Operation Deep Strike Read online

  Pasha cursed behind him. “What does that Zia think of himself? He is not fit to wipe Malik’s shoes and now he is acting as if he is the leader of our group.”

  Shafiq chuckled wryly. “He seems to have forgotten that only a few minutes ago, he was against doing any training. And now he is ordering everyone around. I wish Malik throws him down the mountain.”

  Pasha said, “Malik won’t do that. He has a lot of tolerance for Zia.”

  “Why is that?” Shafiq was curious. Shafiq had joined the group much later than Zia and Pasha.

  “Zia’s father and brothers fought alongside Malik. They were close friends. They would have wanted Malik to mentor Zia. It’s a debt of blood.”

  “But Zia is a crazy demented fool.” Shafiq said.

  “Yes, but Malik knows that even a crazy person like Zia has his uses. In our previous mission, he charged blindly at the enemy and killed many of them. I was surprised Zia didn’t get himself killed; he got away with a minor bullet wound. It looks like he’s got a death wish, and was disappointed he didn’t die.”

  Shafiq thought about it. Zia had no one to live for. Malik was channelling Zia’s suicidal tendency into an asset for their group.

  Pasha echoed his thoughts. “Malik is smarter than he looks. His focus is not Zia, but our mission. He will put up with Zia’s eccentricities and use him to his advantage.”

  “We will rest here for five minutes.” They heard Malik’s command up ahead. They had reached a wide terrace on the side of the hill. The goat trail ended here and the summit was another two hundred meters of moderate climb. Malik beckoned Zia. “Zia, tie this cloth to that tree there.” He pointed to a barren tree, its leaves shorn off and the tree appeared naked without the greenery to clothe it. Zia climbed the tree and tied the cloth made out of their tent canvas to one of the branches. He clambered down smiling with self-importance.

  Pasha looked at Shafiq, “You see what I mean.”

  Shafiq sat on a rock and by force of habit disassembled and reassembled his gun. He flipped the safety lock on and off. He could do this in his sleep, he mused inwardly.

  The few minutes of rest passed quickly and they resumed their climb to the top. Thirty minutes later they were on a rocky plateau that marked the summit of the mountain. They could see for miles around. Shafiq looked down at their camp, and its brown tents were invisible against the ground. There were few clouds around and the sky was a light shade of blue. The wind had picked up and it was welcoming after the exhausting hike. Shafiq inhaled deeply feeling the cold wind inside his lungs. It felt wonderful.

  “You Shafiq,” he heard Zia’s belligerent tone behind him. “Stop loitering around and help us unload the RPGs.”

  Shafiq gritted his teeth in disgust. He turned around and saw Zia scowling at him. How dare this fool tell me what to do? He clenched his knuckles tightly to prevent himself from bashing Zia in the face. It would be unwise. Malik wouldn’t be happy if there was infighting within the group. He glanced at Malik who made an imperceptible nod.

  Shafiq thought about it. It wasn’t worth picking up a fight with a scum like Zia. He relaxed his fists and walked past Zia without speaking a word.

  “That’s better. Now move it, you lazy slob.” Zia said

  Shafiq’s ears turned hot with fury at the words. He bristled at the remark. He turned around and was about to say something when Malik beckoned him.

  “Shafiq, can you come here? I need your help.”

  Shafiq walked sideways, glaring at Zia. Zia smiled back at him, revealing a set of crooked teeth. Shafiq forced his gaze away, anger surging within him at the humiliation. He was an obedient soldier, and didn’t deserve this treatment.

  He walked up to Malik and said, “Brother, did you see how –”

  Malik interrupted, “I saw everything. You weren’t helping our brothers. Zia rightfully called upon you to help.”

  “But –”

  “I don’t want to hear anything further on this topic. Now,” Malik gestured at the crate in front of him, “distribute two RPGs to each person.”

  “Yes, Malik.” Shafiq replied in a subdued voice. He proceeded to pick up the RPG-7s and hand it over to the waiting men.

