ACT 3: Hyper thermonuclear missile attack

-1-

An unidentified space fleet was sailing through the pitch black of space. It had an eerie appearance, completely different from Earth’s space fleet. It was a large-scale mobile fleet consisting of six aircraft carriers and countless destroyers. In the center was a particularly huge, stubby mobile fortress carrier escorted by eight battleships. This was the space fleet of Planet Dengil, which had been hit by a huge flood due to the influence of the water planet, and disintegrated in a massive explosion.

On the bridge protruding from the top of the mobile fortress carrier, the crew was moving quickly.

A tall, well-built man stood at the center. He was young, wearing the near-green uniform of the Dengil army, with a short cloak on his back that reached his waist. His well-toned muscles were clearly visible even through his uniform. However, he was by no means stocky. Because of his height, over 1 meter and 80 centimeters, he had a slender physique.

The young man was fleet commander Lugal II, the eldest son of Lugal, the Grand Priest of the Dengil Empire. Lugal II clasped his hands behind his back and began pacing impatiently up and down the bridge floor.

Beside him stood his chief of staff, who was even taller, staring at him expressionlessly with a set jaw. Lugal II walked back and forth many times in front of the long-haired man, whose eyes followed his commander’s movements. The skin color of Lugal II and his Chief of Staff was exactly the same as that of the boy Susumu Kodai rescued. The crew members on the bridge were still frantically checking instruments.

Lugal II stopped abruptly and looked at his chief of staff. Immediately, the man snapped to an upright, motionless pose.

“Chief of Staff”

“Sir!”

“I ask again,” Lugal II asked slowly in a cold voice, “is it true?”

The Chief of Staff looked Lugal II in the eyes. “Yes. It’s true…”

“I see,” Lugal II muttered with a sad expression. “Our planet Dengil has exploded…”

“Yes,” he chief of staff said in a low voice, his gaze dropping. “The large amount of water that rained down from Aquarius penetrated deep into the crust. The tritium in the water caused a nuclear fusion reaction that destroyed our world.”

“So…my mother, my younger brother, and the rest of my family were together at that moment…”

Lugal II stared off into space.

“Have you informed my father, the Grand Priest?”

“Yes. We are currently sending a message to City Satellite Uruk.”

“I see. I guess I’ll have to inform him directly later. This must be fate…”

“Sir.”

Suddenly, a crewman who was operating instruments at the front spoke up.

“Unknown spaceship discovered!”

Lugal II and the Chief of Staff looked over.

“Unknown spaceship?”

“Project it on the panel,” the chief of staff said.

“Sir!”

At first, a view of outer space appeared on the large video panel in the center of the bridge. The view fluctuated, and when it returned to normal, a spaceship was visible. Lugal II and the Chief of Staff look up at the image. What was it?

It was a view of the brave Space Battleship Yamato, having completed its mission and now sailing toward Earth. Lugal II stared at her for a moment, and the corners of his mouth curled into a grin.

“I don’t know what planet this battleship is from, but it’s quite beautiful ship, isn’t it?”

“Indeed,” the Chief of Staff agreed.

“Are they trying to get back to their own system?”

“Or…”

“I see. We have no planet to return to, but they’re going to their own planet somewhere.”

The Chief of Staff glanced aside at Lugal II, still staring intently at Yamato. A fearless smile appeared on his face and he began to laugh, as if he had just thought of something. His laughter abruptly stopped, and his expression changed into a look of terrible anger. A vein twitched in his forehead. The light in his eyes resembled that of a beast. There was something morbid about this change.

Suddenly, he yelled and pointed his right finger at the image on the large video panel. “Everything that appears before us is an enemy! No matter how beautiful the ship is, we must destroy those who get in our way!”

The chief of staff looked surprised for a moment, but then quickly stood up straight.

“Fire a hyper thermonuclear missile at that ship!” Lugal II shouted.

“Sir!” the chief of staff answered.

Lugal II had returned to his fearless grin.

“Hyper thermonuclear missile, launch!”

A group of hyper thermonuclear missiles leaped out of a side port on the mobile fortress and moved steadily through space. They were displayed on the bridge’s video panel. Lugal II stared intently.

“Look, Chief of Staff. The sight of a missile rushing toward an enemy is always a wonderful sight. Don’t you think so?”

“Indeed, sir.”

The Chief of Staff continued to stare at the panel.

-2-

Meanwhile, the atmosphere inside Yamato‘s first bridge was calm. Contemplating a return to Earth after completing their mission, the tense hearts of the crew members began to loosen up a little.

