" What's happening?" " A ship just appeared out of nowhere and opened fire on us." "You mean it dropped out of FTL?" "No, General, it literally just appeared." "Why aren't we returning fire?" "Forward rail guns are down." "Launch missiles." "Missiles launched." "Impact in five, four, three, two..." "They jumped." "It's over." "Sir, we didn't detect an FTL window." " They're behind us." " That's impossible." "According to these scans, it's the same one." "Divert power to the aft shield array." "Quickly!" "Aft shields disabled." "Full thrusters, bring us around." "Keep our nose on that enemy ship!" "General, we can't take another hit." "We're being hailed." "Onscreen." "This is Ishida Ryo." "Your ship is at my mercy." "Surrender or die. Drago-san." "It's been a while." "What do you want?" "The war goes badly." "It's only a matter of time before the enemy chokes off your supply lines, overwhelms your defenses, and descends upon Zairon." "But it doesn't need to end that way." "You've just experienced firsthand the technology that will allow us to turn the tide." "We will be able to travel to Pyr in the blink of an eye, lay waste to their capitol, and destroy their fleet before it can even launch." "I can defeat them." "And in return?" "I get what's rightfully mine." "The throne to Zairon." "You know the truth of the situation, the inevitability of defeat if you stay the course." "What choice do you really have?" "Swear loyalty to me and I will guarantee you victory." "For Zairon." "I swear it." "Colonel Orlov, what say you?" "I refuse." "My loyalty is to the sitting Emperor of Zairon," "Ishida Hiro, not some pretender to the throne." "A fugitive who murdered his own father..." "Colonel Mori?" "I swear it." " So how'd it go?" " As expected." "They'll return to Zairon with a plausible tale." "They'll claim they encountered a Pyr destroyer." "That'll explain the battle damage." "And you're confident these men won't betray you?" "They swore an oath of loyalty." "Presumably the same oath they swore to the standing Emperor." "The standing Emperor has lead them to an unwinnable war." "I offer them victory and a brighter future." "Drago and Mori will see the logic in my argument." " They'll remain loyal to me." " How can you be so sure?" "Because I know them." "I wish you would've talked to me before you did it." " I couldn't take the risk." " What risk?" "That you would tell the others and they would try to stop me." "They think that memories are dangerous." "And what if they are dangerous?" "They're necessary." "I need you to know my feelings for you haven't changed." "Maybe not." "But you have." "What's that?" " It's hot chocolate." " Mmm." "Is that for Five?" "No, it's for me." "In order to expand my meal plans for the crew" "I need to educate my palate on flavor profiles." "That's a pretty big tasting sample." "I like to be thorough." "Although the Blink Drive obviates the need to do so," "I've placed the ship in FTL." "It may not be necessary, but it does make us a fairly difficult target to track." "Good thinking." "Two, are you upset that I helped Four retrieve his memories without consulting the rest of the crew?" "I'll admit I was a little surprised at first." "But the truth is, they're his memories." "If he wants them back, that was his choice." "And yet, you chose not to do the same." "I'm concerned I may have made another mistake." "Well, dealing with people isn't the same as monitoring systems." "Sometimes it's not so easy to know what to do." "If he'd come to you, as a friend, would you have done the same thing?" "Yes." "Of course." "Very well." " What're you doing down here?" " Just eating." "Yeah, I can see that." "But why here?" "The vents are too cramped." "I don't want to be around him." "Who, Four?" "I'll be honest, he doesn't seem that different to me." "You didn't see the way they were when the ship defaulted them back to their old selves." "I did, and I never want to see that side of them again." "Yeah, but this time it's different." "He hasn't lost his new memories." "He knows who we are and everything we've been through together." "I'm not sure that's gonna make a difference." "I'm gonna tell you something I haven't told anyone else." "The old me, the cop I used to be, knew the truth." "Anders told me." "I knew the G.A. let 10,000 innocent people die to score political points against the Insurrection, and apparently I was fine with it." "Because after I found out, I went right back to work." "Anders told you this?" "That's right." "Well how do you know he wasn't lying?" "I know you, and..." "I don't think