S4E36: Exhumation

'An attack on The General's Head'' has been deemed mandatory. The Rebellion is preparing a massive assault to take on the warship, but one last obstacle stands in the way: the gargantuan Blackstar superweapon. Thought destroyed, The General has revealed that it is, in fact, in full operation. In order to destroy it once and for all, the Sayan Squad is sent back to the defiled Earth-M745…'''

Plot Summary
Two weeks after the Squad's return from their long voyage, Amadeus called a mandatory meeting. Even though everyone had rested, the tensions and bad moods created in the wake of the battle against Saiyo lingered. A cold, bitter and disgruntled Oneiros showed up late, while Lynna failed to arrive altogether - walled up in a room separated from the world by a harmful Nihility barrier. At Amadeus' command, Terminos managed to persuade Lynna to show up at the meeting and to decrease the intensity of the barrier so that it would not threaten the lives of innocent passerby, but the Anathemite remained huddled in a corner and as silent as the grave throughout the entire briefing. Ketsueki also seemed to display either ignorance or an unwillingness to be near Saiyo, despite him being the one to bring her back alive.

The Commander explained to the Sayan Squad that no assault on The General's Head could be carried out as long as the Blackstar superweapon remained operational. Indeed, the weapon was directed by the Head and could easily wipe out whole fleets of Rebel ships in a single shot. He thus directed the group back to Earth-M745, where the gargantuan installation was located. Their mission was to infiltrate Earth-M745, and make contact with the local resistance in Gensokyo. However, he did warn the Squad that they had been unable to contact the Gensokian resistance for several weeks. Success or fail, the Squad would then carry out an attack on the late Supervisor's Bureau while a Rebel distraction fleet would keep the defense forces occupied and provide cover fire. Once inside the Bureau, the Squad would need to deactivate the planet's Warp Net Generators, allowing the bulk of the Rebel fleet to reach M745 and raze Blackstar. As the Vulture had been destroyed, they would be temporarily reassigned to a new carrier - the Condor, under the command of Captain Turm.

After Amadeus' briefing, Terminos requested that Saiyo be left out of the strike team. He argued that the potential danger she posed to the team outweighed her supposedly marginal usefulness on the battlefield, even with her restraining chip back in place. A heated discussion ensued, with Arachnos and Oneiros joining Terminos' side and even Wicker arguing that, if the others really cared about Saiyo, they wouldn't send her into a firefight. However, Ketsueki raised the point that Saiyo's ability to scan weaknesses was a major asset in battle. Jack called Ketsueki out for bringing this point up (since Saiyo herself resented this power), but the spiders were forced to admit that the ability was indeed useful. Faced with this, Amadeus authorized her to stay in the Squad. He also told the Anathemites that if Saiyo were to go out of control, the decision regarding the usage of lethal force to subdue her would be taken by Vate, or another member of G Squadron in his absence. This was due to their obvious extreme hostility, and he openly admitted that after their recent incidents, he no longer trusted them to make a sound judgement in that scenario. He warned the Anathemites that if they once again tried to kill Saiyo without being given express authorization to do so, they would be summarily expelled from the Rebellion.

Everyone boarded the Condor, except Lynna, who remained in her corner. Commander Amadeus finally lost his patience and shouted that if she did not obey his orders, he would expel her immediately. This got Lynna to board the ship, but she continued displaying gross insubordination there, which immediately brought upon her the wrath of Captain Turm, a strong-willed, strict man who would not stand for this sort of things on board of his ship. Lynna's attempts to intimidate Turm failed dramatically as the Captain delivered a scalding pep talk, saying that she was wasting everyone's time and that if she refused to behave like a soldier, then he would treat her as a weapon and throw her out of the ship (knowing that she could survive in space). She was no more impressed by him than he was by her, but made a token attempt to obey his orders so that they could finally leave.

