-1-
The Space Battleship Yamato began to speed away from the dock and head for the water channel as the commander and maintenance crew looked on.
“Proceed to the channel!”
Captain Okita sat in the captain’s seat and gave the order with a stern expression. The main crew members were doing their jobs without fail. Yamato could not be launched unless everyone was in his or her station, doing what he or she had to do, handling the situation smoothly and accurately.
“Inject energy into the wave engine!” Chief Engineer Yamazaki shouted.
Shima heard it and responded immediately. “Auxiliary engines, second battle speed!”
Yamato crept into the waterway.
“Wave engine, cylinder closing valve open! Five minutes to engine start!”
At Yamazaki’s voice, Shima tightened his grip on the control sticks. This was the most nerve-wracking moment. Whether or not the ship would launch successfully depended on his skill from this moment on.
“Wave engine pressure increasing, energy at 90 percent!”
“All right, auxiliary engine, maximum battle speed!”
The tense exchanges between Shima and Yamazaki continued.
“Pressure in the wave engine is increasing. Energy at 100 percent!”
Yamato splashed through the water.
“Two minutes to engine ignition,” Yamazaki announced. “Ten seconds to flywheel start!”
“Auxiliary engines now at maximum output!”
“Wave engine at 120 percent! Flywheel start!”
Shima hit switches one after another at the sound of Yamazaki’s voice.
“Flywheel start! Wave engine ignition in 10 seconds!”
Shima began to count down. “Ten, nine, eight, seven…”
Captain Okita listened, his face unmoving.
“Six, five, four, three, two, one…”
Captain Okita’s right eyebrow twitched.
“Zero!”
At this, Captain Okita immediately barked. “Connect!”
“Connect flywheel! Ignition!”
Shima gritted his teeth and pulled back on the sticks, slowly and carefully.
“Yamato, launch!”
Yamato made a jet noise like an explosion and gradually began to rise out of the water. After about 30 meters, however, the ascent came to a halt. The injection was weaker than usual. Kodai glanced over at Shima.
“Shima! What’s wrong?”
Shima’s forehead was sweating as he pulled all the way back on the control sticks.
“Engine power is sluggish! We’re not rising!”
Everyone on board got nervous, including Captain Okita.
Yamazaki growled at Tasuke Tokugawa. “Tokugawa! Did you check the energy guide?”
“There’s nothing wrong with the meter!” Tasuke Tokugawa replied with a tearful voice. “The tachyon pressure regulator isn’t working properly!”
“Idiot!” Yamazaki hollered. “The repairs are incomplete!”
“Shima,” Captain Okita said, “deploy the wings and roll the attitude control rockets to a fixed point!”
“Yes, sir! Deploying the wings, attitude control rockets rolling to a fixed point!”
Yamato‘s wings deployed as it moved parallel to the sea surface at 30 meters. Four attitude control rockets rolled to a fixed point of 90 degrees each. The front two rockets fired downward. Yamato rose as if lifted by an invisible hand. It gained momentum and continued to rise. Finally, Yamato launched.
“Angle of climb 40 degrees, navigating within the atmosphere, no abnormalities!”
Shima wiped the sweat from his forehead with his right sleeve. The entire crew was relieved.
“I wondered what was going to happen…” Nambu muttered, shaking his head. Everyone felt the same way.
However, Okita sat in the captain’s seat with a blank expression on his face, just as he had before the launch. He slowly looked around at the main crew before speaking.
“Everyone, listen carefully.”
They all tensed up. For a moment, the bridge fell silent. After confirming that he had their attention, he spoke again.
“The purpose of this mission for the time being is to destroy the enemy fleet and reach the water planet Aquarius to stop its warp. Aquarius is currently 900 light years from Earth. It will be at its closest approach in six days, Earth time.”
There was not a sound on the bridge. Okita continued, “But I don’t know how we can stop planetary warp. Even with our current scientific capabilities, we have no way of predicting it. And even before that, it is not clear whether we can eliminate enemy resistance and reach Aquarius. We can expect great difficulties.”
Okita paused for a moment, then said in a strong tone, “But gentlemen! One thing is clear. No matter what fate befalls our ship, no matter if we all die in battle, our mission must succeed. The fate of Earth depends on us!”
Okita looked at everyone with stern eyes. Then the corners of his mouth rose into a grin.
“I died once, but I have come back to life to take the captain’s seat again. I think you understand the gravity of the situation.”
Susumu Kodai swallowed hard. Yes, that’s right, he thought. Okita, who was now sitting in the captain’s seat, was supposed to be dead. Yamato had been ostensibly launched under the command of a dead man.
Okita stared back at Susumu, making him nervous. “I look forward to seeing you all do well,” he said at last.
The captain’s seat rose upward on its rail and disappeared into the captain’s quarters above the first bridge. Everyone relaxed, as if a thread had loosened.
“I still can’t believe it…” Aihara shook his head as he looked up at the ceiling where the captain had vanished.
Nanbu looked up as well. “I’m sure they’ll explain everything to us once things have calmed down. Even if it is a ghost, I don’t care if it is Captain Okita’s ghost.”
Susumu Kodai spoke up. “Everyone, we’ve launched safely, but don’t let up until we leave the solar system. Anything can happen from here on out.”
The crew nodded. Susumu suddenly blushed.
“I shouldn’t do that,” he said. “I’m in the habit of giving the captain’s orders…”
Yuki Mori looked at Susumu and smiled secretly. Suddenly, Shima spoke up.
“Ten seconds before atmospheric escape!”
-2-
“Retract wings!”
