Vandread Volume 1 Chapter 1

"One who hangs their head in the face of hopeless despair, cannot see the brightly lit future.” -Quote from an unknown soldier

Chapter 1: Men are from Planet Taraak, Women are from Planet Majere

Part 1

‘Women are demons!!’

From the speaker there was a hysterical address being broadcast.

A thin atmosphere and red soil. A canyon on a planet where no one could be seen farming, a layer of atmosphere clinging to it. From this unnatural scene, it’s clear that this place is a planet created artificially through terraforming.

On either side of this layer of shaky atmosphere, gun platforms of various shapes and sizes are emplaced. And, the muzzles all uniformly, as though expecting someone to pay a visit from up above, were all set up vertically.

‘Once woman ate men’s innards, ridiculed them, and drained the life from them!’

“UOooo∼∼∼∼!!”

With the voice of the speech a deep shout was heard throughout the base of the canyon.

Spread around the canyon beneath the layer of atmosphere, precisely reminiscent of a construction site for a dam, was a city built of pipes and steel frames.

Through what would be called ‘Urban Planning’ the layout of the cables and pipes was a far cry from disorderly. And then there were the rustic gigantic gears jutting out that were slowly rotating heavily.

Rusty, and moreover the uncomfortable sight of pitch black oil oozing from everywhere, as well as the steam generally wafting through the city, all gave rise to a feeling of oppression akin to being locked up.

At the center of that city, in the place that was apparently the plaza, a crowd of men had assembled. All of the men in the crowd had been organized into groups by by their various ages, with those in their thirties and forties being the most numerous. They each had slightly dirty garments, plain hairstyles, slightly visible stubble, and there did not appear to be any deviation in the level of their height.

In the center of the plaza in which this crowd that had gathered, an enormous bronze statue depicting the city’s founder had been placed. That figure towered over seven others depicting equally brave men of accomplishment, each with a gaze free of hesitation, their left arms were raised in a show of power as they stared straight ahead.

Shown before the figure, with height of approximately five hundred meters, an enormous pedestal stood, at the summit of which, illuminated by countless spotlights, in what at first glance appearing to be a temple, a spaceship had been enshrined.

‘Let me say it one more time! Women are demons!!’

This important address was being shown on multiple monitors placed on this central pedestal.

Illuminating a magnificently smooth shaven head and a rich moustache, clad in a military uniform crammed full of splendid medals, there was a hard faced man, a vein visible on his forehead as he delivered the fervent speech. A display on the lower part of the screen read ‘Taraak Empire Second Generation Prime Minister’, who was apparently the current leader of this city.

‘Throughout several millions of years of mankind’s history, since a long time ago, due to the ‘destructive urges’ of those hateful women they have repeatedly pillaged from men; because of their ‘oppressive nature’ they forced them to perform severe hard labor!’

“UOoooo∼∼∼∼!”

Coming off as a madman with the way he was clenching his fist as he delivered his fervent address, the Prime Minister appeared as though he was getting drunk off his own words.

However, even this could not match the swelling arousal of the crowd. Everyone, clenching their fists in unison, were staring fixedly at the monitor were a strange glint in their eyes.

‘Putting an end to this longstanding history of disgrace and subjugation, having reclaimed our dignity as men……’

“BAH!”

Suddenly, as the Prime Minister began speaking of the men of accomplishment they all yelled and stood at attention.

‘Graciously, our great founding father, it goes without saying I’m speaking of his excellency Gran Pa, the foremost of the first generation ‘The Eight Virtuous Men’!’

Simultaneous with this statement of the Prime Minister, the multiple monitors all displayed a close up of the aforementioned bronze statue.

It appears that the central figure was the one the Prime Minister called “Gran Pa”, and along with the images of seven others surrounding it, it seemed they were each known as “The Eight Virtuous Men”.

‘The revivers of men’s dignity, and moreover for us the ‘fathers of this world’, the time has come for us to repay our great debt to the ‘The Eight Virtuous Men’ who guided us here with our loyalty!’

The Prime Minister’s speech was filled with even more power, as his facial expression changed to one of hatred.

‘Even to you gentlemen it is common knowledge, that today the frequent wrongdoings of those unforgivable women……’

As the crowd that was gazing forward gulped, the image on the monitor changed to one showing a wartime documentary.

