Chapter One

"Leader Desslok, come in! This is the EDS Yamato! Come in!"

Wildstar gripped the panel tightly in his right hand as he stared out at the chaotic void of red and black that was this alternate galaxy that had collided with theirs. Come on, Desslok, contact us! Respond, curse it! Where are you?

The ship pitched wildly to the side, and only Wildstar's death-grip on his console kept him in his chair. "Venture, keep us from crashing into something, will you?"

Venture righted the ship and gave him a rather sharp look. "I'm trying, buddy! I know you're stressed, but lay off!"

Wildstar blinked at Venture's sharp rebuke-something he had not encountered since their mission to Iscandar-even though he knew it had been fully justified. He nodded and went back to staring out the window, gritting his teeth.

This galaxy crashed into ours from another dimension, apparently. Sounds a bit strange, in my opinion, even though half the stuff I've had to deal with could be called strange. Commander Singleton assigned us to do a survey of this area-I think because he knows we're the only vessel that could conceivably survive something like this. Irony abounds: a 200-year-old ship is the best thing in the fleet.

However, he continued, listening carefully to the sounds of static that were the only response to Homer's frantic messages, what he didn't expect was that there would be a personal connection in this mission as well. He glanced around at the area of space, now lit by a hellish red, though it had been a calm emerald when he last saw it. This is the homeworld of the Galman-Gamilon Empire. Desslok's homeworld. I know we haven't always been friendly-which has to be the understatement of the century-but he's honorable. And almost kind, now. That's probably the best I can hope for.

"They still haven't responded!" Homer's panicked voice sliced into his thoughts, scattering them like ashes on wind. The analogy struck him as a little too morbidly accurate. Like ashes. . .

"Galman on radar! Entering visual range in ten seconds!"

A ball of rock and burning gas which resembled a tremendous comet loomed up in their path, and Venture swung the ship violently to starboard before entering the shadow of Galman.

Wildstar let out an involuntary gasp as he stared at the devastation. The once-bright capital city shone only with reflected light from the nearby explosions as stars collided and spun apart.

But, most striking, the tall central palace was nearly torn in two, the upper half dangling from the superstructure by only fragments of torn metal.

"Desslok. . ." Wildstar whispered, his hand falling slack.


The bridge crew stood on the bow of the Yamato, illuminated by the harsh explosions as the nearby star systems tore themselves apart. They knew it was risky to remain here so long, but Wildstar had insisted, and no one had the inclination to stop him.

"Desslok, the brave warrior!" Wildstar whispered as he stepped to the very edge of the bow. "My enemy and friend. . . I will never forget you." He gently threw the flowers in his hands over the edge. As he had ordered, the main guns of the mighty battleship each fired off several salvoes, the blue energy twirling away into the distance. The roses slowly drifted down into the destroyed citadel, their pale color standing out against the darkness until they faded from sight.

Wildstar held the salute as the sound of the guns faded out. Tears brimmed in his eyes, as he suspected they pricked the eyes of the others. No matter what they personally thought of Leader Desslok, their one-time enemy, the fact could not be disputed that he was an honorable warrior, just as they were. The crew of the Yamato respected him for that.

Wildstar looked over the city, thinking, Once, I stood like this before the wreckage of Gamilon. Now. . . everything about our first mission is lost. There is only us. Desslok, wherever you are. . . may your soul rest in peace.

But the peace of this moment was finally broken by the indisputable force of Nature as she extended the wave of the destruction out towards Galman and the Star Force, intent upon shaking them both to pieces.

The crew, solemnity broken by need for survival, dashed from the ship and onto the bridge.

Venture turned to Wildstar, fire blazing in his eyes, and shouted, "Wildstar, the forces are pulling the dimensional boundary apart!"

"It's likely the 'invader' galaxy is attempting to return to its home dimension," Sandor said as he looked over the readouts with the frenetic pace of a scientist on the verge of a discovery.

"We don't have time for hypothesizing now!" Venture shouted. "We have to get out of here!"

