Enrolled Students
“That does seem very challenging. Since all the new recruits are first-year students, you’ll have to make a learning plan in addition to the training, won’t you?”
“Yeah, that’s true. But for us, even though it’s difficult, we need at least this many if we’re going to increase the numbers.”
“Acting Captain, what do you mean by that?”
“Think about it. First of all, having only second-class spacemen is really the only option given our current composition. The ship is just too top-heavy right now. We don’t have a single second-class spaceman, and instead we have a disproportionately large number of non-commissioned officers.”
“I see. But even so, wouldn’t it be better if we had some more experienced soldiers come in? It would be quite difficult for us otherwise.”
“That’s true too. But the thing is, we even have some first-class spacemen here, even though we’re a rookie unit because of that decoration issue. If we had more experienced soldiers, it might throw off the balance. And anyway, since they’re all young, older soldiers might have a hard time fitting in. But the fact is, we’ve been short on soldiers, so let’s give it one more push, shall we?”
“I see. But I don’t think we’ll be much help, to be honest. It’s clear that we’re not combat personnel, only administrative staff.”
“No, that’s not true. I’ll have the administrative staff help out with the learning. It’s outside their normal duties, but we’ll need their cooperation on this. As for the military training of the recruits, that has to be handled by the soldiers themselves. So I’ll have to consult with the reliable Lieutenant Meyrica on this. Could you please go get Lieutenant Meyrica for me?”
The young administrative staff member who had been listening to my conversation with Chief Maki spoke up.
“Acting Captain, I’ll go find Lieutenant Meyrica right away.”
“Ah, I’d appreciate that.”
It wasn’t long before Lieutenant Meyrica arrived.
“Sorry to summon you while you’re busy.”
“Not at all. So I hear we’re getting new recruits?”
“Yes, and they’re all first-year students.”
“Hiring new recruits is the best choice in this situation. If we got a bunch of jaded veterans instead, that would be a real nightmare. We wouldn’t even be able to get the ship moving for months, and having to babysit that kind of crowd would be awful. With first-year students, we can just give them a firm talking-to and make it work. We could even handle some [fake first-class spacemen] like Nina and Bunny. The person who made this personnel decision deserves our gratitude. It’ll still be tough, but…”
“I’m glad to have your support, Meyrica. We’ll need to start preparing to receive them right away. Are you free to help out now?”
“Yes, I’m free. Oh, I should get the [fake officers] involved too.”
“The [fake officers]?”
“Yes, I’ll go summon them right away. Is here a good place to meet up?”
“Alright, we’ll wait here. Chief Maki, that’s okay with you too, right?”
“Yes, that’s fine. My office is right next door, so I don’t mind. Let me just go ask my subordinates to handle some work while we’re all gathered here.”
Maki and Meyrica then left the room.
After a little while, a lively group entered the room.
“Captain, Captain! They say transfer students are coming!”
Maria, what are you, some kind of school drama character?
Seriously, it’s time for you to stop calling me “Captain”.
Thud
Lieutenant Meyrica brought her fist down on Maria’s head.
“Owwww!”
“Maria, stop calling the Acting Captain ‘Captain’ already. We’re about to get new recruits, and you’re an officer, you know. An officer.”
“But…”
“No ‘buts’! Sit down. Let’s get started.”
“Ah, ah, before that, may I say something briefly, Acting Captain? You see, I can speak properly too.”
“I understand, but is that all? Did you have something else to say?”
“Ah, that’s right. It was timely for me as well. After finalizing the estimate for the ship, I spoke with the boss, and he said it would be better to completely replace the engines on that ship.”
“There’s no way. We don’t have an unlimited budget. We still have other maintenance to do, won’t replacing the engines alone put us way over budget?”
“No, no, Sis Merika. The boss said those engines likely can’t be used without fully stripping them down. He said rather than completely disassembling and reassembling them, it would be far cheaper to just replace the engines entirely. He also mentioned that using refurbished second-hand parts would make it significantly more affordable. He even said we could get them for free if needed.”