In satellite orbit above the the country of men, the red planet that was home to the Taraak Empire, countless space debris, that is to say a large quantity of trash, was floating; the majority of that trash was from the wreckage of spaceships.

As the imaged moved from that upper orbit to display outer space, a blue planet with rings like those of Saturn circling the top and bottom became visible. This was then simultaneously displayed on the television.

‘Our bitter enemy Majere’

This was the planet of “those women” the Prime Minister was speaking of. Judging from their relative positions one could say that the “Planet of Women” was the satellite of the “Planet of Men”.

The Prime Minister’s speech was overlapping with such an image.

‘For the first time on over seventy years our empire is being threatened.’

Taking the Prime Minister’s words as a cue the image changed yet again, showing various violent battles. Although there was no sound, it was easy to perceive from the hectic blurred images that these were intense battles.

‘Those shameless women have impudently started invading the domain of our empire. Naturally our valorous forces will not stand for such cowardly acts and have not dropped their vigilance, but when it comes to those cowardly women, though our empire’s chivalrous spirit turned the tides, of all things those criminals attacked one of our space ships that didn’t even possess any kind of weapons……’

The images shown gradually became propaganda, the voice was replaced, and it began intentionally inciting the target of their emotions by changing the nuances.

A merchant ship was crushed without resistance, the appearance of the wounded crew who were trembling in fear, etc.

And then, the state of mind of those staring as the display that was showing the video manufactured according to the plans of the military leaders, became on of enmity towards “women” coupled with indignation and enveloped by feelings of hatred.

As if to deliver the final blow the Prime Minister raised his tone of voice.

‘Gentlemen! Will we permit such acts to occur? NO!! In no way shall we permit such things.’

“OOH∼∼∼∼!”

Responding to the Prime Minister’s inquiry the crowd responded by shouting their affirmation.

Already there was no room for doubt that things had developed as hoped for by the military officials.

Considering the trend, one would expect the Prime Minister’s speech to become more and more emotional.

‘My brethren! My siblings!! At this time, with the second generation and third generation joining hands, the time has come to raise the flag of our empire, of Taraak!!’

“UOoooo∼∼∼∼!”

Again an audacious shout swelled forth. And then, it happened as the Prime Minister’s tension while delivering the fervent speech officially reached its peak.

‘Even if it is only just us that does not mean we will stand around doing nothing! Rising above our past, for our pride as men, so that we may woon tread this path once more, today, at this moment we have obtained a new power!!’

In anticipation of these words, a close-up of the space ship that had been enshrined in the plaza’s pedestal was displayed on the monitor.

‘Look!! This here is surely our new power, the symbol of Taraak, the gallant figure of the universe’s strongest battleship the “Ikazuchi” has been revived and reborn!!’

“UOoooo∼∼∼∼!!”

Together with the rising fanfare of the orchestra, giving a feeling similar to an inauspicious fate that had arrived on this ship, the ‘Ikazuchi’, ominous steam was spurting out.

Part 2

In each of the urban areas of Taraak, through which a feeling being locked up was hanging in the air, there were multimedia monitors and speakers had been installed, as a result of which the Prime Minister’s enthusiasm-filled speech could be viewed from anywhere in its entirety.

Due to the military authorities being thorough to that extent they were able to spread their teachings. Although, since they were political teachings, nearly all the citizens having gathered in the plaza, and as a result only the people who weren’t there as exceptions were watching through these.

However, there was one person who was an exception…….

That man was at a place where there was a sign which read ‘New National Produce Factory’.

Even though it was near the lowest levels of Taraak’s urban areas, the kind of place that it was said that lowlifes would choose to hang out, inside the dark vast interior of the sporting grounds were countless cultivation capsules that had been lined up in rows. Each of the capsules giving off a fluorescent light, and air bubbles would occasionally bubble up suspiciously within them.

The gender of all of Taraak’s citizens was ‘male’ without exception, therefore there was no other method to increase their numbers other than through something similar to cloning.

At the top of the facility in what seemed to be a part of the third floor, a monitoring facility had been established, which was about the size of six tatamis.

The man’s name was Hibiki Tokai, a mechanic who was lodging in this observation chamber.

Illuminated by an unreliable naked light bulb the room had been filled to the brink with mountains of rubbish whose function was incomprehensible.

“HAH∼∼∼∼……”

A miserable sigh escaped from within the mountains of rubbish.

Although he was called a man, Hibiki was only sixteen years old, and when one factored in his short height, due to his looks there were those who would call him a young man or even a boy.

