Referendum on Kodai and Yuki Mori's repatriation

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Referendum on Kodai and Yuki Mori's repatriation
Sanada gives his speech at the Grand Court's bench courtroom
Date	December 30, 2203
Place	Earth Federation
Result	The time fault is sacrificed Cmdr. Susumu Kodai and Cmdr. Yuki Mori are rescued
Participants	Earth Federation citizens Serizawa's faction Yamato's faction
Key individuals	General Kotetsu Serizawa Lt. Commander Shiro Sanada Ambassador Loren Burrell E.F.G. President

The referendum on Kodai and Yuki Mori's repatriation was a referendum held by the Earth Federation on whether or not to sacrifice the time fault to rescue Commanders Susumu Kodai and Yuki Mori In late December 2203.

Background

The Gatlantis Campaign and the time fault

Dreadnought-class Vanguard Starships, equipped with a Wave-motion Gun, in construction in the time fault

The Earth Federation was founded in the aftermath of the Great Garmillas War and was thus forced to reckon early on with rebuilding the ravaged planet Earth. In 2201, a time fault was discovered underneath the planet's surface, and despite not understanding its effects completely, the E.F. immediately began building a factory inside the area to exploit its time dilation effect. The factory soon became the core of the Earth Federation Defense Force's Wave-motion Gun fleet plan, a massive rearmament strategy that sought to refurbish the ranks of the Earth's navy with warships armed with Wave-motion Guns. These weapons of mass destruction had been banned with the signing of the Earth Iscandar Treaty of Amity and Garmillas-Earth Interim Agreement. However, this accord had been stipulated by the captain of a battleship and not an individual invested with plenipotentiary powers by the government and was thus considered non-valid. Despite this, the plan saw massive protests both from within and outside the military, most notably from the crew of the Yamato, the warship that had singlehandedly ended the previous conflict and made peace with the Greater Garmillan Empire.

All command AIs were directly linked with the mainframe inside of the time fault

The time fault remained at the core of the newly expanded military, gaining even more importance with the beginning of the Gatlantis Campaign and the Gatlantis Empire's invasion of the solar system. The factory had remained a military secret for years, however, civilian contractors began being hired to work inside it to boost the Earth's warship production capabilities when faced with the new enemy. The time fault also became the hub for the mainframe of the command AIs that, from mid-May of 2203, had been given control of most of the Cosmo Navy's next-generation ships.

Yamato, engulfed by Teresa's life, rams the Ark of Destruction

In June 2203, the Yamato faced off alone against the Ark of Destruction, Gatlantis' mobile capital that was threatening to end all life on Earth. The battleship had been previously evacuated, supposedly leaving only the captain, Susumu Kodai, and his fiancée, Yuki Mori, on board. In reality, the thought-to-be-dead Ensign Akira Yamamoto had also been left behind during the evacuation. The warship was steered toward the Ark to try and slow it down in a suicide run, but thanks to the unexpected appearance of the goddess Teresa of Terezart, Yamato was able to destroy the enemy superweapon but was seemingly destroyed in the process.

Yamato's reappearance

Yamato resurfaces inside of the fault

Yamato survived, having been transported by Teresa into a higher dimension after it made contact with the Ark of Destruction. From there, Kodai, Mori, and Yamamoto were free to descend into regular space, but Kodai, weighed down by the betrayal of his ideals during the war, refused to move on. Yamamoto returned alone aboard Yamato on December 8, 2203. Teresa entrusted her with a message to the Earth: the course toward the most optimal future would not be obtained so long as Kodai and Mori remained stuck in her world.

The Yamato faction meets with the E.F. leadership to propose the time fault's sacrifice

With this knowledge, former Yamato Executive Officer Shiro Sanada came up with a plan to rescue the two. While descending from the higher dimension did not require any energy input, to ascend toward it an almost infinite amount of energy was necessary. The only way to acquire it was to use the Cosmo Reverse System to collapse the time fault in and on itself, which would mean having to sacrifice the area's unique properties. Backed by Earth Federation Cosmo Fleet commander Osamu Yamanami and by the captain of the cruiser Ginga, the Yamato's crew proposed the plan, but it was rejected by the E.F. forces' leadership. Despite the end of the war, the time fault was still an integral part of the Earth's economy, and, having suffered grave losses against Gatlantis, the Cosmo Force was also in need of replenishing its ranks.

Burrell meets with the E.F.G. President

However, thanks to the meddling of the Garmillas Empire's Ambassador, Loren Burrell, the Earth Federation's President agreed to reveal the existance of the fault and to call for a national vote over the matter.

Campaign

Serizawa gives his speech

Two sides were soon formed. On one side were the former crew members of the Yamato, led by Sanada, who petitioned for the sacrifice of the time fault; on the other were the upper echelons of the military headed by the defense force's deputy commander, Kotetsu Serizawa.

Citizens listen to a live broadcast of Sanada's speech

The leaders of the two factions gave a speech during a public hearing at the Grand Court's bench courtroom on December 30, 2203, the day the referendum was supposed to take place. Serizawa stated that the time fault had been, and continued to be, an essential instrument of the Earth's reconstruction plan. Sanada's speech was much more idealistic depicting Captain Kodai as an alter ego of the average Federation citizen, who had had their ideals betrayed by the Earth's militarism and its usage of overly drastic and dehumanizing methods during the Gatlantis Campaign.

Results and aftermath

Yamato ascends to the higher dimension

Ultimately, the plan to sacrifice the time fault was ratified, although by a small margin. On the same day as the referendum, the Yamato ascended to the higher dimension and successfully rescued Kodai and Mori, returning at the dawn of December 31.

Ryuzo Domon dealing with his company's bankruptcy

The sacrifice of the time fault heavily impacted the Earth's economy and military. Civilian contractors such as Domon Hightech went bankrupt after the factory was out of service. President Ryuzo Domon died in an accident considered by some to be a suicide. The military was forced to change its policies, especially after the disappearance of the AIs' mainframe with the time fault. This change also affected the overall foreign policy of the Earth Federation, which switched militarism in favor of a more peaceful approach to intergalactic relations.

Domon discusses the referendum's result with Garmillan engineer Yahbu Sukelji

The decision to sacrifice the fault in favor of two officers made its way to the Greater Garmillan Empire and became a common discussion topic among its citizens, who were greatly impressed by the Earth's choice. On Earth, voices circulated about the military supposedly manipulating the vote's results. Years later, Ryusuke Domon, Ryuzo's son, attributed the results of the referendum to a temporary galvanization of the voting populace rather than a decision backed by actual conviction, something which he considered to be merely populism.

Japanese language information

古代、森雪両名の帰還についての国民投票 Kodai, mori yuki ryōmei no kikan ni tsuite no kokumin tōhyō