**Location:** Valkyrie Dynamics (Bangalore) → Indus River Basin (Sindh: Thatta, Badin, Larkana, Tando Jam)
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### SCENE 1: THE BLUEPRINT OF DOOM
**Location:** Sub-Level 3 Server Farm, Valkyrie Dynamics, Bangalore
Smoke stung Zayan's eyes as he crouched behind a humming server rack, Emad covering their rear. Valkyrie's security forces were sweeping the corridor outside – stun batons crackling, bootsteps echoing. Aliza's voice was a frantic whisper in their earpieces.
**Aliza:** *"Zayan, the core server! Terminal 7B! Plug the drive NOW! I'm overriding the firewall!"*
**Zayan:** *"Covering fire, Emad!"*
**Emad (firing controlled bursts):** *"Make it fast, Captain! They're flanking!"*
Zayan lunged, slamming the data spike into the terminal. Aliza's code flooded the system. Schematics, emails, genetic sequences – a torrent of data flooded their encrypted feed.
**Zayan (scanning):** *"Aliza… what the hell is Project 'Basilisk'?"*
**Aliza (voice tight with horror):** *"It's not just a toxin… It's a *viral vector*. Bruce's Chagai work was the delivery system… Valkyrie provided the payload. Engineered from *Varanus komodoensis*… Komodo dragon DNA."*
**Emad:** *"Dragon? What does that—?"*
**Aliza:** *"Komodo dragons have potent anticoagulant and immunosuppressive properties in their saliva. Valkyrie weaponized it. Bruce spliced it into an airborne *virus*. Rapid onset hemorrhagic fever. Highly contagious. Mortality rate… 92% in primate trials."*
**Zayan:** *"Delivery?"*
**Aliza:** *"Aerosol… or liquid dispersal into water sources. Stable in freshwater for weeks. Zayan… there's a transport log. Bruce didn't just escape Sindh… He's *here*. In Pakistan. He has a canister labeled 'Aquifer Prime'."*
**Zayan (ice in his veins):** *"Target?"*
**Aliza:** *"Final entry: 'Riverine deployment maximizes dispersal. Target Acquired: Indus Headwaters.' He's going to poison the Indus, Zayan. Millions…"*
A grenade clattered into the server room.
**Emad:** *"OUT! NOW!"*
They dove through a maintenance hatch as the room erupted in shrapnel and flame, the stolen data their only weapon against annihilation.
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### SCENE 2: THE TRAITOR'S SIGNAL
**Location:** Safehouse Gamma, Islamabad (Hamza) & Moving Vehicle near Thatta, Sindh (Team Bravo)
**Hamza** watched the data stream on his secure terminal, the Basilisk schematics a grotesque masterpiece of bioweaponry. Azan stood beside him, face pale.
**Azan:** *"The Komodo properties… It would cause uncontrolled internal bleeding, organ failure. No known antidote. The Indus… It feeds half the country, Colonel."*
**Hamza (pounding his fist):** *"And Bruce has it. Where is Bravo?"*
In Sindh, Team Bravo's Hilux bounced violently down a mud track skirting the Indus Delta near **Thatta**. Mangroves choked the banks, the air thick with humidity and decay. Ubaid scanned the horizon, frustration etched on his face. Aaliya hunched over her terminal, fingers flying.
**Aaliya:** *"Another signal burst! Weak, encrypted… but pattern matches Bruce's earlier comms. Location: **Badin District**, grid K-42. Near the main irrigation canal junction!"*
**Salman (gripping the wheel):** *"That's 80 klicks south! He was just *here*!"*
**Jiya (leaning over Aaliya's shoulder):** *"Badin's flat farmland. Good for concealment, bad for ambush. Push hard."*
**Ubaid (coldly):** *"He moves too fast. Knows we're coming every time."*
**Azan:** *"Like he has a spotter…"*
Ubaid's gaze flicked to Jiya, then away. Suspicion coiled in his gut.
As they raced south, Jiya subtly palmed a micro-transmitter disguised as a button, tapping a rapid sequence.
*Tap-tap… Tap-tap-tap…*
A signal, weak and directional, pulsed towards Badin.
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### SCENE 3: GHOST IN THE CANALS
**Location:** Irrigation Network, Badin District
They found the abandoned van near the canal junction – a refrigeration unit humming pointlessly in the sweltering heat. Inside: empty racks that once held temperature-controlled canisters. A single vial lay shattered on the floor, its residue a sickly green.
**Azan (swabbing carefully):** *"Trace elements. Matches the Basilisk carrier medium. He was here. Minutes ago."*
**Aaliya:** *"Signal's gone. Vanished."*
**Salman (kicking the tire):** *"Damn it! Where does he go?!"*
Suddenly, Ubaid stiffened. He pointed his rifle towards a cluster of date palms near the water's edge. A small, waterproof transceiver blinked faintly, half-submerged in the mud.
