The Wolf From Another Dimension
With debris and smoke trailing behind, Montana limps forward as a visible gaping hole is made on its port side, the most damage it has received since this voyage.
Multiple anti-air batteries are reduced to charred metal and the aft port secondary Shock Cannon has its housing destroyed, revealing the machinery inside.
From behind Montana and almost completely indiscernible, a periscope silently tracks the stricken battleship before ominously descending into a red rift where it emerged from.
Unknown to Montana's crew, the wolf has arrived to hunt its prey.
—
31 March 2199
Planet Balun
Fixed to one of the artificial rings surrounding the gaseous planet, a diamond structure, a warp gate, begins to light up and comes to life.
Gamilan ships patrolling the structure begin to move clear out of the way as the central space inside of the diamond begins to ripple like waves. Energy is supplied and buzzes from inside the gate, creating an opening to another black dimension inside.
"Space-time fluctuation has increased from zel 50 to zel 70. No change to estimated arrival time."
(OST: Yamato 2199 – Fleet Gathering)
The ripples increase in intensity and a large plume of white gaseous matter erupts from the centre, clearing away to reveal the majestic light grey hull of the Domelaze III. Surrounding the super battleship are four more white plumes, each revealing a Meltoria cruiser in tow, followed up by even more plumes with Gamilan ships of all sizes exiting from the gate.
All ships, led by the Domalaze, have one final destination in question.
The Balun Floanting Continental Base.
—
Floating Continental Base, Guard Force HQ
As the hundreds of Gamilan warships descend into the floating base, they all pass through an invisible barrier designed to keep an artificial breathable atmosphere inside the planet. The first to arrive and land on the base's multiple spaceports is the Domalaze, with its fleet dispersing off to their spaceports.
"7th Squadron will proceed to dock 5. 6th and 13th Destroyer Groups will enter at dock 9. Port crew, begin anchoring ships. Mechanics, standby for further orders."
On the ground, Goer can only watch in discontent as the Domalaze descends to its landing spot, dwarfed by the impressive enormity of the super battleship. The battleship lowers its landing skids and creates massive gusts of winds as its thrusters slow its descent as well as the massive amount of air being displaced from below, causing Goer to brace himself and cover his face.
Eventually, Domalaze touches down with a loud metallic clank as its metal skids make contact with the ground, the sound of the ship powering down as its thrusters go offline. Down below, a panel opens up and reveals the battleship's boarding stairs. The stairs lower and extend till its base reaches just before Goer, who's not looking forward to what's to come.
The clinking of boots resonates in the air, Domel descends the stairs and stops before Goer, both men greeting one another with a salute.
"Here are Lord Dessler's orders.", Domel began. "Effective as of tam 12:08, Commander of the Small Magellanic Cloud Defence Forces, Elk Domel, is appointed Milky Way Theatre Operations Commander. His predecessor, Gremdt Goer, will serve as second-in-command."
Goer expresses his displeasure by lowering his brows and frowning.
"That is all."
As Domel finishes delivering his message, Haidern quickly arrives with a report.
"Sir, a message from Flakken.", Haidern said. "The Wolf has danced with the Sheep."
"Has something happened?", Goer asked curiously, as he was left out of the loop.
Domel only turned around with a dry smile. "The Hound seems to have found its prey."
—
(OST: Yamato 2202 – Yamato Advance)
Primordial Solar System
A protostar illuminates an endless array of rocks and newly forming planets orbiting around it. Within the fields of rock, an area of space distorts and outemerges four torpedos breaking the horizon. Their thrusters ignite and propel the torpedos into the scattered rocks, two of them making contact and each exploding two planetesimal while the other continues forth.
The remaining two warheads then detonate a much larger planetesimal, the explosives forces breaking it apart and sending down shrapnels of rocks down to a large asteroid.
Inside a massive crevice of the asteroid is an anchored Montana, still wounded and hiding away and taking shelter from the raining debris.
—
Montana, CIC Bridge 2
"Two enemy spatial torpedos have crashed into the planetesimal above us.", Mori reported, her eyes focusing on her radar screen. "Distance: 3,000km."
"Tch, another attempt to find us.", Abraham commented.
"So as long as we hide within this asteroid's interstellar medium, fining Montana will be rather difficult.", Sanada spoke, then turned to face Abraham with a smile. "An excellent decision, Abraham."
"But where did they come from?", Kodai worriedly asked. "Anything on the radar?"
"Negative. The vast number of surrounding rocks, while aiding us in being hidden, also prevents us from accurately tracking where the torpedos are coming from.", Sasha replied. "A double-edged sword, you can say."
"So they're stealthed?", Kodai concluded to himself.
"We've been here for four hours.", Nambu upsettingly stated, his hands lightly shaking. "We can't stay here forever…"
An alert rang out from both radar stations.