"Then go!" Wildstar yelled, reaching his seat and strapping himself in. He spared a last glance towards the planet below as they pulled away, before shifting his focus to the main priority: escape.

But escape was proving less likely by the second. Even Venture's supreme navigational skills could not outrun the building wave of dimensional energy that flowed towards them. The red light of the invader galaxy lit up the bridge with a terrifying fire as they all realized they could not escape from this cataclysm.

"Warp us out!" Wildstar shouted desperately.

Venture nodded, hiding his panic behind the calm demeanor of a man who did his duty. "Roger, random warp!"

He pulled back on the lever, and the ship shimmered a pale blue before fading out in the vast reaches of space.


Far from the galactic disturbances of Galman territory, a deceptively peaceful dark blue planet hung in orbit around a shining gold star. And, nearby, as if in orbit, there was another planet, one of lighter blue that shone from within with soft emerald light. But it was too close, far too close to be natural. This was the water planet Aquarius, bringer of life. It was she who had provided the infant Earth with the foundation of life.

However, she was also a death-bringer. And now, it was that role she played to the planet Dinguil, a role they were helpless to stop.

The once-bright sky of the planet was obscured by clouds, from which poured a torrent of rain as lightning blazed out across the dying world. The people of this world were helpless against the floodwaters which decimated everything in their path.

High above this holocaust, the Yamato hovered, her crew the only thing which could hope to assist.

"The majority of the remaining population is concentrated in that temple!" Nova shouted, bringing up an image of the stone construction, seated on what had once been a tremendous hill.

"What about the rest of them?" Venture demanded. "The entire population can't be in that little temple! This is an entire planet!"

Nova shook her head, tears gathering in her eyes. "They're the only ones that have escaped."

Wildstar let out an angry hiss and said, "Venture, take us down. We have to launch a rescue boat for them."

Venture nodded and the ship sliced into the raging sea. Sheets of water ran down the forward windows as he struggled to keep the ship steady.

"Rescue team, go!" Wildstar yelled into his mike.

A few moments later, a sleek rescue craft sped towards the temple from one of the side bays. Already, the last solid ground there was left was buried beneath three feet of water.

Not a moment after the ship turned and fled back to the Yamato, a towering wave swallowed up the temple, leaving it to the mercy of the sea.

But the sea's tender mercies were currently focused on a gray-and-red battleship that titled crazily as the waves shifted beneath her. The rescue craft was almost aboard when the water took its vengeance upon the ship for allowing her prey to escape.

A swell more powerful than anything they had encountered slammed into the Yamato. Only Venture's expert skill kept the battleship from capsizing altogether.

But the price was that the rescue craft, still unsecured, fell from its mooring, sending crewmembers and rescued alike into the sea.

The only one who survived was a young boy, held from falling by Derek Wildstar.


Wildstar ran onto the bridge, shouting, "Venture! Why are we taking off? We have to rescue them!"

"If we stay here any longer, we'll die along with the planet!" he shouted back, spinning around to face his enraged friend.

Wildstar grabbed the front of his shirt and yelled, "But what about those drowning people! Our crewmembers! The innocents!"

Venture shook his head. "If any of us are to survive, we must leave now!"

Wildstar released him and spun away, shouting angrily into the intercom, "Prepare for take off!" Then he sat down in his chair and buried his face in his hands, sobbing as the ship lifted away from the planet, abandoning those it would have rescued.


Out of millions, the only one we rescued was a little boy, Wildstar thought sadly as he looked down at the unconscious figure, at the cost of many lives. He sighed as Sandor looked over the data from the examination. The little boy he had rescued was lying still, white-silver hair still slightly wet from the rain. His skin was a pale blue reminiscent of the Gamilons or Dark Nebulans.

Sandor scowled and turned to Wildstar. "According to analysis, he's identical to us." The look in his eyes matched Wildstar's thoughts:

Really, what is it with blue-skinned aliens being the same as us?

Wildstar nodded. "Keep me posted on his condition, Sandor," he said, giving him a little shrug in answer to his unspoken question.

