S5E01: The Enemy

'''Surrounded on all sides by people who want nothing better than to see them dead, the Sayan Squad comes face to face with none other than The General himself. Held at gunpoint, the one man responsible for everything now stands before them... and he wants answers.'''

Plot Summary
The General listed off several of Hood's failures, pointing to the Sayan Squad being present on board his ship despite Hood's numerous opportunities to capture them. Terminos attempted to interrupt, telling The General that he didn't understand, only for The General to turn the rifle he was holding against them. He told them that they will not speak unless he allows them to. He then told them that he hopes that he appreciates what The General hasn't done to them yet, for all the "crimes" they committed against his forces. However, despite this, he also wanted to thank them.

Before the Sayan Squad to inquire as to what he meant by that, The General demanded to know who their CO was. After initial hesitation, The General claimed their defiance answered the question for them. He then demanded Arachnos hand over his communicator. As he did so, The General also grabbed Arachnos himself, holding the rifle flush against the horse's head. He activated the communicator and a slightly panicked Amadeus asked for a status update. Instead, The General greeted him like an old friend, calling him "T." He told Amadeus to come to the Head, alone, and that his soldiers would escort him to The General. He threatened that if he did not comply, he would execute Arachnos and then the rest of the Sayan Squad. Amadeus complied, as long as The General gave him his word that they would not be harmed. The General assured them that they would not, and beyond that, ordered that the Head cease its attacks on the Rebellion. He also heavily advised the Rebellion also stop, or else he would bring in several more attack fleets to wipe them out.

As they waited for Amadeus, The General had the Sayan Squad and Captain Hood explain their two sides of the story. The Squad told him about their encounter with the Sayan on Equu and how it came from a pod launched by the ''Head. ''Hood confirmed that he did not authorize any such pod drop. After being picked up by the Rebellion, the Squad investigated the Head's travels, and linked them to several Sayan incidents. This sat with The General all well and good, but he wanted to know how that then led them to destroying Project Blackstar and his mine. Kanako, either through poor memory or active deceit, attempted to tell The General that they learned about the truth during their attack, which angered The General. Arachnos quickly clarified that they had heard about a special project that was being worked on on Earth-M745, but once they learned what it actually was, they decided they could not let it continue. The General accepted this answer, and prompted them to continue. Their business on M745 was what prompted him to set a bounty on them.

Hood desperately tried to explain his failure, saying that after Baur, he knew the Squad was tailing him, even if he didn't know why. Thus he set the trap at Paa, and had Cyem destroy their engines and stranded them on the surface. He explained that the plan was to hunt them down and make sure they were dead, but ironically, their delay is what ultimately let the Squad escape the planet. From there, Hood failed to capture them, even though the ship they fled in was not capable of Warp Generation. Terminos tried to defend Hood, saying that it wasn't easy for the Squad to escape, but The General immediately countered that it should have been easy for Hood to capture them, yet he didn't. Oneiros took this opportunity to boast, saying they were more than they appeared. The General seemed to know what they really were, claiming that the truth was quite the opposite. Oneiros then got bolder and claimed that his weapons weren't calibrated to counter nothing. It was concluded that Hood's largest failing was his insistence on trying to capture them with his own powers, and not the firepower offered to him by The General's Head itself.

The General then asked that it was reported that Hood had taken the Head and made several unprompted and off-schedule stops. Hood said that they were simple retrieval missions, given to him by "Withers," supposedly from The General himself. Given Hood's "unique" position, he decided not to question what were ultimately mere pick-up-and-drop-off missions. The General accepted the explanation, but Saiyo found something off. She tried to ask about the facility they ran into, but stumbled over her words. The General went over to her to try and get her to talk, which set Ketsueki off. He tried to attack The General, only to have his blaster stolen by Hood. He then lunged for The General, but The General's personal shield unit kept him safe. The General subdued Ketsueki and ordered Captain Hood to take the girl hostage, in case anyone else got uppity. The General expressed his annoyance at their brashness and arrogance, and overall making it difficult to get the answers he wants. Vate explained that they encountered an Emperor named Red-Eye who claimed that an envoy of The General had requested to build such facilities on several of their uninhabited planets. Hood wasn't quite sure what that was about, but he did recall at one point delivering building supplies to several barren and empty worlds, again through orders given by Withers.

Seemingly satisfied at last, The General released Ketsueki and had Saiyo set free as well. Amadeus then arrived, and was glad to see that everyone was still alive. The General again greeted Amadeus as "T," asking for a hug. Amadeus told The General to "drop the act," and The General acquiesced. Soon afterwards, The General let all emotion and color drain from his face, and gave his guests an uncomfortable, hollow, empty stare. Amadeus hurriedly asked him to put the facade back up, and again The General agreed.

One thing still bothered The General, and that was how they continued to believe The General was weaponizing Sayans. His goal, after all, was the complete destruction and reset of Everything, which mass Sayanization would not accomplish. Amadeus said they believed he had somehow taken over as their Queen, and had a potential killswitch ready to go once it was complete. The General said this was a stretch, but understood their logic. That being said, he then proposed to Amadeus a radical solution: join forces.

The Rebels were stunned. The General continued to explain, that he wants to reset the Omniverse, and the Rebellion wants to protect it. In both cases, the Sayans are a threat to their goals. As such, they should unite their forces. Else, the rebellion would have to waste resources on and contend with The General on the sidelines while still trying to fight the Sayans. Again The General asked for an alliance, but despite some of his subordinates conceded The General the point, Amadeus said he couldn't do it. Not only did he not want to forge such an alliance, he did not even have the authority. Only the Supreme Commander held such power, and Amadeus was not even of High Command. The General accepted this explanation, finding it "fitting" that Amadeus would not accept such a lofty position. Amadeus then went on to claim that even if they tried to contact the Commander now, he would not listen. He was too stubborn, and Amadeus claimed The General knew this, naming him as "Searchild."

