Chapter Text
“Maetel!” a voice cried from under the table as a plate smashes onto the ground. “Maetel are you okay?!”
The woman pulls herself to a sitting position. “Yes – I’m all right, what about you Tetsuro?”
“I’m fine – what happened?”
As if on cue, the Conductor frantically burst into the dining car, heaving as if breathless. “Ms Maetel, Mr. Hoshino, are you unharmed?!”
“We’re fine, Conductor,” the blonde responded as Tetsuro crawls out from under the table, rubbing his head. “Did the 999 get derailed?”
“No – that’s the strangest thing! There’s no more track! The AI can no longer detect any tracks around the train!” The conductor pants, gloved hands clenching, as Tetsuro gave off a startled, confused gasp. Even the usually unflappable Maetel’s eyes widened.
“What do you mean it can’t detect any tracks?!” The boy shouted as he quickly jumps to his feet.
“Exactly what I said, Mr. Hoshino, It’s trying to recalculate – it may take some time. I’m afraid you’ll have to sit tight until it finishes.”
Maetel peered out the window, scanning the endless void of space as her travelling companion and the conductor went back and forth – none of this looked familiar to her, and she knew the 999 would not taken any kind of detours or sidetrips outside of emergencies – and this wasn’t one of the detour routes that she knows of. “Conductor, where are we?”
“Huh…?”
“This region doesn’t look familiar.” She points to the window.
“Huh…Oh! I’ve been on this train for a long time, I’ve never seen that before! How… how…”
Tetsuro hopped over, climbing on the back of the seat to look over their shoulders, staring at a large nebula in a rainbow of hues looking like a yawning gate. “Man, it’s really pretty. But, how did we get here?”
“…I – I better head to the Engine to see if it found anything. I’ll let you know once I know what’s going on!” The Conductor bows before turning about face, jogging away.
The pair exchanged glances before they picked up their things, returning to their usual seats, hoping that car isn’t tilted at an angle. As they moved, Tetsuro spotted something in the corner of his eyes, white and red lights flashing. “Maetel! Look!”
“What is it?” She turns to see what got him excited, her eyes widening as the flashes continue, before bursting into dragon-like shapes and in their place where two space ships, one the standard gray and red of a military battleship and the other green with a familiar flag waving despite the vacuum of space.
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“Ngh… Damage Report! Stat!” Zero shouted as soon he was able to pull his head up from his console, as he felt pain throbbing from his temples. What the hell just happened? He wondered as his crew frantically poured over the readings, the Navigators giving increasingly concerning noises of alarm and confusion.
“No damage to the ship Captain,” Marina calls out. “Some of the Mechanized crew are complaining of disorientation.”
“Is Dr. Machiner in a state to handle it?” Zero immediately asked.
“I’ll check.” The woman slips the clipboard under her arm as she ran out.
“Captain! The Deathshadow is hailing the Karyu, do we respond?” Phase shouted.
“Patch them through.”
“This is the Deathshadow, Karyu can you read me?” Harlock’s familiar voice rang out from the speaker as his image appears on the corner of the screen, the man looks a bit disheveled, with a red mark on his cheek – no doubt from hitting his wheel face-first.
“Loud and clear. What’s your status?” The man folds his arms across his chest.
“Confused but unharmed. You?”
“About the same, have you any idea what was that-”
“Sorry to interrupt, Captain!” One of his man shouted. “But you two need to look at the radar.”
“…What on earth?” “Hey isn’t that-”
“What is the 3-9 doing here? It’s way off track.” Zero stared in disbelief, but that wasn’t the only problem.
“We’re off-course too!” yelled another voice from the Deathshadow’s end. “This Nebula is not on any chart I’ve seen. According to the system, we’ve… oh we’ve definitely warped.”
“Warped? Tochiro, is that right?” Harlock questioned. “But we didn’t initiate a warp.”
“Neither did we!” Zero added.
