Escape from the Jupiter Sphere
"Thank you, sir!"
"Hey, nice shooting."
Beside him, Shima spoke and stood up with an extended hand. Taking off his gloves, Kodai reciprocated this gesture with a handshake to his best friend.
All bridge crew looked on at this camaraderie with bright hopeful expressions, all looking forward to this grand journey where no man has ever been gone before.
—————
Earth
Montana travels steadily forward above Earth's atmosphere as it moves out of the Earth's eclipse, leaving the shadow and into the sunlight which shines brightly against its hull.
Inside the bridge, the incoming sunlight illuminates the bridge's interior before the UV polarizing shield is activated on the windows.
"Altitude passing 330,000 feet and exiting the Earth's exosphere. Speed is 1 kiloMach and rising.", Aihara reports, looking at the digital altimeter and speedometer.
"Leaving Earth's atmosphere. Retracing stabilizing wings and increasing speed to 0.3 AU/h.", Shima said, moving a lever that stowed the wings and pushing the throttle forward.
—————
The main thrusters burn brightly with the secondary thrusters coming to life, both bursting out jets of orange flames as they propel Montana to a higher speed.
—————
"Can we really save Earth?", Kodai wondered, standing up and looking at the orange charred surface of Earth above him.
"Don't tell me you are getting cold feet, Tactical Officer?", Shima quipped to his best friend. "Our mission has just barely started."
"No, not like that!", Kodai retorted.
"Ships off our starboard bow.", Mori called out, looking at the radar. "IFF signature detected as friendlies."
"They must be the First Fleet who took off to try and destroy the missile.", Sasha added beside Mori.
"The First Fleet? That means..."
Kodai took out a pair of binoculars and looked to see five Cosmo Navy ships all stationed ahead of them. Upon getting closer, he sees the battleship Kirishima, cruisers Tsurugi and Yakumo, and the destroyers Isokaze and Yukikaze.
All, however, appear to have sustained damage. The spinal Shock Cannons of Kirishima and the two cruisers appear to have partially melted off while both destroyer's light cannons have warped barrels.
Putting down the binoculars, his attention particularly goes to the Yukikaze, knowing that his older brother is there to watch them set off into the unknown.
Don't worry, brother. I will return home, and we will succeed!, Kodai thought as he saluted to the Yukikaze.
"Message from Kirishima. "We pray for your safe journey."", Aihara decoded from Kirishima's flashing signal lamp.
—————
Kirishima, Bridge
Up on the bridge, Okita, Hijikata, Yamanami, and many other crew, all stood up and performed a salute as they witnessed Montana slowly pass them on their portside. In the distance, Abraham saluted back.
On his saluting hand, Okita clutches a small photo his grandson had left behind in his quarters earlier, revealed to be a family photo of the entire Okita family.
Juzo Okita, smiling behind his son and daughter-in-law, who in turn are hugging their newly adopted son Abraham in his Academy cadet uniform.
Stay safe out there, Abraham.
—————
Yukikaze
Mamoru, Ishizu, and the other bridge crew all salute as Montana overtakes them, all silently wishing Montana farewell.
Look after my brother, Abraham. And good luck, Susumu., Mamoru thought as the Monata moved away from his view.
"Ok everyone, we got our orders. We still have our people to rescue.", Mamoru barked out to his bridge. "Set course to the Moon!"
"Chop chop! The more time we are not moving is more people dying over there!", followed by Ishizu, clapping his hands.
"Sir, yes sir!"
—————
Montana
After accelerating past the First Fleet leaving Earth's orbit, Abraham clears his throat and speaks to the crew.
"We will now pass through the lunar orbit and head for Mars at low cruising speed.", Abraham said, his crew paying attention to their captain. "Upon arrival, you are all to gather in the central operations room. A briefing on the warp test will commence. That is all."
"Yes, sir."
—————
Pluto
"This is the impact observation team. A Terron ship has left orbit."
Back at the Garmillian Frontline base in Pluto, its commander and deputy watch on from a large screen showing a somewhat familiar-looking ship travelling past lunar orbit.
"Should we send the fleet, Commander Shultz?", asked the deputy, but the commander, Valke Shultz, turned down the suggestion.
"No, not yet Ganz. Let's see what it does.", Shultz counteracts with his hand up, surprising his deputy Ganz.
"While I would like to take it down now, the bigger question is what does an inferior race who cannot even leave their own solar system until now, plan to do with a single ship?"
Shultz's eyes narrow as he looks at the ship on the screen.
"I'd like to watch and find out."
—————
Montana, Operations Room
Inside the Operations Room, Abraham stands up on a digital holographic screen as all the lead division members stand around him.
"Everyone, this journey to Iscandar and back would take 336,000 years travelling at light speed."
The hologram zooms out past Earth, past the Solar System, and out to the Milky Way Galaxy before zooming into the nearby Large Magellanic Cloud.
"And we must complete that voyage within a year. To do this, we require a faster-than-light, or FTL, warp navigation that's capable of breaking past the light barrier.
"A warp functions by generating an artificial wormhole, allowing us to travel beyond the speed of light.", Sanada explained the warping process, with the hologram aiding his explanation.
"I never completed my Astro science studies, Sanada, so forgive me for asking but, is it even possible?", Tokugawa asked with his arms crossed.
"In theory, yes.", replied Sanada, but his expression hardened as he continued.
"But if we botch up the timing, we'll distort the space-time continuum and breaking past the current known universe."
His eyes then subtlely looks at Abraham. "Or even arriving to a different reality in time altogether."
And it's that possibility that allows us to travel back in time to this universe., Abraham thought, noticing Sanada's subtle gaze.
"So in practice, what does that mean?", Kodai asked.
