Vow of Silver Dawn Chapter 47

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Chapter 47: A scene known the galaxy overa
By 国王陛下, Translated by 74translations
Notes at the end.

	Internally, An Ping's questions piled onto one another.

	Ning Tao really didn't know about the Xuanming? That had to be a joke, if he didn't know about it, then why run all the way here? Wouldn't it be better to just be taken care of in one's own home? Could it be that he literally only came here to make a game out of hunting people?

	Although that would make sense....

	A moment later, An Ping shook his head, and resolved to not worry about such details.

	"Pass what I said along to the Qinglong. They'll know what to do."

	Ning Tao seemed to relax a little, "I'll do that right away, though, the dedicated comm line is in the other room over there..."

	"Go for it, I'm not worried about you running away," An Ping said lazily.

	Ning Tao smiled obsequiously, "Run? I wouldn't dare."

	Though having said that, Ning Tao still made for the room like a fleshy bullet.

	Watching Ning Tao make a hasty exit, Uncle Xu said with some weariness, "Boss, the guy is obviously hiding something."

	“And if we don't pry, he'll work faster for us," An Ping said, indifferent.

	"And what should happen if those secrets turn out to be especially valuable?" Uncle Xu asked.

	"Then we'll just have to leave it. We're not here to fatten our wallets. You want to do that, then next mission talk to Li about it first."

	"Fine, if you say so, Captain," Uncle Xu said, disappointed. He didn't seem disappointed for long though, as his attention quickly returned to his work.

	"Hey, when I'm patching you up, would you sit still? It's hard enough already, I don't need you making it any harderb."

	"Oh shut up," Lü Nan said, angrily, "and hurry up and get this off of me!"

	While the two bickered, Ning Tao came running back, a square-shaped communicator clutched in his hands. Though the distance he ran was short, it seemed it was enough to render him out of breath.

	"I... sir... I have a... small request..."

	"Slow down," An Ping said, "Don't be afraid, we're not going to hurt you."

	The gentler An Ping seemed to be, the more worried Ning Tao got.

	"I... I can get you the Qinglong, but I'm just a middleman, I can't tell those pirates what to do, and if they found out I'd been compromised, then they probably wouldn't listen to me, so if you want them to do what you want, I'll need you all to play along.”

	"Play along?" An Ping asked.

	Ning Tao forced out a smile, "Well, you should've noticed that Dui-4399's actual defenses are quite thin, and that's because the defense of the surrounding area is handled by Qinglong. In other words, they're probably aware that something's happened here, and so to put them at ease, I'm afraid I'll have to ask you all to play the role of my... captives...."

	Ning Tao timidly lowered his head, and cautiously eyed An Ping for his reaction, only to see him laugh and say, "You're right, of course."

	Having heard that, Ning Tao seemed to relax, and in his heart laughed at his accosters. They would agree to play the part of his captives? With the guard down, well, he'd...

	Partway through his self-satisfied musing, Ning Tao felt a blow to his stomach, and the gut-pulverizing pain seemed to spread throughout his body, his vision going white, and he fell to the ground with a thud.

	An Ping withdrew his fist that had leapt out like lightning, his face still wearing the same smile.

	"You're right, of course, but I don't care. The task I gave you was to call the Qinglong back and have them return to us the Xuanming. How you accomplish that task is your concern."

	Ning Tao curled up on the floor, and didn't make a sound.

	"Try your tricks all you like. I've already promised you I won't kill you, so I won't kill you, but I know all sorts of things that won't kill you. I invite you to try them."

	After a while, Ning Tao's incredible pain passed, and with a frightened look directed at An Ping, he spoke, "I understand, please, just a moment."

	Ning Tao activated his communicator, and a moment later came a gloomy man's voice.

	"Chief Ning? I heard you've got some trouble over there. You calling to ask me to rescue you?"

	Ning Tao's face darkened, and with clenched teeth said, "That's right, some special-ops types have broken through your defensive perimeter, and launched an attack on the base, and made a mess of the Qiankun Security Bureau's best, and now I've been taken hostage. If you want me to continue to be your figurehead, then get the hell over here and help me out!"

	Though Ning Tao might've been completely at An Ping's mercy, his words over the communicator were delivered with all the hate and ire that would be expected of a superior.

	There was silence from the communicator, followed shortly by laughter. "You're right, of course. The Qinglong are, in the end, mere attack dogs for the Qiankun Corporation, and what good is a disobedient dog?"

	"Well if you understand, then get to it!" Ning Tao said.

	"That said, if you'll pardon my impropriety, if we Qinglong are just a dog, then what does that make you, Chief Ning? Are you the master? Or are you perhaps just the leash? And when it comes to dogs, is it the dog that's important, or the leash?"

	Immediately, Ning Tao's face turned red with rage, and though he gripped his communicator so tightly it began to cut into his flesh, he barely noticed.