He had unruly hair that stuck up like pins which was indicative of his rash personality. In what could be called his style he had forcibly gathered his unmanageable unkempt hair together by wrapping something like a bandana around his head, though this unexpectedly accentuated it.

As though he was remembering something, his round large pupils that still had their innocence were staring into empty space, and at the same time made it look like there was a rough figure eight hanging below his stubbornly thick eyebrows.

“……Such a thing, I really shouldn’t have said that……”

At that time, when all the citizens of Taraak ought to be participating in the ceremony, Hibiki was reminiscing about the original incident that for some reason made him feel compelled to make preparations somewhere else.

The event dated back to a few days before.

At that time Hibiki had been at his workplace, a factory that manufactured weapon parts.

“UU∼∼∼∼∼∼∼∼!”

Just then, the siren signaling lunch resounded, and the factory workers began to successively migrate to the dining hall downstairs.

There was an especially concerning sound coming from the large ventilation fans that had been installed along one wall that gave one troublesome thought that they could explode at any moment, and machine oil oozing from the factory was clinging to the walls. It seemed that the word ‘clean’ didn’t exist around here. Moreover, the meal that was provided was nothing but hard, dry pellets and water. It was similar to the type of feed provided to rodents like hamsters or squirrels.

However, when speaking of ‘food’, for everyone on Taraak who from the time of their birth had seen nothing other than these pellets, they were the only things to fulfill the dietary needs necessary to perform their harsh labors.

“A∼∼∼∼∼∼∼∼a, how tiresome……”

“Hurry it up already! Talk about it later!”

Scores of men had formed a line, their gazes fixed upon the three machines whose mechanism was designed to output only a specific amount of pellets. It was a never ending unpleasantly dirty scene, and yet for them this wasn’t unusual but quite ordinary.

Nevertheless in just twenty minutes the line of factory workers disappeared, as they were all seated at the stools and tables that looked like rough pieces of scrap metal, chatting pleasantly in spite of the unusual scenery.

Naturally, Hibiki’s personality being unable to stomach such things the same as everyone else, he didn’t compete with other factory workers during the rush in the dining hall at mealtime.

Today as well he was alone at this time, falling behind everyone as they were gathering in the dining hall.

Someone shouted out to Hibiki who was by himself. Hibiki however didn’t put on any displays of behavior towards the person who called out to him. At this moment though Hibiki’s habitual personality when it comes to human relations should be easy to guess.

With a displeased expression, without saying a single word Hibiki received his his aluminum-made plate of pellets and sat down in a solitary seat separated from everyone else. This was an everyday scene, but on this day something occurred which was different from the norm.

As Hibiki was taking his first mouthful, one of the other workers openly stood up on the table, and raised a loud voice that resounded throughout the dining hall.

“Everyone! Look over here!!”

With the exception of Hibiki, every man looked over at what was happening.

Raised up high the man’s arms was what appeared to be a part made of metal. As for what it was, it was something that everyone present recognized at a single glance.

“Whassup! You should forge’ abou’ work during break time!”

“Precise’y! It’s somethin’ we look at all day long, so we don’ want to look at it right now!”

“All day, and probly for the rest of our lives, we polish things just like thdat!”

That the others were fed up was not at all unreasonable. The thing the man on the table was holding was the only thing produced at that factory, a component to a humanoid mobile armament.

However, the man on the table didn’t falter even in the face of the jeering. On the contrary, he smiled and continued speaking with a malicious smile on his face.

“Quite so! Till now we’ve spoken of it. Dis is owr livelihood, the prided new model weapon of our Taraak Empire, one small part of thdat which is called the ‘Tsukumo-shiki Bangata Bokugekiki’!”

Imitating the Prime Minister’s bombastic recitation, the others present laughed at the man’s words despite not comprehending his speech.

“So wha about it!?”

“Drop de superior airs, an git down to business already!”

Seemingly enjoying everyone getting impatient the man again spoke up with the prior dramatic tone.

“Don’t be impatient, things like dis can seldom be rushed! For sure when it comes to dis, there’s no substitute for seeing it. However, when it comes to seeing it, the fact is we have only seen dis one little bit.”

At those words everyone present turned look at the part he was holding up. Prompted by the situation, everyone leaned forward, their gazes focused on one point.

