Chapter 25: The Cave of Forgotten Fire
Location: War Bunker Control Room – Day 4 Begins
The room was dim. The lights hummed steadily, but the hope inside the team was flickering like a dying candle.
Shiva stared at the red alert on the screen:
> "DEFENSE MISSILE SYSTEM – DESTROYED"
His voice cracked, full of emotion.
> "So… we can't save the mainland."
He looked at Siddharth and Akash, then at the old man.
> "The promise we made to Rana sir… everything we did… it's all going to be in vain?"
Silence.
Nobody moved. Nobody blinked.
Even Akash, usually armed with sarcasm, sat quietly, pressing his fist against his temple.
Then—
> "Rana… Rana…" the old man muttered, his eyes twitching.
"Yes! Rana told me once… about the old third-generation launcher!"
Everyone turned to him.
> "He asked me to repair it years ago. It's hidden in a seashore cave, used by the black site people in the earlier generation."
Siddharth's eyes lit up like a sunrise.
> "Where is it!?"
> "Uhhh… it's... hmm…" the old man tapped his head.
"Ah yes! I remember! Near the east cliff side. I told Rana it's too hard to repair. I even told him—'Why not buy a new launcher instead of wasting money on that rusty pipe?'"
Akash's face went blank.
> "So… wait. You're telling me we had a backup missile launcher this whole time, and you just remembered now?!"
Old man: "I'm old, not Google Maps!"
> Narrator Voice:
"Sometimes, memory arrives fashionably late. But when it comes, it saves a lot ."
Everyone stood up, hope slowly returning.
But then—
Old Man Krishnan frowned again.
> "But… there's a problem."
Siddharth: "What now?"
> "We can't use it easily. The third-generation launcher is designed for large missiles. What we have now… are fourth-generation compact ones. They're smaller. Firing them from that launcher will be like trying to shoot an arrow from a cannon. It'll either misfire… or explode in the tube."
Shiva and Akash sighed in perfect sync.
> "Of course there's a catch…" Shiva muttered.
Akash slumped into a chair.
> "Why can't something be easy in this island? Even the food had electric eels in it!"
But Siddharth wasn't giving up.
> "Listen. We're not soldiers. We're teachers. But still, we survived missiles, bunkers, and betrayal."
He looked at each of them.
> "We came this far. We will find a way. As we always do."
Old man smiled, his eyes glistening with admiration.
> "Rana would've liked you." If he alive.
---
Narrator Voice:
> "Sometimes, the solution is not to find the perfect weapon.
But to adapt the imperfect one… with perfect courage."