022 Rookie Training 8 Final Drill 1

Final day of rookie training, day five.

We were supposed to run drills using my customized ship data from yesterday—but Forest went off the rails and started building a battleship, so that plan got scrapped.

So Commander Shiina suggested we simulate our Personal Ships for the drill instead.

Normally, I'd want to keep my Personal Ship's specs under wraps, for obvious reasons.

That’s why standard ship customization was the norm—but now that’s out of the question. No choice but to go ahead.

(Then again, maybe it’s fine for the others… but my ship’s supposed to be a flagship or something flashy—exactly the kind of thing I want to keep hidden…)

I decided to call Commander Shiina to the corner of the room and negotiate.

“Instructor, got a quick question.

My ship’s… well, it’s a bit too special. I’d rather keep its specs under wraps…”

Commander Shiina activates her wristband, summoning a virtual screen and pulling up my personal data.

She glances at Akira’s specs and frowns.

“Ah… yeah, you’d want to keep that under wraps.”

Shiina looks equally uneasy.

She scrolls through the data, then stops at a particular entry.

“You’ve got another ship already, don’t you? Just bring it over here.”

She finds Rio’s file, gives her approval to participate.

Turns out, no big deal—solved in a flash.

The drill details begin.

We’re positioned just before and after the Dimensional Jump Gate.

Enemy fleet’s coming through the Gate, located on the outer edge of the asteroid belt.

They’ll be met head-on by our forward fleet.

Our job’s to ambush and destroy the enemy fleet as it emerges from the Dimensional Jump Gate, just before the asteroid belt.

This is what they call the final defensive line.

The training space suffers dimensional anomalies and gravity disturbances due to interference from the Dimensional Jump Gate.

Plus, repeated battles have scattered gravity anomaly zones, making this a multi-layered anomaly zone.

Side note—yeah, you might wonder why massive structures like the Dimensional Jump Gate or stations, or even space anomalies, can’t be seen from Earth.

There’s a reason Earth’s civilians don’t notice these things.

Apparently, the Prince aliens are using shielding fields to hide them on a massive scale.

Optical and electronic observations just give you fake data, seems like.

Even when observation satellites are occasionally launched and pass nearby, they’re completely shielded by the field—perfectly handled, apparently.

Also, apparently, the major powers on Earth have had some contact with them, so minor incidents are just… overlooked.

Sidebar (back to the topic).

This drill is a defense mission at the final defensive line, just before the Dimensional Jump Gate.

It’s simulated in a virtual space, presented as a training exercise.

The number of enemy ships, their strength—unknown.

Seems Commander Shiina might randomly trigger emergencies, based on her discretion.

We’re assigned a sector to defend—our job is to hold that zone.

But since we’re operating as a six-ship formation, teamwork’s required.

Combat ends either by repelling the enemy or when our own forces can’t continue fighting.

For now, we’re deciding our positions.

Front line: Ayame, Forest, and me. Middle line: Ooi-san. Rear line: Kirii-san and Tanpopo.

Kirii-san and Tanpopo will anchor themselves to asteroid rubble and take up sniper positions.

Since it’s a drill, I’ll illustrate the ship positions with a diagram for clarity.

□▲□▲□▲□

□□□▲□□□

□□▲□▲□□

□□●□●□□

Something like that.

Ooi-san, the eldest, is in command of the fleet.

"Alright, let’s begin the exercise!"

A spatial anomaly alert is triggered from the Dimensional Jump Gate.

This means something’s jumping through the Dimensional Jump Gate.

If it’s a friendly ship, it’ll pause momentarily in the subspace within the Gate, and a scout will enter first.

Any intrusion without that scout is automatically classified as hostile.

A further intervention alert is issued as well.

This is classified as an enemy fleet due to unauthorized system intrusion into the Dimensional Jump Gate.

The friendly fleet ahead goes on alert.

The Dimensional Jump Gate is a massive ring floating in space.

The inner circumference of that ring serves as a portal to hyperspace.

The space within that circle shivers like ripples on a pond—enemy ships burst forth like fish leaping from the water.

Looks like a small-scale reconnaissance strike force.

The friendly fleet engages in defense.

Most ships are destroyed, but a few manage to break through.

The main fleet concentrates on front-line defense; the breakthrough enemy vessels are left to the rear defensive squadron.

(Interesting—debris is most abundant around the ring after combat. Gotta remember to send a recovery team when the fighting stops.)

A few of the breakthrough enemy ships are now approaching the designated sector.

Alright, defensive combat begins!

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