#s9m16

~

[alarm blares]

GUILLEMETTE FELIS: Abel spies, throw down your weapons and surrender immediately! There will be no second warning.

JANINE DE LUCA: Hands off your gun, Five. I count a dozen soldiers in this hangar. The only way out is the front gates and they're barely half open. Escalation is suicide.

GUILLEMETTE FELIS: Ah yes. Colonel De Luca, isn't it? Your real name. The woman attempting to infiltrate my base. And that’s Sam Yao, Peter Lynne, and Runner Five. And Maryam Abani, the doctor from New Agadir. Took the boss some effort to identify you, but you'll reveal more when we interrogate you. You’ll tell me everything. Guards, get those gates closed and locked now!

[gates roll shut]

SAM YAO: That doesn't sound good.

PETER LYNNE: No, especially since they've got Van Ark on hand to torture us.

SAM YAO: Van Ark, who's definitely this secret boss they keep talking about, right? I know you said he wasn't, General, but they'd obviously been keeping you in the dark about him.

GENERAL BAKARI: Indeed. De Luca, Operation Pinafore.

GUILLEMETTE FELIS: Bakari, back away from those spies! Your own role in this will be thoroughly examined.

GENERAL BAKARI: You know, Guillemette, I always found you smug. Consider this my resignation. System, emergency program Bakari One!

[explosion, Five's ears ring]

GENERAL BAKARI: [muffled] Five, can you hear me? Can you hear me, Five? [clear] I said Five, can you hear? That was a sonic pulse, got the soldiers dizzy and heaving. You too, I'm afraid. Janine and I were ready, blocked our ears. She's getting the rest of ours upright. The gate's still half open. We have to go.

GUILLEMETTE FELIS: Do not let them escape!

GENERAL BAKARI: On your feet, Five. The soldiers are already recovering. Come on. Remember, it's your blood that contains the panacea. You and the USB you're carrying are absolutely vital. More diseases stalk the post-apocalyptic world every day. That data is our only hope of curing them. Follow me. Through the gates, run!

[soldiers chatter, gunshots]

~

[gunshots]

SAM YAO: This is really bad, Five, even for us. Thousands of miles from home, stuck on a desert base with our escape plan wrecked.

PETER LYNNE: And fighting Van Ark. Again. Look, I know I'm not one to talk, but why can't the dead stay dead?

SAM YAO: At least we're clear of the main complex, but we're still on base ground surrounded by a high security fence and that's a lot of angry soldiers after us.

GENERAL BAKARI: Cut straight through that solar panel field toward the perimeter fence. The soldiers won't risk firing on the panels, the base would be dead without them.

MARYAM ABANI: General, what exactly did you do back there?

GENERAL BAKARI: I've been working here a long time. Programmed an escape contingency into the base’s security system. Opens all doors, triggers a sonic pulse, shuts down main power. Frankly, our odds of survival are still perishingly small, but it was the best I could do.

PETER LYNNE: Oh, um, that warning you gave Janine. Operation Pinafore? Code from an old mission, or...?

JANINE DE LUCA: It was... the name of a musical performance at my boarding school when I was 15. Reviews were... unkind.

GENERAL BAKARI: “Cover your ears,” the school paper said. She wasn't happy. [chuckles] Always told you and Tom, bad memories make the best passcodes. You never forget.

[solar panels whir]

MARYAM ABANI: Is it my imagination or are these solar panels moving?

PETER LYNNE: Maryam's right, the panels ahead are tilting towards us. God, it's all of them. Agh! Oh my God, that... Okay, the glare is painful!

GENERAL BAKARI: The panels can adjust to follow the sun, but Guillemette must have restored power to them. She's using them to dazzle us! The soldiers are closing fast behind us. They have protective goggles.

PETER LYNNE: Well, they're going to catch us if we're staggering blind! Um, [clears throat] Sam, do you uh, reckon we can even the odds?

JANINE DE LUCA: Mr. Yao?

SAM YAO: Oh, uh, Peter and I took some grenades when we were touring the base armory. You know, for the sake of keeping character as ruthless mercenaries. I think some of them were smoke grenades.

GENERAL BAKARI: That might work. Aim for the soldiers, quick!

SAM YAO: Five, take this one. Aim right behind us. Throw! [explosion, smoke sprays] Well, that's a lot of black smoke drifting over the panels. Swallowed the soldiers completely.

GENERAL BAKARI: The blowback will dim these panels, but not by much. We're near the edge of the field. Just keep your heads down and make for the outer fence. Run!

~

PETER LYNNE: Oof! Glad to be out off the panel field, Five. I'm still seeing spots. And at least we're ahead of the soldiers. Oh, there! Uh, I see a way out. There's a, it's a big metal gate, sort of a portcullis in the fence ahead, and it's open.

GENERAL BAKARI: Part of my sabotage. It should remain open for as long as the base is compromised.

[portcullis clatters down]

MARYAM ABANI: The portcullis is going down. Fast.

GENERAL BAKARI: Blast it! Guillemette must be overriding my program. [sighs] It was only ever meant as a last resort.

