"Sir, the fourth expeditionary fleet is ready to warp at your command, sir," ECI officer Hina Matsuoka said. "All crew ready for warp, Admiral Kodai."

"Understood. Open channel to the rest of the fleet." Fleet Admiral Susumu Kodai relaxed in his chair aboard the Yamato. His hair was an unusual grayish black, and his slightly sagging frame showed that he was in his early 60s. He had been promoted to Fleet Admiral following his heroics during what had come to be known as the Black Hole War against the forces of what was known as the Star Alliance, dominated by the S.U.S. The war barely lasted a few days once the Yamato became involved. The moment which caused Earth Defense Force HQ to give him such a promotion was the use of the Yamato's Wave Motion Gun to seal a black hole which threatened the Earth.

"Channel open sir. Heading to ECI center to prepare for warp." With that, Matsuoka's chair slid back before receding into the floor, with the hole left behind being covered by an extending panel shortly thereafter.

"Attention all ships. This is Fleet Admiral Susumu Kodai. Warp!" Just as the command was given, a sudden explosion shook the Yamato. As the great space battleship lurched slightly, it seemed to vanish into space.


"Is everyone okay?" Tactical Officer Masaru Kamijo, asked dazedly. Various voices replied in the affirmative.

"Hina, what is the status of the ship?" Kodai asked, looking around seeing everyone getting up and back to their stations.

"There is good news and bad news Admiral Kodai. The ship is almost entirely intact, and all crew are accounted for." Hina typed away at her keyboard before continuing." But the bad news is that our warps systems are offline, and I cannot reach any Earth Defense Forces. It is as if they just disappeared."

"Where are we?" Navigation Officer Hideki Kobayashi asked, stunned by Matsuoka's information.

"We appear to be in orbit around what appears to be Earth, but there are some major anomalies. Number one of which being the lack of any artificial satellites orbiting it. Number two is the very large chunk of Europe that is severely discolored, and which looks almost black." Matsuoka shook her head and sighed. "I don't think we are anywhere near the Earth we are familiar with."

"Launch probes, let's see what we're dealing with here." Kodai keyed in the command to begin moving his chair up into his quarters. "I will be in my quarters. Inform me once the survey is complete."

"Yes Admiral Kodai!" The bridge crew set to work doing their jobs, with the uneeded Kamijo and Kobayashi returning to their quarters to rest and relax.

Little did the crew of the Yamato know, they would soon be involving themselves in a conflict on par with the war against the Gamilons.


Meanwhile, several hundred miles below, in Dover, Wing Commander Minna Dietlinde Wilcke looked over reports from the front lines in Gallia.

'Damn, if this rate of loss keeps up, there won't be enough Gallians left alive to call Gallia home,' she thought. 'I've got to find a way to break the stalemate and keep the rest of the 501st alive, but how? How can a commander pull victory out of the jaws of this certain of a defeat?' The teenage witch looked skyward.

'I know I don't pray often, but if there is any kind of higher power out there, I need your help.' The young witch sighed, and went to go prepare herself for bed.

In the barracks, Elia Juutilainen checked her tarot cards while looking into the future with her magic. In her vision, she saw a strange version of the Yamato, which could fly, fire lasers from it's main guns, launch rockets which steered themselves towards their target, and launch fighter aircraft that flew without propellers. She snapped back to reality with a start, her tarot cards laid out in prediction.

'So my cards predict the re-emergence of hope, and the arrival of justice. I honestly hope so. Morale had been at an all time low ever since the Neuroi managed to retake Gallia.' Once she had cleaned up from her prediction work, she prepared for bed, and went to sleep.


Author's Notes – Hello everyone! This is my first fan fiction on the site. Please review! Also, if you know what the official first names of Tactical Officer Kamijo and Navigation Officer Kobayashi, I will be glad to correct them.