Yamato, which had left Earth’s atmosphere, stowed its main wings and entered space.
Behind Yamato, the huge blue Earth spread out. But now, this beautiful Earth is in danger. If Yamato did not succeed in its mission, Mother Earth would be submerged by the water planet Aquarius. All the plants and animals that inhabit the planet, not to mention the human race, would be wiped out.
Earth would be left without any living creatures. The Dengil people would trample the Earth with satisfied smiles on their faces. This mission had to succeed to prevent the flooding. The people who could no longer escape had to be protected.
Ahead of Yamato was the destroyer Fuyuzuki, which had launched earlier. Several destroyers joined them from the moon base: Yukikaze, Suzutsuki, Isokaze, Hamakaze, Hatsushimo, Asashimo, and Kasumi. Then the cruiser Yahagi came sailing toward Yamato. Each ship hailed Yamato one after another.
Thus, a total of nine ships formed a circle around Yamato. From the windows of the first bridge, they could be seen in full view.
“Yahagi has also joined us. Yukikaze and Hamakaze are with us…that makes a total of nine ships.”
Aihara, who had received communications from each ship, pointed out the window and said to no one in particular, “Everyone wants to fight with Yamato. Isn’t this great?”
Aihara looked at Nanbu. Nanbu nodded in reply. “It’s exciting!”
Susumu Kodai was staring out the window, also filled with emotion. Sanada came up to him.
“Kodai.”
Susumu turned around at the sound of Sanada’s voice. Sanada looked at him and smiled. “I’m glad you came back to Yamato.”
Susumu’s eyes were downcast for a moment, but then he looked up again.
“Sanada-san,” he said, “I…”
“Don’t say anything. I’m happy just to be able to fight alongside you again. Even if you’re not the captain.”
Sanada patted Susumu on the shoulder and returned to his post. Susumu quickly turned back to his instrument panel and switched on the computer.
“Report all repairs on the ship,” Susumu said.
A screen on the instrument panel showed text, and voices came out of the speaker at the same time. Everyone listened.
“The Wave-Motion Gun control room is badly damaged. It will take several days to restore it.”
“The maneuvering and navigation systems are in good working order, but the warp-related mechanisms have not yet been adjusted. Only small warps are possible at this time.”
“All main gun turrets have been repaired with minor details remaining.”
“Engine room maintenance is complete. But output of the wave engine is limited. We can’t run at full power for long periods of time.”
“Radar function has been fully restored.”
Susumu and the other crew members listened to the reports and took a breath. Yamato was not in good condition.
Yamato and the destroyer squadron sailed into Mars space. Staring out the window into space, the crew fell silent. There was debris floating in space. Most of it was wreckage of the Earth fleet that had been destroyed by the Dengil fleet.
“Damn…” Aihara muttered.
“Let’s see what the Mars base looks like on the main panel,” Susumu said.
The main video panel was switched on and the Mars base appeared on the screen. The whole group looked up at it and let out an involuntarily moan.
“It’s terrible,” Shima muttered. “It’s completely ruined…”
Susumu clenched his fists and stared at the video panel. The image of the completely destroyed Mars base was clearly displayed. Not a single structure was intact. The living quarters were also in a terrible state. There were probably no survivors.
“Turn it off,” Susumu said.
The image disappeared, and white particles streamed for a moment before the video panel went blank. The wreckage of the Earth fleet still drifted past Yamato as it sailed onward through space.
After switching to autopilot and returning to his quarters, Shima Daisuke sat down in at his desk, which was built into the wall. He looked at the wall above it where he’d hung pictures of his family. There was also a picture of his younger brother Jiro, smiling at him.
Shima remembered the soccer practice he and Jiro had on the hill overlooking the spaceport. As if an idea suddenly occurred to him, he pulled out a memo pad and began to scribble on it with a pen. He wrote a letter to Jiro, which he had no way of delivering. But he couldn’t live with himself if he didn’t write.
Jiro, Yamato has launched safely. We will fight so that the trees and grass on that hill where you and I practiced soccer will continue to grow and thrive. My brother, maybe that day will be your last memory of me. There is zero chance that you will ever receive this letter. But I will write to you anyway…
Shima continued to move the pen single-mindedly.
The destroyer squadron led by Yamato reached Saturn space. Here, too, the wreckage of the Earth fleet was adrift. Saturn’s moon bases were also in ruins, and even the space colony had been destroyed.
From the observation room, combat team member Shiro Kato and engineering team member Taisuke Tokugawa stood side by side looking out the window. The space colony drifted by, mangled to a point where its original form was no longer recognizable.
“Damn it. It’s a hell of a mess…” Tasuke said in frustration.
“Terrible. Destroying a space colony with almost no offensive capability…” Kato bit his lip. “There are probably tens of thousands of corpses floating around inside it…”
What appeared to be ship wreckage drifted past the window. Seeing this, Kato thought of his brother Saburo, who had been killed in action. Saburo’s face appeared in his mind, floating outside. Saburo was the first leader of the Black Tiger team, number one on board Yamato in combat ability. However, he was killed in the Battle of the White Comet.
“Brother, I’m going to fight too…” Kato muttered.
Tasuke looked at Kato’s profile as he stared at the wreckage in space.
“Hey, Kato…”
Kato turned to Tasuke. “What?”
“Is there any way to deal with an enemy with such a destructive missile?”
“I don’t know. But no matter how tough this battle is, we have to win.”
They both nodded at the same time.
In the workshop, Sanada was staring at the auto-drafting board with a serious expression. He was single-mindedly devoted to the study of defense against a hyper thermonuclear missile.