"Two contacts approaching, 10 o'clock!", Mori exclaimed, tracking two red blips quickly coming to their location.
The two blips then disappear after they reach a white blip, turning it into small white fragments as they shower near where Montana is.
"Confirmed hit at 10 o'clock, distance 200m. Brace for incoming debris!", Sasha warned, the bridge crew bracing themselves as the CIC rocked from the torrent of rocks outside.
Nearby, Abraham only remained silent, sweat dripping from his head as he was, once more, fighting another headache.
*RIIINNNGGG!*
'Dammit, not now! What is it this time!?"
—
"Battle stations! Mark, try to get control of the ship, otherwise, we've had it!"
"I'm…trying!"
"Eagar, what were you doing, having a nap?!"
"There was nothing on the radar! There isn't even a trace of the enemy!"
"But it seems as if we're being fired from nearby!"
"Is something wrong with the radar?"
"We checked it, it's okay."
"Then how come-UUGGHHH!"
—
Outside, a periscope scans the area around a large explosion. Connected to the periscope under the red rift it emerged from is a cable running to a craft resembling a submarine floating in the subdimension.
This is the wolf that has been harassing the prey. The UX-01 Dimensional Submarine.
—
UX-01
Inside the cramped command centre, its captain, a man with long brown hair and a thin moustache, looks through the periscope trying to spot his prey to no avail. Around him, his men began to relay the results of their last torpedo assault.
"Closing hyperspace vents. Adjust course from 22 to 30." Louth Kiel, a young man with blond hair and goatee with a hood and torn-off sleeves. "Dimensional pressure normal."
"Phase displacement parameters normal." Yolto Mezze, a young man with ginger hair and a goatee, wearing a garrison cap.
"Unable to detect Dimensional Wave Motion pattern." Bolt Gran, an elderly man with white hair and a thick moustache. Beside him is Vance Bohen, a middle-aged man with brown hair and beard, missing several teeth.
"They aren't taking the bait."
An impatient voice rang out behind, the First Mate Gol Hainy, who rubbed his hair in frustration.
"With this much interstellar medium, we can't track their spatial wake.", Hainy complained to his captain, who only chuckled and cracked an excited smile.
"Intelligent little rats…", the captain, Wolf Frakken, praised. The periscope then lowers and Frakken turns around with a grin. "Heiny, we shall enjoy ourselves during this war."
—
Montana CIC Bridge 2
"Hmm? Small dimensional quakes?"
Above in Montana, Sanada hums to himself as his console shows an indication of small irregular waveforms being detected.
"Abraham, this is just a theory, but I believe the enemy may be using a ship that's capable of creating a corridor to the dimensional rift.", Sanada theorized to Abraham. But instead of a response, Sanada heard what sounded like a grunt of pain.
"Captain?"
Turning around, Sanada is shocked to see Abraham with a pained expression and clutching his forehead in his hands, clearly in pain of some sort.
"Shit…Sanada…you are now in…temporary com…"
With laboured breaths, Abraham barely managed a sentence before collapsing forward onto the floor, the loud thud drawing everyone's attention.
Looking over his shoulder, Kodai cried out at seeing his fearless captain collapsed on the floor, his hat strewn before the Tactical Officer.
"Abraham!"
—
Medical Ward
Abraham, now unconscious, is undergoing an MRI scan using a CAT machine. Beside him, Dr. Sado cans Haruta looking at the MRI report with worry on their faces.
"Sensei, what is that?", Haruta nervously asked.
'Shit, is this a side effect of the visions Abraham's been experiencing?", Dr. Sado thought to himself. On the report is a scan of Abraham's brain, with a large red alert where his frontal lobe is.
"Brain aneurysm, frontal lobe. Severe clot, possible rupture.", the doctor analysed, then turned to Haruta.
"He needs surgery, right now.", Dr. Sado spoke urgently. "Get the operating theatre ready."
"Y-yes, sir!"
Harada quickly leaves to prepare for her captain's operation. As she leaves, she unknowingly passes by Ito who is leaning near the doorframe with a devious look on his face.
—
CIC Bridge 2
With the absence of their commanding officer, Sanada decided to exercise his role as Executive Officer and take temporary command, both out of obligation and to fulfil Abraham's request.
"As XO, I will take command until Captain Abraham is fit to return for duty.", Smada said, standing up in front of Abraham's chair. "We will assume the enemy ship is capable of inter-dimensional flight. Niimi, Mori, and Sasha. Try to track the enemy."
"Yes, sir.", all three women respond at once. Kodai, meanwhile, looks down at his legs and ponders to himself about the enemy's capabilities.
'A ship that could travel to their dimensions…'
—
Balun Base HQ, Office
"Dimensional Submarine UX-01 is under His Lordship's direct control. I'm amazed that his office permitted you to bring it here."
