058 Idol Arc 33: Ayame's Debut Simulation Battle 2

Sorry.

I accidentally published the wrong date.

Today has two episodes.

One stock has vanished...

Head to the storage bay from the office, then board the Personal Ship from the standby room.

Enter the CIC, sit in the pilot seat, and establish a data link with the station's brain via the ship's neural interface.

Project a virtual display of the brain-space and dive in using Idol Avatar 1.

Destination: Simulation Battle Arena.

Guided unconsciously by my ID and entry info registered on my wristband, I arrive without hesitation at today’s simulation battle venue.

The team was already waiting at the simulation battle arena.

"Morning (industry greeting), everyone."

"Morning, Kirara."

"Hey, Kirara-chan."

"Yo."

Ayame, Saya, Miu, and Naho wave and greet me with bright smiles.

“Alright, everyone’s here. Today’s a real-deal showcase battle for Ayame-chan. No fancy hosting—straight-up serious combat. Let’s bring the heat and win this thing!”

““Yes!””

“Hai!”

“Ooh!”

Naho’s voice cracks through the chorus, everyone chiming in loud and clear.

Today’s simulation battle is the beginner-class five-ship division.

No stripping, no betting—safe and steady.

A tournament with sixteen fleets, special rules included.

Win it, and you gain two ranks. Sweet deal.

Our match was drawn for the first round.

Opponent: the Giganto Fleet.

Naho grabs our team icon, pulls it into the fleet selection screen, and confirms our entry.

Combat zone randomly set to "Normal Space Zone."

"Command goes to Kirara-chan."

"Understood. It's gonna be a straight-up slugfest. Dodge immediately when the match starts—watch for their first shot. We'll return fire with the railgun right away. I'll send Akira and Miyu out in carrier craft—stealth flight toward enemy rear. I'll give the attack signal when the time's right. Saya and Miyu, keep an eye on enemy space. Intercepts are optional."

I'm giving pre-battle orders when numbers suddenly appear before me—countdown begins.

"Then let's win, okay?"

"Understood!"

"Roger."

"Hm."

At zero, the scenery before me shatters—plunged straight into the middle of open space, nothing between us and the void.

The match has begun.

I fire up the radar and boot the Tactical Weapon Integration Control System, linking data to the support ships.

Activate the targeting system’s sniping mode—share the info across all vessels.

Naho’s ship, Ayame’s ship—open fire with the Railguns as a distraction.

I aim with the 30cm Particle Beam Cannon, but we’re still out of range—no damage yet.

Just don’t give the enemy Giganto fleet a chance to shoot.

All ships initiate evasive maneuvers simultaneously. My personal ship, Kirara, and Miu’s ship launch aircraft.

The Giganto fleet’s first Railgun shot veers wildly off-target.

Ours misses too.

Normal-space radar-linked firing is flawless—closer we get, the harder evasion becomes.

We’ve got to destroy the enemy ship—no ifs, ands, or buts—before anything else.

What we need is long-range firepower.

Only two ships on our side have that: the 30cm Railgun on Naho’s vessel, and the 20cm Railgun on Ayame’s.

We *have* to take out the enemy—specifically, the one with long-range capability.

Naho’s ship, Ayame’s ship—both fire their Railguns.

My personal ship, Kirara, keeps up a show of force with sustained 30cm Particle Beam Cannon shots aimed at the enemy.

In the meantime, I’m scanning the enemy vessel in detail—radar and optical sensors locked on.

“Enemy fleet: one pocket battleship, four cruisers. The pocket battleship is the main threat—target it, aim for a kill!”

Naho’s ship, Ayame’s ship—both fire their Railguns at the enemy pocket battleship.

Saya’s ship uses the shield’s angle to deflect the enemy pocket battleship’s Railgun fire.

My专用 (Kirara) ship fires missiles, creating a temporary smoke screen with the explosion.

At the same time, I jam the enemy’s electronic and quantum systems. It only works for a second—then they’ll counter it.

Just need that one second for the Railgun round to miss.

Naho’s ship hits the enemy pocket battleship with its 30cm Railgun. The firing stops.

“Now! Full salvos on the pocket battleship—sink it!”

