Ginga Eiyuu Densetsu - Legend of the Galactic Heroes

By Tanaka Yoshiki

Translated by Yukie

Book I: Dawn

Chapter 1 Eternal Night

I

Imperial Fleet colonel Siegfried Kircheis stood still thoughtfully the instant he entered the bridge. The infinite deep of the universe decorated with numerous lights overwhelmed him.

"........."

It gave him the illusion that he was floating in endless darkness, but that feeling vanished almost instantly. Kircheis had remembered the fact that the bridge of the battleship Brunhilde was shaped as a giant hemisphere, and the upper half of which was made up of display screens. As the sensation subsided, Kircheis surveyed the surrounding again. Lighting in the spacious room was suppressed and set to a dimness. Numerous screens, consoles, calculators, computers and communicators were arranged geometrically with men moving between them. The motion of their heads and limbs reminded him of schools of fish swimming with the water flow.

A trace of bad odor reached his nose. The smell of adrenaline coming from people nervous in battle, the metallic stink of machines, and mixed with recycled oxygen becomes a soldier's most familiar scent.

The red-headed young man strode towards the center of the bridge. Although a colonel, Kircheis was not even twenty-one yet. Without his uniform, he was still that "handsome, red-headed boy" gossiped by female auxiliary personnel. Sometimes, he does feel uncomfortable about the gap between his age and rank. He still couldn't accept it so nonchalantly like his superior.

Count Reinhard von Lohengramm sat on the commander seat and gazed at the ocean of stars on the display screen. Approaching him, Kircheis could feel the pressure changing in the air, due to the activation of a soundproof zone. All conversations within a five meter radius from Reinhard could not be heard by people outside.

"Are you looking at the stars, your excellency?"

Reinhard turned his gaze a moment after Kircheis spoke and leveled his seat angle. Though sitting, the black uniform with silver decorations still spread neatly over his body, giving an intrepid image.

Reinhard is a handsome young man; it has been said that his beauty is unparalleled. His blond hair over a white oval face with beautiful features makes him resemble an ancient artist's masterpiece sculpture.

However those eyes which are the marks of proof that he is no lifeless statue, those icy blue pupils have light of a sharpened sword, or you can call them the frozen starlight. Palace maids know them as "the beautiful and ambitious eyes", while male attendants call them "the eyes of a dangerous and ambitious man". Either ways, those are eyes that do not belong on an inorganic statue.

"Yes, stars are beautiful."

Reinhard replied, looking up at his trusted subordinate of the same age.

"Did you grow a bit taller again?"

"I am still 190cm, same as two month ago, your excellency. I don't think I will get any taller than this."

"Being 7cm taller than me is tall enough."

There was a sense of youthful competitiveness to his voice, Kircheis smiled faintly. Six years ago, the two of them were still about the same height, and then when Kircheis started to grow even taller making some distance with the blond haired boy, Reinhard seriously objected by saying, what kind of a friend are you to leave me behind and grow on your own. That was his childish side.

"Anyway, do you have any business here?"

"Yes, the rebels have made their formation. Three scout ships have reported that they are approaching us from three sides at the same speed. May I use the display on the command console?"

The blond young fleet admiral nodded, Kircheis' hands moved rhythmically. On the display screen to the left of the console, there appeared four arrow markers positioned up, down, left and right, all moving towards the center. The arrow on the bottom was red while the others were all green.

"The red arrow is our forces, the green arrows are the enemy. The enemy fleet directly facing us is the 4^th Fleet, their numbers are approximated to be 12,000 battleships. Our distance is 2,200 light seconds apart and proceeding at this rate, the time of encounter will be in about six hours."

Kircheis moved his finger over the screen. To the left was the enemy's 2^nd Fleet, with 15,000 battleships and 2,400 light seconds away. To the right was the enemy's 6^th Fleet, with 13,000 battleships and 2050 light seconds away. Due to the advancement of numerous radar penetration devices and jamming waves developed upon the anti-gravitational field system, until the appearance of radar nullifying material, the use of radars to track down the enemy was a few centuries outdated. Scouting could only be done with ancient methods like man-piloted scout ships and surveillance satellites. Taking the information collected and figuring in the time gap and distance will reveal the enemy's position. And if you add in the heat and mass measurements, though imperfect, the scouting is pretty much complete.

"The enemy fleet has a total of forty thousand ships, that is twice our numbers."

"They seem to be planning to surround us from three sides."

