"Earlier today, the Earth Federation entered a state of war with Gatlantis. The forces of Earth today are much greater than those during the war with Garmillas. They will protect the lives, property, and territory of Earth’s citizens"
The Gatlantis Campaign was a conflict fought between 2202 and 2203 by the Earth Federation and Great Garmillas Empire against the expanding Gatlantis Empire. The war was officially declared by the Earth Federation as the Gatlantean forces approached Saturn on the 8th of May 2203[21][9], however, the hostilities had already begun in late 2202 with the Gatlantean Invasion of the eleventh planet and the subsequent engagements between the empire and the space battleship Yamato during the ship's journey towards Terezart.
In the years before the war, the Galtantis Empire had been considered a nation of barbarians and a mostly insignificant threat by the Garmillas Empire, however, following General Domel's campaign against the Gatlantean forces of the small magellanic cloud, the enemy surprisingly gained vastly superior technology.
The White Comet, the Ark of Destruction's disguise
The loss of his family led Zworder to despise human nature and the emotions that came with it. In the Great Emperor's mind, human love was the root cause of all suffering and chaos in the universe, and the only way to get rid of the suffering was to annihilate all humans. To achieve this goal, he roamed the universe in search of the Ark of Destruction, a superweapon meant to destroy humanity if it ever evolved into an evil species, left behind by the Archelias civilization. Only a human, creatures of the Archelians, could awaken the Ark, so Zworder created a copy of his late wife and gave her command of the fortress. He limited her memories so that she would be completely subjected to his will. Saberah became the Chief Minister of Gatlantis, and at the Emperor's wish, the empire embarked on an omnicidal campaign across the cosmos.[10]
Gatlantean ships fight off against Garmillas in mid 2199
For a thousand years[10] the Gatlantis Empire brought war to every corner of the universe. Zworder continued to lead his warring nation by having clones of himself inherit his memories and assume the throne when he aged.[10][13] Eventually, by the year 2199, the empire had entered in a conflict with the Great Garmillas Empire in the Small Magellanic Cloud.[24]
Earth and Garmillas: legacy of the war[]
Numerous Dreadnoughts being built inside the time fault
Following the end of the Great Garmillas War in 2200,[25] the Earth began reconstructing, and the Earth Federation was founded. Relations with the Great Garmillas Empire became friendlier, and the two countries signed a mutual security agreement, essentially forming an unofficial military alliance.[23][26] In 2201,[26] the Earth Federation discovered a time fault underneath the planet's surface and set up a military factory in it to exploit its time dilation effect. The Earth Federation Defense Force announced the Wave-motion Gun fleet plan, a massive rearmament plan meant to refurbish the Earth's ravaged ranks with Wave-motion Gun-equipped warships, in defiance of an agreement made with Iscandar years prior.[11][6] With the factory, the Earth rapidly build hundreds of advanced ships, launching the Andromeda and Dreadnought classes in late 2202.[23][27]
The Garmillas-Earth fleet during the 8th Floating Continent Recapture Operation
On December 2, 2202,[26] the Great Garmillas Empire called upon the treaty to defend itself from Gatlantis. The Gatlanteans had become bold in their attacks, occupying the 8th floating continent, deep in Garmillan territory in the Milky Way. During the battle, a Gatlantean battleship located the Earth by following the warp signature of twocruisers heading back to the planet.[23]
Teresa's call to arms[]
In 2202, Gatlantis had occupied planet Terezart, home to the goddess Teresa. Great Emperor Zworder wanted to control the world to obtain the goddess' unique energy and use it to build more weapons for his war efforts.[23][11][14]
Teresa's prayer reached the crewmembers of the Yamato
Teresa inhabited a higher plane of existance, from which the beginning and end of the universe were visible. Seeing the entirety of the flow of time, the goddess had led humans throughout the universe toward the most optimal outcome for the future for thousands of years.[6] Teresa saw that the only way to stop the Gatlantis Empire was for the Earthling battleship Yamato, the heroine of the war with Garmillas, to come to her planet and set it free.[13] Via Cosmo Wave, she contacted the former crewmembers of the warship, who embarked on a mission toward Terezart in defiance of the E.F.'s wishes.[23][28]
