S4E17(a): Unparalleled Encounter (alternate cut)

'''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 apocalypse 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 surpassed 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 received, 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. The Sayan had a very distinct flatworm-like appearance, prompting Saiyo to ask Jack if it resembled what she called "Hijacker Slugs," creatures capable of controlling electronic and mechanical systems. When the Sayan Squad tried to attack, the Sayan instantly used its sexual partners as hostages to buy itself time. It asked to know how they could see its true form, but the Sayan Squad was not forthcoming. The Sayan Squad tried to intimidate the Sayan, telling it they already knew what it was planning to do. This resulted in genuine confusion from the Sayan, who reminded them of the hostages it held. It once more demanded answers, and was told that they came from another world. They also revealed that they had encountered another like it before, which inadvertently gave the Sayan the information it wanted. It mentioned something about a sending off a signal, but then Ruairi stepped up, burning the hostages with illusionary flame.

It wasn't immediately known it was illusionary, however, and the Sayan dropped the hostages as a result, breaking out of the window and fleeing into the city. The Dean attacked Ruairi but was defended by Kanako, and the illusionary fire died down. This did little to help Frederick's current view of the Sayan Squad, resulting in them apologizing profusely as they all left to pursue the Sayan. Amadeus himself started to make his way back to the Vulture to monitor the situation.

The Sayan managed to stay one step ahead of the Sayan Squad due to its early lead, and made its way towards the Black Tower. After passing the military perimeter, it rewrote the minds of the soldiers, causing them to go berserk on the incoming Sayan Squad. The Sayan then landed on top of a jeep, activating its systems and taking control of the vehicle. It was thus proven that Sayans maintain their original abilities from before they were transformed into Sayans.

The Sayan sped the jeep into the tower, and the Sayan Squad attempted to force the jeep to crash. But the Sayan ejected itself in time, making it to the tower. However, there was no entrance, so it appeared cornered. Ruairi and Olyn tried to smash it into the wall, but this only helped the creature as it absorbed itself into the Tower's mechanical systems. Red clouds began to form a vortex around the tower as large fleshy growths appeared along the exterior. It began to flicker between its "off" and "on" state, represented as a golden light shining off the tower.

Amadeus reported that they were detecting Nihility coming from within the Tower, and that it was growing by the second. The signature appeared to be shaping itself into a transmission, and though Amadeus couldn't decipher what the message was, he did say that with its growing strength it would soon be able to transmit across the dimensional barrier to whatever universe it wanted. Given their suspicions about who was controlling the Sayans, this was deemed undesirable. Amadeus found a weak point in the tower's structure, possibly an entrance near the top.

The Sayan Squad launched into the air to try and reach the entrance, but were suddenly attacked from the Tower itself. It had exterior turret defenses, and they appeared to fire Nihility beams. This slowed the Squad's ascent significantly, with the Anathemites having to use their own Nihility to protect the rest. Eventually a small rectangular doorway was seen cut into the side of the Tower, a small landing outside it. This entrance was too small to fit the Mimics, so Vate ordered G Squadron to dismount. However, he told Maria to take Ruairi back to the Vulture, unwilling to put up with his disregard for orders any longer.

Once inside, they found the Sayan having taken control of a large machine in the center of the room. The Sayan was attacked and dislodged, but damaged the machine in the process. This set the Black Tower in defensive mode, and internal guns pulled themselves from the wall. The Sayan immediately leaped into the walls, taking control of the turrets while the damaged machine began to lower itself into a monstrous shaft.

After discovering the guns weren't harming the Sayan Squad, the Sayan launched itself from the wall and onto Aedelwulf, where it rewired his brain. Now seeing everyone as Sayans, a confused Aedelwulf went on the offensive, attacking all within his sight. Not even trying to trick his sight by appearing monstrous seemed to help, and he only interpreted it as the Sayan changing its appearance. Aedelwulf eventually had to be knocked out, done through the combined efforts of Ketsueki and Ken. The Sayan, meanwhile, attempted to repeat its performance on Daisuke, but was thrown off before it could do so. It was attacked and nearly killed, and it retreated through the railings, hiding underneath the walkway.

