tiggymalvern | TriMax 11 Chapter 5 (Reply)

Chapter Five - Get Ready, Get Set

And still the Earth ships come closer. They get their first look at something huge and glowing above the planet, but can't see the details. There's a woman in charge who knows immediately it's something to do with the Plants, but she's surprised by the size. Seems like she's empathic/telepathic, but she can't tell more without getting closer. I suspect she might even be a Plant. She talks about Plant independence, and there's a lot of stuff about the black hair effect and the fusion of Plants and the way Plant energy works that is probably both interesting background and dropping hints for future events if only I could figure out exactly what was being said. But it's all complex sentences with lots of subclauses. Meh.

Back on the Seeds ship, Disco Stu collapses immediately after handing over the coin. (Points to

angstymcgoth for the name!) Vash flips. "Is he dead?!" Livio tells him to wait and see, and then Stu suddenly sits up again.

Stu's all "Where am I? What happened? Who are you guys?" Vash is yelling, "Who the hell are you? Why did you have the coin?" Livio wants to know what's up with Stu's hairstyle XD. And then Stu hacks up Zazie's mind-controlling worm and everybody freaks! I love that little grin on the worm's face *g*.

Stu has absolutely no memory of the coin or how he got there, and Vash surmises what the worm was all about. Vash snaps the case with the full set of coins closed and a panel pops off it.

There are buttons there. Love Livio freaking out in the background as Vash goes to press them. Yes, Livio, he is the sort of person who presses random buttons XD. It's a message, beginning with maniacal laughter. "So it's completed, Vash the Stampede."

It's from Legato, of course. He's impressed that Vash has lived up to his expectations, but reminds him that he'll have to challenge Knives again soon, and there are just two more people in the way to kill.

The message ends with Legato saying how much he's looking forward to their next meeting, and more maniacal laughter. Vash has something of a minor freak-out, with Livio telling him to pull himself together, that two people working together can deal with Legato.

Vash tells Livio that Legato will be specifically after Vash, and assigns Livio the task of dealing with Elendira. That really doesn't appeal to Livio, who thinks she's dangerous. Vash tells him he's entrusting him with a serious task.

Livio thanks him and assures him he won't let him down. He's still from the Eye of Michael, and he'll do whatever he has to.

July 21st 05:01 The Ark is back in sight, currently just a glowing speck in the distance.

Vash is leaving. Being Vash, this means he's sloping off without telling anyone again. The Mayor of December and one of his retinue spot him, and they're not impressed. Vash is busy defending his reasoning when Luida shows up with the rest of the gang in tow. Everyone's Very Annoyed. They've been looking for him all night. Luida's not impressed with the way he's treating the girls either.

Vash gets all serious. He doesn't know what's going to happen, but it's happening fast. He talks about saying goodbye to/separating from humanity, and how it's the right thing to do. He's talking about all the Plants here, but he seems to be including himself with them rather than with humans.

He wants to protect them. He's going back to the Ark, and he'll do whatever he has to against Knives. (Vash, dear, you look so hot down the bottom there, but I really hope you've got a better plan than last time....)

July 21st 09:55 Vash is about to get into the lift/elevator, and is being considerably more positive about the outlook than when he gave his little speech before. Lots of stuff about being strong, and how the strength of two species can hold out. Brad shakes his hand.

Milly pushes forward an embarrassed-looking Meryl. Vash: "Don't cry, Meryl. You're not really going to turn into a crybaby." (Or is that 'really shouldn't be a crybaby?' That's the gist anyway) They hug. Vash: "I'm not wrong about that, am I!?"

At which point Milly bawls him out for talking like that, yelling that Meryl's not just an ordinary girl, she's a woman of steel! "I get it, I get it!!" laughs Vash. "....Meryl!!" He kisses his knuckles, and she kisses hers.

They touch knuckles, and Vash departs in the lift. Luida turns to the Mayor and his aides. "You all know his name - Vash the Stampede?"

One of the aides drops his papers. There's a pause, and then the Mayor says, "That name... I think I've heard it." Luida smiles, and there's a bit more talk from the Mayor - if Vash does come back, he's salvaged his reputation.

Brad's ship flies around over the town, broadcasting a repeating message for people to please not shoot at the Ark when it comes within range. This doesn't please people on the whole, and a couple even start firing on the ship.

July 21st 10:20 We zoom into a military installation, with multiple sets of huge barred doors guarded by soldiers, and in the middle there's a commander and what looks like a really big bomb. I'm sure there'll be more on the significance of that later.

July 21st 10:59 On board the Earth fleet, they're getting their first detailed images of the Ark. They weren't expecting anything quite of this magnitude. The woman intends to take full charge of all military decisions and actions, and also says something mysterious about a Limiter Program in 36 hours.

Down on the planet, it's Livio vs Elendira ready to go....