7 - Expectations x Entrance

The Stella Corpus.

A 15-meter-tall humanoid machine created by humans.

Another body for mankind to work in outer space.

The sight of them lined up along both sides of the hangar is nothing short of spectacular.

Each machine is secured in maintenance cages that are lined up at equal intervals, and the Maintenance Department students in orange work clothes are busy checking each part while shouting over the din.

“Ooh.”

“Amazing.”

The students of the Pilot Department stare blankly at the sights.

“Come on, you Little Chicks!” someone yelled.

The students enjoying the sights of the hangars jumped! And as they did, they panicked and corrected their postures.

“Fufun,” the voice said. “Looks like you’ve all put on your makeup perfectly.”

The one shouting is a massive woman with her dry-leaf colored hair swept back.

She wears the pilot suit of the Federation Space Force. On its chest is the emblem of a warrior maiden holding a spear.

This is an instructor of the Pilot Department and in martial arts classes as well, Aloe Ira.

“Form up!” Aloe roared.

Even in this noisy hangar, everyone lined up as commanded.

“… Well, it is what it is,” Aloe said. “When you come here, it’s good manners to stand straight in a line and wait for me, your instructor. Do you understand, Trainees?!”

““Yes, ma’am!”” the students yell.

“Fuhn!” Aloe huffed. “You’re all ready to face me, huh?!”

The students were overwhelmed by the instructor’s pressure as she starts carefully checking each student’s face as she walks side-to-side along the line.

“Hou, you must be the transfer student with the dedicated unit,” Aloe said. “You’ve got guts, don’t you?”

“No, ma’am,” Ratio replied.

“Don’t be humble. I can see it in your eyes. You’re not as green as the others,” Aloe said as she brought her face right in front of Ratio’s.

Ratio squealed internally.

However, the citrus perfume that tickles her nostrils calms her down just a little.

“And you, Glawis,” Aloe said, moving in front of Regina and staring her down intensely.

Regina glares back at Aloe as if resisting that pressure.

“Good. Keep that up,” Aloe said, grinning slyly before she quickly stepped back so she could see all the students.

“How are you doing, Trainees?” Aloe called out. “This is the hangar. And these are going to be your partners, the Stella Corpuses,” she said as she spread her arms to the machines behind her.

“The Centuria,” Aloe continued. “It’s a bit old, but it’s proven to be reliable. Its simple structure makes it easy to maintain, and although it looks ugly, it’s sturdy enough to handle rough maneuvers without hindering pilot operation. That is why—

“We can try to kill each other to our heart’s content.”

The students were taken aback by the dangerous remark and the vicious smile.

“Trainees, have you hammered the manual into your heads!?” Aloe yelled.

“”Yes, ma’am!””

“Alright. Get used to my style than your book learning. I’m not going to teach you with words! You’ll ingrain it into your bodies,” Aloe said. “Now, everyone, board your assigned machine! Prepare to deploy!”

““Ma’am, yes, ma’am!””

And with their instructor’s command, the students all start running immediately.

The students were nervous about the sudden boarding order, but their cheeks were flushed with the excitement and anticipation of finally boarding a live unit and piloting it.

“Nice to meet you. I’m a member of the maintenance team for this unit. Looking forward to working with you,” said a Maintenance Department Team Leader, he and his subordinates all in their orange jumpsuits.

“Nice to meet you. I’m looking forward to working with you, too,” Ratio said as she approached her unit.

As the name suggests, the Maintenance Department trains personnel to repair and build various pieces of technology, including military equipment, vehicles, and ships, primarily the Stella Corpuses.

There are many types of equipment that need handling, and the courses are divided even within the Department, and the students who are here now are the students of the SC Maintenance Course.

Classes are conducted under a system in which senior students take the initiative and 1st-year students provide support while receiving on-site experience.

“We’ve done a good job taking care of her, so ride with confidence,” the Team Leader said.

“Okay,” Ratio said.

Thus, Ratio and her crew introduced themselves peacefully.

(What a relief,) Ratio thought. (They’re nice people.)

(What a relief,) the Team Leader thought. (She’s a nice girl.)

As Ratio prefers a friendly atmosphere, she’s relieved that she wasn’t under the care of people who were very uptight or had strange quirks.

The same goes for her maintenance team.

This crew will take care of Ratio’s unit until graduation. In other words, you will always be working with the pilot of the unit you’re maintaining.

