OUR FIGHT (Part 1) - Captain Harlock x F!Reader
(CORRECTED AND SOME DETAILS ADDED) thanks to @harlockschaos
Warnings : mention of severe injuries, war, depression, death, angst/comfort.
Synopsis : The Illumidas attack a peaceful planet, and as a pirate Captain you can't let it happen.
Author's note : Corrected, rewritten to add some more details.
Also I do apologize in advance due to any OOC as I watch it in French and there were many weak translations and confusing stuff (for example Tochiro's voice actor changed twice in the very first episode and his personality seemed to change a little as a result, there must have been some juicy beef behind the stage.) SO I'M TRYING MY BEST and Harlock wouldn't want me to give up on my freedom to write for humans.
And now, enjoy :)
You had no choice but to take cover, limping as fast as possible to hide behind a giant stone pillar as the Illumidas armada unleashed hell upon your temporary base.
Dark smoke and flames seemed to reach the clouds as you could see your opponents seeminlgy as fast as shooting stars destroying your formerly invincible pirate battleship.
A formidable explosion rocked what seemed to be the entire world and you felt your Captain's cape starting to melt against your skin as a raging fire swallowed you for a few seconds. You thought you were about to end up just like your Conqueror III now buried below several tons of sand and cobble.
Freedom. That was why you started to fight against the Illumidas. That final goal seduced you into taking part to important battles, to give up partially on your pirate activities as you heard more and more about Captain Harlock.
Knocked off the stairs, you managed to uppercut an injured Illumida begging for mercy. Why would you feel any kind of pity for them? Did they show any sign of empathy as they condemned your entire crew; your friends ? And for all those planets condemned despite complying to different scales to their tyranny?
Both of your holsters were Both of your holsters were empty, and your rifle broken on the floor. Just a knife to stab to death two other soldiers already lying by your feet. Dust infiltrated your open and burnt wounds and you let out a desperate and angry scream that resonated throughout the massive corridors of this foreign desacrated temple. May those foreign Gods forgive you or not, you would try to avenge the ones fallen on the frontline.
Never would you have let rage lead your actions. Chivalry required self control, honor, compassion, not you stabbing even corpses beheaded by the previous fights in an illusion of justice. Your whole body burned as you ignored your tears, and adrenaline rushed as you saw a mother embracing her child unable to move.
In a blink of an eye, you ran out of the temple and stabbed through a dozen of opponents that were rushing towards a young boy running for his life, his gun insignificant against so many rifle-equipped soldiers. A red beam pierced your peripheral vision, and with a quick grab on his shoulder you managed to pull the brave and belligerant boy behind you to shield him. Your knife throw might have reached its target, but certainly not before the laser hit you on your shoulder. You heard the child screaming fighting back to try and protect you, but you just smiled faintly, falling backwards as several figures emerged amongst the ruins.
"Captain there are too many. We need some help", he screamed as if you could be of any help.
A second before reaching the ground, your eyes widened at the massive spaceship roaring into the aerial battle.
You had seen that giant skull-and-crossbones design several times in the past but never in person, contrary to your spies and allies.
The Arcadia itself, the legend. Captain Harlock would at least bring a new hope for the people where you failed
And just as your open wounds collided with the burning sand, the world ended, as absorbed by a vast dark hole.
"Hey she's awake already" a childlike voice said.
Everything remained black for some reason and yet flashes from the battle kept on blasting in your ears. The pain spreading throughout your greatly weakened body seemed unbearable in the long term. For now you could deal with it despite the uncontrollable shaking of your legs, just as if your muscles and brain refused to cooperate.
"Oh no they're... " started a female grown up voice.
That made you try to jump up onto your feet only to scream in agony as your whole body protested and you sank into the chaos of blaring alarms. Did you pass out on your ship during the attack? Didn't it get shot down? But there was no child aboard... where were your crew members?
"Quick, everyone," shouted a powerful and authoritative male voice from across what you guessed was a ship corridor.
Someone tried their best to make you stand, which ended up with you limping up onto your feet. It felt as if you got hit by some meteor. Where were you?
Unable to speak due to what you thought was some kind of cheap gag and to your low level of energy, you dropped to your knees, only hearing someone running towards you before helping you out.
