Hey, author here. I'll likely update the story at one chapter a month at worst, so please stick around.

Two

"Sister!"

"What is it, Yurisha?"

"A signal from a hundred and sixty-two thousand light years away was picked up by our sensors - it's a ship of Iscandian origin!"

Queen Starsha looked up, surprised. "But our last vessel was scrapped five centuries ago! Can you trace the hull number?"

"I'll try," the princess replied. "Yurisha, help me out here, you're more familiar with the old equipment."

"Okay."

3 Days Later

"Hull 29667. This is…"

"The lost ship of peace. Is this not…"

"It is, dear sister. Send an encrypted message to her; she's able to receive it."


Earth

It has been a week since Kodai found the Yamato, and after scurrying back to mainland Japan to submit footage of the battleship Yamato, he had quickly returned to the drydock to check on the space battleship.

"My Wave Motion Engine converts the vacuum of space into tachyon energy, but this particular model of engine is one-of-a-kind," Yamato explained via the PA system as Kodai looked at the engine from the control room. "This technology has allowed us to travel at speeds beyond the velocities of light for centuries, as well as the Gamilas."

"Wait, you said this engine converts vacuum into tachyon," Kodai said. "Does that mean that you produce an unlimited amount of energy?"

"That is correct."

"Amazing!"

"The Wave Motion Engine powers anything that runs on power on board; thrust, weapons, electricity, and other applications. The engine also powers specifically the main thruster; the other two are auxiliary rockets that have their own separate power supply."

"Ah, I understand. Wait, if it's not running, why do you have power?"

"I am running under the power generators of the dock; the core of my engine has not been installed yet."

"Well, where is it?"

"I would advise against activating the Wave Motion Engine until all my repairs are complete, but the core is placed inside a safe in the dock."

"Oh, okay. So, what else do you want to show me?"

"Return to the first bridge, first."


"The main and secondary weapons, 48 cm and 20 cm guns respectively, are called 'shock cannons'; energy from the Wave Motion Engine charges these weapons, and they fire blue anti-electron beams," the AI explained as Kodai looked down at the turrets from the bridge, the dock's moving cranes under the ship's control and working on the repairs of the hull. "These are significantly more powerful than the recently-developed ones you have in the UNCF, and certainly they aren't standard equipment of the Iscandarian forces; the others use a weaker variant."

"Interesting. It's like you're almost built to surpass everything in existence."

"But of course; I am a pioneer in many aspects when it comes to my design. For a basic examples, I utilize barreled energy weapons."

"Why barreled?" the young man asked.

"A barrel has the advantage of making a gun more accurate, with the downside of taking up more space and being more susceptible to damage in combat."

"I see. Question, if the Wave Motion Engine is down, doesn't that mean that the shock cannons won't be able to fire?"

"That is correct. However, these guns have also been designed to be able to fire physical shells, as my designers have also noticed what you have observed. Again, this is another ability that only I have, and also contributes to the reason why the guns have barrels. No shell has been manufactured so far, however."

"Interesting. What is the material used for your hull?"

"My hull is constructed using a durable, relatively light, rust-resistant alloy metal typically used in all Iscandarian ships. It can be derived from typical steel, so production would be easy; however, this metal serves no defense against energy weapons. As a secondary defense, I have been coated with a substance that is similar to 'Migobueza' that you humans have invented. This would alleviate the impact energy weapons will have, if the shields go down."

"Ah, that's right. Migobueza is a hot, light, readily-manufactured paste that easily hardens and decreases the impact of energy weapons when applied on a physical surface, but serve little to no help against physical projectiles."

"Indeed."

"What's your actual length, Yamato?" Kodai suddenly asked.

"Three hundred and thirty-three meters."

"That's larger than any other ship in the fleet," the young man commented.

"Indeed. The UNCF Kirishima, for instance, is just 205 meters in length. You humans have the ability to build larger ships, but for now it seems that your kind is not yet there."

"Well, cut us some slack. We've never even ventured out of our own solar system yet, at least not with our vessels."

