Dharma Chakra : Kalinga's Battles with Destiny

Chapter 2: Exploration

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***

3rd January 2019

Northern Uncharted Region

Krishnan Roy was a man on a mission. He had been tasked with leading the scouting and exploration missions on land while the 'Grey Fleet' explored the coastline. If first contact ever happened, they were supposed to introduce themselves as representatives of the 'Republic of Kalinga'. Apparently, the populace was somewhat happy that they won't have to live under the heel of the Central government of India anymore. Their future may be unsure, but they are now free just like their ancestors were. He was feeling nervous and giddy about what his immediate future might hold but that was nowhere enough to dampen his spirit.

'Will the natives of this world have unknown pathogens that would kill us, or would our pathogens kill them?" Krishnan mentally shrugged as he peered into the distance and saw snowy mountains, the likes of which you would see in the Himalayas. 'I wonder if the streams will feed the Mahanadi and make it a perennial river instead of a seasonal one.' he thought.

"Sir, our drone has caught something!" One of his subordinates yelled over the radio.

"I will be right back," Krishnan said as he looked at the mountains one last time and returned to the base camp.

***

The repurposed agricultural fixed-wing drone had some unusual footage for the crew. There was a jetty about 20 kilometers north of their locations. Several boats were moored to the piers and there were some huts as well.

'It's a fishing village, most likely.' Krishnan thought

"Okay team, we are going to make first contact with the natives in this world. We will split into two teams. Team A will be the ones meeting up with those locals while Team B would remain here and continue surveillance. I want Team B to report back to Bhubaneswar in case something goes wrong and team A is not able to make it. Also, notify the Grey Fleet about the location of this village. I doubt this village is a permanent settlement, and no one is going far on just sailboats. The mainland must be somewhere close. "

The scouts soon reorganized themselves into two teams and soon Krishnan was on his way to the fishing village with armed police officers.

***

Central Calendar 3rd Day of the 1st month of the Year 1635,

Fishing Outpost of the Quila Kingdom

Gamas looked at his sorry haul of fish and wondered if the Gods were punishing him for some unknown, unspoken reason. The crops had failed yet again this year and with his pitiful fishing, it seemed like his family would have to skip meals to survive the year. He was one of the few 'Explorer-Captains' who were tasked with finding fertile islands for growing food for the Quila Kingdom, and while their current location showed promise, everyone knew that it would take a long time to set up farms and get the harvest. With the shadow of the Lourian kingdom looming over them, he found little hope in the future.

In his self-loathing, he almost missed the loud rumbling noise approaching him. His sharp bear-ears perked up and he picked up his trusty harpoon, thinking that it might be a wild beast about to attack him. His fellow fishermen had similar ideas and almost everyone was armed and ready. The few women in this outpost were shoved off into the huts for their safety.

Soon, three rumbling beasts were in front of them. But they were no ordinary beasts! They looked like they were covered in metal armors of a dark greenish color and had a very shiny, almost mirror-like forehead. There was a weird grill attached to the mouth of the beast and it looked angry!