Ajeet managed to land a blow at the same spot as before. This time she winced and fell; and a huge group of commandos cheered for Ajeet. One of them spoke softly to her, laughing "Bola tha, tumhari jagah nahi hai. Ghar jao vaapas." She felt her fist tighten.
"Ae! Silence! Mela laga hua hai yahan?" Karan yelled, the commandos becoming silent at once again.
"Point!" This time, Faizi said with a slight hint of worry in his voice.
"Ruk kyu rahi ho? You need to hit him to win. Stop once again and you know what would happen." Karan said sternly, now getting annoyed.
Sanjana got up again. Her anger was flaring. This time she took position, her arms in a defensive position before her. Ajeet was equally ready, he smiled at her slightly, before whispering.
"Kya ho gaya? Kamzor ho gayi?"
She tried to keep her anger in check, her face betraying all the control. After all that facade, here he was mocking her of all people.
Karan and Faizi could see that something had changed. She was no longer hesitating, instead she looked ready to kill her opponent.
"Go.." Faizi said, watching the match expectantly.
Before Ajeet could move, she almost darted at him, grabbing his neck. He was shocked at this and tried making her loosen her hold, but to no avail. She used this as an opportunity and using her heel an an anchor, made him fall flat on his back. Before Karan could announce the point, in a flurry of movements she managed to get him in a chokehold. Karan noticed that now, her movements were much more fluid and the technique seemed clear.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
(Take the above image for ref...)
"Jujutsu..." Karan observed.
"Point! And kill strike." Faizi yelled. She immediately let him go and stood back on her position, the anger still in her eyes as she looked down at him, a second later extending her hand to him. He looked at her for a second, almost apologetically before accepting it and getting up.
"Interesting. Achha match tha. Both of you performed well. Sanjana's technique was superior. Ajeet's confidence was impressive. Lekin tum dono me kamiya hai- saathi commandos ki respect aur team spirit" he said looking at Ajeet. "Khudpe, khudki training pe vishvaas.." He said looking at Sanjana. "Aur sabse zaroori discipline. Inn teeno ke bina fauji kuch bhi nahi. Am I clear?" He said looking at the commandos in front of him.
"Yes sir!"
"Okay...next...Veer and Farhan!"
The training continued for the next 4 days, becoming harder and harder as the days passed, often continuing all night. By the fifth day, only 9 commandos remained, excluding Karan, Faizi and Sanjana.
On the fifth day, 3 days before the mission.
Karan was at the shooting range, with Faizi teaching the commandos how to assemble and disassemble an assault rifle as fast and possible. To say Karan wasn't proud when the commandos stared open-mouthed at Faizi's skill with the gun would be lying, he was hella proud. He was smiling slightly as Faizi displayed his tricks, like assembling the rifle with only one hand, and shooting only by the means of sound.
"Karan sir...."
He turned around, finding Ustaad ji standing beside him, a worried expression on his face.
"Haan boloye ustaad ji..."
"Batra sir ne aapko cabin me bulaaya hai, zaroori hai..."
"Chalo...Faizi, tu dekh ...mai abhi aaya."
In Batra sir's cabin.
Col. Batra was sitting on his desk, worriedly flipping through the pages of a new record as Karan entered.
"Sir...aapne bulaaya." Karan saluted.
"Yes....Shergil...Intel bureau se update aayi hai..." he said standing up and pulling out a single file from his drawer.
"The mission is no longer a simple armed illegal narcotics dealers case. Its bigger now. They have shifted base to Chandigarh.The new report says warehouse me se nitroglycerin aur PETN ke traces mile hai...."
Karan let out a breath. He had not expected that.
"Karan...if you want, you can hand over the mission to more experienced commandos. You can lead ne-"
"No sir. I'm sorry to cut you off...but I really want to do this."
"Shergil....are you sure you can do that? Your team is inexperienced,you are inexperienced..."
"Yes sir. My team and I will give you the best possible results."
Col. Batra sighed. This man was a tough sport.
"As you say Shergil. I trust you and Faizi, but agar tumhaari team me se kisi ko kuch ho gaya .."
"Sir I swear meri team ke kisi bhi member ko aanch nahi aane dunga. I will bring back each one of them, alive. Aapse ek request hai "
"Name it. "
"Commandos ki families ko station pe bulaaya jaa sakta hai? The day we arrive after getting the mission done? Just...as a small prize." Karan said, fondly remembering a certain 5 year old.
"Of course." Batra sir smiled and nodded.
"All the best Karan. You will have to train your team harder than ever.....And I know you won't fail me. Dismissed."
"Sir." Karan saluted and left, a new determination in his mind. He was going to impress Batra sir.
