The 7th Space Cavalry Regiment was a Space Cavalry unit of the United Nations Cosmo Marines. It was active during both the Great Garmillas War and the Gatlantis Campaign, playing an important role in the latter in both Yamato's journey to Terezart and the Gatlantis Empire's invasion of the Solar system in 2203. In the interwar period between the two conflicts, it was part of the Outer Defense Division and was tasked with the defense of the 11th planet. It was lead by Colonel Goro Kiryu until his deaath in 2199, and by Second Lieutenant Hajime Saito until the end of the Gatlantis Campaign.
History[]
Great Garmillas War[]
The 7th Space Cavalry Regiment remained stuck on the Lunar surface
Late in the Great Garmillas War, in February of 2199, the 7th Space Cavalry Regiment was under Colonel Goro Kiryu and was part of the Lunar Garrison, stationed at the Lunar Base. On February 9,[5] the regiment was attacked by a group of Garmillas fighters launched from a carrier en route to carry out an air raid on Earth. The attack killed almost twenty[6] marines and mortally wounded Colonel Kiryu.[3] The survivors remained stranded on the Moon and began desperately hailing the Earth for help. Their message was recieved two days[7] later by the Kirishima, the flagship of the UNCN Combined Cosmo Fleet, which was escorting the battleship Yamato. However, help had come too late, and Kiryu passed from his wounds before he could be rescued.[3]
Saito angrily shows Hijikata the dog tags of his fallen comrades
After being saved by the flagship, Sergeant Major Hajime Saito barged into the ship's command birdge. He addressed the man he believed to be the captain, demanding to know why they were so slow to respond to their SOS. The man, who was actually Admiral Ryu Hijikata of Space Defense Command, explained to the marine that the Kirishima had found itself there by accident and that their rescue was only an afterthought of its original mission. Despite the rocky start to their relation, Saito and Hijikata would come to work together multiple times in the future and a strong friendship would blossom between the two.[3] For the remainder of the war, the 7th Regiment was moved to the Earth and served as an anti-riot security force in the Far-East District Underground City, much to the displeasure of Saito who disliked having to turn his gun against civilians.[3]
Part of the Outer Defense Division[]
After the end of the war and the founding of the Earth Federation, the 7th Space Cavalry Regiment fell under the command of Saito, now Second Lieutenant, and became part of the Outer Defense Division. It was stationed on the 11th planet of the Solar system, a Garmillas-Earth joint colony. In 2202,[8] Admiral Hijikata was removed from his post of commander of Space Defense Command due to his opposition to the Wave-motion Gun fleet plan and became commander of the Outer Defense Division. Under his command, the Cosmo Marines lived peacefully and formed a good relationship with the colonists. While on the planet, Saito's previous experiences during the attack on the lunar base led him to develop the plans for the Type 2 Space Mobile Armor.[4][9][10]
Lt. Saito protecting two civilians
On December 24, 2202,[7] the Gatlantis Empire attacked Planet 11, decimating the population. Saito and his men led the survivors to a secure location within the planet's abbandoned mines, but during the fighting the regiment's deputy commander, Gen Furahashi, was killed by a Gatlantean soldier self-destructing. Sergeant Major Nagakura Shiori was entrusted by Saito with a mission to escape the planet and try to call for help. While most of the regiment stayed behind, Saito sacrificed himself covering Nagakura as she escaped aboard the escape rocket Seabolt. While the regiment commander believed to have miraculously survived, he had actually been killed by the Gatlanteans and turned into a living dead body.[11][12]
Nagakura managed to contact the Yamato as the battleship was leaving the Solar system on a mission to liberate the mysterious planet Terezart, and the ship diverged from its course to aid the surviving cosmo marines. Together, they were able to break Gatlantis's assault and rescue the remaining colonists. Admiral Hijikata, who had remained stuck in the ruins of his headquarters, was also saved and brought aboard Yamato.[11][13]
Journey to Terezart[]
After leaving the colonists and facing Gatlantis once again at the planet Stravase on December 29,[7] the 7th Space Cavalry Regiment joined Yamato on its journey to Terezart, eventually recieving the call of the goddess Teresa of Terezart, who had already called the battleship to her planet.[14][15] Despite some initial disagreements with the battleship's acting captain, Saito and his men integrated well with Yamato's crew. On March 26, 2203,[7] the battleship reached Terezart and led an operation to liberate the planet from Gatlantis's occupation. For the operation, Nagakura was promoted to Deputy Commander of the regiment.[16][17]
The 7th Regiment fight against the Terezart close-support unit
In the first phase of the operation, the 7th Space Cavalry Regiment warped with Yamato's fighter squadron behind the artificial rock cage Gatlantis had created around the planet, and engaged the enemy fleet directly with their Type 2 Mobile Armors, which had been ultimated on the battleship's shipboard factory. Later, as Yamato was caught in a turbulence and unable to hold a clear line of fire, the marines physically stabilized the ship by pushing it in place, allowing it to fire its wave-motion gun an destroy the enemy fleet.[16]
The 7th Space Cavalry Regiment fight on the planet's surface
Later, Nagakura led the 7th Regiment as it tried to fend off the forces of Gatlantis's Land Division on Terezart's surface. Despite Saito's attempt to drop a portion of Terezart's rockeous caging on the enemy's tanks, Gatlantis's forces greatly outnumbered the space cavalry. After being targeted by a powerfull Gatlantean energy weapon, Saito ordered his men to fall back while he went ahead alone to face the enemy commander in a one-on-one fight, which he managed to win by a landslide. The battle was a success and Gatlantis's occupation was removed, however, it costed the lives of two cosmo marines.[18]
