Into the midst of asteroids
Thanks to the female non-commissioned officer who served under Mark back then, we got a good grasp of the military’s movements during the colony’s occupation. Though the NCO was released on the spot, our story wasn’t over yet.
“So, to prevent us from monopolizing all the achievements, they’re rotating us out for the Second Fleet, huh?”
“What’s that about?”
I couldn’t help but ask.
According to Emma, it had been decided that this place would become a military training facility.
And honestly, the environment was perfect for it.
The scattered asteroids made ideal mock targets, and the limited navigational routes provided the perfect setting for ship-handling drills.
On top of that, wild pirates were still rampant in the area, and the top brass didn’t want Mark’s First Fleet hogging all the pirate-hunting glory. So, they’d decided to rotate units in and out.
Whether this would be a permanent training facility or just a temporary setup hadn’t been finalized yet, but the military would remain in control for the foreseeable future.
The idea was to give other forces a chance to rack up combat experience and achievements here, keeping things balanced within the ranks.
Which meant, for a while at least, I’d have some of my fellow cadets stationed here.
Nobody told me when Mark and his crew would be back, but starting tomorrow, cadets assigned to the Second Fleet would be taking over.
Apparently, even the Onshi-gumi (Imperial GBifted Group)—those hastily reassigned elsewhere—were being pulled back to their original supply escort squadron and sent here. Rumor had it the First Fleet’s Onshi-gumi got the shortest end of the stick in this whole mess.
They even said there was some unofficial agreement to prioritize them in the next operation to balance things out.
But this arrangement only applied to our cohort. At the very least, Karin Senpai’s generation was still up in the air—meaning they might actually end up losing the most in all this.
Well, Karin Senpai was already assigned to my ship as a subordinate, and if even the Onshi-gumi were taking hits like this, the brass probably wouldn’t bother making any more concessions.
Still, I had a feeling the higher-ups would hold a grudge against me after this.
Not like I planned on staying in the military, but the thought of dealing with petty retaliation was… unsettling.
At least I’d managed to get on good enough terms with both Sofia and Emma to exchange contact info. That was something.
I’d hoped to get more intel on the pirates than what our investigators had dug up, but no luck there.
That said, the sheer chaos I’d witnessed among the brass was a major takeaway in itself.
From now on, I’d leave military dealings to Karin Senpai.
After that, things settled down, and we set sail before the Second Fleet’s supply escort squadron arrived.
“We’ll be leaving the colony’s controlled airspace shortly.”
“Understood. But today, we’re not switching to standard navigation. Like before, we’ll comb through this area while conducting scans. Be ready for that.”
“Roger. Shifting the ship to semi-combat readiness.”
“Right off the bat—we’re veering off the pirate-made routes and heading straight into that asteroid belt.”
I’d already briefed the officers on this operation before departure.
Officially, it was a training exercise. But the real goal was to search for the Sicily Family.
According to the chief investigator’s hunch, there was a high probability they had another hideout nearby.
That’s what we were looking for.
And if we happened to bag some wild pirates along the way, turning them into experience points—well, that was just a bonus.
There was a reason we were diving straight into the asteroid belt.
The military had that route under constant patrol, sweeping for rogue pirates.
Even areas slightly off the main path were within fighter range and subject to their searches.
That was the only pirate-related intel we’d gotten from Mark yesterday.
Which meant if we didn’t stray from the route, we’d never find what we were after.
Plus, the chief investigator was convinced their hideout had to be near the space colony—so the most likely spot was the asteroid belt looming behind it.
Maybe there was another route hidden in there.
With that in mind, we plunged into the asteroid belt.
This kind of flying took nerves of steel.
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Who in their right mind would willingly navigate space where a single wrong move could send you crashing into an asteroid?
Even the military relied mostly on fighter patrols to hunt pirates hiding among the rocks.
The colony’s control tower couldn’t believe it when we told them our plan—they asked twice just to be sure.
I just brushed it off, saying it was a training drill, and cut the comms.
The brass saw this ship as barely a step above amateur-run.
And honestly? We didn’t disagree.
The only difference was the ship’s specs.
This thing was reinforced to the point where minor impacts wouldn’t even scratch it.
Otherwise, it never would’ve been chosen as Her Highness’s flagship.
More than anything, this ship had its fair share of enthusiasts.
Even something as routine as radar monitoring was basically a hobby for some of the crew—and they’d customized the radar systems to their liking, making obstacle detection faster than your average military vessel.
And let’s not forget, both the ship and its crew were tough as nails. We’d be fine.
Still, I got why the military would balk at this.
No sane captain would willingly take their flagship into hazardous territory
where even a scratch could spell disaster.
But we—no, I—was different.
I won’t deny that I wanted the Sicily Family crushed as soon as possible. But I also knew this ship had started as a beat-up space destroyer—one we’d retrofitted ourselves.
A few dings here and there? We could patch them up.
As long as we could limp back to the dock where that president was waiting, it didn’t matter how much damage we took.
Otherwise, we’d never be reckless enough to charge headfirst into pirate territory.
Yeah, I know—what am I even saying at this point?
But flying through an asteroid field was nothing like cruising through empty space.
Every second was tense.
We launched fighters to scout the area, searching for any trace of the Sicily Family.
“Feels like we’re risking this whole voyage just to train the fighter pilots, doesn’t it?”
Karin Senpai, uncharacteristically chatty, sounded almost apologetic.
“Don’t say that. But you’re right—their skills are improving. No harm in that.”
“Still, Captain. It’s the third day now, and fatigue’s starting to show among the crew.”
Nobody expected to find anything right away, but three days of zero results was enough to wear anyone down.
It wasn’t like we were running scans 24/7—we parked behind asteroids for eight-hour stretches to let the crew rest.
But the constant tension took its toll.
A little excitement would’ve helped, but staring at nothing but rocks day after day? Yeah, it grated on the nerves.
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