"Indeed. If the Gamilas do arrive, I find that victory is possible only with heavy cost. Fortunately for your planet I can easily deal with the threat, as long as I have been properly repaired. I still have more things to show you; take a look at the screen above you, Kodai."

Looking up, Kodai was shown a detailed diagram of the ship.

"You can see that I come in various anti-aircraft, other anti-ship and anti-surface weaponry. Starting with anti-aircraft, I am mounted with a good compliment of anti-aircraft guns and turrets. Moving over to the other anti-ship weaponry, I have a few torpedo tubes; six at the bow, 4 at the stern and 8 on each side. I use guided torpedoes."

"Nice. Do you have the torpedoes now?"

"As with the shells, no. The fear of decay is a good deterrent. Moving on to dedicated anti-surface weaponry, the area of which that would resemble the original Yamato's smokestack contains missile tubes; these same type of tubes are also mounted on the underside of the hull, at the area directly in front of the third bridge and ending before the bow. These missiles are guided but can only lock on to a stationary target, but can severely damage a vessel nonetheless."

"I'll keep that in mind, seems we'll only use these weapons in some form of bombardment."

"I'm also designed with a hangar for aircraft, mainly fighters and other reconnaissance aircraft. They can be launched from an opening behind the third bridge, the two catapults at the rear or from the two 'aircraft pods', each on my side."

"That'll come in handy," Kodai commented, impressed. "We would have our own fighter cover, no matter whether a carrier is around or otherwise."

"Indeed, my tactical abilities are superior compared to any known vessel of my time. Moving forward, the main bridge, the one you're currently in, serves as the primary command center of this vessel, while the second bridge, the one below this one, serves as simply a secondary bridge, or as a combat bridge; though that is unnecessary with the first bridge unless the latter has been significantly damaged. The third bridge, below the hull, primarily serves as the control point of the Yamato's shields."

"Why is it located in such an exposed space, then?"

"I do not know."

Kodai looked surprised. "Really?"

"My knowledge is never complete, no matter how vast. Perhaps it was a matter of space, and my designers made it that way. Maybe they drank too much Iscandarian whiskey one night, then went straight to my drawing board."

"Iscandarian whiskey?!"

"Yes. It has an alcohol count of 20%."

Kodai chuckled. "Anyway, is that it?"

"Yes. There is one more thing, however. Move to the bow of the ship, under my directions."


"This is the Dimensional Wave Motion Explosive Compression Emitter. You can call it the Wave Motion Gun."

Kodai stared at the massive weapon in its room. "So this is what the barrel at the front's for."

"That is just the muzzle of the weapon; the barrel runs from the engine to the firing gate. As the engine provides power by expanding compactified higher dimensions that are curled up as Calabi-Yau manifolds, energy is released into the gravity wave compression chambers and the tachyon particle oscillator control unit. A supergravity wave is then formed and, when the barrel is connected to the muzzle, is directed out and creates micro black holes which rapidly evaporate, converting all their energy into Hawking radiation."

"All the tachyon energy from the engine, released… That will be very destructive."

"That is correct. My engine can be charged up to 120% of capacity, but in order to fire this weapon, all non-vital systems will have to be temporarily shut down. Furthermore, the shields cannot be raised at this time; this makes me a very vulnerable target, especially since charging would take at least a minute."

"That's critical," Kodai thought. "Why not use two separate engines?"

"I was built with peace in mind; if my designers wanted to make me the vanguard of the Iscandarian forces they could have placed six of these engines inside."

"Six?!"

"Yes. And I would then be able to fire the Wave Motion Gun continuously, or, with some difficulty, use all engines to fire everything in one massive beam. But that is not the case in reality. I was built to bring peace."

"With this?" Kodai asked with a raised eyebrow, pointing towards the Wave Motion Gun.

"I will only permit the Wave Motion Gun's use as a last resort. The safety locks on this weapon are not for show. Iscandar had used this weapon to destroy worlds; my builders want mine to bring peace."

