This article is about the Battle of the Rainbow Star Cluster from Space Battleship Yamato 2199. For the comparable battle from the original Space Battleship Yamato, see Battle of the Rainbow Star Group.
The Battle of the Rainbow Star Cluster[6] was an ambush of the Earth battleship Yamato by forces of the Great Garmillas Empire late in the Great Garmillas War. Occurring after a crushing defeat at Balun, the battle became one of the empire's few remaining chances to prevent Yamato from completing its journey to the planet Iscandar. It also became an opportunity for the legendary Garmillas general Elk Domel to restore his own and his family's damaged reputations, and for the empire's ruler, Abelt Desler, to make a decisive political maneuver against Iscandar.
Prelude
Following the destruction of thousands of Garmillas ships at Balun and thousands more stranded far from home,[7] Desler concluded that Yamato had become the most serious threat facing his empire. However, the one commander he most trusted to defeat the Earth ship had been arrested on the false charge of scheming to assassinate Desler. He released Lieutenant General Domel from prison, dismissed his conviction, and granted the general his request to resume the campaign against Yamato that he had almost completed once before--but asked him to first recover a special passenger from Yamato, the princess Yurisha Iscandar. In exchange for victory, Desler offered to reduce the sentence handed down to Domel's wife, Elisa Domel, for collaborating with opponents of the regime.
The three carriers: Lamvea, Schderg and Balgray
In preparation for the battle, the Imperial Guard returned to Domel the trusted commanders of his 6th Armored Space Division and his super dreadnought flagship Domelaze III, and placed the subspace submarine UX-01 at his disposal. The empire's military resources were constrained, and the Imperial Guard provided him with only four older carriers crewed by "children and old men," as Colonel Vem Heidern described them. Despite the limitations imposed upon him, the general was able to call upon Minister of Defense Welte Talan for added support and secured a prototype instant matter transporter and an asteroid mining missile, and ultimately devised a strategy that he was confident would succeed. The final step was anticipating his opponent's next move, and he predicted that Yamato would take a dangerous shortcut through the Rainbow Star Cluster. Once Domel's task force arrived at the cluster, the carrier Balgray moved ahead and launched its fighters toward Yamato's likely location.
Meanwhile, the Yamato had entered the Large Magellanic Cloud and was poised near the Tarantula Nebula as the crew considered how to proceed. Admiral Juzo Okita was convinced that navigating around the massive nebula would rob them of precious time, and would allow the Garmillas military to organize more effective attacks. He decided to take the shortest approach, directly through the Rainbow Star Cluster at the heart of the nebula. Immediately upon warping into the cluster, Yamato was buffeted by intense ion turbulence and lost the ability to use radar. Chief navigator Daisuke Shima stabilized the ship and set course for a relatively calmer region of the Rainbow Cluster.[2]
The Battle
Opening Phase
Yamato's optical sensors soon detected the Garmillas advance fighter wing approaching, and Okita ordered the ship's Cosmo Falcon fighter squadron to intercept.[2] Led by Major Lyle Ghetto, the Garmillas Debake fighters engaged the Falcons, drawing them away from the battleship as a diversionary tactic. With the Earthlings now distracted, a squadron of Snuka dive bombers launched from Lamvea under the command of Major Fomt Berger and was instantly teleported by the prototype matter transporter to Yamato's position. Surprised by their sudden appearance, Yamato suffered damage to its shock cannons, anti-aircraft guns, wave motion shield, and sensors until Ensign Akira Yamamoto took off in a Cosmo Zero fighter and beat back the Snukas. By the time Berger called for the squadron to retreat, they had already succeeded in rendering Yamato blind and vulnerable to the next wave.
The UX-01 surfaced from subspace to release a "suckerfish" craft that attached itself to the aft section of the battleship without being detected. A four-member Zaltzi strike team accessed an airlock and quietly boarded Yamato.[5]
Attacking from Within
Driving deeper into Yamato.