“And the 999 mostly certainly couldn’t.” Harlock folds his arms across his chest, his eyes dark. “What the hell is going on?”
“And who brought us here? Harlock – a truce until we figure out what’s going on?”
“Fine by me. We should hail the 999-”
“Captain! We’re detecting a sudden energy spike – it’s on par-” the alarm came from one of the Karyu’s crew.
“With St. Elmo’s fire.” Tochiro finished. Those among the Karyu’s crew that could broke out into a cold sweat, while Harlock momentarily betrayed astonishment.
The line crackles, images distorting into a blur of color as lights exploded and within less than astral mile, the blinding lights shifted, and warped as a blue battleship filled what was once empty space, skulls emblazoned its side, a pirate’s flag seeming to flutter in the vacuum of space.
As communications returned to normal, the Captains exchanged uncertain looks before another signal connected.
“…Captain, it’s hailing us, calling itself the Arcadia – do we respond?” “The – the Arcadia? Harlock, the ship is calling itself the Arcadia?! Should we answer?”
“Patch them through.” Both men stated, as a second face appeared on their respective monitor – a man in black with arms folded over his chest, his reddish-brown hair barely covering an eye patch, and leaving an extremely familiar scar exposed.
Zero felt his heart jumped to his throat, as Harlock stared completely gob smacked.
“This is Harlock, Captain of the Pirate Battleship the Arcadia! Identify yourselves!”
“Harlock?! How dare you use my friend’s name!” Tochiro’s face suddenly filled the Deathshadow’s window, pointing to the man behind him. “This is the REAL Harlock of the Deathshadow! Who are you?!”
“…Tochiro?” the newcomer’s voice rasped, his eye wide as all color drained from his face.
“Yeah! That’s me, so who are you really you-”
The military man realized how fast it could escalate between the pirate ships, cutting in with a loud a-hem. “This is the Karyu – Battleship of the Independent Fleet of the Terrestrial Force. I am Warrius Zero, Captain. I don’t suppose the Arcadia had warped without anyone initiating one?”
The Arcadia’s captain snaps his head up, his expression still lost. “That’s right… that’s… that our readings are showing, Captain Zero.” In the background, they could hear someone asking him if he was alright, with him quietly dismissing the question.
The Deathshadow’s Captain managed to wrestle his friend away from the camera, his expression shifting from confusion to suspicion.
“All right, unless somebody else warps in, I’m going to hail the 3-9.”
“Wait, the 999 Express is here?” the Arcadia’s Captain asked, snapping out of his daze.
“Yes. We’ll sort out your issues later, right now it’s important to make sure the civilians on board are safe.” Zero stared the two Harlocks down, clearly brooking no argument from either one. The younger of the two scowls while the other simply nods, still looking distracted.
A third screen appears on each ship’s respective monitors, the interior of a Galaxy Train’s engine car, thousands of little lights flashing over the surface as the short figure in the Conductor’s uniform sat in front.
“This Warrius Zero, of the Independent Fleet of the Terrestrial Federation and Captain of the Karyu. What’s the status of the 3-9?”
The Conductor moves as if to speak, but the Engine AI cuts in.
“Identification Number, Please. Galaxy Express Regulations state that any who identify themselves as Space Defense Force or Military Fleet must verify their identity.”
“S-Sorry… that’s the regulation, Captain Zero. If the AI can’t identify you, we’ll have to treat you as an imposter.”
He muted his line to the pirates, spelling out his personnel number.
“Checking database – Checking database. ERROR: no match-Bzzkt!-Match Found: Warrius Zero. Age 28, Captain of the Independent Fleet Ship The Karyu. -Bzzkt! Status of the Galaxy Express 999: Tracks not found. Location: Unknown. Structural Damage: Minor. Passengers Status: Unharmed. Attempt to contact Space Defense Force: Failed.”
Zero and the Conductor exchanged concern glances as the AI shorted out and seem to reverse course. This whole situation is getting stranger and stranger by the second.