The young man was silent as he looked at the weapon. "Very noble. Are you developing a personality, Yamato?"

"That may be the case, as I am programmed to interact like a natural organism as well. I may show signs of emotion, too."

"Seems good to me. So, where do we go from here?"

"Would you like to visit more areas of the vessel?"

"Sure thing, not like I've got anything else to do now."


After pretty much everything on board the ship was covered, Kodai returned to the bridge and immediately slumped into the captain's chair. "Is that it? I'm tired."

"That would be it, Kodai. By the way, a few days ago you were documenting the wreck of the other Yamato, is that correct?"

"Yeah?"

"Has it been submitted to your superiors?"

"It has," Kodai replied. "Don't worry if you're thinking I had footage of you, I never filmed anything close to you."

"That will be assuring."

"The editors will be using my footage for whatever documentary they're working on, but nothing beats the real deal. Now time for me to ask you; what's the progress?"

"My hull has been 23% repaired, while any deteriorated components have been replaced. Repairs will be completed in an estimated 40 days."

"That's quick. I'm honestly hoping that the Gamilas do not ever find us."

"That may be sooner than we think."

Kodai was surprised. "What makes you say that?"

"Upon my activation, my systems sent out a long-distance ping that would have reached Iscandar via a long-distance extender installed in the dock that sends the signal via a dimensional space barrier, which is how Iscandarian vessels have communicated with each other between long distances. However, this particular signal is unsecured, and if the Gamilas have received it, they would most likely be headed our way."

"Wait, we may be facing an attack? Why didn't you tell me sooner?"

"I was not aware of this until shortly after you left."

"But we do have time to prepare, right?"

"Indeed. I would be ready in no more than 3 months."

"That's good. Do you think the UNCF would have received that ping?"

"It is likely, but due to the lack of any activity swarming around in our vicinity, they seemed to have either not heard it or ignored it."

"I see. Weird of the UNCF to ignore, though. Hey Yamato, can I stay on board for longer periods of time?"

"Would anyone notice?"

Kodai pondered for a moment. "Likely not. My ship, the Argo, can self-pilot itself to and from port, and I can leave a message saying that I am busy with exploring the wreck. I've also prepared early, thus I brought that luggage right there," he explained, pointing towards the red luggage placed behind the tactical console's chair.

"I understand. You may stay here."

"Yes! Thanks. My submersible will bring food and drinks from the Argo, so there's no worry about that."

"You may stay in the Captain's quarters for the time being."

"Oh, I can stay in that room? Nice!"

"You may also take delight in knowing that the laundry appliances, toilets and sewage system are functioning properly."

"Oh, right, that's a good thing. What happens to sewage on you, by the way?"

"You don't want to know."

"Oh… okay."


24 January 2199

It has been 2 months since Kodai met the Yamato, and by now Kodai had been treating the ship like a new home, taking the time to clean everything on board. Nobody back at civilization has suspected Kodai in any way, since he did go back to land occasionally to alleviate any attention that could have attracted.

By now, the Yamato was finalizing her remaining repairs, and the ship was finally physically in shape to travel anywhere. The amount of rust on the hull has been completely eliminated, though the ship had not received a new coat of paint, still giving an aura of old age.

Kodai swept the floor of the First Bridge, part of his "ship-keeping" chores that he insisted on doing.

"Kodai, watch this."

The large screen lit up, showing the news of a nearby Japanese TV channel.

"The United States Cosmo Navy has announced that alien vessels have been detected outside the Solar System via long-range sensors, and will send out the First Fleet, led by Admiral Juzo Okita, to establish first contact with the alien fleet. UNCF Command has rejected any press statements."

"Gamilas?" Kodai asked as the news went on to interviews with various people.

"I suspect that this would be the case, although it could be another civilization. I would be unable to detect anything from here as my long-range radar does not have the ability to recognize any vessel signatures."

"I see. Hey, are your repairs done by now?"