Naho’s ship and Ayame’s ship fire their Railguns at the enemy pocket battleship.

Multiple direct hits. Sinking confirmed.

“Keep going—target the enemy cruiser, engage individually!”

The enemy cruiser’s long-range Railgun was disrupted by my personal (Kira-ra) vessel’s 30cm Particle Beam Cannon—any shot fired would be intercepted and destroyed mid-flight.

Now it’s just like shooting ducks in a barrel.

The enemy cruiser can’t land a hit unless it closes in on us.

But close in, and it runs straight into my personal (Kira-ra) vessel’s 30cm Particle Beam Cannon.

Still, it charged in with a full-ship ramming maneuver, evading at high speed.

But that was a double-edged sword.

It entered the effective firing range of my personal (Kira-ra) vessel’s 30cm Particle Beam Cannon.

And thanks to the external reactor, charge time was short—rapid fire was possible.

The Giganto Fleet didn’t know that.

Hit! Enemy cruiser sinks in a massive explosion.

The enemy cruiser formed a single-file formation, sacrificing the lead ship to ensure the assault by the ships behind succeeded.

Three ships executed a clean evasion maneuver in unison. Occasionally, they’d pop out from behind the lead vessel and fire.

"Ah, this is the—jeez, the Jet Stream Attack!"

Impressive. But...

"Launch aircraft and missile assault!"

I issued the attack order to the carrier ships positioned behind.

Missiles launched from behind the enemy cruisers.

Two of the enemy cruisers had their thrusters destroyed by missiles fired at close range.

The enemy lead ship was finished off by Railguns from Naho and Ayame.

"Enemy fleet destroyed. Match concluded. Victory for the Brushlips Fleet."

The system voice echoed, and the scene before me snapped back to the entry arena.

058.1 Idol Arc 34: Ayame's Debut Simulation Battle 3

"Ah! We haven’t even done the group greeting or Ayame’s self-introduction yet—this is her debut battle!"

Naho yells.

A critical oversight for Ayame’s debut simulation.

"Next simulation—I’ll shove in the self-intro right at the start of combat!"

"“Yes!”"

"Yep."

"Uh-huh."

We get ready for the next simulation.

Ammo and damage carry over.

No ship has taken damage.

My custom Kirara ship: missile count—2, remaining: 6 shots. Fanell’s missile launcher: −2, remaining: 6 shots.

Ayame’s ship: Railgun —9, remaining: 71 rounds.

Naho’s ship: Railgun —6, remaining: 74 rounds.

Miyu’s ship: aircraft missile launcher —4, remaining: 12 shots.

Miyu and I prepped the fanneur and the fighter craft with two missiles each, readying for launch.

I double-check the next round’s loaded in the Missile Launcher Pod.

After a brief pause, we’re back in the ring for round two. Bracket’s been climbing, so we’re back to square one.

Well, all battles start at the same time anyway, so the order doesn’t really matter.

Next opponent: the Fey Fleet. Don’t bother translating that.

Huh. Might be a girls’ fleet.

Naho grabs our icon, pulls it into the fleet selection screen, and hits enter.

Combat zone randomly set to “Reef Zone.”

“Funny… it’s the same zone we first fought in during beginner training.”

Ayame gazes off into the distance, nostalgic.

But Ayame— it hasn’t even been a month since that.

“Command’s Kira-chan. Take care.”

“Understood. In the Reef Zone, we’ll either search and destroy hidden enemies, or lie in wait and lure them in for the kill.

This time, the latter. We’ve got introductions to make, after all.”

I’m giving pre-battle instructions when numbers appear before me—countdown begins.

“Then… let’s go.”

““Understood!””

“Got it.”

“Hmm.”

At zero, the scene shifts instantly—plunged into a zone of floating rock masses.

Match start. And introductions start.

“Hi there ♡ I’m Naho, the leader ♡”

“Smile specialist, Sayaka here~”

“Quiet one, Miyo……”

“Audio specialist, Kira here ♡”

"New member. Ayame, martial arts specialist. A bit clumsy, but please look after me."