you'd do something like that." "You know me now." "You didn't know me then." "I mean, if you're right about me, and I hope you are, doesn't necessarily mean Anders lied." "Maybe it just mean that everything" "I've been through since the mind wipe, everything we've all been through together, has made me a better person." "Maybe it's the same for him." "It's the quickest and least bloody path to the throne." "If my brother abdicates in favor of my claim, then the rest of the court will have no choice but to fall into line." "I can think of at least one problem with that plan." "Your brother's cooperation." "Why would he renounce the throne?" "For the good of our people." "Like General Drago, he'll see the reason in my argument." "The only way to save Zairon is by stepping down and letting me lead." "So what, you're just gonna call him up?" "No." "To convince him, to prove my point we'll need to meet face to face." "And thanks to General Drago," "I know when and where he'll travel." " You want to ambush him?" " Yes." "And how are we gonna do that?" "By using an asset we acquired during our escape from Hyperion-8." "The Ishida shuttle." "We're picking up a distress beacon." "It's a Class A Ishida Shuttle." "Should I send a signal?" "No, not yet." "But, your Majesty..." "Drop us out." "Yes, Heika." "Proximity alert." " Another ship dead ahead." " Pull up!" " We've lost navigation." " Re-route controls." "Emperor, we're being hailed." "Onscreen." "Hiro, your ship has been crippled." "You're at my mercy." "Let's talk." "Is this any way to greet your brother?" "No." "This is." "What is it?" "Four Ishida cruisers just dropped out of FTL." "We've been set up." "Your ship is surrounded." "Regardless, I'm still powerful enough to destroy all of your cruisers." "But will it be able to do so before we can bring navigation back online and make the jump to FTL?" "I'm taking you back to Zairon." "I'll happily go back, but only to retake my throne." "Your claim to the throne died along with our father." " I didn't kill him." " Liar." "You agreed to meet me on equal footing, a neutral location where we can both speak." "But instead you sent Akita-san in your place." "You broke your word." "I had every intention of meeting you that day but..." "Somebody else gave that order." "I bet I can guess who." "Hiro..." "If I wanted to kill you, I would've opened fire on your crippled ship." "Then why are you here?" "To offer you the means to defeating Pyr and saving our home world." "I'm listening." " We need privacy." " Go." " But Heika..." " Go!" "Telling you, we could take them." "Not yet, just relax." "Let's let it play out." "It's a piece of technology that allows us to cross vast distances in seconds." "A drive that can change the tide of war." "I'm skeptical." "Allow me a demonstration." "Raza, it's me." "Show them." "How..." "Where did it go?" "Behind you, and it's locked on to your aft weapons array." "Need further demonstration?" "We're losing this war, brother." "But this technology will allow us to change things." "What is victory worth to your, Hiro?" "What are you willing to sacrifice for the safety and security of our home world?" "My life." "The throne will do." "I never wanted it." "I know, brother." "But she wanted it for you." "At any cost." "You failed to capture him?" "I let him go, there's a difference." "Traitor to our home world, murderer of your own father, and you let him go?" "Mother... whatever happened to your peony dress?" "What are you talking about?" "The dress you had made to celebrate the 25th year of father's rule." "I have a hard time believing you've forgotten." "You loved that dress." "The last time I saw you wearing it was the night I was sent away from the palace the night father died." "It's gone." "I threw it out." "Why?" "It held too many terrible memories of the night of his death." "The night Ryo killed him." "Too many terrible memories?" "Or too much of father's blood?" "Better to get rid of the evidence altogether." "Deny it, mother." "I did it for you." "Your father was a monster, he exiled you." "Banished your from the place you were raised, from your own mother." "But you blamed Ryo." "Ryo might as well have given the order himself." "He was always your father's favorite." "He was an impediment." "He was my brother." "I've made the arrangements." "Tomorrow night I will address the people of Zairon on the status of our war with The Republic of Pyr." "Immediately following my prepared speech," "I will abdicate the throne." " You've taken precautions?" " Yes." "Mother still holds influence over