Susumu Kodai stared into space outside the window, his mind blank. The crew members were checking instruments on their consoles in a familiar manner. Analyzer was staring at the spherical radar while lamps blinked on his body.

“Shima,” Susumu asked, “anything abnormal with navigation?”

Shima looked at Susumu and winked.

“Nothing. I could let go of the controls, and the ship would carry us all the way to Earth.”

Susumu nodded. Shima noticed how tired he looked. Struggling to rescue the boy from the water planet, it was no wonder he hadn’t had any rest. After all, the fatigue of the captain, who bore full responsibility, could not be compared to that of the general crew.

“Kodai…”

Susumu raised an eyebrow in response.

“Why don’t you go to the captain’s cabin and rest for a while? Nothing will happen until we return to Earth.”

Susumu smiled silently. “Well then, I’ll take a break for about 30 minutes…”

“Do that.”

“Okay.”

Susumu turned away from Shima and started walking. At that moment, the lamps all over Analyzer’s body flashed rapidly.

“Unidentified fleet discovered!”

Susumu turned sharply. “What!?”

The bridge went quiet, the previously relaxed atmosphere becoming as tense as a string.

“How big is the fleet?”

“Very large, completely unknown,” Analyzer answered.

Ota, who was monitoring the radar panel from the starboard auxiliary seat, shouted, “Missiles rapidly approaching from port!”

As soon as Susumu heard this, he automatically barked orders.

“Prepare for anti-missile battle! All hands, ready for combat deployment!”

The crew also acted partly out of conditioned reflexes. A well-trained warrior turns into a robot when the time comes.

Nanbu of the combat team quickly said, “Flank missile launcher, open! Intercept missiles, set on!”

“Okay,” Susumu ordered, “launch interceptor missiles!”

After discovering the group of missiles heading toward Yamato, the reaction time it took to fire the interceptor missile was extremely quick and impressive. Anyone timing it with a stopwatch wouldn’t have believed their eyes. However, the missile group was discovered too late.

The swarm of hyper thermonuclear missiles launched from Dengil’s mobile fortress carrier cut through space, heading straight for Yamato. The interceptor missiles launched from Yamato closed in on them from the opposite direction. Both groups rapidly approached a point in empty space, traveling in a straight line.

One interceptor missile destroyed a hyper thermonuclear missile. A silent explosion occurred in the dark of space, followed by a series of flashes in a chain reaction. The light was intense.

Tension ran high inside Yamato‘s bridge. Ota stared intently at his radar panel and said, “The missiles have begun to intercept!”

Yamato‘s interceptors destroyed most of the enemy missiles in space. However, one of them slipped through the swarm.

“Enemy missile rapidly approaching,” Ota yelled.

The missile hit the underside of Yamato, but didn’t explode right away. Instead, it stuck to the bottom of the ship like a gecko to glass. The missile slowly began to boil away the thick armor plating, which spread as if melting.

“What’s going on? Didn’t the enemy missile hit?”

The moment Susumu spoke, Yamato swayed violently. Nestled into the armored plating, the hyper thermonuclear missile finally exploded. A tremendous flash of light spread outward, and a large hole opened in the bottom of the ship.

As the inner bulkhead gave way, cosmic radiation emitted from the missile was scattered inside. Anyone in close proximity was atomized by the explosion. Others were blown into space outside the ship, and some were slammed into the next bulkhead. Even those who were not killed by the explosion shrieked and collapsed, clutching their throats and chests. This was the effect of cosmic radiation.

The crew members on the first bridge were slammed to the floor by the tremor caused by the shock of the explosion. The bridge shook violently. Everyone rolled on the floor, then looked up at the video panel, which displayed the underside of the ship.

Shima stared at it with a shocked expression. “Oh my God! Yamato‘s armor has been breached!”

Sanada ran up to Susumu’s side. “Kodai! This is unlike any missile we’ve ever encountered. Everyone should get into spacesuits!”

Susumu saw Sanada’s intense expression and nodded. As he was about to give the order, Ota shouted again.

“Second wave of missiles approaching!”

Susumu and the others widened their eyes and looked at the radar.

-3-

“Damn it!” Kodai yelled immediately. “Launch interceptor missiles!”

Nambu jumped to his panel and slammed the switch.

“Missile launch ports, open! Intercept missiles, set on!”

Susumu gave the command again. “Interceptor missiles, launch!”

However, the second wave was now closer than the first wave. Yamato‘s interceptor missiles crashed into them one after another. A silent explosion and flash occurred close to the ship. Most of the new missiles were destroyed, but just like before, one got through.

It approached Yamato rapidly. The ship was in a state of panic. Speakers everywhere on board were screaming.