"The face of our aged commanders are probably turning green...... hm, or would it be red?"

A evil smile flashed across Reinhard's whitish face. Though knowing that they were being surrounded by enemies twice their size from three sides, he did not show the slightest anxiety.

"They were indeed green. The five commanders are asking your excellency to hold an emergency meeting."

"Oh? After they said that they didn't want to see my face?"

"You won't see them then?"

"No, I'll see them..... To offer them my guidance."

The five people who appeared before Reinhard were Admiral Merkatz, Vice Admiral Staaden, Vice Admiral Flegel, Rear Admiral Fahrenheit, and Rear Admiral Erlach, in other words, the "aged commanders" that Reinhard was talking about earlier. However, this phrase might have been a bit too cruel as Merkatz, the oldest among them, was not even sixty yet and the youngest Fahrenheit was only thirty-one. Then again, Reinhard and Kircheis were too young in comparison.

"Your excellency, thank you for granting us audience."

The representative of the group, Admiral Merkatz, spoke. He had been in the military since long before Reinhard was born and was well experienced and knowledgeable in both actual battles and military bureaucracy. Aside from his big build for the medium height and sleep deprived eyes, he looked just like a typical middle aged man, but his achievements and reputation far exceeded that of Reinhard.

"I know what you want to say."

Responding to Merkatz's formal salutation, Reinhard made the first move.

"You are just trying to bring to my attention the fact that our forces are at a disadvantage, right?"

"That is correct, your excellency."

Vice Admiral Staaden took half a step forward and replied. He was a man in his mid-forties with a body thin like a knife that gives a sharp impression. He was the advisor type who was skilled in theoretical strategy and debates.

"The enemy we face is twice our numbers, and above that, coming to surround us from three directions. This means that once we enter battle, the enemy has a huge advantage."

A cold light gleamed in Reinhard's icy blue eyes, looking directly at the vice admiral.

"In other words, you are saying that we are certain to lose?"

"-------That is not what I mean, your excellency. However, it is a fact that we are in a state of disadvantage. As you can see from the display screen......"

Seven pairs of eyes fell on the command console display.

The screen is showing the two army's situation which Kircheis demonstrated to Reinhard. The few soldiers outside the soundproof field looked at their superiors curiously, and when Staaden noticed, they quickly shifted their sight elsewhere. After clearing his throat, the vice admiral spoke again.

"This is the same formation used many years ago by the rebel forces who dared call themselves the Free Planets Alliance to utterly defeat the Empire's most powerful star fleet."

"You mean the Battle of Dagon."

"That's correct, it was truly a regrettable defeat."

The vice admiral let out a heavy sigh.

"The justice of war is to be carried out by the rightful ruler of mankind, his majesty the Kaiser of the Galactic Empire, and his loyal servants, we the soldiers. But the rebels' sly trick made millions of our brave soldiers vanish in the vacuum of space. This time around, in order not to repeat our past mistake in his majesty's name; it is my humble opinion that we should be cautious and retreat the honorable way."

A humble opinion indeed, what a useless word player, Reinhard thought insultingly, but his mouth spoke otherwise.

"I acknowledge your argument, however I do not agree with your suggestion. I have no intention to retreat."

"...Why? Would you please give us a reason?"

Vice Admiral Staaden gave him an angry look that accused "ignorant brat". Hardly bothered by it, Reinhard answered:

"Because we have an overwhelming advantage over the enemy."

"What do you mean?"

Staaden twitched his eyebrows. Merkatz seemed depressed while Flegel and Erlach looked incredibly at their beautiful young commander.

Only the youngest of the five, Fahrenheit, had a look of interest in his light water colored eyes. The word around is that he's a low class noble who became a soldier just to make a living. He's well known for his mobility and speedy attacks, but lacks both patience and endurance in defense.

"I'm afraid I do not have the wisdom to comprehend your excellency's reasoning. May we implore that you elaborate a little further......"

Vice Admiral Staaden said sharply. Thinking that he will one day pull out that annoying tongue, Reinhard granted his request.

"We have two advantages as mentioned before. First, the enemy forces are split into three positions while our fleet is concentrated in one place. While they have an overall advantage, we have superior numbers one on one."

"........."

"Secondly, when we move from one battlefield to the next, we are much closer in terms of distance from our center position. For the other enemy fleet to come meet us at another battlefield, they must take the long way around. Thus we have the upper hand in both time and distance."

