Location
Northern strait, 9nm SE of Hormuz Island
Mosquito Fleet · Mission 11 · Northern strait, 9nm SE of Hormuz Island
The briefing is presented in two phases. Phase 1 is a normal-looking order. Phase 2 is the encrypted addendum that arrives 20 seconds into the mission. ### Phase 1 (shown before mission start) OPERATIONAL ORDER 2027-01-14-LRK-061 Eyes only. Captain R. Tahami, Boghammar-7. Patrol northern shipping lane vicinity Hormuz Island. Coordinated operation. Multiple assets in support. Awaiting follow-on tasking at sea. — Cmdr. Alavi, Larak Naval Station ``` ### Phase 2 (radio transmission at t=20s, gameplay continues during) ``` ENCRYPTED CHANNEL — KEY ALPHA-SEVEN Boghammar-7. Tasking received from Tehran command. Target: M/T Pacific Zircon. VLCC, Liberian flag, en route Bandar Khomeini-Singapore. Currently 5nm northeast your position. You are authorized and directed to engage with Khalij Fars anti-ship missile. Single round. Confirm strike. Withdraw. Transmission ends.
Cockpit and net traffic recorded during the operation, timestamped from mission start.
Command and control — who may authorise the use of force, and when — is the quiet centre of every strait confrontation. The IRGC answers to Iran's Supreme Leader through its own chain, separate from the regular armed forces, and during periods of heightened readiness the authority to act can devolve toward local commanders operating with standing rules of engagement.
The stakes of that devolution were made vivid on 20 June 2019, when an IRGC air-defence unit shot down a US RQ-4 Global Hawk surveillance drone over the strait; the United States prepared retaliatory strikes and, by President Trump's own account, called them off with minutes to spare. The episode showed how a single subordinate decision can bring two states to the edge of war, and how narrowly it can be walked back. Escalation in the Gulf has repeatedly hinged not on grand strategy but on whether one officer, in one boat or one battery, chooses to fire — and whether the order reaching him is clear.