You gonna die, I'm gonna die, we're all gonna die, just not today - Alex Hopper, Battleship (2012)

...

All relatively quiet during our flight, and I can see Indian fighters along with fewer numbers from our own country, Korea, Japan, and Australia patrolling the skies as we entered Indian airspace at dawn.

Still, I sometimes thought to myself.

What if such an opinion of those soldiers I heard in the base was true to some degree?

Furthermore, I also remembered my exposure to anti-war pamphlets and online articles and social media posts way back and even direct demonstrations when Indonesia and other Asia-Pacific countries formed the PPDU and even as the Caliphate had officially declared war on us.

"Why die for the war profiteers?"

"Our liberty is threatened by the military-industrial complex. Stop war by divesting from it"

"Second Principle from Pancasila: Just and Principled Humanity. War is unjust and inherently inhuman. Rise up!"

"War, what is good for? Resources and Distraction"

"Your rulers want you to die so they can suck your lifeblood even further. Why not negotiate? Why delay the inevitable multipolar world?"

"Is this what our founding fathers want?"

"Civil War Truth NOW! "

"War is not healthy for our children and our future"

"India: Keeping our Patriots over There so we can be looted over Here!"

"There is no War against Terrorism and Jihad. Only a War of those have against those who have not; The true Jihad is the Class War."

"Give peace a chance; Dump PPDU; Civil War no more; Support multipolar Asia."

Even in my church, I saw posters like "Who would Jesus bomb?" "It's not enough to say that we should not wage war. It is necessary to love peace and sacrifice for it - Martin Luther King" "

I also remembered from the news and social media about a group of Catholic anti-war activists crashed through the gate of the missile factory PT Dahana in Berau, East Kalimantan, hammered on two air-launched cruise missiles inside the plant, pouring blood on its inside components and documents nearby, and offering prayer inside. The activists were arrested, sentenced to two years in prison, and what I last heard from the case, they are forwarding their appeal to the Supreme Court after the high court quashed their first appeal.

However, I reminded myself with a quote from my religion lecturer on campus back before the civil war "Half-truth is NOT truth." and a Bible verse that admonished believers to refrain from endless speculations.

Shrugging it off, for now, I checked my seat belt and then looked outside. Too often I took this moment of sunrise for granted. And I know that we are close to land when the flight attendant announced that we are soon to land on Devi Ahilya Bai Holkar Airport, in a city called Indore. I had read about the name, it's the largest city in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh.

"Thank you" the flight attendants bid us goodbye as we disembarked from the Boeing one by one after the airliner landed perfectly and parked in the apron.

I gathered my men and head into the assembly point, and I can already see some of our vehicles are being readied or disembarked from cargo planes both military and chartered civilian ones.

"Attention on deck!" called the battalion NCO, Chief Warrant Officer Yunus Ishak. Just like command sergeant majors in the United States Army his primary responsibility is to be an advisor to the commanding officer, linking the Colonel and his enlisted service personnel.

And we are addressed again outside the airport by Lt. Colonel Basuki, in which we are told that we are now part of a PPDU operation codenamed Bharat Shield, and we will be deployed to a city in the state of Gujarat, near the former Pakistan-India International Border called Rajkot, when we will bolster an Indian Army Battlegroup defending the city from numerous mechanized and armor assault by the UCC. We are going into UCC's doorstep in the process but the rule of engagement had prevented us to bring it forward into Pakistan until more troops arrived and most importantly, part of occupied northern India including Jammu and Kashmir were liberated, with our main forces there are mechanized 3rd Infantry Division from Kostrad and element of the 9th Cavalry Division Siliwangi.

So we, along with our Indian allies are to hold the states of Gujarat and Rajasthan until further notice. There are lot of support; our own and Indian artillery including MLRS and ballistic missiles, fighters both land and carrier-based including our own Majapahit, and ship-based artillery and missiles.