However, Teresa's message was traced by Gatlantis, who, comparing its trajectory to the location identified by the battleship they had lost in the previous battle, managed to locate and identify the Earth, which was selected as Zworder's next target.[11]
In the preparatory stage of the invasion of Earth, Zworder created a copy of Saberah to make her infiltrate among the Earthlings who took the name Toko Katsuragi. She landed on the 11th planet of the solar system, which was attacked by the vanguard of the empire's eighth mobile fleet, led by Cosmodart, on December 24, 2202.[26][6]
The high-speed boat Seabolt takes off to break through the Gatlantean blockade
The planet's comms were cut off and the Gatlanteans imposed a blockade around it. Admiral Ryu Hijikata of the UNCFOuter Defense Division tried to surrender to spare the lives of the surviving colonists, but, as a Gatlantean commander, Cosmodart had no concept of surrender, and refused the proposition. Gatlantis also turned various Earthlings and Garmillans into unknowing living dead bodies.[29] A lonecosmo marine of the 7th Space Cavalry Regiment managed to break through the blockade and call for help, meeting Yamato about 40 hours after the attack had begun.[8]
Yamato prepares to shoot at the Legionnaire Cannon
Earth Defense Force HQ wanted to wait for Garmillas' approval before launching a counterattack, since the 11th planet was a joint colony between Garmillas and the Earth, but Yamato acted on its own and embarked on a rescue operation to save the survivors. The battleship took all civilians on board, rescued the 7th Regiment's surviving members, and even managed to retrieve the injured but still alive Hijikata and his staff.[8] The battleship remained blocked under the collapse of the planet's equatorial canyon, while a large fleet of millions of Calaklum-class Battleships, under the command of Admiral Mazer, warped out in orbit. Mazer had been given permission from Great Emperor Zworder to assemble a Legionnaire Cannon around the 11th planet artificial sun, and use it to attack the Earth from afar and destroy it. However, at the suggestion of a Garmillan officer, Yamato's acting captain, Susumu Kodai, decided to shoot the Wave-motion Gun at the artificial star, generating a Wave-motion Resonance effect that deactivated the Gatlantean fleet.[18]
Zworder talks with Kodai inside of an Archelian ruin on Stravase
Yamato's actions caught the attention of Emperor Zworder. He devised a plan to test the battleship's commanding officer in the next battle. Instead of carrying the 200 civilians back to the Earth, Yamato's crew decided to head to planet Stravase to meet a Garmillan patrol fleet that was supposed to bring the refugees alongside them on their routine journey to the solar system.[30]
The Garmillan Destruction Liberation Army's fleet at Stravase
However, the fleet's ships were infiltrated by the Gatlantean living dead bodies, ready to explode and bring the ships down. Zworder used one of them to parlay with Kodai and force him to choose which ship to save. Knowing Kodai's fiancée, Lieutenant Yuki Mori, was aboard one of the ships, Zworder wanted to use the occasion to show the acting captain how the irrationality of love could influence a human's decisions. Yamato was also caught in a battle between two Garmillasrebel organizations, which caused Stravase to collapse. In a surprising turn of events, Mori threw herself off her ship, prompting Kodai to refuse Zworder's twisted game. Angered, the Great Emperor ordered the detonation of all living dead bodies hidden among the Garmillan fleet, but Yamato intervened and saved the three ships from falling into the collapsing planet.[29][30]
Despite Zworder's failure to undermine Yamato's crew, Katsuragi and one of the living dead bodies stayed aboard the battleship as spies for the Gatlantis Empire.[30] They reported the warship's position,[14] plans, and strategies for coming battles to Zworder.[12]
For the past years, Supreme LeaderAbelt Desler, the former dictator of Garmillas, deposed by Yamato at the end of the Garmillas War, had been sheltered by Gatlantis. In early 2203,[31] Zworder entrusted him with a fleet and turned him into his servant. To keep the Supreme Leader in check, Zworder's spokesperson and heir apparent, Mil was assigned to Desler's flagship. However, the Supreme Leader had already secretly contacted a large group of supporters.[14][32]
Neu Deusura meets up with Desler's new fleet
The Supreme Leader was given the task of destroying Yamato, and chose to ambush inside of a dimensional fault where the telapathic link between Zworder and Mil would be severed. This would give him a chance to dispose of Gatlantean forces loyal to the Great Emperor without Zworder finding out. Additionally, while Mil was unable to communicate with his lord, Desler met up with a large fleet led by Lt. General Ghader Talan and crewed by his followers. Desler was unsuccessful in sinking Yamato during the battle, but had now achieved independence from Gatlantis.[14] For the time being, Zworder allowed him to act unopposed.[33]