“All hands, put on spacesuits! Put on your space suits immediately!”

The crew members hurriedly put on their spacesuits. Some were so panicked they fell to the floor while struggling to pull them on. Even on the first bridge, the crew members hurriedly donned spacesuits.

“Quickly put on your space suit and get to your post!”

Susumu barked orders without even trying to put his on. Then he ran to the radar panel. Ota was nearby trying to put on his spacesuit. Susumu’s eyes widened as he looked at the screen.

“Enemy missile, starboard side at 8 o’clock!” Susumu shouted.

The crew members had finished suiting up and were hastily taking their places.

“Fire interceptor missile! Hurry!”

After giving the order, he yielded the seat back to Ota, who had finished putting on his spacesuit.

Sanada handed Susumu his spacesuit. “Kodai! You should put on your suit, too!” Susumu quickly put it on.

“Starboard, 8 o’clock, interceptor missile fired!”

Nanbu turned his switch. An interceptor missile was fired from Yamato. But the attacker successfully dodged it and resumed its approach.

“Intercept missile failed!” Ota yelled in despair.

The missile hit the exterior of the first bridge and stuck. It was as if the ship had been hit by soft gum.

“Enemy missile hit!”

The armor plates around the attached missile gradually melted away and there was a huge explosion; a tremendous sound and a flash of light, and the crew inside the ship were blown away. Both those with spacesuits and those without were exposed to intense radiation. They screamed and dropped like dolls.

Inside the first bridge, there was a shock that seemed to hit from below. Everyone was thrown from their positions. Susumu was already wearing his spacesuit, and his helmet was barely attached. The floor fractured with a tremendous sound. The crew panicked and ran, but there was no point in fleeing. From the cracks in the floor, cosmic radiation flared like a gigantic invisible amoeba. It had entered the bridge.

“Waaah! This is…”

The crew members fell one by one, clutching their throats in agony. Shima, Nanbu, and Sanada. One by one, the main crew all dropped to the floor. Susumu struggled and fell to his knees.

“Uuuuh…”

He wondered what this pain was. He couldn’t breathe, and his body was slowly losing strength. He also clutched his throat and chest through his spacesuit.

“Damn…I can’t die…”

But his body lost all its strength and crumpled to the floor. He tried to take a deep breath inside his helmet, but no air reached his lungs. He was like a goldfish coming to the surface of the water and opening its mouth in search of oxygen. His consciousness was becoming more and more distant.

“Damn…we don’t even know who they are…I can’t believe they could defeat Yamato so easily…”

Susumu dropped his head to the floor and closed his eyes. His body went limp, only his mouth moving slightly.

“Yuki…”

He completely lost consciousness. The floor of the first bridge was severely torn and angled to the left. A speaker was making a buzzing sound.

Yamato respond, Yamato respond. What’s going on, Yamato? Aihara, respond… Yamato, what’s wrong…?”

No one on the bridge moved. The communication from Earth echoed hollowly.

Having completely lost control, Yamato began to drift through space. There was a large, cavernous hole just below the first bridge and at the bottom of the ship. Eventually, Yamato arced toward a nearby planet. Dengil’s mobile fleet slowly passed far overhead, its cruel gaze on Yamato.

-4-

Inside the bridge of the mobile fortress carrier, Lugal II was grinning as he stared intently at the large video panel. The look on his face was one of satisfaction. The panel displayed Yamato drifting in flames.

Letting out a chuckle, Lugal II spoke to his chief of staff who was standing behind him. His gaze never left the video panel.

“That beautiful ship can’t be helped after all that’s happened to her,” he said.

The Chief of Staff nodded. “Absolutely. But to be able to intercept most of our hyper thermonuclear missiles…it’s a very capable ship.”

“You could say so.”

The Chief of Staff glanced toward Lugal II. “Normally, a ship hit by our missiles would have been shattered into cosmic dust. But only two of them hit the target.”

“You could also say that the people operating that ship were quite talented.”

“Yes…” The Chief of Staff looked confused. Lugal II suddenly spun around.

“But they were no match for me! No matter what kind of ship it is, no matter how good the operator is, they pose no threat.”

“Sir.”

The chief of staff stood upright. Satisfied, Lugal II nodded and turned his attention back to the video panel. One of the crew members operating the instruments under the panel spoke up.

“The enemy spaceship is currently approaching Planet Nine of the Dengil system.”

“I see.”

Again, Lugal II grinned.

“Will that dead planet become their graveyard?”

“It seems so,” the chief of staff answered curtly.