"「「「「Ready... five of us, brushing lips (brushlips) ♡, nice to meet you ♡ (...)}」」」」"

Good. Ayame's introduction complete. Playing the sword-wielding archetype, just like the character design intended.

I activate the radar and Tactical Weapon Integration Control System at the same time as the greeting, establishing a data link with the support ships.

Sharing targeting data across the fleet, I hide my personal (Kirara) vessel and Naho's ship in the gaps between asteroids, switching them to sniper mode.

Saya's ship and Miu's ship are positioned as our escort.

The decoy role falls to the carrier aircraft launched from Ayame's and Miu's ships.

Fanell deploys a cloaking field, luring the enemy's stealth detection toward it.

Hope the introduction works as a decoy and draws the enemy in.

I’m pulling data from Fanell’s link, the carrier aircraft, and Ayame’s ship—scanning for enemy vessels using her detection feed.

Ayame’s ship is supposed to stand out—so we’re broadcasting our new track (Ayame’s version) on open channel while she loiters.

But the trap’s too obvious—enemy fleet isn’t biting.

“Could be they’re setting a trap too. No decoy ships from their side?”

“Nothing at all.”

Ayame reports.

That’s when I start to wonder if we’ve bungled the plan—then the passive radar pings.

I scramble to activate active radar—thousands of blinking points flare across the screen.

“Multiple missiles! Saya-miyu interceptors, launch!”

“Got it.” “Mm-hm.”

"Damn it, where the hell are they coming from?"

Saya and Miu launch anti-space missiles, intercepting the incoming warheads.

Too close. But the launching vessel isn’t visible.

Stealth ship? No—stealth ships would cause gravitational distortions.

I’ve got the targeting system linked to the firing correction device. I’m always watching for gravitational anomalies.

So it’s a small vessel hiding behind an asteroid. That’s it!

"Enemy are carrier-based aircraft. There’s a carrier in their fleet!"

I boost radar resolution, scanning for enemy fighters.

There. I lock on multiple targets—enemy aircraft fleeing.

Carriers are ships that only just entered operational use at the station.

Never thought I’d see a carrier this fully armed this soon.

Gamers underestimated. Always.

I take aim at the enemy carrier aircraft with my five-centimeter Long Barrel Railgun.

Carrier aircraft can usually be shot down with standard ammo.

The only target my pea shooter can actually make a difference against.

We successfully intercepted the first wave. Need to stay alert for the second wave right away.

I watch the returning carrier aircraft depart. The one I deliberately missed.

"Let's move. Once we found a hideout, this place isn't safe anymore."

"Got it♡""Understood.""Mm."

We relocate to a spot that's both easy to defend from the next attack and offers cover.

Now that we’ve lost precious carrier aircraft, the next threat might be enemy ships other than carriers.

Ayame’s ship still isn’t being targeted.

No enemy ships show up in Ayame’s ship’s detection range either.

"About time? Link up with the enemy’s carrier craft! Reclaim control."

I’d already taken control of an enemy carrier craft once, using an Erosion Bullet. I’d let it drift freely, unmoored.

So now I was waiting for it to return, using that moment to snag its position data.

"Good. Counterattack. Miu, send the carrier craft to this point. I’ll send Faneru too."

"Hmm."

I marked the coordinates on the virtual screen’s star map, then pressed it into Miu’s comms display with my finger.

Faneru and the carrier craft headed toward the enemy’s predicted position.

Fanerru deployed its shielding field and went stealth, cloaked.

Following behind, the single-formation squadron of carrier craft trailed in formation.

That should keep them invisible from the front.

"Enemy fleet detected!"

The optical sensors on Faneru picked up the enemy fleet.

Three ships. Two carriers, one anti-spacecraft vessel.

The carriers are loading missiles onto returning aircraft.

"Fire missiles into the carrier hangars! Aircraft will retreat immediately after launch. Faneru, after missile launch, unleash full-range beam attack on the anti-spacecraft vessel!"

Six missiles split into three groups, sucked into the carrier's hangar.

Explosion—simultaneously, the missiles already mounted on the aircraft detonate. The carrier erupts in a massive blast and sinks.

Meanwhile, the anti-spacecraft vessel locks onto the retreating aircraft and begins firing lasers and counter-missiles.

