The General's Head

The General's Head is a colossal, jumpdrive-enabled warship considered to be one of, if not the, strongest vessels to ever be constructed, and is The General's personal flagship. Roughly the size of a city and armed with enough weapons to turn any fortress or enemy ship into gravel, The General's Head flies as the ultimate symbol of The General's power and dominance.

In most of its appearances, it is seen with The General himself, and is his main transport of choice.

Characteristics
The General's Head is consistently described being roughly the size of a city. When it appears in Gensokyo, it is stated that its shadow is enough to cover nearly the entire valley, leading credence to that description. It sports enough weaponry to be the equivalent of an entire fleet unto itself, and has armor and shielding that make it a nearly impenetrable flying fortress. It is equipped with strong engines that can carry it at fast speeds within a universe, and a very efficient jumpdrive that allows it to skirt the dimensional barriers and appear in any universe at any time. The Head has also demonstrated the posession of a tractor beam, though it has only been seen once.

It is usually said to be dagger-like in shape, and the bridge sits at the very top of this gargantuan ship. However, because of the armor and shielding, the bridge is not considered to be particularly in danger. Two drills sit at the end of the main deck's several miles-long runway, though their purpose is unclear. SDM theorizes that the drills are designed more for the sake of making the Head appear more threatening.

The Black Star Cannon
Undoubtedly the Head's signature weapon, the Black Star Cannon is perhaps the strongest piece of offensive artillery in The General's navy. At only 75% charge the Cannon is capable of tearing apart non-physical barriers. At 50% it can annihilate a state-of-the-art Kizeki Corp. mechanical house. At 100%, one can only guess what it is capable of.

The Black Star Cannon's only weakness is its long charge-up time, which means the rest of the Head must defend itself while the Cannon reaches the desire charge. However, because of the sheer power The General's Head exhibits, this is rarely a problem. In addition, the cannon itself can remain within the bow of the Head until the charge is nearly complete, protecting it even further.

History
The General's Head was built in response to R.A.G., shortly after The General's return and conquest of his former homeworld. The General designed the ship to prove a single point: that he is the ultimate power in the Multiverse. Using the greatest recources and labor at his disposal, The General ordered the construction of The General's Head, the possible first of that line of machinery. These machines are named as such due to The General's personal involvement in their design, and the Head proved itself to be exactly what he wanted: a deadly symbol.

However, The General's Head was more than just for show. It was every bit as capable as its fearsome appearance would have one believe, and possibly more. Even Kizeki Corp. could not fully stand up to its might. It was quickly adapted into The General's Alpha Fleet, becoming the flagship of both Alpha Fleet and the entirety of The General's navy. The General himself frequently used it as his own personal vessel, using it to transport himself to wherever he needed to be and to oversee important battles. When he was not using it, The General's Head was usually left in command of Captain Withers and was generally used to either pacify uprising worlds, enforce The General's authority, or participate in battles deemed non-critical.

Xat RP
After the Nihilius Clan's and the Vocus Remnant's failed bids to eradicate Equestria, the Supreme Judge Valis Ail sent a request to The General, of whom the Clan was allied with. In response, The General dispatched the Head to Equestria under its newest captain, Mr. Hood, as a way to test the captain's commanding abilities.

Equestria and ERAC were completely unable to stand up to the Head's assault. Even the recently-depowered Anathemites could barely scratch the behemoth. Furthermore, divindg up their forces between the attacking Head and the last of the Remnant's forces did not help any. A distress call was sent out to R.A.G., and when the Rebellion arrived they helped hold the Head at bay while ERAC dealt with the Remnant and their comet.

After the Rebellion finally managed to destroy but one of the turrets (an accomplishment that took over an hour), The General commanded Hood to retreat. The General was apparently pleased with Hood's performance regardless, as he was kept as the Head's captain for some time. Eventually, due to as-of-yet unknown reasons, Hood was eventually released from his position and Withers was reinstated as the captain of the Head.

Black Heaven
The General's Head appears as the carrier for The General himself during the invasion of Gensokyo. At first it sat outside the normal space of Earth M717 and commanded Delta Fleet from there, but after The General saw a certain house using a familiar power, he ordered that the Head move in and engage the mansion. The Head and Hellgate were evenly matched, but then The General led Hellgate into a trap. The mansion was struck down by the Black Star Cannon at half charge, and then was continually blasted by the Cannon at minimum power.

Red Earth
The General's Head plays its most significant role in the third part of the ''Hellgate Gaiden. After using the Head and the remainder of Delta Fleet to conquer Earth M717, The General established his center of power in the White House of Washington D.C. As protection, the Head ''was left to hover above the city at all times, guarding its owner and the Warp Net Generator being constructed there.