“That just can’t be right.”
“Anyway, the details are understood. If the budget allows for it, you can go ahead with the engine swap. But make sure to run it through the proper approval process first. I need to keep track of the budget execution, so I can’t just let you do whatever you want, even if it is cheaper. Submit the request and we’ll see what we can do.”
“Understood, thank you. Captain- I mean, Acting Captain.”
“Good, but don’t get ahead of yourself. Wait for the approval before doing anything, alright?”
“Thank you, Acting Captain. I was hoping you’d say that. In fact, I already have the request form ready. Shall I send it to you?”
“No, sis… I mean, you’re an officer now, aren’t you? In that case, it’s okay for me to talk to you directly. If I give the permission, can you please send it to Chief Maki… Or maybe it’s better the other way around. Sorry, but could you send it to Chief Maki first? If there are no issues with the budget at Maki’s place, please send it back to me so I can approve it. Then you can start the work, how’s that?”
“Yes, I think that works too. But I can only check the budget, you know.”
“That’s fine. I’ve already told the president here that I’ll let you handle it as you wish. Honestly, even I don’t know all the details, as long as you can provide the certification of a first-class mechanic, there won’t be any problems.”
“That’s true. Understood.”
“Alright, then let’s move on to the next matter. As you may already know, the assignment of second lieutenants is coming up soon. It’s going to be 30 first-year trainees. So I’ve gathered you, our core members, to discuss the treatment of those assigned personnel.”
READ THE ORIGINAL TRANSLATION AT GADGETIZEDPANDA.COM
The meeting that followed was quite tiring.
After about two hours, we decided to assign them to a few hours of schooling each day, then have the 30 trainees divided into six groups of five, and have them rotate through the workstations of the senior members here daily.
In the mornings, they would study under Maki and the others, and in the afternoons, 15 of them would go for basic training, with Meyrica overseeing them.
The remaining 15 would help out with ship maintenance and various tasks, rotating through Kait’s area.
Fortunately, there was enough room for the non-commissioned officers, so we assigned six of them to take care of the trainees.
With this plan in place, the immediate issue was resolved.
“By the way, Acting Captain, when are those new recruits arriving?”
“Ah, I don’t think I informed you.
They’re arriving tomorrow morning at the spaceport.”
“What? Tomorrow?”
“Yes, I thought I had reported that, which is why I hurried to get the system set up.”
“Hmm, looks like we’ll need to go pick them up. Should I be there too, since there will likely be an escort?”
“Yes, I wanted to discuss that. If possible, could we just handle it at the spaceport? I’d rather not have the higher-ups come here.”
“Ah, I get it. This place is comfortable, but it’ll be open season for complaints from above. Alright, I’ll go to the spaceport myself to receive them. I was actually planning to stop by the Second Fleet Command headquarters anyway.”
“Ah, I see. I could come along, but me going to the command headquarters might just cause trouble. And I’ve got a lot of work to do here to welcome the new recruits. Sorry, Acting Captain.”
“No, you’re right. Meyrica will be busy with the new recruits. And it wouldn’t be good for both of us to be away from here. Maria has the foreman, but even he’s not entirely trustworthy. I’ll ask you to hold down the fort here tomorrow.”
“Acting Captain, isn’t that a bit much? I’ll be really busy with the engine overhaul tomorrow. I won’t have time to babysit the recruits…”
“No exceptions. We’ll all take care of them. They won’t be newbies forever, and we need to make sure they’re integrated well.”
“Alright, alright, I understand. I was just testing the waters.”
“Okay then, Maki, you’ll come with me to the spaceport. First, we’ll stop by the fleet command headquarters. I think we’ll get there before them, but even if not, the recruits will likely be escorted there anyway.”
“Yes, that works for me. I was planning to go greet them from the start, and I’d like to visit the headquarters as well. This is perfect timing.”
“Alright, things are going to get busier from here on out, but keep up the good work. I want to have meetings like this whenever new recruits arrive. There will likely be issues, but we’ll solve them together. Thanks for today, everyone. Dismissed.”
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