But while focused on the fleeing aircraft, it doesn’t see the unseen aircraft (Faneru) launching a beam attack from behind.

A fifteen-centimeter particle beam, equivalent to a light cruiser’s main gun, pierces the anti-space vessel at point-blank range.

The anti-space vessel is utterly destroyed.

"Good work—three ships down. You did great, Miu."

"Mm-hmm."

Miu beams with delight.

Her rare smile—something you don’t see often—was worth every second.

Miss Naho is smiling too.

But the remaining two ships have vanished.

Likely headed this way.

We chose to hide and ambush this time, so we kept radar use to a minimum.

We’ll activate it in combat, but for now, optical surveillance is the main game.

Oh, right—Ayame’s ship as bait is exempt.

"Kira-chan, down!"

Naho shouts, eyes scanning all around.

By the way, our comms are fleet-internal encrypted—quantum transmission. No radio waves emitted.

Enemy ships two are approaching the rock formation we just hid behind.

Making a wide arc, coming straight up from perpendicular to our combat plane.

Seems like the enemy ships aren’t using radar either.

Radar waves give away your position.

The only weapon I can currently use is the thirty-centimeter particle beam cannon.

It gives off a telltale flash before firing—so it’s out.

The only stealthy option is Naho-san’s long barrel thirty-centimeter railgun.

But we can’t fire it without turning the ship.

The thrusters for turning would light up—visible to enemy ships.

“Then… maybe this’ll work?”

Saya’s ship, hidden in the enemy’s blind spot, gave a light burst from its thrusters and swung toward Nahoko’s vessel, slamming the front with a shield mounted on a makeshift arm.

Nahoko’s ship began rotating downward from its center of gravity.

The moment the bow faced the enemy ship, Nahoko locked on with her Railgun and fired.

Immediately after firing, she fired the thrusters to stabilize her posture—ready to fire the next round.

The enemy ship, unaware of our position, took a direct hit from Nahoko’s long-range, thirty-centimeter Long Barrel Railgun.

Then it was just a matter of picking them off one by one—two ships down. We won.

‘All enemy ships destroyed. Match concluded. Victory for the Brushlips Fleet.’

The system voice echoed, and the image before us snapped back to the entry arena.

Advanced to the second round. Unexpected—didn’t fight like a girl at all.

Maybe it’s an otaku fleet after all. The real deal was the dedicated one, then.

Would’ve expected some entertainment play if it were a DD.

“Nice job standing out this time, Ayame.”

“Just greeted people, played the new song on loop, and wandered around—didn’t do anything useful at all?”

Ayame looked oddly annoyed at my words.

“That’s promotional activity.”

Naho said it with a straight face. Ayame deflated instantly.

058.2 Idol Arc 35: Ayame’s Debut Simulation Battle 4

Next up, we face the semifinals.

Remaining ammo: Railgun on my personal Kirara-class ship—standard rounds minus 26, 24 left. Erosion Bullets minus 1, 19 left.

Fanfare-type missiles—minus 2, four remaining.

Ayame’s ship: Railgun—68 rounds remaining.

Miyu’s ship: Fighter missiles—8 left after minus 4. Anti-space missiles—60 left after minus 20.

Saya’s ship also has 60 anti-space missiles remaining after minus 20.

No ships suffered physical damage. But Ayame was clearly shaken mentally.

Next opponent: Team K Fleet.

Naho grabbed our icon, pulled it into the fleet selection screen, and confirmed entry.

Combat zone randomly set to “Normal Space Zone.”

Straight-up brawl stage.

“Same plan as the first match, huh.”

After a pause, numbers appeared before me—countdown begins.

At zero, the scenery shifts—suddenly, we’re tossed into open, endless space.

"Alright, radar online—Railgun fired. 'Wait a second!'"

Suddenly, a transmission cut through the open match.

"Look, we lost three ships in the last battle. Your remaining fleet was our only hope for the next round. Unfortunately, you've got your whole fleet intact.

We can't fight with just two ships left. We surrender—'Wait, hold on—!!'"

Saya abruptly hijacked the channel and fired back with a counter-hijack.