Upon arriving in Gensokyo, they found nothing but a massive crater empty of anything but dust. Analyzing the dust yielded a uniform composition, as if the entire region had been disintegrated so utterly that not a trace of the original materials was left. After some searching, a small mausoleum was discovered with a coffin inside. A disembodied voice commanded the intruders to leave, eventually revealing itself to be SDM. He explained that, shortly after the Sayan Squad had left the planet, Blackstar had been fired on Gensokyo itself, wiping out everything within the blast's radius. The tomb was built later the few survivors of the cell whom were outside Gensokyo to honor Patchouli, but the coffin contained nothing but dust, as there was no body left to bury. SDM's last fragment was also placed inside, to guard her for all eternity. SDM blamed the Squad for inciting such harsh retribution against Gensokyo and failing to destroy the true Blackstar, causing sorrow and guilt in many members of the group.

With no backup, the Condor made its way towards the late Supervisor's Bureau. Along the way, they observed that the planet was plunged into chaos: rebellions had ignited in many cities, and some were even gaining the upper hand on The General's forces. The cities were also severely damaged, and not all of it was from the battles. A severely damaged Pacifier attempted to intercept the Condor, but was repelled almost effortlessly. This state was chalked up to the recent death of the Supervisor, which had presumably left troops unable to coordinate.

However, this belief was shaken when, upon reaching the city where the Bureau was located, the Condor picked up a wide-scale transmission. Upon patching it through, the group was shocked to discover the origin of the transmission was none other than Supervisor Arachnos himself. Even though the Supervisor had somehow survived the crash of Giga-Suika, it was apparent his mind had not: instead of the usual propaganda messages, the collaborator spider was rambling on about disjointed and personal topics, like his hatred of the Rebellion and the Resistance and his near-death. The speech also revealed that it had been he who used Blackstar against Gensokyo, albeit with much reluctance. With the Supervisor's mind in such a state, the pitiful state of his planet was no mystery.

Captain Turm ordered the Condor rush for the Bureau, however the anti-air defenses proved too powerful, and as such Turm was forced to have the Condor land further out. The Sayan Squad had to push through the rest of the city themselves. They met up with a group of human resistance soldiers, along with Aiko, one of the few surviving youkai. After laying waste to the Supervisor's defenses, the resistance informed the Squad of a rendezvous point up ahead. Once there, the Squad found the Resistance getting ready for a final push against the Bureau. With help from the Sayan Squad, they were able to make considerable headway. Wicker also demonstrated his worth to G Squadron by taking a mortar launcher and using it against the Supervisor's forces, while Saiyo proved her training with Ketsueki was not for nothing.

Near the Bureau itself, assistance came from above as a few ships from the distracting fleet made it to Earth, showering the Bureau's anti-air cannons with heavy firepower and dispatching their own Mimic squadrons. This allowed the Sayan Squad and their resistance team to breach the bureau. Inside, the defense was as pitiful as the outside, as the Squad faced mostly tired and beat-down guards and only a handful of soldiers. A stray blast from one of the Rebel ships managed to knock out the power in the Bureau, surrounding the Squad in darkness.

At the same time, snarling and giggling were heard. The Squad and the Resistance found themselves sealed near the core behind thick blast doors, trapped alone with whatever was making those noises. A distant scream was heard as one of the Supervisor's troops who were unable to escape in time was viciously torn apart. A few resistance soldiers met their fate the same way.

Further in, the Squad managed to finally catch sight of the beast, revealing it to be none other than Desmond. He was horribly transfigured like so many other of the experiments performed by both Supervisor Arachnos and The General, now known as Project Fenris. He attacked the Squad with his blood tentacles and proved himself resistant to their attacks, that is, until they began severing and burning/freezing/otherwise erasing the blood from existence. When all of Fenris' blood was destroyed, Fenris promptly died.

However, the giggling didn't stop. Aiko began to theorize that the heavy blast doors were not meant to keep others out, but to lock something in. Further along, the team discovered a child's room filled with torn toys. Vate and Kanako were instantly alarmed, knowing the identity of the laughter. Before they could probably explain it to the rest of the rebels, however, Aiko was taken and hurried along down the corridor. The other resistance members and Kanako gave frantic chase, only to find her body cut in half outside the main core.