On March 26,[26]Yamato arrived on Terezart. They planned to send an advance unit through an artificial crust the Gatlantis was building around the planet, before short-warping there and using the Wave-motion Gun to blast a piece of the crust. This would cause rocks to hit the Gatlantean fleet stationed in orbit, without Yamato having to use the DWIE directly against the enemy. It also meant that they would not be breaking the promise made to Iscandar four years prior.[12]
Yamato remained stuck inside the gravitational perturbance
However, the living dead body still aboard the battleship relayed the plan to Zworder, who then informed Commander-in-Chief Gorland of the Terezart Defense Fleet. Knowing their strategy, Gorland destroyed the piece of crust Yamato intended to shoot at and used his annihilation missiles to trap the enemy inside a gravitational storm. In his overconfidence, Gorland was mistakenly convinced that the Earthlings wouldn't shoot their superweapon directly at him and refused to distance his ships despite his larva body's suggestion.[12]
When Kodai did fire the weapon, the fleet was entirely wiped out in a single shot.[12]Yamato continued its landing operation, deploying the 7th Space Cavalry Regiment to fight against commander Zants Zurvival's land division on Terezart's surface. During the battle, they also used the newly constructed Wave-motion Excavation Warheads to blow up the rest of the artificial crust.[13]
After defeating the remaining Gatlantean forces, Kodai led a landing team to confer with Teresa in her sanctuary. However, the group was interrupted by Desler's sudden arrival. The Leader's forces seized Terezart for themselves, intending to use it as a bargaining chip with Zworder.[13][7][19]
Desler's forces surround Yamato during their brief takeover of Terezart
Desler was convinced that the Emperor could give him a planet identical to the Garmillas, where the Garmillan people could migrate and escape their dying planet's destruction. Unexpectedly, Desler was met by his nephew, Ranhardt Desler, who had been traveling aboard Yamato under the alias of Klaus Keyman. Keyman sabotaged Yamato's engine via an Anti Wave-motion Lattice and sided with his uncle. However, this was merely a facade. Keyman was serving as a double agent for the Garmillas Provisional Government and used his time aboard Desler's flagship to find out the identity and headquarters of the head of Desler's supporters on Garmillas, before deactivating the Anti Wave-motion Lattice and betraying his uncle.[19]
Terezart disappears
With her planet liberated, Yamato now fully aware of its duty to stop Gatlantis, and Keyman and Desler having met again after years; Teresa deemed that the stage had been set for Gatlantis' ultimate defeat. The goddess turned Terezart invisible and intangible, making it impossible for Desler to use it against Zworder.[19] With nowhere left to go, the Supreme Leader was forced back into servitude to Gatlantis,[9] while Yamato set course back to the Earth to fight in the coming invasion.[19] The battleship was now under Hijikata's command, after he accepted a promotion to captain in the midst of the battle.[12]
Over the next few months, the Earth Federation took steps to prepare for an invasion from the Gatlantis Empire. The 11th planet refugees' testimonies revealed that Gatlantis was not open to negotiation.[9] Therefore, the United Nations Forces developed Operation S, a plan to defend the solar system to the last man. Several lines of defense were established around the Earth, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn.[21]
Todo and Serizawa in an investor meeting prior to the start of the invasion
The time fault factory went into full operation, producing hundreds of warships. New shipclasses[34] and fighter plane variants[34][35][36] were developed, and AI technology was expedited.[9][15] Between April 21 and May 5,[21] there were skirmishes between the Gatlantis Empire's forces and the Earth Federation's Peripheral Fleet on Pluto, Neptune, and the Asteroid Belt. General Serizawa, the U.N.F.'s General Commanding Deputy Director, believed that a large, DWIE-armed fleet was the key to Earth's survival. He convinced the Earth military's investors to merge the public and private sectors, allowing civilian contractors to work inside the time fault[37] to achieve even greater production.[9]
Ginga in construction inside the time fault
