S5E03: Return

'''The Alliance has been confirmed. Two bitter enemies are merging their forces to take on a major threat. In the meantime, some members of the Sayan Squad are going to embark on a small, unofficial mission. They will meet old friends, and there will be painful memories.'''

Plot Summary
In the midst of all the confusion and apprehension surrounding the Alliance, Yeshaida decided to give the Sayan Squad a day to relax. He lead everyone down a hall without saying what he has in store for them. This raised to some concern over what the G Squadron Leader had in store for them... until they started to smell food. Upon opening the door to a storage room, Daisuke and Maria greeted then with some chicken and potatoes, and two tables to eat at. Yeshaida revealed that he and his two friends did this for the Sayan Squad as a means of winding down, what with their time stranded in space and everything surrounding the Alliance.

Given that the typical Rebellion diet consisted of some black goo, G Squadron was more than happy to have an actual meal for once in their lives. They all dug in, some more eagerly than others (namely Soichirou, Saiyo and Hiroto). The atmosphere of the table was overall joyful as the group sat down and enjoyed a simple conversation among one another. The chefs received many compliments, causing Daisuke to reveal that he prepared the potatoes while Maria cooked the chicken. Only Shade, Jack, and Lynna did not eat; the former because eating is physically impossible for it, and the two latter due to their moods. Overall, though, the group enjoyed the dining experience.

In the middle of dinner, though, Jack got ready to leave, appalled by the manners and closeness of Soichirou and Saiyo, as well as how much his sister was taking after the Squadron member. This prompted Yeshaida to stop him, and reveal something he had intended to save until after dinner: there was a mission on their hands. Unlike their usual missions, this one was unofficial and simple; it was so simple only a few members of the Sayan Squad were required. He left the offer open for anyone to choose whether or not they wanted to go, but highly encouraged four specific people to join: Arachnos, Kanako, Daisuke, and Maria.

Arachnos and Kanako inquired why he wanted the four of them. Yeshaida was hesitant to explain at first, thinking that they would rather finish dinner first, but the two of them insisted. Daisuke and Maria also showed curiosity, along with a few others. Conceding to their wishes, Yeshaida stood and paced around the room, explaining that the mission was a search-and-rescue one. He prefaced the mission by exclaiming that the lost man was a valuable person and capable fighter who was thought to be dead; recently, however, the man's deceased status was brought into question. They were not able to spare the time to search for him and confirm this, but thanks to the weird situation the Alliance brought the Rebellion in, the opportunity presented itself.

Yeshaida then addressed why he wished for the four he named to come with him by revealing who the man was: their friend, their son, Sebastian Aurion. And their search will be at Earth M731, Kanako and Arachnos' homeworld.

Kanako and Arachnos almost immediately agreed to go, but Daisuke inquired about how possible it is for Aurion to be alive, what with being so far away from his Soul Stream when he died. Yeshaida revealed that he himself isn't sure if Aurion will even be there, but recognized that there was still a possibility, and believed that it would be worth the effort to search. Terminos and Oneiros concurred, and agreed to go with them all, as Aurion was still a comrade of theirs. Soichirou was on board before Yeshaida even explained the mission, thus prompting Saiyo to go, thus forcing Jack along. Lynna gave what seemed to be some semblance of thought, but wordlessly refused to go, warping out of the room soon after. Daisuke and Maria obviously signed up, the former desiring to see Aurion and his mother meet for the first time. He also revealed that had he known of the possibility earlier, Daisuke would've pressed everyone to go look immediately. Wicker showed interest in going, but dipped out soon after, not wanting to go on a mission that had a possibility of being pointless.

That left the party as follows: Yeshaida, Daisuke, and Maria; Kanako and Arachnos; Oneiros and Terminos; and Soichirou, Saiyo, and Jack.

The search party departed on the Gallinule, piloted by Captain Anderson. After some time, they arrived at Earth M731... at least, what was left of it. At first it seemed like the planet didn't even exist anymore, a black ball completely encapsulating Earth. The group powered on through despite concerns, and eventually reached the surface. They found themselves in modern Japan, and were treated to the sight of ruined, abandoned buildings and a near-complete lack of any sort of plant life. The ground was barren, and there was no wind blowing through the earth. Gensokyo proved even worse: the Forest of Magic had been reduced to two or three tree husks, and every building was nothing but rubble. The party could only barely recognize each area; such was the extent of the devastation the Nihilus Clan inflicted on Gensokyo and the Outside World.

