The Disastrous First Training Exercise
The first full-ship combat training exercise ended without even beginning.
It was an absolute disaster.
“That’s good. It’s chilling to think what would have happened if we’d encountered pirates in this state.”
“Indeed. What should we do now?”
“Return the ship to normal status and gather the section leaders in the captain’s quarters. We’ll discuss our response.”
“What about the mobile unit’s training?”
“They’ll proceed as planned near the asteroid. I’ll talk to Captain Ice. Sorry, but please take care of the bridge.”
With that, I headed to the rear hangar to find Captain Ice.
The mobile unit’s training proceeded as scheduled(?), using personal movers from the rear hangar for a space walk exercise to board the asteroid.
Meanwhile, we were reflecting on today’s events in the captain’s quarters.
With the security team’s cooperation, I held my head in my hands when I grasped the full picture.
Nearly ten of the cadet crew members had gotten lost on the ship and were crying.
It hadn’t happened during normal operations before, but some panicked, perhaps due to the tension of their first experience.
Maria, hearing the report, muttered as if it were someone else’s problem.
“We went through that too, didn’t we? In our first ship, during the first training, many couldn’t do anything and just cried.”
“Huh? Maria, what do you mean?”
“Oh, Captain. I didn’t cry, of course! Hehe!”
“That’s not what I’m asking about. Is that really how it is for first-timers?”
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Sister Meyrica, who overheard our conversation, explained.
Apparently, the first training is always nerve-wracking.
It’s especially common among young soldiers like the cadet crew, and confusion often occurs.
Moreover, this usually happens even after several years of cadet experience before boarding a ship, and it can happen even to those who’ve had thorough ground training before boarding.
“Indeed, it might have been tough for first-years. The fact that they’ve managed to keep up until now is quite impressive.”
Impressive or not, the current situation is clearly problematic.
We need to address this issue first.
Above all, we must reflect on the fact that even some first-class space soldiers, who should have been role models, couldn’t reach their posts.
While they had reached a level where they could handle weapons without issues, it became clear that they couldn’t enter combat on sudden orders.
First, we need to see if they can even reach their own posts.
I ordered the leaders of each group to conduct that training.
After this, the ship became quite noisy as the leaders of each department conducted emergency assembly drills.
“Is it in ten hours, then?”
Kasumi asked me.
At our current pace, we’ll reach the asteroid belt on the outskirts of the Yttrium star system, where Nihonium belongs, in ten hours.
She was asking if we’d train during the investigation of the suspicious locations the Princess had informed us about in his latest intel.
“Yeah, let’s keep training until we get it right. I’m not expecting much, but we can’t afford not to train. Besides, I’m honestly uneasy about maintaining a near-combat level during the investigation.”
The mobile unit had finished their two-hour training using personal movers and was now resting.
I visited Captain Ice once more to apologize for the earlier blunder.
Captain Ice laughed it off, but I truly felt embarrassed.
After that, we repeatedly practiced changing levels from normal to near-combat using the time until we reached the asteroid belt.
By the third attempt, there were no more lost crew members, and by the fifth, we finally managed to change levels successfully.
“Excecutive Officer, may I ask the time?”
“It took thirty-four minutes from changing levels to entering near-combat status.”
“How long do you think it’ll take to enter combat-ready status next?”
“If we include test-firing the main gun and pulsar cannon, I honestly don’t know. Based on our training so far, you should allow at least twenty minutes.”
“I see, so it takes nearly an hour to be battle-ready after spotting an enemy from normal status. What do you think, Excecutive Officer?”
“Captain, is that a question I must answer?”
Yeah, it’s a headache, isn’t it?
We had safely reached the edge of the asteroid belt.
“Captain, what should we do?”
“Excecutive Officer, start the training as planned. Also, Kasumi, find an asteroid we can attack from in an hour. We’ll use that for training.”
Forty-two minutes later, we entered combat-ready status. We fired the main gun a few times at the target asteroid and then conducted our first assault training with the mobile unit.
Two hours after starting the training, the mobile unit returned, and we concluded the exercise.
“Thank goodness. We managed to complete the training safely.”
Those words involuntarily escaped my lips.