**Ubaid:** *"Transmitter. Fresh. Deliberately left."*
**Aliza (over comms, patched in):** *"Analyzing signal pattern… It's a relay. Not Bruce's primary signature. This was planted *after* we arrived."*
**Ubaid (turning slowly to Jiya):** *"Who knew we were coming here, Agent 007? Who knew *exactly* where Aaliya's trace led?"*
**Jiya (meeting his gaze, unflinching):** *"You suspect me, Sniper? I've bled for Pakistan more than you know."*
**Aaliya (interrupting, frantic):** *"New signal! Stronger! **Larkana!** City outskirts, near the Rice Research Institute! It's him! Primary signature!"*
**Salman:** *"Larkana? That's north! Back the way we came! He's playing hopscotch!"*
**Ubaid (eyes locked on Jiya):** *"Or leading us on a chase. Move. But Jiya… ride with Azan."**
The unspoken command: *Watch her.*
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### SCENE 4: THE RICE PADDY DECOY
**Location:** Larkana Outskirts
Dust swirled as they skidded to a halt near the Institute's experimental rice paddies. The air shimmered with heat and the drone of insects. A figure in a lab coat darted between the flooded fields.
**Jiya:** *"Bruce! There!"*
**Salman:** *"I see him! Flanking left!"*
**Azan and Aaliya:** *"Right!"*
Ubaid sprinted forward, rifle up, weaving through the paddy banks. He closed in, tackling the figure into the murky water. The man sputtered, terrified – **a young Pakistani lab technician.**
**Technician (sobbing):** *"He paid me! Gave me this coat and this… this thing!"* He held up a small, blinking beacon – Bruce's signature emitter.
**Ubaid (hauling him up):** *"Where did he go?!"*
**Technician:** *"He… he said he had an appointment at the river port… **Tando Jam!** Said something about… 'the drop before sunset'!"*
Aliza's voice cut through, grim: *"Satellite thermal scan over Tando Jam river port. Single heat signature matching Bruce's profile… near a barge docked at Pier 3. And Ubaid… there's a large, cylindrical object on that barge. Size matches the Aquifer Prime canister."*
**Jiya (face impassive):** *"Tando Jam. 30 minutes. It ends there."*
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### SCENE 5: SUNSET AT THE PIER
**Location:** Indus River Port, Tando Jam
The dying sun bled orange across the wide expanse of the Indus as Team Bravo approached Pier 3 under cover of rusty shipping containers. The barge – an old, flat-decked vessel – was moored, seemingly deserted. The massive Aquifer Prime canister gleamed dully under the fading light, secured to the deck near an open valve leading directly into the river.
**Ubaid (scanning through scope):** *"No sign of Bruce. Canister is armed… valve actuator is active. Remote trigger?"*
**Aaliya:** *"Scanning for signals… nothing active. Manual override possible?"*
**Azan:** *"If we can get to it. But it's a trap. He's here."*
**Salman:** *"Covering the approach. Jiya, with me."*
As Salman and Jiya moved along the pier, a figure emerged from the bridgehouse shadows. **Dr. Cameron Bruce**, gaunt but eyes burning with fanatical intensity. He held a small detonator.
**Bruce (voice amplified, echoing):** *"Stop right there, Phantoms! One step closer, and I flood the Indus with salvation!"*
**Zayan (over comms, patched in from Bangalore extraction):** *"Bruce! This isn't salvation! It's genocide!"*
**Bruce:** *"Genocide? No, Captain Malik! *Cleansing*! This river carries the filth of millions! Disease, poverty, corruption! Basilisk will wash it clean! A reset! Only the strong will inherit!"*
**Ubaid (whispering):** *"I have a shot. Head. Clear."*
**Hamza (overriding comms, voice strained):** *"Negative, Ubaid! We need the deactivation code! He's the only one who knows it!"*
**Bruce (smiling grimly):** *"The Colonel is wise. The valve opens at sunset… unless I input the code. You need me alive."* He glanced at Jiya. *"Don't I, 'Jiya'?"*
Jiya stepped forward, away from Salman, her pistol lowering slightly.
**Salman:** *"Jiya? What are you doing?"*
**Jiya (ignoring Salman, looking at Bruce):** *"The deal was extraction *after* the drop, Doctor. RAW promised you sanctuary."*
**Bruce:** *"Plans change. I want guarantees *before* I finish this. These Phantoms are persistent."*
**Ubaid (scope fixed on Jiya's head):** *"Traitor confirmed."*
Bruce raised the detonator. *"Tick-tock, Phantoms. Sunset… now."*
The last sliver of sun dipped below the horizon. Bruce's thumb hovered over the button. The massive valve on the canister began to creak open.
**Azan:** *"He's releasing it!"*
**Ubaid:** *"Salman! Stop the valve! Jiya is mine!"*
**Salman** lunged towards the canister.
**Jiya** raised her pistol – not at Bruce, but towards Salman's back.
**Ubaid's finger tightened on the trigger.**
The river port exploded into chaos as the first trickle of greenish liquid seeped into the sacred Indus.
**(Chapter 5 End)**
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