Chapter 20: Arc 2 Part 7
Author: 橘子
Qiao Chen spent several hours writing the new program. Then he explained the debugging process to the other engineers. All the mech engineers simultaneously executed the process, so they could debug the program for all the Special Ops mechs before dawn arrived. Qiao Chen helped out as well. He worked on Auray’s mech.
Auray stood in the cockpit nearby. He watched as Qiao Chen’s slender fingers flew across the controls, installing the chip and debugging the program on it.
Qiao Chen finished the debugging process and looked over to Auray, “Hey, come here.”
Auray thought Qiaoyi was going to go over the operating process again. He went over even though he already heard everything at the meeting.
Qiao Chen took out a transparent crystal card covered in circuitry and said, “This is a card I made myself. It can multiply the strength all of your current mech’s system functions by 10. However, this boost can only last for ten minutes.”
“You’re letting me use this?” Auray asked as he took the skill boost card and looked at it. To be able to multiply a mech’s strength by 10, even if only for ten minutes, is very useful… it would be better if you save it for critical situations.
“Well you are the captain. You’re supposed to be the best of the Special Operation members. Of course it’s for you to use, but not for free. There’s something I want you to do with the boost card.”
“What’s the mission?” Auray asked seriously. He had always been the serious and unsmiling type and became even more solemn at the mention of an objective.
Qiao Chen resisted the urge to pinch and knead Auray’s face, so he wouldn’t tighten his expression any further.
Qiao Chen explained, “Find an opportunity to capture one of the other side’s mechs and bring it back. If we have the mech, then I might be able to use it to find the location of their base of operations. If we do this, then the probability of winning becomes much higher. As far as capturing an enemy mech, you know better than I do. Creating and executing the battle plan should be your forte as well, right?”
“There’s no ‘should’ about it. I will bring back the mech to you. It just won’t be in this upcoming fight. You have to first set up the trap and then patiently wait for the perfect chance. This might also take a few battles before it is successful.” Auray replied as he looked at Qiao Chen. His eyes traced along the silhouette of Qiao Chen’s face.
“That doesn’t bother me.” Qiao Chen said as he shrugged. “It’s fine- as long as it’s within the Triennial Combat Practice’s given time frame. And needless to say, but the sooner the better.”
“Have you reported this plan to the Vice Captain?” Auray asked.
“I haven’t had the time yet. I’ll tell him in a minute.”
At next day’s dawn, the fifth fleet appeared ready to initiate a fierce, intense battle. All of the third fleet’s Special Ops team bypassed several mountains and met them head on. The battle began.
The enemy mech still wanted to reuse their stealth method and ambush the third fleet’s mechs. However, while the enemy mechs were invisible to the eyes watching the screen, the third fleet Special Ops continued to pilot their mechs normally. It appeared as though they were constantly attacking empty spaces or fighting with the wind. In spite of that, the battle looked organized. It didn’t seem as if third fleet was just attacking random spaces.
Jared, the fifth fleet Special Ops’ captain, and his crew initially came into the battle very confidently. They turned on their stealth mode, as they had done every battle before, and wanted to move behind the third fleet’s mechs for a sneak attack. However, while they were in the process of moving, they were hit. They couldn’t stop the mechs’ initial orders and had no time guard against the attacks.
After their mechs took several hits, Jared’s face darkened. His teammates also felt deeply anxious and bewildered. They had undoubtedly turned on the mechs’ stealth mode. They themselves couldn’t even see where their own teammates’ mechs were. The coordinates were only known through a linking device attached to the mechs. However, the third fleet seemed as though they would see them, because they had been very accurately attacking for some time now.
Jared wasn’t any less anxious than the rest of the fifth fleet’s Special Ops team. This was a brand new feature that Greene worked through high hell to develop. How could the enemy crack through it so quickly?
The fifth fleet mechs retreated in a panicked and hasty manner. The third fleet mechs also returned to their headquarters. Although they’ve only won once for the time being, it was clear that the tides had changed to their favor. The battle just now, as well as the fifth fleet’s retreat, proved it. Next time, the third fleet will take the initiative for the following battle. Even if the fifth fleet chose to avoid battle, they could only do it three times.
Over the course of their second initiative into battle, Auray successfully captured one of the fifth fleet’s mechs. Cade already knew that Auray’s mech was able to suddenly become stronger. However, he was still shocked to see the extent to which Auray’s mech had strengthened.
Cade immediately wanted Qiao Chen to supply several more of the skill boost cards for the team to use. If they had more of the skill boost cards, then they would win the final stage of the combat practice. The cards would also help a lot in future real-life combat situations. Unfortunately, Qiao Chen stated that repeated use of the skill boost cards would damage the mech’s operating system. Therefore, if the situation wasn’t dire, it would be better not to use it. Another downside to the card was that after using it once, the mech would need to go through another complete system maintenance.