Rescue Operation 1

"Found it! It's A884. Marks, check the status of A884!"

Understood. Confirming the condition of vessel A884... It is aground on an asteroid, but hull damage is minor. Multiple damages observed elsewhere on the hull, with signs of penetration. Similar damage marks are evident on the main engine and other components. Due to engine damage, A884 is immobile. Damage to the generator is also confirmed, and internal systems are likely malfunctioning. No response to our communications.

Shin nosuke confirmed the damaged areas of A884 displayed on the monitor.

"What is this...?"

"Could it be an attack from space pirates or something similar?"

Shin nosuke shook his head, dismissing Andy's suggestion.

"No. There's no sign of melting at the damage sites, so it's not a beam weapon that pierced through the hull. But it doesn't seem to be physical projectiles either..."

Shin nosuke felt a growing sense of dread as he explained it himself.

"Master, we've confirmed no response to our communications. The risk to Aila's life is high. We must act immediately."

"Agreed. Let's rescue her quickly and get out at once. Marks, can you assess the situation inside the ship?"

We've scanned the interior, but it appears the ship's systems are restricted due to generator damage. Still, basic environmental functions like climate control seem to be maintained. However, no life signs have been detected. If Ayla is safe, she's likely in a state of cryogenic sleep."

Ayla was a lone sailor, operating the escort vessel single-handedly.

If stranded and immediate rescue seems unlikely, she'd likely choose cryogenic sleep—what's commonly called cold sleep—to survive.

"I agree. Let's board A884 right away and rescue Ayla... Mark, can you wake her from cold sleep?"

"No, my medical skills are only at the level of a military medic."

After all, reviving someone from cryogenic sleep requires advanced medical expertise and knowledge.

The cold sleep system is primarily automated, but since minor adjustments and emergency responses are required as vital signs become active, a certain level of medical expertise and knowledge is necessary to perform revival procedures.

"Then there's no choice but to recover the capsule itself..."

『Please wait, my master. I am capable of handling this.』

The voice came from Madelia.

Madelia is not a military-focused doll like Marks, but a versatile, high-performance model capable of excelling in various fields—and naturally, she is equipped for medical operations as well.

She can handle revival from cold sleep without issue, and should be able to manage other situations too.

"That's right, Madelia was here. Then I'll go into A884 with Madelia. Madelia, come to Yatagarasu via shuttle."

Understood....Is it alright if it's just me?

"？... Just Madelia's the one I need. I'll have Marks stay behind with the Yatagarasu."

As Shinosuke tilted his head, he felt as though Marks was looking at him with a slightly bewildered expression.

"Master, are you really planning to go in with just Madelia and yourself?"

"Just to be safe, I'll be armed, but I'm not planning to charge into hand-to-hand combat. Two people should be enough, right?"

"Master, I have one question. Assuming you go into cold sleep, will you enter the capsule fully clothed?"

"Ah..."

Cold sleep involves lowering the temperature inside the capsule to extremely low levels, placing the person inside into a state of suspended animation to preserve life. When entering a cold sleep capsule, one typically wears only specialized undergarments and no other clothing.

This is done to ensure uniform reduction of body temperature and to prevent injury caused by freezing of moisture contained within regular clothing.

"Sorry, but come with Madelia and Milena. Three of us need to board A884."

"Understood. Honestly, I was about to scratch you if you kept going on like that, Shinnosuke-sama!"

"I-I want to join too..."

Having narrowly escaped death already, Shinnosuke now set out with Madelia and Milena to rescue Ira.

Since Milena and Madelia had transferred to Yatagarasu, Shinnosuke docked Yatagarasu with A884.

Before opening the access door to A884, he checked the internal environment.

"The climate control is functioning normally, but the atmospheric pressure is low. Please be cautious—the air from Yatagarasu will rush in all at once when you open the door."

Nodding in response to Madelia's report, Shinnosuke proceeded.

Shinnosuke and Madelia are equipped with burst machine guns, while Milena carries her own blaster and saber.

In addition, Shinnosuke and Milena are wearing glass monitors, Madelia is carrying a medical pack in addition to her machine gun, and all are fully prepared.

"Understood. Open the door."

"Affirmative."

When Madelia opened the door, the pressure difference caused the air inside the Yatagarasu to rush into A884's interior, creating a strong gust of wind.

Madelia's apron dress and Milena's deep slit tight skirt were violently whipped up by the sudden breeze, but Shinnosuke paid them no mind.

Shinnosuke stepped into A884's interior first, weapon raised.

"Markus, I've entered A884's interior. Heading to the bridge now."

Understood. I'm monitoring from here, so I'll send the information to the glass monitor.

Understood. I'm counting on you.

Keeping his excitement in check, Shinnosuke moved down the ship's interior corridor toward the bridge.

The interior was dim due to the emergency lighting, but otherwise there were no abnormalities.

"Master, we'll soon reach the bridge. The cryo-sleep capsules are located in the room adjacent to the bridge."

Shin nosuke and the others entered the bridge, but as expected, Ira was nowhere to be found.

"The bridge itself shows no abnormalities... All monitors are displaying warnings, but it's not a situation that can be resolved immediately."

"Master, the memory module contains records of the accident and what followed. It appears Ira is indeed in cryo-sleep."

Madelia reported after checking the memory stored within the system.

Then, reviving Ira must be our top priority.