"Indeed. Kodai, my repairs are done. Head over to the safe room in the drydock and retrieve my engine core. It is about time."


Kodai looked at the sharp-tipped cylindrical item that had lights flashing around it.

"This is the Wave Motion Core?" Kodai asked, placing it inside a glass cylinder placed beside the core in the safe.

"Indeed. Now, enter the engine, place the glass cylinder into the hole and twist it 90 degrees to the right."

Kodai followed the AI's instructions, got out and sealed the engine door shut.

"Press the green button on the engine console."

Kodai pressed the button.

Three rows of bars immediately showed up on the screen.

"This is the charging bar of the Wave Motion Engine before it can be activated," the AI explained. "With these dock generators, an estimated time would be a month. After the initial charge, no such period of waiting would be necessary."

"One month, huh."

"Now all we need to do is wait."


31 January 2199

Somewhere nearby Pluto

Admiral Okita stood up from his chair and looked out of a window on the bridge.

The UNCF Kirishima, pride of the United States Cosmo Force, along with the First Fleet in its entirety, moved ahead at a uniform 15 space knots.

The Kirishima may look ugly to some, but she was a fine ship herself when it came to combat. Kongo-class and strongest battleship of the entire fleet, the aging admiral was immediately assigned to the battleship just mere days after her launch. BBS-555 uses a new type of pulse cannon that fired green positron beams, setting a new standard for all future Earth vessels to come. However, like the rest of the fleet, she was never battle-tested; with nobody to fight against, the real strength of the fleet was never gauged.

Okita knew this was the first meeting humanity would have with an alien species. He is not going to resort to gunfire unless necessary.

Observing his fleet, his eyes rested on a particular destroyer just on front of the Kirishima, towards the right.

Yukikaze.

The ship of his protege.

Commanded by Mamoru Kodai and with the admiral's own son, Ryotaro Okita, serving as helmsman, the Yukikaze was said to be one of the luckier ships of the UNCF, taking over the seemingly unbreakable string of luck that her sea-faring predecessors, particularly the one that took part in the Pacific War, were popular with across centuries of generations. Narrowly escaping a fire in the construction yard, managing to somehow navigate through an almost-impossible area of the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, and returning to Earth for regular maintainence only to find out that her engine's design was flawed and the ship herself should have blown up a long time ago were just three of the death-defying circumstances Marmoru's ship has went through.

The radar console of Kirishima beeped.

"Sir, 35 contacts ahead of us. They are alien."

"Understood. Reduce speed to 5 space knots."

"Yes sir."

"Admiral," Captain Yamanami reported, "transmission from Earth."

"Put it through."

The bridge screen lit up, showing a face that the old admiral really despised.

"General Serizawa," he greeted coldly.

"Admiral Okita. We have decided that this is too high a risk to communicate with the alien vessels. Abort the plan and start firing."

"What?! I will not fire on ships of a civilization that we have never even introduced ourselves to!"

"Admiral! This is an order! As Lieutenant General of the United Nations Cosmo Force, I order you to open fire!"

"As Admiral of the United States Cosmo Force and orchestrator of this first contact, you have no right to order me!"

"Admiral, you are relieved!"

"Cut the feed," Okita ordered the communications officer.

"This is high treaso-"

The screen turned off.

"Whoever put that idiot on command anyway?" the Kirishima's helmsman muttered as everyone on the bridge sighed in relief.

"Don't lose focus, Yoshino," Captain Yamanami said. "Admiral, the alien fleet is trying to talk to us."

"Open a channel."

The screen lit up again, this time showing blue-blooded humanoids that could have easily passed off as humans if their skin color was right.

"Greetings. The Great Gamilas Empire sends its heartfelt messages of salutations. I am Admiral Benitz of the 104th Attack Fleet, it is a pleasure to meet you."

"Admiral Juzo Okita, commander of the First Fleet."

"Now, Admiral, let us get down to business. Show us the alien ship."

Okita was puzzled. "Alien ship? Please be more specific."

