TRIGUN
Volume 1, Chapter 5
Deep Space Planet Future Gun Action by: Yasuhiro Nightow
Translation by: Shadowslash
For translator’s notes and disclaimers see
Trigun Volume
1.0.
Drop me a line; C ‘n C, or flame, doesn’t matter.
I’ll read which I chose. ~.^
Byakko@blademail.net
-135-
Meryl- 3 BLT dogs, 2 packs of milk, 4 pretzels, and one pack of
raisins. All together, it's $$12 and 75 c-cents. I'm surprised
you're still hungry enough to eat all this so soon after dinner.
::Vash- What I wanna know is what the hell you two are doing
here…::
Millie- It's almost like you've got the appetite of a growing
boy!
Meryl- ahahahahahaha
Vash- …… sheesh, are those two perceptive or what.
::'specially that big one:: The only thing saving my hide is that
she doesn't know how good she really is.
my, my… is that a 'first class' sign, Our Harried Hero
has just stormed past? has to be, since he's opening the door to
a private room…
Vash- Heya! Hungry growing boy!
-136-
Vash- I know you were trying to keep quiet about it, but I do
have eyes. You looked about ready to keel over from hunger. Here.
that's the understatement of the week. the kid plows over Vash
in a heartbeat, stuffing his face immediately and being almost
wolfishly protective of it. after a few moments, however, he
calms back down and resumes his watch out the porthole…
-137-
… into the black ink of the night, lit only by the
numerous, bright lights of the sandsteamer.
TRIGUN #5 Assault (Kyoushuu)
-138-
Vash- It's blacker than pitch out there… Too dark for anyone
to try an attack, don't you think?
hunger temporarily sated, a silence not necessarily awkward, yet
not very friendly either, settles…
Vash- Y'know, I wonder sometimes. Things like whether or not
our… arrival on this star might not have been something of a
happy occasion for us all.
-139-
Kid- --------- Never crossed my mind. I've been on this planet
since I was born, ya know. But you… you're like those people
who were around during the Big Fall of a hundred plus years
ago… an honestly nice person.
-140-
the conversation drops off from there. the Kid is still
staring out the window, dinner but a memory, and Our
Contemplative Hero picks up a cup to sip meditatively. the Kid's
words hit some sort of nerve…
Vash- …… !!
… and the sleeping drought in the drink hits like a ton
of bricks. Vash drops to the floor, down and out for the count.
-141-
quick as a wink, the Kid is back up in the ductwork, leaving
Vash snoozing.
Kid- Sorry 'bout that, Mr. Nice Guy. …… just one left.
Gotta hurry. There's only 7 minutes 'til the assault!
-142-143-
elsewhere… their lights dimmed to stay out of sight of
sandsteamer or caravan lookouts, a mass of trucks and armor
plated cars is teeming with… ah, well, I guess you could
call them "men", since you can't tell anything at all
of their features except for height. why? because each is wearing
the same total-body concealing uniform, complete with faceplate
that looks like a gas-mask bolted to a porthole rim, and small
tuft of hairs atop each that almost resembles a forelock. the
dark suit slopes from the domed head right to the edge of each
shoulder, banishing even the hint of any neck, and three strips
of bright neon run from pecs to shoulderblades on each side. one
man lounges indolently on the hood of an open roadster, standing
out from the horde of Mooks like a peacock stands out from a
flock of drab hens. dressed in white with neon strips everywhere,
even formed to the likeness of cat-slit eyes over each breast
pocket, ten-gallon hat pulled low over his eyes, and a pair of
huge almost keg-drum looking, er, things set at each arm, from
ear to elbow, standing out from his shoulders and generally
adding a bit of imposing bulk to an already imposingly large
form, the gang's leader bides his time. above the heads of all, a
single sign with the letters "B" and "L"
glares bright against the night.
enter Brilliant Dynamites Neon (BDN) and the Bad Lad Gang.
-144-
flicking out a zippo lighter with a flourish, BDN lights up
and takes a leisurely drag from a cigarette that looks scarily
similar to a Fourth of July sparkler, and the lit end sparks in
just the same fashion.
BDN- Hey, Beramy!
Beramy- Yeah?
BDN- Time?
Beramy- 2… 2… 5… 3
BDN- Okay!
-145-
BDN- Listen up, rats! It's just about that time! Seven minutes to
the parade, and we're goin' in style!
-146-
back on the "Flourish", the Kid sneaks quietly out
onto one of the smaller observation decks. glancing around, he
pulls out a small vial from his overall pocket, twists the end
and the flare lights up brightly.
that's just the signal the Bad Lad Gang was looking for…
Beramy- Hm? There it is, the purple flare. And it's right on
time. YO! HERE WE GOOOOOOOO!!!
-147-
where there was just ink black, a mass of bright neon spots
stands out. as BDN had said, the Gang is going 'in style' and
making no attempt whatsoever at subtlety.
Sandsteamer Lookout- ?! Captain! What's that…?
as the lookout takes a better look, a pair of roadsters leap
over a sand dune much closer than comfortable to the sandsteamer.
-148-149-
Sandsteamer Lookout- THE BAD LAD GANG!
…waaaaaay closer, in fact. Many of the Bad Lad roadsters
are actually between the sand steamer and the caravan. Looking up
from the perspective of the drivers, one gets an awfully good
idea of how HUGE the steamer is…
-150-
and it looks like the Gang's caught the caravan completely
flat-footed on this one…
Caravan Driver- ?! What the hell's that?!
…*fump*…….. KABOOOOM
Caravan Driver- YIPE!
…that, dearie, is a rocket launcher.
