Editing Vandread Volume 1 Chapter 1 (section)

===Part 3===

There was no presence of people within the urban areas that were belching forth their usual depressing steam. From the multimedia screens installed all over were continuing to broadcast the rising tension in the Prime Minister's address.

The echoes of Hibiki's agile footsteps filled the narrow rusty alleyways of the metropolitan area.

In his mind having become defiant, he flashbacked to the words of the factory workers from the other day which had influenced much like a heavenly voice.

'You must be dreamin', after all we all are jus' third class citizens.'

'There's no other life fer us other than to crawl on the ground all our lives.'

He violently shook his head to shake of these words that would weaken his resolve, causing the ID chip that was dangling from Hibiki's neck like an amulet to swing tremendously. These chips that were about the size of of a lighter had all of the genetic information of every citizen entered into them, and were used to verify all of their actions, being a part of a system of control. That is to say, under this system, Hibiki who was just a low class citizen, let alone boarding the 'Ikazuchi' where the Bangata Bokugekiki were located, he wouldn't even be allowed to get near it.

"I'm not just going to end up like this……. I'll break through this, and not let my way of life be decided for me!!"

Hibiki shouted this out loud, driving himself onwards as he travelled higher and higher in the metropolitan area.



'From this point onwards entry of third class citizens is prohibited.'

On the large sign that read as such a small shadow was cast. Hibiki had already reaching the launch facility for the Ikazuchi. However there was still the critical moment of sneaking in to complete.

On the backside of the facility, Hibiki had come to a mechanical service entrance to which he first opened which the combination he had learned. Due to the extreme discrimination between social classes even this small door was equipped with security checking equipment. On the front of it was a spot to insert that ID chip, without which he would be instantly bound for an isolation cell.

To start with what Hibiki took out was what appeared to be a homemade device, its components being completely bared and uneven, with a cord coming out of it. At the end of the cord was a case that had been welded to the handle of what appeared to be a dagger. To be frank there was a meaning for this. Being as the Taraak Empire was a military state, the IDs of the upper classes were engraved onto chips shaped like daggers which were a display of their pride as warriors.

Hibiki inserted his own disguised ID chip into the slot.

'Beep……'

With trembling hands he flipped the switch and the ID data began to fluctuate. His tension has been rising from the instant he had inserted the chip he had prepared for this situation into the security machine's case. He shouldn't have made any mistakes in his planning, however Hibiki's forehead was nevertheless coated in cold sweat.

'Beeeeeeep!'

Together with a green indicator light the security machine let out a 'Social position is accepted'. For the first time Hibiki, whose mouth had become stiff, put on a smile.



As Hibiki was making his frantic attempt at infiltration, the Prime Minister was still continuing his address.

The man himself stood within the warship 'Ikazuchi', which was in the old section of warship. For the sake of the commemoration ceremony, the rapidly assembled meeting grounds which had been decorated with ornaments was now surrounded by flame cauldrons along its perimeter. In the center was the Taraak crest along with a life-sized statue of of Grand Pa, at the based of which was a platform from which the address continued to be delivered.

"Being the symbol of our wisdom, the proud ship 'Ikazuchi' which brought us to this land that fathered this family, has now been resurrected here!"

In addition to the broadcast cameras that were before his eyes there were also a group of generally young people lined up before him. They who appeared to all be less than twenty years old were wearing brand new military uniforms, and were tensely standing almost perfectly still and straight. Like that the Prime Minister faced them all and shouted.

"On this good day you young men of the third generation will carry the future of Taraak as you are permitted to report to your battleship as newly commissioned officers!"

The expressions of everyone stiffened once again in response to those words. At this audacious hour Bart Garsus was stifling a yawn, while the one who wasn't displaying how completely perturbed he was by these proceedings was Duero McFile.

Both of them will become characters of great influence later in this story, but right now they had no way of knowing such things.



At the time that young men of the same approximate age were receiving the blessing of the entire country, Hibiki had already arrived at the pedestal where the 'Ikazuchi' was enshrined. It was more than he had expected. As the Prime Minister was delivering adoration with his speech, he himself was hidden from the officers preparing the ship for launch thanks to the vast amount of steam.

"Uhooo∼h, sheesh……"

Upon seeing the huge figure of the 'Ikazuchi' for the first time Hibiki reflexively had stopped walking.