As the Yamato crew waited and surmised that the Garmillas task force was using a form of warp-based technology to deploy the dive bombers so rapidly, a single heavy bomber took off from the carrier Darold and was teleported to a point directly ahead of the Earth ship. They were again caught unprepared when the heavy bomber fired its single payload, the massive asteroid drill missile. Yamamoto chased after the bomber and damaged it, sending it hurtling out of control into a nearby ion storm, but the drill missile firmly lodged itself inside the muzzle of the battleship's wave motion gun. It began to turn and force its way deeper into Yamato, penetrating the wave motion gun control room and sending crew members fleeing.[5]
Having changed into human uniforms, three of the Zaltzi team made their way through the ship as they commenced the search for Princess Yurisha, leaving Corporal Norren Oshetto to guard the airlock. They remained unnoticed until security officer Toru Hoshina encounterd them while escorting another officer, Yuria Misaki, who was, ironically, under the psychic control of the very person the Zaltzi were hunting. Hoshina realized that the three were strangers and requested that they identified themselves. One of the Zaltzi drew a gun and shot him. Misaki fainted at the sight, but internal sensors detected the weapons fire and Okita dispatched Lieutenant Susumu Kodai and a security squad to stop the intruders. Before the squad could arrive, Lieutenant Yuki Mori came upon the unconscious bodies of Misaki and Hoshina. The strike team mistook Mori for Yurisha and drugged her before she could use her own weapon.[5]
The Zaltzi strike team aboard Yamato
A heavy firefight erupted near the airlock and pinned the team down, and two of the Zaltzi were killed. After their commanding officer was wounded, he sealed the airlock between him and Oshetto, who was carrying Mori, and then activated a grenade clutched to his body. The explosion ripped through the entire section, activating an emergency bulkhead that blocked the security squad and allowed Oshetto to escape with Mori. Kodai flied off in the ship's second Cosmo Zero to try to stop the suckerfish, but the UX-01 retrieved it safely and disappeard beneath the dimensional line.
Working to make repairs on the third bridge, chief science officer Shiro Sanada hypothesized that the unexploded drill missile was operating on a delayed timer, and recommended sending Lieutenant Kaoru Niimi and the robot Analyzer to disarm it. The two entered the decompressed control room, accessed the missile's computer controls from inside the drilling component, and stopped its countdown with seconds left before detonation.[5]
The Battle Turns
Despite Yamato's recall order, the Cosmo Falcon squadron remained locked in combat with Ghetto's fighter wing. As they eventually made their way back, Ensigns Takuya Kobashi and Sho Sawamura found the Balgray. Kobashi was killed in a reckless run on the carrier but his missiles hit their target and inflicted significant damage. Sawamura followed with his own missile and gun salvo, and the lightly defended Balgray was obliterated. Ghetto came close to taking out Sawamura, but squadron leader Saburo Kato intercepted and shot him down.[5]
Garmillon torpedoes hitting the Yamato.
Aboard Domelaze III, General Domel waited for the drill missile to detonate, but to avoid any uncertainty, he granted Major Charis Kreuz permission to lead his torpedo bombers in a full assault. The bombers were teleported to Yamato and deployed their torpedoes, tearing into the battleship but meeting heavy resistance from anti-aircraft fire, the returning Cosmo Falcons, and the two Cosmo Zeroes now patrolling the sky. Kreize's panicked plea for reinforcements was unanswered before he and all of his bomber wing were wiped out. Domel was overcome by a growing sense of concern and took the entire task force ahead to confront Yamato directly.[5]
Okita formulated a plan as he awaited the inevitable appearance of the Garmillas main force. As Darold entered the edge of weapons range and began firing, Niimi and Analyzer reprogrammed the drill missile to operate in reverse, extract itself from Yamato and fly on a direct course toward the enemy ships. Darold's captain yelled out for evasive action, but a single shock cannon shot striked the missile as it neared the carrier. The explosion consumed Darold and Schderg with it as swerved to avoid the blast. Yamato took advantage of the disarray among the Garmillas and opened fire, sending the wounded Lamvea plunging into a nearby ion storm, leaving only Domel's flagship. Domelaze III and Yamato exchanged salvos until the super dreadnought suddenly lost control. The general realized too late that he has been lured by Okita into an ion turbulence. Yamato continued to attack, firing away at its now helpless opponent.[5]
The Fall of Domel
Domel's flagship self-destructs.
