Strange Alliances
Started 2/20/2013
Part One: Silent Call For Help
It had all started with an attack from nowhere. Warrius Zero, captain of the space battleship known as the Karyu, sighed as he read over the reports that were coming in on his computer's terminal. The damages to his ship's hull were serious, and the nearest planet that could have handled them was about three earth-days away from their current location.
"It's going to take at least a week to get the repairs done ourselves…." Zero thought, with a wince, before shutting down the terminal and sitting back in his chair. And yet, he could only consider himself and his crew fortunate that they had landed on the planet they had taken refuge on; to all appearances, it reminded many in his crew of what the earth had looked like, long ago. Tall, ancient trees seemed to stand watch over lush valleys filled with wildflowers, while clear, cool streams flowed uninterrupted through them.
"To all appearances, it's a paradise….But why do I get the feeling that this is just a façade?" Zero wondered, uneasily, as he stood and put his coat on. At this point, he was starting to understand why Harlock had always seemed to have a skeptical outlook on things like this….but then another thought occurred to him.
"Where has he disappeared to? There's been no reports on his movements at all for a long time…." Zero mused, his eyes narrowing at the thought.
"Captain?" a woman's voice asked, startling him from his train of thought for a few moments.
"Marina? Is something the matter?" Zero in turn asked, still feeling some surprise and concern for his First Officer. In response, Marina only sighed tiredly and shook her head.
"No, sir, nothing is wrong. Just making sure everybody who isn't on guard duty has hit the sack, that's all." Marina replied, as she entered the room; noticing, thanks to the monitor's screen, the amount of concern that was in Zero's eyes at that moment, "But you look more worried than usual tonight….Is something wrong?" At that, Zero could only inwardly smile at Marina's sharp intuition, and her ability to pick up on his unease.
"Just thinking, that's all….Wondering how Harlock has been doing these past few weeks. Nothing has been said of him in a long while, and something tells me that it shouldn't be this quiet." Zero murmured, thoughtfully….never realizing as he said that just what the next few days had in store for him….
Vvvvvvvvvvvvvvv(divider)
Nothing made any sense anymore. Just when things seemed to have settled down after the Battle of Technologia, and most of the space pirate groups had gone back to their usual territories and ways of life, just one in particular had to stab him in the back. The attack had been sudden, and more than his fighter could handle alone….
"Why the hell did I have to wander so far from the DeathShadow? How could I have been stupid enough to let my guard down like that?" he wondered, as he slowly pulled himself out of his mangled fighter's pilot seat; just barely taking into account that he had been fortunate that the craft had made it through the planet's atmosphere in the first place. But he wasn't in much better shape, himself. Blood was dripping down one side of his face from a deep cut over his right eye, and breathing was becoming painful and difficult.
"Must've punctured one of my lungs in the crash…." He mused, wincing as he put a hand over the right side of his chest, and seeing shortly afterwards that there was a bleeding wound there as well.
"Is there any help to be had on this planet? I don't remember there being any settlements…." He mused, as he then began moving away from the downed fighter; knowing too well that if there were any carnivorous beasts nearby, they would smell his blood easily.
Vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv(divider)
Elsewhere on the same planet, a pirate ship rested, hidden in the thick cover of the forest. Despite the peaceful outward appearance the planet they were now on showed them, many were uneasy. It also didn't help their nerves any, when they had seen how edgy their captain had become, thanks to one signal in particular awakening the restless spirit of the ship itself….
"But what could have gotten him this upset? He hadn't even really been bothered by the Noo, so why this kind of reaction to one signal?" the first mate wondered, as he and the rest of the crew on deck kept a close eye on everything there; wanting to be sure that they didn't miss any messages that might come through.
"Looks like the Captain's goin' out again." One of the other men murmured, when he'd seen the light signaling that one of the hatch doors had just opened came on, briefly, and then flickered off again.
"Yeah, but for what? We've been here for about five days now, and we still have no idea what he's lookin' for out there!" another of the crew grumbled, uneasily; flinching when the First Mate smacked him lightly on the head for his words.
"If it isn't for us to know, then all we can do is wait till he decides to tell us….Till then, all we can do is be vigilant." The navigation officer said, even though some worry belied her words. While it was true that their captain was a quiet and somewhat reclusive man, there were occasions when his behavior worried them.
"And it doesn't help matters much, that La Miime hasn't been playing her harp any lately…." The First Mate inwardly sighed, as he returned his attention to the monitors again. What was it that was bothering them to this point?
"And will they ever tell us?" almost all of the crew wondered, as their captain's unease became quite literally their own….
Vvvvvvvvvvvvvv(divider)
Everything was almost eerily quiet on board the Karyu, as the part of the crew on guard duty tiredly kept watch over the ship.
"Looks like we're almost done here, ne?" one man asked, glancing at his crewmate as he spoke. The other man yawned, then nodded.