From there, we deactivated the wartime system, lowered the ship’s level to near-combat, and began investigating the area.
After entering the asteroid belt and completing the training, we started the investigation as ordered by the Princess.
Inside the ship, there was a sense of accomplishment from the successful training earlier, and we had been conducting the area investigation for nearly five hours in a somewhat slack state.
To be fair, in this investigation, only the bridge departments responsible for communications and patrol were really working; the others had nothing to do.
Well, some clever departments were conducting their own training, but most were spending time in a relaxed state.
No one could have imagined what was about to happen.
Even I, the captain, was desperately trying to stifle my yawns during the investigation.
It would be too harsh to blame the crew.
It happened just as I finally couldn’t hold back a yawn and Kasumi saw it and made a joke.
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Currently, radar monitoring and optical sensor surveillance are being conducted in shifts under the guidance of patrol vice officer Vanya, with patrol soldier Lala (first-class space soldier) and two cadet crew members (second-class space soldiers) on watch.
It’s not that we were careless, but honestly, at this stage, only the patrol division, communications division, and navigation division were really working.
Since these three divisions are on bridge duty, even the attack division on the bridge lacked tension.
Such an atmosphere is contagious, so in a sense, it might have been unavoidable for attention to become scattered, but it was just at that moment, as if timed perfectly, that a laser attack came from a nearby asteroid.
The patrol computer raised an alarm immediately, but not a single operator reacted.
“W-What happened?”
“What’s wrong, Lala? Let me take over.”
Kasumi, who was on standby, immediately clung to the patrol console.
“Captain, a second wave of attacks is coming!”
This is beyond bad.
As we learned from the earlier training, even if we try to enter combat-ready status now, it will take a good twenty minutes before we can engage.
What should we do?
………
First, let’s assess the current situation.
“Damage report from all sections. Kasumi, what happened with the first wave of attacks?”
“The initial laser passed behind our ship. They probably misjudged our speed; the ship wasn’t hit.”
“Captain, no damage reported anywhere.”
If that’s the case, the next thing I need to do is counterattack, but that’s impossible in our current state.
We can’t possibly endure being pummeled for twenty minutes straight.
We still don’t know who the enemy is, but if we dawdle here, their attacks will eventually hit the ship.
If we could counterattack, it would be a different story, but… if we can’t, should we run?
We have no choice but to run.
Once decided, it’s time for immediate action.
“Excecutive Officer, increase speed. We’re going beyond maximum. Fourteen space velocity for thirty seconds, then straight ahead at twelve space velocity. We’re escaping for now.”
“Huh?”
“What are you doing? Hurry!”
“Yes, Captain. Increasing speed to fourteen space velocity.”
“Increasing speed, acknowledged.”
“Decelerate after thirty seconds to twelve space velocity.”
“Thirty seconds approaching.”
“Decelerating to twelve space velocity.”
“Understood.”
“Chief Engineer. Status check.”
“That level is no problem, Captain. We’ve done it before.”
“I see. Then, Excecutive Officer. Next is dimensional travel. Level one dimensional travel.”
“Preparing for dimensional travel. Maintaining current course.”
“Preparations complete. No obstacles, course determined.”
“Initiating level one dimensional travel.”
“Understood.”
“We can breathe easy for now, I guess. Excecutive Officer, change the ship’s internal level. Enter combat-ready status immediately.”
“Understood. Changing internal ship level. Announcement to all crew: Change from near-combat to combat-ready status. I repeat, change to combat-ready status effective immediately.”
“Kasumi, sorry, but maintain strict vigilance of the surrounding area.”
“I’ll monitor after we exit dimensional travel. No reactions within radar range. No asteroids either, so there’s no risk of ambush.”
So we’re safe for now, huh?
Then we can prepare calmly.
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they’ll get hang of it also the image not showing directly and gotta click on link to see it on imgur vs here
fixed thanks
the Prince had informed us about in his latest intel -> the Princess had informed us about in her latest intel
The mobile unit had finished their two-hour training using Hagure and was now resting. -> The mobile unit had finished their two-hour training using personal movers and was now resting.
we started the investigation as ordered by the Prince. -> we started the investigation as ordered by the Princess.
Thanks for the treat.
Fixed thanks