This was humanity's final battle!
If this had been a movie, anime, or manga, that tragic line would have been accompanied by countless intense battle scenes. Even against an enemy they could never defeat, humanity would have summoned its courage and fought.
But reality... was far crueler than that.
"The Fifth Fleet has lost contact! The left flank has collapsed!"
Hearing this, Admiral Mitama helplessly closed his eyes. They had given it everything they had, yet they could not even break through the enemy's Protective Barrier. Faced with such a vast, nearly hopeless disparity in strength, Admiral Mitama had nothing left to say.
In fact, the entire battleship command room had fallen into dead silence.
The only thing they could do now was watch helplessly as those terrifying steel monsters mercilessly destroyed their final line of defense and steadily advanced toward them.
For some reason, Admiral Mitama suddenly felt a sense of relief deep within his heart.
Perhaps dying here was not such a bad choice. At the very least... at least he would not have to witness humanity's final fate with his own eyes.
However, just as everyone fell into despair, a voice suddenly rang out.
"This is the Martian Successor Nadesico! Can anyone hear me? Please respond if you can!"
"The Nadeshiko?!"
Hearing that familiar voice, Admiral Mitama was startled. For a moment, he wondered whether he was hallucinating, but the next instant, he immediately opened the communications channel.
"Yurika?! Is that you, Yurika?!"
"Dad?"
Hearing Admiral Mitama's response, Mitama Yurika immediately cried out excitedly from the other end.
"Dad, are you all right? What's happening on Earth? Is everyone safe?"
"I'm fine..."
Facing his daughter, Admiral Mitama revealed a faint smile. When he had first learned that the Nadeshiko had lost contact, he had thought his daughter