The Breakthrough of the Garmillas Encirclement[1] was a battle fought between the United Nations and the Greater Garmillan Empire during the Great Garmillas War. It took place at the Gliese 581 system and saw the Earthling battleship Yamato ambushed and encircled between the Chevalier and the system's star. This short battle marked the start of Supreme Leader Abelt Desler's personal involvement and interest in the ship's journey to Iscandar.
Prelude[]
Previously inflicting a devastating defeat at the Operation M2 and buying Earth more time, UNCN battleship Yamato finally left the solar system on the next of its many future jumps since its testing near Mars. Having reached a distance of 8 lightyears from Earth, light reflections from the present had not yet reached this far, so the crew were able to see the planet as it was 8 years prior: a beautiful, lush, blue Earth before the bombardments had rendered it all but barren and lifeless. This would galvanize the crew for the long journey ahead and keep them focused on their objective. As they jumped, however, Colonel Valcke Schulz was tailing them at a safe distance aboard his lone flagship, Chevalier.[2]
Yamato on Le Chavalier monitor
Meanwhile, Supreme Leader Abelt Desler had become aware of Yamato having been told prematurely that it had been destroyed by Schulz, who had commanded the Pluto base before its annihilation. This tenacity from the humans whom he had assumed long-defeated piqued his personal interest. Gathering his cabinet, he staged the remote viewing of a trap planned for Yamato as a form of entertainment. In advance, Desler ordered a resupply ship to meet with Chevalier carrying a "Desler Torpedo" package, as well as preparing the battlefield.[2]
Exiting warp at Gliese 581, an M-class red dwarf star, Yamato now was 20 lightyears away from home. Admiral Juzo Okita was approached by Lieutenant Kaoru Niimi regarding Project Izumo with hopes of colonizing a suitable planet detected in the Gliese system, which Okita refused to investigate due to time constraints.[2]
Battle[]
Without warning, Yamato suffered a jarring impact to her port side and experienced numerous electrical system outages. This was deemed to be caused by a solar storm, but with unnatural characteristics; someone had prepared a trap for the ship and boxed them into a narrow corridor in a hyper-dense plasma filament field. Detecting a weak point ahead, Yamato detected an incoming contact.
The Gaseous life form unleashed from the Desler torpedo
Suddenly Le Chevaliar warped in behind Yamato, firing a single torpedo. Yamato successfully intercepted it at long range, but instead of an explosion the torpedo unleashed what appeared to be a black cloud charged with red electricity. This was, in fact, a gas-based, self-replicating life form driven by a need to consume material energy in order to continuously expand. It immediately began feasting on the surrounding plasma and growing in size, rapidly closing on Yamato. The situation only grew worse when the crew discovered a cruel irony: the intentionally created corridor through the plasma field to safety would take them directly into the star. Yamato was a rat in the trap, with a cat behind them and death by fire ahead.[2]
Yamato escapes towards the star
To the bridge crew's surprise, Okita ordered full speed ahead with the creature in pursuit. As they went, temperature aboard the ship skyrocketed in excess of onboard climate control, necessitating that the crew don spacesuits to avoid heatstroke. Despite the danger, Okita ordered that the Wave-motion Shield be kept off and the ships power output be kept to a bare minimum. This risky gambit proved worthwhile: drawn to Gliese 581's tantalizing and unlimited energy, the gas creature lost interest in Yamato and greedily attempted to start devouring the star. However, it was instead overwhelmed and destroyed, to the shock of the Garmillas watching.[2]
Le Chavelier destroyed
Yamato was not out of the woods yet, however: Chevalier moved in from behind to attack, pinning Yamato against a massive and unavoidable solar flare dead ahead. Attempting a breakout, Okita gave the order to fire the Wave-motion Gun and blast a hole in the flare. In hot pursuit, Chevalier opened fire, scoring a superficial hit on Yamato's unshielded starboard side, but the Wave Motion Gun succeeded in opening an escape route and the battleship jumped the gap just in time before it closed again. However, Chevalier was not so fortunate, trapped against the flare and breaking apart from the heat. Caught directly in another flare, the Garmillas ship was torn in two and disintegrated.[2]
Aftermath[]
Thanks to Okita's quick thinking, Yamato was spared destruction and continued on her path to Iscandar. However, his decisions would also have consequences, particularly regarding Project Izumo which would lead to a brief conflict in the crew much later on.[3]
Despite the failure of the ambush, Desler, pleased with the spectacle and Le Chevaliar's attempt, ordered the posthumous two-rank promotion of Schulz and his crew, as well as elevating their families from second-class citizens to first-class Garmillas citizenship. However, Armaments Minister Welte Talan noticed that the Yamato's weapon resembled one of their own gun prototypes, implicating the Wave Motion tech of Iscandar even further in helping the humans.[2]
With his death, Schulz left behind his wife Raiza and his daughter Hilude. The loss of Chevalier would also see the last of the Pluto base survivors wiped out.[2]
References[]
Japanese language information[]
ガミラス包囲を突破 Gamirasu hōi o toppa