Space Battleship Yamato: Azur Stars

Chapter Two

"A prayer and a promise."

"Huh?"

"That is what my swords are. A prayer, and a promise. The sword you see me use is a prayer..."

Yamato let her thoughts roam through the mission briefing. I wonder what you would say to me now Nagato. Another seemingly hopeless mission, yet one that requires me to come back. Her train of thought was shattered when Hijikata said her name. "Yamato... we can gather a replacement crew quickly- "

"No. I'm going alone. No one else has to die for my mission." She was adamant about that. "Just... promise me the Izumo project will continue on in my absence." Stunned, he nods.

"Very well. Good luck out there Yamato." Salutes were exchanged and Yamato left the briefing to pack what little belongings she has. Along the way she passed by an empty bar. It used to be so full of life just a few months ago, but that was when there was a fleet still. Yamato remembered the joy of just being alive they all had. I wonder if they knew their days were numbered. Who knows. At least in the last war I was in clever tactics could make up for the lack of numbers for a bit. But these Garmillans are just too strong, and just destroyed everything on the surface. And the radiation doesn't help.

It wasn't just the inability to make new fleets that made it hard for Earth to fight back. They couldn't gather the mysterious wisdom cubes to make new kansen, the ship girls, such as herself. She was told that wisdom cubes started becoming short in supply as the nations of the world began to expand their space forces. Naturally, the world could make warships without wisdom cubes, which are said to be a gift from the heavens by some, but the wisdom cubes let them make the kansen, who embodied the ship infused with a cube, allowing the kansen to not only control the ship but to push it beyond its limits and make it a true force to be reckoned with.

She was actually told that her existence was only possible because her wisdom cube was salvageable. One life for me isn't enough it seems. She could still remember awakening a year ago...

All she could remember waking up was a rage that was unlike any other she felt, before or since. She read the reports after, and knew she started attacking the workers that found her. It wasn't until a battleship called Kirishima stormed in and stopped her with a solid punch to the gut. Then... it was black. She woke up later handcuffed to a medical bed, surrounded by machines she'd never seen before. Armed guards at the door, in armor she had never seen before.

But overwhelmingly she just felt tired, and so weak that she could barely move. Why am I not dead... is this some trick? A dream? The afterlife perhaps? Did Yukikaze and the others get back to port? And why do I feel so weak? She barely registered the door to her room opening and an officer walking in. She could tell he was a fleet officer but didn't recognize his uniform. He was Japanese, and a fleet officer. That was about as far as she could tell. So she spoke first. "Yukikaze... Asashimo... Suzutsuki... the others... did they make it back to port? I know that Yahagi fell to enemy bombers but..."

The officer looked confused, but then his expression cleared. "What is the last thing you remember?"

"I... remember being strafed by hellcats and corsairs, and helldivers coming from above, with avengers from the sea... the sky was so full of planes... I knew it would be my final day... but... I'm still alive... where am I?"

"Do you remember who you are?"

"Imperial Japanese Navy battleship Yamato, first of the Yamato-class battleships. Why do you ask me these questions... answer me, who are you? Where am I?"