I'm a soldier, znatchit ya... I'm a soldier, and that means...
...i otvetchik i sud'ya ...that I am both defendant and judge.
Ya stoyu na dvuh kontsah ognya I stand at both ends of the fire.
Ogibaya virazhi, Leaning into the curves,
obgonyaya smert' i zhizn', overtaking life and death,
ya begu srazit'sya s ten'yu lzhi I'm running to fight the shadow of lies.
Skol'ko b nitej ne plyol obman, No matter how tangled the web of deception is woven,
pokazhet lik sveta istina... truth will always illuminate the outline of the light...
Save your tears for the day...
...when the pain is far behind.
On your feet, come with me.
We are soldiers, stand or die.
Save your fears, take your place.
Save them for the Judgment Day.
Fast and free, follow me.
Time to make the sacrifice.
We rise or fall...
Go on ahead!
Don't be stupid!
Using formation B, huh?
We'll stick to ground-level corridors. We need to shake them before they start moving any faster.
Got it.
Hold it.
This is strange. The ECM isn't working.
Something must've happened.
Okay, people, switch your comms to "on." Pursue using formation A.
Proto, can you lock the door?
Yes, sir. I'm sorry to put you to all this trouble...
That's all right.
More importantly, have you gotten any more reports from the Tachikomas?
Yes, sir. The nuclear sub doesn't appear to be doing anything.
Also, it looks like the sentry plane over Dejima has crashed.
The refugees shot it down?
I don't have all the details, but it seems likely.
Which means that we can get through to Dejima now, doesn't it?
That's the place, huh?
Hey!
Don't you mind me. I'm here on orders from the Chief Cabinet Secretary.
Sorry, fellas, but this is a national emergency.
Prime Minister, I'm here to take you back.
Chief Aramaki says that he needs your assistance.
Please come with me, ma'am.
I understand. Take me to him.
Representative, it looks like the MSDA's sentry plane has been shot down.
Oh, he's trying to reunite the isolated refugees, is he?
It's about time to make the finishing touches.
Manipulate the Defense Ministry into carrying out a series of bombardments from their ships.
Understood, sir.
Is anyone here?
Yes, sir.
I'd like you to mail a letter for me.
A letter, sir?
That's right. By express delivery.
Tachikoma! Do you read me?
We read you, Major!
- We have a lock on the Major's position! - So Mr. Batou's okay!
What's the status of Batou's team?
They're safe.
They seem to be inside one of the buildings, so we can't get visual confirmation.
I've found Kuze. Relay my position to Batou and the others.
Yes, ma'am. Major, we've got some other, more disturbing news...
What is it?
The thing is, an American Empire nuclear sub is holding position off the coast of Okinawa,
and it looks like it's planning to launch a nuclear missile at Dejima.
Are you sure? Give me a visual feed!
Roger!
What the hell?!
Why the hell did we even bother to bring this thing here, then?!
Son of a bitch!
What about the arrival of the inspection team, Major?
Batou, start heading for the bridge right away with the plutonium.
They're planning to launch that nuclear missile before the inspection team gets here!
Give the plutonium to the SDA forces who are holding the bridge...
...and explain the situation to them!
No, you get out of here first, Major.
We've got some dangerous customers on our tail at the moment.
We'll try to move as fast as we can, but things might get a little hairy here.
Who's after you?
My guess is the Rangers from Section 4.
Are you sure about that?
Yeah. Looks like they're followed us here to get the plutonium back.
I'll meet up with you soon. Do whatever it takes to give them the slip.
We'll give it our best shot.
Let's move!
How many times have we met? Is this the third? No, the fourth?
Why are you following me?
We went to a lot of trouble to come here.
We brought the plutonium, just like we said.
Come with me.
If you don't, there'll be a huge number of casualties, refugees included.
And they're going to put the blame for it squarely on your shoulders.
What's about to happen?
My guess is a nuclear attack disguised as the refugees blowing themselves up.
What?!
Who are you?
Hey, look a this! A hatch on the sub has started to open!
This is bad... They might launch at any minute!
This type of missile flies all the way up into the stratosphere!
Looks like they want the attack to go unnoticed.
Even if they can clean up the radiation, the blast radius will be so big...
...that it'll take out all the SDA soldiers that are deployed in Nagasaki and Dejima!
Those guys are crazy... Isn't there anything we can do to stop the attack?
What if we sent this visual feed all around the world?
There wouldn't be any point. Pictures don't prove anything anymore.