"Tadashi go get the infirmary ready," said the same booming voice from afar, "everyone retreat we'll try something else!"
The boy replied with something you couldn't quite understand. Why was everything black, chaotic and so painful? Where were you? Why were they trying to help you out? But before you could panic even more you fell into a different kind of darkness as all of your limbs went numb at the same time.
You had always hated the infirmary. Never the doctors and nurses themselves, but the place. Same went for hospitals. Years went by, as well as the death toll due to ambushes, raids and Illumidas. The naive and idealistic Captain you used to be let became pretty harsh towards the crew members that used to injure themselves out of clumsiness. You saw it as tough love, but now that you fully comprehended that there were almost no survivor, you wondered if they saw it that way.
The guilt was gut-wrenching, and the pain tearing at your mind and body. The night you woke up in the infirmary on that white bed, you remembered everything thanks to the doctor welcoming you back from the dead. A desperate battle that saw your beloved battleship to get taken down after around twenty hours of relentless fighting against the Illumidas. And you were probably the only one of your crew that got the chance to get on-board of the Arcadia that saved the day.
"Be careful ma'am," said the doctor, "your burns are especially severe. I patched you up but... well, you're going to keep some impressive scars for life."
Little did you know that involved getting wrapped up in bandages on most of your body, from thighs to your back, breast, neck and half of your face. You looked up at your reflection on a small mirror, tensed up as you watched the deep dark circles under your left eye. Not only due to the necessary acceptance of your current predicament, but also because of all the explosions still shaking the Arcadia. The battle was still ongoing but the spaceship seemed robust enough to resist for a while.
"I need to go back down there and help," you mumbled as you lowered the pocket mirror.
"But... you can't move from this bed, and there's a battle raging outside. Everything seems under control, otherwise our Captain would have warned us all. To heal correctly, I'd advise you to..."
The tsunami of pain that engulfed you as you attempted to get up received a look of uncertainty from the doctor trying to keep you on the bed. You felt sorry for the man, but ended up knocking him out with an immaculate uppercut and made your way outside of the infirmary.
Your Captain long black cape got severely damaged and burned, but you tied it up your waist, at least to remember who you were before basically looting some of their painkillers you put in one of your pockets.
The Arcadia continued to sustain the relentless assault, and you took a deep breath in every time you ended up shoved against the metal walls. At some point the battleship made some unexpected manoeuvres and thanks to the gravity it shortened your search for the exit as you slid away towards the wanted direction.You got jealous of Captain Harlock for having such an advanced battleship but you knew better than to get distracted by your admiration. After all your heart hurt too much from the loss of your own technological baby to bother with details.
Of course, your escape didn't go unnoticed, and someone must have been watching your actions as the alarm started blasting through the corridors.
A quick run as the painkillers started to take effect, a few uppercuts to defenceless and confused workers. Nothing to hurt them, only to neutralise any resistance, and you still took care not to let them hit their heads on the hard ground.
You winced as the Arcadia took another sudden manoeuvre and ran up to some one-seat exploration vessel. Another shift and you lost your balance shortly before you could even reach the windows. You swore loudly several times, the flashes from the battlefield coming back and you flinched at the sudden click behind you.
"Times are tough I must admit," said the male voice behind you, "but attacking my crew in the middle of a battle is nowhere near anything I can forgive, ma'am. Turn around slowly."
You did as demanded, and swallowed hard as you noticed Captain Harlock's terrifying presence. Sure you had many opportunities to notice that on the pictures and wanted posters across the galaxy, but to receive that warning and disappointed one-eyed glare was something else. His height was also a matter of concern for you as none of your male crew members would have reached him past his shoulders.
"Captain Harlock, I am sorry for what I did, but please let me go back down there. I have something to accomplish, and I'm sure you know exactly what I mean. Also, your men are safe. I didn’t intend to harm them. I only knocked tem out because they got in my way.“
The man frowned, the only sign betraying his confusion in his stoic attitude.
"You shouldn't even be able to walk by now. What tells you you would have any chance against the Illumidas?"
