A/N: Okay, so Star Blazers was the first anime series I ever watched and I loved it. I loved the crew of the Argo, Starsha and Desslok.
Favorite villain/anti-hero. Ever.
Ahem, anyway, I got to thinking about the hero and villain having a soul bond and here we are. I hope you like it!
The bond is aching again, driving Derek from the warm comfort of his bunk to wander the halls of the ship.
He ends up in the port observation room on third deck, looking out in the vastness of the starry void that surrounds the Yamato. It's still a long way to Iscandar, and most of the crew is starting to get cabin fever.
It's not unusual given how long the trip was calculated to take.
The ache seems to ease at the sight of the stars.
Derek wonders if his bonded is looking at them too.
He's one of the odd ones, with two bonds. One he's met, Lieutenant Nova Forrester, from communications.
The other is in Gamilas. It's taken him a long while to accept that. To be bonded to a member of the race that is trying to wipe humanity from the galaxy.
The bond thrums, and suddenly, he's not looking at the stars outside the observation room anymore.
There's towering spires of crystal, a glowing blue planet high in the sky and a sprawling alien cityscape below. An alien voice, low and deep is saying something.
No, singing something?
Derek wonders at the sound of the language, unheard through a translator, sharp and guttural, and yet there is some strange beauty to it.
In the distance, a spire is set alight with a brilliant blue glow, as the singer continues his song, and it only flares brighter. Derek catches a glimpse of a blue hand, gesturing high towards the spire, and on the closest finger, he can see a silver ring etched with writing.
A hand rests on Derek's shoulder and he blinks, the cityscape vanishing and sudden silence overtaking the sound of song.
"You alright?" Saundor asks.
"Fine," Derek says, "I just couldn't sleep is all."
Saundor nods. He is aware that Derek holds a Gamilon bond. One of the few who do, now that Alex is dead.
Nova knows. She only has Derek's bond, but not the Gamilon.
"Anything interesting?" Saundor asks, leaning against the railing.
Derek glances around; they are the only people in the room.
"I saw a crystal city. I heard a voice, but I didn't know what they were saying."
Saundor nods.
"Let me know of you want to talk," he says at length. "And get some sleep. You'll need it."
Desslok watches the light of the spires fade as he finishes his prayers.
He'd felt something during them, something curious and a little awed.
Below, the city is still awake, lights glowing in the darkness, very much like the stars above their planet.
He casts his gaze to his sister-world, blue and beautiful, and just as devastated as his own.
Only now two remain of the noble Iscandar line.
He closes his eyes against the grief he feels for his dying world, his dying sister-world, and turns back to the throne room. There is still much to be done.
The Earth ship cannot reach Iscandar. He will not let it.
Derek dreams of pale grey eyes and blue skin, watching a man with blond hair commanding troops with skill.
He sees the man again, head bowed at the foot of a massive stone, droplets of water pooling on the stone beneath him.
He also dreams of a faint press of lips against the corner of his mouth. Soft and fleeting.
Watch the stars. A man's voice says. And Derek wakes to the sound of a klaxon alarm blaring.
Desslok is sleeping when a servant wakes him.
"Forgive me, my Leader," the woman, Aida, says quietly, having deftly ducked the blaster blot he had fired at her head.
His staff are well used to their Leader's habit of shooting when awoken suddenly. It doesn't faze them anymore.
"It is urgent, then?" Desslok says, sitting up and checking his blaster.
"Yes, my Leader, news from General Lysis," Aida says, kneeling before him.
"Aravis give me strength," Desslok mutters, "What news?"
"The Earth ship has destroyed much of Lysis's fleet, my Leader," Aida says.
Desslok closes his eyes, setting the blaster aside. Damnit.
"My Leader?" Aida asks. "Your orders?"
"Get me a comm, Aida," he says softly. "Immediately."
"Yes, my Leader."
The attempt comes the next morning, a blaster shot, almost perfectly aimed.
Desslok gives a quiet gasp as the shot impacts, but draws and fires back, a blast to the forehead that kills the assailant instantly.
But the damage has been done, the room beginning to blur.
"Lean on me," Talan murmurs in his ear, arm around his waist. "This will not bring you down."
"I should hope not," Desslok manages to say before sliding into darkness.
Derek feels it, a blaster shot to the chest, a movement that sends him reeling in the middle of the hallway.
"Derek?" Nova calls. "What's wrong?"
"Someone's been shot," Derek mumbles, feeling the spreading numbness.
"The other one?" Nova says, worriedly.
"Yeah," Derek says, feeling for the bond with the Gamilon. It's muted and dimming fast.
No.
"Come on," Derek hisses, suddenly angry that this bonded would give up so easily. "Fight you bastard!"
It dims further, into almost complete darkness. A fire turning to embers, frail and dying.
Then it roars back to life, an inferno, blazing against the darkness of the universe.
"Ho-leey shit," Derek says, blinking, catching the supernova of deathcannotholdme-Iamastarofmypeople-Iwillnotfalter-
"Derek?" Nova asks.
"He's something," Derek says shaking his head. "I think he'll be okay though. Dunno how I feel about that."