A new machine had replaced the former one in the center of the room, rising out of it. It turned out to be the core of the Devil's Machine, and the Sayan took the opportunity to hijack it. Unpurified gel began to fall onto the Sayan-controlled Dragon, causing instability in the Tower. Realizing that they were in a bad position, the Sayan Squad fled through a portal made by Terminos, leading them back outside. The Dragon gave chase, destroying the upper levels of the Black Tower to free itself.

With the Dragon activated, red clouds has formed another vortex above the Tower, while it finally settled on glowing a scarlet color, showing its corruption. Amadeus informed the Sayan Squad that while the signal wasn't apparent any longer, the Nihility power was still growing. Realizing that the Sayan could still go back to the Tower, they prepared to face the dragon once again, Vate calling in the Mimics.

At first the Sayan seemed uncomfortable with the Devil's Machine, uncertain of its abilities and using it more as a slow-moving powerhouse. Over time, however, the Sayan began to learn what it had taken better, and eventually began employing creative tactics that forced the Sayan Squad onto the defensive. However, it still suffered damage of its own, and was seemingly finished off when the Vulture arrived, raining heavy fire down onto it.

The Sayan and the core were still alive, however, but by now the Sayan realized that it had lost. It made an apology to its "queen," and then said it might have failed its mission in establishing a "new homeworld,", but would return with something else. With that, the Sayan took the Dragon into the air, intending to leave the planet. Amadeus ordered the Sayan Squad to pursue, while he investigated something the Vulture just discovered.

High in the air, the Sayan was using one of the Dragon's flame cannons as a thruster, propelling it into space. The Sayan Squad relentlessly attacked the machine as it ascended, with Arachnos setting Executioner to self-destruct, inflicting massive damage to the Sayan and its machine. The invader eventually became persuaded that fighting was its only option. Absorbing a boulder fired from a conscious Aedelwulf, the Sayan used fire, ice, and earth to form the Dragon into a final fighting form. The core was protected by armor made of metal and hardened gel, but this was broken when it was discovered that the boulders fired form its cannons were no longer subject to its control after leaving the barrel.

This led to Kanako, Olyn, and Aedelwulf into smashing the Dragon with its own rocks, shattering the armor, which opened itself up to a final blow. The Devil's Machine was blown apart and the Sayan was sent into freefall. It was impaled on a sword by Terminos and then set alight by Kanako, roasting it alive. They reported their success to Amadeus, who told them to get down to see what they had found.

Amadeus and the Vulture were near the outskirts of Arquat, standing near an object sticking out of the ground. This object was a pod from none other than The General's Head, The General's emblem still visible on it. It was also half covered in the terraforming substance, confirming that this was indeed where the Sayan originated. There was now no longer any doubt about The General's involvement with the Sayans, and Amadeus told everyone to assume the worst. The Sayan Squad's first task completed, they boarded the Vulture once again, and departed to begin working on determining how to tackle The General's project.

During their return trip, Amadeus scolded Ruairi for his actions, citing that sudden, rash decisions is not how one deals with a hostage situation. 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) Scaling the Tower - Dam Darium (Sonic Zeta Overdrive remix)
 * 8) Battle in the Tower - Wily Stage Boss (Megaman Powered Up)
 * 9) Malicious Ideas - Wily's Scheme (Megaman Powered Up)
 * 10) Malicious Transformation - Shadow Devil (Megaman X5)
 * 11) The Sayan's Devil - Final Battle Part 2 (Megaman Powered Up)
 * 12) Ascending Finale - Final Battle (Rockman 6 Complete Works)
 * 13) Victory - Main Theme (Star Wars: Rogue Squadron III: Rebel Strike)
 * 14) The Pod - Pinwheel (Dark Souls)
 * 15) Regrets - DragonKnight (Mabinogi - Generation 18 - The Drama: IRIA)
 * 16) Ending Theme - Dream a Dream (Pop It Don't Drop It Edit)

Trivia

 * This episode was the result of a "Scratch," a re-doing of the second part of this episode. This allowed for the dispensing of certain information, such as the queen and confirmation of The General's involvement. However, the other version of this episode has not been ejected from the canon, and both retain a semi-canon status. As such, even where contradictory, references will be made to both versions of events.
 * This episode's recording was a success, unlike the previous two attempts.