Chapter 3: India

With the increased use of airpower countries in the east were afraid of being overrun by the west and their new aircraft. Hundreds of aircraft companies had sprung up, with a few offering contracts to the east. In India the Vector Company offered something the world had never seen in this fifty year period of advancement: helicopters. The owner and main inventor Abhay Jaidev, an immigrant who took on a Hindi name faced an uphill battle since no one outside of his company saw any use in the new aircraft platform. To change this viewpoint the young inventor invited local leaders near what is now Bombay showing them his prototype's capabilities. This helicopter called the "Vulture" was armed with a single electronic powered Gatlin gun. It could spit out 4,000 rounds per minute and fly fifty miles before it would need to land and refuel. What was most important was not only could this new weapon hover in place, it also didn't need an airfield to land and resupply.

Impressed onlookers watched as the helicopter destroyed dummy vehicles and troops in a matter of minutes, and with deadly accuracy. The crowd rose up in the stands and cheered the Vulture as it hovered in place facing them after the last target was down. Muhammad Babur, the first Emperor of the Mughal Empire immediately wanted a second showing outside his capital city. After watching the test for himself he ordered a hundred vulture helicopters for his military with ten trainers for each aircraft to insure rapid deployment. Taking the money gained from this sale Jaidev began testing on his next two designs the "Raven" attack helicopter and the Air Medic or A.M. helicopter. While the Raven was a dedicated attack aircraft the A.M. was designed for maximum carrying capacity to bring the maximum number of wounded to a nearby hospital. The Raven carried a Gatlin gun like the Vulture, but with two rocket launchers in addition on either side of its frame. Dealing with the additional weight its range was decreased by twenty miles, but it was still fast and effective. The emperor bought an additional forty helicopters of each design because he couldn't afford more.

The Chinese once they became aware of the new designs ordered an additional two thousand Raven helicopters which kept the Vector Company in business despite the Air Medics and Ravens not being sold in great volume. To the west and many countries the helicopters lacked range and were far slower than fixed wing aircraft, which made them easy to pass up. Bombers and fighters could now travel twice the distance and were far cheaper to produce. It wasn't until a skirmish between Russian and Indian troops that the defensive strengths of helicopters were demonstrated. Stationed near the front lines the three types of helicopters were used to support infantry operations, running day and night. Enemy casualties quickly mounted, while many lives were saved thanks to combat support and medical retrieval. Within minutes five wounded soldiers could get from the front lines to medical aid stations were they could be fixed and recover once the A.M.s had been loaded up.

The by the end of the skirmish when they broke contact had lost 107 soldiers to the Indians 22 wounded and five dead. After that the Chinese ordered five hundred more Air Medics, and the Indians ordered an additional hundred of both the Ravens and Air Medics, and raising taxes to do it. None of the Indian troops regretted the decision as the possibility of fratricide when compared to fixed wing aircraft was greatly reduced because most pilots could actually see friendlies since they weren't miles above the earth. Using radios that could be carried on the back or in a vehicle, commanders could direct fire where they needed it, and didn't have to wait long for their helicopters to show up.

The Mughal Emperor's generals quickly realized another possible use of the helicopters and began practicing landing troops using several Air Medics in conjunction. Special units could be landed behind enemy lines or moved into position quickly. The Emperor asked Jaidev for a new air design that could carry more troops. Taking these requirements he produced a fourth helicopter called the "Babur", which had two blades as opposed to one, and a longer body to increase carrying capacity. Surprisingly it was actually faster than earlier design and could travel farther to a maximum of eighty miles. The Babur used a new turbine engine, and could carry thirty troopers six thousand pounds of cargo.

