2.6

Qiao Chen was formally approved to work at the third fleet, and immediately put to work. He had to do more than to just work on the Z-801- if he could even find the time for it. He needed to explain his newly developed Aerial Guidance and Positioning System to the soldiers and familiarize them with it. He also needed to run the tests for the soldiers practicing with the new program. The first guinea pigs for the initial trials were the Special Operations team. To make sure all the bugs and kinks were worked out before releasing the Aerial Guidance and Positioning System out on the field, Qiao Chen was required to make detailed reports for every single test they ran.

Generally, Qiao Chen's work didn't give him many opportunities to come into contact with his target, Auray Rust. However, over the course of the testing period, Qiao Chen was able to gauge his perception of Auray. He judged Auray as an outstanding and serious soldier. He couldn't find any of Wei Zhennan's shameless characteristics within Auray. Good.

Not long after Qiao Chen entered the third fleet before the Triennial Combat Practice Competition came up. The exercise mandated that all troops participate, so the scale of it was considerably big. This kind of practice competition used the final scores in order to rank each fleet. These rankings affected the fleet's order of priority and importance among all other fleets for resources and funding. Needless to say, this was a competition that every single fleet and unit took seriously and pulled out all their stops.

They used the previous competition's rankings to draw each team into preliminary rankings for the first round. The winners of the first round would move on to the quarterfinals, then to the semifinal, and finally, the last two remaining divisions would compete in the finals.

The third and fifth fleets won their matches as per usual. They were considered the two most powerful army fleets. Since everyone already assumed such an outcome, those rounds were quite uneventful. The stage everyone really wanted to watch was the results of and the battle between them.

Vice Captain Cade spoke to Captain Rouble, "It was very publically decided that the final match of the competition would be an aerial one- as in outer space. Now all of a sudden, it's been changed to a ground battle?"

Rouble sneered and snorted sarcastically, "They're afraid. The fifth fleet played a high profile when they were developing that recent project of theirs. They tried to showboat their mid-ranged aerial mech. They thought that they would be the strongest ones with the mech's aerial maneuverability on their side. However, now they know that they'd lose in an aerial match, why would those old foxes from their faction even want to try and compare aerial capabilities?"

"They said they wanted to change… Did the people on our side agree to it too?" Cade asked. He knew that the members of their own unit weren't that easy to talk to.

"Since they suggested a change, then of course we'd have a change or two we'd suggest as well: Both sides switched to their Special Ops team. Have them battle it out, compare the fleets, and we'll finally see who wins out in the end." Rouble smirked.

"They agreed?" Cade probed. Who didn't know that the third fleet's Special Ops team was the strongest combat force amongst all the military divisions?

"They agreed, and they looked quite confident while agreeing to it too. I don't know what the fifth fleet gave them so that they would feel so calm and sure- thinking that they had a 100% chance of winning."

"It looks like they prepared some kind of secret weapon. We should still stay on our toes."

"First, put all the arrangements in place. Then notify all the members to gather for a meeting."

"Yes, sir."

The final match was originally supposed take space in space. However, with Qiao Chen's rebirth, the butterfly effect changed the course of events to a land battle on the planet Fanthana. Fanthana was a planet with larges stretches of reaching mountain ranges and dense forests. It had the perfect land masses and formations to test the combat abilities of mechs. Since the combat would be judged for land capabilities, there were also strict rules that enforced a mech's flight height.

In this combat practice exercise, both fleets both had their vice captains bring out their perspective Special Operations team and staff to participate. The captain stayed back at the base of operations.

Qiao Chen accompanied Captain Rouble to the base as the head of the third fleet's technical staff.

When the two fleet's ships landed on Fanthana, they quickly occupied a region and hid. The exercise began soon after.

Vice Captain Cade furrowed his brows as he carefully looked at the planet's map on the screen. There had already been two scuffles taking place. The opposing mech was constantly concealed, and it would suddenly appear in the shadows of their own mech in a sneak attack. Then it would disappear once more. After the two scuffles ended, they lost more than they gained. It became apparent that there was no wonder for why they were so confident with their abilities and readily agreed to change the pilots over to the Special Forces team.

"How are they able to disappear off the face of the planet like that? More importantly, how are they able to sneak behind our mech so flawlessly. Our sensors can't even detect a movement or even the shadow of a movement. Even if there are mountains that act as cover, it's impossible to stay so low to the ground so that the mech can't sense any movement. Have any of you made any discoveries or findings over the course of the two battles?" Cade asked the Special Ops team.

Everyone was situated in a conference room and surrounded the conference table. They needed to quickly find out what was going wrong or at least identify the other party's flaws. The rules stipulated that the first team to capture the opposing side's mother ship would win. However, if none of the parties were able to capture the base, then the side with less damage incurred would be deemed the winner.

