S4E27: Harrowing Encounter

'''Captain Hood has won. The War Fortress III is naught but rubble, Mr. Owl is MIA, and the Sayan Squad are on the run. Hoping for a way off the planet, a desparate mission is planned to return to the ruins of the fortress to retrieve something that may make an assault on Dark Side ''possible. But the Sayan Squad may find more than what they bargained for...'

Plot Summary
The survivors of the Vulture crash had taken shelter in an old school building in the days following Captain Hood and Dr. X's annihilation of the War Fortress III. Making a makeshift command center out of one of the first floor classrooms, Amadeus tried to take advantage of their secret escape. This meant no lights allowed near any windows to keep up the illusion that the building was abandoned. Unfrotuantely, they also were facing a food crisis. None of the crewmen nor the Sayan Squad had eaten anything since they departed EAO17. Violetta urged Amadeus into taking action, causing the latter to yell in anger. He then immeidately apologized, saying he gets irritable when hungry.

Violetta suggested forming a scouting party to search for foodstuffs that the crew could eat to survive, recommending the Anathemites since they were no longer affected by hunger. However, before a proper team could be oragnized, one of the crewmen who had taken watch on the roof burst into the room, saying that a fast-moving shadow was spotted moving for the building. Amadeus ordered the building be searched, believing it to be one of X's Shadow beasts and hoping to eliminate it before it could draw more attention. At that moment, Mr. Owl arrived, much to the shock of everyone. Owl expalined that he survived his encounter with the former Emperor when the former kicked him several miles away from the battle site. The Emperor then pursued and decapitated him, unaware of Owl's regenerative abilities. Owl then waited several days until he grew a new body before tracking the crew down to the building, who had followed his escape plan to the letter.

Just to be sure, Amadeus had everyone gather in the basement while the building was searched for any signs of a shadow beast. When it was confirmed that there were none, Owl requested assistance once again. Mr. Owl claimed to have a weapon called the Gawain which would help them breach Dark Side, as he still firmly believed they had a chance to take down Dr. X and escape Paa. His reasoning was based on Captain Hood being unlikely to attack his own ally's base, and even if he did, Dr. X would be forced to team up with his former enemies to escape alive. Either way, he beleived that once they were inside Dark Side proper, they were safe. The only issue was getting there safely, to which he hoped ot utilize the Gawain for, located back at the ruins of the War Fortress.

Jack challenged Owl, saying that there was no way Hood wouldn't have left a guard behind, expecting them to return to the base. Owl agreed, and asked for volunteers. Arachnos, Kanako, Olyn, Terminos, Oneiros, and Ketsueki all volunteered to go. Saiyo attempted to go as well, but was shot down by Ketsueki. She took this as an insult, believing Ketsueki now believed she was as useless as her brother thought she was (prompting the latter to leave the conversation saying that he "did what [he] had to do). Ketsueki tried to defend himself, but Saiyo didn't believe him, storming off.

Amadeus agreed to let them join Owl, on the condition that he help them find food once it was over. Owl agreed, even to the condition that it be real food, not imaginary. With that, Mr. Owl led the volunteer members of the Sayan Squad back to the War Fortress III. Once there, they noted the guard posts, and how most of them appeared to be inside for an unknown reason. On Owl's suggestion, Oneiros agreed to become a formless mass of Nihility to infiltrate the ruins and direct the rest of the team as they dug their way in. Once inside, Owl began to search for the Gawain, strangely looking in small, tight locations despite his claim that the Gawain was large.

Several guards passed through the hallway during the search, forcing everyone to take cover. Two of these seemed to be in a hurry, and Ketsueki decided to follow them. He trailed them to the garage they originally escaped from, where an incredibly massive acorn-shaped object was found embedded within the wall. Calling Mr. Owl over, Owl denied that the object was the Gawain. The group then watched several soldiers attempt to open it, first with a chisel, then later with a special kind of laser cutter. Oneiros investigated closer, and discovered a small window that showed something alive inside the thing. The General's emblem was also shown on its side, confirming the object to be a gargantuan Sayan pod.

