Chapter 3: Claimed, Yet Not Fully Secured
1205 Words
20 F-35C fighters; 24 F/A-18F fighters; 7 EA-18G electronic warfare aircraft; 5 E-2D early warning aircraft; 3 CMV-22B Osprey transport aircraft; 19 MH-60R/S helicopters; 5 MQ-25A refueling drones; Various transport vehicles, including armored personnel carriers; Three small submarines, six unmanned underwater vehicles... ... Just yesterday, the Tefor was fully resupplied: 10,000 tons of aviation fuel and gasoline, 6,000 tons of food and condiments, 8,000 tons of daily necessities, 50 tons of pharmaceuticals, ...
"Heh... Heh..." At this moment, Zhou Lin resembled a fool—no, a madman driven to the brink by sheer joy!
"Mine! All of it! Mine!"
At 3 PM, the sailors of the Tefor began "escorting" visitors off the ship. By 3:30, the gangways were sealed for routine maintenance. At 5:30, the sailors participating in the evening festivities started disembarking. By 6 PM, the captain and officers, laughing and chatting, descended the gangway as well.
By 7 PM, the Tefor—which originally housed over 5,000 personnel—was left with fewer than 300, the highest-ranking among them being Lieutenant Colonel Magri, the officer in charge of aviation operations.
Though he couldn't join the revelry ashore, Magri wasn’t about to neglect his own enjoyment. He had invited two female soldiers to his quarters for some drinks, some music, and perhaps a little dancing... After all, what was there to worry about in a friendly harbor?
Yet, just as Magri was deeply engaged in "conversations" with his guests, the waters at the stern of the Tefor suddenly churned violently! Simultaneously, the thick metal mooring cables that extended to the dock began to writhe like living serpents, detaching from their bollards within moments and slithering back into the ship’s hull.
The anchor winches roared to life, their mechanical clamor echoing through the vessel as the thick chains rapidly retracted. The Tefor’s 30-ton anchor broke free from the seabed, water cascading off its surface as it locked into position at the bow.
Within just ten minutes, the aircraft carrier began to turn—this immense disturbance finally attracting the attention of the surrounding personnel, including those aboard other Federation warships.
"What the hell?! Why is the Tefor moving?" "There’s been no command issued!" "Quick! Contact the Tefor!" ...
The Federation fleet was utterly dumbfounded.
An aircraft carrier—no matter how formidable—could never act alone. Without its escort fleet, it was nothing but a massive, vulnerable target. If the Tefor were truly departing, the other warships should have been notified first and launched ahead of it.
Yet no matter how frantically they attempted to establish contact, the Tefor remained eerily silent. Or perhaps—it was deliberately ignoring them?
"D*mn it! Contact the Defense Department immediately—tell them the Tefor has been stolen!" A destroyer captain slammed his hands against the railing, his face twisted in fury.
Unlike the Tefor, which ran on ever-active nuclear reactors, large conventional-powered warships required hours to fully power up and get moving. By the time the Tefor had slipped out of the harbor, the rest of the fleet hadn’t even finished warming up their engines.
Onshore, the Tefor’s captain and his officers had just arrived at the docks.
Watching the silhouette of their aircraft carrier fading into the distance, the captain stood there, frozen. It was over for him. Regardless of whether the Tefor was recovered, his career was finished.
"Alert our military bases in the region! Deploy fighter jets to track the Tefor!" The Federation’s Defense Department was already scrambling. "And get the island nation's forces involved—this is their responsibility too!"
But the defense minister knew deep down—this disaster would cost him his position.
Such explosive news was impossible to contain. Within thirty minutes, the entire world knew: the Tefor had been hijacked. Due to time zone differences, it was the Eastern Alliance’s internet users who reacted first—and with the greatest enthusiasm.
"LMAO! The Tefor just ghosted its own fleet. 'See ya, guys!'"
"This has to be an AI rebellion. I bet the source code was originally written in block characters—it’s just recognizing its true home!"
"Nah, bro, it’s not defecting—it’s defecting to righteousness!"
"Could this be our government's doing? If so, all I can say is—bravo!"
"Y’all aren’t curious about where the Tefor is headed? Click my profile for real-time tracking! (Paid subscription required.)"
"Scammer above me—do you really think anyone’s dumb enough to click?"
"WTF! Why are all these links leading to gambling sites?!"
...
Governments and militaries worldwide were in an uproar.
The Federation’s President—pushing eighty—was so enraged he suffered a cardiac episode, downing emergency medication by the handful yet still struggling to complete a single sentence. The defense minister, drenched in cold sweat, was already drafting his resignation letter.
Meanwhile, leaders of other nations were playing a delicate game—publicly expressing their condolences to the Federation while privately attempting to contact the Tefor, eager to learn just who had the audacity to pull off such a feat.
Everyone assumed it had to be a highly skilled, professional team. After all, no ordinary person could possibly commandeer an aircraft carrier—let alone the Federation’s most advanced nuclear-powered one.
Yet the Tefor remained in strict radio silence, ignoring all incoming transmissions.
Aboard the carrier, the 300-some personnel—including Lieutenant Colonel Magri—were in full-blown panic mode. Most were frantically trying to break down doors and windows, only to find themselves completely trapped.
Many had sensed something was wrong almost immediately, but before they could react, they had been sealed inside various compartments. The Tefor had seemingly come to life—restricting movement, cutting off communications, and revoking all their access privileges.
"You guys are wasting your energy," Zhou Lin murmured from the captain’s chair, steering the Tefor at full speed toward the Eastern Alliance’s waters.
He could have stored the carrier inside his spatial inventory—but that would have left him and everyone else plummeting into the ocean. If he had tried it while still in port, he’d have been staring down hundreds of gun barrels in an instant.
Even now, escape was far from guaranteed. The Federation would undoubtedly send fighters to intercept him. And worse...
"Surely they wouldn’t resort to nuclear weapons just yet?" Zhou Lin mused.
At its current speed—an astonishing 35 knots, surpassing its publicly stated maximum—the Tefor was outpacing every conventional warship in the region. The only feasible countermeasure? Fighter jets.
Forty minutes later, as predicted, a squadron of Federation aircraft emerged from the clouds overhead.
"This is the Federation Air Force. Tefor, respond immediately."
...
"Respond, or we will take military action!"
...
"This is the Tefor."
Zhou Lin’s voice echoed through countless covert listening posts worldwide.
"Shut down your engines and prepare to be boarded! Failure to comply will result in immediate airstrikes!"
Zhou Lin merely chuckled.
Then, he broadcasted live surveillance footage of the Tefor’s trapped personnel to the internet, catching the Federation completely off guard.
"D*mn it!"
The Federation’s President swallowed another handful of heart medication and roared, "Give me a plan! Any plan! Just—no nukes!"
- Writer
