Re: \"Titans\" -Warriors of Virtue
*thinks* I will plot better! I will plot better! I will throw more monkey-wrenches! I will not be Basil Exposition!
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EXT. ISHNU - JUST AFTER DAWN - SHUTTLE
The expedition from the Shadow, three-strong, mills around the torn shuttle raggedly. Langley exits the shuttle, and is seen sitting on a rock, loading her gun and watching a POC, which she places at her feet. Novakovich and another crewmember, Jaron, are bare silhouettes inside the shuttle, crouched over something inside.
We PAN to the edge of the forest, where Mar is stock-still behind a large tree, daring not to breathe. We see things from her perspective - she sees dark forms, nothing more.
MAR (whispered, to herself)
Go back, volunteer. Great, Natalie. They've mutated and you're alone...
EXT. ISHNU - SHUTTLE - DAY
Langley slides ammunition into her weapon, angrily, while Daly's voice emanates from the POC laying at her feet.
DALY (V.O.)
This message is meant for Captain Hiro Sakura of the CSS Shadows. In his absence, the passcode of two operations officers must be present.
LANGLEY (yells)
NOVAKOVICH!
She loads another cap. Novakovich, breathlessly, comes up behind her.
NOVAKOVICH
Yes, Captain?
LANGLEY
Passcode.
Novakovich picks up the POC, and places her thumb on the unit. It beeps. She hands it to Langley, who does the same. It goes black, and then comes up with Daly's harried visage.
DALY (V.O.)
Hiro, hello. It's been a while. Sorry we couldn't meet under better circumstances. If you're recieving this message, than we have abandoned the shuttle and are moving eastward on course eight-six-two towards our target.
EXT. ISHNU - FOREST - OUTSIDE CITY
Just outside the city, Daly, Chenei, and Downey move closer, ever so closer, the stress and the sweat evident on their faces. Daly has the haunted countenance of someone who has seen too much, remembered too much, with eyes darkened in a need for revenge - eyes that we last saw in the flashback as he killed the Earth officer. Chenei, here, is very much a fish out of water. As a doctor and the mastermind behind the Vai Offensive, she's seen her share of death and caused her share though her actions: but she's never held the gun, never been on the front lines like this, and it's scaring her. Downey, for whom such things are a matter of the next paycheck, has set his jaw, loaded his gun, and is ready for anything.
DALY (V.O.)
Our target is an established Vai presence, a large mobile base currently located at 458 Beta on the northern continent, about two klicks from here on current estimation. We were uninformed of the Vai presence upon our arrival on Ishnu.
They clear a few trees and come upon the large, glorious, radiant Vai city; it reflects on their gear, glimmering like fire.
DALY (V.O.)
I don't have time to do a full run-down for you. I know you have access to things I don't, and at this point I don't have a choice but to trust you. Hiro, the Vai were not eradicated in the Offensive fifteen years ago. They've been waiting here, on Ishnu. They've done something to one of my officers. They're holding three of my people hostage, including Ari. (pause, a tremor coming into his voice) I failed - I failed her at Trevayne, Hiro, and I'm not going to let that happen again. I can't do that to her.
Downey scans, and points to the ceiling of one of the "buildings." Keeping to the darkness, the team makes their way there with the air of a funeral party and the tension of a taut rope. Daly, taking out a grapple, aims, and fires - it catches. Grimly, he nods, indicates for the other two to follow, and begins to scale the side of the gently curving wall, coming up to the air vent Henderson escaped from - still open. Something's fishy here, and Daly pauses for just a moment before dropping in,
DALY (V.O.)
Trust me on this one, Hiro. We were never meant to come back from Ishnu. And it doesn't look good for us right now, even though we've come this far. Do something for me - get out of here.
INT. ISHNU CITY - CELL
Daly is already at the door of the cell, and Downey follows, working the mechanism quickly, as Chenei falls through the air duct opening behind them, unbalanced and almost keeling over.
DALY (V.O)
I don't know what the Vai have planned. But I do know one thing. The Company doesn't want anyone to know what happened here. They want us dead, want to eradicate every last shred of evidence of their complicity when the Vai attack, which they will. They will. (pause) Get out of here, Hiro. It may be too late for us, but it's not too late for you to find out, to tell someone, to stop the juggernaut before it destroys us all.
Downey converses silently with Daly. Daly nods, and he and Chenei clear the lock. Downey slides a small, screwdriver-like machine into the lock mechanism, and with a shower of sparks, he's rewarded with a burn on his left hand - and the door opening. He moves back, in pain, but picks up his gun and moves out behind Daly and Chenei.
DALY (V.O.)
I can't say anymore, or we'll lose precious time. Don't come after me.
They find themselves in a dark, badly lit alien hallway - making their way down, slowly, tautly, every sense heightened. They pass an intersection.
Five seconds after they pass, a figure appears from the shadows, an old, robed figure with an infinitely sorrowful look on his face. The Old Man.
EXT. ISHNU - FOREST
Langley watches Daly's face blink out with an unreadable expression. Novokavich is stunned.
NOVOKAVICH
…Should we head out, Captain?
Langley laughs, a short, barking laugh. She looks up at Novokavich.
LANGLEY
And go where? Negative. I want the coordinates of that Vai base.
JARON (off-screen)
Captain!
CUT TO: ANGLE ON JARON
Jaron, looking just a little roughed up and a bit more bruised since the last time we saw him, is standing just inside the clearing, supporting a limping Mar.
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The writer's life is not meant to be a happy one. We all accept that going in. -JMS
