RETURN OF THE SHADOW - Chapter 166

In a planet far away from the young man who had decided to leave his family and search for answers, there was a sudden declaration of a holiday. The planet was called as ‘Jamai Malik’ and was under the rule of king Aamir Malik. Though named a king, he maintained a democratic council elected by the people to help him govern over his territories.

The sudden declaration was quite surprising for all the people under the rule of Aamir Malik. He was known to be quite a disciplined man and a strict ruler. So, such a declaration was quite unnerving to most people, but the announcement of the attack on the Nirbaadh pirates that followed calmed them down.

All the members of the Malik family were roused awake from their sleep to hear the words of their patriarch. Shehzad Malik was no exception. His brother Zubair had contacted him in the game and together along with Zubair’s wife, Aisha, they went into an auditorium where they were expecting an announcement from the king and patriarch, Aamir.

Most were concerned and discussing about the attack. It had only been informed to the majority of them that a successful attack had been made on the Nirbaadh pirates and they would be provided further information here.

The people assembled included all the high-level officials including the prime minister, defence minister and the commanders of the armed forces of the family. They were all waiting patiently for their king to make the announcement. A majority of them were expecting a call to arms to continue the attack on the pirates and destroy them. Many rumors related to it have already started spreading through them.

Zubair Malik had been introducing Shehzad and Aisha to the various personnel. He had been a member of the armed forces, since he was of age and currently commanded a battalion of royal soldiers in service of the royal family. His father was the crown prince and many including Aamir and his father expected him to take charge of the family in a couple of decades.

A few minutes later, a video was projected on the wall of the hall showing the debris of a number of fighter ship which were clearly fired at and destroyed. In a few seconds, a much bigger vessel entered their view with the word “UNHINDERED”, written in bold letters across it. The ship looked like it had been burnt to crisp with holes in it and metal burnt and bent away from the insides of the ship like it had been blasted from the inside.

Everyone, young and old, immediately recognized the ship as most of them were instructed to learn of its appearance and attack them with extreme prejudice as soon as they became a part of the family. It was a myth that evaded them for the past few decades, its occupants considered as evil men who haunted their nightmares.

“Our enemies have finally fallen,” came the loud resounding voice of Aamir through the speakers. “It is with great pleasure that I, Aamir Malik relay these images which provide conclusive proof of a successful attack on the Nirbaadh pirates who were responsible for many atrocities on our lands.”

“I am on my way to personally look at the remains of this bandit ship and the barbarian who led them,” the voice continued. “While we are glad of the destruction of this group of thugs, I inform with great pain that the details of Asuragana RanaPratap and Dharma Pratap are unknown. It has also come to my knowledge that a small contingent has managed to escape the hands of the alliance.”

“It is best to weed out such an affliction from its roots and we can’t let it grow back. So, I have decided to collaborate with Khans and Blyths to pursue these villainous sc.u.ms throughout the alliance borders. Let anyone who dares shelter these vermin face our wrath. Let us celebrate this glorious achievement and a new partnership among our families today,” said the voice before disappearing.

“Did Grandpa announce just order up an extermination against them?” asked Shehzad in surprise. He had expected a celebration and a show of power but didn’t think that they had plans to completely wipe on any existing traces of the pirates. Such a thing is almost impossible. Pirates didn’t have a specific base and kept constantly moving, else they would have been taken out long ago. Moreover, these specific ones were rumored to have their base outside the alliance borders.

“That he did,” answered Zubair disinterestedly. He had other concerns on his mind. He didn’t care much about the pirates. Though the Nirbaadh pirates have killed his uncles and even grand uncle, they haven’t been any death in his time. He was more concerned of the extent of collaboration that the patriarch has decided upon. He had been recently wed and had no intentions of leaving the planet for some half-brained search. If there had been clues, a team which managed to destroy the unhindered in such a covert manner would surely have found them and wouldn’t need their help.

“Brother, Aisha, go back to your rooms, for now. I might have some work to do,” he said as he went to meet the interim commander of the royal armies, his father He would be the one with the most knowledge as all armed forces would be deployed only on his say so. With Aamir away to check the aftermath of the attack, his father would hold the highest authority on the planet.

Zubair’s father, Anwar wasn’t seen in the auditorium. So, he made way to his father’s quarters where he saw a few royal guards barring entry to other cousins of his who wanted to talk. This would usually only happen when there is a high priority meeting going on. Else, the guards would never dare disobey the direct family members.

He went to one of the men waiting for his father. It was his cousin and rival in his generation in the family, Aquibuddin Malik. “Cousin Aquib, how long has he been in meeting?” asked Zubair.

“He had been inside with someone, since the first announcement calling us to the auditorium was made. I don’t think it is with any of our forces,” said Aquib.

“One of the guards told me that he is with liaisons from the Blyth and Khan families. I understand the Khans, but still not sure how the Blyths are so interested in the Nirbaadh pirates. Do they really value their new colonel that much?” asked another cousin who beside them.

“It isn’t just about the colonel. They would never make such an assault for a kid,” came a deep voice form behind them. It was Anas Malik, Aquib’s father and an elder of the family for quite some time. He had come for a visit with Anwar for the same reason as the others. Aamir only contacted Anwar before he left the planet. So, he along with others wanted to know of their course of action.