Stunned and blaming no one but himself, Domel acknowledged his defeat. He readied Domelaze III's self-destruct mechanism, and with Colonel Heidern and the loyal bridge crew staying at his side, detached the ship's autonomous bridge section from the main hull before it blew. The bridge module cought up to Yamato and secured itself to the battleship's third bridge. Domel hailed Yamato and offered his genuine congratulations to Admiral Okita and praise for his tactical brilliance. He turned down Okita's proposal to allow Yamato to peacefully pass. Communications were cut, and Domel activated the self-destruct, unaware that Sanada and a maintenance team had repaired the ship's wave-motion shield a moment earlier. The explosion vaporized Domelaze III, but inflicted only minor damage on its target.[5]
Aftermath
The memorial service for those killed in battle.
As the badly damaged Yamato departed the Rainbow Star Cluster, Kodai was greeted by a stranger with a familiar face: Princess Yurisha Iscandar, awakened from a coma by Misaki's trauma and walking the halls of the ship for the very first time. Until she introduced herself, he almost believes that she was Mori.[5]
The crew held a service for those whose lives were lost in the battle, launching into space the bodies of those who could be recovered, including two members of the Zaltzi boarding party. During the ceremony, two detained mutineers who were able to escape the ship's brig following the torpedo assault found food and weapons, and looked for an opportunity to leave Yamato. Their chance arrived when Kodai and Yurisha took off on a scouting mission for resources that could be used to repair the ship. Unknown to Kodai and Yurisha, the planet they investigated was a Garmillas prison world. The mutineers set in motion a chain of events that brought Yamato into contact with the still imprisoned Elisa Domel and other members of the Ditz faction.[8]
Under the command of Major Berger, Lamvea survived the battle, located and retrieved the downed heavy bomber and its crew, and limped away from the cluster into open space. More than two months later, Lamvea was rescued by a task force led by another carrier, Mirangal.[9]
When Lt. Mori returned to consciousness, she found herself in a holding cell aboard the UX-01, bound for the Garmillas prison planet and ultimately Garmillas itself. Believing that he now had control over the third princess of Iscandar, Leader Desler used her in a ploy to convince his own subjects and the ruler of Iscandar, Queen Stasha Iscandar, that the leadership of Iscandar hadgiven final approval to a plan to merge their empires.[10]
References
- ↑ Day count at the end of "Over the Black Light"
- ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 2.12 2.13 2.14 2.15 2.16 2.17 2.18 2.19 2.20 2.21 2.22 2.23 2.24 2.25 2.26 2.27 2.28 2.29 2.30 2.31 2.32 2.33 2.34 "They're Coming!"
- ↑ Space Battleship Yamato 2199 Complete Works Vol.2 p.143
- ↑ Twenty-four planes are shown flying in formation at the beginning of "Under a Rainbow Sun" just before they engage the Garmillas fighters launched from Balgray.
- ↑ 5.00 5.01 5.02 5.03 5.04 5.05 5.06 5.07 5.08 5.09 5.10 5.11 5.12 5.13 5.14 5.15 5.16 5.17 5.18 5.19 5.20 5.21 5.22 5.23 5.24 5.25 5.26 "Under a Rainbow Sun"
- ↑ First named in the Odyssey of the celestial ark character data
- ↑ "Over the Black Light"
- ↑ "Prison Planet 17"
- ↑ Space Battleship Yamato 2199: Odyssey of the Celestial Ark
- ↑ "The Planet That We Head For"
Japanese language information
七色星団海戦 Nanairo seidan kaisen