  Malik walked over to the front of the group and waited till the launchers were distributed. “Now brothers, you can see the terrace below where we tied a marker to the tree.” He pointed to the brown canvas cloth that was fluttering in the breeze. “That will be our target.”

  Malik walked around as the men looked at their target halfway down the mountainside. “At this height, when you fire, you have to take into account the speed and direction of the wind too. Pasha, you can try first.”

  Pasha took aim and fired. It missed the tree by only a couple of metres.

  Malik nodded appreciatively. “That’s good, but we have to become better. Hafeez, your turn.”

  Shafiq watched as one by one the men tried to aim and knock down the target. He was still fuming at the unfair treatment given out by Malik. It looked like Malik favoured Zia more than anyone else in their group.

  Shafiq felt someone’s eyes upon him. He looked sideways and found Zia looking at him. Zia’s gaze was malevolent.

  Chapter 9

  “All right, here's the mission overview.” Armaan said.

  Roshan looked around the room. They were stationed in one of the numerous rundown motels that were littered alongside the N10. They had passed themselves as tourists from Karachi and the proprietor hadn't given them a second glance. Armaan had paid in cash, and the proprietor had handed him the keys and gone back to read his newspaper.

  The walls of their room were frayed out and the paint peeled off at the corners. Some of the windows were broken and dust had laden on the tables and chairs. The room didn't look like it had been used in a while.

  But Roshan liked it. It was isolated, and a little way down from the highway. Armaan had pointed at it as they drove east to an undisclosed location. So far, they only knew the outline of their mission. They had to infiltrate a top-secret facility. Only Armaan as the group leader knew the specifics and as per protocol he would reveal it only after reaching Pakistan. This place would be their base point. Armaan had grouped them around the table and Roshan and the others leaned forward in curiosity and anticipation.

  “Have you boys heard of the Babur-3 missile?” Armaan looked around the table.

  Roshan found the name familiar from his study of Pakistani military assets, but couldn't place it. Hitesh the analyst spoke up. “I am aware of it. Babur-3 is the submarine version of their land based cruise missile Babur-2. It is capable of carrying both conventional and nuclear warheads. With the induction of the Babur-3 missiles, and the submarines that will come from China, Pakistan will be able to complete its nuclear triad.”

  Armaan nodded. “Our target is to neutralize the Submarine-Launched Cruise Missiles. The SLCMs are a significant adversary to our Ballistic Missile Defence program. Our job is to locate them and render them ineffective.”

  Baldev gave a knowing look. “Ormara?” He asked.

  Armaan nodded and then pressed a key on his laptop. The far end of the wall was lit aglow projecting the image from the laptop screen on to the wall. He pressed a few keys on the laptop and the image on the wall focused itself into a map filled with brown and blue representing a land close to the sea.

  “Gentlemen, welcome to the sleepy coastal village of Ormara. Also home to the Jinnah Naval base. Right now we are around ten minutes drive from the naval base. Our Intel indicates that the Babur-3 missiles were inducted in the Agosta-class subs after their tests. And the inventory of the missiles are stocked somewhere on the base. Our job is to neutralize the cruise missiles by reprogramming them.”

  Baldev interjected. “Why don’t we simply destroy them?”

  “The orders come directly from the General. He wants to neutralize the weapons without making the Pakistanis aware of it. We will reprogram the missiles in such a way that the missiles will still work a
s described. The only difference is that once the missile is in mid-air, the online system will shut down turning the missile into a dud.”

  “How will we hack these missiles?”

  “Using this.” Armaan held out a small thumb-sized device. “This was created by the DRDO. We cannot hack the missiles from outside. We will have to be inside their military network to do this. First, we have to access the launch systems from inside one of their submarines and install a kill switch. The kill switch program will propagate through the network to the other subs. Next, we will need physical access to the missiles itself to sync the kill switch.”

  Hitesh interrupted. “So let me get this straight. We will force our way through a heavily guarded naval base. Enter inside a submarine, tell the crew to excuse us for a few minutes and hack the missile controls?”

