Noman's Land

Noman's Land (NOMAN'S LAND) is the first episode of the Trigun Stampede anime.

Synopsis
No Man's Land, a planet of scorching heat. Human beings live in a barren land of sandstorms, grinding their flesh and blood, relying on the Plant, the only bio-powered reactor that can produce water, food, and resources. In this harsh world, there is a troublemaker called Humanoid Typhoon, a human typhoon with a $6 million bounty on his head who will surely bring disaster to anyone who gets involved with him. His name is Vash the Stampede.

Roberto De Niro, a veteran reporter at the Bernardelli News Agency, and Meryl Stryfe, a rookie reporter, are investigating the truth behind a "series of plant robberies" when they meet a man who calls himself "Vash"...? A series of troubles and unpredictable adventures across the planet are about to begin!

Summary
On one of the Seeds ships, Vash is greeting the people as they sleep. Suddenly, an explosion occurs and an emergency is announced. Vash runs to find Knives and Rem and upon finding them, Rem assures him all will be fine. She takes Vash and Knives to an escape pod and gets them on it. Knives asks her to come as well, but Rem refuses and states she loves them both. She activates the pod, letting them escape as the ship explodes with Rem on it.

Years later, on No Man's Land, Meryl Stryfe and Roberto De Niro drive through the wasteland while listening to November Channel news. As Meryl is new, Roberto calls her a "rookie" and that she should drive more careful as she spilled his drink. Meryl reminds him, that he shouldn't drink at work and that her name isn't "rookie". She shows him her CV and explains that she wants to be a senior editor at the Department of News one day. Roberto tells her that this is No Man's Land, a brutal and harsh barren land where only the fittest survive, but that only annoys Meryl who tells him to stop patronizing her. Moments later, they car shuts down and Meryl realizes she forgot to charge the car.

The two are forced to proceed on foot. Meryl wonders if the Humanoid Typhoon really exists. Roberto states that people say you are done if you meet him and that he is like a walking disaster. Meryl finds his existence ridiculous, but is ready to spend years to get some exclusive news. Roberto then stops when he sees a tree with three men hanging upside down, which is typical for the Bad Lads Gang. Meryl checks one of the men, who is still alive, but his arm falls off. This surprises her and the man starts laughing. She finds him scary, but still decides to help him and frees him. Roberto sees that the man has a gun and wonders if he is a gunman. The man confirms, but states he isn't very good at it. July Military Police show up and Meryl goes to talk with them. They show her a wanted poster of Vash the Stampede, which she recognizes as the man she just helped. Roberto asks what he did and the police explain that he is also known as the Humanoid Typhoon and has been killing and robbing people, and goes around destroying plants. Thinking for a moment, Meryl confirms she saw him and points in a random direction, stating he went that way.

As the police leaves, Vash thanks them, but Meryl ties him up with a rope, stating she will give him to them once she gets an exclusive interview with him. If he is innocent, they will help him clear his name as reporters. Vash notes that they are very kind and suggests they go to the nearby diner for the interview. Hearing about the diner, Meryl wants to go right away.

They reach Jeneora Rock and Meryl rushes into a bar, asking for some water. As Vash and Roberto enter after her, the people get excited and happy to see Vash. Meryl wonders why and Rosa explains it's because Vash is the savior of Jeneora Rock. Rosa wonders what they intend to do with Vash, but Vash frees himself and states that Meryl and Roberto are his friends. They order drinks, but Meryl changes to order to water as they are working. She is surprised to see how dirty the water was. Roberto points to her to check everyone's glasses and Rosa explains that they have to buy water from out of town, because their water Plant is broken, and they don't have clean water now. Rosa asks Vash if he can look at the plant again.

As Vash agrees, Rosa takes them to the plant. She explains it malfunctioned a few years ago and Vash fixed it for free. Looking at the plant, Vash sees its red and explains its dying and they will need a lot of money to buy a new one, but if they don't do anything, things will only get worse. Chuck Lee of the July Military Police then shows up, stating he finally found Vash and that he has a big bounty on his head. If they turn him in, they will have enough money for a new Plant. Chuck then arrests Vash, while his men beat and tie up Vash. Roberto reminds them that he is a reporter and will write news about how cowardly the police are, suggesting they should resolve it by a duel. Annoyed, Chuck agrees and a duel between him and Vash is announced and people start betting on the winner.

Meryl doesn't believe Vash has a chance, but Roberto explains that being faster or slower doesn't mean you win or loose, and Vash isn't as weak as she thinks. Vash and Chuck face each other in a duel and Chuck tells Vash to draw his gun, but Vash refuses, stating its silly. Chuck agrees and throws his gun at Vash, stating the duel should be sensational and takes out a rocket launcher, and shoots up. His men note that the cluster munition he used will destroy the whole area and run away to save their lives. Vash tells everyone to get inside as he decides to shoot the falling munitions, however, he realizes he is out of ammo. Vash then starts yelling and asking people if they have 0.22 caliber bullets. Rosa has one bullet and gives it to Meryl to give to Vash. Meryl throws it towards Vash, but Chuck hits it with his gun. Vash chases the bullet and manages to catch it before it fell down the cliff; loading it into the chamber and prepares to shoot, but Chuck shoots Vash's gun, preventing him from shooting. Chuck then shoots several times at him, however Vash manages to dodge his gun from point blank range and then knocks out Chuck. Vash then takes a rock and throws it up, shooting it with the gun. As the rock gets shattered it hits all of the munitions, causing them to explode while still in the air.

Some time later, Meryl compliments Vash's gunmanship. To which, he replies how lucky he was to have done it with just one bullet. Roberto asks Vash of what he is afraid as he definitely didn't fear July Military Police. Vash then reveals he has a brother. Vash recalls that as they landed on the planet, Knives revealed he sabotaged the Seed ships, he left the Plant ship unharmed, but managed to kill Rem and made Vash his accomplice.

Appearances

 * Vash the Stampede
 * Knives Millions
 * Rem Saverem
 * Meryl Stryfe
 * Roberto De Niro
 * Chuck Lee