The ninth planet of the Dengil system loomed before Yamato as she drifted. It was a rocky planet with a reddish-brown color. Of course, there were no living things there. It was the size of Earth’s moon, with no water or atmosphere.

Yamato, pitching heavily to the left, was caught by the planet’s gravity. As if being drawn by the god of death, the ship descended steadily toward the planet. No one moved on board. No one moved inside the first bridge. They were all lying face down on the floor in their spacesuits.

Even Analyzer had been slammed to the floor and rolled apart into pieces. One arm and one leg had been torn off, and his torso and neck were split open. All his lights were out.

Yamato free-fell from a high altitude, but its speed was quite slow. The rocky, reddish-brown mountains gradually rose as the ship descended. Finally, the bottom of the ship hit a part of a mountain, which broke and scattered. The violent shock shook Yamato‘s entire body.

Just like a water bird flying just above the surface of the sea, it fell between rising rocks. The right side of the ship’s bottom hit the slope of the mountain again, and Yamato trembled.

At that moment, a switch clicked. It wasn’t loud enough to hear, but it was a switch of great significance. It caused a miracle to happen on the first bridge: it activated an automatic navigation system at the helm, just above where Daisuke Shima was lying.

A second switch turned on, followed by others one after another. The automatic navigation system started working. Yamato was descending into a valley between reddish-brown rocky mountains on both sides when it suddenly began to rise. It looked as if the invisible hand of a giant god had lifted the entire ship.

Instead of crashing into the valley floor, Yamato climbed little by little. On the first bridge, the automatic navigation system was fully activated. Lamps on the helm panel were flashing silently. Rather than being lifted up by an invisible god, Yamato herself had unleashed her last strength.

As if inspired by the lamps on the helm panel, Analyzer’s lights began to flicker weakly. His head, which had separated from his body, moved with a thud.

“Is Yamato alive?” Analyzer muttered, and dropped his head. The blinking lights on his torso faded. Once again, the bridge became as silent as the depths of the ocean. But the ship was still steadily rising.

She was still pitched heavily to the left, but definitely climbing away from Planet Nine, finally leaving its gravitational field. With no one’s help, Yamato left the planet of death behind, the planet that would have otherwise become her graveyard.

Yamato began sailing through space. The ship still had the power to warp.

-5-

Depending on the observer, it could be said that the complex-shaped Earth Defense Force headquarters looks like the upper body of a giant robot. It used to be located in the underground city, but had been moved above ground and now boasted its majesty, overwhelming those who looked up from below.

However, the inside of the Earth Defense Force headquarters was now in a state of panic.

Yuki Mori was tired from working all night, so she was resting in a nap room. With her jacket off, she lay on a small bed built into the wall. Her face was filled with pain despite her closed eyes. A small bead of sweat appeared on her forehead, and from time to time a sound escaped from her mouth.

Yuki was having a nightmare. In her dream, she fell silent as she stood on the floor of Yamato‘s first bridge. For some reason, she was wearing the same suit she wore while on duty at the headquarters.

“Why am I on board Yamato?” she wondered. “I don’t wear clothing like this when I’m here…”

The first bridge was deserted. All the instruments were stopped and not working.

“Kodai-kun…where are you?”

Yuki’s voice echoed throughout the empty bridge. Outside the window, the darkness of outer space spread out. The stars gave off a dead, dim light.

“Where is Yamato going?” she asked.

She walked over to her console and examined the instruments.

“That’s strange…I wonder what sector this is…”

She looked at all the gauges, but none were working.

Yamato isn’t headed for Earth…is it just floating aimlessly in space?”

She looked around the bridge.

“Where did everyone go…?”

Yuki felt a loneliness that made her want to cry.

“Kodai-kun…everyone…”

She ran to the window and looked out into space again. At that moment, she saw something floating just outside the window. It was a motionless person wearing a spacesuit, floating in from the left with arms and legs spread out.

“Who is this…what’s wrong?”

The face of the person could not be seen, because the helmet was facing downward. It drifted into the window, then turned so that its body faced toward Yuki. She screamed when she saw the face inside the helmet. It had black holes for eye sockets. It was a skull with all its teeth exposed. Its helmet hit the glass of the window and made a tapping sound.

Yuki turned away and looked around the bridge, her whole body shaking. Suddenly, there were many people lying all over the floor of the bridge, which had been empty until just a moment ago. They were all wearing spacesuits and lying face down.

“Guys, what’s wrong with everyone!?”

She gingerly walked up to someone in a spacesuit lying at her feet, then bent down and shook the person’s shoulder.

“What happened? What happened?”