“I’ve never seen it do anything like that before,” The Conductor spoke softly, as Zero reopened his line to the Harlocks, half-expecting to return to a shouting match.
“-So that’s the kind of man Zero is?” The older one is smirking.
“Yeah, he’s got a stick up his ass the size of Jupiter, but we can-”
“The 3-9 recognized my authority.” Zero cuts in, his eyes narrowed.
“Oh hey, figured anything out…” the younger Harlock ducks his head, wincing – and the smirk on the Arcadia’s Harlock only got bigger.
“Nothing yet – must be because of that Jupiter-sized stick.”
The Karyu’s crew – and from the sound of it – the Arcadia’s – burst into baffled laughter. The younger Harlock shrank back, clearly mortified at being caught gossiping.
“Now that we’re on the same page I hope, I think it’d be easier if we can all discuss this in person.” Zero suggested.
“You think so?” The Conductor piped up. “By Galaxy Rail Regulations, I cannot leave the train, just so you know.”
“I agree, it may help eliminate a few questions we have about each other,” the Arcadia’s Harlock inclines his head. “And we could meet on the 999 Express.”
“The 3-9 does have the most room and we heard the man. Conductor – do we have permission to board the 3-9?”
“C-Captain Zero, regulations state that without a ticket, you cannot board the train!”
“Aren’t you also stranded? I’m pretty sure there’s exceptions for Good Samaritans coming along to aide a Galaxy train in distress.” The young Harlock counter, resting his hands on his hips.
“Well… yes, there is that byline…” The Conductor pressed his fingertips together, before the AI bellow.
“Captain Harlock – of Death-Bzzkt-Ar-Bzzkt-Sha-Bzzkt-Ca-Bzzkt!-Dow-Bzzkt!-Dia! Wanted, Wanted For Piracy, Do Not Attempt to Board! For the Safety Of The Passengers I Cannot Allow Pirates To Board.”
“Did it just try to…”
“Register us as the same person? I think so.” The pirates finished each other’s statement, as the Conductor’s glowing yellow eyes waver in the blackness under his hat.
“I can’t let pirates on board the 999 for the safety of the passengers! I’m sorry, but that’s the regulation.”
Zero suddenly stand up. “Not of their free will – but they’re in my custody! The pirate Captain Harlock is under arrest and in order to facilitate transferring we need to temporarily board the 3-9.”
“Zero!” The young Harlock shouted indignantly. “I don’t care if it’s a dodge!”
The older one just burst into laughter, clutching his sides.
The AI fell silent, the lights flashing and flickering.
“Will that even work?” The Conductor wondered as the machine took its time to mull over what it was told.
“Captain Zero of the Karyu – Under the circumstances I will allow temporary boarding of prisoners Phantom F. Harlock II and associated crew. Please come to Engine Car to file the appropriate reports.”
“Roger. I will resume contact once we’re ready to board.” With that, Zero closed the connection to the Galaxy train.
“Can’t believe it bought that,” the Younger Harlock mutters under his breath.
“Bureaucracy is as useless as ever. Though, good thinking, Zero.” The one-eyed Harlock gave a faint smile.
“Huuuu… I don’t even like the idea of pretending to be under arrest, but hey heard the 999 has some really good food, so we might as well take advantage of it!” Tochiro gave a wide, mischievous grin, hiss-laughing between his teeth. Zero could see the older Harlock falter, looking away from the monitor.
The younger Harlock cuts communications first, leaving Zero staring at the older pirate’s distracted face, wanting to say something but the words catch in his throat.
“We’ll meet you at the 999 Express, Over and Out.” With that, the Arcadia’s captain disappears.
“The hell is going on?” Rai groans. “So, what’s our orders? I mean, we know Harlock and how he acts, but can we trust the other guy claiming to be Harlock? He kinda looks like someone who live hard.”
“We can trust him.”
“Captain?” Marina stared at him. “How can you be so sure?”
“…Call it a man’s instinct.” Zero finally answered, but it wasn’t the whole story.