Based on the story by manga master Leiji Matsumoto (The Cockpit, Queen Emeraldas), the 55 minute featurette picks up one year after the events of Galaxy Express 999 in which a young boy named Tetsuro and his motherly companion Maetel worked to rid the universe on the Mechanized Empire who had taken over Earth. (Source: AniDB)

This short movie is a remake of the first half of episode 3 of Ginga Tetsudou 999.

Ginga Eiyuu Densetsu Gaiden is the first of two OVA adaptations of side stories from the Ginga Eiyuu Densetsu novel series. This first adaptation follows the achievements of Reinhard von Müsel and Siegfried Kircheis of the Galactic Empire before the fateful Battle of Astarte. The Silver-White Valley Reinhard and Kircheis graduate from their military academy and are immediately sent to the frozen frontier planet Kapche-Lanka. Unbeknownst to them, their new superior schemes to kill Reinhard on behalf of a rival of Reinhard's sister Annerose von Grünewald. Dreams of the Morning, Songs of the Night Reinhard and Kircheis are assigned to the Imperial Military Police, where they uncover the corrupt and oppressive practices of the Empire's law enforcement. They are soon ordered to investigate the murder of a student at their alma mater. Dishonor As Reinhard awaits the bestowal of his new title of Count von Lohengramm, he sends Kircheis to the artificial resort satellite Kreuznach III for a vacation. Restless from the lack of work, Kircheis assists the local police with a drug trafficking case related to an attack on a disgraced former Vice Admiral. A Hundred Billion Stars, a Hundred Billion Lights While Reinhard is still a commodore in charge of only a single squadron, he laments the incompetence of his superiors during a battle against the Free Planets Alliance. Amassing military successes under the direct command of Vice Admiral Richard von Grimmelshausen, Reinhard repeatedly clashes with Hermann von Lüneburg, a commodore and former regimental commander of the Alliance's infamous Rosen Ritter.

In the aftermath of the most devastating conflict mankind had ever experienced, the tiny island of Shikotan became part of the Sakhalin Oblast... and on the unhealed border in this remote corner of the world, friendship among children from two different countries timidly blossomed, striving to overcome language barriers and the waves of history. Inspired by true events. On August 15th, they told us we had lost the war. At that time, we did not really understand. Then one day, everything changed. Many soldiers, wearing uniforms we had never seen before, arrived on the island. That was the day I met Tanya. (Source: Production I.G)