"........."

"In short, compared to the enemy, our fleet has the advantages in force concentration and mobility. What do you call this if not the qualities of victory!"

After Reinhard concluded his sharp speech, Kircheis thought the five fleet commanders instantly turned into stone. Reinhard was far more creative and flexible than these experienced veterans.

As his gaze fell on the stupefied Vice Admiral Staaden, Reinhard continued.

"We are not surrounded by danger. In fact, this is an excellent chance to take out the enemy one by one, yet you suggested that we treat empty handed. Forfeiting is a crime, because it is our duty to fight and eliminate the rebel forces. Retreat honorably you said, but where is the honor when His Majesty's assignment was not completed! Don't you think that kind of talk is just an attempt to defend your own cowardliness?"

With the mentioning of His Majesty, all of the fleet commanders with the exception of Fahrenheit gave off small vibes of anxiety. To that, Reinhard only thought it was stupid.

"However, though your excellency has said......"

Staaden struggled to raise a counterargument.

"The so-called excellent chance is only your excellency's opinion. It cannot be acknowledged by strategic common sense. Also the lack of successful demonstration......"

Reinhard decided that this guy was not only useless but actually a retard. Obviously a strategy never used before wouldn't have any previous demonstrations. Successful examples are only to be created in future battles.

"Tomorrow you will witness the demonstration with your own eyes. Is there anything else?"

"Do you have confidence in success?"

"I have. Under the condition that all of you faithfully obey my battle plan."

"What sort of battle plan?"

Asked Staaden who plainly showed his suspicion. Reinhard glanced at Kircheis for an instant and began to explain his plan.

......Two minutes later, inside the soundproof zone, Staaden cried out loud.

"This is just empty talk. There is no way it can succeed, your excellency, something like this......"

Reinhard slapped his hand on the command console.

"That's enough! There will be no further discussion. The Kaiser named me as the high commander of the rebel suppression fleet. You can show your loyalty to His Majesty by simply following my commands. Isn't that the duty of an Imperial soldier? Do not forget that I am your superior."

"........."

"I hold the absolute power over your lives. If you choose to defy His Majesty's will, so be it. In that case, by the power granted to me, I will relieve you from your posts and strictly punish any disobedience. Are you all prepared to go that far?"

Reinhard gazed at the five men before him. There was no answer.

The five fleet commanders left. They were neither accepting nor convinced, but rather threatened to obey the emperor's power. Fahrenheit alone looked like he favored Reinhard's battle plan, while the other four all somewhat had an expression that said "that brat who leeches off the Kaiser's majesty".

Kircheis felt he couldn't just keep quiet anymore. At this rate, Reinhard would not have a good reputation for being successful so young. As the veteran generals see it, Reinhard is only a weak little satellite that cannot shine on its own and borrows light from the Kaiser through his sister Annerose.

This is not Reinhard's first battle. In the five years that he joined the army, he had made countless achievements. But to all of that, other officers would just say he was lucky, or that the enemies were too weak. In addition, because Reinhard does not lower himself to pretentiously flatter anyone, their dislike of him increased even more. Now people have come to call him "the arrogant blond haired brat" behind his back.

"Are you fine with this?"

The redheaded young man asked Reinhard with a sign of worry in his blue eyes.

"Don't bother."

His superior was entirely calm.

"What can those guys do anyway? To put it bluntly, they are all just a bunch of servants. They do not have the guts to challenge the Kaiser's power."

"However, they may hold a grudge over this."

Reinhard looked at his adjutant and laughed pleasantly.

"You always worry too much. Don't be bothered by this, they will complain now, but in a day things will change. I will show that retard Staaden the demonstration he likes so much."

Saying that this discussion is over, Reinhard stood up from his seat and offered that they take a break in the commander's lounge.

"Want to have a drink, Kirchies? I have some good wine. I believe there's a good one from 410."

"Sounds good."

"Then let's go. And by the way, Kircheis......"

"Yes, your excellency."

"That excellency thing again. You do not need to call me your excellency when there is no one else around. Didn't I tell you this before?"

"I understand, but......"

"If you understand, then do it. When we return to Odin after this battle is over, you'll be called your excellency yourself."

"........."

"You are going to be promoted to Rear Admiral. We should celebrate."

After leaving things to the captain of the ship, Colonel Roeshuenar, Reinhard entered his private room. Following behind, Kircheis' mind was still pondering over what his supervisor had said.

