Chimera

“Dutt, recovery teams at Saser report ninety-percent on all equipment dropped to them by the boys from the Himalayan-Eagles. They had a few failed canopies but otherwise are good to go,” the base-commander said.

“So we are good to deploy?” Dutt asked.

“Right away! Go!”

“Yes sir!” Dutt said and saluted. He then turned to his pilots and gave them a thumbs-up. All of them began running over to their helicopters.

A couple minutes later the rotor blades of the first LCH began to rotate slowly as Dutt and his WSO activated other instruments. No weapons other than pod mounted FFARs and cannon rounds were being carried on the attack helicopters. But the Mi-17s were taking live missile rounds in their cargo hold to FARP-Saser and a ground convoy via Shyok was doing the bulk of that resupply.

Dutt’s LCH lifted off the tarmac at Leh under its own power and was followed by his wingman. Behind them the two Mi-17s and one Dhruv SAR helicopter also began climbing out of Leh to begin their flight to the highest battlefield on earth.

YUMTHANG VALLEY

SIKKIM

DAY 4 + 1405 HRS

The massive blades of the Mi-26 heavy-transport helicopter whipped through the thin mountain air of Sikkim as two of the large helicopters made their way through the valleys and headed north. These heavy-duty birds from the No. 126 ‘Featherweights’ Helicopter Flight were slow moving and not nearly maneuverable enough. But the flight-crews were not worried. The skies over Sikkim were secure. Above them, three Mirage-2000s were patrolling over northern Sikkim.

No. They had other things on their minds.

The vibration inside the cockpits of the two Mi-26 was very high. The engines were groaning at full power in the high-altitudes and the pilots could almost count every single “whoop” of the massive blades as they passed over the cockpit due to the relatively low RPM on the Mi-26. The pilots were a bit uneasy about enemy action but otherwise accustomed to the dangers.

They were flying in the Yumthang valley at an altitude of ten-thousand feet above sea-level.

And they were carrying a relatively heavy payload.

They were below the mountain peaks on either side of the valley, and that left little margin for error and maneuver. There was little that the Mi-26 crews could do to protect themselves against an enemy threat out here.

“Three minutes out people!” the navigator shouted over the background noise. Behind the two pilots, the flight-engineer was carefully monitoring the readings on both D-136 engines for signs of danger. At these altitudes, engine failure could mean instant loss of aircraft…

“Feather-One to — Two! Three minutes to Dee-Zee! Over,” the pilot said into his headset speaker and strained his neck to the left out of the cockpit glass.

He saw the other Mi-26 one kilometer to their eight-position.

“Roger! Feather-Two copies!”

The pilot then looked back down the cavernous interior of his helicopter to see the loadmaster sitting near the opening on the floor from where he kept an eye on the under-slung cargo.

The pilot brought up three fingers and the sergeant nodded.

“One minute out! Scanning for visual identification!” the co-pilot shouted.

This time both crew-members began looking through the cockpit glass up front.

“I have visual! Green smoke at eleven!” the pilot said.

“Feather-One to — Two. Confirmed green smoke at primary Dee-Zee. We are inbound! Out!”

The loadmaster sergeant in the cabin behind was already on his knees and leaning over the small opening on the floor to see the under-slung cargo buffeting in the wind as the helicopter went into hover…

On the ground below, Indian soldiers looked on as the two hovering beasts in front of them created a massive downwash in the valley from their main rotors. But their cargo was finally here. The wheels of the Tatra vehicle touched down on the helipad a few moments later. The loadmaster flipped his control switch and the tough ropes fell clean from their attachment on the Mi-26.

The cargo was on the ground.

A few minutes later the second Mi-26 had done the same and both helicopters began heading down the valley to the south to pick up the next set of vehicles. The soldiers on the ground below got started on their end of the work. Within the next thirty minutes the first of the Pinaka MBRL launcher lurched forward on its own power and moved out of the grassy clearing, followed by its replenishment vehicle…

SASER

LADAKH

DAY 4 + 1445 HRS

Dutt gingerly landed his LCH on the rough gravel clearing at FARP-Saser. As the engine turbines spooled down, he jumped out of the cockpit and shivered as the biting cold temperatures of Ladakh swept into the open cockpit. He scanned the valleys and the peaks around his new home.