"It means that we must be careful with the Wave Motion Engine, or we may never return home.", Abraham explained.
This revelation made Shima tense, swallowing a lump in his throat and reluctantly looking at the large error warning during Sanada's explanation of a botched warp.
"Getting cold feet, Chief Navigator?", Kodai quipped, seeing his now nervous friend. "Our journey has just begun."
"No, it's not like that.", Shima retorted back.
"And one more thing.", Sanada added, motioning for a bespectacled blue-haired woman to come forth.
"I am Lieutenant Kaoru Niimi, part of the Science and Technology Division.", the woman introduced herself, holding and typing a datapad.
"We have completed a weapon that's capable of harnessing the vast energy from the Wave Motion Engine, and it's been loaded on the Montana's bow."
Niimi swipes up a blueprint from her datapad to the holographic screen of Montana's Wave Motion Engine's systems.
"A weapon?", Mori asked with widened eyes.
"The 'Dimensional Wave Motion Explosive Compression Emitter'."
"That's a bit of a mouthful, don't you think?", Nambu commented on the absurdity of the name. Meanwhile, Mori appeared baffled at such a weapon.
"That's why we shortened it to simply the 'Wave Motion Gun'.", Sanada replied, the blueprint moving to show the gun placed at the bow of the ship.
"The Wave Motion Gun? How does it work?", Kodai asked curiously.
"Well, to oversimplify things: the Engine creates a gateway to an expanding higher dimension, generating energy that converts into a supergravity wave. This wave is then travels to the Gun's muzzle, creating micro black holes that rapidly evaporate, it's energy mass turning into Hawkings Radiation that blasts out of the Gun in a beam.", Niimi explains, accompanied by a visual demonstration showing a solid blue line exiting from the ship's bow.
"If I'm correct, you're saying that this entire ship is also a giant cannon?", Nambu concluded.
"When you put it that way, I suppose that's correct."
"So it's like the giant green laser from Star of Death in Celestial Conflicts that my kids like to watch, then?", Tokugawa commented, hand on his bearded chin. "Now that I think about it, the similarities are there."
Sanada the turns to address everyone.
"We will eventually need to test-fire the Wave Motion Gun. And preferably sooner rather then later."
"We will, Sanada. But first our priority is to test the warp in the low-gravity interference area past Mars.", Abraham assured, the hologram turning off and the light coming back on. "The test will begin at 16:30 Zulu time. As a precaution, everyone should wear their life suits. Dismissed!"
All the crew saluted to their Captain and began to disperse the room, some looking forward to the warp test. Among the last to leave are Mori, Sasha, and Kodai, with the very former looking down at the hologram of Mars.
"Sasha is down there on Mars, isn't she?", Mori solemnly said.
"The Iscandarian?", Kodai asked to which Mori nodded. "...Yeah, she is."
"She's all alone..."
Putting a hand on her shoulder, Sasha offers a suggestion to Mori. "If that's alright, we can offer a farewell prayer when we get to mars. To show that her endeavors were not in vain."
—————
Mars
"All crews, brace yourself as we prepare our swing-by off Mars."
Mori, now in a space suit, taps on a button on her wrist which opens the starboard airlock into space.
Stepping forth, the bright orange-red surface of the fourth planet Mars reveals forth, with large patches of water as a result of an unknown form of terraformation. This unknown terraforming is why the United Nations launched a massive effort to colonize Mars around 2111 and to send much-needed resources back to Earth.
—————
Montana, Starboard Observatory Deck
Standing before a long viewport and hands leaning on the sill, Kodai looked out to see Mars as their ship traveled across the planet.
Please watch over us. We will reach your homeland., Kodai thought to the deceased Iscandarian, still buried in the orange surface.
After a journey to Earth, 168,000 light years, all alone.
—————
Mori steps out of the airlock and looks at the red planet before her. Closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, she gently releases a bouquet of artificial flowers, handmade by Mori herself, and lets it slowly drift into Mar's atmosphere.
A journey too long to even imagine...
—————
Captains Quarters
You gave us the courage and hope to survive. We won't let that go to waste.
Standing in Abraham's quarters and looking up from the large observatory dome to the red planet, Sasha solemnly gazed at where the grave of her deceased counterpart rests, her hands clasped together in a silent prayer. Beside her, Abraham only rested a hand on her shoulder in a comforting gesture.
—————
As Kodai watched Mars slowly move further away from his view, he began to feel like he was not alone.
Turning to his right, his suspicions are confirmed when he notices that a white-haired woman, too, is looking out towards the retreating red planet.
—————
Out in space, the artificial flowers Mori released slowly move toward the barren red planet while Montana leaves Mar's orbit, thrusters firing as it does so.
—————
Montana, Engine Room
"Chief, can we really bend space-time itself?"
Yabu asked Tokugawa, who donned his reading glasses and was flipping the manual of the Wave Motion Engine, trying his best to understand the contents which was made harder as it was all in English. Around them, the Engine room is bustling with activity as all members are making safety preparations for their first warp.
Giving up and flipping the book closed, he answered Yabu with his glasses in hand, "No idea! But sometimes, you just got to try and hope for the best!"
Looking up at the Engine's massive spinning wheel before them, they are then interrupted by Yamazaki who's surrounded by a few crew members, all looking rather immersed in the book at Yamazaki's hands.
"Chief. I must say, this stuff is really fascinating!", Yamazaki called out with a smile. In his hand is the Japanese copy of the Engine's manual.
Tokugawa can only reply back with a sigh of despair upon seeing the manual that he should have been reading. Yabu, meanwhile, patted his back while holding back his silent laughter.
—————
Bridge
On the bridge, alarms are ringing as all the crew members are wearing their life suits.
