LIGHTNOVELONLINE
Chapter 144 The Collapse Of The Secret Society
Vijayanagara Empire, Hampi, Inside an IN.
In the bustling city of Hampi, in a normal IN, Five figures came in with hooded clothes. The owner of the IN, seeing the figures, quickly, as if already practised, empties out a private room for them. The five figures who entered the room were none other than the leaders of the newly formed Secret Society.
After everyone came in one by one and took their seats, a person among them started the conversation. "Gentlemen, I suspect that the government and His Majesty already know of our existence," a normal-looking man said. His name is Naveen, a middle-level agent in the Secret Service, and he is one of the top-ranking officials to join the secret society. Initially, he did not want to be a part of it, but something unexpected happened. As his brother's wedding approached, and at home, his parents were pressuring him to contribute from his own earnings. However, he was very unwilling as he had gone through a lot of trouble to earn this money, and giving his hard-earned money to his seemingly worthless brother made him annoyed. So, he thought of other ways. Suddenly, he remembered the money many people made during the war. A few among his group knew this information, but they kept it a secret. Thinking about it now, he also became greedy. Initially, he thought that after fulfilling his responsibilities for his brother's wedding, he would not engage in such activities ever again. Unfortunately, letting go was not as easy as he anticipated. It was like an addictive drug that wouldn't disappear even if he wanted it to.
"So what do you suggest we do next, Agent Nighthawk?" another person sitting next to Naveen asked. He looked a little similar to Naveen in attire. His name is Siddharth. He is also a mid-level agent in the Secret Service. He had a similar experience to what Naveen had gone through, but in his case, it was more serious. His sister was dealing with some congenital disease. And for her to survive and lead a normal life, she must undergo treatment every other week. And it costs a lot of money for the family. Hence, he first started to embezzle the Nobles' Wealth secretly during the war and couldn't stop ever since. The code names they both use are similar to the code names they had gotten in the Secret Service, with Agent Scorpion for Siddharth and Agent Hawk for Naveen.
In the questioning eyes of everyone, Naveen responded, "According to the information of my guys, His Majesty held a meeting with all the important spy chiefs and the military generals. But as soon as the meeting ended, we got a huge task to invite a lot of cultural figures from all over the subcontinent. Although it may look like the meeting was for planning this mission to bring in all the intellectuals from all over the subcontinent, I don't believe it. As then the military won't be invited. And my sources tell me that this new Aditya fellow is also working for the government. And he may have a lot of intelligence on us. So what I think is we should temporarily stop our operations until the fog is cleared. And after confirming that we are out of the limelight, we can take precautions to hide our tracks even more deeply. And we can make our organization bigger, giving us more security."
Hearing the words, everyone nodded their heads in acceptance. But not everyone was willing to go through with a plan, such as Gopal, a colonel in command of a battalion. "There is no need to stop our operations. Although what Agent Night Hawk said could be true, it could also be false. And the intelligence personnel that were mobilized could really be just for inviting intellectuals into the empire, Right now, we are making a lot of money. Why do you want us to stop? Can't we just be more cautious and still earn a lot of money? I agree. If it was before, there was no centralized organization, and tracks would have been discovered very easily. But now that we five have formed this organization, we can make it more structured. Let us use our knowledge from the Army in this organization. And you both also use your expertise in the Secret Service to make this a viable organization."
Hearing his words, Partha and Rajendra, who were both Colonels of their own respective battalions, also nodded their heads in acceptance. As even they did not want to stop what they were doing. The money they made in the past month was so much that they were not able to make that much money in their lifetime. Both Partha and Rajendra had their own needs, so they did not want to stop making money due to some assumption. The two agents who heard Gopal went into contemplation. Siddharth thought about what Gopal meant and nodded his head, thinking that it should be okay.
Naveen, who was the only one not in favour of this, couldn't do anything as there was no designated leader within the secret society; it is a voting system where the five of them decided what to do. Looking at his four partners deciding against him, he couldn't do anything, sighed, and responded. "Looks like you all have decided, guys. But I still insist that at least we should be as low-key as possible because I feel that something is going to happen soon."
"Alright, don't worry about it. We will do as you say," Gopal replied, shrugging Naveen off, finding that he was a bit too cautious. But when the meeting was about to end, Naveen's eyes widened as the blood left his face. Everyone looked at him in confusion as to what happened. Naveen, who was spellbound, replied in a stuttering manner. "Did... Did you notice it became silent all of a sudden?"
