2.7

Qiao Chen spent several hours writing the new program. Then he explained the debugging process to the other engineers so they could quickly begin the process of testing it. 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 still went over even though he had 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… hmm, 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 objective?" 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 how to capture an enemy mech, well, you should 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. I 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 quickly 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 it's needless to say, but obviously 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 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 once the two divisions met.

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 suddenly 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 looked at the surrounding area, and they themselves couldn't even see where their own teammates' mechs were. The only way for them to know where their teammates were with the coordinates given to them by the linking device attached to the mechs. However, the third fleet seemed as though they would see them. The first time could be considered a fluke, but 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.

Roughly 10 members of the Special Ops team sat in the warship's dining hall. Sodini animatedly retold the story of Auray's battle today and how he suddenly became so powerful. He detailed that the opposing pilot was in awe and almost failed to react. Even when they did their defenses were still cut through like butter. Everyone nodded their heads in agreement. It was still a fun story to hear even though they were all there for it.

"Hey, weren't you surprised by the captain's abrupt appearance today?" Sodini asked, Henry, the teammate who sat next to him had been silent.

Henry nodded absentmindedly. Even with Sodini focused on something else, he still noticed something was off. He followed the direction of Henry's shooting glances. His eyes landed directly on Qiao Chen who was currently choosing his food.

Sodini slyly asked Henry, "You wouldn't happen to have any thoughts on engineer Qiaoyi, right?"

Auray turned over and looked at Qiao Chen. Then he turned back and looked at Henry. It seemed as though he wanted to hear Henry's response. Their other teammates' faces looked like they were about to hear some juicy gossip.

"Don't talk nonsense. How can I have any thoughts on him?" Henry replied unhappily as he gave Sodini a cold glance.

Sodini dropped his hand on Henry's shoulder and said, "What's so embarrassing about this? Engineer Qiao Yi dissolved his engagement contract. It's not impossible for you to pursue him, you know~"

"Can you just shut up? When did I say I was pursuing him? Besides that, how can I possibly pursue him anyways?" Henry retorted, annoyed. He really wanted to glue Sodini's mouth shut.

Sodini insisted, "How can it be impossible? If you're embarrassed, then I can be a good wingman for you."

Then he suddenly shouted, "Engineer Qiaoyi, over here!"

Qiao Chen was just ready to sit down, when he heard a voice calling him. He looked behind him and saw the Special Ops team members.

Sodini was waving at him and encouraged, "Engineer Qiaoyi, come here and sit."

Qiao Chen thought: Well there wasn't any reason to refuse. So he made his way over with his plate in hand.

"Sit here, sit here." Sodini insisted. He gave his seat to Qiao Chen, so he'd be sitting next to Henry.

Naturally, Qiao Chen sat in that seat. However, Henry never raised his head up once Qiao Chen sat down next to him. Henry was now immersed with eating and scarfed down his meal. Henry swallowed the last bite in a rush.

"I finished, so I'll first take my leave." He quickly excused himself and left in a hurry.

Qiao Chen didn't pay attention to Henry and minded his own business. Instead, he focused on eating.

"Can the captured mech give us the coordinates to the fifth fleet's headquarters?" Auray, who sat across from Qiao Chen, asked.

"We still need to figure out how to crack into its programming. However, finding their location shouldn't be a problem." Qiao Chen replied.

"Is there anything we can do to help?"

Qiao Chen smiled, "Nothing right now. Well, we'll see. I might need help later."

Vice Captain Cade looked at Auray and then Qiao Chen. How come the atmosphere between the two was off? Am I over thinking it?

After Qiao Chen spent roughly 24 hours to decode the enemy mech's programming, he finally retrieved the coordinates of the fifth fleet's headquarters. However, the problem now lay with the jamming devices that were bound to be placed around the perimeter. Even if they knew the location, navigating through a signal jammer was what made the endeavor much more complicated.

Qiao Chen spoke to Cade, "Now that know exactly where their headquarters are, all we need to do is destroy the jamming devices. I know how to do that, so someone just needs to escort me close enough to do it. After I successfully destroy the device, you'll be able to mount an attack."

"That's a good plan." Cade nodded in agreement. "If this plan works, then we'll win right away. However, who would you prefer to escort you?"

"I can do it." Auray immediately offered.

"You? But you're the captain. You can't just leave the team." Cade hesitated.

"Why don't I go instead?" Henry proposed, then he carefully observed Qiao Chen's reaction.

"I'll go. Coulter will replace me and take over command." Auray insisted.

"What do you think?" Cade probed as he asked for Qiao Chen's input.

"Then, Captain Auray will escort me. After all, I don't know what will happen while we're en route. If Captain Auray escorts me there, then the probability of success should be higher." Qiao Chen said. "However, someone still needs to pilot Captain Auray's mech or the opposing team will notice that he's missing and become suspicious."

During their talks, they came to the consensus for the route they would be taking: While everyone was ready for battle once more, Qiao Chen and Auray would covertly descend to the ground from a mech. Then they would hike though the woods, under the third fleet's territorial air space to completely bypass the opposing team's detection. After, they would reach the perimeter of other party's headquarters. Finally, they would be able to begin the process of destroying all the jamming devices.

......

Qiao Chen and Auray were unable to land in the designated location. After the opposing mech struck, they were forced to stop for repairs. Qiao Chen and Auray had to choose another place to land quickly before they were spotted. They successfully landed without detection and traveled for a while when they hit a difficult decision.

A very wide river blocked the path. If they were to choose to circumvent the river, then the estimated time of arrival would vastly multiply. However, if they were to choose to just swim across the wide river, then it wouldn't be too much of a problem- for Auray. The only problem with the second choice was Qiao Chen, or rather Qiaoyi's body. They didn't know whether he had the physical capacity as a gher and a weak engineer to swim across such a vast river.

After some thought and discussion, the two decided to swim across the river anyways. They wanted to reach the opposing team's headquarters as soon as possible and to quickly destroy the jamming devices.

In order to conserve his strength and reduce his burden, Qiao Chen threw away his coat and backpack to swim across the river. Fortunately, all the important things were kept in Auray's rucksack.