Chimera

The Chinese S-300 crews on the ground realized the futile nature of their effort when they saw the tracer fire rising into the night sky to the south. That could only mean one thing and they knew what it was. It was only a matter of seconds after which they spotted the Indian strike aircraft streaking towards them at murderously low altitude.

The operators dropped their headphones, slammed open the vehicle hatches and ran for their lives in all directions away from their vehicles…

The rain of cluster munitions deployed a few hundred feet above their heads made sure neither they nor their vehicles survived. The mass of small sparks flying off over a circular carpet area announced the end of the first S-300 battery launchers. As Parekh banked to the side to make another pass, he already had to look for new targets because by this time the other Jaguars had also struck.

Four of the six launchers of the battery he had struck were now on fire. Two others remained. And then there were the radar trucks and other auxiliary equipment scattered nearby. The return fire from the Chinese side was also getting heavy. Parekh could distinctly hear the thuds of exploding shells near his aircraft and the whitish trails of the heat-seeking missiles racing across the sky. Most of the latter were being fired by panicked and surprised Chinese crews on the ground and were failing to find targets. But professionals like Parekh knew that such luck would not last forever.

For now however, the missiles were flying off into the mass of flares and chaff being dumped by the Jaguar crews after every few seconds…

As Parekh steadied his aircraft after locating the launcher he was after, his aircraft received several hits from shrapnel and shuddered under the impact. The port wing was completely shredded with several holes visible as he again steadied his aircraft. He still continued with his bomb run and only discovered the sluggish control response from the aircraft as he pulled away from a mass of fires on the ground behind him.

“Damn it! Up you come you beast!”

He pulled on the control-stick to no avail. Because of the heavily damaged control surfaces, most of which had been shredded, the aircraft barely avoided flying into the ridge he was trying to hide behind. But he wasn’t the only one in trouble…

Parekh looked away from the HUD and spotted a fast moving white streak moved across the night sky and slammed into another Jaguar with a thunderclap. That aircraft slammed into the ground below in quick seconds.

His own aircraft received more jolts now as several more rounds slammed into his starboard engine from below. This time a whole host of warning lights began flashing in his cockpit. The starboard engine flamed out a few seconds later.

There was no hope of making it back now.

“JC, you hear me back there?” he called back to his WSO. No response.

“Damn it, JC, are you receiving me? If you can hear me, eject now!”

Verma strained his neck to see the shattered glass of the cockpit behind him and what he could make out as blood splattered against it.

No!

He forced himself out of the shock just as freezing winds swept into the cockpit.

“God damn it!”

He changed frequencies:

“Mayday, mayday! This is Firefly-One! We are hit and going down! I saw again, we are hit and going down! Good luck boys! Out!”

Parekh was now really struggling to stabilize his aircraft just as he noticed two other Jaguars successfully hitting a couple of other important targets further north at low level.

Time to go, buddy!

He pulled the ejection cord and was punched out of the cockpit by the explosive cartridge into the freezing cold winds. His seat buffeted for several seconds before a small drogue stabilized it. Then a second jerk as the parachute deployed and he began descending into the rapidly approaching rocky ground below.

He slashed into the gravel and slid along it for a couple dozen yards as the parachute strapped to his body buffeted in the sweeping wind. He detached it and rolled to a stop with several bruises all over his body and his flight-suit ripped. He tasted a combination of blood and gravel in his mouth, which he spat out.

As he lay there, he saw the remaining Jaguars lay waste to the last of the launchers from a nearby S-300 battery to the north. He saw them sweeping away at high speeds to the west, into Indian airspace, their job done and the Chinese S-300 batteries destroyed…

DAY 3

THE AKSAI CHIN

DAY 3 + 0125 HRS

Group-Captain Parekh turned over on the ground and checked his limbs. They were all there. His arm was paining but didn’t look like it had been broken, which was important given the freezing temperatures around him. He checked to see where his personal sidearm was and realized the holster for it had been ripped out when he was being dragged on the gravel by his parachute.

So much for that then!