutan. That’s all I can confirm for now! I … Yes, the King is still here last time we checked. God knows what’s happening now. Look, I have to go. Will try and call later. Tell my…”

//HOST SIGNAL LOST//RECONSTRUCTION TERMINATED

//END TRANSCRIPT