Judging from his body size, it looked like Sanada. Yuki took the initiative and turned the motionless figure over, then screamed. There was another skull in the helmet of this spacesuit. No, on closer inspection, it wasn’t a complete skull. It was like a mummy, with the skin of its face clinging tightly to its bones. It stared up at Yuki, eyes wide open.

It was Sanada after all.

Her whole body trembling, Yuki looked at the people lying on the floor. She turned them over, one after another.

“Ota-kun! Aihara-kun! Nanbu-kun!”

They were all mummified. Then she turned over the one near the helm.

“Shima-kun!”

The same was true of him. Even Analyzer had completely fallen apart.

Finally, Yuki walked over to the person lying face down in the center of the floor. She put a trembling hand on his shoulder, then pulled hard to flip him over.

“Kodai-kun!”

Inside the helmet was the face of her mummified lover, Susumu Kodai.

“No, no, no! What happened to everyone?”

Yuki pressed her hands over her ears and crouched on the floor. But she could still see the body floating outside the window. She could hear the sound of the helmet hitting the glass.

“No, no, no! Kodai-kun!”

Tap…tap…tap…

The sound inevitably comes to her ears.

Suddenly, Yuki opened her eyes. She could see the dim ceiling of the small nap room. There was a tapping sound. Someone was knocking on the door.

“Come in…”

A young liaison opened the door and looked inside.

“Mori-san. The director is calling.”

“I got it. Thank you…” Yuki answered lazily.

The liaison looked at her suspiciously, then closed the door and left.

Yuki let out her breath. She was sweating all over. Her body ached. She ran a hand through her long hair, which stuck to her forehead with sweat, and pushed it carelessly behind her.

She rose from the bed and straightened her clothes. Her skirt was a little wrinkled, but it couldn’t be helped. She walked over to the mirror on the wall and looked at her face. She had dark circles under her eyes due to fatigue. She looked at her watch and saw that she had slept for only two hours.

She retrieved her jacket, which was hanging over the edge of the bed, and put her arm through it. A bad feeling was swirling inside her chest. What a horrible dream, she thought. Kodai-kun should be sailing toward Earth right now, so why did she have such a nasty dream…?

Yuki left the nap room.

-6-

Yuki Mori entered the headquarters control room. Activity was frantic. A young radio operator sitting at a console was speaking loudly into a mic. Behind the radio operator, Chief Director Todo was standing still with his hands clasped behind his back. Yuki quietly walked up behind the director as the radio operator continued to call out.

“Respond, Yamato. Respond, Yamato. What happened!? This is Earth Defense Force headquarters. Communications Officer Aihara, respond!”

When Yuki heard this, her whole body trembled.

Impossible…

The director noticed Yuki’s presence and turned around.

“Yuki…it’s as you heard. Communication with Yamato was suddenly interrupted.”

Yuki looked back into his eyes and asked, “What happened to Yamato, Director?”

He shook his head. “I don’t know. We have no details…but…”

“But?” Yuki urged him to keep talking.

“But we do know that Yamato seems to have been attacked.”

“What?”

“We just can’t figure out who it is…”

Yamato was attacked…what happened to Yamato!?” Yuki asked desperately.

The director looked down at the floor, then back up at her and groaned.

“I don’t want to believe it, but…there’s a possibility that Yamato has been reduced to flotsam in the ocean of space.”

Hearing these words, Yuki felt dizzy and light-headed for a moment. It felt like all the strength was leaving her body.

“Yuki…” The director lunged to support her, but she stood strong. “Are you okay?”

“Yes”

“Let’s not despair just yet.”

“I know.”

“The radio operator is continuing to hail them. Communication was simply disabled due to some kind of attack. It might just be that.”

“Yes…”

Yuki looked down. Don’t give up, she told herself.

The director perceived her condition and said, “You must be tired. You should get some more rest. You’ve been working since yesterday.”

She looked at the director and shook her head.

“No, I’m fine. You must be the tired one.”

His eyes were red and bloodshot from fatigue and lack of sleep. Everyone here was tired. No one, including Yuki, had slept properly.

“Let’s have some coffee.”

“Okay. I’ll take care of it.”

Yuki turned and trotted towards the director’s office. There was no one inside. With her back leaning against the door, she could barely stand, her legs trembling. She crouched down on the spot, her face twisted with sadness. She covered her face with both hands. Yuki endured, trying desperately not to shed tears.

“Kodai-kun… Please stay alive…”

She remained crouched like that for a while. The radio operator continued calling out with his voice becoming increasingly ragged.

Yamato, respond. Yamato, respond…”


Continue to Act 4

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