The laser cutter managed to open the pod, unleashing the Sayan within. It blew off the door, killing several of the soldiers in the process and causing the others to retreat. An equally massive Sayanized dragon then climbed out of the pod, with its wings and legs replaced with a squirming mass of tentacles. Every step the behemoth took shook the earth, and Owl's team was forced to run for their lives. Oneiros was confused as to why the soldiers would free the Sayan without precaution, leading Ketsueki to claim that The General must not have as much control over the Sayans as originally believed. Regardless, he desperately wished to call for backup, saying that there was no way they could take on a Sayan of that size by themselves. Olyn tried to stop it, saying they'd have the Head down on them in minutes if they did so. Ketsueki ignored her, and made the desperate call for help regardless.

Vate answered the call, and within moments G Squadron flew to the ruins to assist their teammates. Terminos warped everyone outside to join the fight, Ketsueki climbing into his Mimic; Arachnos and Kanako got into their special armor. They engaged the Sayan Dragon, which seemed strangely resistant to Nihility-based attacks (as most Sayans have up to this point). It utilized its roar as a means of attack, as well as tossing chunks of its own skin that acted similarly to the terraforming substance. Only fire seemed to stop it from consuming the victim whole. During the course of the fight, the Dragon was knocked onto its side, and it managed to force its own wing through its body to the other side, where it joined the other in spraying the Sayan Squad with its acidic blood.

Eventually the Sayan Squad managed to take the Dragon down, and it melted into a pile of its blood. The plateau collapsed, sending it and the remains of the War Fortress tumbling to the ground below. Owl saw something in the falling debris and investigated the pile. Meanwhile, the rest of the Squad noticed that the dragon's exposed bones seemed far older than they should have been. At that moment, the blood had ebgun to boil, turning into vapor that soon enveloped the bones. The dragon was reborn again, now looking like a corpse resting atop a large worm-like creature. The creature then spoke, revealing itself to be a species of microscopics symbiotes that called themselves the "Cluster." They requested the Sayan Squad destroy them so that they no longer have to deal with the "Corruption." They also mentioned a "Her," which the Squad assumed referred to the Queen. The Cluster explained that centuries ago, they formed a symbiotic relationship with their dragon host, feeding off what it ate and repairing damaged tissue in return. However, when the "Corruption" came, their host died, and they fell to the Sayanization. The process forced them to act all as one, and "she" forced them to use their hosts corpse to destroy and spread the Corruption even further. They were only able to speak to the Sayan Squad presently because of them being a Hive Mind, and they confirmed that only others like them had any shred of themselves left.

With that, the Cluster began to revert back, promising that all creatures would become "her children," and took on a form similar to the first, only with functioning wings. The Sayan Squad engaged it once again, this time to make good on their promise to kill the Cluster. First they disabled its flight by destroying one of its wings, then they continued to assault it. The dragon countered by releasing a cloud of spores, causing those unprotected to suffer from triple-vision. It also hurled more chunks of its skin at the Squad. The fight ended with a powerful blow from Kanako, summoning a massive white beam which was then enhanced by Hado, splattering the dragon's body. Oneiros sucked the remains, into a black hole, "purifying" the Cluster once and for all. Kanako's attack left him physically drained.

Mr. Owl then returned from the debris pile, seemingly oblvious to the battle that had just taken place there. In his hands he carried a small metallic cube, with the word "Gawain" scrawled on it. He claimed that this was what they were looking for. Before he could explain what it exactly was, however, Ketsueki spotted a massive incoming object. It was not the Head as Vate feared, but instead Cyem, coming to investigate the battle. Cyem seemd to not care about the Sayan, stating that even if he did know about it, he wouldn't report it to the enemy. Cyem offered the Sayan Squad "a way out," pointing to the fact that he had come alone. He revealed that Captain Hood was keeping him and the rest of the search teams planetside to ensure that the Sayan Squad and Vulture survivors were truly dead as ordered by The General himself. Cyem did not want to alert the Captain that some had indeed survived, lest he keep everyone there even longer.

To this end, Cyem requested that the Sayan Squad let him kill them quickly, promising it to be painless. He then reminded them of what would happen if they were captured, something the Captain would inevitably try to do if involved. He believed they had no chance of survival, and that it would be better for them if they just died rather than be subjected to the Conscription Machine. The Sayan Squad refused, saying that they knew the risks when they signed up with the Rebellion, and would rather go down fighting than giving up. Terminos asked why Cyem even served The General, asking if he even knew what The General was planning. Cyem confirmed he did indeed know his superior's goal, as The General told him himself. He didn't reveal exactly why he went along with it, refusing to answer the question. All he did say was that he will follow the orders given to him, as he has a simple motive that keeps him going. Arachnos insulted him, calling him a groveling coward. Cyem responded by requesting he "not make [him] angry," outright stating he preferred to keep things amicable between them. He even went so far as to say that even though he was going to try and kill them no matter what, it wasn't personal.