In the Balun Base's office, Goer expressed his astonishment when he heard that Domal managed to get Dessler's approval to use the Dimensional Submarine. Sitting around the large circular desk are Domel's commanders.
Domel, with his roksohk bid on his shoulder, quickly shot down Goer's amazement. "They didn't."
"What did you say?!", Goer cried in disbelief.
"Don't worry, sir."
Another voice from the table spoke up. Berger, sitting completely relaxed, reassured his new second-in-command. "The hound's handler is Admiral Dietz."
"In other words, if old man Dietz agrees then there's no problem.", one of Domel's commanders, Major Lyle Gettoh, spoke in a casual tone. He has slicked-back blond hair and is filing his nails without worry.
"The problem will be Captain Flakken…", another commander, Major Charis Kraitz, pointed out with a smile. He has brown hair and his chair barely manages to fit his impressively tall frame.
Berger laughed and leaned back on his seat. "You're right, he's not an easy man to command."
"My motto is "Adaptability Above All Else".", Domel told Goer, confident in the "hound's" capabilities. His rokrohk bird takes off and lands on Goer's head. "Keep that in mind, Goer."
"Z-zar Belk.", Goer begrudgingly agrees, the bird on his head giving a caw.
—
Montana, Medical Ward
Lying in the operating bed, Abraham's chest gently rises and falls with a breathing mask sealed on his face. His hair is moved out of the way and covered by a cap, allowing his whole forehead to be visible.
Separated by a glass pane, Dr. Sado begging to prepare himself for surgery, putting on some gloves reminiscent of a Power Glove, and strapping a VR headset to his head. Behind, medical staff relay Abraham's status as they prepare to operate.
"Blood pressure is 120 over 70. Pulse is stable at 60."
"Location of aneurysm is set, patient is currently stable."
"Don't worry, Abraham. You will not die today.", Dr. Sado spoke to himself. His VR screen came to life, showing a top-down view of Abraham's forehead. "Begin the operation!"
"Surgical arms moving to position."
"Medical nanomachines on standby."
From the opposite side of the glass. A few robotic arms position themselves to where an operating spot should be. Above, another mechanical arm lowers with a box-shaped attachment at the end. A red square is projected to just above Abraham's right eyebrow, and a high-powered precision laser begins the first incision.
—
Still submerged in the dimensional fault, UX-01 continues to move around in search of its prey to no result, its sonar pinging away.
—
UX-01
"Well? Anything?", Hainy asked Kiel on the sonar, who turned around and shook his head. Growing increasingly frustrated, Hainy began to speak with Frakken.
"Captain!"
"Our pray is smart and frightened.", Frakken spoke, unfazed. "They are waiting for us to make the first move."
—
Montana, Air Wing
"Just how long are we staying here?", Kato complained restlessly, trying to pass the time by playing darts. While his skills have improved, as no darts have failed to land, he's still not getting a bullseye.
Throwing his last dart, Kato expressed his frustration when it landed just beside the bullseye. "Fuck, dammit!"
—
(OST: Yamato 2199- The Scarf of Sorrow)
Engine Room
Standing before the Engine Control panel, Yamazaki attempts to distract himself by working on the WMEs. Nearby, Yabu is beginning to have some doubts.
"The officers know what they are doing.", Yamazaki said.
"But Abraham collapsed, right?", Yabu upsettingly asked. "He…He won't die, won't he?"
"Yabu!"
A loud voice reprimanded, causing Yabu to turn in surprise to see Tokugawa arriving at the scene with a stern expression.
"Don't worry, Yabu. He won't die.", the Chief Engineer firmly assured. "That will not happen. He is Okita's grandson. He is strong and he will survive! Understood?"
Doubt washed away, Yabu returns with a firm nod. "Yes, sir."
—
Operating Theatre
Focused on his task, Dr Sado's eyes focused and his hands moved in practised expertise as he remotely commanded an arm to gently pry Abraham's brain out of the way. The grey matter moved, he was revealed by a rather disgusting sight of a clotted blood vessel, throbbing slightly and bloated with red blood.
Another robot arm with a tiny dissecting scissor arm moves in and begins to cut away the clot from the connecting blood vessels, and another arm moves to clamp said vessels to prevent the blood from flowing out.
As this painstaking procedure continues, Dr. Sado begins to feel sweat running down from his bald head.
"Sweat.", the doctor said. Harada, who was beside him, rubbed a towel to dry off his sweat.
—
CIC Bridge 2
"Any movement?", Shima asks.
"Even if they can submerge dimensionally, their ability to stay there must have a limit.", Niimi replied as she typed away. "They'll have to show themselves eventually."
"So we'll just have to keep waiting, huh?"