JANINE DE LUCA: Mr. Yao, you and Dr. Abani are in the lead. You're almost there. Dive under before it closes!

MARYAM ABANI: She's right, Sam. Come on!

SAM YAO: Wait, we can't just leave Five! Maryam, no, let go! Get off my arm! Stop!

[gate slams shut]

JANINE DE LUCA: Slow down, Five. The gates are shut. We're not getting through.

MARYAM ABANI: [radio crackles] Can you hear me? Sam and I made it. We're on the other side of the fence.

JANINE DE LUCA: Understood, Miss Abani. Thank you for guiding Mr. Yao. You and he must get to safety. The fewer of us in the power of Red Scorpion, the better.

SAM YAO: Hold on! Janine, what about you?

JANINE DE LUCA: The gates are sealed. Mr. Yao. Mr Lynne, the general, Five and I will have to find another way off the base. Get yourselves clear, that is an order. We'll arrange a rendezvous once we have made our own escape.

GENERAL BAKARI: Remember, you have trackers under your skin. Guillemette’s monitoring systems are down right now, but you need to be far away before they're restored. [grunts in pain] Five and our stolen USB on this side of the fence... damned bad luck.

JANINE DE LUCA: General, are you all right?

GENERAL BAKARI: Blasted leg wound. Painkillers wearing off. Should have been an easy mission, De Luca. I sneak you in, you take the data and leave. But once again, you and Runner Five have blown my life apart. Sigrid always said you'd be the death of me.

JANINE DE LUCA: General, focus. There must be another way off this base. We need options.

GENERAL BAKARI: Unfortunately, De Luca, we don't have any! Except... See that glass building? Greenhouse. There's a potential path that way. It's a horrible idea, but then, this is the day for them. Those soldiers are catching up. To the greenhouse, run!

~

JANINE DE LUCA: Quick, Five, inside. I do not think the soldiers saw us duck in here. We should be safe for the moment.

PETER LYNNE: Oh, nice greenhouse. It's very roomy, lots of big tomato vines. Quick question, um, how is this remotely a way out?

[foliage rustles]

ERNEST VAN ARK: Stay... stay back!

PETER LYNNE: Um, is that... is that Van Ark hiding behind that rack of planting trays? Because he looks, um... young.

JANINE DE LUCA: This is a new person - a new iteration, I should say - made from Van Ark's remains, but still the same man.

ERNEST VAN ARK: I know you're spies. Guillemette sent out a general alert. She told me to stay here, prune the plants. Always calms me down.

JANINE DE LUCA: You can drop the act, Professor. We're well aware that you are the man in charge, the boss, the one who revealed our true identities. I'm unsure what game you're playing - !

ERNEST VAN ARK: This isn't a game, not to me.

PETER LYNNE: Well, why don't we just shoot him? We can end this now.

GENERAL BAKARI: Not worth the risk, Peter. Ernie has an earpiece in. Personal comms. If we shoot and miss, he calls for help. But if he calls for help, we shoot, so you just stay there, Ernie. I always thought creating you was a mistake, and I'm half inclined to subscribe to my friend's theory that you've been in charge here the whole time. Now I'm going to open this floor panel nice and slowly, then we'll be gone and nobody gets hurt.

[floor panel creaks and clatters open]

ERNEST VAN ARK: And I'm supposed to trust you, am I, like Guillemette trusted you? Comms, voice activate. Guillemette, they're in Greenhouse 4.

[gunshots]

PETER LYNNE: Damn it, he ducked out of sight! Oh, don't look at me like that, Janine. He's Van Ark! You know he'd do 10 times worse to us.

GENERAL BAKARI: We have to get out of here, now! There's a ramp under the hatch. Jump down, then run. It'll lead you deep underground. Follow the ramp until you reach a metal door. The soldiers are here. They'll know where we're headed. Go!

~

JANINE DE LUCA: All right, General, what now? The ramp ends here and this metal door is quite immovable.

GENERAL BAKARI: Damn! My program should have opened it. Guillemette must have a lot of systems back online. Five, help me pry open that wall console. I can override.

GUILLEMETTE FELIS: [intercom squeals] Bakari, I know you can hear me. I've got the Tannoy up in your section. I've been thinking about your little history, that business with 555. In hindsight, you stink of rats!

JANINE DE LUCA: The soldiers are approaching, General. We must hurry.

GENERAL BAKARI: Hold on. There's an intense security down here. If I trip the wrong system, it'll electrify the floor.

PETER LYNNE: Hmm, that's odd. It sounds like they're holding position a way behind us.

GUILLEMETTE FELIS: I don't think much of your little gang, Bakari. Scoundrels and crooks, the boss says. You can surrender or suffer. Either way, whatever secrets you've stolen, they are never leaving this place.

GENERAL BAKARI: Oh hell, she's managed to reboot the floor paneling here, and there's usually a massive current running through it! My program shut that system down. Won't take long to charge it again. If we're lucky, it'll kill us.