"Two minutes until warp test commences.", Mori announced.
"Confirm the post-warp coordinates.", said Shima with his hands on the controls. To his right, Ota turned and affirmed back, "Coordinates confirmed."
With this confirmation, Shima inputted the coordinates for warp to the flight computer via a keypad in front of him. He then pushed the throttle levers to the Max setting, just before the "Warp" setting.
"Point S8630, in Uranus's orbit. Coordinate axis set. Increasing speed from 0.5 to 5AU/h in preparation for Warp."
"Increasing Engine output.", Tokugawa, who was moving some switches and levers, called from the Engine room via radio. "Raise output from 45 to 99 percent. Wave Motion Engine's internal chamber pressure rising."
—————
The twin exhausts from the two main thrusters of the Montana turn from warm orange to bright blue, streaking behind the ship as it rapidly begins to pick up speed.
—————
Inside the bridge, the crew holds on tight to whatever grabbable surface they can reach as the bridge shakes roughly from the increase in speed.
"Speed 4AU/h...4.5AU/h...", Shima called out their speed, one hand gripping tight on the controls and the other on the throttle.
"Don't mess up, Shima.", Kodai said to his best friend.
"I know."
As the Montana continued to accelerate, a purple tear began to form in space some distance in front the ship.
—————
Meanwhile in the Medical Ward, Dr. Sado is pouring himself a toast of sake despite all the shaking that's happening around him. Impressively, he manages to pour one cup of sake without spilling a single drop.
"One minute until warp commences.", Mori announces over the speakers.
"The ship sets sail, and the smoke stays behind~. The smoke that stays behind causes the throat to ache~. Woah!", the doctor sang, almost falling over to his side but catches himself and, more importantly, his sake. "Here we go! It's time!"
Nearby, nurse Harada is listening to some tunes through a pair of earphones to try and tune out everything around her.
—————
In the Pilot's section, all the pilots are secured down to their seats except for Kato, the only one remained standing, who's throwing a dart at a dartboard and and failing miserably to land a hit while giving a Shintoist chant. Below the dartboard are several darts from Kato's failed attempts.
"Even if he does come from a family of priests, that chant is still damn morbid.", one pilot mentions as he and everyone watches Kato throw another dart which, too, fail to land.
—————
The tear in front of Montana begins to get bigger and bigger as the ship now approaches its targeted speed, its bridge and crew shaking about.
"Speed 5AU/h!", said Shima.
"Target speed reached.", informed Sasha, "Begin countdown."
"Beginning countdown. Ju. Kyu. Hachi. (Ten. Nine. Eight.)", Mori began the count down. All the bridge began to brace themselves, some looking worried while others are determined.
"Nana. Roku. Go. (Seven. Six. Five.)"
The large purple tear is not only bigger, but now even closer to Montana's bow.
"Yon. San. Ni. Ichi. (Four. Three. Two. One.)"
Sigma's expression hardens, his brows furrowed as the countdown ended, with Abraham calling out certain famous phrase.
"Alright Shima. Punch it!"
"Warp!"
Slamming the throttle to "Warp" position, time appears to slow down as the Montana enters the purple tear. Inch by inch, feet by feet, the ship begins to slowly disappear from reality.
As the thrusters are the last to enter the tear, the Montana suddenly accelerates to an unimaginable speed as it disappeared into the distance in a fine white line.
—————
Jupiter
The fifth planet and the biggest gas giant of the Solar System, Jupiter. Everything appears to be quiet and peaceful, its numerous moons silently orbiting round the planet and its Great Red Spot churning up storms as always.
That was until a purple rip in space showed up.
Emerging from the tear, the Montana comes out and covered by a layer of ice that quickly broke off from its hull. However, something is wrong as the ship is now floating about off Jupiter's coast with its thrusters offline.
—————
In the Pilot's section, Kato finally manages to score a hit on the dartboard, to which he pumps his fist and gives a triumphant "Yes!".
—————
Inside the bridge, the crew are feeling the dizzying effects of their first warp, barring Abraham and Sasha who are experiencing it to a much lesser degree.
"Is everyone alright?", Abraham called out to his crew, shaking his head.
"I'm fine.", Kodai replied, holding his helmet.
"I'm okay!", Shima responded, lifting up his head.
While everyone was answering to their captain that they're alright, Aihara was about to respond himself when he suddenly saw Jupiter off the bridge windows.
"What the hell?!", Aihara yelled out, snapping everyone to attention.
To everyone's surprise, the massive gas giant looms in front of the Montana, its clouded atmosphere filling up the entire window.
"Are...are we at...", Kodai began.
"...Jupiter.", Sanada finishes.
"But why?", Mori wondered worriedly.
"Hey Shima! You said that you've put in the correct coordinates, right?"
"The space-time coordinates were definitely correct.", Shima replied, his hands gripping on the controls as they suddenly became stiff. "I-I don't know how, but we've left our warp early."
"Abraham, if I may, I believe I have a hypothesis.", Sanada spoke up, his seat turned to face his captain.
"Let's hear it, Sanada.", Abraham said."
"Our warp path intersects with Jupiter's powerful gravity well. It must have pulled us in from our warp and caused the ship to exit early, hence why we are here."
"While your science-y explanation is nice and all, we have a much bigger problem at hand!", Ota urgently cuts in. "The Montana's caught in Jupiter's gravity field and it's pulling us in!"
"Damn it!", Shima swore, pulling hard on the control stick and pushing the throttle to "Max", "It's pulling us in. Attempting to break free from the gravity field now!"
—————
The massive twin thrusters come to life, orange exhaust ablaze, as the Montana attempts to make a run for it from Jupiter.