The Sayan Squad made good on their threat to try running, leading Cyem to pursue them. Owl tried to lead the Squad to a mountain pass where a tunnel would lead them to the city sewers and back to the school. However, Cyem was able to gain rapid distance on them, the Sayan Squad doing all they could to try and hold him off. Realziing that the Emperor would catch up to them in time, Owl activated the Gawain, summoning a metal shell around himself. With it, he was able to assist in holding the Emperor at bay, and also allowed the Squad to move even faster. Cyem was relentless however, giving chase with the Air Module. They eventually reached the pass, and Owl sacrificed the Gawain's power to hit the Emperor with twin Hadron Cannons. He managed to buy enough time for the Squad to enter the tunnel, wherein they collapsed it afterward to hide their trail. Try as he might, the Emperor was unable to dig them out before they got away, and the last thing he could hear was Owl's victorious cry...

Soundtrack

 * 1) Opening Theme - Dream a Dream (Pop It Don't Drop It edit)
 * 2) Hiding Out - Gotham (Duke Nukem 3D (Saturn version))
 * 3) The Owl - Anything But Tangerines (Earthworm Jim 2)
 * 4) Breaking In - Searching For the Enemy (Wolfenstein 3D)
 * 5) Contained Evil - Infernal Train (Alice: Madness Returns)
 * 6) The Sayan Dragon - Watch the Skies (The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim)
 * 7) Vs. Sayan Dragon - Matricide (The Binding of Isaac: ReBirth)
 * 8) In Her Grip - Nightmare (Nox Arcana)
 * 9) Vs. Necrotic Sayan - CROWNED (Kirby: Return to Dreamland)
 * 10) Emperor Cyem IV - Intro Theme (Doom 64)
 * 11) Cyem Pursues the Enemy - Opening (Doom (PSX version))
 * 12) The Gawain - Anything But Tangerines (Earthworm Jim 2)
 * 13) Hurry - Port Town (F-Zero X-style remix)
 * 14) Ending Theme - Dream a Dream (Pop It Don't Drop It edit)

Trivia

 * This episode was an interrupted broadcast.
 * Due to a scheduling issue, the second part was broadcast on a Friday, similar to And Hell Followed.
 * The Gawain is named after and based on the similarly-named Knightmare Frame from Code Geass.
 * More similar to the Nightmare of Nunally adaptation, Owl "summons" the Frame around himself, rather than piloting it like a traditional mecha.
 * The second half of this episode was run on a Friday in order to allow Aurion to participate, as all players felt the characters needed the extra support against the Sayan Dragon.
 * This was the first episode to feature a Sayan since Unparalleled Encounter, making it ten episodes since the previous encounter.
 * The first form of the Sayan Dragon was partially inspired by a conversation between SDM and Arachnos, wherein the latter made known his disgust for maggot-like creatures.
 * The entire section dealing with the Cluster was unplanned and made up on the spot.
 * SDM claims this was due to a mistake on his part, making the Dragon undead and thus needing to explain it.
 * Additionally, the second form the dragon took (atop the worm) was originally supposed to be the second phase of the battle, until SDM once again felt he once again erred. He says he "focused too much on how horrfiiyng it was, rather than how intimidating it was."
 * This also warranted a song change to suit the mood; originally the second phase was to use "Hericide," also from Isaac.
 * While trying to think of a new song to use on the spot, SDM ran through several songs, one of which he actually posted before changing his mind at the last moment. This song was "Carmeaty Burana," from Super Meat Boy.
 * The (true) second form of the Dragon was highly reminiescent of Stallord, from the Legend of Zelda franchise.
 * This episode marks the first time more of the basis for Cyem's personality was shown within an episode proper (having previosuly displayed it during a solo with Captain Hood).
 * The song used for the flight from Cyem is a remix of the song used when the Sayan Squad escaped the destruction of the War Fortress III.