Tokugawa then arrives at the bridge and the first thing he sees is Kodai's downcast head. He walks to the brunette's seat and puts a comforting hand on his shoulder.
Kodai, feeling an unexpected pressure on his shoulders, suddenly stiffens and peeks over his shoulder to see a comforting Tokugawa.
"You're too tense.", the engineer said, then crossed his arms. "It's difficult to wait, isn't it?"
Feeling a little better, Kodai responds. "Yeah."
Peering to his right, he sees Sanada standing still and eerily calm. As if he knows something that he refuses to share.
UX-01
"We've been waiting for a long time with no luck.", Hainy complained to his captain, he and everyone beginning to feel bored of waiting around for nothing. "Maybe they're already dead."
Frakken shares his sentiment. "You're right."
"Eh?"
"I've grown tired of this hide-and-seek game. Let's give something else a try…", Frakken said with a grin, much to Hainy's delight.
—
Montana, Operating Theatre
"Seal the incision with the cellular reactive gel."
Dr Sado begins to wrap up the surgery on Abraham, having successfully removed the aneurysm in his brain and sealing up the hole made on his skull before closing up the layers of muscles and skin on his forehead.
A robot arm with a nozzle at the end begins to spray a clear gel on the cut on the skin, rapidly growing new muscle and skin cells which heal up and leave no trace that he was ever operated on.
"The operation is over."
The bald doctor concludes the surgery, taking off his VR headset and breathing a sigh of relief.
—
CIC Bridge 2
"XO, if you know anything, please tell me."
Back on the CIC, Kodai begins to confront Sanada over their captain's condition, urging him to share what he knows.
"What's wrong with Abraham?"
He is only met with a silent XO, but his black eyes tell him that the scientist knows more than what he lets on.
Finding no luck, Kodai begins pressing Sasha, who he knows is the closest to Abraham as he's her husband.
"Sasha, please. You must know something about Abraham's collapse earlier."
A pensive Sasha remains quiet for a second, before carefully speaking.
"My husband is a lot of things, Kodai. But being weak is not one of them.", Sasha spoke with careful resolve. "Abraham wouldn't want anyone to worry if he knew he could handle something by himself. I have my utmost faith in him that he will live through whatever's thrown at him."
Fortunately, this satisfies Kodai for now. But this moment is interrupted by the radar pinging on the screen.
"Ship on radar, 4 o'clock. Distance 2.800km and increasing.", Mori reported.
"Resonance wavelength is specific to Gamilan ships. That must be it.", Niimi said.
"Enemy ship is leaving the system.", Mori followed up, her radar screen showing a red blip moving further and further away from their location.
"Then that means…", Shima began.
"They gave up and left.", Nambu gladly concludes, but Kodai isn't convinced.
(OST: Star Blazers, Track 15 – Yamato's Bolero)
"No, it's too early to assume they're gone.", said Kodai.
"Do you have any evidence?", Niimi asked from behind him.
"No, I don't. If I had to say, call it intuition. A gut feeling."
With a smile on her face, Niimi fondly mutters to herself. "So it runs in the family, huh?"
"Uh?", uttered a confused Kodai.
"I said I agree.", the blunette quickly "corrected", then turned to address Sanada. "XO, why don't we use the warp engine's subsystems as a hyperspace transducer?
If we use the data from our encounter in the dimensional fault to set its parameters, we should be able to fire a sonar ping across the dimensional boundary layer."
"A "dimensional active sonar", huh, that would show if the enemy is hiding in another dimension.", Aihara concurred, but Kodai quickly noticed a fatal flaw.
"But using it would reveal our position as well.", Kodai worriedly pointed out.
"You shouldn't let your fears paralyse you.", Niimi scolded. Kodai then thought of another solution.
"Sanada, I suggest we use the Seagull to patrol for hostiles."
"…Using the new hyperspace sonar buoys?", Sanada curiously guessed.
"Yes, it functions on the same principle. Combined with the Seagull's much smaller radar cross-section, we should be able to find any hidden enemies with little risk of being detected."
Niimi is quick to dismiss that notion.
"That is in theory, but sending the Seagull out in all this space rock is practically suicide.", the blunette shot down, adjusting her glasses.
"But if the enemy is still there, we could search without revealing Montana's position.", Kodai counterargued.
"And who will you order to undertake this dangerous mission?"
"I'll do it myself if I have to!"
Sanada then makes his decision: a sound "No.".
"XO?", Kodai turned in shock and surprise.
"This is only for confirmation.", Sanada continued, finger and thumb rubbing his chin. "Niimi's plan is more realistic."
"But-!"
"Kodai, you are to be forbidden to use the Seagull. Niimi, prepare the pinger."
"Yes, sir."