With forty of them India's military could travel eighty miles in a few hours and land 1,200 troops almost anywhere they wanted to. Jaidev recommended two gunners be added to the Babur's compliment, but the Emperor wanted to keep costs down and passed. As far as he and his generals saw it even if they had to land out of sight of the enemy to keep the crew and passengers safe. When China and the Imperium picked up additional contracts in the thousands Babur, Abhay Jaidev decided he needed to take aircraft technology in a new direction. Starting off he produced the "Sea Hawk", which was a plane that landed on two pontoons built into the bottom of it. This allowed water landings and take offs, keeping to Vector's general strategy. The design had moderate success in the west and little to none in the east. Moving on Jaidev built another aircraft, which he originally called a, "Wave Runner". He had originally designed it for the Navy. The propellers on the aircraft were made to be adjustable and were powered by two separate turbines station on the sides of the plane. What this allowed the aircraft to do was shift between fixed wing flight and helicopter. Unfortunately this aircraft was well ahead of its time and was bought in vary limited amounts. The countries that used it liked the new platform to run their military operations off of, but purchasing one was very expensive.

Facing this let down Abhay Jaidev tried again with jet propulsion, breaking from his normal design. The first jet fighter was a one man aircraft and didn't have a lot of carrying capacity. What it did have was speed and lots of it. With a powerful engine built into the airframe could handle upwards of 680 hundred miles per hour safely. Unfortunately early designs could be pushed faster which caused an instability in the airframe, which sent an inexperienced pilot who had made the blunder hurtling toward the ground at high velocity. To correct this problem Jaidev had a governor installed so no pilot could push the aircraft past its safe speed, but by that time some pilots had already dubbed the F-1 "The Widow Maker".

Jaidev blamed himself for the lack of safety tests when he had been pressured to put the new aircraft into service by its buyers and refused to let a defect like that make it out of testing. Five thousand F-1 aircraft were produced and kept in service in the west and China making the young designer a huge success finally at twenty five years old. Other aircraft designers desperately tried to catch up, but they were years away before producing their own jet fighter.

While his testers in his aircraft division kept up testing of the designs he provided them, Abhay Jaidev created a division for ground assault. His first creation in this new division was an armored ground assault vehicle called the "Hedgehog". With six wheels on both sides, and large turret with a machine gun on top, it was quiet and powerful. Roll up to a position it would protect the men inside from small arms until they could be unloaded. Refusing to put another defective machine in the field Jaidev put it through every test he could think of, and if he found a weakness he tried to fix it, no matter how small the default was. It got to the point that the Mughal emperor and everyone else were practically begging him to give them just a handful of these new troop carriers, but much to their frustration Abhay refused until he deemed it battle ready.

To provide his company with additional money he took profits from earlier sales to create the first civilian auto company. Bombay Auto sold began selling hundreds of cars, trucks, and motorcycles in India. Starting out with a simple design to begin with he was able to keep the vehicles affordable. Hundreds were sold in India. When Vector's aircraft division finished the T-1 transport plain, vehicles and smaller aircraft could be transported over hundreds of miles more than one at a time. Not satisfied with that alone Abhay hired work crews to pave a highway going east to west through most of India with permission of the emperor. When it was finished he built large freight trucks to transport dozens of vehicles across the highway. Hundreds were sold each day, providing him with all the money he needed for research and testing.

When the armored transport was finally ready Abhay Jaidev transported them using his own company airport and T-1 aircraft. Ten thousand A.T.s were sold making his investors rich. When Abhay Jaidev wanted to fire rockets into space his investors thought he was insane and voted unanimously against him. In response Abhay bought used his own money to buyout the controlling stock in Bombay Auto and resigned as owner of Vector. The Emperor decided to stay his patron and asked for his own private vehicle to be made by Bombay Auto. Personally designing the limousine himself Abhay provide the Emperor with an armored vehicle that could carry seven people, not counting the driver. Inside was a fully stocked bar and radio system.

Noble families throughout India clamored for similar vehicles to be custom built for each of their heads. Roads in throughout the nation were improved so the new limousines could be driven on them. Abhay ordered service stations to be built in several cities so the limousines and other vehicles could be fixed. Branching out he started a fuel company and a bicycle company which gave him a monopoly over Indian transportation. Bicycles could be bought and used by common people. Trying to make their lives better he visited the emperor at his palace.