One the Operator landed, he scanned for any lifeforms out in the world, and was surprised to find not one or two, but four living beings. Kanako, Arachnos, and Yeshaida were able to deduce that three of the four must be Kaguya, Mokou, and Eirin. This left the fourth one's identity a mystery, but they held out hope that it was the man they were looking for. Before everyone was able to disembark and search, however, the Gallinule's Operator made note of an incredibly poisonous air permeating the land. Those of G Squadron stepped outside in their environmental suits, while Kanako and Arachnos relied on their own armor, and Jack and Saiyo their cyborg resistances. Almost immediately after stepping outside, Arachnos checked his armor's danger signals, which all showed as deep red; everyone else also revealed that their own protections had some trouble shielding them from the miasma. The Anathemites projected a barrier to protect them, but due to only two of the three Anathemites being present, it covered a fairly short radius. The group had no choice but to stick together.

The Operator revealed that the immortals were due north, and so that's where the search party headed. They came across the dried up lakebed of the Misty Lake, and crossed over on foot. They reached the other side, which was none other than where the Scarlet Devil Mansion once rested. Upon this shore, the party noticed a tombstone dedicated to Flandre Scarlet, who died during the Nihilus Clan's invasion. Recognizing this as the tombstone Kanako, Arachnos, and the other Scarlet crew made, they took a moment to pay their respects to the young Scarlet sister. Daisuke and Maria also joined their comrades, recognizing how heavy a loss this was to them, while Soichirou, Saiyo, and Jack reflect on how they, too, no longer had a home to return to, much like Kanako and Arachnos.

After their moment of silence, Kanako and Arachnos rose to continue on, only to notice five more tombstones that shouldn't have been there. Arachnos went to inspect each one; "Sakuya Izayoi," "Hong Meiling," "Remilia Scarlet," and "Patchouli Knowledge" was what four of the five tombstones contain. The fifth one, looking more like a monument than a tombstone, contained a decidedly different message: "I'm sorry, S...." Kanako and Arachnos expressed their regret over the death of the other four, but soon realized just what the presence of these new tombstones mean. Remilia and the other three didn't die in Gensokyo during the Clan's invasion, but in Equestria at the hands of the Moonscald. Since neither Kanako nor Arachnos ever returned to Gensokyo until now, someone else had to have made these tombstones, someone really close to the deceased. Since the fifth tombstone's message completely ruled out the SDM/Factory as a candidate, there was only one other person who could've conceivably done this.

Aurion was there. He was alive, and needed to be found.

The search party continued north under the orders of the Operator, and found themselves climbing up Youkai Mountain. There they found what was only barely recognizable as the Moriya Shrine. Apart from the three tombstones dedicated to the Moriyans, though, the ruins of this Shrine were different from any other, in that a hastily-built shelter was formed out of the rubble. Within the shelter were many pieces of paper, which Arachnos recognized to be makeshift blueprints for a rocket ship, as rudimentary and downright terrible as the prints were. Along with these papers was a book; upon opening it, they found it to be a daily log of sorts.

The contents of the book were unsettling. It was clear in the first few days that whoever wrote this book had a hard time doing so. When anything could finally be written, it was one or two words sloppily written each day, most of them being along the lines of "Help," "Pain," "Guys," and "Save me." A few pages later, and the book seemed to reset itself with "Day 1 Again," at which point they found actual writings explaining the writer's time in this world, how much of a nightmare it was, and the things he did with Kaguya, Mokou, and Eirin. It also talked about their efforts to build a rocket ship to escape to Equestria, where they figured their friends would be waiting. The final entry described how they were going to try launching one last time, and how uncertain the writer was that he'd be able to maintain hope if it failed. This entry ended with one final plea to no named people, but was clearly meant for Kanako, Arachnos, and the Anathemites.

"Please come...."