It would just end up as a source of amusement for the uninvolved masses,
an image from an unknown source that showed up at an all-too-convenient time.
B-But, if we don't do something...
Hey, it looks like the Aegis cruisers are gonna start attacking with missiles...
...before the nuclear strike!
They caught up to us, huh?
Looks that way.
They switched to a different formation. Activate optical camouflage.
Tachikoma, can you locate their encrypted signals and run a back-hack?
We'll give it a try, but you should be careful.
There will be a missile attack from the Aegis cruisers soon.
I don't think they'll attack the residential area directly,
but there's no telling where the missiles will land.
What about that nuclear missile?
It hasn't been launched yet.
They sure didn't waste any time getting started...
Got movement over here, too.
Damn, they've started.
We don't have much time. We'll surrender to the SDA together.
I'll drag you there if I have to.
What'll it be?
Very well. I'm explaining the situation to the refugees who are currently connected to me.
I'll leave the final decision up to them, but for the time being, let's head to the bridge.
Tachikoma, show me the trajectory of the...
A Self Defense Army counterattack in response to the missile attack from Dejima has begun!
According to government statements, this is a measure that must be taken...
Well, looks like it's started...
...in order to secure the area for the arrival of the UN inspection team.
Tachikoma, are the Major and the others okay?
I repeat, a Self Defense Army counterattack has...
We've lost communications with the Major. Mr. Batou and the others are okay, though.
And it's Section 4 that's after them?
Yes, sir.
Sorry to keep you waiting!
Listening to the reports coming out of Dejima are making me worried sick!
What good is your getting worried gonna do?
Focus on doing everything we can right here and now.
Roger!
Are you all right?
Yes.
It looks like things have quieted down for now.
Tachikoma, situation report.
Major! You're okay!
Yeah, somehow.
The nuclear missile might be launched any minute now.
You should get out of the area right away!
Have there been any official statements from the government?
They announced that there would be a limited series of air strikes...
...in order to send in the inspection team.
It's no use. It looks like we're sealed in.
We are, huh?
Major, don't tell me you're...
I am. I'm trapped beneath a pile of rubble.
It looks like I'll have to leave this in Batou's hands now.
Oh, no! Isn't there anything you can do to get out?
I'll see what I can do, but focus all your attention on assisting Batou's team.
Roger!
Are you linked with the refugees?
Yes. A good number of them have returned.
It looks like most of them are in a panic thanks to that air strike, though.
You said something about a nuclear attack.
How did you find out about it? What group do you work for?
Believe it or not, I'm a police officer.
In the course of investigating the Individual Eleven crime,
we uncovered a project within the government designed to physically drive out the refugees.
We've been trailing you in order to expose it.
If that's true, why did you bring the plutonium here?
Because we knew that you hadn't been given any plutonium.
So we stole the nuclear bomb that was used in Fukuoka...
...and tried to use that as evidence to resolve this situation.
But the plan our enemy came up with unfolded faster than we anticipated.
We never expected him to make a deal with the American Empire for a nuclear strike.
What's happened to the plutonium?
My team should be bringing it to the Self Defense Army,
but they've been surrounded by a squad that was tailing them,
so that's going to be difficult now, too.
I see.
So, have you given up on the idea of making me turn myself in?
I haven't exactly abandoned the idea, but, well...
I turned off the zoning and filtering on my hub cyberbrain a while ago.
Anyone who wants to can connect and see everything that is happening here.
We can try to get out of here, but I'm going to try to carry out my revolution at the same time.
I made up my mind to go through with it when you told me there would be a nuclear strike.
Made up your mind? What do you mean, revolution?
Tachikoma, haven't you been able to run a back-hack on their communications yet?
No, sir. They seem to be changing their encryption at random based on prime numbers.
Get down!
- We're moving out. - Got it.
We're going outside. Tachikoma, how's that back-hack coming?
Just a little longer!
Kuze, why did you become the refugees' leader?
And how did you break free of the virus' mind control in the first place?
I already had an objective. The liberation of the refugees.
That resulted in the Individual Eleven virus being triggered,
but when I joined forces with them, I noticed a discrepancy between their ideology and mine.
That's probably why I was able to break free from the virus.
But why the fixation on refugee liberation?
I heard you spent time wandering Eurasia, does it have anything to do with that?
There's no direct connection.
I only traveled the continent because I wanted time to reaffirm my motives.
I wondered if I would be able to carry out the revolution, the liberation I'd envisioned.
What's this "revolution" you keep talking about?
The transference of people to the superstructure.
