The Away Mission Test: Part 16

Summary
''With the arrival of a second special assignment mid-way into the Battle Sims, squads are left to their own accords. Back at base, Jin is summoned by Top Brass.''

Long Summary
Ikoma expresses disbelief after an unsuccessful skirmish. His teammates reproach him, but others admit to struggling to adjust their playstyle, too. Ōji announces the arrival of another special assignment.

Osamu and Suwa realize the prompt makes no specification for collaboration, unlike the previous assignment. Citing his competence, Suwa leaves Osamu to the job — whom the latter silently thanks.

In Squad 11, Hanzaki, Hyuse, and Maori are ruled out from abstaining due to their integral roles. Their captain grows insecure at the thought of his dispensability, until Sasamori notices this and steps up. Wakamura is ashamed of his relief.

Mizukami figures he could do the assignment himself, but ultimately shares it with his Squad 9 mates while forgoing the task. Arafune offers to look over Kashio and Teruya's submission with Kon, to which both accept.

Since Somei's operator duties are deemed essential to Squad 4, Minamisawa volunteers. Kikuchihara protests by bringing up their previously low special assignment scores, which would be difficult to make up. He nominates himself — but he, too, plays a specialized role. When a dispute starts, Kitazoe steps forward; most obey.

Kumagai from Squad 10 wants to make up for her incompetency, despite her teammates' reassurances. Murakami proposes they all collaborate during their break; Kumagai frets, but the rest comply. Hiyami views her group's over-leniency as a weakness.

Ninomiya appoints Ema to write for Squad 8, recognizing his desire to board an away mission — much to the latter's shock.

With Shiki and Yūma out of the picture, Tomoe of Squad 1 asks to do it. Utagawa recalls Kakizaki's advice to let him take the initiative, and approves. When prompted, Yūma reminds Tomoe to reference Away Mission training in his response: a nod to his father's intentions as Rank Wars' key developer.

Behind the scenes, Jin admits that while these situations were designed to increasingly add pressure, participants must only learn to accept and adapt. After being called to meet with Top Brass, he regards his assistance around HQ as ever-important without a seat on the Away Team.

Translation Errors and Discrepancies

 * In Viz's translation of the previous chapter, it says Special assignment 2 text reads "think over possible reason(s) as a team", when in the japanese release, it doesn't mention teams. This got fixed in this chapter.

Characters in Order of Appearance
Characters in italics are seen briefly and have yet to make a proper appearance.
 * Wataru Urushima Unit
 * Tatsuhito Ikoma Unit
 * Shinnosuke Tsuji
 * Kei Tachikawa Unit (Mentioned)
 * Yukari Obishima
 * Hikari Nire
 * Kazuaki Ōji
 * Osamu Mikumo
 * Kōtarō Suwa
 * Yōko Katori
 * Madoka Ui
 * Kōji Oki
 * Yoshito Hanzaki
 * Maori Hosoi
 * Hyuse
 * Rokurō Wakamura
 * Hisato Sasamori
 * Satoshi Mizukami
 * Yuka Kon
 * Fumika Teruya
 * Tetsuji Arafune
 * Hiro Kitazoe
 * Hana Somei
 * Kai Minamisawa
 * Kazuto Tonooka
 * Shirō Kikuchihara
 * Yūko Kumagai
 * Aki Hiyami
 * Kazuki Kurauchi
 * Kō Murakami
 * Daichi Tsutsumi
 * Masataka Ninomiya
 * Rinji Amatori
 * Haruaki Azuma
 * Chika Amatori
 * Yūma Kuga (Present then Flashback)
 * Ryō Utagawa
 * Wataru Urushima
 * Kotarō Tomoe
 * Sayoko Shiki
 * Takumi Rindō (Flashback)
 * Yūichi Jin
 * Shiori Usami
 * Mako Hitomi

Triggers in Order of Appearance
All Triggers are described in regards to the battle simulation.
 * Silencer (Wataru Urushima Unit)
 * Bagworm (Wataru Urushima Unit)
 * Kogetsu (Tatsuhito Ikoma Unit and Kei Tachikawa Unit)
 * Shield (Kai Minamisawa Unit and Hiro Kitazoe Unit)
 * Grenade Launcher (Hiro Kitazoe Unit)