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for compromise was razor-thin now and live weapons were being carried by all fighters from both sides...
    In the skies above the sands of the Taklimakan desert, four J-11s from the 33 RD Fighter Division punched afterburners and accelerated southwards to take escort position near their J-10s flying out of Kashgar. As the four fighters headed south, another aircraft entered the airspace fifty kilometers behind them. This one activated its onboard radar and sent a wave of radio energy hundreds of kilometers to the south where it was detected by its counterpart beyond the Himalayas.
     
     
    IAF PHALCON AWACS AIRCRAFT
    SKIES OVER WESTERN LADAKH
    INDIA
    MAY 15, 1948 HRS
    “More inbounds! Active airborne radar signatures!” the radar console operator shouted over the intercom. Verma was behind him ten seconds later.
    “Sitrep,” he ordered.
    “Four inbound fighters in line abreast formation heading south. Active airborne radar aircraft forty to fifty kilometers behind the fighter formation. Computer thinks that we are looking at four Su-27s and a KJ-2000 entering the airspace. I am inclined to agree,” the console operator reported. Verma took a deep breath. No need to get excited unnecessarily. They had dealt with such aggression before.
    “Okay. These will be the CAP support for that J-10 we spotted out of Kashgar. And they are bringing AWACS support with them. We see them, and I bet they see us. Now it’s about numbers,” Verma said out loud. A few moments later he was using his intercom to alert the Phalcon pilots up in the cockpit as well as the pilots of the flight of three Su-30s flying alongside as escorts. These fighters moved between the inbound threats and the Phalcon they were charged to protect. The latter was taking evasive maneuvers. All strobe lights were now switched off and combat conditions were initiated on all aircraft. On board the Phalcon, Verma was already in contact with the operations staff at the Western Air Command (WAC) where Air Marshal Bhosale, the commander in chief of WAC (CINC-WAC) was overseeing the deployments of his units against the Chinese should things get ugly.
    This was not a new setup by any means. The Chinese had been flying aggressive patrols with their Su-27s in this sector for several days now. But now they had brought in their KJ-2000s to provide airborne radar coverage and real-time airborne command for all their aircraft. The IAF was already doing this so it could not be considered an escalation as such. But such were the stakes in this kind of environment that one misunderstanding could cause the massive coiled springs on either side to come undone on each other.
    Misunderstandings could lead to war. Wars based on misunderstandings were always the bloodiest. Yet, actions demanded responses and the cycle continued on its merry way to Hades…
     
     
    HILLS NORTH OF THE VILLAGE OF SHIQUANHE
    SOUTHWESTERN TIBET
    MAY 15, 2010 HRS
    The slippery snow and rocky terrain were not making things any easier. The next set of hills was as far away as ever, and to their rear the sounds of the gunfire refused to die away. The terrain was cold and they were not. Any thermal imager would pick them up against the background whether it were on an unmanned aerial drone, a manned aircraft, helicopter or even an attached optical sight in front of an enemy soldier’s eyes. Gephel and his team had such imagers mounted on their Integrated Multi-Function Sights or IMFS, which they used to scout out territory from long-range. Fortunately, intelligence data suggested that the PLA units involved in suppressing the Tibetans in this sector were not well equipped. So the chances of them being spotted were remote. Even so, it only took one such device to ruin their night and everybody in the team knew it.
    “Inbound chopper!” one of the team members pointed out to the north as a PLA Mi-17 helicopter suddenly popped over the top of the next set of hills against the greenish background of their