Chapter 55: chapter 55

"Sir, your observation is astute. To get to the bottom of this, we will have to be on the inside," Major Vayu concurred.Neha added, "But infiltrating a secretive group is risky. We need a plan."Major Vayu leaned forward, his eyes reflecting determination. "I have found out who was the female officer. She is Major Priya, and I have a good rapport with her; it will be easy to get inside this group, and then we will know who is helping the rebels."Neha nodded, "That sounds like a plan, Kaushal, what do you think?""It's a risk, but it might be the only way to unveil this conspiracy. Major, go ahead. Build that trust, but be cautious. We can't afford any leaks verbally, but we need to create a leak."Both Neha and Vayu looked at me with questioning faces."Okay, so what is our purpose?""To find out who heads the conspiracy!" Neha responded."Yes, exactly if we don't call it a conspiracy then how will it come into the light?" I smirked."You mean to get a court martial and ruin my career?" Vayu's eyes widened."That's the only way to tell your story to the Heads so that required investigation can happen in that direction and not something as petty as what your rebel group is aiming to gather attention to!""Oh yes, it is making sense now, but if they still find me guilty and I lose my rank?" Major Vayu was pondering."You have to trust me; I will get you out of that situation, and the best person to handle the investigation is Riya, so somehow this information should reach her indirectly that there is a rebel group, and she may suspect you easily because of your tensed relations with her, but since she follows rules she will take necessary steps to find out your rebel group!""You are a genius Sir; my respect for you has increased many folds." Major Vayu was thrilled."Neha and I will continue our investigations from the outside, seeking any leads that could complement your efforts. But after this, let's not meet again; we will just connect on secure lines."We closed our discussions and were about to move out of the bookstore when a familiar voice rang in my ears.I looked in the direction of the voice and saw Riya with someone roaming around near the bookstore.We all got back into the bookstore to hide from an unpleasant encounter."That is someone she is dating, I guess!" Vayu informed."But the person doesn't look to be an army guy, isn't it!""Finally, she has found some handsome for herself!" Neha smirked."Well, that's interesting, but let her get back to work; you remember what I said, right!""Yes Sir, every word of it, you don't worry anymore!" Vayu looked energized.Myself and Neha left Jaisalmer that Saturday, but I had a hunch that something was brewing here which had a pattern similar to Crimson Dagger.~~~Major Vayu as per Kaushal's direction joined the secret rebel group with the help of his friend Priya and finds out it's slowly growing.~~~"We have been serving our commands without any questions but why are promotions always pushed?" One of the voices called out."Because you let it happen, promotion is not happening here due to merit, there is corruption from the top which doesn't let you go up"  Major Agni answered."But how can we get a resolution then?" Another voice came in."You cannot resolve unless you become a part of us and then matters will be considered seriously, right now we are merely a file no. to the higher authorities." Major Agni continued. “Though you are all masked here for your safety, it’s important that nobody should talk about these proceedings to even your closest one back at the cantonment. I am going to share a few very important steps in the coming days and then we all will start getting attention.” Major Agni ended the meeting and everyone disbursed.Vayu stayed back to shake hands with Agni and waited till all masked followers had moved out.“I was thinking, shouldn’t our group have a name? If we continue to keep it anonymous, how will we build a strong relationship with it?” Vayu asked Agni.“What’s in a name? Our Motive is true and we are fighting for that!” Agni laughed.“I was just thinking that since we are meeting inconspicuously, how do we build trust, if we have a name, it would be inspiring! Just a thought!” Vayu tried to rationalize. “Okay Soldier, you give me some suggestions and we will have a name as well, I have to hurry back!” Agni left the place and Vayu too, but Vayu got a chance to build relation with him.Later, the next day Vayu brainstormed and finalized five names for this movement and one of the names was “The Night Owls”~~~One evening, Major Vayu's voice crackled through the secure line. "The Night Owls are planning a major disruption. I need your guidance on how to handle this.""Tell us more, Vayu. What are they planning?" Kaushal asked."They have acquired classified information of every soldier's position in the promotion list. The question is, how do we intercept their plans without blowing my cover?"Neha, ever pragmatic, immediately jumped in. "We need to create a diversion, something that would force them to delay this. Kaushal, any ideas?"The weight of responsibility settled on Kaushal's shoulders as he pondered the options. "We can feed them false information, something tempting enough to distract them from their original plans. But we need to do it in a way that doesn't implicate Major Vayu."Major Vayu, on the other end, voiced his concerns. "It's a risky move, Sir. If they catch wind of deception, it could jeopardize my position within the Night Owls."Neha reassured him, "We'll be careful, Vayu. Kaushal, let's formulate a plan. We need to act swiftly."The next few days false information was strategically leaked by Kaushal using his hacks. Major Vayu, still embedded within the group, played his part flawlessly, subtly steering their focus toward the fabricated intel.As Kaushal monitored the Night Owls' reactions, it became apparent that our plan was taking effect. In a late-night call, Major Vayu relayed, "They are taking the bait. The Night Owls are recalibrating their plans based on the false information. It's buying us time."Our secure lines hummed with a shared sense of relief. The diversion had worked, at least temporarily. Now, the challenge was to capitalize on this window of opportunity.Major Vayu continued to attend the Night Owls' meetings, subtly steering their discussions away from their original disruptive plans to talk about promotions in the open. By this time Vayu had already given Major Arjun hints about the kind of conspiracy in cantonment. His byte had worked because Lt. Col. Riya and Arjun had already started a full-scale investigation to find out about the rebel group.This was happening exactly as per Kaushal's plan. ~~~~~