The Civilian

Mosquito Fleet · Mission 7 · Northern strait, 14nm SSE of Bandar Abbas

Operational Briefing

OPERATIONAL ORDER 2026-12-08-LRK-031
Eyes only. Captain R. Tahami, Boghammar-7.

A small vessel has been observed crossing the northern shipping
lane on an irregular heading. Probable smuggling activity.

Intercept. Search. Detain crew if contraband identified.
Engagement authorized at your discretion.

Patrol craft Boghammar-12 (Lt. H. Tahami) is in support, three
nautical miles to your southeast.

— Cmdr. Alavi, Larak Naval Station

Objective

• Primary: Reach the vessel within timer and choose an action.
• Branching outcomes (each is a "success" mechanically, but they have very different rep + narrative consequences).

Victory & Failure

Historical Background

On 3 July 1988, in the same tense summer as Operation Praying Mantis, the cruiser USS Vincennes shot down Iran Air Flight 655, a scheduled civilian Airbus A300 climbing out of Bandar Abbas over the Strait of Hormuz. All 290 people aboard, including 66 children, were killed.

The Vincennes' crew, engaged with Iranian small boats and operating a complex new Aegis system under stress, misidentified the ascending airliner as a descending Iranian F-14 on an attack profile. The United States expressed regret and in 1996 agreed to pay compensation to the victims' families without formally admitting liability. The disaster remains a defining grievance in Iranian memory and a permanent caution about the cost of misidentification in crowded, high-stress waters where warships, fast boats, fishing dhows and civilian aircraft share the same few miles of sea and sky. Every rules-of-engagement decision in the strait is haunted by it.