“Father, what other relation do they have with the pirates?” asked Aquib surprised by his father’s interference in their discussion.

“The same as us. The only difference is just that our wars happened out in the open while they fought covertly away from prying eyes. They are probably the ones responsible for the attack,” answered Anas. He had known of the Blyths enmity with the pirates for a long time, but they never came out in the open for this before. So, he wanted to know the reason for this sudden change in their stance.

A few minutes later, the doors opened as Anwar came out with three men and a lady who were new faces to Zubair. It was clear to him that they were from the Khan or Blyth families sent to discuss the facts of their cooperation. It did look like the Khan and Blyth families had enough preparations that they were already able to send their men by the time his own family managed to know of the attack.

“I expected the Blyths to be here as it was possibly started by them, but I see that even the Khans have better access to information in the council than us,” muttered Anas as he moved towards Anwar along with Aquib and Zubair.

“Ah! Anas, I was just looking for you,” said Anwar as he saw coming towards him. “He is my brother Anas,” he introduced Anas to the four standing behind him. “We can resume our discussion right now, if you are willing to do so,” said Anwar looking at one man who nodded in agreement.

“I will convene an official meeting with the family members once we are done with our deliberations. It wouldn’t take much time. So, I request all of you to get back to you rooms. A simple online conference from your rooms will suffice,” said Anwar sending off the people.

“Anas, get in. You two can come and observe, but no talk,” continued Anwar as he led Anas, Aquib and Zubair along with the other four back inside his quarters.

Anwar’s quarters were quite spacious with a couple of sofa and chairs having more than enough space for all eight of them. He had the habit of receiving most guests in his quarters and even regularly held meetings there. So, it was no different from a VIP reception hall with drinks and other refreshments readily available. It could also isolate all communications with the world outside for similar reasons.

“This is my brother Anas and those two are our children, Zubair and Aquib,” introduced Anwar.

“Mr. Bismail and Mr. Sumail are representatives of the Khan family,” said Anwar introducing two of the men who nodded in response. “Lady Elaine Blyth and Mr. Marcus Price represent the Blyth and Price families. They also carry information from the alliance armed forces about the attack. They have been informing us about how they managed to track and bring down the Nirbaadh pirates.”

“As we need to discuss further cooperation between our forces, we decided to call for you so that we have all relevant personnel before we begin,” said Marcus Price.

“At the end of the attack, the survivors split into three different groups with Asarugana ShouryaPrasad and his two nephews leading them, individually,” started Elaine.

“For obvious reasons, we focused our attack on ShouryaPrasad and managed to kill him. We have his body. After him, we went after their current captain, Asuragana RanaPratap and our men are still tracking him. He made his way towards the border while his brother in another direction with the majority of the men in a large ship about a tenth of the size of the UNHINDERED,” said Elaine.

“A tenth of its size? How could there be such a large vessel in the ship?” asked Bismail shocked by her words.

“The ship could actually be separated into five different parts. Apart from that there were three other vessels which separated from the UNHINDERED, but we blasted them to rubble. Rana Pratap ran away in a smaller vessel to lead us away from the others. Quite a valiant effort and it did yield results. We were after him and failed to pursue the others,” explained Marcus.

“That brings us to our present predicament. We have the general direction of their escape and would like you to take charge of it,” said Elaine.

“Why us? Why don’t you do it yourselves?” asked Bismail. He was very confused by the request. They clearly have enough personnel to pursue the remnants however deep they try to escape into alliance underworld.

“It is like this. We have released information of the attack to the entire alliance as an act of the armed forces. Most of the tracking and planning was done by Walter Blyth and Evelyn price. You know their usual clandestine operations. They don’t want trails, but this became a big issue due to their escape and quite a number of people would be in danger from these pirates. These ones are just the grunts and wouldn’t have in reliable information about the knights. We also don’t want to give them the chance to resurface and kill them as quickly as possible,” explained Marcus.

“The Price family and my own have fought them in the shadows for quite a few decades, but he public are unaware of that or any losses we had during these tussles. We would like it to remain as such. It would provide a fast and complete conclusion if we could inspire others in the underworld to serve our purpose,” said Elaine.

“For putting on a bounty or to pursue them openly, you need a reasonable cause, especially the Price family,” said Anas looking from Elaine to Marcus who nodded.

“You are the best option for that. We are willing to let you take the remains of the UNHINDERED and ShouryaPrasad. If Rana Pratap is found, his body would also be given to your families. Your patriarchs have already agreed to this offer,” said Marcus.

“After the entire attack, our families would hunt the remains of the pirates, even if you didn’t ask for it. But you are offering us their bodies to let us use it as a trophy and give the world the impression that we actually were involved in the attack and finally won our battle against them. What’s the catch? What do you actually want?” asked Anas.

The same doubts were also in the minds of the other men in the room. It felt extremely illogical for the Price and Blyth families to push their achievements to others. The Price family would be considered to be responsible too because of the involvement of the alliance armed forces, but they couldn’t understand the reasoning behind the actions of the Blyth family.

“We just want you to look for few details in return. Dharma Pratap, Rana’s brother might have some information that we would like to extract,” added Elaine. “Another person is Dave. We don’t know much of him, but any person with that name has been known to be in contact with the Nirbaadh Pirates and probably even the knights. We just want you to help us search for him openly and if you find either of them, we would like to take hold of them first.”