PETER LYNNE: Oh, and if we're not?

GENERAL BAKARI: Guillemette will have it set to stun so she can take her time with the interrogations. [door opens] Got it. The door's open. The corridor beyond is metal, but if we get past that, there's a stone cavern, no electric floor there. Quickly, run!

~

[metal door slides shut]

GENERAL BAKARI: It's okay, Five. That's just the door we came through slamming shut far behind us. We're past the electrified floor. Just stone underfoot from here. How are you, Five? Uninjured? Good. Remember, you're holding data crucial for the human race. You must remain alive.

JANINE DE LUCA: This cavern... there's scorch marks on the walls, old flamethrowers strewn about. Where are we, General?

GENERAL BAKARI: The old caves beneath the base where they used to grow the red fungus. It's all dead now, of course. Just blackened rock and shadow.

PETER LYNNE: Hmm. Are those... bones? No that, that looks like... Yeah, that's, that's a human skeleton. Oh, oh good! It looks like it must have been eight foot tall, at least. Like a giant.

GENERAL BAKARI: There have been a lot of things down here over the years. The soldiers won't follow us. That door, the electric floor, it's not to keep people in, but to keep other things out. Protect the base from what's underneath. This cavern leads to deep tunnels.

Grab whatever equipment you can see. We might need it. Because frankly, this is going to be far worse than the base. We'll be very, very lucky to make it out of here alive, but we must try, for the sake of humanity.

Okay, so for once I’m glad to say I didn’t hate this episode. Like the entire time I was waiting for something to happen that would make me angry and never want to replay this ep, but that didn’t happen. However, since we had to wait 10 months in between P1 and P2 of S9, I have to say this ep felt a little underwhelming. However, because I didn’t hate this mission, let me tell you some of the things I did like and some of the things I didn’t.

What I liked:

•Peter. This is a given. I love Peter. I’m a Peter/5 shipper now bc of this season. Just about any time he spoke I was happy. He wasn’t as sarcastic as normal but he wasn’t self-deprecating either so I’m okay with that. Also I don’t blame him for trying to shoot Ernie. Seeing that Ernie has given us no real reason to trust him, and he literally ratted us out and gave away our location, I say good for Peter for taking the initiative.

• Moving on to Ernie. I LIKED that he gave away our location. Just like how we have no real reason to trust him, he has no reason to trust us. Unless we tried to kidnap him, there’s no way he would have come with us. Do I think he’s the secret boss? No. If he was, he wouldn’t be hiding in a shed/garden thing. Also it’s clear he has no memory of Five and the others so he couldn’t have made the call to Guillemette to let her know we were spies. Because if he did remember us, he wouldn’t have waited until we were about to leave. I think he would have made it clear he knew us when Janine and Five met him. Anyway, it made sense to his character to rat us out and I like that.

•I liked that Sam actually gave a shit about Five this ep, even if it was one line to Maryam “We can’t leave Five!” Although I do kind of wish for once Five could quip back bc I would be saying “oh so now you care about not leaving me?” Bc I’m still salty about him leaving when Five got that data injection thing.

•Moving back to Peter, I’m glad he didn’t get hurt this episode, something I was sure was going to happen when Bakari started talking about electric floors. I’m glad he didn’t get shot and or hurt in any other way. I’m wondering if this is S2S actually listening to complaints about how annoying it was in P1 for Peter to get hurt for laughs almost every ep.

•Bakari. Now I don’t like Bakari as a character. After calling Tom weak I don’t think I’ll ever be able to like him. But I liked that he was actually useful this mission, and that he didn’t try to get Five or Peter to take one for the team and get hurt or caught. I know Five has the biodata, which could explain it, but it’s nice that he didn’t try that shit on Peter either. I don’t care about Janine so if he would have asked it of Janine he would probably get double points but he didn’t so he just gets a mention here.

Now on to what I didn’t like:

•Janine. I don’t like her. So it’s a con for every ep that has her in it.

•We never met secret boss man. That’s one of the main things I was looking forward to. I want to know who he is. Is he a new character? Is it Valmont like some ppl on Rofflenet has theorized? Who? I want to know. I don’t think it’s Ernie. To me it doesn’t really add up. If it is him then I’m changing canon bc it just doesn’t make sense.

•I wish we would have kidnapped Ernie. Like I know I said I understand why Peter shot at him after he gave away our location, but I feel like kidnapping him would have not only given us leverage but Ernie seems pretty spineless so being able to interrogate him to figure out what’s going on in RSB would have been great.

•Where was Veronica? I did like that Bakari was useful, but Ronnie didn’t have anything to say about us getting out of here? Sam separated from us mid-ep, but Veronica always has something to say, so her being silent just felt a bit odd.

•The overall meh-ness of this mission. Was it bad? No. Was it something I would play again? Maybe, but not likely. There wasn’t anything that wowed me, and after waiting so long for the mid season premier, this felt a bit disappointing just because we’ve had 9 season of ZR and a lot of their mid season premier eps are really good, especially since mid season finale missions usually end on a huge cliffhanger.