certain generals." "I'll have a half dozen ships in orbit awaiting my instructions, ready to descend on Zairon should anyone try to stop us." "I should be there with you." "No, we can't take the chance of you being spotted." "You'll come down, officially claim the throne but only after I've secured the court." "Very well, brother." "Good luck." "You trust him?" "I need him." "You didn't answer the question." "He could've killed me back when I was on his ship." " Oh." " Or taken me back to Zairon." "It's funny about that, isn't it?" "How our ambush of his ship all of a sudden turns into a reverse ambush of ours." "Almost like he'd been tipped off." "It's not unreasonable to assume that he would've been travelling with an escort." "Except that according to your boy General Drago, he was travelling alone." "So either Drago's getting bad information or you're being played." "I'm glad we didn't kill you." "Uh, thanks?" "Portia and I, we discovered that you were an undercover agent." "I know." "We disagreed on how best to proceed." "She wanted to kill you after we got out of stasis." " And you didn't?" " No, no." "I wanted to kill you before." "But as with most things, she got her way in the end." "I imagine she's a long ways from the person she used to be." "In some ways, yes." "In other ways, not really." "Same goes for the rest of you." "And you?" "I'm in a better position to help." "My people, you, the rest of the crew." "And how you gonna do that?" "Seriously." "You go back and retake the throne, and then what?" "You inherit a war." "A war that I can win with the Blink Drive." "Once it's been reverse-engineered and retrofitted to the engines of an entire armada, the outcome will be a forgone conclusion." "That's never gonna happen." "Reynaud may have been unsuccessful." "But unlike her, I have the time and Zairon's best minds to draw from." "No, what I mean is this piece of technology is way too powerful to gift to an army." "They're not just an army." "They are my people." "We will have the drive, and we will use it to win the war against Pyr." "I'm sorry, but we'll never let that happen." "We'll see about that." "It's time." "Where's Nyx?" "Never mind." "Android, take us to Zairon." "I'm detecting a presence of six Ishida cruisers in planetary orbit." "How are they responding to our arrival?" "They're not." "Because they're expecting us." "They're Hiro's ships, loyal to my cause." "I'm not taking any chances." " Full shields." " Yes, Two." "I'm picking up a planetary-wide broadcast from the Ishida palace." "Onscreen." "Citizens of Zairon, we are under siege." "Your exulted Emperor, my son, was scheduled to address you today." "But moments ago, he was the target of an assassination attempt." "Although he escaped serious harm, he has been taken to a safe location for treatment, leaving me to rule in his stead." "I have discovered that this was an attempted coup orchestrated by the exiled pretender to the throne," "Ishida Ryo, backed by traitorous forces within the royal court." "These threats have been identified and they will be dealt with swiftly and without mercy." "I'm picking up explosions on the orbiting Ishida cruisers." "Android, get us out of here." "She must have a spy within our ranks." "Impossible." "Outside of you, me, and Hiro, everyone else who knew about this plot perished on those ships." "What news of my brother?" "He was intercepted on his way to the broadcast." "Where is he now?" "Confined to his room in the palace under the protective custody of the Empress's loyalists." "We have to get to him before they move him off-world." "Ryo, you must return to Zairon." "You know I can't sign off on this op." "I won't put my people at risk." "This doesn't make sense." "I understand." "I wish you'd reconsider going." "Hiro's support is critical." "It's imperative that I get to him tonight before he's moved." "Chances are you are walking into a trap." "They knew we were gonna ambush Hiro's ship." "They knew about the broadcast, and the rebel forces in orbit." "And it's more than likely they'll know you're coming tonight." "Drago would never betray me." "How do you know that for sure?" "My former memories hold the key to my success." "If I doubt them now, then... all this sacrifice would've been for nothing." "Your faith in General Drago will cost you everything." "The person you used to be would have never questioned me." " Well, I'm not Portia." " No." "Her's was... a ruthlessness born of insecurity." "But you, you hold a strength drawn from confidence and compassion." "I don't miss Portia Lin." " So?" "You going