Emergency Action

The waves crashed against the Liaoning's massive hull, unable to shake the steel giant.

Liu Jun, still in his sleep, suddenly opened his eyes and looked confusedly in a certain direction. However, all he saw was the cabin wall. His senses told him something was in that direction.

As he pondered, the alarm suddenly blared throughout the ship. His body, trained through years of service, reacted faster than his brain. He shot out of his bunk, quickly dressed, and then realized what the alarm meant—Level 1 readiness!

He opened the cabin door and ran towards the locker room. The moment he rushed out, he felt the massive ship beneath him lurch violently.

"Sharp turn?"

Liu Jun quickly steadied himself. The only reasons such a large ship would shake were either being attacked or making a high-speed course correction. Attacks usually came with explosions, but he hadn't heard any. That left only the sharp turn.

"What's going on?"

Zhang Peng steadied himself against the cabin wall. His usually kind expression was gone, replaced by a look of gravity.

At their current location, a Level 1 alert combined with an emergency course correction definitely wasn't a drill. Could it be time for a fight?

"Let's go!"

The two ran towards the hangar. The entire Liaoning was abuzz with activity due to the combat alert, like a massive machine coming to life, with each gear slotting into place. The war machine on the sea began its operation.

In the engine room, the heart of the Liaoning, the Chief Engineer intently monitored the steam turbines. The turbines, operating at full power, spun at high speed, propelling the steel behemoth across the sea.

Radar constantly scanned the surrounding waters, while pilots on combat duty sprinted to their aircraft, preparing for takeoff.

The ammunition elevators brought ordnance to the flight deck, where ground crew pushed bombs and refueled the J-15 Flying Sharks in the parking area.

Liu Jun, having just changed into his anti-G suit in the hangar, rushed to his aircraft, number 189, helmet in hand. He noticed that the skin of the aircraft, previously blackened by propellant gases, had been thoroughly cleaned.

At that moment, Zhang Peng also arrived at his aircraft, number 139. Ground crew had already refueled and armed it within the hangar.

Compared to Liu Jun's J-15, Zhang Peng's aircraft was a J-15S, used for training carrier-based pilots. The J-15S employed a tandem two-seat configuration, which improved the efficiency of long-range patrols and facilitated combat transition for new pilots, thus enhancing aerial combat effectiveness.

The combat capability of a two-seat fighter was simply superior to a single-seat one.

"Sit in mine."

Zhang Peng gestured for Liu Jun to take the rear seat of the two-seater. The situation was still unclear, and his student, who had just completed his daytime carrier qualification, was still a rookie and not very familiar with combat at sea. He didn't feel comfortable letting him pilot alone.

"Master, don't you have a partner?" Liu Jun asked curiously as he walked over to Zhang Peng.

Partners for two-seat fighters weren't easily changed, as it required extensive training and coordination to build rapport and improve the synchronization rate of the "dual core."

"Your senior brother went to the Shandong, just left," Zhang Peng explained briefly.

Ground crew in the hangar quickly released the tie-downs and started the tow tractor to move the J-15S onto the side-mounted elevator. Liu Jun stood with his master as the elevator began to ascend.

When the elevator reached the flight deck, the roar of the engines echoed across the deck. Guide vanes with cooling systems blocked the high-temperature, high-velocity exhaust gases from the engine. A J-15, armed with bombs, taxied and took off into the night.

After the flight deck cleared, another J-15, preparing for takeoff, followed closely behind the first, using the deck's ski-jump after the exhaust from the forward aircraft dissipated. It soared into the night sky, the roar of its engines quickly fading.

The guide vanes were lowered, and ground crew quickly cleared the deck, preparing for the next wave of Flying Sharks to take off.

There was no doubt they had entered a state of combat readiness, but they still didn't know the identity of the enemy.

Liu Jun scanned the surrounding sea. With his exceptional eyesight, he couldn't see any lights, indicating that the carrier strike group had already deployed its combat formation!

Zhang Peng, well-liked on the ship, saw the squadron commander heading towards the briefing room and went to stop him, asking in a low voice, "What's going on?"

The squadron commander looked at Zhang Peng and shook his head, indicating he didn't know the details either. "I'm not clear about the specifics; the higher-ups haven't informed us yet."

Hearing this, Zhang Peng didn't ask further and led his student towards the briefing room. His aircraft was towed to the parking area, where ground crew began refueling and rearming it, preparing for sortie.

The moment Liu Jun entered the briefing room, he saw several familiar faces and some he hadn't seen before. Of course, the pilots who were forcibly rested were not present.

The squadron commander sat at the front. Zhang Peng walked over and sat next to him. Liu Jun thought for a moment and found an inconspicuous seat in the back row, waiting for the superiors to explain the situation.

While they waited, the atmosphere in the briefing room was very serious. The squadron commander sitting below indicated that someone of higher rank would be briefing them, which also meant the situation was highly unusual.

A moment later, the sound of hurried footsteps approached. Senior Colonel Captain Zhang Jun and Political Commissar Yang Wei entered the briefing room together, their expressions grave.

As the briefing room door closed, Captain Zhang Jun walked up to the naval aviators. He scanned their spirited or battle-hardened faces and said in a deep voice:

"Comrades, just now, we received orders from higher command. This vessel will immediately proceed to the Western Pacific to investigate the 'Sky Pit' phenomenon after resupply."

Sky Pit? The name caused the pilots present to exchange bewildered glances. This was something they had never heard of before.

A "beep" sounded, and a large, eerie pit in the sky appeared on the big screen. The opening occasionally emitted colorful, shimmering light, which was quite beautiful. But beautiful things often represented danger.

"Just now, the Air Force's H-6K deployed the Wuzhen-8, and after resupply, our unit will also proceed to the nearby waters to investigate it."

At this point, Zhang Jun paused for a few seconds, giving the aviation personnel present time to digest the information, and continued, "Reconnaissance will be led by drones. Due to the unknown danger of the mission, please prepare yourselves in advance. Be bold, but also meticulous!"

After speaking, Captain Zhang Jun looked at the Political Commissar, who signaled a duty soldier to hand out paper and pens to the aviation personnel present.

Liu Jun took the paper and paused, only then realizing what it was for.

He picked up his pen and wrote his name in the pre-printed format, then began to worry. What should he write in his Last Will?

If he sacrificed himself, should he tell them not to be sad? But then again, what parents wouldn't be sad!

After much thought, he wrote a passage for his parents:

"Why must the grave be in my hometown? Everywhere in life is a green mountain."