056 Idol Arc 31: Special Recovery for the Fallen

We couldn’t recover the wreckage after battle yesterday—Ayame included.

Today, I’m using the Special Recovery Window reserved for those who brought down the enemy, to retrieve it before public access opens.

Ayame wanted to collect it herself, after all.

I rented a copy-robot from school.

Attendance days are required, too.

The excuse? The student’s primary duty is to learn—but with memory copies from the copy-robot, you can still get a decent study effect.

Still, going to school is about more than just that. I’d prefer to go, if possible.

But this time, the direct income from yesterday’s emergency call was too low. So I decided it was worth doing the recovery.

Arriving at Ayame’s sector, I dock with Ayame’s ship. Naturally, I’m in my Personal Ship.

That’s the only way I can store the recovery items in the Dimensional Storage Vault.

Ayame’s off to hunt down yesterday’s prize.

That’s her own handiwork—a assault frigate she crippled with a long-range sniper shot.

The destroyed vessel’s been marked for salvage rights by the station, including all the debris scattered in orbit.

Salvage rights are set to expire in ten days—after that, the debris spreads out, orbits cross, and ownership gets fuzzy.

Ten days is the maximum window, but even if time remains, rights get invalidated once things get too ambiguous.

Monitoring every tiny piece of debris manually would waste station resources. It’s cheaper just to send automated salvage ships.

So there’s only a narrow window—first thing in the morning the day after the kill—when the rightful owner gets to claim their prize.

Ayame grabbed the assault ship with her left arm and started towing it.

The system was completely down—no need to disarm it.

The debris wasn’t worth salvaging, apparently.

Better to let the debris hunters collect it with kill rights than waste time on it ourselves.

Ayame splits off here.

As for me—time to recover the assault ship and cruiser I shot down with beams.

First vessel. Assault ship.

Blasted through the center with a high-caliber beam, exploded. Yeah. Total wreck.

Reactor probably detonated. Junk confirmed.

I maneuver close so the wreckage enters the interference zone of the Dimensional Storage Vault, then neatly slide it in.

As long as any part of the wreckage touches the interference zone, it’s recoverable.

The upper limit on capacity is still unknown, but if we're doing this, we don’t have to worry about the size of the debris anymore.

Fine debris? Abandoned. Scattered in all directions by the blast.

Second ship. Cruiser.

Drifted along with the assault vessel in the same direction.

Port side completely scorched off, utterly silent.

Could be in decent shape on the starboard side, though.

Quickly slide it into the Dimensional Storage Vault.

Fine debris? Abandoned. Melted by the beam.

Might need to rethink using large-caliber cannons for future salvage operations.

Next up: the seven ships shot down using the battleship’s external armament—its large-caliber railgun.

Three assault vessels, four cruisers.

Third ship. Assault vessel. The lead ship we hit first.

Of the two 40cm railgun shots, the first was intercepted. The second struck from the front.

The assault vessel’s upper armament was completely sheared off.

The hull remained intact—maybe the expensive reactor, propulsion units, and main brain were still functional.

Quickly toss it into the Dimensional Storage Vault.

Fourth ship. Cruiser.

It had been maneuvering diagonally—apparently, two 40cm railgun shots struck in a row on the port side.

The cruiser was split into three pieces, drifting apart. Some sections were surprisingly intact.

Quickly toss it into the Dimensional Storage Vault.

Fifth ship. Cruiser.

Seemingly hit three times in succession by 40cm railguns from the front-left.

Only two shots were fired, though. What’s going on?

The bow was gouged in three places—looked like it had no front at all, just the aft section.

The rear looked mostly undamaged.

Quickly toss it into the Dimensional Storage Vault.

Sixth ship. Assault vessel.

The first 40cm railgun shot hit the starboard side, then shattered through the center.

A second hit grazed the broken aft side.

No way… was that second shot the third one that hit the cruiser?

This assault vessel is in decent shape, at least partially.

Toss it into the Dimensional Storage Vault.

Seventh ship. Cruiser.

Two 40cm railgun hits, front-center. Pierced all the way through to the rear.

Main systems—reactor included—completely destroyed. Scrap status confirmed. Junk.

At least the top-mounted armaments are untouched. That’s something.

Toss it into the Dimensional Storage Vault.

Eighth ship. Cruiser.

Seemed to have evaded by turning its starboard side toward us—railgun shot pierced through the rear.

If only the propulsion units and energy transmission lines are damaged, that’s actually pretty good condition.

If the reactor’s compromised too… that’d be rough.

Toss it into the Dimensional Storage Vault.

Ninth ship. Assault vessel.

A forty-centimeter railgun punched straight through from the front, exiting near the ship’s center, and tore through to the rear.

The reactor must’ve taken damage—looks like it detonated as a result.

Practically a total loss. Scrap, at best. Maybe salvageable parts for junk.

Shove it into the Dimensional Storage Vault quick.

Debris’s scattered all over—gave up on retrieving it.

Airspace’s still contested, so hand it over to the debris hunter.

I did pull back, sure—felt the danger—but somehow, nine ships down. No kidding.

I told Ayame I wasn’t confident in my ability to protect her, so I ordered retreat. That profit? Gonna split it with her.

And then there’s the stealth ship I took for myself, even though she said it was for boosting the Brushlips Fleet. Gotta find a replacement for that too.

Guess I’ll have to handle the appraisals and sales myself from now on.

Best start with the ships I’ve stashed in the Dimensional Storage Vault.

Nine vessels total… my head’s already spinning.

Back to the station’s dedicated storage bay. For now, stow RIO into the Dimensional Storage Vault.

That’ll free up space equivalent to one cruiser.

Then, I’ll pull out one ship at a time from the vault and appraise them.

Right away, I pull up the list inside the Dimensional Storage Vault.

“What the hell is this?”

I blinked. Doubled over.

There it was—a meticulously sorted list of parts, automatically categorized.

Every single component, from pristine to scrap, perfectly sorted.

And right there, under ‘Fusion Repair in Progress,’ two cruisers and one assault ship were listed as “Complete—(・)Pristine—(・).”

Can’t be… they’re actually repairing parts inside the Dimensional Storage Vault?

Wait—there was a ship intact at the front, and another at the back…?

No way. Double fusion, like a NICO-NICO combo?

The ship’s AI has been reprogrammed for enemy/friend ID, huh? Got it.

Not some brainwashed, railgun-style compliance, then.

Perfect. Can sell them straight off. Call it a full-service package.

And now… even the Dimensional Storage Vault’s been doing its own thing?

Fixed the railgun’s caliber.