Steeling themselves for the worst, the rebels entered the main core. Within they found a series of control stations all centered around a core much like a spider's egg sac. One of the resistance soldiers claimed to have a basic understanding of the computer systems used by The General, and said the terminals near them would be of no help. Before they could examine another, however, Flandre Scarlet appeared.

Flandre explained that the Supervisor (Whom she referred to as "daddy") was not present, and she refused to tell the Squad where he was. She tried defending his actions on the world, echoing the Supervisor's own sentiments against the rebels. When she was asked how she could have possibly approved of the things done to her friends and family, Flandre claimed no memory of either outside the Supervisor. She also said she wasn't allowed outside so that the "bad men" would never find her.

After further taunting, Flandre attacked. Ketsueki nearly jumped into battle, but was held back by Saiyo. Saiyo had analyzed her weakness, and found that something was severely off. Namely, that Flandre's entire body was a weakness to itself. However, the ferocity of Flandre's attacks preventing Saiyo from explaining or analyzing further. A later attack also threw Ketsueki into a wall, enraging Saiyo and engaging Red Mode.

Flandre used several of her signature attacks, but when they proved ineffective, Flandre attempted her Eye-Crusher. It caused severe agony to everyone present, but failed to kill. At the same time, Flandre's body began falling apart, literally melting into a puddle of flesh and blood. Saiyo regardless tried to punch the liquefied Flandre, but the hand of Ketsueki brought her back to her senses. Jack unleashed a built-up charge he hadn't used, accidentally blowing open a hole in the wall to another pod. This pod, according to the same resistance soldier, did indeed have the Net Generator controls.

He set about trying to shut them down. In the process, he accidentally uncovered old footage of the Supervisor. Arachnos was observed speaking to nobody, implied to be the original Flandre, amongst tubes of failed clones, all melted just like the Flandre they faced. There was another piece of footage showing him doting on the one successful clone, and his carelessness towards her "playfulness" in regards to his own forces.

The soldier managed to bring down the Warp Nets, and the Rebel Fleet entered realspace around Earth-M745, initiating the true battle. Commander Nostrad himself contacted the Sayan Squad, congratulating them on their accomplishment. However, his transmission was soon overridden by another: that of the Supervisor himself. The Net Generators suddenly turned back on, and to the horror of everyone present it was learned that they had been locked out of them completely. The Supervisor boasted his victory on springing a trap on the Rebellion. With the Warp Net active once again, the Rebel fleet was completely trapped within Universe-45. The General himself responded to the Supervisor's call, sending none other than the elite Alpha Fleet to defend ''Blackstar. ''

As the Rebellion stared at their own demise, several ominous shapes started approaching M745's airspace...

