Ghost in the Shell Stand Alone Comples Vol 7, Episodes 24 – 26

Description

Ep 24: Sunset in the Lonely City – ANNIHILATION Having learned the entire truth behind the Laughing Man Incident from the Laughing Man himself, and confirming the information with Serano, Section 9 is finally ready to make their move against the man behind the corporate terrorism: standing Secretary General Yakushima. However, Yakushima has learned of Section 9’s planned move, and has leaked the existence of the group to the press in an effort to cast the organization in a bad light. When Aramaki arrives to speak with the Prime Minister, he presents the incriminating evidence against Yakushima, expecting the Prime Minister to take action and remove Yakushima from office. However, the Lower House elections are entering a crucial stage, and without the support of his party in that House, the Prime Minister is uncertain of his ability to have Yakushima removed from office and arrested for his crimes. To counter this, the Prime Minister decides to use the Special Forces Restriction Bill against Section 9 in an effort to improve his party’s image, with the promise that he will take action after the elections have been completed. An alarmed Aramaki reluctantly agrees to the plan, and informs the Major of the impending raid on their headquarters, instructing her and the team to survive no matter what. Shortly after his departure from the Prime Minister’s office, Aramaki and Togusa become the first two members of Section 9 to be captured by the government. Elsewhere, a JMSDF carrier and three escorts arrive in the waters off Niihama City. Aboard the carrier the Umibozu, an elite JMSDF Black Ops unit adept at paramilitary operations, prepares to storm Section 9 with armoured combat suits and assault choppers. After exchanging fire with the Umibozu, the assembled members of Section 9 feign a suicide attempt before escaping to the basement. Kusanagi briefs them on the Chief’s last instructions before officially disbanding Section 9. Ep 25: Smoke of Gunpowder, Hail of Bullets – BARRAGE Aramaki has been released under his own recognizance, and meets with the head of the Ministry of Justice to explain the situation and ask for help in ensuring his team’s safety, but the Minister of Justice is powerless to affect the situation beyond the prosecution of Yakushima. Elsewhere, Saito and Ishikawa are caught in separate traps set by Umibozu teams, but not before successfully dispersing information seeds given to them by the Major. With Batou and Kusanagi as the only uncaptured members of Section 9, Batou undertakes a risky sortie to the Major’s apartment to recover her sentimentally-valued watch. Before he can escape, Umibozu commandos arrive and a firefight ensues. Batou successfully fends off the first wave of attacks, but is unexpectedly confronted with two armoured combat suits, the second of which proves to be more than he can handle. Just when it seems that Batou will be killed, help arrives from the Tachikomas. Having witnessed the attack on Section 9, the three remaining Tachikomas rendezvous at the remains of Section 9’s headquarters, and after a time manage to find Batou at Kusanagi’s apartment. The Tachikoma tanks resolve to protect Batou at any cost, ultimately sacrificing themselves to save his life. Meanwhile, Kusanagi arrives to evacuate a badly injured Batou, taking him to her hideout where she stores her remote bodies. Batou returns Kusanagi’s watch and she puts it on her wrist. After taken care of his wounds, both make plans to leave the country, but the Umibozu, acting on orders from the Cabinet, attempt to assassinate Kusanagi at the airport. Though the assassination appears to be successful, it is revealed that the Major’s decapitated body wasn’t wearing her watch, indicating that she was piloting one of her spare bodies remotely from her safehouse. Ep 26: Public Security Section 9, Once Again – STAND ALONE COMPLEX The dismantling of Section 9, spun by the media as a JSDF preemptive strike against a radical security unit planning a coup, provides the Prime Minister with the public support his party needs to win the Lower House elections. Immediately after the election, in keeping with his promise, the Prime Minister discloses the information regarding The Laughing Man case, fingering Yakushima as the ringleader. Three months pass, during which Togusa tries to come to terms with all that has happened with Section 9. In his attempts to find information on the rest of the team, he learns that the Major was killed and the remaining members of Section 9 are serving time in a state prison for high treason. The news upsets Togusa, and he resolves to assassinate the man responsible for Section 9’s dissolution. Togusa intends to catch Yakushima as he arrives at the ruling party’s headquarters, but before Togusa can follow through with his plan, he is stopped by Batou, who brings Togusa to Section 9’s temporary headquarters. Here, Togusa is informed that Kusanagi is alive and Section 9’s disbandment and destruction was merely a ploy. Elsewhere, Kusanagi and Aramaki meet with Aoi, the young man Togusa encountered at the MHLW facility, who turns out to be the true identity of the Laughing Man. Aramaki offers Aoi a job at Section 9 for his outstanding hacking skills, but Aoi politely refuses, claiming he is not a team player and wishing to remain at his current job with the public library to sort through and read its collection of books. Public Security Section 9 once more becomes an active security unit of the Japanese government, and its members settle back into the routines they had at the beginning of the series.