Suddenly, the alert klaxons began blaring violently, and Wildstar spun around and headed for the lift with Sandor hot on his heels.

A mere few seconds later, they exited onto the bridge and dashed for their respective seats.

"Nova, what's going on?" Wildstar demanded as he sat down in his chair.

"A large fleet is approaching; a main flagship, several battleships, and multiple destroyers acting as escort craft."

"In other words, same old. Big giant fleet, pompous commander, yada yada yada."

"Maybe not," Sandor said. The edge to his voice made Wildstar turn and give him a nervous look. "They appear to be powering up an unknown weapon system."

"Message coming in from the enemy!" Homer reported.

"Video panel."

"It's text only, Skipper." Wildstar gritted his teeth. He hated being called that, but it was usually a mark of someone being annoyed with him. "The grand Earth battleship Yamato. The bane of any who dare attack your world. A world which will easily fall once we have taken care of you." Homer looked up. "That's it."

"Told you he'd be pompous," Wildstar muttered under his breath, then said, "Okay, we have to warn Earth of this. Do not engage, repeat, do not engage. Prepare to warp as soon as possible."

Venture gave him a weird look, and he shrugged. "Sure, then," Venture said. "Yamazaki, how long until we can warp?"

"Give us two minutes to build power," he replied, almost calmly.

Wildstar leaned back as he watched the fleet firing their weapons, which completely missed them.

"They stink," Dash said, chuckling. "Wildstar, I don't suppose we can give them a demonstration of how real battleships fire?"

"We can spare three shots of the forward cannons," Yamazaki said.

Wildstar looked over at him. "In that case, knock yourself out."

Dash smiled and barked into his mike, "Gunners, we've got three shots before we warp! Make 'em count! Aim at the battleships!"

The sleek main guns lowered steadily into position, and Dash and Wildstar's boards went green.

"Fire!" Wildstar snapped.

"Aye, fire!" Dash repeated, and the barrels glowed blue before releasing a stream of energy which cut into the battleships like a sword. The explosions came a few moments later, and they took out several nearby destroyers as well.

"Change turret angle: One, plus two degrees; three, minus five degrees; and. . . fire!"

The guns fired off another salvo into the fleet. One shot came close to hitting the flagship before striking a hidden carrier instead.

More of the enemy's reddish fire blasted around them, this time skidding along their hull. A minor explosion sounded, but they were otherwise undamaged.

"Better now we've taken out their ships," Dash commented. "Now, I almost want to leave."

"Save the comments for later, Dash! We've got one last shot; see if we can take down the flagship!"

Aye; change angle, plus eight, fire!"

The guns went off for the last time, the blue energy slicing into towards the flagship. One of the destroyers leaped into the path of the energy, exploding but leaving the flagship undamaged.

Dash slammed his hand down on the console and sighed. "Curse it, maybe we could've stopped the attack!"

"I doubt it," Nova said. "This was probably just an advance fleet."

"Ten seconds to warp!" Venture barked.

"Whoa!" Eager yelled. "There's somethin' big headin' our way!"

"Missiles!" Sandor shouted. "Their energy signature is similar to the Galman proton missiles!"

"Okay, maybe this wasn't as much of a pushover as we first thought!" Dash yelled.

"Doesn't matter," Venture said. "We'll be gone! Warp!"

Just before the deadly black missiles hit, the Yamato shimmered and warped away, escaping destruction by a hair.


"Curses!" the enemy commander shouted. "I had them!"

"Do not despair," a deep voice said as the bridge of the flagship darkened. "Lugarl, you are the Prince of Dinguil. You will beat them and obtain Earth as our new homeworld. So the gods have proclaimed."

"Yes, Father," the tall, blue-skinned man said. "I will not fail you."

"I know," the voice said. "I much prefer your fighting skill to that of the Aquarius plan. Destroy the Yamato, and conquer Earth. I may allow them to live," he said, laughing coldly. "May."

"Yes, Father," Lugarl II said, bowing. "Your command will be carried out."

The communication cut out, and Lugarl II rose, his resolve strengthened anew. He would not rest until the Yamato fell.