General Commanding DirectorTodo supported another plan to protect the Earthling race: Project G.[38] If needed, Earth's soldiers would receive robotic augmentations to increase weapon usage efficiency. Until artificial reproduction became possible, the all-female crew of the cruiser Ginga would only receive minimal body modifications. They would be impregnated and used as breeding stock to maintain genetic purity. Ginga would then depart the solar system to search for a new home planet for the Earthlings to inhabit.[20]
The Seventh Fleet faces off against the United Nations Cosmo Navy
On May 8,[26] the Gatlantis Empire made its move. The Gatlantis Army's main fleet, the Seventh Mobile Fleet under Commander-in-Chief Valsey, arrived into the solar system at Saturn and engaged in battle against the Enceladus Defense Unit. The Earth Federation officially declared war on Gatlantis, and the Andromeda Fleet, the main UNCF fleet under the command of Captain Osamu Yamanami, Commander-in-Chief of the E.F. Cosmo Fleet, warped to the battlefield.[9] The Seventh Mobile Fleet struggled to hold the line against the Wave-motion Gun fleet, but the tide of the battle changed with the arrival of the White Comet to the battlefield. The Gatlantis Empire's capital broke through Saturn, tearing the world apart, and withstanded the full might of the Earthling fleet's Wave-motion Guns. The fortress unleashed its supergravity, causing the Earth's lines to fall apart and heavily damaging many ships, including the flagship Andromeda.[15][5]
Ginga was the first UNCN ship partially under the control of a command AI. The artificial intelligence had been used during the planning stage of Operation S[9] and the G Project[38] and was linked to a mainframe in the time fault, constantly feeding it with combat data and helping it grow. However, the computer still lacked enough data to take control of entire fleets as had been planned. Thus, part of Yamato's crew was transferred to Ginga to control the ship and transmit their tactical experience to the AI.[15]
Andromeda Kai leads the automated fleet
Under this premise, Ginga launched an attack against a Gatlantean missile fleet and continued to hold the line from May 11 to May 14.[21][26][15] However, Gatlantis eventually broke through and made its way to Mars, where the Cosmo Navy and theGarmillasforces led by Burrell had organized another absolute defense line.[10] The Earth side was now able to field fully automated fleets,[10] but Yamanami chose[34] to personally take command of a detachment to lead it deep in the heart of the Ark of Destruction. He was the sole sailor in the entire fleet, commanding it singlehandedly from the bridge of the rebuilt Andromeda.[20]
Ginga aids Andromeda with her Cosmo Reverse System
All ships in Yamanami's force were destroyed during the assault, except his flagship. At the same time, Yamato was trying to escape from Zemuria. On the planet, they had discovered the existance of Golem, a machine capable of instantly killing all Gatlanteans once activated, which Katsuragi confirmed being stationed inside the Great Emperor's throneroom. Yamanami spotted the Yamato and decided to aid the battleship in its escape. Ginga joined the Cosmo Fleet's commander after its commanding officer, Saki Todo, refused to activate the dehumanizing Project G and retook control from the AI.[10][20]
Yamato being repaired alongside Ginga
While Yamato successfully fled Zemuria, the operation costed Ginga's CRS and the already heavily damaged Andromeda was sunk. Yamato underwent repairs in an emergency drydock, and set off toward the Earth on June 1.[26][20][39]
As Yamato was on its way to Earth, it was ambushed by Supreme Leader Desler on Mil's orders. During the fight, the Earthling battleship collided with the enemy flagship, and both ships sent boarding parties to invade the other. On the Neu Deusura's bridge, Keyman faced his uncle, who was suddenly betrayed and shot by Mil. Wanting to test the power of love as his predecessor, Emperor Zworder, had done before, Mil offered Keyman a deal: Gatlantis would leave the Earth and Garmillas alone for the next 10,000 years, but in exchange, Keyman would have to kill Desler immediately.[39][16]
Kodai confronts Mil
Thanks to Kodai's intervention, Keyman refused the deal. Just then, Mori arrived and took a bullet that Mil had aimed at Kodai. Despite having been suffering from amnesia since Yamato's crash landing and not remembering Kodai, Mori still risked her life to save him. Mil's worldview was deeply shaken by this act of human love, and he rejected Zworder's philosophy, attempting to persuade him to stop the campaign against the Earth. Unfortunately, before he could convince Emperor, Mil was accidentally shot down by Desler's guards.[16]
