Chapter 16: The war begins.....

The air was electric with tension as the moon hung high above, casting an ethereal glow over the abandoned industrial zone where the final showdown was about to unfold. Aarohi, her wound still fresh but bandaged, stood at the heart of the operation. The war room map, once a distant strategy on paper, now lived and breathed around her. The stacks of containers, the dock cranes looming like giants, and the rhythmic lapping of waves against the pier—all were pieces on her board.

Ivan stepped up beside her, his jaw tight with determination. “Our scouts report Greco’s men are concentrated near the main storage facility. They’ve fortified it heavily, but we’ve got the element of surprise.”

“And they won’t see us coming,” Aarohi replied, her voice cold and resolute. She tightened her grip on the modified pistol in her hand, her other hand brushing against the locket hidden beneath her combat vest—a silent reminder of everything she was fighting for.