The party deduced that this had to be Aurion, but before they could go on searching for the immortals, they heared a voice behind them. They turned around to find Mokou and Kaguya, somehow standing next to each other without trying to kill one another. The two went on to describe their suffering in further detail, namely how the poison killed them in one or two weeks and how painful it was, yet they made it clear that after years of being stuck in Gensokyo, they were able to adapt. This claim was proven when Kanako attempted to summon a bubble for the duo to escape into; Kaguya and Mokou flinched away when it got near. Soon, they realized that Kaguya has only a few minutes, if not seconds, before she passed away yet again. Yeshaida carried her and helped keep her from entering the sleep of death. Kanako carried Mokou, who revealed that they were about to launch in the Japanese town of Saku. It wass there that Aurion and Eirin were waiting for Kaguya and Mokou.

Arachnos opened a portal to Saku, through which Daisuke and Maria immediately raced through. Everyone else went through after getting Kaguya and Mokou situated, and after some walking they quickly found the launch site. Waiting for them was their, constructed entirely out of rubble and metal and yet somehow looking like it could fly with a miracle or two. Eirin was also there, watching as Daisuke and Maria greeted their lost son, Sebastian Aurion.

The next few minutes were full of joy and tears as they all reunited with their friend; Arachnos, Kanako, and the two Anathemites especially reveal just how much they've missed him. Aurion was overwhelmed and happy that his friends came back for him, whereupon Arachnos responded by saying, "No, thank you for not giving up hope," something that Aurion admitted was difficult for him to do. Despite the overwhelming emotions, the group realized that they needed to go as soon as possible before Kaguya succumbed to the poison yet again. They called the Gallinule, reporting the mission as a success and requesting they be picked up.

Before it even gets close, however, the JS Equestria (as Aurion named it) whirred to life, and declared that there is a threat to a mission of some sort. It then summoned tractor beams, one for each immortal, and pulled them into itself. A barrier surrounded the shoddy rocket ship, after which it declared in a typical AI voice its intent to take its creators to Equestria. After a countdown, the JS Equestria, against all forms of logic and reason, actually launched into space.

Yeshaida summoned four Mimics, one for each of his Squadmates, and the four joined their allies in hot pursuit. Much to their surprise, the JS Equestria was armed to the teeth with all sorts of impossible weaponry. Lasers, missiles, and cannons were but the tamest of these weapons, as it also attacked with buzzsaw arms, boxing gloves, and a minigun that looked far too large to fit inside of the ship. Couple that with the JS Equestria's AI, and this fight was easily one of the strangest, wildest, and downright most chaotic fights that the Sayan Squad had ever faced.

Thankfully, despite the JS Equestria being a practical war machine, it quickly proved to be no match for the experienced and powerful Sayan Squad. Realizing this, the ship went into "Last Resort Mode," and made a beeline for the sun with the four immortals in it. It was around then that Aurion and Mokou realized that since neither they nor Eirin created the weapons and AI, that left only Kaguya as the possible culprit. A sly yet weak smile confirmed this, and Mokou promised to make her suffer for it.

With the combined efforts of Arachnos and Kanako, the JS Equestria's journey to the sun was dramatically halted, and the barrier completely shattered. Terminos quickly teleported into the JS Equestria and rescued the four captives. In a last-ditch effort to ward off the Sayan Squad, the ship initiated "Throw All the Things Mode" and launched literally everything it had at the group, and eventually started literally throwing all of its weapons at them. The rescue party survived, and the counterattack was swift and fierce; Kanako launched a powerful light/lightning attack at the JS Equestria, and Ketsueki attempted to kick it into the sun. The heavily damaged rocket ship recovered just in time, however, to declare that its hull integrity was at 0.000000042%, and that it was initiating "Kamikaze Watermelon Mode." It flew right at the group, declared "ZEEKY BOOGY DOOG" once it got near, and exploded violently. While many were caught in the blast, barriers and shields from the Anathemites, Paladin, and others greatly mitigated the damage and knockback.

What remained of the JS Equestria was little more than rubble floating in space, and what appeared to be a hard drive in the midst of it. Arachnos grabbed the hard drive and stored it into the Void for further experimentation, continuously praising Kaguya as he did so, even as she was being beaten by Mokou. Aurion was also threatened for making Kaguya the way she was, but he quickly claimed that he had nothing to do with anything Kaguya did. Needless to say, nobody believed him.