"If you're surrendering, give us a little time."

"Huh?"

"We're idols, you know. Just let us sing one song?"

"Huh...?"

The members of Team K stared blankly, then nodded in reluctant approval.

Naho gave Saya a thumbs-up.

We started with the usual greeting.

"Good afternoon ♡ I'm Naho, the leader ♡"

"Smile ambassador, Saya here~"

"Silence duty, Miyu..."

"Auditory duty, Kirara here~♡"

"Combat specialist, Ayame."

"「「「「「Ready. Five of us, brushing lips (Brushlips)♡ See you around♡ (……)」」」」"

The Team K members stare, slack-jawed.

I jack into the Wide-Area Communication Device, hijacking all channels.

The intro to the new song starts playing.

We sing and dance in avatar mode, synced to the rhythm.

Formation flight by armed girls—positions shifting dizzyingly fast.

At the chorus, beams and lasers fire—light dancing in the air.

After finishing the song, we all bow in unison.

"「「「「「Thank you so much♡」」」」"

When the stage ends, Team K claps.

'Amazing performance. This is exactly what we hoped for. Well then, we’re giving up now.'

"Team K Fleet has surrendered. Match concluded. The Blush Lips Fleet is victorious."

The system voice echoes, and the image before me snaps back to the entry arena.

Good people. They could’ve attacked while we were singing—rules allowed it, after all.

Thanks, Team K.

"Finally got to officially debut Ayame-chan, huh."

Naho covers her eyes, voice thick with emotion.

Saya, who’s usually so quiet, actually stepped up and negotiated aggressively.

Miyu… uh. So cute.

A great group. All getting along.

Alright, next up—final match!

058.3 Idol Arc 36: Ayame's Debut Simulation Battle 5

Final match. Win this, and our fleet rank jumps two spots—straight to E-rank.

We’ll also take home the championship prize. It’s a 16-ship tournament, so there’ll be bonuses too.

As we headed into the finals, the state of our ship remained the same as in the semifinals.

A blessed battle—no fighting required, and we’d get to perform one stage extra.

No supplies depleted. No damage sustained.

Our actual combat time totaled just one song’s worth. After a brief rest, we moved on to the final match.

Our next opponent? The Rocket-First Fleet.

The name’s a spoiler. They’re a missile fleet.

Ayame grabbed our icon and pulled it into the fleet selection screen, finalizing our entry.

The battle zone was randomly set to “Gravitational Anomaly and Reef Compound Zone.”

“Enemy’s almost certainly a missile fleet. This zone’s heavily in their favor. Long-range fire’s effectively blocked by the gravity distortions and rock formations.

The key to victory is either not getting hit by missiles—or, if you do get hit, how many you can shoot down.

Enemy detection comes first. Everything else? Hidden. We’re going to hide and scout with fan-nel.

After a pause, numbers appear before my eyes. Countdown begins.

“Alright, let’s win this!”

““““Yesss!””””

At zero, the scenery shifts instantly—suddenly dumped into a region floating with countless rock fragments.

Gravity field readings via targeting correction show anomalies everywhere.

I deploy the fan-nel to scout.

Quick optical scan—no enemy fleet in sight.

No active detection. Only passive. Keep our position secret.

Can’t afford to be seen. All ships slip into the shadows of the tangled rock clusters.

Time passes. The enemy fleet’s probably floundering, searching for us.

I use Fanerel as my eyes, scanning for the enemy fleet.

“There. I’ve spotted an enemy missile vessel. Two of them. No escort—just hiding, two of them.”

“Could the missile ships themselves be decoys?”

Ayame raises a warning.

Probably not.

“Alright, we stay put. We’ll use Fanerel for a surprise attack.”

I guide Fanerel toward the enemy missile vessel.

At that moment, a massive salvo of missiles launches from the enemy ship straight at Fanerel.

Even with Fanerel’s high maneuverability, there were too many to dodge.

Fanerel gets shot down.

“They knew about the shooting correction device—how it can pierce through shielding fields!”

““No way!””

Ayame and Ayame realize it too.

"Yeah. Missile ship... shooting correction device... they're the Ooi."