"Now is the time to make Caliphate bleed, people, side by side with our Indian friends, they want a theocracy, we are going to reply by sending them to their Maker. Don't think about the aftermath, think about how we prove ourselves to the world that we are in a civilized side of history. Everyone ready?"

All answered, "Yes Sir!"

"Merdeka!"

"Merdeka!" We shouted back in reply to Colonel Basuki.

Our first day in India began. Each platoon had one soldier carrying an Indonesian flag as we marched, under hot and humid air through the main streets of Indore to show that the Indians are not alone. I looked at the locals as they looked at us, with curiosity. The city is tense, for obvious reasons. Some youngsters in the city not yet reaching military age showed their support by waving both India, Indonesia, and PPDU flags, a white flag with four vertical bars with four different colors; blue, red, yellow, and green, with a Mandala (1) imposed at the center of the flag; while a few older inhabitants once served in the Indian Armed Forces or it's paramilitary forces had even saluted us.

As some of our equipment, especially heavier tanks are still on their journey by sea we are ordered to practice, day and night, of what we had been trained so far pertaining to mechanized warfare in arid region, and also in communicating with our primary ally, the Indians, along with other PPDU members like Korea, Australia, and Singapore.

Indians have a lot of tanks, but high command preferred to wait for our own heavies first.

...

December 16th, 2041

It's almost a week after we're landed in India; more and more equipment had reached Indian ports of Mumbai, Navasheva, and Murmagao with almost 2.500 civilian ships were mobilized just for us.

As it's time for our battalion to be committed to the front; the final briefing mentioned that the combined Indian forces and the 2nd Battalion, 201st Infantry Regiment "Jaya Yudha", the first from our brigade who went to Rajkot two days ago are heavily engaged in defense of the city.

"Cikar Company, Cikar Company, 1-288 over here!" Captain Huberta Wuwur, another Civil War veteran, is still in the Army and choose to be in the reserve Guard just like us after the war and retrained for mechanized role. All companies in the 1-288 used Indonesian traditional means of transportation as its callsign.

To be exact. I and my friends are part of the Cikar Company, in its 3rd Platoon, and the squad that I command is the 2nd.

"Battalion, mount your vehicles!"

As I entered the vehicle I was assigned to with my squad, a brand-new Pindad made Weling (Krait, a type of snake) 8x8 wheeled IFV based on Pandur III technology from General Dynamics European Land Systems, more things passed through my mind, even as I sat inside the air-conditioned vehicle.

Will we get ambushed on our way by some fifth columnists?

We will never know until we rendezvoused with the Indian battleground defending Rajkot which had been subjected to several assaults. Besides our armor had substantial firepower with its main weapon is CT40 Mk2 40mm caseless autocannon with technology supplied by the French and Britain immediately after the civil war, mounted in an optionally manned turret along with a 7.62mm coaxial MG and smoke grenade launchers.

Tension gets higher as we are in the middle part of the trip. I can feel the new recruits, many are too young to fight in the civil war, are began to understand the reality that they are going to a real shooting war.

"Hampir pagi di India.." (Almost morning in India)

Then I heard Janice, sat in front of me, sung a version of the old Independence War-era ballad composed by famous Ismail Marzuki. Sepasang Mata Bola, literally means A Pair of Eyes. And without any command, we are all broke to singing.

"Ketika pesawatku tiba" (When my plane is landed). While original lyrics used the word Kereta (train), in the context of the Revolution, to make it relevant to our mission, we changed it to aircraft.

"Surya terang cuaca" (The weather is sunny). The outside view from the vehicle's camera is almost devoid of clouds, and while I saw occasional Allied fighters and drones patrolling in the air I can still feel our vulnerability.