While Niimi prepares to set up the sonar pinger, a silent Kodai looks down. An intercom beep rings which catches his and everyone's attention.
"CIC, this is Sado.", the ship's doctor sounds from the speakers. "The Captain's operation is over. It was a success."
Everyone lets out a breath of relief and happiness, glad to hear Abraham pulling through.
"XO Sanada, why don't you send someone to check up on Abraham?", Tokugawa suggested. Sanada turned and looked at Kodai, then gave him a smile of approval.
"Leave the bridge to us.", Shima assured his best friend with a thumbs-up and a wink. Kodai returns with a thumbs-up of his own, then heads off to the elevator.
Before he could leave, however, Sanada quickly yet silently took Kodai's hand and slipped a piece of folded paper into it. The Tactical Officer gave a bewildered look at the XO, who only looked forward but a small tug on his lip told him everything.
—
Operating Theatre
Entering the now-empty Operating Room, Kodai sees his captain still unconscious on the table. The steady beeping of the heart rate monitor is all it takes for him to know Abraham's still in the living realm.
In his hand, Kodai opens up the folded piece of paper secretly given to him. What's written inside causes him to raise his brows.
"Kodai. Just do whatever you believe is right."
—
(OST: Yamato 2199- The Scarf of Sorrow)
"A good soldier follows orders, but a greater soldier questions dubious orders, and the best soldiers disobey bad orders. Sometimes, you need the courage to disobey an order you believe is wrong, to remain true to yourself. That's what both me and Grandpa believe in."
—
Recalling Abraham's words, Kodai puts away the paper and takes a long look at the sleeping Abraham.
'Don't be afraid to disobey to stay true to yourself, huh?"
His thoughts are cut off by Dr. Sado who, upon seeing Kodai, gives a happy smile.
"Oh, you came to see him?", the doctor asked.
"Take good care of Abraham.", Kodai asked and bowed to the doctor, then turned to leave with a wake of determination.
The door closing, Dr. Sado silently mutters once Kodai is out of sight.
"Just don't do anything stupid…"
—
CIC Bridge 2
"Inputting Wave Motion parameters."
"Confirmed."
Back on the bridge, the crew are preparing to use their dimensional sonar. The elevator bridge opens, but instead of Kodai reporting in, it is another member of the Tactical Division.
"Kitano entering.", the man, Tesuya Kitano, reports.
"You're late!", Nambu, having taken Kodai's place, chastised him as he quickly took his position.
"I'm sorry.", Kitano apologized.
"Monty, are you ready?", Mori asked the android. She, Niimi, and Aihara have been programming the sonar pinger with Monty in charge of powering it up.
"The sonar has finished charging. Ready to initialize pinging."
"Prepare for sonar ping.", Sanada orders.
"Hyperspace transducer standing by.", Nimmi spoke.
—
Out in front at Montana's bow, a section of the hull splits open below the Wave Motion Gun's muzzle, revealing an orange cylindrical device.
The hull panels slide out and back to the sides of the pointed bow and the orange device, the sonar pinger, emerges with paddles extending out.
—
Hanger 3
At the hanger, Kodai is in his pilot suit as he gives instructions to a baffled Toyama and Iwata, who have been inspecting a Seagull on standby.
"The hyperspace sonar buoy?", Iwata asked, confused.
Kodai nodded. "That's right. As soon as the Seagull's loaded, I'll go out."
"Well, it's already loaded.", Toyama replied, much to Kodai's surprise.
"They say to stay one step ahead."
"Enomoto-san?"
A new familiar voice joins in, and Kodai spins around to see Enomoto with a cheeky grin.
"You remember that from training, don't you?", the boatswain asked, then addressed his two deckhands. "Now, get going, you two! We're launching the Seagull."
"But the order-", Iwata began."
"-Hasn't been issued.", Toyama finished.
'Crap, I haven't thought about that!', Kodai thought in dismay, hurriedly trying to think how to bypass this particular problem. Luckily, he is saved by Enomoto.
"Don't worry, I've already taken care of that.", the boatswain lied, but they didn't need to know that. "And you two will accompany me in the Seagull to assist the Tactical Officer."
"Ehhhh!?" Both men cry out in distress as Enomoto lowers his cap to Kodai as if saying "I got your back."."
—
CIC Bridge 2
"Dimensional sonar linger, ready to fire.", Nambu reported, his thumb ready to press a button,
"Prepare to track the enemy.", Sanada ordered. "Fire the sonar pinger!"
"Firing sonar pinger!"
—
At the press of a button, a powerful wave is emitted from the bow of Montana. The wave travels across space and into the dimensional subspace. Inside the dimensional fault, the wave makes contact with UX-01's hull.
—
"There it is! They fell for the decoy!" Hainy exclaimed, feeling overwhelmed with excitement. "They didn't know we were here, the fools!"