However, Shima's efforts are for naught. While the space battleship did slow down, the gas giants powerful gravity overcomes the thrust of Montata's engines.
—————
"Shit, I can't control the ship!", Shima yelled out, then a blinking red warning appeared on his console. "Our Gravity Nullifier is offline. We can't counteract Jupiter's gravity!"
"Don't tell me we're gonna die!?", Aihara cried in despair.
"I can't go out like this! Not as an unmarried virgin!!", Nanbu exclaimed, crocodile tears streaming from his eyes.
"Everyone, stay calm!", Abraham shouted, his words resonating throughout the bridge. "Engine room, report!"
"The main Engine's safety valve's blown and the energy's not being fully transferred to the main thrusters.", Tokugawa reports via radio from the Engine Room, sparks and steam blowing about from the Wame Motion Engine. "I'm attempting to send all available power to the secondary thrusters!"
"Power to the secondary engines confirmed!", Shima confirmed, his right hand flipping a switch from 'Main' to 'Secondary' below the throttle levers. His left hand then pushed down a lever labeled 'Wings & Flaps' to the 'Extend, 2' position. "Deploying stabiliser wings and flaps!"
"Take care of it, Shima.", Kodai called out beside him.
"I know, I know!"
—————
While Montana slowly descended into Jupiter's cloudy atmosphere, wings extended out along its sides alongside with its trailing edge flaparons. The main thrusters then go silent before the smaller secondary thrusters come to life.
Together, along with a couple of corrective manoeuvres by Shima, the Montana then uprights itself before approaching a large obstacle in the distance, obscured by clouds.
—————
"We're approaching something off on our radar. Approximately 650km from our bow.", Mori reported, her eyes on the radar display showing a large solid mass in front of their ship. "Whatever it is, it's definitely not a ship."
"Activate the external cameras.", Abraham commanded.
Soon, a large display showed what's in front of them. However, whatever it was, it still couldn't be discerned as it's being hidden behind the clouds.
"Switching from optical to infrared cameras.", Sanada says, the display now going infrared grayscale. This reveals what appears to be large continental landmass that's hidden behind the clouds, shocking many of the crew.
"That's a...", Shima uttered.
"Is that a floating continent?", Aihara muttered out loud.
"Seems like it.", Kodai spoke up, then turned to Shima. "Can you land us over there?"
"I can certainly try!", replied Shima, then facing Abraham, "What's your next order, captain?"
"Set our heading towards that floating continent, Shima. We'll take a quick detour to try and fix up our Engine.", Abraham answered.
"Aye sir! Setting course for that floating continent!"
—————
Breaking through the clouds, the Montana flys through steadily towards the floating continent with its thrusters burning brightly.
This continent is a large landmass covered by vegetation on the surface with jagged rocky bottom, surrounded by floating rocky debris.
—————
"The scans are complete. That floating continent is larger then the size of Australia.", Ota reported, looking down at a screen alongside Sanada that showed a 3D scan of the landmass they're approaching, showing it having a surface area of approximately 7.9 million km2.
"Shima, land the Montana on the floating continent.", Abraham ordered to his Chief Navigator.
"Roger. Landing at the Floating Continent now!", Shima affirmed, his hands pulling on the controls left and back.
—————
Montana then raised its nose and banked left, heading towards a flat patch of green land. Its RCS thrusters manoeuvring the ship to avoid the larger floating rocks while the smaller ones bounce harmlessly off the hull.
—————
"Begin the Landing Check.", Shima called out. "Keel Guns, raised and secure!"
"Keel Guns, raising!", Kodai called, pulling a lever marked 'Kneel Gun' to 'Retract'. A second later, three green lights illuminate showing that the guns are raised. "Three green, Guns are secure!"
"Guns secure! Extend flaps to 3!"
Pulling the flaps to position 3, Shima then twists a knob labeled 'Spd Brakes' to 'Arm'.
"Flaps 3! Speed brakes and reverse thrust armed! Hatches and vents sealed! Airspeed 150kts! Landing Check complete!"
"Almost there, Shima!", Kodai encouraged.
Pulling back on the controls, Shima raised Montana's nose to just clear the very edge of the continent that they were just about to collide.
Pushing the throttle forward to give them some momentum and successfully landing the ship onto the continent's surface, they're now sliding forward and throwing debris around as the bow splits the ground beneath the ship.
"Reverse thrust!", Shima pulled the throttle fully back, lifting the reverse safety lock as he does.
"Fire the anchors!", Abraham yelled.
"Firing anchors!", replied Shima, slamming his hand on a button.
—————
The port and starboard rocket anchors fire away from their housing, lodging themselves on the rocky surface, its chains pulled taut and breaking up the ground is they are pulled by Montana's momentum.
The rear thrusters' nozzle open up to redirect thrust forward, with speed brake flaps opening up around the ship in an effort to slow the craft down.
With the combination of the anchors, reverse thrust, and speed brakes, alongside the natural resistance against being scraped along the ground, Montana soon finds itself coming to a halt just before a comparably and pitifully small riverbank.
—————
Everyone let out a shiver and sigh of relief upon their ship coming to a complete stop, releasing their tight grip at whatever surface they could reach. Some giving Shima a small applause while others are expressing their gratitude.
"Whew. Nice landing there, Shima.", Kodai complemented with a smile.
"Hehe, thanks.", Shima smiled back, sweat dripping from his brow.
"Good work everyone.", Abraham praised, taking off his helmet before Tokugawa cuts in through the radio.
"Captain, we found out the source of our engine trouble. The engine temperature sensor is faulty and the coolant itself is overheating which is why the safety valve is blown."
"Understood, begin repairs immediately."
Taking off his helmet, Sanada turns to face Kodai.