	After collecting himself, Ning Tao managed to get through clenched teeth, "You're welcome to test that theory."

	“Haha, Chief Ning, relax. I was just making conversation. We've worked together for so long, no need to make a fool of ourselves... in any case, what would you like me to do?"

	"Bring the Xuanming to me," Ning Tao said.

	After more silence, the Qinglong man replied, "Chief Ning, I shall be there immediately."

	After turning off his communicator, Ning Tao more or less collapsed, but still made the effort to look up at An Ping and force a smile, "Please wait, they'll just be a moment."

	——

	Ning Tao's words were more or less accurate.

	Two hours later, a dark-green ship descended from the depths of space onto Dui-4399. Its silhouette was long and narrow, with a pair of powerful engines at its rear. About 20 metres long, it was clearly a multipurpose vessel, and although different from the Hongxing, it was no doubt its peer.

	Uncle Xu, who was keeping an eye on things from the monitors in the basement, whistled.

	"To think the Dragon's Head would come personally. Hey Captain, you know, we could take advantage of this opportunity and shoot him down...."

	"And then the new Dragon's Head would bring the rest of the Qinglong down on us, and blow us to pieces."

	Uncle Xu sighed deeply, "A shame."

	"Besides," An Ping continued, "Letting the Dragon's Head live is more advantageous than killing him."

	"Huh, why?" Hasn't he got some kinda blood feud with the Silver Knights?"

	An Ping thought about it for a moment, before simply shrugging and saying, "I don't know, it's just something I thought the Boss would say if he were here.... Last year, on Li Station, we had a scuffle, and the Boss had the chance to take out the Dragon's Head, but took great pains to keep him alive, and at the time he had said that the Dragon's Head was more advantageous to us alive."

	"How!?" Uncle Xu asked, "Hasn't he just been more trouble for us? He's stolen the Xuanming for one!"

	"Who knows," An Ping said, "the Boss didn't bother to explain, maybe we're just not smart enough."

	"I think he's being deliberately vague so he can't be held accountable."

	"It's possible, under Bai's supervision the boss has been pretty cautious these days... though the Boss doesn't generally make mistakes, so for now, the Dragon's Head lives."

	Uncle Xu nodded, "No helping it I suppose."

	With a scoff, Lü Nan cut in, "Don't make me laugh. Look at you two, so earnestly discussing whether or not we should try something we can't even do.

	The two of them opted to ignore her.

	At that moment, the green ship's hold slowly opened, and out walked the heavily armoured leader of the Qinglong, that man dubbed the Dragon's Head.

	The moment he landed, An Ping and Uncle Xu immediately stopped their discussion, the mirth in their eyes replaced with calmness.

	The Dragon's Head seemed quite relaxed, giving his arms and legs a stretch before motioning for a pair of his men to come out, who brought out a massive metal trunk.

	The men each held a blaster in one hand, with the other on the trunk, and followed close behind the Dragon's Head through the grounds as though they owned the place. Occasionally, the pirates and the Qiankun Security Bureau personnel would share a look or a nod, and seemed to be quite familiar with one another.

	Uncle Xu watched through the monitor with astonishment, "Behold, a scene known the galaxy over: The Qiankun Security Bureau strikes a blow against crime."

	Very soon, the Hongxing Squad was going to find themselves in the foreground of that scene.

Translation Notes
a A note about the title, and Uncle Xu's penultimate comment: Strictly speaking, the phrase used in the original Chinese is "Galactically-famous painting," as in, a famous painting that the whole galaxy would know. This is, in short, somewhat awkward to use. However, while you could argue that my phrasing is still awkward, I think it comes across as much less stilted, and more to the point, I think conveys the idea better. The Qiankun Corporation would like the people to believe they are effectively stamping out crime. Uncle Xu is sarcastically making the note that obviously, the Qiankun Corporation's anti-crime policies are clearly galaxy-famous, as evidenced by the Qiankun Security Bureau acting so openly chummy with Qinglong pirates.

b The original text uses "yinao (医闹)," a fairly new term that refers to harassment of medical personnel by a patient, their family, and/or hired thugs, aimed at acquiring compensation. A "Medical Nuisance."

肖恩 - xiāo'ēn - Shawn, Jedi Apprentice
莫斯提马 - mòsītímǎ - Mastema, Jedi Master
李钰 - lǐ yù - Li Yu, Commander of the Silver Knights
白 - bái - Bai, Li Yu’s droid
安平 - ānpíng - An Ping, Captain of the Hongxing Squad
吕楠 - lǚnán - Lü Nan, Hongxing Squad Sniper
许伯 - xǔbó - Uncle Xu, Hongxing Squad Medic
庄原瑛 - zhuāngyuányīng - Zhuang Yuanying, Hongxing Squad Engineer
宁涛 - níngtāo - Ning Tao, ex-Qiankun Corp Military big shot

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