with?" " Nope." " He didn't ask you?" " No, he did not." "How the hell's he getting out of that planet?" "He's gonna fly himself." "He's taking the Ishida shuttle." " He knows how to pilot?" " Yep." "And who knows what else." "What do you mean?" "He's been avoiding me ever since he got his memories back." " You sure?" " Yeah, there's no mistaking it." "He's steering well clear." "I wonder why that is." "Why else?" "He knows something about me, about my past, he just doesn't wanna share." "Obviously doesn't want to put himself in the position where I might ask him about it." "And you're not curious?" "Curious?" "Hell yeah, man, I'm curious." "But I just figure if a badass like him doesn't wanna talk about it, maybe it's something I'm better off not knowing." "Hello, Four." " Are you ready to go?" " Yes." "I came to say good-bye." "You've come a long way, Android, from the factory set utility model we purchased back on Lyra-9." "Back then, you were a machine no different than any other piece of technology." "But now, you..." "You're so much more." "How so?" "Your capacity for emotional response was no accident." "Yes." "I've discovered an emotive subroutine was uploaded into my neural matrix." "I've concluded that Two was responsible." "Portia, yes." "With the help of Das..." "Er, Five." "It was the act of making you whole that brought the two of them together." "Changed a lot of things on this ship." "For the better." "Why did they do it?" "The answer lies within you." "That's very poetic." "And ultimately unhelpful." "No, I mean literally within you." "You possess internal recorders that documented your time on this ship before we went into stasis." " I was rebooted." " Which wiped your immediate access to the digital data but not the data itself." "It still exists somewhere inside you." "You just have to find it." "Why are you telling me this?" "Because I may not get another chance." "And because I've always liked you, Android." "Good-bye." "Good-bye, Four." "Good luck." "You're about to put your life on the line." "I won't let you do it alone." "I won't be alone." "Drago has arranged for me to gain access to the palace." "One of the side entrances will be left unguarded and once I'm inside I'll meet with him." "And then we'll free Hiro." "And what could go wrong." "If I had the slightest doubt about him do you think" "I would take this risk?" "The fact that you're not letting any of us go with you suggests there is some doubt." "That has nothing to do with this." "Then why?" "Why won't you let me go with you?" "Because I don't need you." "Yeah." "Well, that much is clear." "Drago-san." "Welcome back, Ryo." "Citizens of Zairon, we interrupt your viewing to bring you this live stream from the Royal Court of Ishida." "I deliver the prisoner unto the judgment of the court." "Han-Shireikan, join us." "Ishida Ryo." "You stand accused of the death of your father," "Emperor Ishida Tetsuda." "How do you plead?" "I don't." "But I do proclaim my innocence." "The court's case against you is overwhelming." "The sworn testimonies of some two dozen witnesses paint a very sorry picture of you on the night in question." "You were drunk and belligerent." "I was angry." "My father had just banished my step-brother from the palace." "Your name was on the royal edict." "My name, but not by my hand." "You were confronted by Masahide Akita." "You drew your blade and threatened his life." "You left him, making your intention known to pay your father a visit." "Deny the charge." "I do not." "You discovered the Emperor asleep in his chambers." "And in a fit of rage, you cut his throat." "Deny the charge." "I deny it." "This is the blade that ended the glorious reign of Emperor Ishida Tetsuda." "Do you recognize it?" "I do." "Your genetic residue was discovered on the weapon." "I'm not surprised, since it once belonged to me." "If you did not kill your father, why did you flee?" "Why did you maim and kill the guards sent to arrest you?" "I fled because I was framed." "I killed because I knew I would never receive justice and I maimed to send a message." "When the guards came for me that night," "I cut their eyes out and left them for my step-mother to find." "A message for our "exalted Empress."" "I saw the truth." "And what was the truth?" "She killed him." "She cut his throat and then framed me so that her own son could take the throne." "The words of a desperate man." "I deny that charge as well." "Once, I was weak and desperate." "Now I am finally worthy of my father's respect." "Save the Empress!" "Take him away!" "Take him away to await