014 Training Arc 14 Fleet Flagship

Thanks to the reviews and bookmarks, I’d climbed to second place on the daily space [SF] ranking.

All thanks to you. Thank you so much.

I finally wrapped up the meeting—(released from house arrest)—and followed Minna to the dock section where my Personal Ship had been completed.

I must’ve looked so down that Minna tried to comfort me along the way.

“Wow! Fleet Flagship? That’s a title earned only by star-holding royalty or famous admirals after their ship’s grown to its peak.”

“Meaning you don’t just get that kind of thing at this early stage, right?”

“Don’t worry. You’ll merge with it. Just merge and grow it.”

“But I can’t just easily destroy enemy ships like that. It’s underarmed, for one thing.”

"Akira, you nabbed an enemy ship with that underarmed mining vessel of yours. There's hope, nyaa!"

It was only because the enemy ship was crippled, that's all.

Still, I appreciated Minna's sentiment.

"Yeah... thanks."

The words came out honestly.

"Here, nyaa."

Minna guided me to the dock hangar and then left.

She’d given me a brand-new pilot suit.

I was alone—no sister, no parents, no relatives.

A situation like failing out of school? Something I couldn’t talk about with classmates, especially girls.

Before I knew it, I’d been panicking, struggling all by myself, spiraling into debt.

Just seven days—effectively four days spent with Minna—her care warmed me.

I made up my mind right then: I’d face things head-on, just so I could repay her kindness.

Signing the paperwork for my Personal Ship at the dock, I changed into my pilot suit and climbed aboard.

I named it "AKIRA." Flagship "AKIRA."

"Alone, but not lonely!"

No grand launching ceremony. No fanfare. AKIRA slid out of the dock and into open space.

Unlike a rented vessel, there was no sense of a neural interface mediating between me and the ship.

It felt less like piloting and more like becoming the ship itself. Reaction speed was leagues ahead of the rental models.

I could feel the auxiliary neural interface when submitting course reports or launch requests—there was still a link, just not a middleman.

Perfect. All the good parts, none of the hassle. But when it came to actually piloting the ship? Directness was unreal.

"Still, that shield mounted on my left arm? Reaction speed’s gotta be instant, or it’s useless."

The lower hatch of the docking bay opens, extending into the lower orbital zone of the station.

Passing straight through beneath the station, I dock directly in front of my newly assigned personal hangar.

The hangar hatch opens. To the left, facing me, is the newly upgraded R10—now Rio (Rio)—stored upside down.

Only the port side has access to the pilot ingress/egress tube.

To my right is AKIRA’s designated storage position. I back AKIRA into the hangar.

The auxiliary brain handles it all automatically.

Which is when I notice something: the auxiliary brain on my personal ship doesn’t seem to have a personality module.

When I project an avatar onto the virtual screen, it’s my own avatar from earlier—me, appearing in the neural space.

No unique neural avatar like the rental vessel ten’s had.

So this is it, then. The personal ship really is just… me.

Something about DNA, I guess.

"Then again, why is my avatar female?"

Huh. Right, there’s that old tradition of treating ships as women.

Same thing, probably. Doesn’t matter if it’s a fake act—fine by me.

Taking another look at the ship’s specs.

『ＡＫＩＲＡ』

Class Fleet Command Ship (Flagship)

Hull Length 212m High-Speed Cruiser Type 2 Arms

Main Engine Anti-Annihilation Reactor G-Type High-Speed Propulsion D-Type

Armament Main Gun Long Barrel 5cm Railgun Single Mount 1 Gun Standard Ammo 20 (Remaining) / 100 (Max) Special Ammo (G-Bullet) 5 (Remaining) / 20 (Max)

Secondary Gun None

Anti-Space Cannon 10cm Laser Single Mount 4 Guns

Missile Launcher Pod D-Type Standard 2 Pods 2 Launchers Max Ammo 4×2

Defense Beam-Resistant Coating Special Steel Armor Plating

Beam-Resistant Shield, Type E, 1

Stasis Field (Barrier), Type D

Electronic Equipment, Anti-Ship Radar, Type S, Wide-Area Communication Device, Type S, Tactical Weapon Integration Control System, Type S

Empty Energy Slot, 6

‘RIO (Rio)’

Ship Class: Assault Vessel

Hull: Length 230m, Cruiser Type, 2 Arms

Main Engine: Thermonuclear Reactor, Type D, High-Speed Propulsion Unit, Type F

Armament: Main Gun, 20cm Railgun, Long Barrel, Single Mount, 1 Unit, 1 Barrel, Standard Ammunition: 1 (Remaining) / 80 (Max)

Secondary Gun, 15cm Particle Beam Cannon, Twin Mount, 2 Units, 4 Barrels

Anti-Space Cannon, 10cm Laser, Single Mount, 6 Units, 6 Barrels

Missile Launcher Pod, Standard Type E, 4 Units, 4 Barrels, Max Ammo: 2×4

Defense: Beam-Resistant Coating, Special Steel Armor Plating

Beam-Resistant Shield, Type D, 1

Stasis Field (Barrier), Type E

Electronic Equipment Anti-Ship Radar Type E Communications Unit Type E

Empty Energy Slot 0

Akira’s specialized in command. Rio’s specialized in combat. That’s the vibe.

If we could field these two ships together, that’d be ideal. But with only one pilot, we can only operate one ship at a time.

Would love to borrow a helping hand… wait, should I just grab Minna instead?

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