Looking over, they saw that something like a small scratch had been lightly etched into the part’s surface coating. Thus, this scratch which consisted of a couple of lines, could be read as ‘ヒ’. Having gathered everyone’s attention, the man standing on the table again raised his voice.

“Everyday we are tasked with diligently polishing this part, but, because we are third class citizens it would be unreasonable to speak of us seeing the finished product of the Bangata in our lifetime. However. For the sake of us who are so pitiful, one who is the embodiment of a great man has said that he would bring back a finished Bangata with this very part included!”

“Oo∼……”

Not unexpectedly everyone stirred. The Taraak Empire was naturally a place where a disparity in social position was displayed between classes, and for third class citizens whose social status was of laborers, they were treated as subhuman. Although they themselves produced things, when it came to them coming into contact with a Bangata, the first class citizens who were involved in the military authority would never permit it.

“You must be joking.”

“Who in their right mind would be stupid enough to say such thing?”

Everyone present was voiced their thorough disappointment as they laid on the jeers. However, the man on the table had likely anticipated this response, as he spoke once more with a devious smile.

“The most stubborn person in the world, Hibiki Tokai.”

Upon hearing those words, everyone’s gaze became focused upon Hibiki. Since the military wielded absolute authority which could be recognized through the massive five meter weapons and such that they utilized, the ordinary citizens of Taraak felt that such a thing was unattainable. Regardless of whether one succeeded or failed, the very moment the plot was revealed would signify the perpetrator’s ‘death’.

However, the Hibiki in question wasn’t surprised under these circumstances, he merely stared at the part on the table with a glare.

“……”

Hibiki remained completely motionless, while on the contrary the other factory workers were all astir.

“Hey hey, isn’t dis too much even for an oddball like you? You little pipsqueak.”

“This is surely just more of yer usual jesting……”

“I’ve always thought you was a quarrelsome brat, but have you finally broken down and become a demon?”

Apparently enjoying the response of those present, the man on the table slowly thrust the part in Hibiki’s direction, and started trying to provoke a reaction from him.

“Surely dat is what you said……, you who are different from us, you were goin ter show us dung beetles the difference in our status.”

Upon hearing those words, the gazes of everyone present upon Hibiki that had merely been filled with compassion were erased.

“To think you were so conceited!!”

“Hey you, do you really think that we’re that worthless!?”

All at once they were pouring jeers upon Hibiki. Receiving all of that, Hibiki gazed fixedly at the part without so much as a tremor. The man who was provoking them was strengthened further.

“You are capable of something that big; bringing back a Bangata should be simple right!”

Already there was no one in that place that would become Hibiki’s ally. Without exception, everyone was merely waiting for the to respond with a clumsy excuse.

“……”

However, Hibiki didn’t move. Whether he was angry, or if he had been cornered with embarrassment, there was no way to determine which it was.

Having won over everyone present, he had furthermore provoked Hibiki’s pride as man.

“Oh? What the matter, you have nothing to say? I didn’t hear you.”

Hibiki’s hand was trembling violently.

“Surely for someone as prominent as my friend Hibiki-sama, you wouldn’t have been lying……”

As the man was speaking using such a tone, Hibiki interrupted his words as he leapt to his feet.

“I wasn’ lying!!”

Hibiki had his arms folded as he did his best to stretch out his small torso, sticking out his chin. This was a standard pose for Hibiki whenever he got mad. Indeed, even if it was true that he was short at least he would not be overlooked by the others.

He did his best to look menacing towards the men as though he were in charge. However, in order to not be defeated the words that came out of Hibiki’s mouth were said without considering the consequences.

“Well then, that’s just fine isn’t it! I’ll do it!!”

No one was more more surprised by this provocation than the person himself.

“Eeh!?”

Hibiki’s surprising reply caused him to swallow his words, but on the contrary it sent the other factory workers into a clamor.

“Oi! Did you hear that!?”

“Dis is interesting!”

“Attaboy, Hibiki! You’re becoming a gofer that will truly accomplish something in his life!”

“That’s right! Isn’t the commissioning ceremony for that brand new battleship three days from now?”

“OH! That’s also when they said they’re going to unveil the Tsukumo-shiki. During all the commotion there might be an chance to do it.”

As the scheme was gradually formed, Hibiki stood there alone trembling. As the other factory workers were getting riled up he was turning a hazy white, his face turning pale from the blood draining away.

“Ha∼∼∼∼……”