The Gallinule arrived. Captain Anderson, refusing any explanation on what even just happened, urged everyone to board so they could leave as soon as possible. Everyone agreed and boarded the ship, but not without Captain Anderson making Vate promise to never take him or the Gallinule to any missions ever again. Aurion, Kaguya, Mokou, and Eirin all went to the medbay, which would be able to keep them from dying until they reached the Arinna. The Gallinule then quickly departed from the chaotic battlefield, with everyone expressing their desire to forget everything about the JS Equestria. Despite all this though, the mission was a success: Aurion had been recovered, and the fraction of the Sayan Squad were all the happier for it, especially knowing that Aurion had every intention of joining them in whatever adventure they were about to embark on.

Soundtrack

 * 1) Opening Theme - Gold Rush (Ancient Aliens)
 * 2) Hope for the Lost Soul - Mirrors (Tales of the Abyss)
 * 3) Briefing - Rogue Theme: Reprise (Star Wars: Rogue Squadron)
 * 4) The Corpse of the World - Unforgettable Feelings (Tales of Zestiria)
 * 5) Rest in Peace, Scarlets... - Centennial 東方 Touhou Piano 125
 * 6) Bitter Enemies, United in a Bitter World - 東方 Piano『Reach for the Moon, Immortal Smoke #4』- 玖原イヅナ
 * 7) Reunion - Mirrors (Tales of the Abyss)
 * 8) Absolute Chaos ~ Vs. JS Equestria - MEGALOVANIA (Undertale)
 * 9) Ending Theme: The Spirited Warrior ~ Sebastian Aurion - It Doesn't Matter (Sonic Adventure 2: Battle)

Trivia

 * This is the first episode where the GM was someone other than SDM, in this case ShadowAurion. SDM was involved to make sure that no contradictions arose, but the planning was done by ShadowAurion himself.
 * This distinction extends to the entire Mythos as well.
 * This episode marks the return of Sebastian Aurion, who hasn't appeared in a single episode since the fight with Vocus inside the Lunar Cell.
 * Ratatosk, however, doesn't make an appearance here. This isn't because Ratatosk is absent in any way, but rather because ShadowAurion forgot to have him speak.
 * There was an entire section planned for the journey to Earth M731 that would have allowed everyone who went to interact with one another. This was scrapped not due to time constraints, but because SDM carried the story along before ShadowAurion could introduce it.
 * This turned out to be for the best, though, as the episode ended at the usual time anyway.
 * The sorry state the planet was found in has been confirmed to be the aftermath of Vocus-Six's shadow magic, specifically, a spell similar to the "shadow columns" he used to devastate entire cities in Equestria.
 * It was originally planned that the tombstones would have all been made by Aurion himself after reviving in Gensokyo, including Flandre's. After realizing that the Scarlet crew would've taken the time to make a grave for her, however, this has been changed to insinuate that Kanako and Arachnos assisted in making Flandre's grave.
 * This episode marks the debut of Kaguya and Mokou under the control of SDM. It has been confirmed that SDM would be the controllers of every Eientei resident and Mokou as well.
 * Despite this, Eirin was still controlled by ShadowAurion, due to him using her in DEPTHS.
 * The boss fight against the JS Equestria exists for two reasons:
 * After how heavy the previous few episodes were and the upcoming episodes will be, SDM wanted to have a breather episode/boss fight in-between. Given how silly Aurion can be (as well as ShadowAurion himself), this was the perfect opportunity for such a boss right
 * Despite this, the episode as a whole proved to be a very deep and somber one throughout, with a joyous reunion with Aurion right before the boss fight.
 * ShadowAurion wanted to use MEGALOVANIA really badly, and figured that chasing a rogue space ship through space while dodging a myriad of weapons would be the perfect use for it.
 * The boss fight with JS Equestria is one of the only instances of Saiyo swearing, notably without being in Red Mode.
 * It has been confirmed that the JS Equestria would have taken the group to the wrong Equestria (the one in that dimension, as opposed to EQ4).
 * The very end of the boss fight had two references, the first being a reference to the "____ ALL the Things!" meme when the JS Equestria initiated "Throw All the Things Mode"
 * "Kamikaze Watermelon Mode" and the JS Equestria shouting "ZEEKY BOOGY DOOG" are both references to The Demented Cartoon Movie.
 * SDM admits that there is no discernible reason for Kaguya to be an engineer or to be able to warp the laws of reality, but he had her do it anyway because it fit her character and was funny. Her portrayal is inspired by her character in Inaba of the Earth and Inaba of the Moon.