The military colonels were uncertain about the message, but Siddharth swiftly grasped its meaning. His face turned pale, understanding the implications as a member of the organization. Hastily, he rose from his chair and moved to the window to observe the situation. Peeling back a section of the cloth covering the window, Siddharth identified A few men dressed in black attire, a sight that seemed eerily familiar to him.
"Shit. It's the special unit."
Siddharth cursed, and a pin-drop silence enveloped the room as they realized who their enemy was.
They were aware of the unit that had come into existence during the war, similar to theirs but actually legal and specializing in covert operations, and acting as a spearhead for conflicts. They understood the capabilities of these operatives. The moment they heard it was the special unit, a sense of impending doom settled among them. Even the usually arrogant military colonels were aware of the formidable battle record of this special unit. As they were able to quell the riots in the new territories in just a few weeks, the special unit became famous from then on.
Without wasting a second, the group sprang into action, swiftly making their escape. Some jumped out of windows, others rushed into urban buildings. Naveen and Siddharth split apart, each heading in a different direction. Meanwhile, the three colonels, recognizing the effectiveness of staying together, moved forward with weapons drawn, navigating a narrow alley to avoid detection. A few members of the special unit attempted to intercept them, but the colonels, seasoned veterans from the one-year war, outmatched them. The special unit, well-trained as it was, couldn't withstand the combined skill and experience of three battle-hardened soldiers.
More enemies attacked.
Colonel Partha took a defensive formation as the enemy swung his sword. It was blocked, but another enemy came swinging his way. Fortunately, Rajendra blocked that attack for him. Seizing this opportunity, Gopal quickly thrust his talvar into the enemy, dispatching him swiftly. As for the other enemy, Partha pulled a knife from his holster, spun around, and lodged the knife in the enemy's throat. The battle concluded swiftly.
They were aiming for an intersection with heavy foot traffic, their goal to disappear among the people. Unfortunately, their wish did not come true. They were quickly surrounded by ten officers from the special unit. Recognizing the dire situation, they did not resist, promptly dropping their weapons and falling to the ground. Despair filled their eyes, and regret slowly slipped in, but it was already too late.
"Captain, we found one more rat a few blocks ahead," a special unit soldier informed Dinesh Reddy, the commanding officer of this operation. Hearing this, he nodded his head and inquired, "What about that one more?"
"Sir, we have not yet found him."
"Block off the area and search it more thoroughly. This guy is an important asset to the Empire. He knows many things about the Empire, He should not be missed."
"Yes sir"
Despite a thorough search, Agent Nighthawk, or Naveen, was not found. Unfortunately, the mission was only a partial success, leaving Dinesh disappointed. He cursed and kicked up dust as he left, ordering his men to continue the search.
.........
A few hours Before, In the morning:
Dinesh was summoned by the higher-ups and received the good news of promotion. His happiness, however, was short-lived as he immediately got his first mission. The task was substantial – to eradicate the organization forming inside the Army and the Secret Service, becoming a cancer to military institutions. Fortunately, he was Armed with proper intel, so thanking his superior officer he swiftly got to work.
The people on the list were grouped together and sent to various places for missions, preventing them from forming a united front. They were well-trained and could pose a significant threat if not dealt with carefully, especially using guerrilla tactics as they did during the one-year war.
As Dinesh came up with the plan, his subordinates went through with the plan and finished the mission quickly. High-threat soldiers were dealt with swiftly, and the smaller soldiers were arrested and put in jail, along with the captured enemy soldiers. Finally, it was time for the main leaders of the secret society. Perhaps it was God's blessing or his luck, but he found out that they were initiating a meeting, making Dinesh's task easier. The rest is history. Unfortunately, a rat slipped away.
..........
A few blocks away from the incident, in a sewer, a bamboo tube emerged from the sewage. It suddenly stopped, and a man, drenched in water, emerged – none other than Naveen. Realizing he was discovered, he knew escaping through normal means was impossible. Familiar with the system, he took a ruthless approach, grabbed a bamboo tube from a street stall, and jumped into the dirty sewer, knowing nobody would be searching there. His bet paid off. He wanted to go home and safeguard his family, but he knew that his family would be closely monitored. So, he put away that thought. Having no other way, he thought about his next moves and destination.