"Kodai, assemble a small team together from the deck crew and collect samples from this floating continent."
"Yes, sir!", Kodai saluted.
"SACU-M, you're up.", Sasha spoke up, to which the green android from beside Kodai sat upright.
"How many times must I tell you, please don't call me by that name?", the android grumbled, pushing away from his console and a scowl on his face. This shocked many of the crew, not expecting it to talk back so human like.
"Eh? It's alive?!"
"Are we going to have a robot uprising!?"
"Oh great robot overlords, I pray that you won't destroy all of humanity!"
"Oh, chill out. It's not like I can go Skynet on everyone."
"...that thing is autonomous?", Kodai asked.
"This is SACU-M, or Self Aware/Autonomous Computer Unit, Model Montana. Let's just say that nobody knows this ship's system better than him.", Abraham explains.
Sasha then further explains, "We're rather surprised when we discovered that the unit became self aware after Montana's countless system tests before launch. Instead of destroying it, however, we opted to allow it to develop and grow its own personality, and giving him a more humanoid chassis instead of his original body. He is, in a sense, a true artificial intelligence."
"You may call me Monty. I prefer it more than my original designation.", the android, dubbed Monty, bowed flamboyantly with an arm to his chest and the other outstretched to his side.
"Amazing..", Kodai whispered in awe.
—————
Pluto Frontline Base
Back in Pluto, Shultz, sitting in his seat inside his private office, is listening to a holographic video message sent from his daughter back home.
"Papa, finish your work and come home soon, okay?"
Shultz can only smile as he listens to his daughter's words, he himself is also longing to see his family once all this is over.
Just before he can continue the message, however, he's interrupted by the beeping of a call from his subordinate Ganz.
"Commander Shultz."
Turning off the hologram message, he turns to answer Ganz, his face showing up on a screen on his desk.
"What is it, Ganz?"
"Ah, we received a message form Larleta, at the Floating Continent base in Zupist."
"Zupist? The fifth planet?
"Yes. The Terron ship we were monitoring earlier landed there."
"Huh? They should be still wandering around in the inner solar system.", Shultz refuted, sitting back on his seat, before rubbing his chin. "Unless they managed to jump there, somehow..."
"That's the thing. They have also managed to detect traces similar to the Geschtam Jump."
"Blast. That confirms it.", Shultz swore, "What's the fleet status for the Floating Continent?"
"Well, it's meant to be a resupply base, so only four ships are there presently."
"Tch, that mightn't be enough."
After what happened to our forces from before, four ships definitely won't be enough to destroy that Terron vessel. ,Shultz thought with a frown. Though we do have the advantage of knowing our targets presence.
"Sir, what's your command?", Ganz spoke up.
"Have Larleta to use those ship to destroy them. Tell them to proceed with caution."
"Yes, sir!"
The feed the cuts out and Shultz eyes turn to a live satellite feed of the gas giant.
—————
Floating Continent Base, Jupiter
Inside the base of the Floating Continent, Larleta is holding a cat-like creature, a Krall, while speaking to Ganz from a screen. He stood thin and tall, his body and facial features almost that of a woman.
"Understood. I shall dispatch the combat fleet immediately.", his equally effeminate voice spoke up. Behind him is a small squad of security droids.
From outside the base, he saw four ships rising from the foliage, three Kripitera destroyers and a Destoria heavy cruiser. They all traveled forwards toward their target and passed over the base.
"Terran weapons cannot possibly pierce our armor. Four ships should be more than enough.", Larleta thought out loud. "Though I wonder why Shultz said to be careful. They shouldn't be too hard to take out, right?"
—————
Montana
Outside near the base of Montana, a small team, all wearing suits, lead by Enomoto are doing an inspection of the hull while also collecting plant samples to examine later.
"Hunting for plants. Feels like I'm back in elementary school.", one crew complained, putting a plant into a sealed transparent container.
"Ah, quit your whining.", Enomoto chastised, his hands wielding a pair of what looked like oversized garden shears. Above them, Monty floats about using a jetpack with his hands holding a small screen.
"Temperature and pressure are far different than what's recorded on Jupiter's surface.", Monty analysed. "Atmosphere is composed of 67% methane, 6% nitrogen, 21% carbon dioxide, as well as some acetaldehyde and ethanol."
—————
As Monty broadcasts his analysis to the bridge, Aihara and Ota are listening in particularly at the mention of ethanol.
"Alcohol, huh?", Aihara mused.
Ota, however, was feeling green in the face.
"Come to think of it, I'm kinda-hurgh!", Ota can't even finish his sentence before his nausea hits him like a truck and he vomited over the floor, collapsing as he does.
"Ota! Are you alright?!"
—————
Soon, Ota and Kato were being tended by Harada and Dr. Sado respectively in the medical ward. There are few other crew members present as well, some are holding sickness bags and others drinking a small cup of soda.
"Warp sickness, huh?", Dr. Sado told Kato, whose face is slightly sunken in with lines below his eyes.
"What's that, Doctor?", Kato asked wearily.
"Ah, it's just something I coined up. Though I may say that it's like a hangover.", Dr. Sado explained, pouring a cup of sake and offering it to Kato. "Want a drink to dull the pain?"
Kato only nervously raised his hands, declining the drink.
"No thanks, I'll pass.", he nervously waved off.
"Suit yourself. Down it goes!", the doctor shrugged his shoulders before downing the sake in one go.
—————
Inside Montana's own little laboratory, the plant samples collected earlier were being stored in clear tubes filled with preservative fluids.
Monty stood nearby before a console that took DNA scans of three such plants, comparing it to a recorded DNA result of the extraterrestrial plants found on Earth.
Just then, Sanada walked in to check with the progress of their investigation.