To have people cast off the fossilized system and fuse with the net.
Fuse with the net?
How's your decryption of Section 4's communication codes coming?
Almost there...
Is there any way that we could hack this submarine?
It's flat-out impossible.
During an operation, submarines are in a completely standalone state.
How about the crew's personal e-mails?
Maybe we could back-hack a crewman who's breaking regs!
Oh, I follow you! That might be worth trying out!
Chief, I've brought her.
Proto, open the door.
Are you all right, Prime Minister Kayabuki?
I'm up to speed on the situation.
Can you patch my hotline to the American Empire through to this room?
I'll try requesting that they call off the nuclear strike.
Please do. It all hinges on whether or not they realize what is going on.
You have a point.
Hold it right there. We have you surrounded.
Put down the plutonium and disengage your optical camo!
Mr. Batou! The back-hack is in place!
All right, I'm setting it down!
While I'm putting the case down, make a break for the walls with your camo still on.
Roger.
What the...?!
Hold your fire! You'll hit our own men!
I'm going to disengage my optical camouflage now.
If you still feel like carrying out your mission after I do, go ahead and shoot me.
But if seeing my face convinces you otherwise, listen to what I have to say.
This is a matter of life and death!
You're...
Those eyes... Were you a Ranger?
That's right.
My experiences on the peninsula gave me an insight into life.
I found an order that was full of contradictions. Exploitation at the hands of the powerful.
A structure that had grown corrupt.
But what disillusioned me most of all was the utter lack of responsibility of the people.
Even though they haven't created anything themselves and understand nothing,
when the masses come across information that they agree with,
they immediately internalize it and are thus controlled.
People who feel no sense of responsibility, no matter the unintended consequences,
...caused by their unmotivated actions that make poor use of the infrastructure of the net.
My revolution is also an act of revenge against such people.
Revenge?
I've had a full prosthetic body ever since I was a child,
so I've constantly felt a sense of disparity between mind and body.
If such a thing could be done,
I wanted to abandon this clumsy body and paddle out onto the sea of the net.
The Asian refugees gave a man like me hope to live.
They told me that my artificial face was a handsome one,
and flattered me by saying that my Ghost can be seen in it.
It was then that it hit home for the first time that the spirit and the body might be inseparable.
And I was able to think of myself as a human being with a body of his own.
But when they come across information that they find palatable,
they get swept along in the direction that is easiest, just like everyone else.
I suppose that in the end, humans are designed to follow the path of least resistance,
So? How are you planning to carry out your revenge?
I will take into the net the memories and Ghosts of those who are linked to me.
They will lose their physical bodies if a nuke is dropped here,
but they will gain the chance to undergo a forced evolution.
What are the odds of them being able to retain their individuality in the net?
I don't have the answer to that.
But as pioneers, they might become beings who will enlighten those left behind in the base,
constantly making them aware of the superstructure.
In exactly the same way that humans have felt reverence and awe...
...towards spiritual beings since ancient times.
That's your revenge against, and offer of salvation to, those who let you down?
Yes, although I believe it is a revolution.
I see that you're full-prosthetic, too.
Then you must have felt the doubts and fears...
...caused by the disparity between body and spirit, just as I have.
What do you say? Will you come with me?
Do the refugees intend to go with you?
Yes, unfortunately.
Most of them prefer the idea of carrying out the "nuclear suicide bombing" scenario.
They probably want to feel like they weren't defeated.
Even though that, too, is taking the easy way out...
I see.
Batou, I'm going to try rescuing the refugees using the method that Kuze suggested.
The rest of you, let the Self Defense Army know about the nuclear strike.
Batou, are you listening to me?
You crazy bitch! I'm not letting you go alone...
Wait for me! No way am I gonna let you go alone!
What are they waiting for?
Beats me.
Anyway, let's get this to the bridge.
The GSDA might believe your story if it comes from us.
Once the second air strike is over, commence the invasion of Dejima.
We're gonna get it ready for the inspection team!
Finding out a galaxy...
...of planets and stars within me...
Listening to each of them...
...singing the same silent melody...
I've never seen such beauty...
In possibility...
No speck of doubt or fear...
Wake up!
I hear a voice,
hear a voice calling out to me...
I see inside,
see the light now ever holding me...
All the truth, all I need...
...to make of this reality, it's inside...
The beauty within the shell...
I hear a voice,
hear a voice calling out to me...
I see inside,
see the light now ever holding me...
All the truth, all I need...
...to make of this reality, it's inside...
Right here within the shell...