-151-
Mook- We ain't got time for you wagon shmucks! Outta the way!
it's not like the caravan drivers can do much to nay-say--
those few judiciously lobbed rockets made a nice dozen or so
truck pile-up that the rest of the caravan hasn't gotten around
yet.
Caravan Driver- Damn! Highway bandits that well armed?
Caravan Lackey- What the hell's the Big Man in the steamer doing?
Chasing them off is in their part the deal, too y'know…
actually, they have problems of their own. if the caravan was
caught flat footed, then the steamer turned around to realize
somebody'd pulled their trousers down around their ankles…
Crewman- Battle Room! ………?! No answer? What in the
world is going on down there?
i think they're all very busy being unconscious…
-152-
… the cause of which is floating invisibly, wafting in
through the air-ducts that maze through the sandsteamer,
ultimately sourced at a small capsule taped to the side of the
duct work, all put in strategic places by one little mouse who's
been scuttling though them all day…
meanwhile, the commotion has finally wakened Meryl and Millie--
Meryl & Millie- Huh?!
-153-
Meryl & Millie- What's going o--
WONK
trying to sit up, both get about four inches off the bed
before hitting the bottom of the bunk above them… that has
got to hurt.
Meryl & Millie- ……………!
Runnerby- We're under attack! They're coming in the rear
starboard door!
and they're knocking with automatics too.
-154-
but the door doesn't really stand much of a chance against the
rocket launcher the Mooks then bring to bear, and the men behind
the door last little longer. a way in secured, a mob of Mooks
troops across the boarding-plank and on inside.
-155-
of course, all the smoke from flying sand, smoldering metal
and steaming corpses provides a wonderful curtain for the grand
entrance---
BDN- And finally, the grand leader of the magnificent Bad Lads,
the ultimate band of raiders that rides the ocean of sand like a
dreadnaught, Brilliant Dynamites Neon has arrived!! From this
moment on, anything that shines inside this ship is property of
me.
only after his grandiose speech has wound down does BDN notice
he has an audience of but one; the Kid.
BDN- That was some really beautiful work, kiddo. Next on the
program is to get all the passengers together in one place, so
lead the way to the party room.
-156-
meanwhile, back in La La Land, where Our Comatose Hero has
wandered off to after getting drugged and dragged onto the
bed…
Vash- //thinking// A song… I can hear a song…
-157-
reality no longer looks like a fairly well appointed first
class room… it's now more of a wide grassy plain. a blanket
is laid out and a picnic basket rests on one corner. Vash is
sprawled on his side, famous red duster replaced by a white
t-shirt and jeans. dressed similarly, a woman with long, unbound
black hair sits with knees drawn up to chest. she was
singing…
Woman- …Are you awake?
Vash- …… ------!!
-158-
Vash- ………… Rem. ----- I had this dream. A
dream where absolutely everything was so terribly dry.
Everything. Even people's souls. With the world around them like
that, I kept wondering over and over again why people kept on
living.
-159-
Rem chuckles.
Vash- ----? What's so funny?
Rem- It's just that you're always so serious, even when you're
dreaming. Keep thinking such heavy thoughts all the time, and
you'll be an old man before you know it. Me, I'm exited that the
ticket I was handed at birth is blank.
-160-
Rem- Whatever happens, you can find the solution if you just look
deep inside yourself and see what you're capable of. That's the
best you can do.
no sooner does Rem finish saying that than the ground begins
to crack and crumble, falling away in ever larger chunks, like
shattering glass. Rem sits peacefully on her chunk as it gets
pulled further and further away from where Vash sits. Our
Hysterical Hero, however, is far, far less than calm.
Vash- REM! Don't go, please!! REEEEEEE~~~~~~~~MMMMM!!!!
-161-
reality intrudes with a jolt as Vash falls off the bed, into
the crack between it and the wall. it takes a moment for him to
compose himself, though he lets only a single tear escape. good
thing that he did take that time, too, for a few seconds later a
Mook pops his head into the room, gives it a quick scan and takes
off, never noticing Vash stuck beside the bed.
Vash- ……… what's going on?
-162-
moving back to the 'party room'… all the passengers have
been gathered into the huge dining room, but none of them are
having a ball. nor is BDN, for that matter. the take was much
less than he'd expected apparently….
BDN- Shit, is this all? Damn poor chumps!
Mook- Boss!
…perhaps because the passengers were smart and stored it
all in that monster vault?
-163-
BDN- Hello, hello! What have we here? And it's a big sucker
too…
that's an understatement… like everything seems to be in
this ship, the vault is gargantuan. the door is at least two
stories tall.
Ship's Accountant- You cannot open it! Not a single person on
this whole ship was told the combination to the big vault. On top
of that, we will not get the key for the access codes that go
with the combination until we reach our destination!
BDN- Not bad. I gotcha perfectly. So that means there's nothing
we can do except bust it wide open.
Ship's Accountant - ?!!
-164-
in the "Flourish's" bridge, BDN tacks a topographic
map of the area to the sill of the "windshield" with a
very large, sharp-looking knife.
BDN- Go around that mountain there on the right and then keep
straight. In five minutes you'll see a dry riverbed, there you
take a north-north-west course. That's where we start speedin'
up. 10 minutes at top speed, and we reach our destination. Enora
Cliff.
Captain- Damn you! You're insane!
-165-
well that was the wrong thing to say… that's definitely
gonna leave a mark or six.
BDN- Shaddap. The best thing for a piss-poor life is an early,
glorious death. And if it ain't done with flair, what's the
point?
my… now isn't that a wonderful sentiment. read on in part #6…
Continued in Volume 1, Chapter 6