"Monty, how are the tests going?", Sanada asked, standing behind Monty and looking over his shoulder.
"The results are in, Sanada. The DNA here in these planets are a near one-to-one match with those found on Earth.", Monty relayed.
"Interesting.", Sanada commented, leaning over and peering closely at one of the plant tubes.
—————
At the bridge, Sanada relayed Monty's findings over to Abraham.
"In other words, this is a completely artificial environment, imported from outside our solar system.", Sanada explained, gesturing to all the greenery outside the forward window.
"They moved or built this entire chunk of landmass to Jupiter, likely to aid in "Gamilasforming" Earth."
"Then this very likely is a Garmillian base of some sort.", Abraham said, his eyes scanning the area outside. "We might expect an ambu-."
He was interrupted by an exclaim from Mori.
"Ships on radar! Garmillain vessels."
"Four bogies off our port side . Three destroyers and one cruiser.", Sasha added. Alarms blare about as crews move to their seats.
"All crew to battle stations!", Abraham yelled, taking his seat.
"Prepare to fire the main guns!", Kodai said, his hands busy on the controls.
"Kodai, we can't fire our main guns until we get our Engine repaired! The secondary Engine can only power the secondaries.", Shima reasoned to Kodai. "And we also can't takeoff until then."
"We have the Type-3 High Explosive shells. Those are ballistic rounds and they don't need external power to fire.", Nanbu offered a solution from his seat.
"The secondary guns and HE shells are short range, though. With our main shock cannons, we can definitely take them out at a distance.", Kodai countered.
"Abraham, we could divert some power from the secondary Engine to fire off a few shots from the main shock cannons.", Sanada spoke up.
Eyes closed, Abraham was thinking of a solution just as Tokugawa was radioing in the repair status.
"The repairs will be done in two minutes tops. Can you hold out until then?"
Eyes open and brows furrowed in resolute, Abraham made his decision.
"That isn't much time, but we'll make do. Divert the power to the main guns 1 and 4. Load HE shells in the remaining guns. Secondary guns on standby just in case."
—————
The four massive triple turrets all turn to port side in preparation to fire, barrels lowering to point at the enemy. In the distance, the three destroyers continue forward while the cruiser broke off to flank the Montana.
Inside guns 2 and 3, heavy lifts raise the High Explosive rounds into the breach loaders which load the shells into the barrel, doors closing behind them.
—————
"Energy diverted into the main guns 1 and 4. We can fire the shock cannons!", Nanbu reports, his eyes on the display in front of guns showing the status of guns 1 to 4 being ready to fire.
Grabbing a binocular and spotting the incoming Garmillan ships outside, Kodai called out his orders.
"Guns one to three, prepare to fire the destroyers coming from port. Four, aim at the cruiser circling our aft. Secondaries, fire at the targets if the main guns miss."
"Guns loaded and target locked! Auto target tracking activated."
"Uchika HAJIME! (Open fire!)"
—————
Guns 1 and 4 open fire, releasing deadly blue beams of positron energy at their targets. While number four managed to successfully hit its target, splitting the cruiser in two and detonating in a spectacular fashion, number one just barely missed its targeted destroyer.
In response, all the port secondary guns turn and open fire at the missed destroyer, peppering it with small yet rapid firing blasts of blue energy that turned its hull into Swiss cheese. One shot managed to land critically at the rear thrusters, disabling it and sending the entire craft crashing into the surface and blowing up as it breaks apart.
The remaining two destroyers quickly weave around their fallen vessel, both launching four torpedoes each at the Montana.
—————
"Enemy torpedoes incoming! Estimated time of impact, 30 seconds!", Mori exclaimed.
"Activate AA batteries!", Abraham ordered.
"Targets entering DEF Zone 1, firing Bofers!", Nanbu said.
—————
The 40mm Bofers at the port side all open fire at the incoming torpedos, their powerful plasma flak rounds hitting and blowing up two of the targets with another down by the plasma shards.
The remaining five missiles continued forth towards their target.
—————
"Five targets left! 22 seconds!"
"Entering DEF Zone 2! Oerlikons, open fire!"
—————
Scattered throughout the ship, dozens of 20mm Oerlikon cannons all open fire at the five incoming torpedoes.
While smaller in caliber, they make up by having a much more rapid fire rate, creating a concentrated wall of laser fire that took down three more torpedoes after a few direct hits.
—————
"Last two targets left at DEF Zone 3! 15 seconds! Taking down with CIWS!"
—————
Two rotating 30mm barrel on top of the bridge roof spool up as they each take aim at last two incoming torpedoes, before each unleashing a near continuous stream of heavy laser fire. Their deadly accurate radar targeting system ensures that neither two bogies will make their mark on the Montana.
—————
"All enemy torpedoes destroyed! Enemy ships are now within range of HE rounds!", reported Nanbu.
"Guns 2 and 3, open fire!", Abraham commanded.
"Ute! (Fire!)", Kodai exclaimed, radio raised to his mouth.
—————
The remaining two triple guns take aim and fire their ordinance, belching out smoke and flames as it does. Six heavy High Explosive rounds fly high in the air, arcing before descending directly onto the two remaining destroyers.
One barely manages to evade its incoming three round salvo. The other, not so fortunate.
Three shells, each one landing on the stern, below the bridge, and the bow, all detonate and tearing the poor destroyer into pieces, debris strewn all over the green vegetation and prompting the last remaining destroyer to retreat into the distance.
—————
"The last enemy ship is retreating.", Kodai reports, looking through his binoculars.
"This is the Engine Room. Repairs are complete!", Tokugawa said over the radio. "We can now fire her up!"