"They managed to destroy my battleship and gunned down most of my crew, Captain," you answered between gritted teeth, "all I want to do is the exact same to them. If death finds me, I'm fine with that. I know fully well the Arcadia will be more than enough to take care of the remaining forces. I just want to do my part."
"What kind of battleship are you talking about, you weren't wearing any military uniform," he replied suspiciously.
"I'm talking about the Conqueror III."
Your ego may be in pieces after your losses, but seeing Captain Harlock widening his eye in pure shock got you pretty proud of your reputation or at least of your ship's. He even lowered his gravity saber a little as he looked down at the damaged coat wrapped around your bandaged waist, noticing now the very few burned insigns remaining. Yet, you turned around a little, wincing out of pain already. You let out a defeated swear before before being caught up by the man as he resheathed his gravity saber.
"Fine Captain, if you insist," he said, "follow me then. You are going to be more useful by our side than dead on the ground before being able to do anything."
And just like that, you were escorted by Harlock himself in his own spaceship. Side by side with a legend in another legendary part of the saga of space piracy, and the fight for the freedom you have been looking for. Endless corridors that didn't stop you anymore thanks to your newfound hope,confused crew members seeing your unknown and almost entirely bandaged form walking as fast as possible, so as to not slow Harlock down. After all you still had a part to play both in this battle and in this world.
As you entered the control room, you felt as if you entered some kind of heaven. The Arcadia's brain itself as you looked at the three other crew members - Tochiro, the main engineer as short as Harlock was tall, Kei Yuki, a combat commander, and Miime that apparently assisted them in almost everything. The latter was a humaoid alien you had never seen before, despite all your journeys. You would remember that kind of ethereal beauty. Faceless if not for big white eyes, unbelievably long and seemingly sotft hair. What disturbed you, however, was the lack of facial expression - of facial features even. But were you surprised a man like him would manage to bring anybody looking for freedom to him? You should ask her what led her to fight against the Illumidas.
"Oh, you there," greeted Tochiro with a surprised face from his post, "Tadashi told me about you but... why aren't you in the infirmary, I thought you got seriously injured?"
He turned to their Captain just like his two female coworkers.
"Well I introduce you to Captain Hanabi," Harlock replied, "sadly her Conqueror III got shot down during the battle before we even reached the atmosphere. We can give up the idea of asking them for support."
You followed their Captain while ignoring the stunned faces that appeared at your famous nickname's mention. It wasn't that hard as your eyes immediately focused on the opponents' airships appearing across their expansive screen. Harlock reached his own spot, clearly ready to put an end to that worldwide violence by using as much violence. This made you forget both your emotional and physical pain, and stopped staring at him to turn around.
It was something to behold. From what you could see without taking any control over the Arcadia by yourself, you had no doubt that this ship deserved its reputation. A formidable weaponry, an impressive speed, and the experienced crew knowing exactly what needed to be done.
You only had to intervene twice to correct some of the data popping onto their screens about some newer Illumidas ships. Autonomous ones you fought against during the previous day. Their main weakness was their right wing as their AI seemed to have difficulties to cover that flank but you were sure that wouldn't last for long until they get their next update. Overall the crew's communication skills were perfectly fluid and Harlock's leadership couldn't be questionned. You also noticed their bounds as the inquired for each others' potential injuries after getting severly hit back by Illumidas. You managed to grab Tochiro's by his collar as he almost slid out of his post, and thankfully for you Kei grabbed you by your sleeve to keep you in the room after the Captain ordered a sharp and unnexpected manoeuvre.
They were crushing everything under their aerial steps - only the things deserving to get erased from this world. Sure, the crew got to suffer from a few blows here and there, but nothing to be worried about. The Arcadia was an amazing creation, and you couldn't even believe how easy it seemed to be for Captain Harlock to drive his team. However, you got prouder still that from what you could see, your Conqueror III used to be more agile.
And in two hours, they had done it. Bewildered by their efficiency, you cheered as much as they did if not more. But right after that, you collapsed to your knees, suddenly crushed by the wave of suffering that affected you enough to lead you to tears. It felt unbearable to you, especially behind the bandage covering half of your face.
In a matter of seconds Harlock and Tochiro were there while Kei and Miime were busy to get the Arcadia ready.
