Stealth (Please keep reading! Please bookmark!)

In his previous life, Amber had lived in a powerful nation in the East on Earth.

For that nation's military, special holidays did not mean time off.

They meant a higher state of readiness.

Especially on the annual day when families gathered for reunions, military readiness reached its theoretical peacetime peak.

But on Robert IV, the Federation's military opened Amber's eyes.

He had never imagined discipline among the Federation's border troops could be this bad.

Amber used a slight Psionics disturbance to disrupt the camera feed outside the officers' apartments.

In those few seconds, he slipped out of the apartment building while remaining invisible.

Only then did he realize that security across Yasin Base had fallen to an astonishing low.

Apart from the main entrances, where Mobile Infantry stood guard and a few HCPs patrolled,

everyone else had gone to the gala to watch Commander Adam's "concert."

Even the soldiers who usually patrolled the base were nowhere to be seen tonight.

At this level of readiness, it'd be a miracle if the Empire couldn't take this place.

Amber grumbled to himself as he moved swiftly through the base.

With his Optical Cloaking active, only someone at extremely close range or using infrared imaging could spot him.

Otherwise, ordinary surveillance equipment would have a hard time detecting a Psychic Agent.

Along the way, Amber saw several medical vehicles drive from the base hospital toward the Communications Center.

A little later, they raced back with their sirens blaring.

Evidently, the "mass allergic reaction at the Communications Center" Margaret had mentioned had already happened.

Five minutes later, Amber reached the entrance to the Communications Center.

The large building combined a Penetrative Communication tower with an information processing center.

It was also the only place on the planet with a Penetrating Fault Communications Terminal capable of transmitting information into deep space.

Its importance went without saying.

But after most of the signal troops and guards inside the Communications Center collapsed with severe allergic reactions,

the building's external defenses consisted of just two hastily reassigned Mobile Infantry squads and one Multi-legged Combat Vehicle.

The Mobile Infantry wore only medium Exoskeletons, so they posed little threat to Amber.

Although these Exoskeletons, powered by a combination of gas turbines and Metallic Hydrogen Battery Packs, were covered in extremely hard Silicon Carbide Armor Plates.

Mounted on their arms were 8 mm Gauss Rifles, 40mm Automatic Grenade Launchers, or 14.7 mm squad support machine guns.

But the Mobile Infantry hastily pulled in to stand guard clearly weren't taking the job seriously.

They had flipped up their faceplates and were chatting as they enjoyed the fresh air.

Some were even watching a live broadcast of the Armed Forces Day gala.

Without the composite observation systems in their faceplates active, they had little chance of spotting Amber creeping closer in the dark.

The real threat was the heavy Multi-legged Combat Vehicle.

With eight bionic mechanical legs and a body resembling a giant tarantula, the hulking machine had far better sensors than the infantry around it.

A hemispherical sensor unit above the front half of its body rotated constantly, combining optical, infrared, microwave, and other observation devices.

On reconnaissance models, the 155 mm Electrothermal-Chemical Cannon turret mounted on the rear half was replaced with an array of surface-to-air radars.

Their bionic legs also carried additional vibration sensors.

Amber studied the giant spider across the street and carefully kept himself hidden behind a building.

He had to wait for a chance to slip right under the steel monster's nose.

That chance came soon enough.

Perhaps the logistics department felt sorry for the soldiers dragged away from the gala to stand guard, especially with the temperature dropping sharply at night.

They sent a field kitchen vehicle to the Communications Center entrance to make the soldiers a late-night meal and hot soup.

Before long, the Mobile Infantry gathered around the vehicle and began drinking soup.

The Multi-legged Combat Vehicle also dropped out of alert mode and lowered its body to the ground.

Three soldiers in driving suits soon opened the hatches, climbed out, and joined the meal.

Amber had no intention of missing such a rare opportunity.

While the Multi-legged Combat Vehicle lay idle, he slipped nimbly from cover and crept toward the Communications Center's main entrance.

The advantage of his Light Exoskeleton's all-electric drive became clear at that moment.

The motors powered by Metallic Hydrogen Battery Packs made almost no noise.

What little they did make was completely drowned out by the Mobile Infantry's Exoskeletons.

Amber passed so close he nearly brushed against the soldiers.

Busy wolfing down their food, the Mobile Infantry never noticed a Psychic Agent pass among them and enter the Communications Center's main building.

That was way too easy.

Having entered the Communications Center with barely any effort, Amber felt the operation was going a little too smoothly.

Using what he had seen of the building's exterior and his experience to guess its internal layout, Amber soon reached the Communications Center's core area.

There, he saw a familiar figure.

Margaret wore a standard Federation Military uniform beneath a white coat and was using an instrument to take readings from the air.

The loose uniform and white coat could not hide the Empire spy's striking figure.

If anything, they only made her look more alluring in uniform.

Amber quietly approached her and gave a barely audible cough.

At the sound beside her, Margaret said nothing. She put away her instrument and walked off in a certain direction.

Amber followed her, and they soon reached a surveillance blind spot.

There was little room in the blind spot, so Amber had to press almost against Margaret to fit inside it.

Once he was sure no part of him was exposed, Amber deactivated his Optical Cloaking and let out a long breath.

A Psychic Agent could not remain invisible indefinitely.

Amber had to keep stimulating the Synthetic Cell Coating on his equipment with Psionics, causing the cells to refract light and produce the Optical Cloaking effect.

With his current Psionics reserves, he could maintain it for an hour at most.

And that did not account for anything else that might require Psionics.

Since he had no idea what unexpected situations lay ahead, Amber had to conserve his reserves carefully.

He looked up. Margaret's languid, faintly sultry face was inches away, her red lips full and inviting.

Amber had to admit that the Empire spy had a remarkable face to match her figure.

"Synchronize watches."

Now that Margaret was focused on the mission, the languor had left her voice.

"The time is 15:30, August 17, Universal Standard Time."

"Ten minutes until the Empire fleet's scheduled surprise attack."

Amber nodded for her to continue.

"I'll keep testing for allergens inside the Communications Center. In five minutes, I'll move toward the Core Communications Room and meet up with another associate."

"There'll be two guards in medium Exoskeletons outside the Core Communications Room."

Margaret looked up at Amber.

"When the time comes, they're yours."