A hundred nautical miles from the mysterious Sky Pit, the Carl Vinson Carrier Strike Group cruised through the surrounding waters. In wartime, that distance would offer no sense of security for an aircraft carrier, but they were on a reconnaissance mission now.
This distance was just right for them—not too close, not too far—right within the carrier's Medium Defense Zone. It allowed them to effectively drive away civilian vessels attempting to approach, while also controlling the surrounding waters and giving the Lighthouse the upper hand.
"Captain, the surrounding waters have been cleared," the First Mate reported loudly.
"Good. Are our Great East counterparts still taking their sweet time getting here? I hope they arrive before we finish our investigation." The captain of the Carl Vinson lowered his binoculars. The advantage of a nuclear-powered carrier's high speed and endurance was that it facilitated global deployment.
It was quite a coincidence. After being driven out of the Western Pacific, the Carl Vinson Carrier Strike Group had been preparing to return to Hawaii for refit, while the Charles de Gaulle was also preparing to head back to Europe after resupplying. After all, it had only come for a lap around the region to make its presence known and prove it still had some tricks up its sleeve.
"Where are our allies?"
"Sir, they're still dawdling along behind us."
Because the Charles de Gaulle's reactor had been designed for a nuclear submarine, it was poorly matched to its massive hull. Its speed was rather worrying, and at full steam, it inevitably got left behind by the Carl Vinson.
The captain smiled. Perhaps the Charles de Gaulle could only show its strengths when it was running away.
At the same time, just in case, the captain of the Carl Vinson carried out routine deployments. You could believe that military brass in Hollywood films acted stupidly—that was necessary for the plot—but you absolutely could not believe that a real aircraft carrier captain was an idiot!
Two E-2 AWACS aircraft were deployed two hundred kilometers from the carrier at an altitude of nine thousand meters, continuously monitoring five hundred kilometers of sea and seven hundred kilometers of airspace. Any civilian vessel approaching the area would be driven away.
Six Super Hornet fighters deployed to the battlefield patrolled the airspace three hundred and fifty kilometers ahead of the carrier's course. At a distance of one hundred kilometers from the carrier, two Growler electronic warfare aircraft monitored the surroundings according to their patrol assignments.
"Sir, our radar is suffering severe interference. We can't analyze it through radar."
The two E-2s circled the Sky Pit from afar as their combat crew reported their findings to the Carl Vinson. Meanwhile, the Global Hawk that had moved in for close reconnaissance had inexplicably lost contact not long ago. No wreckage had been found in the surrounding waters, the AWACS had not received any IFF Identification signal, and the flight-control program had not brought the lost drone back. The entire aircraft had simply vanished.
The loss of the Global Hawk made the soldiers even more cautious about this reconnaissance mission.
Before long, an unwelcome "uninvited guest" arrived. As a street loafer that wandered all over the oceans, how could it possibly miss a chance to join in the fun at a time like this?
"Oh, shit! It's an 815A!"
To the pained cry of the E-2 pilot, a ship topped with four balls appeared on the distant sea. It brazenly entered their visual range, yet the E-2's radar barely reacted to it at all!
"Damn it, notify—forget it. If they want to watch, let them watch."
Just as the combat crew commander was about to send the news back, he remembered the 815A's powerful suppression capabilities. For all he knew, the message they sent might turn into Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf.
They couldn't attack it anyway, and it wasn't the first time they had been watched. If it wanted to watch, then let it watch. They would just pretend not to see it.
If they couldn't see it, then it didn't exist!
The 815A inserted itself into the carrier strike group just like that, using its advanced electronic detection equipment at close range to investigate the Sky Pit.
"Report: the target's surroundings are filled with chaotic electromagnetic interference."
The four balls' detection capabilities were not something those outdated Imperial ships could compare to. In electronic warfare alone, Great East was two generations ahead of them!
"Can you analyze the electromagnetic spectrum?"
"No! The interference is too severe!"
The Master Sergeant stared intently at the radar returns. They were filled with electromagnetic clutter, without any pattern whatsoever. The radar scans were disrupted by chaotic electromagnetic waves, and the reflected signals were distorted. Even an active phased-array radar was unable to determine the target's exact condition.
The echoes under the interference showed the enormous ring in the distant sky growing larger one moment, shrinking the next, then disappearing altogether. It was nothing like the unchanging sight seen by the naked eye.
"Switch to optical radar."
The failure of radar did not mean humanity's investigative methods had all become useless. The ship's high-precision optical radar scanned the Sky Pit and began analyzing it.
After the optical lens zoomed in and focused on the Sky Pit, it was like staring into a kaleidoscope. The optical radar immediately captured displaced spectra. The infrared and ultraviolet bands were chaotic and abnormal.
Looking at the returned data, the Master Sergeant frowned deeply. This was a physical phenomenon they had never encountered before. The electromagnetic field was incomparably chaotic, electromagnetic channels were clogged, and the frequency spectrum in the optical bands was severely shifted. To him, this Sky Pit resembled a funnel.
"Professor Song, do you have any thoughts?"
The Master Sergeant turned to Song Xizhu, the specially recruited officer wearing gold-rimmed glasses beside him. Professionally speaking, they had to seek her opinion.
Song Xizhu's calm face carried a thoughtful expression. She repeatedly reviewed the radar feedback signals and the Sky Pit's spectral shifts. After several seconds of contemplation, she picked up the phone beside her. She had an idea, but implementing it would require the captain's approval.
"I have an idea. I want to illuminate the Sky Pit with a laser. I suspect the spatial curvature around it has changed. The electromagnetic waves and spectral shifts are merely secondary effects. The real problem lies with gravitational waves." Professor Song briefly explained her deduction.
The captain listened to her report. The words of this technical backbone had to be taken seriously. After pondering for a moment, he looked up at the sky. "Approved."
With the captain's approval, the 815A brazenly deployed a low-tech disposable drone and sent it toward the Sky Pit. The little thing was immediately detected by the E-2's radar, but if they did not see it, then they did not see it. You could never wake someone pretending to be asleep!
As the drone approached the Sky Pit's outer interference zone, its optical sensors fixed tightly on the Sky Pit. The laser device aboard the 815A shifted toward the target and fired a pulse-coded laser beam invisible to the naked eye.
Though it could not be seen with the naked eye, optical instruments still showed the laser shooting straight at the Sky Pit. The instant it struck, it was as though it had entered a kaleidoscope, refracting before finally vanishing inside the Sky Pit.
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