Space Pirate Captain Harlock Vol 1

BY JÉRÔME ALQUIÉ BASED ON THE WORK OF LEIJI MATSUMOTO

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

A very special and sunny thank you to Richard Darbois who accepted without hesitation to lend his voice to Captain Harlock again for the trailer, 40 years after his interpretation of the character in the 1978 series, as a real gift to all fans of the character.

Thanks to Kazuo Komatsubara, Nobuteru Yuki, Keisuke Masunaga and Hideyuki Motohashi.

Thanks to Christelle, Rémi, Maéline and Antonin Alquié, Jean-Sébastien Audibert, Arnaud Dollen.

Thanks to Dorothée, Cyril Drevet, Éric Joly, Xavier Martinez, Gégé le Chinois, Yvan West Lawrence and Olivier Fallaix, Doriane Nieroz, Alexis Tallone, the Audibert family, Christian Favrelle, Stéphane Vla, Jean-Claude Borel, Frédéric, Angélique and Rafael Ravry, Alexandre Jouandeau, Patrick Sobral, and many more...

Thanks to the Akita Shoten Publishing team.

Thanks to the entire Kana team as well as the TimeLine team.

Finally, infinite thanks to Master Leiji Matsumoto, the creator of Harlock and his absolutely wonderful, deep and fascinating universe, which turned my life upside down. He is an author of incomparable talent, a storyteller of such fine poetry that he has touched us in the depths of our hearts, and I will be eternally grateful to him for allowing me to make this story happen in homage to his character. Thank you for all his messages of encouragement in the creation of this book, page after page, and for the text he was kind enough to write. You have never ceased, Master Leiji Matsumoto, to repeat in your stories that young people should always pursue their dreams and do everything to make them come true. If my childhood dream came true, it was thanks to you, and I will never forget it.

PROLOGUE

Memories of the Arcadia, year of our lord 2977, day 43.

The humans that still inhabit southern earth have grown torpid. They let a handful exploit the resources to ensure their livelihood.

Weak and cowardly and preoccupied solely with pleasure, they live in opulence and shameful idleness.

Unaware of the threat hanging over them.

To

You would be saddened to see what has become of the Earth, our planet you cherished so much…

…as sad as the lament that Mimay plays on her harp…

The oceans are drying up. The riches that nature once offered us are gradually exhausted.

you, my friend, who travels with us on this sea of stars, alongside the 40 crew members of our pirate ship Arcadia…

From the depths of space, the omnipotent Mazon began their exodus to their former colony, Earth. A world they inhabited long before the appearance of man.

No longer having a place to live, these humanoids know the blue planet represents their only chance of survival.

From

to guide the Mazon royal armada towards this Eden, Queen Lafresia sent a gigantic black sphere… …that crashed in the middle of our capital, the center of the Terran government.

Radiation emitted by this enormous orb awakened one by one the Mazon on Earth who had been sleeping for millennia.

the four corners of the globe, emerging from their million-year sleep, they rise to prepare for this future invasion.

Even if Queen Lafresia and her exiled people are still far from the Earth, death is already at our door...

The few scientists who saw in this sphere signs of an alien invasion were killed by the Mazon living on earth.

Next, the eminent Professor Daiba was executed by the Mazon. He studied the trajectory of the sphere, following the trail to the ends of the known universe.

Only his son Tadashi Daiba escaped death at the hands of the Mazon.

Mired in corruption and laziness, the prime minister of the earth government remains blind to this impending threat.

Professor Cuzco was the first to decipher the strange engravings on the black sphere. And the first to meet his fate.

Banished by an apathetic government, he became, like all the members of my crew, a pirate, an outlaw.

We are now the only humans ready to fight the coming Mazon threat. The Arcadia is prepared for this confrontation. And believe me, my friend, we will not fail.

And as I promised you long ago: I will watch over Mayu, your daughter, whom I love so much. I will fight so that she can grow up on earth, as you wished.

Disgusted by the attitude of the government and burning to avenge the death of his father, Tadashi joined the Arcadia.

You know I keep my word!

You know the maneuver, Yattaran. I’ll meet you on deck in a moment.

Do you prepare for battle?

Consciousnesses must be awakened.

Mimay, your presence comforts me. Thank you for accompanying me on the harp as I wrote to my friend.

Harlock, since the day you saved me, I gave you my life. Know that I will always accompany you…

My dear friend... …our discussion will have to wait.

Harlock! Arcadia radar detects a spacecraft en route to Earth. Let ‘em pass or engage?

…if need be, even into darkness. I know.

My friend... Tochiro ....

The final battle against the Mazon approaches.

Your soul accompanies us in the Arcadia computer…

…instilling in this crew the strength and courage to carry on to the end, to be victorious.

My friend, my brother…it is in times of trouble and darkness that mankind must, more than anything, show the true greatness of their soul. My crew and I will never give up. I refuse to see Mayu’s home sink into nothingness.

Chapter One: THE OUTLAW OF SPACE

This is a freighter from the epsilon mines, bringing back a cargo of food, alcohol, clothing, and minerals. Base, do you receive me?

What’s going on? Why don’t they respond?

Captain, it seems that our transmission is being scrambled by a pirate frequency.

What? Pirate frequency?

Freighter! Stop your engines!