A rear admiral when they return after the battle...... The young blond haired commander did not seem to have even considered losing. Anyone beside Kircheis would have thought that it was utter arrogance, but Kircheis knew that Reinhard only spoke out of affection for a friend.

It's already been ten years since I met him...... Kircheis suddenly thought. The meeting with Reinhard and his sister Annerose had changed his fate.

Siegfried Kircheis' father was a low officer in the justice department. He scurried between his boss, books and computers everyday just for that salary of 40,000 Empire Marks. He was a common and kind man who planted a type of orchid unique to the Valdor System in his small garden and enjoyed having a bottle of black beer after a meal. His young redheaded son was the top of his class in school, excelled in all kinds of sports and was the pride of his parents.

One day, a poor family moved into the abandoned house next door.

Upon hearing that the weak, middle-aged man was an aristocrat, the young Kircheis was shocked, but he believed when he saw the blond haired siblings. The boy thought they were both so beautiful.

He became acquainted with the younger brother the next day. The young Reinhard was the same age as Kircheis, born two standard months later. When the redheaded boy gave his name, the blond haired boy raised his handsome eyebrows and said,

"Siegfried is it, what a common name."

Spoken without consideration, the redheaded boy was surprised and could not reply. While Reinhard continued:

"But Kircheis is a good last name. Very poetic. Therefore I am going to call you by your last name."

On the other hand, the elder sister Annerose calls him by his abbreviated name "Sieg". Her face resembles her brother, but her figure is more slender, with a wistful smile that is gentle beyond words. When they came face to face by Reinhard's introduction, she looked at the redheaded boy with an expression like sunlight that slipped through tree leaves.

"Sieg, be a good friend to my brother."

To this day, Kircheis followed her request faithfully.

And then various things happened. A luxurious vehicle never seen before was parked before Reinhard’s house; a well-dressed middle-aged man stepped out.

That night was spent in Reinhard’s tears and his accusation to their father.

“Father sold sister!”

The next morning, Kircheis visited the neighboring house pretending to pick up Reinhard for school, but he was instead greeted by the kind, yet lonely smile of Annerose.

“My brother won’t be able to go to school with you anymore. While it was only for a short time, thank you for everything.”

The beautiful girl placed a kiss on his forehead and gave him one of her homemade chocolate cakes.

That day, the red-haired boy didn’t go to school. He carefully brought the cake to a park and hid under a Martian Pine Tree, away from Patrol Robots. He spent a very long time eating the cake. The sorrow of being separated from the siblings make his tears fall unstoppably; the number of times he had to rub his face made his skin turned all red.

At dark, he went home expecting to be scolded, but his parents remained silent. The house next door was completely dark.

One month later, Reinhard suddenly came to visit, dressed in the uniform of the Empire’s Youth Military Academy. The blond-haired boy said with a determined conviction to the pleasantly surprised Kircheis, “Come to the military. We must learn to be independent, in order to save my sister. So Kircheis, you really must come to my school! There’s nothing but annoying brats at the Youth Academy.”

…Kircheis’ parents did not object, perhaps because they wanted a good future for their son, or perhaps they knew they couldn’t stop their son from going with the neighbor siblings. Whatever it was, Kircheis followed on the same path as Reinhard, a decision he made in those days of his youth.

Most students at the Youth Academy were aristocrats, the rest were children from upper class families. The fact that Kircheis was accepted to the school was no doubt due to Reinhard’s enthusiasm and Annerose’s influence.

Reinhard’s grades were always the top of their class, Kircheis ranked high as well. He needed to do well for both the siblings’ sake and for his own as well.

Sometimes, the other children’s parents would come to visit the school, all powerful aristocrats. But they do not command the people’s respect, there was only the rotten air of aristocratic arrogance about them.

“Look at them, Kircheis!”

Reinhard had nothing but disgust and detest whenever he saw these nobles.

“They did not earn their positions through their own hard work…… Wealth and power, such are only inherited based on blood, generation after generation, and they know no shame. The Universe does not exist just to be ruled by them!”

“Lord Reinhard……”

“Listen, Kircheis, neither of us has any reason to serve under them!”

This sort of conversation would occur repeatedly; at times Reinhard’s red-haired friend would feel a strong shock.

