037 Idol Arc 13: Captured Ship

Noticed the description of the first mission comes across as if it were a mistake, due to the author's sense of humor.

Made corrections to the first mission descriptions in 035 and 036.

No major changes to the overall plot, so no need to reread.

Apologies.

"Enemy ship over there—I captured it! Don’t shoot!"

Said that, but a few railgun rounds and beams still hit the enemy ship I’d claimed.

Seeing the enemy vessel appear right in front of me, my allied ships—none of them under my command, and worse, starving wolves eager for prey—weren’t going to just stand there.

Rule-wise, you’re out if you act when the enemy/friend ID signal is green or yellow. But once it’s red, railgun or beam fire is considered a full shot—no penalty.

The enemy ship, which had been untouched until then, took critical damage because it was stationary—targeting accuracy went up, and it was a hit.

The Stasis Field had kept it alive, so the Railgun damage was reduced, but it was still bad.

The slow-moving missiles were detonated according to the rules, so no further damage occurred—something to be thankful for, at least.

"Sorry, miss. You’ve gotta watch your moves—don’t make people think you’re giving up your priority claim."

"Right, right. Maybe I should just say ‘hands off my prey’ outright."

"Is that so? I’ll keep that in mind. Oh, and I’m a guy!"

A transmission came in from the roughnecks on the flanking vessel.

If I’d kept attacking, the thing I had priority on would’ve been off-limits—except I dodged it, which apparently counted as abandoning my claim, so now the flanking ship treated it as fair game.

Turns out, giving up priority on a prize was a real pain—except I dodged it, which apparently counted as renouncing my claim, so now the flanking ship treated it as fair game.

Still, loot’s loot. One whole ship now mine. What the hell am I gonna do with it?

Identification signal’s green—boarding inspection incoming for the captured enemy vessel.

Standard countermeasure: fake surrender, get hauled inside the station, then blow yourself up. Classic booby trap.

Can’t move until we confirm the enemy ship’s AI is fully seized—and only then, when we’re sure it’s safe.

Current known specs of the captured enemy vessel, via data link:

『Enemy Captured Vessel』

Class: Assault Ship (Stealth)

Hull: 150m long, light cruiser design, 0 arms

Main Engine: Type F Thermonuclear Reactor, High-Speed Thruster E Type

Armament Main Gun: 15cm Railgun (Single Mount) ×1, 1 Barrel Standard Ammo: 60 (Remaining) / 60 (Maximum)

Secondary Gun: None

Anti-Space Cannon: 10cm Laser (Single Mount) ×4, 4 Barrels

Missile Launcher Pod: Type C Special ×1, 1 Barrel Maximum Ammo: 1 × 1 Missile Remaining: 1

Defense: Beam-Resistant Coating Special Steel Plating

Stasis Field (Barrier): Type E

Shielding Field (Cloaking Device): Type E

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

Empty Energy Slot: 0

Status: Moderately Damaged

Looks like a vessel specialized for stealth infiltration and launching massive missiles.

The Beam-Resistant Coating Special Steel Plating has been damaged at eight locations—likely from allied fire.

The 15cm Railgun, 10cm Laser, Shielding Field, Anti-Ship Radar, Communications Unit, and High-Speed Thruster are all damaged.

Damage was concentrated on external systems. If we’d taken fire at the same spot multiple times, we’d have been sunk for sure.

Good thing the internal missiles didn’t detonate.

That missile, though—had it been a bit larger, you could’ve called it a self-contained frigate.

Even if we’d captured the mothership, that missile still being out of our control? That’d’ve been a problem.

The Erosion Bullet eroded all electronic and quantum devices, and kept eating through any networked connections.

Mysterious new special round—the Erosion Bullet—once it touched an enemy ship’s hull, it eroded the armor, burrowed inside, physically consumed the ship’s electronic and quantum network, and invaded the enemy’s mind.

Then it linked to the outside master, handed over control, and used a Narb Crack to fully subjugate the enemy vessel. That was its purpose.

The built-in autonomous missiles were physically independent, but still connected to the enemy vessel’s network—so they became easy prey for the Narb Crack.

If the network had been severed and they’d been acting on their own, they would’ve attacked the station directly.

That’s something we’ll need to look into for future operations.

While I was thinking that, the inspection concluded.

Enemy vessel’s brain is fully subdued. Confirmed capture. All built-in missiles are under our control.

But due to the enemy vessel’s possession of autonomous missiles—a first-time confirmed weapon—the station took custody of it.

And there was some ambiguity about how to repay the debt. Apparently, the salvage I acquired would first be seized by the station’s administration up to the amount equivalent to the debt.

After that, I’d get whatever was left over.

If I pay off the debt with the money from selling it, they’ll tax it straight away—so maybe barter is the more honest way to settle things.

But then I can’t exactly specify which gear I want.

Troublesome. Still, I’d better hope they value my self-sustaining missile system highly.

Wait—wouldn’t I have wiped out the whole debt if I hadn’t wrecked it? Probably around one hundred million G.

A fully intact captured enemy vessel versus a rented one—price-wise, the captured one’s clearly the more expensive, right?

“Ah—crap! I forgot! If I take control via a Nerve Crack, I can’t transfer ownership to someone else!”

So the captured ship’s stuck with me?

No, it’s damaged, so I can at least sell it for parts.

The only thing that won’t sell is the core brain-adjacent components.

Wait—aren’t those the most expensive part?

“Damn it—!!”

My shout didn’t echo into space—no air to carry it.

Ayame pretends to be tough, acting all aloof because she doesn’t want to look weak in front of women, but deep down she’s serious. She can actually use proper honorifics when she’s relaxed.

She lets her guard down around someone she trusts, drops the formal tone, and switches to honorifics depending on the situation.

Thank you for always reading.