They don’t want to team up with those who are too quirky or domineering. You can endure it once or twice, but if it’s year-in, year-out, they’ll get sick of it.

The reality is that you won’t be able to have a say about who you’ll be servicing or coordinating with once you’re a professional, but it would be harsh to make students this young understand that just yet.

“Now then, I’m boarding,” Ratio said, saluting while holding her helmet under her arm.

The maintenance team rushes off, the Team Leader crying, “Pilot, boarding! Prepare to launch!”

The cockpit of the Stella Corpus is called the Matrix, which is located in the waist in terms of human anatomy.

The front waist armor slides away, and the matrix unit behind them protrudes.

The pilot sits lightly on the seat and inserts their personal card into the slit. This acts as their ignition key, and with power on and increasing, the machine roars to life.

“Matrix, close!” Ratio cried.

“Matrix closing!” the Team Leader yelled.

The matrix slowly returns to its original position, and the waist armor also slid back into place and locks.

Ratio was surrounded by darkness for a few seconds, and immediately the walls inside the matrix glowed, reflecting the surrounding scenery.

Ratio puts on her helmet and locks it into place. When its power is turned on, the helmet’s HUD activates, and holographic letters and symbols dance inside the visor.

All systems worked normally, and the outside scenery captured by the main camera was projected inside the helmet, so the problem of poor visibility was ignored.

[Pilot, can you hear me?] the Team Leader said.

“Roger, I can hear you,” Ratio said.

[Let’s do a pre-sortie check—wait, whaaatt!?] the Team Leader yelled.

While Ratio wondered what happened, she realized one of the units was already briskly walking away from them.

“That was fast,” Ratio said.

[You’ve gotta be kidding me,] the Team Leader said. [Who was that?]

“It’s nice to–” another Team Leader starts.

“None of the pleasantries,” Regina Glawis said, cutting him off. “I’m not interested in getting to know any of you.”

The whole team reels at the sudden saltiness.

They were enthusiastic about being in charge of Regina’s unit, as she had excellent grades, and they thought it would be nice if they could continue having a good relationship with Regina, partly because their grades relied on her performance.

Is this just the beginning…?

That’s what they all thought.

But then, they thought, they can still make up for this.

“Your unit is in perfect condition, so–”

“Of course, it will be,” Regina said. “That’s all of your jobs.”

The Team Leader wanted to cry now.

“Well then–” they said.

“I’m boarding,” Regina said. “Hurry up already.”

“Pilot on-board~,” the Team Leader whimpered, half driven to tears.

Regina snorted and looked away, immediately entrusted herself to her unit’s matrix, and quickly ran through the pre-sortie checklist.

[Pilot, can you hear me?] the Team Leader said.

“Systems check finished. Release the cage now,” Regina said.

[Wait, already?]

“Don’t delay me.”

[Ro-Roger~,] the Team Leader whimpered.

As the rest of the team comforted them, the Team Leader gave the signal and they opened the scaffolding that had been blocking the unit from stepping forward.

“Deploying,” Regina said.

[You’re clear~,] the Leader sobs.

Ignoring their tears, Regina stepped on the foot pedal to move her machine forward.

The Stella Corpus is equipped with a Piloting Support System, built from the vast amount of operating data from previous pilots, so even an inexperienced student can do skilled maneuvers to some degree.

However, Regina clicked her tongue at the machine that moved slowly, summoned her holo-menu, and unchecked the automated assists one after the other.

Those restrictions were made for beginners, but they were useless for her.

She can easily control this machine once the restrictions have been removed and she moves forward easily.

She heads to the large training ground outside.

[Hou, you’re fast, aren’t ya, Glawis?] Aloe said over comms.

“I despise wasting time,” Regina said.

[Very well,] Aloe said. [Then do some warm-up exercises and wait for me.]

“Copy that,” Regina said.

With the dry conversation with Aloe standing near a maintenance cage by the open bulkhead over, Regina exits the hangar and into the training ground.

There is a wilderness on the other side.

A giant stretch of nothing but dry dirt and the hangar camouflaged by rocky terrain.

“If this is for the Space Force, then should have let us deployed in space….” Regina griped.

Despite her irritation, she kept walking.

(I don’t have time to waste my time in a place like this,) Regina thought.

The sensor camera on the aircraft glows, updating to the latest visual feed of the training ground.

In her frustration, she didn’t notice.

The entrance to another hangar which should not have been open was open.

And then, the bulkhead behind her began to close.