With the fighting coming to a close, Desler chose to ally himself with Yamato. Instead of running back to Gatlantis, the Supreme Leader embarked on a journey toward planet Garmillas, to collaborate with the Garmillas Provisional Government.[4]
The Earth Federation's capital city is bombed by the Gatlantis Empire
On June 2,[26] the White Comet broke through the absolute defense line at Mars and approached Earth. The last remaining UNCF forces in orbit were easily wiped out, and the Seventh Mobile Fleet was launched again to bombard the Earth Federation capital and destroy the remaining ground defenses. Commander-in-Chief Goenitz of the Gatlantean military issued an ultimatum to the Earthlings, declaring that Gatlantis had taken full control of planet Earth.[16]
The Ark of Destruction was heavily damaged after Yamato's opening shot
However, Yamato arrived and used its boosted Wave-motion Gun to fire at the Ark of Destruction, shielded from the weapon's harmful radiation by the unmanned Neu Deusura. The initial blow heavily damaged the fortress and destroyed multiple Gatlantean warships, opening the way for a direct assault at the heart of the Comet Empire.[4]
Yamato battles inside of the Ark of Destruction
With a large fleet headed by Burrell, composed of the full might of the Imperial Garmillas Defense Force, engaging the remaining Gatlantis ships, Yamato entered the Ark and faced off against a large number of weapons and ships led by Razera, General Chairman of the Controlling Agency. Aided by a defecting Katsuragi via her Cosmo Wave, the battleship sent an assault team directly into the Great Emperor's throne room. However, Yamato suffered heavy damage and extreme casualties among its crew members, including Captain Hijikata.[4]
A copy of Saberah witnesses Golem's acitvation
After a brief skirmish with a group of automatons, Kodai, now officially promoted to captain, took control of Golem and held Zworder at gunpoint, demanding surrender. In an unexpected turn of events, a malfunctioning robot shot at Zworder, but his clone predecessor, Gairen, jumped in front of the Emperor to protect him. Witnessing a Gatlantean of his own type sacrificing his life for his sake, Zworder finally accepted his nature as a human. However, he did not reject his hatred for humanity, and instead activated Golem himself, wiping out his people in an instant, but surviving thanks to his newly-acquired status as a self-recognized son of the Archelias civilization. Zworder could now take control of the Ark of Destruction, awakening it to its full potential.[40][4]
A view of the damaged Moon from the ruins of Earth's capitol
Transformed into an enormous weapon of mass destruction, the ark blasted the Moon, partially destroying it, and began making its way towards Saturn to absorb its remnants. Yamato and the Garmillas forces retreated, while the Earth Federation began evacuating its citizens to the underground cities in preparation for another attack from the Ark. With the battleship's engine approaching critical, Kodai ordered all hands to abandon the Yamato. He and Mori remained on board, however, and turned the ship's helm towards the Ark of Destruction, intending to carry out a suicide ram in hopes of buying enough time for the evacuation of Earth.[3]
Yamato, engulfed by Teresa's light, appraoches the Ark of Destruction one last time
But as the battleship approached its end, the out-of-control engine opened a hole towards Teresa's higher dimension, allowing the goddess to manifest in real space. The future Teresa had prayed for had been realized, and Yamato was turned into the vessel through which she could bring an end to the Ark of Destruction. Infused in Teresa's light, the battleship rammed the superweapon, destroying it once and for all.[40]
With the activation of Golem and the fall of the Ark of Destruction, the entirity of the Gatlantean race was wiped out and the Gatlantis Empire ceased to exist, bringing an end to the Gatlantis Campaign and the conflict between the empire and Garmillas.[40]
Legacy[]
The time fault: Earth's choice[]
Yamanami watches as multiple Dreadnought-class Vanguard Starships depart from the time fault, December 2203
In the months after the end of the Gatlantis Campaign, the Earth Federation was faced with the daunting task of rebuilding itself a second time in less than five years. The time fault proved essential in reconstructing the Earth's capital and restructuring the ravaged Earth Federation Defense Force. The Wave-motion Gun fleet and the automated ships under AI control had proved themselves during the conflict, and, despite Captain Yamanami and many other officers' growing concerns with the militarist direction the Earth was taking, the time fault factory continued to produce weapons upon weapons for the following six months.[40]
