Episode 1--"Flight Night"

[Prelude. Hundreds of years ago, there was atomic war on earth, an Armageddon; we see mushroom clouds, nuclear winter. "From the darkness, they emerged"--an alien invasion. We see armored warriors, like huge knights wearing cross insignia, fighting dark figures with swords who leap and streak about like ninjas. Humans, we're told, according to ancient folklore, called them "vampires". (--the European word is used, not the Japanese "kyuketsuki")]

--Present day. We're aboard the giant airship Tristan, bound from Londinium, the capital of Albion [England], to Rome. A young stewardess is reading a training manual for pilots when she's approached by a passenger begging for a cup of tea, with thirteen spoons of sugar, please. This, he sighs plaintively, should keep him from dying of starvation before they reach Rome; his expense account doesn't cover meals... she's Jessica Lange; he's a Vatican priest, Father Abel Nightroad. Jessica spills the tea and promises Father Abel a sandwich in apology, but she's called to bring coffee to the pilot, and asks the priest to wait. The pilot and co-pilot compliment her on spotting a navigation error and wish her luck on the pilot's exam; suddenly the cockpit is invaded by a snarling vampire, who kills both men (scornfully calling them "Terrans") and inserts a disc that overrides the ship's programming. The assassin gloats that the ship will crash into Rome, in fact into the Vatican itself. Father Abel enters in time to rescue Jessica from its fangs; the vampire spots him as a Vatican agent.

The Vatican gets a ransom message, confirming that the Tristan has been hijacked, and warning that unless they release all the "comrades of Fleurs du Mal" they have imprisoned within an hour, the ship will crash into Rome. The vampire hijacker is identified as Count Alfred of Mainz, a known member of that radical sect, and the Vatican does indeed have three of them in custody. Listening to the message are the imperious Lady Caterina Sforza, Duchess of Milan; her icy older brother, Francesco de Medici; and their trembling younger brother, Alessandro XVIII, His Holiness the Pope. The older siblings argue over their best course of action: Francesco insisting the ship must be shot down as a warning to Fleurs du Mal, even though it costs innocent lives, and Caterina arguing that such a violent act would shatter diplomatic relations with Albion. The Pope has no idea what to do: plainly the matter will be decided by which one manages to get the upper hand over him.

Abel and Jessica find the auxiliary control room. Abel says that since there's no way to use the main bridge, he and Jessica must override the autopilot setting and land the ship manually. Jessica protests that somehow the vampire had the Master Code, and no one can override that but "a programmer skilled in Lost Technology". This, surprisingly, the sweet and underpaid Father Nightroad is; he brings the ship under manual control with a few keystrokes and hands the helm to Jessica, warmly professing complete confidence in her ability.

Lady Caterina, now alone, is interrupted by someone: ah, Sister Kate, she says. [She's Sister Kate Scott: code name, Iron Maiden, which is also the name of her ship.]. The Sister--a hologram--tells her that though her older brother hasn't changed (let's not talk about that, sighs Caterina) there's still a way to win: the presence of a Krusnik has been confirmed aboard the Tristan. Is there an officer we can send at once, asks the Duchess, and is told that Gunslinger is ready to go at her command. Both of you support the Krusnik, orders Lady Caterina, and remember that we cannot lose more than 50% of the passengers. The pale nun dematerializes.

Count Alfred corners Abel and Jessica in the control room; Father Abel draws a gun, and Jessica holds the helm while the two fight. Abel is knocked out of the cabin and climbs to the top of the ship, followed by the gloating assassin, who taunts him with the tastiness of the passengers and says he'll drink Abel as well. But the charming priest's face has become very cold. You've gone too far, he says, and as the vampire lunges, Father Abel says, "Nanomachine, Krusnik 02. Release of restrictions to 40% authorized."

--you aren't human, hisses the shocked Alfred: are you the same as me? Have you thought of it this way? --asks the apparition standing where Father Abel was. Humans feed on cows and chickens; vampires live on the blood of those humans; shouldn't there be something that lives on the blood of vampires? I am a Krusnik-- and we get a good look at the slanted, gleaming red eyes that have replaced Abel's innocent china-blue--a vampire who takes the blood of vampires. He guesses that the release of prisoners wasn't Alfred's entire mission, and attacks him with an amazing scythe, a skeletal red construct that looks like frozen blood. Krusnik-Abel spots a missile tracking the airship. The terrified vampire blurts out that he's only following the orders of the Rosen Kreuz. He's then compelled to pull out his own heart, and is destroyed.

Abel, returned to human form (he even has his glasses back), tells Jessica that the missile is a heat-seeker--"more Lost Technology"-- but if they can fly low enough they may trick it into striking something else. She says that's impossible, but out of nowhere the missile is suddenly picked off by a single shot, causing it to explode without harming the Tristan. Clear, says a calm voice. Tres Iqus (TC III X), code name Gunslinger, riding shotgun with Sister Kate on the Iron Maiden; here in the nick of time.

Sister Kate reports to Lady Caterina that the Rosen Kreuz was behind the hijacking, adding that they're known to be Fleurs du Mal's hidden source of income. It's been ten years, says the Duchess of Milan, stirring her tea; the enemy of the world, Contra Mundi, is making a move...

...go on to Episode Two.

...return to Trinity Blood Episode Guide.

The real-life Duchess Caterina Sforza, 1463-1509, fearless Renaissance hellraiser; and Francesco de Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, 1541-1587.