"Oh no," said the engineer as their Captain tried to keep you standing without pressing your wounds, "you should go to the medbay it's serious."
"It's fine," you muttered as fever started to affect you,"I'm fine I’ve had to survive through much more… "
"Tochiro," Harlock interrupted, "get her to the infirmary. Now. Everything is under control."
You didn't quite remember the journey back to your temporary bed. Actually, it took you the equivalent of two days to wake up. Not to recover, though. Constantly under painkiller shots, you could only attempt a few short conversations with the young Tadashi you rescued a few days ago. Also, seeing him argue regularly with a younger blonde girl took much of your remaining energy. You even promised him to taste his cooking once as it was his main task on board.
However, what was the least expected for you was Harlock himself visiting you inwhat you considered to be the evening. Eyelids heavy with artificial sleepiness and a strange numbness that replaced pain on every spot of your wounds, you looked up at him while struggling against slumber. He seemed to keep his arms crossed pretty often, especially as he looked worried or at least deep in his thoughts.
"Captain," he started, "I wanted to let you know..."
With a slight delay, you scoffed at him and made the man squint his remaining eye.
"I'm not a Captain anymore," you whispered in a weak voice that had him lean on, "I lost everything that used to make me who I was. There's no longer any so-called Captain Hanabi, any Conqueror III, or any crew. Nothing."
"You're still alive. And I can tell you still wanted to fight from what you showed us earlier. As tragic as it is, it doesn't end there."
"Captain Harlock, please," you mumbled with a grimace of pain, "I do guess you got to... to go through terrible things. You certainly lost a lot against the Illumidas. Crew members, maybe family members... friends, loved ones, as well as some part of your human dignity. You are too reckless and proud to be naive about what death is.
You had to picture - even just for a second in some desperate moment - what it would be to loose everything. And I do mean everything. Every single soul from the Arcadia, the Arcadia itself even. Maybe you felt what it would be to be the sole cause of that. Also... my crew and battleship were the only things keeping the Illumidas at bay in this area and you have many other things to do. You won't stay there indefinitely. That's what I'm enduring right now. So please... do me a favor and stop calling me Captain."
Heartbroken. That's what it felt like. You failed as a human being, you failed as a Captain.
"Many civilians survived thanks to your incredible fight," he argued cautiously, "you are not responsible for the atrocities committed. The Illumidas are. You did your best with what you could and had."
"That wasn't enough," you mumbled.
"You weren't even on this planet when it was first being bombed. The Conqueror III still had enough energy to ignore and land on a safer land," he argued with a slightly more disapproving tone, "and yet you decided to dive right into their positions. Kei and Miime told me about the different reports they intercepted. Twenty-six hours. During twenty-six hours you had to fight against the Illumidas armada, to manage a marvelous battleship that was starting to show its age and without the local military bases that surrended."
"No, twenty-four hours before we got shot down and one or two as I tried to fight alone on land. And the Conqueror wasn't that old."
"Twenty-four hours holding the line against fresh Illumidas troops and their autonomous battleships. I also guess you had to keep an eye on your fuel and ammunitions. You and your crew deserve all the respect earned throughout these years."
Receiving these kinds of compliments from rancid politicians and engineers trying to get some juicy contracts with you was one thing. But from Harlock himself sounding almost like scolding you? It brought back some life to your mind plagued with desperation. You looked around, trying not to cry. The doctor told you nothing about your bandaged eye but you started to mourn it just in case. At least you wouldn't loose any limb.
"I wish I had something to offer," you said as the ceiling seemed interesting, "but I can't even tell you I can secure this place with my men, women and robots."
"Well... I was considering something, as well as my friends," he started, "you basically know everything important that is relevant on..."
"I decline your offer Captain."
No "but", no "are you sure", no "please reconsider". He opened his mouth before closing it, and nodding.
"As you wish," he replied, "may you find peace. No matter what, please keep in mind that we always have a room for you. We share the same fight and I will help you avenge your men. It's only a matter of time now."
He saluted you like a Captain to another Captain with his gravity saber, his gaze full of that dedication you had heard so much about in the tales surrounding him, and once he left you finally let go all of your emotions, breaking down in tears.