our verdict." "His closing argument could've gone better." "We need to go after him." "He didn't want our help." "That doesn't mean he doesn't need it now." "So what're we gonna do?" "Storm the place?" "You experienced some of Four's memories" " in that palace." " Yeah." "You think you could give us a rough layout?" " Sure." " They've anticipated our every move so far." "They'll sure as hell know we're coming this time." "Of course they will." "There is a simple way to find out if I'm telling the truth." "You could ask Hiro." "The Emperor's recovering from an attempt on his life." "One you helped orchestrate." "Have you seen him?" "Heard his account?" "Or are you simply taking my step-mother's word for it?" "You are the Commander of the Royal Guard." "Your loyalty lies with the Emperor, not her." "Do you remember the time we snuck off the palace grounds to visit the mochi festival?" "My father caught us, sent us to bed without supper." "And then when it got dark, after everyone was asleep we went down to the kitchen and found that bowl of pudding?" "I was so hungry I snatched the spoon out of your hand and took the first bite." "And when I asked you how it was, you told me," ""Delicious."" "And I trusted you and also took a bite." "And it turned out to be the chicken fat from that weekend's feast of fowl." "Back then, I would've followed you to the ends of the universe." "So what are you saying?" "You no longer trust me because of how persuasive I was?" "No, Ryo." "Back then, I didn't believe you because you were persuasive." "I believed you because I was in love with you." "You idiot." "It's time." "Later." "Ishida Ryo." "You have been found guilty." "Exile, imprisonment, or death?" "Daijo-daijin-san?" "Death." "Han-shireikan?" "Death." "Death." "The verdict is guilty." "The penalty is death." "They came for him." "As we knew they would." "Ambushed Emperor Hiro?" "Staged a coup." "Attempted to infiltrate the palace." "Twice." "Every step of your failed attempts to overthrow the throne of Ishida." "As predicted." "I'll admit, initially I was dubious about the Seers' claims." "But they've proven themselves formidable allies." "And what do they get in return?" "We just came to reclaim what is ours." "Milo and I are not your property." "Milo?" "Of course not." "Your brother is dead." "You're lying." "What purpose would that serve?" "Milo died shortly after returning to us." "By his own hand." "No." "My brother would never take his own life." "He cut his throat with this knife." "Do you recognize it?" "Why?" "Why?" "Because he was dangerous, Nyx." "If he stayed alive, they would've turned him." "I couldn't let that happen and neither could Milo." "Now you see?" "You don't belong with these savages." "Nyx, come back home." "Is this all of them?" "The entire crew, except the girl." "But she's of little consequence." "Take them away." " Empress!" " How dare you enter this chamber unannounced?" "Apologies, but a ship just appeared over the palace." "What do you mean, "appeared?"" "Screen." "This is The Raza." "Surrender your prisoners, or I will open fire on your capital." "You're an Android." "Your duty is to your crew their well-being." "You wouldn't jeopardize them." "Normally I wouldn't." "But I'm under specific orders from this ship's commander." "Orders that override my responsibilities to the crew." "Hi, your Majesty." "My name is Five, and I'm here to rescue you." "I needn't remind you." "I'm a machine." "A logic-based entity incapable of empathy." "The death of my crew would be an unfortunate, but ultimately acceptable loss in this scenario." "We'll see about that." "Misaki... execute one of the prisoners." "Stop!" "Emperor!" "Arrest the Empress and her allies." "They're to be charged with treason." "The Emperor has been compromised by our enemies." "Take him back to his room." "Misaki, you serve the throne." "I am Emperor, not my mother." "Release the prisoners." "I place the Empress under arrest for the murder of my father." "Emperor Ishida Tetsuda." "And in my final act as Emperor," "I renounce the throne and step down in favor of Zairon's rightful ruler." "My step-brother, Ryo." "So, Seer." "Predict the future." "Tell me what happens next." "The Empress will be banished." "Sent into exile as punishment for her crimes." "You will appoint your brother to the court as chief advisor." "And we will leave empty-handed, but having forged a new alliance with Zairon." "One that will prove fruitful for many years to come." "You guessed wrong." "Korose!" "Four!" "My name is not Four." "I am Ishida Ryo," "Emperor of Zairon."