049 Idol Arc 25 Mid-Defense Battle 3

In the fight against the enemy battleship, my Personal Ship took damage.

Right arm missing. Shield lost. Right-side armor plating has lost its Beam-Resistant Coating.

Weapons: all green. Fully operational. Stasis Field intact. Somewhere between medium and minor damage, I’d say.

Kinetic rounds are still holding up under the Stasis Field, but a single beam hit to the starboard side? That’s it. Game over.

Through the comms, I hear Ayame’s crying.

Ayame’s ship is in good condition. Maybe the only thing that’s broken is my own psyche, having failed to protect her.

She’s probably heartbroken—she entrusted me with her protection, and I couldn’t fulfill that promise.

Don’t cry. This is my fault. I chose the wrong fleet to engage. Of course there’d be a trick—those starving thugs wouldn’t surrender so easily.

Only the fleet directly ahead could hide behind the enemy formation.

The radar dots overlapped into a single blip.

Optical tracking was blocked by the lead enemy ship—couldn’t see the one behind.

But the allied ships observing from a different angle must’ve known the battleship was back there.

Why didn’t they warn me? Because last time I’d shined too bright.

Not out of malice—no, it wasn’t spite. It was the opposite. They were afraid to speak up because they thought, *He can handle it.*

“Come on. The enemy’s still coming. Face forward.”

I’m connecting the Tactical Weapon Integration Control System to the station so I don’t repeat the earlier mistake.

Pulling in detection data from P2–P1–M9 and allied ships in the adjacent sector.

Integrating the info, I project a 3D display of enemy fleet distribution right in front of me.

Factoring in the combat status of our allied ships, I generate a threat assessment for each enemy vessel, assigning priority levels.

“Top threat: five enemy ships approaching from the right front. Three cruisers, two destroyers. That’s sloppy.”

My Personal Ship’s right flank is damaged—already a weak point.

“I’ll cover you!”

Ayame’s ship moves to shield my right side, but she’s towing a captured cruiser with her left arm—her maneuverability’s shot.

“Can’t do it, Ayame. If you’re gonna use it as a shield, there’s a better one around.”

We drift alongside the captured warship, inertia carrying us forward, and dock my Personal Ship’s starboard flank snug against the captured vessel.

“See? Starboard Defense’s perfect now.”

Though I’m not exactly saying how useless I’d be if surrounded.

“Enemy fleet’s gonna pass right by. Stay hidden, Ayame.”

Lucky we snagged the station’s data—no, borrowed it—so we can watch the enemy fleet’s movements in real time from our hidden position.

Backline pack of wolves. Sorry. You’re getting a feast.

The enemy fleet barrels straight through, untouched.

Next up: threat level two (now number one).

Three ships. Two destroyers, one cruiser.

Since the last fleet passed through untouched, they’re going for the same route.

"This is the pattern where a stealth ship's involved, right?"

"Seen that one in basic training."

Ayame seemed to relax a little after the enemy fleet passed by unharmed.

Checking the gravity field observed through the fire-control system.

Too many anomalies to distinguish, but there's a flicker—right in front.

"Erosion Bullet loaded. Fire!"

I fired the Erosion Bullet straight at the flicker.

Hit! The enemy stealth ship's shielding field peeled away.

The Erosion Bullet began its corrosion, halting the enemy stealth ship. Inertia carried it forward.

Right in front of my Personal Ship.

"Oh—collision course."

The captured battleship was drifting too, but the stealth ship was faster.

I’d been hiding, matching its speed—now I panic and scramble to move.

A split second—shock ripples through me. Like I’ve been yanked off my feet, stumbling forward.

“Wait… is my Personal Ship attached to that captured battleship?”

My Personal Ship was immobilized. The captured battleship was dragging it down like a dead weight.

A message flashes on the virtual screen before me.

『Assimilation complete. Data link initiated. Override it?』

The enemy stealth ship draws closer, closing the gap.

“YES! YES!”

『Nerve Crack initiating. 3… 2… 1… Enemy vessel subdued.』

The identification signal turns green. Normally yellow—but a vessel that’s taken a Nerve Crack goes green.

No way.

“Command the captured stealth ship! Evade!”

Collision imminent. Go all in—send the command to the captured stealth ship.

The stealth ship accepts the command. Against all odds, it veers aside. The crash is avoided.

"Position the captured stealth vessel to my left. Have the captured battleship perform reverse thrust—maintain the line."

I tried giving a follow-up command to keep the captured ships from drifting past our assigned sector due to inertia.

The two captured vessels moved in accordance with my orders. Just as expected.

Didn’t think it’d actually work—but the captured ships under neural control, or those under the Tactical Weapon Integration Control System, respond exactly as I want.

I’m lost in thought when beams cross ahead.

Second-highest threat fleet is approaching.

"Engage the enemy fleet!"

I tap the enemy ship blip on the radar screen, asserting exclusive claim.

Then I stream it to the comms display.

A split second later, a deafening boom. The captured battleship’s massive railgun—locked onto our Personal Ship—had fired.

The railgun struck the enemy cruiser dead-on. Sank it in a flash.

“Wait—” Then another beam lanced out, targeting two enemy destroyers. “—hold on—”

The enemy fleet was annihilated.

No doubt about it— we’d just operated the captured ship without a crew.

According to station regulations, unmanned ships shouldn’t be able to operate in real space. Yet we did.

So was this a rule that said *you can, but don’t*? Or was it supposed to be impossible? Only the Prince can answer that.

Enemy incursions ceased. The rear fleet cleared out the rest—no survivors.

We got the order to pull back.

Our day’s tally: Captured: Battleship 1, Cruiser 1, Stealth Ship 1. Destroyed: Cruiser 1, Destroyer 2. Major victory.

But the battleship and stealth ship are already under cyber-control.

The real problem, though, is that my Personal Ship’s stuck to the captured battleship.

Looks like the damaged section of my Personal Ship fused with the eroded section of the captured vessel.

Anyway, that’s fixable later. The real win here is that the captured ship can now operate unmanned.

Means I can command a full fleet all by myself.

Right now, Ayame’s my partner. But once she pays off her debt, she’ll probably stop taking risks.

And then I can just go it alone—bachelor fleet, no problems.