"You know what I mean, old man. The Iscandarian vessel. Hand her over and there will be no bloodshed."

It was apparent that the fake air of friendliness that the Gamilas had set up had completely fallen apart, shocking all of the humans around. Furthermore, this entire conversation is being broadcasted live to every single screen on Earth. Including the one on board the Yamato.

Okita regained his absolute cool. "My apologies, Admiral, but we really do not have any idea of what you are talking about. We all come in peace."

Admiral Benitz sighed. "Alright, alright. The talks end here now."

The transmission abruptly cut off, and in an instant violent shaking threw everyone on board the Kirishima off balance.

"They're firing at us!"

"All ships!" Okita ordered. "Raise shields and defend yourselves!"

As the battle raged on, Okita realized something critical with a sinking feeling.

The UNCF…

… is weak.

Everyone on the Kirishima watched in horror as the Gamilas tore apart every single Earth ship that stood in their way. Even with the FIrst Fleet fighting at full force, there was nothing the humans could do.

"Decks 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 are all breached, Admiral!"

Okita looked down.

This was a losing battle.

Earth

"They're insane!" Kodai shouted as he watched the battle unfold, the live feed broadcasting through the bridge of the Kirishima..

"This is an expected outcome," the Yamato's AI replied. "The Gamilas are a violent race, and they will not stop at anything short of their goals."

"What now, Yamato?"

"We wait. And hope. Okita needs to retreat."

"Transmission from the Yukikaze!" the communications officer shouted. A sudden violent jerk slammed her head against the console's button, rendering her unconscious.

"Admiral!" Mamoru's voice called out through the live feed from the bridge of the Kirishima. "We need to retreat! The Yukikaze will cover the Kirishima!"

"Brother!" Susumu shouted. He knew what his brother sounded like, even without the screen showing the face of the older Kodai.

"All ships, retreat!" Okita simply ordered through the fleet channel.

The surviving UNCF vessels quickly sped away from the area. The Gamilas did not give chase.

Out of the 50 ships, only 9 ships made it out alive.

All surviving vessels were severely damaged.


Susumu sat down on the Captain's chair, suddenly feeling a strong fear of what was to come. "If the Gamilas come…"

He looked up to the screen, where the news was playing. Mass panic and rioting worldwide had ensued after the utter defeat of the strongest fleet Earth had that happened just 5 hours ago, and the fact that the UNCF had not given any statements served only to fuel the situation.

"I'm… apologetic."

Kodai looked up. "What do you mean, Yamato?"

"All this has been because of my existence. If I had not been built, none of this would have happened."

"The Gamilas will still be on its conquest, Yamato. We would have this coming sooner or later. This is just a mere rude awakening for us. Earth will fight back and prevail, I promise."

I can't believe I'm trying to comfort a ship… Kodai thought.

"You may be right. Once my engine has been fully-charged, I will defend Earth alongside you humans."


6 February 2199

UNCF Headquarters

Kure, Hiroshima, Japan

13:04 Local Time

"Admiral Okita, for refusal to follow orders, you are hereby stripped of the rank of Admiral and demoted to Captain. Your ship of command shall still be the Kirishima while Captain Osamu Yamanami is promoted to Admiral. Furthermore, you shall be suspended from duty for 6 months. You can roam around the premises, but you are not allowed to command any vessel until the end of your suspension."

"This is insane!" Okita protested vehemently. "The outcome had nothing to do with my refusal to fire! General Serizawa, you are reckless and will not lead Earth to any form of peace!"

The general smiled, sitting among the UNCF heads in front of the now-Captain. "That is not for you to judge, Captain. You are dismissed."

Forced to accept the terms and salute the insane general, Okita walked out of the conference room.

The usually-cool Okita, now filled with rage, slammed his fist on the wall.

"We both know Serizawa does not deserve his position there, my old friend."

Okita turned to face Hijikata, the friend that he always had since his academy days.

"Hard to see you this upset, Juzo."