After saluting to Kaiser Rudolf’s statue which stood everywhere around the capital (It was the sacred duty of the Empire’s citizens to salute to the statues. The Bureau of Social Maintenance monitored for terrorists who would disregard the Emperor’s dignity through cameras they installed in the statues’ eyes), Reinhard said forcefully, “Kircheis, have you ever thought about it? The Goldenbaum Dynasty is not something that existed since the beginning of human civilization. Its creator was that insolent man, Rudolf. To have a creator means that Rudolf wasn’t just born a royal blood, at the time he was nobody. Back then, Rudolf was just a conspirator who succeeded; only through time did he become known as the Holy and Inviolable Kaiser!”

What is he saying? Kircheis felt the quickening beat of his heart. Reinhard continued, “If Rudolf was able to do it, you think I cannot?”

And Reinhard’s icy sapphire pupils focused their gaze on Kircheis; the red-haired boy’s thoughts ran wild as his breath stopped short. This was the winter before the two joined the military.

III

“From the 20th to the 21th Century A.D., science and technology advanced chaotically. Among them, there were a number of cases where unchecked experiments came to endangering its creators, and in particular, was the great milestone in genetic engineering – cloning. Its display of theoretical possibilities is insignificant, what is important is that people often mistake cloning for an extension of existing life. And when this technology is combined with social Darwinism, a wave of prejudice beliefs will sweep across the planet. ‘People with flawed genes are not qualified to reproduce,’ says the growing voices that demand the eradication of the unfit. In fact, the escalation of this trend eventually helped support Rudolf in attempting to enforce the ‘Defective Genes Eradication Act’…”

The passage that was displayed on the control console was quickly replaced by another: “Brigadier General[1] Yang, the Commander wants to see you. Please report to the Commander’s Console immediately.”

Yang did not seem annoyed to have his reading disrupted. He grabbed his military cap and made an effort to straighten his messy black hair. Yang was the Assisting Advisor of the Free Planets Alliance’s 2^nd Fleet; earning a spot in a corner of the Bridge on the Flagship Patoroklos, he secretly loaded reading material onto the operating panel to entertain himself privately, so he was really in no position to become annoyed.

Yang’s name was written in Eastern style, a tradition that was passed down since long before the establishment of the Galactic Republic, a format that gives the family name first. Along the same line, placing the family name after the given name would be Western style. In this day and age where ethnicity and race was completely mingled, names only served as a vague indication of one’s ancestry.

Yang was a medium built young man, twenty-nine years old, with black hair and brown eyes. The impression he gave made him seem more like a calm scholar rather than a soldier, therefore most people would be surprised when they find out the rank of this mild-mannered young man.

“Brigadier General Yang reporting!”

Fleet Commander, Lieutenant General Paeta glanced at the saluting young subordinate. The middle-aged General Paeta had a solemn face and anyone could recognize him as a veteran.

“I’ve read your proposed battle plan.” He only said one line, and then just eyed Yang as if saying: how did this amateur youth ever come to be only two ranks lower than myself.

“I’m interested in your proposition, but don’t you think you are being overly cautious?”

“Am I?” The tone of Yang’s voice was mild as usual, but if you think about it, it was rather disrespectful to speak to a commanding officer that way, even though General Paeta didn’t notice.

“Just as your report states, such a plan would hardly be defeated, but merely not losing isn’t enough, because not losing is also not winning! Our forces are surrounding the enemy from three sides and our numbers are twice theirs, that is enough to give us total victory, so why are we falling back to the standards of simply not losing?”

“Theoretically you are correct, but our surrounding net is not yet complete. This gives the enemy a good opportunity to strike us one at a time.” This time the Lieutenant General noticed his tone and frowned, while Yang acted no different.

Nine years ago, when Yang graduated from the National Military Academy, he was just an ordinary, newly-appointed 2^nd Lieutenant. He ranked 1909^th out of the total 4840 graduates of his class. However now, he was a very unordinary, out of the entire Alliance Fleet, there were only sixteen generals in their 20s and Yang was one of them. General Paeta wasn’t entirely ignorant of the young General’s history. Yang had participated in over 100 battles in the past nine years; while none of them were grand operations that had mobilized battleships of up to five digits like this time, all those close encounters weren’t just playing with fireworks either. In particular, Yang was the single honored hero of the great El Facile Withdrawal. But in Paeta’s mind, he simply could not accept the fact that Yang was a young and tested soldier.

“In any case, your proposal has been denied.” The Lieutenant General handed the report back to Yang. “It’s nothing personal.”

His conclusion was more than necessary.

To be continued...