S4E17: Unparalleled Encounter

'''Earth M573 is made aware of the existence of RAG, The General, and a far-reaching war nobody could hope to understand the full extent of. Meanwhile, their common enemy is preparing to make its final move...'''

Plot Summary
Dean Frederick demanded answers from the Sayan Squad. After hestiating and some infighting, the group finally followed the Dean to a conference room. There, the Dean turned on a monitor, and connected to a "Councilman Raiz." Their cover blown, the Sayan Squad answered truthfully that they were not part of the government. Raiz demanded to know who they answered to, and they replied with Amadeus. Seconds later, Amadeus was teleported into the room.

Raiz then asked for everyone's names, and announced that no records of them existed. The Sayan Squad attempted to explain that they came from another world, which prompted Raiz to ask if they truly did not know who he was. They answered honestly, and Raiz announced that he was a god. He and the rest of the alluded to "Council" were a union of gods that watched over various realms. For proof, he pointed out Amadeus' instant transportation.

Ketsueki asked about the "Dragon" they'd fought, and Raiz explained that it was officially known as the "Devil's Machine." He described it as a machine following the "demon's" orders from "across time." The Dragon supposedly was looking for his master to-be and ensure that he becomes the demon by taking him to the Black Tower. Raiz said that when the demon awakens, an apocaylpse would tear apart not only that world, but many others. Frederick added that that was the reason the ZEDs were founded; to try and route out the demon before it could become one. When asked why they don't just destroy the tower, Raiz said that it contained an evil, divine power that surprassed even the Council's own abilities, and that no matter what the Black Tower would always rebuild itself, somehow.

Frederick asked if the Sayan Squad had anything to do with the "mysterious object" Arquat had seen in the past several days, prompting a reveal and basic summary of who The General was, and how they came to Earth M573. This led to them bringing up the "illness" which Raiz described as a plague, stating that it most likely came from The General. It was said that The General was possibly using Sayans, and the Sayan Squad delivered the breakdown of what they are and what they can do.

Raiz seemed chilled as the descriptions of the Sayans matched the reports he'd recieved, and Frederick wondered if the "substance" they'd been finding all around campus, though especially near the dorms, was related. Raiz himself proposed a silent question to the Dean, and Frederick confirmed that there had been an increase of "indecent acts" on school grounds. The Sayan Squad had all they needed to take action, and they followed one of Terminos' spiderlings to a door covered in the terraforming substance with "sounds" audible from the other side. Frederick followed them, and stated that there should be nobody on campus because of the recent attack.

Upon arriving and subsequent breaking of the door, the Sayan Squad and the Dean came across the Sayan mid-coitus with several other male students. When the Sayan Squad tried to attack, the Sayan instantly used its sexual partners as hostages to buy itself time. It demanded to know how they could see its true form, but the Sayan Squad was not forthcoming. Ruairi of G Squadron decided to take matters into his own hands, and set the hostages on fire, removing the Sayan's bargaining chip.

Though it was later revealed that the students were not in lethal danger, this was not known at the time. As such, Dean Frederick attacked Ruairi, which caused Kanako to try and defend his comrade. In the resulting chaos the Sayan escaped out the window, and starting moving through the streets. The Sayan Squad pursued, and the Sayan revealed it had the ability to hijack mechanical systems. As a result, the Sayan wound up using cars to help propel itself further, as well as forcing many of them to crash together to try and slow the Sayan Squad down. The Sayan started making its way towards the Black Tower, but when it crossed into the military zone it was unable to keep up its lead on the Sayan Squad, and was eventually knocked down.

The Sayan had tried to turn the military against the Sayan Squad by corrupting their personnel and hicjaking their vehicles, but it wasn't enough. The Sayan was viciously killed by the Sayan Squad, and even torn in half. Unfortunately, their "heroics" were short lived due to Ruairi's actions, and Amadeus arrived with the Vulture to pick them up and escort them off-world while under fire.

During their return trip, Amadeus scolded Ruairi for his actions, citing that sudden, rash decisions is not how one deals with a hostage situation. Ruairi tried to defend himself by saying that he accomplsihed the mission, to which Amadeus reminded him that their mission was to investigate. Because of Ruairi's actions, the Sayan Squad lost the opprotunity to find some solid evidence linking The General to the Sayans, such as a pod from the Head. There was also the matter of RAG being painted in a very bad light, and not something easily recovered from. Meaning that if M573 was ever attacked by The General, the most RAG could do is try to repel him, as no one would want to be rescued willingly. For his actions, Ruairi was grounded and to be confined to his quarters.

Daisuke also scolded Ruairi, reminding him of a "Tarlach." This enraged Ruairi, who punched his comrade. After a brief argument, Ruairi retreated deeper into the ship, in tears.

Soundtrack

 * 1) Opening Theme - Main Theme (Sonic: Time Attacked)
 * 2) Questions & Answers - DOOM (Doom II: Hell on Earth)
 * 3) The Sayan Threat - Nightmare (Nox Arcana)
 * 4) Corrupted Hall - Infernal Train (Alice: Madness Returns)
 * 5) Hostage Situation - To Challenge Ashnard (Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance)
 * 6) Street Chase - Wily Stage 1 (Megaman: Powered Up)
 * 7) Regrets - DragonKnight (Mabinogi - Generation 18 - The Drama: IRIA)
 * 8) Ending Theme - Dream a Dream (Pop It Don't Drop It Edit)

Trivia

 * Due to a massive derailing, an entire planned second half of this episode involving a rematch against the Devil's Machine under the control of the Sayan was cut, as well as an explanation for what the Sayan was trying to do with the Black Tower.
 * SDM was originally willing to accept this, but thanks to a unanimous decision to engage a "Scratch" in order to face said boss as well as the plot information, SDM was only more than happy to re-do the second half of the episode. Its article can be found here.
 * Like the last episode, this episode's recording also failed for an unknown reason. SDM has begun looking into alternative recording programs.