"How could I not been? The idiot wanted to start a war, and I did what I could to prevent it. Now all the blame is pushed on my shoulders."

"The people saw your stand; they know you're not to blame. They started the war."

The good Captain sighed. "Thank you, Ryu."

"It's my pleasure. How about some sake, old friend?"

The two old friends walked away together.

"By the way," Ryu suddenly remembered, "what is an 'Iscandarian vessel'?"


3 Hours Later

"Yamato Dock"

Kodai boarded his submersible, ready to return to the now-arrived Argo on the surface. This is part of his ruse to prevent suspicions being pointed on him by government officials.

His mind was still clouded with questions.

Earlier that day, the UNCF released a statement that declared war on the Gamilas for their unprovoked attack, and announced the dismissal of Juzo Okita as Admiral. Of course, the general public did not make sense as to why the now-Captain Admiral was demoted for absolutely baseless grounds; he was the one who wanted peace.

"Have a safe journey, Kodai," Yamato greeted through the submersible's radio as the underwater tunnel opened.

Two hours later, Kodai was back at Yokosuka, his hometown. Stepping into his home, he was greeted by the two people that he was most familiar with.

"Welcome back, Susumu." Mamoru was the first to call out.

"Brother!"

Susumu threw himself into the open arms of his older brother. "I'm glad you're fine! I saw the news."

"Yep, Yukikaze is one lucky girl!"

"Hey, Su," Daisuke Shima called out from the side, "did you even miss me?"

"Of course I did, silly!" Kodai cheerfully replied as he threw his best friend a hug.

"T-too tight!"

"Ah, sorry. Is dinner ready?


"And so, yeah, we're screwed. Kirishima and Yahagi are the only ones left still able to sortie. The Second Fleet will disband and join the First Fleet, and my mentor is suspended for stupid reasons. Those bastards at Command need to die."

"Woah, Ma, chill," Shima tried to calm down the older Kodai. "You're pretty angry now, aren't you?"

"Angry? Nah, I'm FURIOUS! But not at you two, don't worry!" Mamoru quickly calmed down after accidentally scaring the two younger boys and broke into a reassuring smile.

Laughter came from the two of them.

"Man, brother, it's nice seeing you switch to mean to nice all of a sudden!" Susumu commented.

"Well, that's how I am, I suppose," the older Kodai shrugged as he slurped up his bowl of ramen. "It's not fun sitting at home and doing nothing while Yukikaze's being repaired in drydock. And Earth's at stake, too."

The word 'drydock' reminded the younger Kodai about the one below the sea.

Suddenly, a thought came to him.

He looked at his brother and best friend talking to each other. He'll ask them later.

"Yo, Shima," Susumu asked, "how's your dad?"

"Ah, he's completely fine, but has been put out of command of Murasame for safety reasons. Man, he's pissed, but he's going to be safe. I'm glad."

"So, Susumu," Mamoru brought up, "when do you want to rejoin the UNCF?"

Sooner than you think, eheh…

"Maybe a while more, I want to wrap up some stuff first."

"Just remember, if you end up on the Yukikaze, you're not going to end up easy just because you're the captain's brother."

The younger Kodai grinned. "I'm fine with that. Oh, Shima, you're staying here?"

"Yep!" Daisuke replied. "As long as I want. Apartment rental costs are over the roof, you know?"


After that interesting dinner, all three men were sitting in the living room, still watching news of the Gamilas.

"What was that all about?" Mamoru muttered.

Susumu turned to look at him. "What?"

"That 'Iscandarian vessel' or whatever that admiral said."

"Seems odd, too," Shima joined in. "I think they're looking for specifically that ship, or what vessel that is.

Kodai braced himself. It's the appropriate timing.

"Guys, I think I know what they're referring to."

"Oh?"

All two pairs of eyes turned to face him.

"Buuuut I have to show you. Do you want to go to sea?"

Mamoru and Shima looked at each other.

Both of them grinned.

"What do we need?" Shima asked.

Yamato

The AI sent another encrypted message back.