Zhang Peng operated the J-15S, retracting the arresting hook as the wings folded and the canopy slowly opened. Liu Jun in the back seat finally took a break, loosening his helmet and taking a deep breath of the air flowing in from outside.
Besides the familiar scent of the sea, the air carried the smells of engine oil and burned aviation fuel. Ground crew members bustled about on the catwalk, directing aircraft landings and takeoffs.
After setting up a ladder, a ground crew member climbed up and leaned beside the cockpit, looking at Liu Jun with concern as he asked urgently, "Are you okay? Do you feel uncomfortable anywhere?"
"I'm fine. Everything's normal. I can get down myself."
"Same here." Zhang Peng, seated in the front, also indicated that he needed no help.
Compared with the two pilots in aircraft 140, who had exhausted all their energy and strength, they were much more relaxed. One had an enhanced physique, while the other had spent the entire fierce battle "sleeping like a baby," so the return flight had not cost them much stamina.
Liu Jun climbed down the ladder, removed his helmet, and looked back at aircraft 139. Compared with how spotless it had been before departure, it was now weathered and dusty. The area around the cannon fairing had once again been blackened by exhaust fumes, like a pretty young girl with a bit of dirt on her face—slightly mischievous.
A tractor towed the J-15S away, clearing the deck for other J-15s to land. Liu Jun looked toward the Sky Pit. In the sky, he could vaguely make out pixel-like dots reflecting rainbow-colored light. He narrowed his eyes slightly, like a sniper preparing to fire.
At that moment, Zhang Peng walked over and patted him on the shoulder. There was no need for words between men—their performance in this battle had been good.
"Master, were they really aliens?"
As the pilot who had dogfought unidentified aircraft at close range and successfully shot down three of them, Zhang Peng had clearly seen all sorts of details: glassy unknown-material skin, a rear propulsion system based on unknown principles, and onboard weapons that appeared to be energy weapons. Nothing about them resembled human technology. Even their design philosophy was completely incompatible.
"I don't know. Maybe."
Zhang Peng also felt that those aircraft did not seem to be creations of Earth. The creations of a civilization had continuity; the things it made would more or less conform to the aesthetic preferences of that civilization's members.
"Let's go."
As they entered the Island, they ran straight into the squadron commander, who had been waiting for them. When he saw Zhang Peng, he raised an eyebrow and looked him up and down as though meeting him for the first time. "Not bad, Old Zhang! Didn't expect you to be so capable. You shot down three!"
"Shot down three? Me?" Zhang Peng stared at the squadron commander in astonishment.
Only after a moment did he realize that all three unidentified aircraft had been shot down by aircraft 139. But he had been unconscious from G-forces the entire time. Realizing this, he turned to look at his apprentice, studying Liu Jun with a strange expression as though getting to know him all over again.
"If it wasn't you, then who was it?" The squadron commander looked at the unusually acting Zhang Peng, followed his gaze, and finally locked onto Liu Jun.
"My apprentice." Zhang Peng would not claim someone else's credit. If he had been unconscious, then Liu Jun must have done it.
"Him?" The squadron commander looked at Liu Jun with uncertainty. Through the battlefield recordings transmitted by the WZ7, they had seen how the J-15S had shot down the three aircraft. Its technique could only be described as superb—decisive, without the slightest hesitation.
"Comrade Liu Jun, well done!"
The squadron commander silently gave Liu Jun his approval. Being able to shoot down enemy aircraft in actual combat meant Liu Jun had effectively passed his final evaluation. At that moment, he was no longer merely a trainee. Even if he technically still was, he soon would not be.
"It was thanks to my teammates' cover," Liu Jun said calmly.
"No need to be modest." The squadron commander reached out and patted Liu Jun on the shoulder. He could tell Liu Jun genuinely thought it was nothing, rather than proudly sticking his chest out.
"So what do we do next?" Zhang Peng asked quietly beside the squadron commander.
"Rendezvous with the Charles de Gaulle, then return home first," the squadron commander said, relaying the deployment he knew of.
The enemy had already appeared. Without detailed intelligence, their superiors would not let the Liaoning Carrier Strike Group take risks. The Carl Vinson Carrier Strike Group had already set an example.
At the same time, several satellites high above the Western Pacific were watching the area closely. The surveillance satellites in particular had witnessed the entire battle.
Out on the ocean, the Carl Vinson, having escaped the range of the "bees'" stings, moved slowly toward Hawaii at twenty knots.
Under the all-out efforts of the damage control department, the fire on the flight deck was finally extinguished. However, the flight deck had also lost its ability to launch and recover carrier-based aircraft.
Not a single carrier-based aircraft that had taken off returned. Most had been shot down by the unidentified aircraft; those that had not been shot down could not be guided back either. The ship's electrical systems had failed, and the AC generators had gone offline. Once the carrier-based aircraft ran out of fuel, they would plunge straight into the sea.
The damage control personnel who had successfully put out the fire sat dejectedly on the flight deck, looking at the utter mess. Plastic bugs burned down to mere skeletal frames lay limp across the deck. The ammunition elevator had been twisted and deformed by sympathetic ammunition explosions. Several damage control personnel in yellow vests lay motionless on the deck, while even more yellow vests had been blown straight into the sea, MIA.
Inside the carrier, smoke from the fires had suffocated many crew members who had failed to evacuate in time. The surviving crew were placing their fallen comrades into body bags. The densely arranged corpses further crushed morale; not a single sailor wore a smile.
Inside the combat information center, the captain responsible for commanding the battle wore a bitter smile as he looked over the preliminary loss report. Ninety percent of the carrier-based aircraft had been lost. There were 267 crew casualties and 25 missing. Whether those severely wounded could hold on until Hawaii was another question. The casualty count would only continue to rise.
Dozens of nautical miles away, the escort vessels that had not yet sunk were gathering surviving crew members. Some sailors stared fearfully at the Sky Pit in the sky. They no longer had the courage to face those terrifying enemies again. They only wanted to go home.
"Mr. President, we've run into... trouble."
At the Pentagon, inside the oval presidential office, the Secretary of Defense and several other senior officials wore grim expressions as they collectively held a hat called "the blame," ready to place it on the president's head.
America's national strength had already been steadily declining, while its governing capacity and state capacity kept hitting new lows. It had relied entirely on this military force from the 1980s to hold things together. But today, the invincible supercarrier strike group had suffered its Waterloo. Even if the enemy did not seem to be from Earth, the myth had been shattered—the myth of being unbeatable.
After all, in American movies, they were always beating up aliens.
"The Carl Vinson Carrier Strike Group has suffered a devastating blow!"
"How much... was lost?"
"Everything! America is facing a grave challenge. We need you to address the nation immediately!"
The white-haired president's previously animated expression instantly became vacant again. He seemed not to have heard what the other man had said clearly, but inside, he was already cursing to high heaven.
God! Can't you just let me retire in peace?
Before you continue