"I think the problem lies with something they've done to the overhead view of their mech. It should be impossible for any of their special tactics to completely escape our cameras and eyes." Auray admitted. As the captain of the best Special Ops team around, there would be virtually no tactic that could complete deceive his eyes.

"But if the problem lies with the mech, then how is the mech even capable of such a thing? The mech can't just turn invisible. Even if that were the case, then the fifth fleet would have long declared their supremacy with such cloaking capabilities. They would have promoted the thing out the door." Sodini declared. He truly didn't believe that the fifth fleet had the willpower to resist bellowing out such an outstanding stealth program to the world.

Cade's heart dropped after he heard about the possibility of such a cloaking device on the mech. If the fifth fleet truly created such technology, then they'd probably win.

"Just initiate another attack and you'll soon find out whether or not they can do such a thing." Auray commanded.

"Do you have a plan of action?" Cade asked as he raised his eyebrows.

The battle began after Auray was deployed in combat.

Cade sat in the center of the command room. He focused his attention on the screen and unblinkingly watched the battle. He didn't want to miss a single second, so he would be able to find the fifth fleet's flaw.

The opposing mech was forced to retreat due to Auray's blockade measures. Then the mech just disappeared into thin air.

Cade sprang to his feet; his eyes wide open in shock. The fifth fleet's mech can actually turn invisible?

All the pilots in the command center saw the same scene as well. They were all in shock. They whispered words of disbelief to one another. They all couldn't believe their eyes.

"Everyone retreat." Cade ordered.

Everyone evacuated and returned. They needed to find a way to deal with the cloaking mech. If they couldn't find a way, then they wouldn't stand a chance. No one expected the fifth fleet to successfully develop such a far reaching stealth tech. It was the one tech that every country in the universe wanted to develop the most. Cloaking capabilities that allowed invisibility was tantamount to have a strong and clear position at the top of the rest of the universe's nations.

Qiao Chen was full of doubts when he heard everyone's murmurs of the opposing mech's invisibility capabilities. With his knowledge of the fifth fleet, their engineering team, and where they were at technologically, he was hard pressed to believe that they were even capable of developing such highly advanced stealth tech. He was, however, curious as to how they were able to mimic cloaking technology for their mechs.

The third fleet's staff members' had little hope for winning the Triennial Combat Practice this year. Their morale plummeted as they convinced themselves that they would face a crushing defeat in the hands of the fifth fleet. Invisibility technology was beyond their current capabilities. Although the morale was low, the staffs were well trained veterans of the force. They didn't allow their productivity or efficiency to slack for even a moment.

Cade and the Special Ops team members were stunned. They couldn't think of any countermeasures against the fifth fleet's cloaking capabilities. The rules for the combat practice stated that for both sides: When the opposing party attacks and initiates a battle, the defending team may only completely avoid battle up to three times. On the forth attack, the defending team must continue the battle and may no longer hide. They couldn't waste their three opportunities so quickly, so when the fifth fleet decided to initiate an attack they could only stay on the field and battle. The only thing they could do for now was to minimize the point loss and damage they would incur during the upcoming scuffles.

Cade was rushing to the command center when Qiao Chen called out, "Vice Captain."

"Is something the matter? If it isn't urgent, then wait until the battle is over." Cade replied hastily.

"I heard the other side has developed some sort of cloaking mech. I would like to take a look at how their mech cloaks itself. May I go into the command center and observe the next battle?" Qiao Chen quickly requested.

Cade mulled it over for about three seconds and then agreed, "Then come in."

Qiao Chen stood behind Cade's left. He watched the footage of the recent battle as it played on the monitors. It was clear that the third fleet was stronger in terms of combat capability and skill. The problems lay in the fifth fleet's mech disappearing into thin air, reappearing, and ambushing the third fleet's mech. The third fleet pilot appeared to be unprepared and therefore took most of their damage from this hit-and-run tactic.

Qiao Chen focused his attention on the opposing mech. He suddenly saw something on the mech flash for a second before disappearing. Qiao Chen found this quite peculiar. He stared hard at the mech, concentrated, and waited. He realized that whenever the mech seem to suddenly disappear and reappear, it would emit those odd flashes. The complete process was quite quick; however, the fact that a mech would emit a flash like that was quite a suspicious indicator.

Qiao Chen lowered his head and evaluated the situation and facts that were before him. Qiao Chen found a possible reason and walked up to Cade. He whispered, "Vice Captain, I think I've figured out how the mech is able to turn invisible."

Cade turned his head in shock. He looked over at Qiao Chen and asked, "Really?"

Qiao Chen replied, "There shouldn't be any discrepancies in my reasoning."He paused and requested, "However, I still need to confirm it. Can you have the Special Ops team lead the opposing side to some place with a water source?"