"Terkejut aku tiba-tiba" (Then something surprises me)

"Dua mata memandang." (A pair of eyes looking at us)

"Seakan-akan ia berkata" (And it talks)

"Lindungi aku Pahlawan" (Protect me, my Heroes, which means us)

"Dari pada si angkara murka" (From the evildoers)

"Sepasang Mata Bola" (Oh, look at the pair of eyes)

"Dari balik jendela" (From behind windows)

"Dari Indonesia" (All the way from Indonesia.) The original song mentioned Jakarta, in the context of the Revolution. However, as we're going to a foreign war the lyrics were adjusted accordingly.

"Menuju medan perwira" (Into the noble battlefield)

"Kagumku melihatnya" (Oh, how I proud to see him/her)

"Sinar sang perwira rela" (That light radiated from his/her willing soul)

"Hati telah terpikat" (My heart fell for him/her)

"Semoga kita kelak berjumpa pulang" (And I hope we can see each other again).

We stopped for a while at dawn to refuel in Ahmedabad, the capital of the Gujarat state, as report shows that the UCC is maneuvering as such in order to envelop the city of Rajkot. The stout defense of Allied forces in that city rendered it too good to be bypassed.

"This is Cikar Blue 6" piped our platoon leader, 1st Lieutenant Brandon de Angelo from inside another Weling as we continue our trip, with companies detached and went through different routes into Rajkot. Voluntarily transferred into the reserve after the war, I personally credited him for helping our transition in our current role as mechanized infantry. 

"Be advised, we received reports that allies inside Rajkot are being engaged by yet-another Caliphate armored task force, which are trying to get the pressure off their northern force. Envelopment maneuver suggested.."

Back to our convoy route, our company directly passed through Ahmedabad-Rajkot highway along with the Company headquarters behind us, B company are to rendezvous with another Indian Army mechanized battlegroup and march further west to a town named Morbi. A Company went slightly southward and have the objective to occupy and if necessary, expel Caliphate forces from a town called Gondal.

A few bullets bouncing off our armor and the cannons went off in return as our company rolled directly through Rajkot Highway, later we know that we encountered Fedayeen fighters inserted deep into Indian territory.

Whatever hell they threw on us, we are ready and must be such. With radio transmission were kept to the minimum, we can only sit and pray for the best.

Then more and more bumps and grounds shaking as artillery began to fell nearby. It means that we are closing to the city.

"This is Cikar 6 actual, status report!" ordered our Captain.

"Cikar Red 6 actual here, all machines are still operational, those arty are probably harassment."

"White 6 actual reporting in, what on earth is happening?"

"Blue 6 actual here, we're still okay, one round fell very close to Blue 2-1."

Then the lead Weling called "We have eyes on hostile drones" as we reached the city of Chotila, largely abandoned but still guarded by Indian Army and paramilitary forces inside with a battalion of Nepali soldiers.

"Bring out the SHORAD" ordered Wuwur.

I can only look at the camera as the we spread out, along with the order "Cikar 6 to all Cikar company; Standby for dismounting at any time. Do you copy?" as two air defense version of Weling armed with short-range tactical laser system and ground-launched version of the AIM-10 Diamondback IR guided air to air missiles rolled out from the highway into the city to engage the incoming drones.

"Solid copy, ma'am" replied all the platoons of the C company.

"Splash four drones" called one of the air defense vehicle commanders.

We continue our march before another report came.

"..Be advised drones had seen the vanguard of the B Company of the UCC Land Forces 3rd Battalion, 101st Infantry Regiment "Punjab", part of their 8th Mechanized Brigade, 18th Division advanced into Beti.. ready for contact..."

"Regular Army?" Agnes asked me.

"Yes, regular, but expect the Legion will be there too. Their mechanized forces are known to be attached to the regular forces for extra support." I answered her.

And pretty soon our column stopped. We are contesting a highway bridge near Machhu Dam, near a village called Beti close to our position, and the enemy is definitely trying to prevent us from crossing it.

"All units weapon free, dismount, dismount, dismount!" called Captain Wuwur. The cool wind rushed inside as the ramps dropped in the clang. The entire B Company was deployed alongside the river. Meanwhile, anti-armor teams with Japanese-supplied Type 30 ATGM took up position in the nearby Hindu temple. Behind us, our and enemy artillery boomed, both sides are eager to take out opposing guns.