Soundtrack

 * 1) Opening Theme - Main Theme (Sonic: Time Attacked)
 * 2) Briefing - Rogue Theme: Reprise (Star Wars: Rogue Squadron)
 * 3) Hence Nothing Is Left - Space Ocean/Echoes Of A Resonance Cascade (Half-Life/Half-Life 2)
 * 4) Tomb Guardian - Gotham (Duke Nukem 3D)
 * 5) Flight Over Bedlam - DOOM (DOOM II)
 * 6) He Who Refused Death - Dr. Neo Cortex (Genocide Mix) (Crash Bandicoot)
 * 7) Streetwar in Sodom - Guard Down (Half-Life 2: Episode One)
 * 8) One Last Push - Apprehension and Evasion (Half-Life 2)
 * 9) Into The Bureau - Kakugo (Street Fighter Alpha 3)
 * 10) Lights Out - Footsteps of Destruction (Fate/stay Night)
 * 11) For The Throat ~ Vs. Project FENRIS - Berserker Lord (Metroid Prime 3: Corruption)
 * 12) Stalked - Xenoresearch Labs (Metroid Prime 3: Corruption)
 * 13) Broken Toys - Environmental Sound/Silence 2 (Metroid Fusion)
 * 14) Claws In The Dark - Escape From Ganon's Castle (The Legend Of Zelda: Ocarina Of Time)
 * 15) Control Sacs - Navigation Room (Metroid Fusion)
 * 16) The Daughter - Nui Harime's theme (Kill La Kill)
 * 17) Temper Tantrum ~ Vs. Clone Flandre - Rot In Hell! (East New Sound)
 * 18) Safe At Last - Boss Defeated and Item Room (Metroid Prime 2: Echoes)
 * 19) Blood-Soaked Madness - Front Gate (OFF)
 * 20) Victory for the Rebellion - Rogue Theme (Star Wars Rogue Squadron)
 * 21) The Supervisor's Web - Rebellion (Einhänder)
 * 22) Served Cold - Dr. Neo Cortex (Crash Bandicoot)
 * 23) Ending Theme - Dream a Dream (Pop It Don't Drop It edit)

Trivia

 * This episode was an interrupted broadcast. The first part (up to and including the battle against Desmond) was ran on Friday, while the rest was finished on Sunday.
 * This episode was themed around the unnatural life/existence of that which should be dead/gone, which was suggested by SDM. The main example of this is the survival of the Supervisor, who has become even more unhinged than before. Due to this, his reign itself is in a way "undead", falling to shambles due to his lunacy. Clone Flandre also fits into this theme - a flawed abomination created to replace the real Flandre, who died during The General's assault.
 * The episode's production was rushed. SDM and Arachnos expected to have 2 weeks of planning for the episode due to a planned absence by Aurion, but the latter changed his plans on Friday evening, deciding to move said absence to the next week. Arachnos refused to have to wait 2 weeks for the episode to air, due to this the scoring was completed in a matter of hours and most of the music was provided by SDM.
 * As an example, the battle against the Withered Pacifier was supposed to have its own music, but SDM and Arachnos were unable to find one in time.
 * The Condor continues the theme naming of Rebellion carriers after carrion-eating birds.
 * Originally, one of the Supervisor's themes was intended to be Satsuki's theme from Kill La Kill. This was scrapped, as it was deemed too bold and heroic-sounding for his broken state.
 * The resistance ripping one of the Supervisor's propaganda monitors from the ground is a reference to Half-Life 2, where a similar fate befalls one of Dr. Breen's monitors. The Supervisor's speech glitching on his "Death is life" proclamation was intended to demonstrate the above theming.
 * The use of Silence 2 as the theme for Flandre's room was an unplanned addition by SDM. Originally, Xenoresearch was supposed to continue playing for this section.
 * This makes it, alongside Gotham, one of the most used non-theme songs in the Mythos.
 * The ambush of Aiko in Flandre's room (and consequently the addition of Escape From Ganon's Castle) was an unplanned addition prompted by the fact that the players figured out the identity of the room's owner before they were supposed to. However, Arachnos did intend to have Clone Flandre kill Aiko all along.
 * Desmond was chosen to be the midboss of this episode due to several factors: his connection to Flandre (having killed her in Another World In Gensokyo and thus caused Arachnos' transformation into Anarchos), his blood gimmick, which Arachnos wanted to use, and the fact that his wolf form played well into the idea of giving Clone Flandre a pet. His appearance was very well received by both SDM and Kanako
 * Clone Flandre, with Nui's theme, was supposed to appear back during the group's first visit of Earth M-745, but there was no opportunity to feature her, so she was moved here.
 * Arachnos is disappointed that he didn't do anything with the idea of combining multiple spellcards together to show that Clone Flandre doesn't play by the rules.
 * The idea of having Clone melt into goo upon death was an impromptu suggestion by SDM, while the idea of her having a defective Eye Crusher ability was Arachnos' way of not letting her instakill party members.