"Great work , Tokugawa.", praised Abraham, before setting his sight to Shima. "Activate Engine. Raise the anchors and get us the hell out of here!"
"Raising the anchors! All systems green! Montana, taking off!", Shima pushed forward the throttle and pulled the controls back.
—————
The main twin thrusters come to life, propelling Montana forward before pitching up and rising towards the sky. The two launched rockets anchors disconnect from their lodged surface and retract back into their housing.
Moving steadily toward the continent's edge, the other smaller thrusters burst into life and giving Montana an extra boost of speed as it flys further and further away from the continent's edge.
—————
"We're now 230km away from the floating continent.", Ota reports, his radar screen displaying the current position of Montana moving further away from the floating continent.
"Airspeed Mach point 7. Retracting the flaps and wings.", Shima raising the 'Wings & Flaps' leaver to 'Retract'. Just then, Tokugawa emerged from the elevator, taking his seat at the port side.
Abraham then stood up from his seat.
"Kodai, prepare to fire the Wave Motion Gun. Our target is the Floating Continent."
"Sir?"
"We will test fire the Wave Motion Gun and destroy the enemy base in one fell swoop."
Kodai nodded his head. "Yes, sir."
"While we made several simulated tests of the Wave Motion Gun, we've never actually done a live test before.", Sanada objected, standing up from his seat. "Without knowing it's possible side effects, it could be too risky using it this way."
"I'd say let's try it, Sanada.", Tokugawa counterpointed. "If we can't do it here, then we likely won't be able to test fire it anywhere else. Small scale tests and simulations can only help so much. Besides, there's no reward without taking some risks."
"I understand your concerns, Sanada. But my decision remains firm.", Abraham declared, his expression resolute. "All crew, standby to open fire.
Turn this ship around 180 degrees and point our bow at the floating continent."
"Aye, sir! Reverse heading 180 degrees to face the floating continent!", Shima announced, turning the controls left and his left foot pressing forward on the rudder pedals. Alarms ring out as the crew begins their preparation for firing the Wave Motion Gun.
—————
The RCS thrusters on the Montana ignited, jets of small flames maneuvering the heavy battleship to do a 180-degree U-turn with its bow facing toward the floating continent.
—————
"Ship is at a full stop.", Shima spoke out. "Gravity anchors locked."
"Shutting off power to nonessential equipment.", Sanada announced, as the lights of the bridge shut down one by one with the only remaining sources of light being the natural sunlight and the console screens.
—————
Outside, the exterior lights of Montana all go out with the sounds of machinery whirring down as they shut down.
Upfront on the bow, the shutter muzzle of the Wave Motion Gun opens up as the weapon prepares to fire for the first time in this voyage.
—————
"Navigation Officer, transfer ship control to Tactical Officer.", Abraham instructed.
"Transferring control to Tactical Officer.", Shima replied, hands releasing on the controls as it locked itself in place. Meanwhile, a gun-looking apparatus, reminiscent of a joystick, rises up from Kodai's console to which he puts his hands on the grip.
"Tactical Officer has control."
"Mori, what heat signatures are identifable on the continent?"
Mori responded, her eyes on her radar display, "They are concentrated in the basin, at the continent's enter."
"Alright, send over the coordinates. Kodai, you know what to do!"
"Roger! Coordinates received; pointing bow at continent's center!", Kodai confirmed, pushing the joystick to the left. The Montana shudders about as the ship responds to Kodai's commands, its bow aiming left.
"Open circuit to the Wave Motion Gun."
"Opening circuit to the Wave Motion Gun.", Tokugawa responds, his hands moving switches and leavers on his console. "Sealing emergency vents. Activating force injectors. Engine output now rising."
Concentrated inside the bow of Montana sits the two main components of the Wave Motion Gun, the plunger bolt and the pressure chamber. Two locks are secured to the massive heavy plunger bolt to prevent it moving about. At the front end of the bolt is the pressure chamber that leads out to the muzzle of the Wave Motion Gun, with steam beginning to leak out as it's fuelled by the energy from the Engine.
Picture it like a giant handgun, with Kodai being the trigger, the plunger bolt as the hammer, the pressure chamber as the cartridge and primer, and the energy inside as the propellant and bullet.
—————
"Release safety locks."
"Releasing safety locks.", Kodai repeated, his hand lifting up a red cover and then flipping two switches one after the other. "Confirmed activation of force injector. Final safety released."
—————
Inside the Gun's room, the two locks secured to the bolt release themselves with a loud clang. The locks to the primer of the pressure chamber, too, release their hold with a hiss as a steady flow of white steam emits from the chamber.
At this point, the Wave Motion Gin is primed and ready to fire.
—————
"Targeting scope, open!"
Both hands on the grip, Kodai watches as a plexiglass rises up from his joystick. It then lights up, displaying a reticle through which Kodai takes aim.
"Tachyon particle pressure rising in the chamber," Nambu spoke up, his eyes locked on a gauge on his console display. A beeping sound raises in intensity as the gauge rises in value. "88, 91, 100. Energy is fully charged at 120%!"
"The Floating Continent is now approximately 280km of the bow. Relative speed 36.", Mori reports.
"Bow is level with firing axis.", Kodai spoke as he pulls back and cocked the "hammer" of the gun. Eyes narrowing in concentration, his thumb moved a small dial. "Correcting for error 2 degrees."
Abraham then secured himself to his seat as he takes out a pair of goggles from under his console.
"Prepare to fire the Wave Motion Gun. Engage anti-shock and glare shields. All crew, brace yourselves and don your protective goggles.", Abraham called as the bridge darkened in response to the windows tinting themselves.
Abraham then put on his goggles, with everyone filling suit. The last to wear them is Kodai, who fumbled a bit as he kept one hand on the joystick and used the other to somewhat haphazardly wear his pair before quickly correcting them.