When the Rebellion finally arrived, The General's Head became an integral component to R.A.G.'s Operation Payload. After a brief encounter with F Squadron, the Rebellion was made aware of its presence and location. They then planned to lure the Head away from the Earth and assist against the Rebel Fleet, after the Rebellion managed to destroy a Net Generator. The General, aware of the Rebellion's plans, played along, and ordered the Head be moved in order to help in the orbital battle. Meanwhile, The General himself tries to use the Head's secret teleportation system, only to find that he had been locked out of it by Commander Houston of the collection crews.

Houston, with his own men, performed a mutiny and took over command of the Head, forcing Withers and the bridge crew into escape pods. He then waited for R.A.G. to arrive, carrying his target: Patchouli Knowledge. After escorting a carrier through the battlelfield, F Squadron and a platoon of Rebel soldiers managed to break into the Head using a device called a Gap Maker. The Rebels found the main corridors of the ship to be nearly empty, despite the ship actively repelling them earlier.

The R.A.G. forces split up into two groups: the soldiers went to march onto the Command tower and try to sieze the bridge while F Squadron and the youkai team would attempt to disable the craft's engines. Houston's men managed to hold off the Rebel soldiers, and when the youkai made it to a certain point of the ship, he teleported them into space. All of them save Patchouli, who was left to follow a path laid out for her by Houston.

F Squadron managed to escape, and retreated back to their Mimics. Souichirou Kusakabe, the Wing Commander of the squadron, managed to obtain tactical data of the Head, revealing that it had suffered severe damage from its battle with SDM. Five fracture zones had appeared on the Command Tower, and F Squadron intended to exploit those vulnerabilities and take out the bridge.

Just as they left the Head's hot zone, its engines activated and it started to move towards the Earth as The General enacted his own plan. F Squadron was forced to battle the strongest warship in the Multiverse by themselves, as backup could not make it in time. However, unbeknowest to them, the Head was operating at a disadvantage of its own. Besides the fracture zones, Houston's men were not accustomed to the Head, being ground forces. As such, the Head's defenses were not up to par as the inexperienced crew tried to rely on the power of the weapons alone rather than strategy.

After Archer managed to disable the Head's shields temporarily using his Divine Bow, F Squadron was able to take on the fracture zones, detonating the Command Tower and temporarily halting its push for Earth. However, The General managed to remotely access the auxilary bridge and the ship resumed course, the shields now back online. The General then confronted Houston for his actions, and killed him as punishment. He then took Patchouli himself, knocking her unconscious and installing her into his newest creation being carried on board the vessel.

The Head returned to D.C., and using the Soul's golden cannon, began to completely destroy the Rebel Fleet. SDM attempted to fight the Head once more, but the Soul's firepower proved to be too much, driving him out of the city. After learning that The General had Patchouli, SDM returned and The General unveiled the Soul, luring SDM into a wager. The Soul dropped off the Head and onto the ground after he accepted, and proceeded to try and pull SDM's Spore out.

After savng Patchouli, SDM faced the Soul itself and managed to beat it. The General's Will climbed out of its wreckage, and after ordering Delta Fleet to retreat off the planet, the Will ascended to the Head and left M717 with it.

Part III
The General's Head appears at the beginning of Hellgate 2 Part III where it mirrors its role from ''Black Heaven. When SDM appeared, The General brought the Head ''into normal space and shot him down. Meanwhile, he invited Kizeki, Arachnos, Aurion, and Kanako to the Head's main deck where he tested their might against the Mercy. After meeting them in person and deeming them worthless, he threw them out of the ship and engaged the tractor beam. SDM was lifted by its pull and carried upwards into its cargo bay, along with all who were within him. Lastly, in ana ttempt to ensure this world wouldn't someday become a threat to him, he had the Black Star Cannon fire on the Hakurei Border, disintegrating it and exposing Gensokyo to the world.

Commanders and Crew

 * The General (owner)
 * Withers (Captain; Commander under Mr. Hood)
 * Mr. Hood (Captain)
 * Armstrong (Lieutenant commander)

Design and Influence
The General's Head seems to take design cues from several large starships in fiction, including the Halberd from the Kirby series (in of itself an homage to the Battleship Yamato from the series of the same name). Its size seems to be derived from the Final Fortress of Sonic fame and the Executor-class starship of Star Wars.

The General's Head was made actually late into Hellgate 2 Part III's development, after the story was expanded to include much more detail. SDM wanted some sort of constant even though The General himself would not be present very much, and as such the Head was designed to be the embodiment of The General's power.

Appearances
The Hellgate Gaiden The Hellgate Saga Xat RP
 * Black Heaven
 * Red Earth
 * Hellgate 2 Part III (First Appearance)

Trivia

 * Despite debuting first, The General's Head was actually the second major piece of The General's machinery to recieve its stylized name, following the former III-Final (now IV-Final). In fact, the Head was named after SDM had given up coming up with something original, and just decided to call it another of The General's body parts like the final boss of Part III.
 * Among the considered names is, in fact, Executor.