"I seek your permission sire to build public works that will improve the health of your cities and other settlements." Abhay said as he stood before him.

Rising from his throne the Emperor said, "Walk with me, I would hear your ideas."

As they walked Abhay talked about clean water, and electricity which grabbed the Emperor's interest.

"And you would run these plants of yours?" The Emperor asked.

"With respects sir I was hoping you would in time. I can of course design and build the plants to the best of my ability, but running would be far less expensive if you ran it than I. My employees are all well paid, which would increase the cost." Abhay said.

"The possibility that workers will be paid less doesn't bother you?" The Emperor asked as they walked outside, breathing in the fresh air.

"More jobs will be produced by each of the plants, and the money earned by the people working there will create a new class of citizens with or without my further interference." Abhay replied.

"I imagine many nobles may not like the idea, but I believe it will not only bolster our economy, but it will also help modernize our nation. Our skirmish with the Russians has proven that we must adapt or risk being conquered." The Emperor said.

With Emperor Zahiruddin Muhammad Babur's permission Abhay built ten plants immediately with more scheduled to be built once the first group was up and running. Using cheap available labor Abhay built the plants and had the pipes that supplied each plant laid, along with the pipes that would send the now cleaned water to the nearest settlements. It was a transition that would be years in the making, but as each plant was built the health of the general populace was improved. Sickness due a poisoned water supply became less and less frequent until it was almost non-existent as each plant came on line began processing water at the rate needed. In appreciation for his services the Emperor gave Abhay hereditary lands near Bombay and hired him as his chief inventor and engineer. The Bombay Auto Company investors insisted that he stay on as at least an honorary member of the board so he could profit from his ideas, and perhaps come up with new designs they could build if he were interested.

Abhay could not get the idea of rockets out of his head, and while the Emperor was willing to humor him, Abhay's sovereign tried a little match making between Abhay and his lovely daughter Gulbadan Begum. The Emperor had long been impressed with the young inventor and had considered him for his daughter. When he finally saw that the man could support her in his own right he introduced the two of them. Finding they liked each other well enough the Emperor went ahead and set plans for the two of them to be married. Some nobles in India were jealous of Abhay's position and voiced their concerns to their ruler. Babur promptly ignored them hosted the marriage ceremony at the palace, requiring all noble families to send representatives to witness it. The nobles not wishing to insult the Emperor by not showing up, and send their representatives. The Emperor and others expected Abhay to slow down a little now that he was married, but the man remained efficient as ever when it came to planning and designing. Babar though a reluctant supporter of his new son-in-law's efforts began to see real merit in them. Taking copies of Abhay's rockets that were meant to be sent in space Babar saw the possibility of a long range missile. Like most nations by this time India had its own spy network, and the Emperor used it to have missile weapons experts from the west defect to his country. Using these experts he has them design and test the possibility of long range missiles.

While the missile experts had problems developing targeting systems, Abhay was developing his own with more success. Creating radar to track the rocket once it got out of sight he was able learn how to better direct them. Creating satellite dishes to better direct signals he used thrusters on the sides of the rocket to keep the flight path relatively straight. In a period of two years his rockets became more and more complicated as the machine he used to build them advanced. Understanding he would one day need a shuttle he also began designing more powerful jets that could reach higher into the atmosphere.

When SJ-6 managed to reach the upper atmosphere Abhay knew he was on the verge of his goal. Combining his new rockets with a modified SJ-6A he launched his first man into space. It was an event the known world took notice of. The west was particularly alarmed that the Indians were even capable of such of feat, and began to focus their spy networks on the region to find out what exactly was going on. Too late they heard about an early satellite with a new video camera that sent back images to the launch site in India near the capital. After hearing about this the U.R.A. and Imperium began a space race with India on who would claim ownership of the stars.