  Armaan smirked. This guy is a greenhorn analyst, not a fighter. “That's about right.” He said.

  “But how? The Pakistanis will see us from a mile away and capture us. It's impossible to succeed.”

  “It's impossible which is why I have been entrusted with this mission.” Armaan paused. “And I intend to succeed.”

  “So how do you propose we infiltrate the naval base?”

  “I studied the layout of the naval base. And you should too.” Armaan turned to the wall and pointed at the satellite image. “Take a close look at the Jinnah naval base. The location was strategically selected by the Pakistan Navy.”

  The satellite map of the naval base represented a coastline with an inverted T landmass jutting out perpendicularly into the sea. Armaan zoomed in the image and the details became clearer.

  “The Jinnah naval base looks like an upside down pick-axe. It is surrounded by sea on two sides. If you look closely you will see the southern end is horizontal and is actually a mountain. Its name is Hammer Head Mountain. On the eastern side you will see the docks of the naval base. The Hammer Head Mountain acts as a natural shield against hostile attacks. During the 1971 war, the Indian Navy launched Operation Trident and attacked the Karachi port and sank two ships and set fire to the entire port. It was a humiliating defeat for the Pakistan Navy. After that incident, the Pakistani naval brass realized that their entire Navy was located at only one port with no redundancies. To avoid this, they expanded their naval bases at other locations like Ormara and Turbat. The advantage at Ormara is that the mountain will protect the base from any kind of Trident-like operation in the future.”

  Armaan zoomed in the map further. It now focused on the eastern side that housed the Jinnah naval base and the outline of the docks could be seen clearly. “Now I would like to show you something interesting. Next to the naval base you can see the base of the mountain extending underwater into the sea. Do you see anything unnatural under the sea?”

  “Eh. What's that?” Roshan heard Hitesh saying.

  Roshan peered closely at the image and suddenly he realized what Hitesh was referring to. Just off the facility, the base of the mountain under the sea appeared to be dug in a direction towards the docks. The canal-like feature ended into a kilometre long wall constructed on the sea bed.

  Roshan hesitated. “Is that a man-made structure under the water?”

  Armaan nodded sombrely. “That is the entrance to an underground submarine pen. Our Pakistani friends have dug tunnels under the mountain to house their submarines without anyone coming to know of it. I wouldn't be surprised if the Chinese helped them with this. China has its own underground secret naval base at Hainan Island. Knowing the close ties between the Pakistanis and the Chinese, they would have shared their technical knowhow for creating them. My guess is that they are building submarines in there with Chinese help.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “We will find out in a few hours.”

  “Pull to the side.” Armaan instructed.

  They had passed Ormara and continued east for another four kilometres. Armaan wanted to make sure that they were well out of sight of anyone questioning them loitering near the base. He had seen a cluster of buildings and decided that it was a good place to park the vehicle.

  Baldev slowed down to a stop next to one of the buildings and turned off the engine. “I am ready.” He said.

  “Good.” Armaan said. “Time for a radio check.” He twisted his earpiece and spoke. “Markhor Three and Four, we are at infil zone. Do you copy?”

  Hitesh and Roshan were at the hotel and would provide technical assistance during the op. They were on a secure satellite relay that could work from anywhere in the world.

  Hitesh's voice came through loud and clear. “Copy that. Markhor One.”

  “Excellent. We will be at the base in sixty minutes. Request radio silence till then.”

  Armaan then turned towards Baldev. “Time for an equipment check.”

  Armaan quickly went through the list of items they were carrying.

  He had FN F2000 Assault Rifles, Glock 17 pistols, serrated blades inserted inside a hidden lining in his boots, underwater diving equipment, and a waterproof rucksack that contained a laptop, clothes and spare magazines. They checked off the items one by one. Once he was satisfied, they got out of the vehicle. Armaan's eyes roved along the length of the road.

  “Let’s move.” he said.

  They passed by the buildings and continued towards the shore. It was rocky with dense foliage everywhere. They sprinted silently through the trees till they eventually reached the end of the clearing. The shore was right upon them. They donned their underwater suits and plunged into the water.

