Return to the Fortress
The Red Fort stood silent under a grey Delhi sky, its red sandstone walls hiding centuries of power, pain, and politics. To the tourists and soldiers outside, it was just another monument.
But to Arav and Aisha, now back in Delhi after barely escaping death in Darjeeling, it was a puzzle box ready to be cracked open.
Holding Netaji's diary and Aryan's encrypted USB, Arav stood before the Lahori Gate again, not as a visitor, but as a revolutionary.
"Are you sure this is it?" Aisha asked.
"Yes," Arav replied. "The diary didn't lie. Beneath this place is the truth they erased."
The Hidden Path
They had no time for tourist routes. With help from an insider contact—a former army engineer who once worked on underground restorations—they were led to an old maintenance tunnel near the Mughal gardens.
The path was dark, narrow, and lined with bricks centuries old. A single push opened a loose wall tile, revealing a metallic staircase spiraling downward.
"This was sealed after independence," the engineer whispered. "They said it led to storage. But no one ever came back curious."
At the bottom was a rusted door with strange carvings—half Ashoka Chakra, half INA symbol.
"Ready?" Arav asked.
"Let's end this lie," Aisha said.
Vault of Forgotten Patriots
The door creaked open into a vast chamber lit by dusty chandeliers and old gas lamps. At the center was a round marble floor with hundreds of names etched into it.
Kuhu, now reunited with them, gasped, "These are INA soldiers… their real names. Not in any book."
On the walls hung faded photographs, handwritten notes, and files stamped TOP SECRET – NEVER TO BE RELEASED.
Arav picked one:
"Operation Delete: Erase All INA Trials From National Memory"
Date: 1950.
Signed by the very first Home Minister.
Aisha clutched another file: "Nehru's Internal Memo: Keep Bose Legacy Buried for National Unity."
Silence fell in the chamber.
They weren't just in a room.
They were standing inside the graveyard of real Indian history.
The Digital Transfer
Arav inserted the USB into a dusty military terminal. Files loaded—Netaji's voice, lost INA recordings, British confessions, American surveillance documents… and one devastating truth:
India's final freedom was negotiated—not fought for. The British left, but ensured the control stayed with those who never raised a weapon.
"Sadik Farhan Bose," Arav read aloud from one report.
"Who's that?" Kuhu asked.
"Netaji's great-nephew. Went missing in 1983. Tried to leak all this. Was declared mentally unstable and institutionalized."
Aisha swallowed. "He tried to do what we're doing now."
Arav nodded. "Then we'll finish what he started."
The Countdown Begins
Just as Arav was about to upload everything to a secret public server, the Red Fort walls shook.
Boom.
The Nexus had arrived.
Explosions tore through the entrance tunnel. The engineer who helped them screamed as a bullet struck him.
Kuhu dragged his body back. "We can't fight them all!"
"Don't need to," Aisha said. "Just buy five minutes."
She pulled out smoke bombs and flash grenades. "Classic counterintelligence distractions."
Arav began the upload. "You have to cover me!"
Kuhu nodded. "With our lives."
The Battle for History
Gunfire echoed through the underground chamber. Dust filled the air. Aisha fought like a panther, using every inch of the room to trap, shoot, and blind the Nexus agents.
Kuhu managed to barricade one entrance using old furniture and steel crates. "Arav, how much longer?!"
"Two minutes!"
Blood spilled. Time ticked. Enemies stormed in waves. But the truth—the truth of an entire nation—was now halfway online.
As Arav stared at the screen, one file began auto-playing:
Netaji's Voice Recording, 1951:
"India, if my truth reaches you, rise again. Not against others—but for yourself. You deserve more than chained democracy. The real war begins after freedom. Protect your mind. Protect your memory."
Tears filled Arav's eyes. "We hear you, Netaji."
Mission Complete
Upload complete.
The server blinked green. The files were live on hundreds of anonymous mirrors, impossible to delete.
Arav backed away, gripping the diary.
"We did it."
They had published the truth that could break the entire system—or save it.
The Great Escape
Aisha pulled them into a secondary tunnel route beneath the chamber. "This leads to the Yamuna drain exit. Go now!"
Arav looked back once more at the chamber—at the wall of forgotten faces and files—and whispered a silent vow:
"Your stories will live again."
Delhi Awakens
The next morning, headlines across unfiltered online platforms roared:
"INA Trial Files Leaked: Netaji's Voice Speaks After 70 Years""Nexus Named. Ministers Linked. India's Freedom Questioned.""Truth Buried Beneath Red Fort Uncovered by Youth Revolutionaries"
And one picture went viral.
Arav, standing in front of the wall of names, raising the tricolor.