We got out first shot as Type 30s were knocking out EDT (Emirates Defense Technologies) Enigma IFVs used by the UCC forces, prioritizing those who got 100mm BMP-3 turrets that could easily knock out our Welings.

Covers are sparse, and vehicles got more priority for that matter.

"Stay low!"

As we changed position before firing, mortars and minigun fire from two Musang wheeled Unmanned Ground Vehicle systems deployed from the "DCV" drone carrier vehicle, variant of the Weling helps us to tie down enemy infantry.

Each platoon had one DCV detached from the cavalry company. It looks like the standard infantry carrier but instead of infantry, it carries two Musang UGVs inside the cargo hold.

"Private Janice, target that RPG team, they are dangerously close to our vehicle."

"Roger" the pianist moved much closer to our vehicle for cover and aimed carefully. I can see the RPG operator and his assistant collapsed, already dead, as her shots went through their skull.

"Stay down, dickhead," swore Rudi loudly as he saw one of his prey fell to his shot while extended his middle finger to reinforce his point, with Ramlan on his right side tying up two enemy infantry squad with six short bursts before relocating again.

"Private Rudi you are drawing fire, keep your heads low!" I ordered as I am reloading my rifle.

"Sorry, sersan, quite a bit excited to finally kill some Pakis." He chuckled.

"Not all of them are Pakistani, Rudi, you know that," Widya replied while smiled towards Rudi.

"Yeah, whatever, but looking at the name of their regiment we're facing it's quite easy to figure where most of those boy-lovers are from, am I right?". Widya nodded in reply, know that he got the point right.

After killing one UCC soldier that is trying to aim his grenade launcher at our position I aimed my red dot sight into an enemy sergeant, looking at his insignia of three upward-facing chevrons. My shot is a miss, however.

Relax.. breath deep... I said to myself and reacquire the NCO, now firing his Turkish-originated MPT-76 at Handy, which was firing his MG as well towards UCC infantry trying to cross the highway bridge. This time my shot went through his neck. Blood went spurting high as the Pakistani NCO fell down, lifeless.

I can see that our presence had really spoiled their plan to occupy the only crossing. They simply don't expect us to be there.

It also helped that we are jamming their comm.

"Cikar 6 to all Cikar company be advised we have another incoming enemy infantry company with a platoon of Al Khalid tanks.." piped the company signaler.

"Oh crap.. here comes their armor" Putu groaned.

"Abe, better get that SLT ready. I doubt those tanks got APS (2)" I said.

"Ready for anything Sarge!" he replied, almost to the point of shouting because of the gunfire.

Meanwhile, the mortars had laid down a couple of smoke rounds and one of our IFVs had even engaged it's smoke discharger and went in reverse followed by four other IFVs to avoid oncoming tank gun launched, laser-guided ATGMs from the Al-Khalids.

"Let 'em cross and we are going to smash them," called Lt. Brandon.

Anti-tank weapons were at the ready just as we are letting them crossing the bridge for a little while, passing the smoke.

And that's when the tank platoon got some nasty surprise in form of two K3 White Tiger tanks with new 130mm guns and five minutes later, a pair of American A-11 Invader II attack planes. Especially the latter which was built by Northrop Grumman specifically to kill tanks with the same 30mm Avenger as it's predecessor, A-10, while the A-11 is faster and more maneuverable.

"Company, to your vehicles! We're advancing!" called Capt. Wuwur.

A very good start of our first foreign war.

...

A/N: Hope you enjoy this mechanized battle!

(1). Any diagram, chart or geometric pattern that represents the cosmos metaphysically or symbolically originated from India, and often used as a symbol of unity. Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandala

(2). Active Protection System = a countermeasures system designed to prevent guided missiles or projectiles from acquiring or destroying a target.