  As the water engulfed him, Armaan felt his heart thudding through his suit. No matter how much field experience he had, no matter how many missions he had led from the front, the fear never went away. It was always there waiting for him to submit to it. But Armaan was aware of one thing. He dreaded the fear within himself more than the fear of the enemy. The enemy couldn't scare him until he succumbed to his internal fear. It was a daily fight that he fought and won every day, refusing to yield to the stress and overwhelm of his assignments. It were these qualities that made him achieve near-impossible missions.

  They swam underwater keeping to the seabed as much as possible. The cobalt blue sea was clear and the visibility was good under the water. They swam among the fishes that zigzagged away as they approached.

  A few minutes later, Armaan saw Baldev point ahead. The base was closer now. He had traversed half of the distance. There was only one ship berthed at the dock. Its hull was visible under the water. And next to it he could see a yawning black rectangle under the sea.

  The entrance to the underground submarine pen. Our Intel was right.

  Armaan stayed close to the seabed and made his way to the rectangular tunnel that was shrouded in darkness. He nodded at Baldev and then entered the pitch-black tunnel.

  Armaan felt as if he was swimming blind. The tunnel seemed to stretch out for ever. He tried to take slow conscious breaths to prevent himself from getting panicked by the darkness. A few seconds later he could discern a faint light. After two hundred metres, the ceiling was lit by halogen lights spaced at regular intervals. He kept swimming till the tunnel opened in a huge cavernous opening.

  Armaan stopped under the water and glanced at Baldev behind him. He pointed upwards with his index finger. Baldev nodded. They slowly rose to the surface. Once they broke the surface, Armaan looked around. The inside was unlike anything he had ever seen before. The place was huge. It was larger than two cricket stadiums placed side by side. The ceiling high over their head was lit up by hundreds of lights that illuminated the place brightly. The walls were painted white and a wharf-like structure outlined all four sides where it joined the water. There were five different docks parallel to each other and on four of them lay hulls of half-finished submarines. At least fifty people were working on each dock. Most of them were construction workers in beige uniforms. A few Navy officers distinguished by their white uniforms gave orders to them. The fifth dock housed a familiar submarine, the PNS
Khalid. Maintenance crews surrounded it and a couple of officers supervised them.

  Baldev took off his breathing apparatus and took in the scene. “Wow! This place is buzzing with activity.”

  “I can see that.”

  “You were right on the money. They are indeed constructing subs in here.”

  “Yes. The implications are disturbing. I wonder what will the General make of this.” Armaan pressed a finger in his earpiece. “Three and Four, are you receiving the video feed?”

  Attached to Armaan’s collar button was a miniature camera, not unlike a mobile phone camera, but many times powerful. It was providing a live video via satellite relay to Hitesh and Roshan in the hotel.

  “We are receiving the feed.” Hitesh’s voice came into his ear. “I assume our target is the PNS Khalid.”

  “You assume correctly. We are going to get into the sub and check out their missile systems.”

  “But, how are we going to get past all these people unnoticed?” Baldev asked.

  “We can't. So we improvise.” Armaan said.

  “How?”

  “We do the opposite. We draw attention to ourselves.”

  Chapter 10

  They moved to one end of the underground dock, far away from the bright lights in the centre. They unzipped their swimsuits in the relative darkness. Armaan opened his rucksack and pulled out the clothes and started donning them. Next to him, Baldev did the same. After wearing the clothes, he reached inside the rucksack and pulled out an officer's cap. They both now looked like officers of the Pakistan Navy.

  Armaan made final touches to his uniform. “The IDs are in the pocket. I am a Commander and you are my Lieutenant.” He pointed to the insignia on his shoulder that represented three golden stripes and a circle against a navy blue background. “Follow my lead and don't make any mistakes.”

  “I never do.”

  “Put the Assault Rifles in the rucksack. This is a delicate mission and we won't need them. We will keep the Glocks with us. Tie the rucksack to the post there and submerge it under the water. We don't want anyone inadvertently spotting our stuff.”