—————
Outside on the bow, a glow of yellow energy begins to build up on the muzzle of the Wave Motion Gun, growing in size before changing to a deep fierce blue.
—————
Inside the bridge, all the crew watches on as they brace themselves with varying emotions. Fear. Anticipation. Hope.
All the while, the beeping continued to intensify with shortening intervals as the moment of truth etched closer and closer.
"Reticle gauge brightness twenty. Target locked.", Kodai chimed, the reticle display reflecting off his goggles.
"Ten seconds to fire.", Nambu began the countdown, the beeping now in a solid continuous pitch and tone.
"Kyu. (Nine.)
Hachi. (Eight.)
Nana. (Seven.)
Roku. (Six.)
Go. (Five.)
Yon. (Four.)"
—————
The blue energy increases in ferocity and size, now covering up the entire diameter of the muzzle.
—————
"San. (Three.)
Ni. (Two.)
Ichi. (One.)"
"Hado Ho, UTE!" ("Wave Motion Gun, FIRE!")
The moment of truth arrives, and Kodai pulls the trigger. A loud thud can be heard as the plunger bolt slams into the primer wall of the pressure chamber in the Gun's room.
—————
Outside at the bow, the violent blue energy ball suddenly retreated back into the muzzle before dissipating and coating the barrel in a blue hue.
For a brief second, nothing happened.
Then all hell broke loose.
A large blue ball of energy, crackling with sparks, abruptly emerges from the muzzle. It's so large that the diameter is wider than the beam of the battleship it's fired from.
It then collapses and explodes forth, sending a massive deadly torrent of blue antimatter toward the floating continent, burning the very air it touches, and creating shockwaves as it approaches its target with a thundering roar.
It soon made landfall, hitting the continent's edge and immediately disintegrating that chunk of land into nothing, not stopping at all as what could be described as "destruction given physical form" continues to ravenge the land it touches.
The retreated Kripitera destroyer from earlier could do nothing as its caught by the tsunami of blue energy, ripping its hull apart layer by layer, bit by bit.
—————
"Wha-Whats going on?!", Larleta cried in distress, clutching the Krall in his arms in fear while frantically looking around as the resupply base shook apart and was illuminated in a bright blue light.
Looking outside and seeing the giant beam of blue energy approaching his position, he can only scream in unadulterated fear as both his and the Krall's fates are sealed.
"WHAT IS THAAAAATTT?!?"
*BOOOOOOMMMM!!!*
—————
Moments later, the Floating Continent explodes in a tremendous plume of orange flames and burning debris, courtesy of the Wave Motion Gun fired from Montana.
As the smoke and flames disperse away, whats left behind found be described as a massacre.
Pure. Raw. Unforgiving. Massacre.
What's left of the Continent is just empty space. And instead, a new Great Red Spot is born below from its non-existent ashes.
—————
The various systems began to reboot themselves online as the beam from the Gun starts dissipating. Lights turn on and the window tints is removed as the external ambient brightness is reduced to a safe level.
"So...this is the Wave Motion Gun...", Kodai silently muttered in awed fear, his hands still on the joystick before taking releasing his grip and taking off his goggles.
"That's an amazing weapon!", Nambu exclaimed in elation, taking off his goggles and standing up with a fist pump into the air. "With this, we can fight the Garmilians on even terms. No, wait, we have the advantage! A single pull of the trigger and we can even destroy their pla-"
"Our objective wasn't to commit genocide.", Abraham sternly cuts in before Nambu could continue further.
"We only wanted to destroy the Garmillan base within the continent.", Sanada said, crossing his arms in concern at the unimaginable vast amount of destruction. "But instead, the Wave Motion Gun destroyed the continent itself. It it can do that to a target the size of Australia, imagine what it can do to a planet."
Everyone gasped in fear at the revelation. Who wouldn't? A single careless press of the trigger and the divine judgmental wrath of God is released, decimating whoever and whatever is at the receiving end.
That feeling hits harder for Kodai, the one who pulled the trigger.
'Do we deserve such a dangerous weapon? Am I deserving to judge who would be able to live or be erased from existence?'
"As I said earlier, our mission wasn't to eradicate the enemy.", Abraham reminded everyone, noticing the despondent look on Kodai. "The Wave Motion Gun will only be used for self-defense, and only when absolutely necessary."
Pinching his nose in exhaustion and resting his elbows on the armrest, Abraham released a sigh as he gave the final order of the day.
"It's been an exhausting day, everyone. You are all to give yourselves some R and that's an order. Once we depart from Jupiter in an hour's time, we'll continue our journey onto Pluto."
—————
Jupiter's Orbit
An hour later, Montana rises above Jupiter's atmosphere before soon leaving the planet's orbit. Inside his quarters, Abraham stood before the desk beneath the rear facing panoramic window as he watched the gas giant move further and further away from him.
In his right hand is a small memo recorder, signs of age and weathering evident. His thumb rests just above the Play button for a brief moment, before pressing it.
"A power that could destroy the universe itself.", Juzo Okita's voice spoke up from the tinny speaker, with slight static in the background. "Have we obtained the forbidden fire of Megiddo?"
"No, I won't think of it now. If this is a trial of some sort, then we need only to show the correct path of our actions."
With that, the playback ends and Abraham grips the recorder tighter before looking out with determination in his eyes.
'Dont worry, Grandpa. I'll see this through to the end. And I'll do my best to save any of those who don't deserve to meet their end.'
—————
Omake:
Abraham: "Kodai, our target is in that direction!"
Kodai: "Roger! Removing 'that direction'!"
Wave Motion Gun goes *BRRRRR*