There were enough crisscrossing supply cables that he couldn't see them in their entirety due to 'that' which was a thousand meters wide. Since that huge thing was going to be launched into space, the preparations underway were not at all trivial. Due to the steam that was violently gushing out he was hidden from the restlessly working laborers.

Mixing in with all the tumult, Hibiki clung to the conveyor belt carrying supplies, and was able to successfully invade the interior of the warship.



The inside of the warship 'Ikazuchi', compared to the impression from the enormous external appearance, was even more complex. There were two areas called 'Old Warship Section' and the 'New Warship Section' which were plainly different in styling. The reason they were called this was that this warship, originally, was apparently made by adding a brand new warship section. The 'Old Warship Section' as it was called was the original ship that it was attached to, though currently the majority of it wasn't being used.

Hibiki who had advanced into the residential area of the New Warship Section was glimpsing more and more of the Prime Minister's speech which was being shown on the communication panels inside of the ship, slipping behind the crew standing in front of the monitors at attention as he ran towards the 'Old Warship Section Hanger' that had been dedicated for launching the Bangata Bokugekiki.



"Ha, ha……geez, I knew infiltrating something this huge wouldn't be easy, but still it's a pain actually having to walk it……"

Having been composed at the outset, having successfully come further than expected, Hibiki's excessive grumbling had emerged. Although he would hesitate here and there, Hibiki who had been able to motivate himself to push on despite being out of breath, and while tripping over his own feet, he finally managed to reach the the place he recalled as being labeled 'The Old Warship Section Hanger'.



'After the iris pattern verification, complete the palm print scanner and the sweat analyses comparisons.'

This was what was displayed; thus far he had so far been able to successfully bypass the complex and strict automatic checks at the security gate since he had expected them. However, Hibiki was not in the least bit perturbed, as he then pulled the next item out of his bag. First, for the provision for the machine that read the iris of one's eye, he placed a contact lens with a complex vein pattern he'd applied into his eye, and placed his eye before the scanner.

'Pi∼∼∼∼!!'

Finding nothing suspicious, the machine displayed the two characters 'Approved' {TN: In Japanese it's written with two characters. Should be obvious but I'll mention it anyway.}, and then the instruction 'Complete  palm print scan with thirty seconds' popped up. Apparently pleased with this, Hibiki's attitude appeared completely composed.

"Hehe……I understand. Well then it looks like even I can only keep the momentum going at this point……"

Even as he said this, Hibiki's hands were already retrieving the item from the bag for this purpose.

"It's a good thing I did my homework."

What he produced as he said this was a thin rubber glove and a small spray bottle. Just like the contact lens, the glove had been carved with vein patterns for the sake of perturbing his palm print, while the spray he had prepared was a type of liquid medicine for the sake of making it believe it was someone else's sweat.

"All that vacation time I spent coming up with this little trick……"

As Hibiki was singing his own praises, at that point he placed his palm that he had sprayed the liquid medicine on on the security gate while wearing a composed expression, and in the next moment.

'Pubu∼∼∼∼!!'

Together with the rejection alert, a warning indication reading 'Incompatible palm print, reenter within 30 seconds' popped up. As a result of the rhythmic beat that began at this point Hibiki began shaking in his panic.

"Eh!? W-why!?"

Staring at his own rejected palm, he broke out in cold sweat. He tried stretching out the glove's wrinkles once again, but no matter how many times he applied the spray on it it wasn't authorized.

"What the heck is wrong with it!"

Irritated, Hibiki waved his hand, struck the mechanism, already he was no longer acting in a meaningful way. As he tried doing this and that the security machine's countdown proceeded in a cool-headed manner.

Unexpectedly cornered, Hibiki tried a last chance effort of blowing on his palm as the count had already reached the single digits before applying his palm.

'Pi∼∼∼∼!!'

Like that, at last the machine let out an affirmative sound, and the indicator 'Social status inquiry completed, unlocking' popped up.

"Fu∼h……"

Hibiki had reflexively let out a sigh of relief. Having let out that serious sound, he proceeded into the hanger through the gate that had opened.

Gazing intently as his surroundings, Hibiki allowed his lips to slacken in a grin in spite of the cold sweat still on his forehead. Taking on his usual victory pose of crossing his arms, he suddenly stuck out his chin and muttered.

"Heh……, how do like that, an easy victory."