"You traced that pinger, right?", Frakken asked.
"That's right.", Mezze confirms.
"Should we do it? We're doing it, right?!" Hainy asked his captain like an excited puppy.
(OST: Yamato 2199 – The Dimensional Submarine)
"Return to dimensional periscope depth.", is Flakken's answer which is an absolute yes in Hainy's eyes.
"Alright! Blow dimensional ballets tanks!"
Frakken looks on with an eagerly wolfish grin.
"Let the hunt…begin."
—
UX-01 begins to rise to the dimensional boundary layer, the submarine ascending higher and higher until it reaches just below the border.
—
Montana, CIC Bridge 2
"Dimensional sonar pinger detecting a ship.", Mori alerted, her screen receiving an echo from the sonar. "Something is rising to the dimensional boundary layer. They are tracing our pinger!"
The crew gasped in horror, their worst fears have been confirmed: they've been tricked and their enemy now knows where they are. Sanada immediately begins issuing the order to get out.
"All engines, full ahead! We're getting out of here! Raise the anchor!"
—
The rocket anchors, which have been securing Montana in place, immediately reeled into the hull.
The actors now retracted, Montana's Engines quickly spool up and all of its thrusters ignite ablaze, blowing up the asteroid near its exhaust and accelerating the battleship out into the rocky space.
Away in the distance, a periscope emerges from the sub-dimension and quickly spots Montana trying to escape.
—
UX-01
"I found you…", Frakken uttered, tracking Montana on the periscope screen. "Prepare the torpedos."
"Open torpedo tubes 1 and 2!", Hainy repeated.
—
The upper two of four torpedo tubes on the bow, one port and starboard with another pair below, open up to load and fire off its payload.
Back abov2, Montana's port side doors of Hanger 3 slide out and open revealing a Seagull ready to launch.
—
Montana, CIC Bridge 2
A warning alert attracts the attention of Sasha.
"XO, Port Hanger 3 is opened without authorisation.", Sasha warned.
"What?", Sanada asked, though not surprised as he should have been.
—
The crane arm extends from the hanger and the Seagul is put into space.
—
Seagull
"Seagull, no launch order has been issued."
Aihara's voice rang from Kodai, Enomoto, Iwata, and Toyama's headsets, with the latter two unable to believe their ears.
"S-seriously?!", Iwata exclaimed in shock.
"Takeoff check complete, area clear.", Kodai says as he looks at his surroundings, ignoring Aihara's call and Iwata's disbelief. "Launching Seagull!"
—
The crane arm releases its grip on the transport craft, and the Seagull drops below and reverses heading in the opposite direction of Montana. Thrusters slow their descent before the two wing-mounted engines invite and propel the Seagull away from the battleship.
—
"We-we're ignoring orders, right?", Iwata nervously asked. Enomoto then answered the two men behind him with furrowed brows.
"Just quit whining, and get to work."
"Yes, sir!" "What?!"
—
UX-01
"Torpedo parameters set and loaded.", Hainy reported.
"Torpedo tubes 1 and 2, hassha!", Frakken orders.
"Tubes 1 and 2, hassha!"
—
The forward two torpedo tubes open fire, sending their payload out and up towards the dimensional boundary.
Inside the submarine, Frakkens grins seeing the torpedos passing through the border through the periscope, the warheads trailing smoke as they head off towards their target.
—
Montana, CIC Bridge 2
"Montana to Seagull, come in! Who's on board and what are your intentions? Seagull!"
Back on board Montana, Aihara desperately tries to make radio contact with the rogue Seagull, but with no luck. Everyone's attention is then caught, however, by a warning from the radar.
"Two objects detected on radar at high speed.", Mori reported, tracking and identifying the unknown contacts. "Two torpedos, heading 9 o'clock!"
"Shima, evasive manoeuvres!", Sanada orders.
"Aye aye, sir! Evasive manoeuvres! Hard left yaw, left roll!", Shima called out, turning his control wheel as far left as he could while slamming the left rudder.
—
Montana's RCS thrusters ignite once more and the ship performs a sharp left turn and roll, the battleship changing from being perpendicular to parallel to the income torpedos.
One manages to pass by the battleship's superstructure and harmlessly blows up an asteroid off the stern, the other torpedo quickly nearing Montana from the forward left side.
—
"Second torpedo incoming!"
Shima twists the wheel to the right, the bridge lurching as the ship responds to his commands.
—
Port RCS thrusters burning, Montana performs a swift right roll and barely evades the second torpedo which detonates a nearby asteroid.
Unfortunately, the detonation is close enough to Montana that shrapnel and rocks peppers against the stern at the port. In particular, dealing severe damage to the port secondary thruster, causing it to explode and render it useless.