"Yeah, and I can't wait to get to my bunk and get a few hours worth of sleep! It's so quiet here, that these details are almost boring enough to put a man to under!" the other guard muttered; his words getting a snicker as a response.
"I hear ya!" the first man mumbled, yet little did either of them realize just what the next day had in store for them…..
Vvvvvvvvvvvvvv(divider)
It seemed almost as though the woods were holding its' breath….Ishikura glanced around at the darkness around him edgily.
"Damn, it's so quiet out here! What's going on?!" Ishikura wondered; nervously feeling for his pistol, in case something lurked just beyond the reach of the portable lights.
"You're not getting nervous, are ya, Second Officer?" Grenadier asked, from his seat nearby.
"For the lack of something better to say, yes I am! And I am not ashamed to admit it!" Ishikura replied irritably back, then added, "It isn't normal for a forest to get this silent, unless something was wrong."
"I take it you grew up in a place like this?" Grenadier said, sounding intrigued about this revelation. Ishikura sighed and nodded; but never once took his eyes off of the heavy dark shadows.
"I stayed with my grandparents for two summers….My grandfather taught me how to listen to the sounds a forest makes….and the warnings when it goes silent like this." Ishikura murmured.
"So somethin' is wrong then? Any idea of what?" Grenadier questioned, as even more curiosity emerged about this.
"No idea…." Ishikura replied, uneasily. And the forest seemed to sense that it was being watched by the two pairs of eyes…withholding whatever was making it keep its' silence from the two men even longer.
"We might as well go ahead and go in, since our shift is pretty much up, Second Officer." Grenadier said, as he stood and stretched; a hint of skepticism emerging in his voice, at Ishikura's edginess, as well as for the reason for it. With no other words between them, both men returned to the inside of the ship….Though, if they had stayed just a moment longer, they would have seen one of the causes of the uneasy silence….
Vvvvvvvvvvvvvv(divider)
Barely able to think clearly enough to wait till the men on guard duty had disappeared within the ship, the injured young man moved unsteadily forward. Once he was within the ship's hallway, he paused; blinking painfully in response to the harsh lights there.
"Damn…I'd forgotten that some ships have lighting like this…." The young man silently growled; wincing as he put his right hand to his head in an effort to try and soothe the painful throbbing there, and leaning heavily against the wall, at the same time.
"Not good…Losing my balance…." He silently muttered, as the pain in his head and body seemed to attack him at once; making him lean even more on the wall, and slide down the length of it to the floor. There was barely enough strength left within him, when he heard what sounded like a woman suddenly gasp, and subsequently stop herself from screaming in horror at the state he was in….
Vvvvvvvvvvvvvvv(divider)
Marina could only sigh tiredly, as she looked over the details for the next day, as she walked along the corridor towards the crew's quarters.
"Kami only knows that all of them, even the Machine Men included, are tired enough to sleep for a month….But there's no other way to get the ship back into some kind of shape to fly…." Marina wearily thought; looking up when she thought she saw someone appear in her path, and momentarily mistaking the person for a member of the crew coming in from guard duty.
"How did things look out…..?!" Marina started to say, yet felt it when her voice suddenly stopped in its' tracks, as a gasp mixed with what could have been a scream froze in her throat as well, and as she dropped the small computer in her hands and raced to the man's side.
"Harlock!" Marina finally managed to shout, as she kneeled beside the badly injured man; her raised voice just barely getting a reaction from him.
"M-miss…..Ohki….?" the young pirate struggled to whisper, yet seeming startled when the First Officer gently put a finger to his lips to silence him.
"D-don't try to talk…." Marina murmured; as she struggled to remain calm. From what she could see, right away, the young pirate was in dire straits; blood soaked the chest of his tattered blue uniform from several deep gashes….And she could easily hear that one of them was deep enough to reach one of his lungs.
"First Officer, what the…?! Holy shit!" Grenadier's voice suddenly yelped, as he and several other crewmembers appeared in the corridor, and as a few of them rushed over to try and see what they could do to help.
"Help me get him to sickbay, and then go and get Zero! Hurry!" Marina shouted, when she had turned to look over her shoulder at the men gathered there, her voice getting just the barest hint of its' usual edge in it, as she commanded them. With just the slightest hints of nods, some of them raced off to get the captain, while Grenadier and Ishikura (who had been at the back of the group until then) remained there to help lift and carry the severely wounded pirate.
"What the hell happened?" Grenadier growled, as he carefully lifted the dying pirate from the floor; feeling minutely sickened, despite himself, at the sight of the blood smeared on the wall and floor.
"I don't know….but there's no time to find out now." Marina said, softly, as she did what she could to stanch the bleeding, while they ran to sickbay. By now, Harlock was now firmly unconscious; the pain and blood-loss having finally overwhelmed him.
"….And his injuries look severe….Do we even have what it takes to keep him alive?" Ishikura wondered, as they arrived in sickbay, and they watched as the space pirate was rushed into surgery….Hoping that this last-ditch effort wasn't going to be a futile one….