Cade immediately sent out the order. He felt that even if they knew how the mech turned invisible wouldn't really change the tides in their favor. However, his hopes lifted. If the third fleet was able to return to the base with the same cloaking method as the fifth fleet, than they wouldn't take up all the limelight. Auray received the instructions to lead the opponents to a water source and felt that the task was easy enough to do.

After some time, Auray managed to lead the opposing mechs to a vast and extensive river. Even though the Special Ops team didn't know the reason behind the Vice Captain's order, they still fought as close to the water's surface as they were able to reach.

Qiao Chen watched carefully as they edged closer and closer to the river. He suddenly smiled a wide grin when he confirmed his suspicions.

Qiao Chen whispered to Cade in a low voice, "Vice Captain, I know how it's all happening. I also know how to deal with the other mech. Vice Captain; please have all the participants retreat."

Cade turned and looked at Qiao Chen. "Are you sure?" he asked with surprise.

"100%." Qiao Chen assured and nodded.

After everyone returned, Cade called for an emergency meeting. In the meanwhile, Qiao Chen quickly found the staff that monitored the recordings. He requested a few screenshots of the battle by the river. Then he briskly walked into the conference room.

Qiao Chen uploaded the screen shots onto the meeting's screen. Then he looked at Cade and all of the Special Ops team members and announced, "Prior to joining the third fleet, I had worked for the fifth fleet for a few years. I know that, with their current capabilities, they simply cannot create a cloaking device that would render a mech completely invisible. However, over the course of the Triennial Combat Practice's final match, their mech had indeed disappeared before our very eyes. After careful observation of the most recent battle's screenshot, I have discovered the truth to their so-called invisibility. They have merely utilized mirror technology to create a diversionary tactic."

"What does that mean?" Sodini asked the team member beside him in a whisper. The colleague beside him just shook their head and replied that they didn't understand either.

Most of the Special Ops team didn't understand Qiao Chen's explanation. Auray, on the other hand, seemed to grasp the concept and displayed a contemplative expression.

Qiao Chen pointed to the flashes on several of the images he put up and hinted, "These are several images of the opposing mech disappearing and reappearing out of nowhere. The one thing these images have in common are these conspicuous flashes the mech emits."

Sensing the confusion among the group, Qiao Chen switched the image to the battle by the river. He zoomed in on the image and referenced, "Everyone, please pay attention to these several locations. Very subtle ripples appear in the air."

"And these explain…?" Sodini asked impatiently. He couldn't piece the clues together quick enough and didn't want to wait any longer.

Qiao Chen finally just explained, "The mirror technology I'm talking about is exactly that. It's all smoke and mirrors. Their mech isn't really turning invisible or disappearing. They're exploiting the mirrors to temporarily blind us. Their mechs are especially quick. If you have even a moment of hesitation or distraction, they would have quickly moved to an entirely different region or space. When they dart away after blinding us they give off the illusion of invisibility."

Qiao Chen pulled up images of the planet's landscape and continued speaking, "This planet's topography includes all encompassing mountains that range throughout its terrain. These high mountains and the surrounding lush forests are all extraordinarily dense. Furthermore, the skies are also a very rich, blue color. This all adds up to the best environment to successfully use mirror technology. The flaw in mirror technology is that it shouldn't be used near water. When water is nearby, the mirror will produce ripples in the reflection. These ripples allow you to see and realize that it's just a reflection. Therefore, I am absolutely sure that they do not have cloaking capabilities. It's just mirror technology."

Everyone in the conference room looked enlightened. It finally dawned on them that the opposing side's 'invisibility' was such a simple and basic principle.

Auray spoke, "That makes much more sense. For the fifth fleet to find out how to cloak their mech and not even hint at the capabilities would be impossible. The only reason they would hide such ability is because it is such a simple idea. It would only take a few moments to figure out the solution."

"Exactly." Qiao Chen crossed his arms. He looked at Auray and continued, "That's exactly what I wanted to say."

"Earlier, you said that you knew how to deal with them. What is it?" Cade asked.

"It's fairly simple. I just need to adjust the mech's camera. After the adjustments are done the opposing mech will never be able to disappear on us again."

"How long will it take to finish the adjustments?" Cade asked. He was a bit excited once he knew there was a countermeasure to deal with the other side's mech. However, he hoped it wouldn't take too long, because they were in a timed competition.

"Give me one night to write and debug the program."

"Alright." Cade agreed as he stood up. Then he spoke in a serious tone, "If they decide to initiate an attack tonight, we can use a hide to avoid fighting."

"You don't have to worry." Qiao Chen confidently interjected. "They are never going to initiate a battle at night. When the sun sets, there will be stadium lights that will light up the field. They wouldn't be able to execute their supposed invisibility under all those lights."