—
Seagull
The Seagull, piloted by Kodai, expertly flies through the debris field swerving around several rocks.
"You've gotten better.", Enomoto praised, impressed at Kodai's skills.
"I had a good teacher, after all.", Kodai replied, still focusing on flying the Seagull.
"Hehe, thanks. Huh?" As he thanks his former pupil, he then spots a plume of smoke coming from Montana off the corner of his eye.
—
CIC Bridge
"External armour has been compromised. Air leakage, rapid pressure loss."
"Loss of auxiliary reactors, auxiliary power supply reduced to 50%."
"Seal off the thruster compartments. Begin damage control."
"Loss of port secondary thruster. Attempting to compensate."
On the bridge, alarms blare one after another as warnings pop up on the damage Montana sustained by the torpedo explosion.
"That sonar ping came back to bite us in the ass, huh?", Nambu lowly commented. Everyone's attention is then taken by a radio call.
"Montana, this is Seagull. Dropping hyperspace sonar buoy.", Kodai's voice announced through the speakers.
"So that was you who opened the hanger!?", Niimi reprimanded back.
—
Seagull
"What do you think you are doing?!"
"Scary.", Nemomto jokingly commented at Niimi's tone.
"Dropping buoys now.", Kodai announced, turning to the two men behind him. "Iwata! Toyama!"
They both announce in unison. "Aye aye, sir!"
—
(OST: Yamato 2199- Sortie of the Enemy Spacecraft)
Below the fuselage, two panels open up each revealing a chute. Two sets of pods containing the sonar buoys are then lowered into the chutes, ready to be deployed.
—
"Dropping buoys!", Iwata called out, pressing the release button.
—
One by one, the chutes launch their payload. The pods fall and trail behind the Seagull for a moment before they open up, revealing the sonar buoys.
A three-pronged device with a bright red indicator light that's suspended by an inflatable basketball-sized balloon, each pinging as they're activated.
—
UX-01
"Our prey is tough.", Frakken realised as he saw the relatively light damage caused to Montana by his torpedos. Keeping his eyes on his target, he orders more torpedos to be fired.
"Tubes 3 and 4, hassha!"
—
The two lower bow torpedo tubes open fire, launching two more warheads out to their target.
—
Montana, CIC Bridge
"Seagull to Montana, do you copy? I'll send estimated appearance points for the torpedos. Use the data to shoot them down."
Hearing Kodai's words, Sanada orders the crew to prepare for combat.
"Weapons Officer, prepare to intercept torpedos."
"Copy. Prepare to intercept torpedoes!", Nambu called out.
"Prepare to intercept torpedos!", Kitano repeated. "Missiles armed and ready! Configuring for anti-air defence!"
As the crew prepare the ship, Sanada smiles at Kodai's daringness.
—
All of Montana's seven main guns traverse and elevate their barrels to aim at as many points as possible. The ten port and starboard torpedoe cells open their hatches to reveal a warhead ready to fire. The vast number of Bofor and Oerlikon cannons come online, with the CIWS cannons and missiles rotating to scan for threats.
—
Seagull
The array of the sonar buoys ping, creating a spider web ready to detect anything.
One of the buoys registers an echo, alerting Toyama who relays to Kodai. "We got a signal! Two torpedos coming from Montana's 7 o'clock!"
"Transmit data to Montana.", Kodai orders.
"Copy that!"
—
Two torpedos break through the border and ignite their propellant, accelerating to a smoking Montana up ahead.
—
Montana, CIC
"Coordinates received from the Seagull.", Nambu called out, inputting the data to the targeting computers.
"Intercept torpedos!", Sanada commanded.
"Uchikata Hajime!"
—
(OST: Yamato 2199 – Yamato Descends)
Montana's starboard torpedo cells open fire, sending out ten torpedoes in quick succession. Turning back, they quickly turn to their targeted point and detonate all at once at the two enemy torpedos, destroying one while the other presses on.
The Bofors and Oerlikon take aim and fire, with the CIWS rotary Cannon joining the fray. The flak from the Bofors strikes the torpedo, sending it wildly out of control with the CIWS finishing it with a stream of laser fire.
—
UX-01
"Tch, they anticipated our firing angle.", Frakken grunted, seeing his torpedos shot down through the periscope.
"You're kidding…", Hainy uttered in disbelief, then looked up in confusion at the familiar sound of pinging. "Huh? Again?"
The sub's crew join in, all wondering why the pinging is still there despite having already found their enemy.
Hainy's confusion soon changes to admiration for the enemy. "They don't quit, do they?"
"They can see us, but we are at the bottom of a mother dimension. They can't touch us.", Frakken assured as he turned his periscope around, trying to find the source of the pinging.
Eventually, his search pays off. Spotting a white ball-shaped object and zooming in, he realizes the enemy's ploy.