As each nation tries to advance themselves towards this goal, the technologies they reaped as a result benefitted all three both in civilian technology, and military technology. Building ground based telescopes to aid his operations Abhay managed to keep his lead over his competitors and used that lead to explore technologies that would allow his satellites to stay in orbit longer. Solar technology provided the answer he needed initially and allowed him to put up as many as twenty satellites, launching them from several sites on the same day. The Imperium unable to keep up without their economy crumbling fell out of the race leaving the U.R.A and India to compete for the prize. Abhay pulled out all the stops, not only using Indian spies and informants to find out what the U.R.A was doing, but keep them from effectively gathering information on his space program.

Building a huge pool at the main launch site he was able to train astronaughts and test their equipment. Since space required everything to be airtight new suit design could be tested in the much safer environment of the pool before they would face the challenges of space. Weather patterns were studied for optimal launch times and the crew of the first shuttle practiced for months preparing for the next window. In late October the time came and the main rocket engine fired on the shuttle after the assist rocket was released once its fuel had been totally spent. Within minutes the shuttle was in space and making its initial orbit. Using special still and video cameras they took pictures of the Earth and stars, gathering all the data they could. Once a full orbit had been made the sealed shuttle headed back and landed successfully. Abhay was there at its landing, experiencing one of the few child-like moments of his life. Space travel had been a passion of his, one that he thought he would never be able to participate in given his background, but now he was responsible for starting it.

He had run through his memory coming up with designs from pictures of old shuttles and trying to adapt them as best as he could to technology of the time. In effort to support the intelligence agency that had been helping him throughout the project Abhay provided them with a prototype spy plane for them to test out. It was similar to the SJ-6, but was meant to travel at mach speeds and would eventually have a high speed camera, which was still in development. Two months later after the space launch the first cruise missile came online and the first long range bomber. The Mughal Empire had become a world power and China eagerly joined forces with it to gain some of its technology as an ally. A cease-fire was also signed between the empire and Russia to the north since the Russians didn't want to have to worry about a powerful southern army crossing their border.

Babur used the power influx of money and trade to build a fleet to rival the U.R.A. and seek out new lands and resources. Solar powered ships with diesel fuel tanks as backup set out to sea to explore the globe. Not to be outdone the U.R.A. also tried its hand at exploring the oceans of the world in order to stay in the space race. China joined the Mughal Empire's efforts with their newly built ships adding a new urgency to the race. Both sides found and claimed new lands, despite the fact that many were already occupied. Acting as two large imperialistic powers they gained influence over leaders in power in the newly discovered nations, or if a ruler resisted their efforts to gain control each gave support to their enemies. Civil wars were started along with regime changes until the oceans of the world seemed split between the two.

While visiting one of his naval bases Emperor Babur was shot and mortally wounded by an imperial assassin. Within hours of hearing the news Abhay seized control of the government using his intelligence contacts and called back the Mughal navy. Closing the borders he solidified his position through promises and intimidation until he had the noble families well in line. Arming his ballistic missiles he fired them at strategic military targets inside the Imperium. Among the targets three military bases were leveled before Abhay's army invaded by air, and secured the capital. Without fighters or radar to intercept the transport planes the capital fell by nightfall. Installing a puppet government and bring the ruling family back to his capital the Imperium was quickly placed under his control.

Recognizing the shift in the world's power structure Russia allied itself with the Mughal Empire. Naming the new alliance of nations the Eastern Coalition, he led the charge of the industrialization of the east. The U.R.A. soon realized they were on the losing side of an arms race and desperately declared an open war against the Eastern Coalition. Launching air strikes they tried to overwhelm the Mughal Empire's air force. Rushing his still experimental missile defense into action Abhay tried to keep them at bay, while he produced more ballistic missiles. The air to air defense knocked down a quarter of the enemy's first strike before they could do any damage. Cities along India's western border were carpet bombed killing thousands. Abhay's ballistic counter strike destroyed most of the airstrips that the fighters and bombers were supposed to return to. Pilots low on fuel were forced to crash land, which heavily damaged their planes and killed many of their crews. Improving his air defenses by building radar and missile stations along the border, Abhay committed himself to a long distance war using only his ballistic missiles to attack while he built an armada of long range bombers.