Desslok wakes slowly, finding Talan at his side, as always. The man is asleep but the aide beside him is not.
"Try not to move, my leader," the aide advises, "The wound was deep, and you are still recovering."
"How long is my recovery period?" Desslok asks, wincing.
"You will need at least two weeks bedrest, my Leader," the aide says, nudging Talan with an elbow.
Talan blinks blearily, then his eyes widen. "Desslok! How are you feeling?!"
The aide rises, bows, and leaves.
"I'm not dead," Desslok says. "Could be worse."
Talan nods.
"How fares the Empire?" Desslok asks and closes his eyes, listening to Talan's report.
He had seen something in the darkness, heard a call, loud and somewhat desperate.
Fight you bastard!
He was never one to go gently into darkness either. He wonders briefly, remembering the distant tales of his foremothers of the bonds between souls. Those that were strongest were forged in flame and shared difficulties.
He has one but has never reached along it, never considered who might stand at the end. But now…their strength had aided him.
"Desslok?"
"Yes?" he says.
"Shall I let you rest?" Talan asks.
Desslok cracks one eye open, looking at his friend's tired face.
"I'll be fine," he says. "Get some rest, Talan."
"Yes, my Leader," Talan says. "Heal soon."
"I'll try," Desslok says, smiling faintly.
He dreams of standing on a ship. It's strange a design he vaguely recalls, something his waking mind knows but at the moment it escapes him.
She's strong, a flame forged soul.
In his dream, he follows the thread that he can see, glowing like fire around his wrist and extending outwards.
Who are you? He calls out and receives no verbal answer but more a feeling of iron and stardust, strength in time of great need.
That's less than helpful.
He walks through empty corridors, managing to find a way to what looks to be the command center.
A strange ship indeed. Gamilon ships are built far differently. Still, he looks around because this is at least an interesting dream.
The thread on his wrist hasn't led him anywhere and doesn't seem to be ending anytime soon.
Derek finds himself wandering the ship even in his uneasy dreams.
This is new though, there's someone standing at the starboard observation window, watching Beemera pass by.
Derek suppresses a shiver at the thought of the giant monsters that roam its surface, turning instead to study the man standing at the observation window.
He is blond, and as he shifts to leans against the rail, Derek can see his skin is a pale, pale blue.
A Gamilon.
The Gamilon says something, his voice low and deep.
Derek blinks because he's half sure that was English.
"Sorry?" Derek says.
"What is the name of this vessel?" the man asks, and he is speaking English.
"I don't think I should tell you that," Derek says sharply, because dream or no, one can't be too careful.
The man laughs. "I see. And what is your name, child of Earth?"
"Wildstar," Derek says, impulsively.
"Wildstar," the man repeats. "Named for a star on the edge of expansion?"
"Not really," Derek says. "It's a family name."
"Ah," the man says. "Hmm. I am Desura, of Gamilon."
"Desura," Derek says, "I would say it's a pleasure to meet you, but your empire is bombing my home."
"My empire?" the Gamilon says. "The Emperor is the one who leads our mighty homeland."
"You could support his ideas," Derek shoots back.
The Gamilon sighs, looking out to the stars beyond. "My home is dying, Wildstar of Earth. Our numbers grow fewer each year, and our sister-planet dies with us. We have nowhere else to go."
"Then find another planet to bomb!" Derek hisses.
"We tried," Desura says quietly, "Planet after planet after planet. Nothing but Earth would suit us."
"And what of the people who you've doomed to death?!" Derek shouts, angry, "What of them?!"
"Only the strong may thrive," Desura says, and his words linger in Derek's mind long after Derek has woken up.
Desslok heals slowly, and the empire gathers its strength. The Yamato sails closer and closer with each passing day.
It irks Desslok to no end that an Earth ship is destroying his fleet. One ship.
You'd think that with all his ships, the combined military experience of his commanders and the soldiers at his command, he'd be able to take out one little, itty bity ship.
It doesn't help that his ally Starsha is helping the bastards either.
And hadn't that been a knife in the back when he'd found that out?
He closes his eyes against the sight of his sister-world, glowing like a blue pearl above Gamilas, bright and beautiful and just as doomed as they are.
He will not lose to these men of Earth, he cannot. His people must live.
Derek wonders if he'll ever meet his bonded face to face, or if they are destined to never meet.
Then again, he thinks, why would he have the name of a person, and not be given at least the chance to meet them?
Alex would have called it a cruel twist of fate, but Alex is gone, and lost to reaches of space. He isn't here to crack jokes and lighten the heavy mood that has seemed to drape the ship since the Captain first collapsed.
Derek's bond hums, a quiet sort of content drifting across the stars to wrap as a mantle about his shoulders. It's kind of like a hug and Derek half wants to laugh and cry for the fact that a Gamilon is comforting him.
He takes a deep breath, exhaling slowly.
Well, he's got to have some hope. Earth is still counting on them to get to Iscandar. They can't give up now.
They are so close to their goal, the Argo's engines pushing to reach that promise offered to them by a distant Queen of Stars.
They will reach it. They must reach it. Earth has only 253 days left.