Whether by accident or design, the enemy was the Ooi—same one from beginner training, obsessed with missiles.

He’d had a grudge against them.

"So that's it. You noticed me and Tanpopo during the fight where you recruited Ayame."

"Then you showed up later, chasing us."

"Guess so. The hint to Ayame was probably obvious to the other beginners in training, too."

"Meaning they've been studying us all along."

Ayame and Tanpopo both seemed to realize the danger—Ooi was on the field.

"Alright. Take out the two missile ships before they move. The remaining three are worrying, but they're probably using the missile ships as bait, waiting in ambush."

So what now? If they know our moves, we gotta play a game they don’t know.

Game they don’t know… dimension vault, maybe.

“Alright, send out one ship.”

““Huh?”” “What?” “……”

“Surprise for later.”

I grabbed a decent-sized rock and slipped it into the Dimensional Storage Vault.

Our fleet advanced to the side of the asteroid where the enemy missile ships were hiding.

From the vault, I quietly released one ship ahead—single-file line, following behind.

A护卫 ship with four shields mounted on the bow. Then the rest of us, including me, trailing behind.

Guard ship, my personal ship—Kira, Ayame’s ship, Saya’s ship, Miu’s ship, Nahoko’s ship—order’s set.

The guard ship moves, shielded. We do too, hidden behind it.

Enemy missile ships spot us. Fire off a barrage.

Saturation attack.

"Leave it to me..."

The Saya-class and Miu-class ships launched their anti-orbital missiles to intercept the incoming barrage.

The incoming missile? I'll take it out with my Long Barrel 5cm Railgun.

Saya's ship and Miu's ship return fire with lasers.

In the meantime, the lead escort vessel accelerated, ramming straight into the enemy missile cruiser.

Actually, this escort vessel? Just a chunk of rock with armor slapped on to make it look like a ship.

Just a chunk of rock with a cruiser’s armor plating and shield bolted on, plus a missile thruster mounted in the rear.

I just sent it on a collision course with the missile ship.

The enemy ship mistakes the rock fragment for a vessel and attacks, thinking it’s shootable.

But it's just a lump of rock.

The enemy ship's missile strikes the rock fragment. The hidden enemy vessel fires its railgun at the rock fragment too.

But the rock fragment doesn’t break—it plows straight into the enemy missile ship.

“Leave the sniper ship to me!”

Ayame shouts.

Ayame activates her anti-ship blade and rockets toward the enemy sniper ship at high speed.

“It’s gonna hit!”

Saya yells. The rock fragment was about to collide with the enemy missile ship.

The enemy missile ship detonates from the impact—the missiles explode in a massive blast.

The blast engulfs the nearby missile ship, which explodes too.

Three enemy sniper ships remain.

Naho’s railgun strikes the enemy sniper ship that just revealed itself.

My 30cm particle beam pierces through the enemy sniper ship as well.

Ayame charges forward, firing her 20cm Long Barrel Railgun straight into the enemy sniper ship as she closes in.

Finally, she splits it clean in two with her Anti-Ship Blade.

"Total enemy fleet destroyed. Match concluded. The Brushlips Fleet is the winner."

The system voice echoes. We did it. We actually won.

A reporter from the live stream cuts in, eager for the victory interview.

"Congratulations, Brushlips Fleet! You’ve done it! Now, for the victory live stream!"

Suddenly, President Kamizawa’s voice shouts through the comms—observer mode has been forcibly joined.

We nod at each other. Switch to avatar mode. Start singing and dancing our new song.

The finale? Ayame finishes it with a clean slice from her Anti-Ship Blade—perfect for a debut.

At that moment, a massive tremor shakes the CIC.

Connection to the neural net severed. Shudders come one after another.

What’s going on? What happened!?

A sudden, dizzying unease flickers through my head.

Feels like the disorientation from the very first abduction.

The story kicks into high gear from here.

Received a review from Lady Draupnir.

Unexpected second review.

Thanks to the two of you, the PV count’s shooting up. Really appreciate it.

Revised on May 23, 2018.

Normally, this would be an additional section, but I didn’t want to disrupt the bookmark’s position by inserting it, so I’m adding it to 058.