The fictional Cold War has become a real Warm War. U.S. naval groups have begun exchanging fire with each other in open water, and some vessels have declared allegiance to Freedonia.
"This is unprecedented," said Grungle Gristle, GNN's overnight war analyst, his voice trembling with excitement and fear. "It's as if the fiction has seeped into the real world."
Reports from the high seas describe U.S. warships trading shots while others raise the Freedonian flag, which nobody had seen before and which they appear to have designed themselves, and broadcast propaganda over their radios. Some sailors have been spotted in makeshift Freedonian uniforms, complete with pirate hats and eye patches.
The Pentagon has condemned the "mutinous actions" of the defecting ships and vowed to restore order. So far it has not.
GNN's sources in the U.S. Navy suggest the confusion may be a psychological warfare campaign by the Goblin Council of Elders, which is rumored to have built a mind-control device that induces delusions in unsuspecting humans. The Council denies it. The Council also denies knowing what a ship is.
Goblins are advised to stay clear of naval battles and to avoid anyone claiming to be a Freedonian citizen. Reality is fragile.
