**Location:** PNS *Hangor*, Arabian Sea → Persian Gulf
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### **SCENE 1: THE HUNTER'S ECHO**
**Location:** Control Room, PNS *Hangor*
**Depth:** 200 meters
*Ping… Ping… Ping…*
The INS *Trishul*'s active sonar pulses hammered the hull like a funeral drum. On the display, the Indian frigate's icon glowed red—**12,000 yards and closing**.
**Sonar Chief (hissing):**
*"Broadband cavitation noise! She's accelerating—bearing 275! Closing at 25 knots!"*
**Rizwan (eyes locked on screens):**
*"Silent running. All stop. Rig for ultra-quiet."*
Lights dimmed to blood-red. Ventilation fans died. Crew froze mid-step. The *Hangor* became a tomb.
**Zayan (whispering):**
*"Can they hear us?"*
**Rizwan (pointing to sonar):**
*"Our decoy bought us 90 seconds. Now we hide in the *baffles*—their stern's blind spot. Pray their towed array doesn't sweep port."*
*THOOM!* A depth charge detonated starboard. Bulkheads groaned.
**Emad (bracing):**
*"They're carpeting the grid!"*
**Rizwan (calm):**
*"Panic wastes oxygen. Chief—biologics?"*
**Sonar Chief:**
*"Whale pod 3 klicks east! Screaming like drunk sailors!"*
**Rizwan (smiling grimly):**
*"Helm—drift us into that pod. Let *them* be the target."*
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### **SCENE 2: THE WHALE'S SHROUD**
**Location:** Passive Sonar Station
**Aaliya (watching hydrophone signatures):**
*"Trishul's diverting! Active pings shifting toward the whales!"*
**Aliza (over encrypted satellite link):**
*"RAW's panicking. They just ordered *Trishul* to '*neutralize all contacts*.' They know Sophie's value."*
**Rizwan (to Weapons Officer):**
*"Tube 1: Load *SUT-4*. Target lock *Trishul*—but do *not* arm. Let her see us breathing down her neck."*
**Weapons Officer:**
*"Locked! She'll see it on her ESM!"*
**Zayan:**
*"Provoking them?"*
**Rizwan:**
*"Reminding them we bite back. *Trishul*'s captain knows Pakistani subs carry wake-homing torpedoes. He'll back off."*
*Ping… Ping…* The sonar pulses slowed. The frigate's icon turned away.
**Sonar Chief:**
*"*Trishul* breaking pursuit! Bearing 320! Speed dropping!"*
**Rizwan (exhaling):**
*"All ahead slow. Depth 150 meters. Steer for the Omani thermal layer."*
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### **SCENE 3: SOPHIE'S SIGNAL**
**Location:** Communications Shack
**Aliza (voice urgent):**
*"Sophie's alive—and fighting! Intercepted a coded burst from Al-Zubair!"*
A garbled audio stream filled the compartment:
> *[Static] "…tell them I burned the *Atlas* sequence! Repeat—*Atlas* is ash! They get *nothing*! [Slap, scream]"*
**Aaliya (decoding):**
*"*Atlas*—Basilisk's genetic kill switch! She destroyed it!"*
**Azan:**
*"RAW won't kill her. Not yet. They'll torture her to rebuild it."*
**Zayan (to Rizwan):**
*"Can we cut 10 hours off this trip?"*
**Rizwan (studying charts):**
*"Only if we skirt Iranian waters. Their *Kilo*-class subs patrol here…"*
**Emad:**
*"Better Iranian depth charges than Sophie in pieces."*
**Rizwan (nodding):**
*"Helm—set course for *Hormuz Gate*. Flank speed!"*
The *Hangor* surged forward, vibrations humming through the deck.
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### **SCENE 4: STRAIT OF FIRE**
**Location:** Hormuz Strait, Depth 100m
**Sonar Chief:**
*"Contact! *Sindhughosh*-class sub—Iranian! Bearing 010! She's pinging!"*
**Rizwan:**
*"Launch countermeasures! Dive to 250 meters—*now*!"*
The sub plummeted. Crew staggered as gravity clutched them.
**Zayan (gripping a pipe):**
*"Can we outrun her?"*
**Rizwan:**
*"*Hangor*'s quieter, but she's got home-field advantage. Chief—play the tape."*
**Sonar Chief:**
*"Playing '*Whale Song #4*'…"*
Eerie, clicking frequencies flooded the sonar sphere. The Iranian sub hesitated.
**Aaliya:**
*"She thinks we're a sperm whale pod! Turning away!"*
**Rizwan (wiping sweat):**
*"Clear?"*
**Sonar Chief:**
*"Clear! Surfacing in Iraqi waters in 90 m—"*
***KER-THUNK!***
A metallic *scrape* echoed through the hull—followed by a sickening *crunch*.
**Damage Control (shouting):**
*"Mine cable! Port rudder snagged! We're dragging an Iranian *SADAF* moored mine!"*
Red emergency lights bathed the control room. The *Hangor* shuddered, yawing violently.
**Rizwan (barking):**
*"Emergency blow! Surface! All hands—brace for impact!"*
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### **SCENE 5: SURFACE RUN**
**Location:** Persian Gulf, 02:00 Hours
The *Hangor* exploded onto the surface, waves slamming her hull. A rusted sphere—the size of a small car—bobbed behind them, tethered by steel cables to their mangled rudder.
**Emad (peering through periscope):**
*"Mine's armed! Hydrostatic trigger—if we dive again, we die!"*
**Rizwan:**
*"Snipers—on deck! Shoot the cable!"*
Ubaid and Zayan burst onto the rain-lashed conning tower. Wind howled. Salt stung their eyes. Ubaid braced his Mk 18 against the railing.
**Zayan (spotting):**
*"Cable—20 meters starboard! Thick as your arm!"*
**Ubaid (sighting through scope):**
*"Wind 15 knots, left drift… Settling…"*
***CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!***
Armor-piercing rounds tore into the cable. On the third shot, it snapped. The mine drifted away, swallowed by darkness.
**Rizwan (over comms):**
*"Dive! Dive! Dive! Before *Trishul* finds us!"*
As the *Hangor* slid beneath the waves, Zayan watched Basra's refinery lights glitter on the horizon. Sophie Bruce was 3 miles away—and the clock had just run out.
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