The General then told Amadeus he would have to tell Searchild himself, and that he would, or else The General would know. Wicker and Terminos tried to get The General's word that he wouldn't betray them or otherwise lure them into a trap, but The General made no such claim. He still held all the cards, and even if it were a trap, their choices are to die now or die later. After all, if they refused his offer, he had no further reason to keep them alive, and would kill them on the spot. Amadeus reluctantly agreed, but said he still did not like the idea. The General asked if that was fear or pride talking.

Just then, The General and Captain Hood got an urgent report of four crewmen going rogue an rushing for Docking Bay 6, destroying everything in their path. The General ordered several fireteams to hunt them down and kill them on sight, while the soldiers nearby were to torch all the pods in the engine annex. He reached to hustle Amadeus over to a safer place, telling the Sayan Squad that they knew what to do. Hood led them down to the Hangar Bay, which they found dark. The power had been cut, and several soldiers lay dead among the sea of various starships. Almost immediately, the group was attacked by three mysterious shadows. They were clearly Sayans, as marked by the way they spoke and induced headaches to make themselves invisible. The fourth member announced that they were attempted to start up one of the ships.

Hood had half the team try to find out which ship they were trying to hijack, while the rest tried to hold the Sayans at bay. During the battle, the Sayans referred to someone known only as "the Doctor," and accused the Squad of killing them. Eventually, one of the recon craft started to take off, firing at the Squad. Despite their weaponry and powers, they were barely able to dent the thing. The Anathemites then tried to block the entryways with Nihility. However, one of the mysterious Sayans referred to it as the "Queen's substance," and managed to throw it back at the group. This bought them the time they needed to escape.

Hood and the soldiers were livid, but mostly terrified at the prospect of facing The General after yet another failure. The Squad shared similar sentiments, though Terminos was more worried by the discovery that the Queen was in fact an Anathemite. Thus, how the Sayans have been able to resist Nihility this whole time.

The General ordered Hood and the Squad to come to the bridge. Upon arrival, he was found to not be angered at all. In fact, he said he expected it, citing that it took all of them plus some of his men to bring down just one of the Sayans. He did not expect them to take down four. Instead, he had used the opportunity to illustrate the need for the alliance, which at long last Amadeus conceded. With that, The General ordered them off his ship.

Enroute back to Eagle One, Amadeus was contacted by the Supreme Commander. During the course of their conversation, it was revealed Amadeus had lied in order to get the Commander to cease the assault. Irritated, the Commander prepared to re-ignite it, but Amadeus cut him off. Instead, Amadeus ordered Sector 17 to retreat. Other fleets soon fell in line. This enraged the Commander even more, forcing Amadeus to blurt out that The General wanted an alliance. The Commander was in disbelief, and seemed to have a small mental breakdown, even at one point accusing Amadeus and the Squad as having been brainwashed or otherwise turned traitor. Eventually, though, he calmed down, and agreed to set up the meeting.

With the Commander cutting off communication and ordering a retreat, the rest of the flight was quiet. Vate felt guilty about letting Ketsueki get so enraged to attack The General. Ketsueki said that that was on him, not Vate, and that even if they were warned, Ketsueki would have disobeyed anyway. Meanwhile, Terminos lamented that they used up all their Shield Breaker shots on Cyem, leaving none for The General. They could have ended it right there. Jack countered that they wouldn't know the full extent of the Sayan threat, and that he only signed up for the Sayans. Terminos thought back to Earth-M745, and the atrocities put on display there. Jack sarcastically remarked that they only now seemed to be showing care for the little people they usually step on. This prompted another small argument, which Vate and Amadeus tried to interrupt.

The future was then left vague for the Sayan Squad to ponder.

Soundtrack

 * 1) Opening Theme - Gold Rush (Ancient Aliens) (Cover)
 * 2) At Gunpoint - Babel Tower (Rockman ZX Tunes)
 * 3) "T" - Evil Incarnate (DOOM II)
 * 4) The Unlikely Call - Babel Tower (Rockman ZX Tunes)
 * 5) Urgency - Phantom ~ UNKNOWN (Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: Dual Destinies)
 * 6) Shadow Battle - Vs. Dark Samus (Metroid Prime 2: Echoes)
 * 7) The Supreme Commander - Briefing 2 (Star Fox Assault)
 * 8) Ending Theme - Gold Rush (Ending mix)

Trivia

 * This episode, as well as this entire season, were in development for 6 months, making it the longest gap in the RP's history.
 * This was the first season premiere to do so over at the XRP's new home, Chatzy, rather than Xat.
 * This officially renders the name "the Xat RP" a misnomer and artifact title.
 * During the SW refit that occurred between the end of Season 4 and the beginning of Season 5, this was also the first episode of the XRP to be voted for, alongside the mainlines, which have also since migrated to Chatzy.
 * Several songs were dropped from the episode as SDM forgot to play them.
 * This episode marks the first time in all canon works to depict Amadeus and The General speaking to each other.
 * The battle against the four Sayans went through several iterations before the final.
 * When this episode was originally conceived, it was similar to what was presented here. A necessary recap, and then a battle against some escaping Sayans to fill the one-battle-per-episode quota. However, this was eventually dropped and SDM planned to replace it with something else.
 * As the overall plot of Season 5 took shape, SDM decided the original concept could easily be retrofitted to feature the season's main antagonists as an early "preview" of sorts. This also justifies their escape from The General's Head.