War comes to the Solar system[]
The 7th Space Cavalry Regiment on June 1
In May of 2203,[7] the 7th Space Cavalry Regiment engaged the Gatlantean forces together with Yamato as the empire invaded the Solar system. Following Yamato's fall inside of the Ark of Destruction, the mobile capital of the Gatlantis Empire, on May 11,[7] it became clear that a Gatlantean spy was among Yamato's ranks, and Hijikata decided to suspend the 7th Regiment from duty due to them having been the only ones to have been in contact with the Gatlanteans long enough to be turned into living dead bodies. Despite this, when Yamato was attacked by the fallen Garmillan Supreme Leader Abelt Desler on June 1,[7] the space cavalry was mobilized to fight against enemy Needleslaves both aboard and outside of Yamato. During the battle, Saito realized he had been turned into a zombie by Gatlantis and had, unwillingly, been the empire's spy abord the ship all along. He decided to go through an intense radiation bath, cutting the "strings" that allowed the enemy to manouver him, but also significantly shortening his own life.[12][19][20][21]
7th Space Cavalry Regiment soldiers boarding the Ark
The day after,[7] the 7th Space Cavalry Regiment joined Yamato's air corps once again as the battleship entered inside of the Ark of Destruction to seize emeror Zworder's throne room. In the subsequent confrontation, the Gatlantean monarch managed to fully awaken the Ark, rendering all attempts to stop him vain. All forces that had stormed the enemy capital left the front, including the 7th Regiment. In a last ditch attempt to destroy the Ark, Saito made a suicide run together with a Garmillas comrade, but was unfurtunately only able to slow down the enemy instead of stopping him entirely.[22][23] However, through the intervention of Teresa and the sacrifice of Yamato, the Ark was destroyed once and for all.[23]
After the war[]
6 months later, on December 8, 2203,[7] the survivors of the 7th Space Cavalry Regiment reunited with the rest of Yamato's crew at Hero's Hill where their fallen comrades, including Furahashi, had recieved an epitaph.[1] On December 30,[24] the cosmo marines helped to prepare Yamato for its mission to rescue Commanders Susumu Kodai and Yuki Mori, who had remained stuck in Teresa's dimension after the end of the Gatlantis Campaign.[1]
Nagakura leading the 65th Special Task Force in 2205
Legacy[]
By October 2205, the 7th Space Cavalry Regiment was dissolved and reorganized into the Space Cavalry 65th Special Task Force under a newly promoted Nagakura. The task force joined the 65th Escort Corps on its diplomatic mission towards Terezart.[2]
Personnel[]
- Colonel Goro Kiryu (commander, deceased)
- Sargeant Major/Second Lieutenant Hajime Saito (commander, deceased)
- Sergeant 1st Class Gen Furahashi (deputy commander, deceased)
- Master Sergeant/Sargeant Major Shiori Nagakura (deputy commander)
- Masaru Kurata
- Toshio Amagi
- Ohmiya (deceased)
- Yahata (deceased)
Notes[]
- The writing on the 7th Space Cavalry Regiment's Type 2 Space Mobile Armors after Yamato's time at the Mars Emergency Drydock reads "13th Space Cavalry Attached to Space Battleship Yamato". The 13th Space Cavalry may be the larger division that comprised the regiment.[12]
Behind the scenes[]
The first version of the character guide description for Saito on the official website for Yamato 2202 called the regiment seen in Yamato 2202 "5th Space Cavalry Regiment" and considered it as separate from the 7th Regiment seen in Odyssey of the Celestial Ark. This was later changed in following entries on the website.
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "Earth, Yamato is..."
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Galactic War is About to Begin! Assemble the Yamato Fleet!!"
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 "Space Battleship Yamato 2199: Odyssey of the Celestial Ark"
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 "Shock – Legacy of the Cosmo Reverse"
- ↑ The attack takes place slightly before the Reconnaissance-in-force of the Yamato, one day before Project Yamato's official announcement, which in turn happens one day before Yamato's take off, which Era of Yamato states as having taken place on february 11
- ↑ 18 ID tags belonging to the fallen cosmo marines are shown on screen
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 7.6 7.7 7.8 "The Era of Space Battleship Yamato: Choice of 2202"
- ↑ The Era of Space Battleship Yamato: Choice of 2202 DVD Special Record Book
- ↑ "Departure to the Unknown!"
- ↑ Yamato 2202 Chapter 4 Theater pamphlet
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 "Battle to the Death – The 11th Planet Rescue Operation"
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 "The Fated Showdown!"
- ↑ "The Beam of Light Flashes! / Radiance of the Wave Motion Gun"
- ↑ "The Trap at Planet Stravase"
- ↑ "Bewitching - The Space Fireflies Beckon a Crisis"
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 "The Terezart Landing Operation – Crush the Enemy Missile Fleet!"
- ↑ Yamato 2202 Character data for Shiori Nagakura
- ↑ "Zurvival's Fierce Assault - Find Teresa"
- ↑ "Yamato in Crisis - The Devil's Alternative Once More"
- ↑ "Gatlantis, the Cursed Children"
- ↑ "Warriors of Love"
- ↑ "Yamato, Attack the Comet Empire!"
- ↑ 23.0 23.1 "Farewell, Space Battleship Yamato"
- ↑ "The Era of Space Battleship Yamato: Choice of 2202" establishes that Yamato returns to the Earth on December 31, 2203. Since the ship returns at dawn, and it was launched immediately after the referendum, as its seen being prepared during Sanada's speech, the voting must occur on December 30
Japanese language information[]
空間騎兵隊第7連隊 Kūkan kiheitai dai 7 rentai