On December 8,[26] the thought-to-be-lost Yamato reappeared in the time fault, having spent the last months inside Teresa's world. Aboard the ship was Lieutenant Yamamoto, who had been presumed dead and left behind during the mass evacuation. She reported that Mori and Kodai were still alive inside the higher dimension.[40]
A family watches a live broadcasting of Lt. Commander Shiro Sanada's speech before the referendum
A plan was rapidly conceived to send the Yamato into the higher dimension and carry out a rescue of the two officers, but to acquire the necessary energy to perform this task, the time fault would need to be collapsed and destroyed. The Earth's leadership could not accept such a decision, but thanks to Burrell's political pressure, the Earth Federation's president agreed to call for a national vote and leave the decision in the citizens' hands. In late December,[26] the populace voted, and the proposal was accepted, although not by a large margin.[40]
After the sacrifice of the time fault and Yamato's return, the Earth Federation's military policy was forced to change. The loss of the factory also came with the loss of the AI's mainframe, meaning the automated fleet was no longer an option.[41] The armed forces were scaled down to match the current size of the federation and a new foreign polity aimed at spreading the idea of Earth as a peaceful nation was undertaken.[17] At least one of the civilian contractors at the time fault was hit hard by the loss of the factory and had to file for bankruptcy. The company's president seemingly committed suicide the same day as the referendum and Yamato's return.[42]
Rebuilding the Solar System[]
The remnants of Saturn in late 2205
Outside of the bombing of the Earth, the solar system was profoundly scarred after the end of the Gatlantis Campaign. Mars[17] and Saturn, as the main battlefields of the conflict, had been heavily damaged by the long battle, with the ringed giant turning into a nebula.[43] The Moon had also lost about 21% of its original mass,[44] and the debris generated during the Golem Assault Battle continued to rain on the Earth at least until the end of 2203.[40]
The Moon being rebuilt in late 2205
Ginga was given the task of rebuilding the damaged celestial objects.[40] As of 2205, the reconstruction efforts were still ongoing, and only the Moon has seen significant change.[43][45] By 2207 the reconstruction of the Moon had been completed and Baleras III had been built on it.[46][47] By October of the same year, Ginga had moved on to rebuild Saturn as part of the Saturn Restoration Project.[48]
Garmillas: the end of the civil war and emigration[]
The Garmillas Provisional Government made peace with Desler's faction in the aftermath of his change of heart, and the civil war that had plagued Garmillas for years finally came to a close.[40] Despite some intial mistrust, the two sides began collaborating on the Garmillas Migration Plan, aimed at transferring all Garmillan civilians toward a new planet suited for their survival.[17][49]
Planet Garmann
In early 2205,[17] planet Garmann was identified as the only possible candidate for mass-migration, but it was found to be under the brutal occupation of the Bolar Federation.[45] Even though the Earth had pledged its full support to the immigration project,[17] the security treaty between with Garmillas meant the Earth Federation could be dragged into yet another war. With their military undergoing a period of reorganization, and the new peaceful image the E.F. wanted to project, the Earthlings tried to distance themselves as much as possible from the cold war brewing between the two intergalactic powers.[17][43][45]
Garmillas' collapse in October 2205
In light of these efforts, when Garmillas was attacked and destroyed by an unidentified enemy, the Earth Federation Defense Force refused to send in any reinforcements to assist the Garmillas Empire. However, the Yamato and its fleet decided to act independently, and joined the new conflict on their own accord.[37][42][43]
↑The official timeline on the "Era of Yamato" official website states that the Gatlantis Campaign began in 2202, the year of the Battle of the eleventh planet. The battle is stated to have begun on December 24 in the movie. However, the Earth only officially declared war at the start of the battle of Saturn, which the movie dates on May 8, 2203.
↑In "Bewitching - The Space Fireflies Beckon a Crisis" it's stated that a third of Yamato's journey to Terezart has been completed. Since Yamato launched on December 24 2202 and arrived on March 26, 2203, it can be deduced the events of "Dessler's Challenge!" must take place in 2203