"So that's it…"
—
Seagull
"What's this?", Iwata said, one of the buoys spotting an unusually shaped object. "Something's emerging from the dimensional boundary layer!"
"Where is it?", Kodai asked.
"Nearby west. 9 o'clock."
"Affirmative. New heading, 9 o'clock."
Kodai turns the controls left, the Seagull performing a hard left bank. Enomoto then takes a pair of binoculars and scans the area to his left.
"Found anything?", Kodai asks the boatswain.
After a moment of searching, Enonomoto finds something. A probe poking out. "Hoho! There it is!"
—
From below, Frakken can only give a frustrated "Tsk!" as he spots an orbiting enemy craft, unable to do anything about it.
—
Montana, CIC
"Montana, this is Seagull. An apparent enemy probe has been spotted behind Montana, 8 o'clock.", Kodai's voice rang through the radio. "Sending coordinates. Knock it out, and we'll blind them."
Niimi couldn't help but think how similar Kodai was to his brother, letting out a small smile. "He's every bit as reckless as well."
"Prepare to fire!", Sanada called out.
—
The aft-most main Shock Cannon turned to aim at Montana's southwest.
—
"Inputting co-ordinates!", Kitanao said, typing in the targeting data. "Target locked on!"
"Uchikata Hajime!", Nambu commanded.
—
The aft Shock Cannon opens fire, and a beam of blue positron energy emits from the three barrels.
Passing and destroying an asteroid in its way, the beams converge and strike true to the dimensional submarine's periscope.
—
UX-01
The last thing Frakken saw through the periscope was an approaching swirl of blue light before flashing, then a static screen.
"Tch! They got us!", Frakken growled, now blind and slamming his fist on the sub's wall in frustration.
—
Above, the Seagull approaches Montana's port hanger, the threat now neutralized.
—
Seagull
"Commencing approach. Pre-landing check complete.", Kodai reported, pulling up beside Montana. "Preparing to dock."
The doors to Hanger 3 slide open and out, the crane arm extending to grab the Seagull in.
—
CIC Bridge
"As soon as the Seagull docks, we leave at top speed.", Sanada orders to the crew. "Once we're out of the system, we'll use warp to lose them."
—
The Seagull now secured and the hanger doors closed, Montana's thrusters spool up and burn at maximum power, the battleship accelerating to escape.
As Montana moves out of the star system and disappears with a flash, space ripples before a red tear forms. Out emerging the tear is the Gamilan submarine.
—
UX-01
"Nothing on radar.", Mezze reported, much to Hainy's disappointment.
"The bastards jumped. What do we do?", the first mate asked the captain.
"For now, we'll allow them to go.", Frakken answered.
"Are you sure?", Hainy asked again, uncertainty in his voice.
"A good hound never chases too far.", Frakken assured, chuckling in anticipation for their next encounter.
—
Medical Ward
Back aboard Montana, Abraham begins to stir awake. Regaining consciousness, his eyelids slowly rise and in his vision are Kodai, Sasha, and Tokugawa to his left. To his right are Dr Sado and Harada.
"Abraham…", said Kodai, seeing his fearless captain opening his eyes, revealing brown pupils to the world.
"Kodai?", Abraham grunted, blinking away his blurry vision. His sight focused, he then spots his wife and the Chief Engineer.
"And Sasha and Tokugawa, too. Is Monty alright?"
"You mean the ship or our crewmate?", Kodai clarified.
"Yes.", the captain replied with the utmost seriousness, prompting a snort from his wife.
snort* "Glad to see your sense of humour hasn't been lost.", Sasha miffed with a hand covering her mouth, obviously holding in a laugh.
Tokugawa instead chuckled at her steed. "Hehe. To answer your question, we made it through. Thanks to the young ones here like Kodai."
With a praising hand on his shoulder, Kodai abashedly looks away from the captain. On the opposite side, however, Dr Sado is not impressed.
"Though it seems you went a bit too far.", the doctor chastised with crossed arms. Then gave a raided brow and half smile. "But Sanada has arranged it so that you won't be disciplined. You can't tell it from his face, but isn't a bad guy."
"I see.", Abraham gave a proud smile to Kodai who returned an appreciative one of his own.
—
Officer's lounge
"I'm sure I don't need to say it, but you didn't want him to die, did you?"
In the lounge, Niimi speaks with Sanada, who is looking at a half-model of Montana on the wall.
"Like before, he believed he was doing the right thing and acted anyway despite being "opposed"."
"…What do you think Mamoru would have done, had he come with us?", Sanada asked back.
Shaking her head with a smile, the blunette replied. "Probably the same thing as his younger brother."
Smiling in agreement, Sanada lets out a breath through his nose.
"You're right."