User blog:Angren Túrë/FORUM EP1: Relatively Civilized

''Black screen. Roll opening titles. ''

''Fade in to overhead shot of a large clearing in a dense evergreen forest. Morning sunlight coming in from the left (east). ''

The clearing is occupied (partially created by) the wreck of Thoronath '' and three makeshift buildings placed on the right edge of the clearing. ''

WC-83 (narrating):Captain's log, day 3 shipwrecked. Minor casualties from first Grim attack, no deaths. We've successfully confined prisoner Maki Kuronami in a makeshift holding cell until such time as we're rescued. On the whole, so far so good.

''Cut in farther. Pan across the wreck of Thoronath. Silhouettes of crewmen are scrambling across the ship's hull, cutting it apart with Dust. ''

WC-83 (narrating): Salvage efforts are going well, for the most part. I've dispatched Fire and Wow as our northern and southern perimeter guards. No suspicious activity since the initial Grim attack, but First officer Túrë maintains the peace won't last.

''Cut to in front of the makeshift building in the center. The door opens to reveal WC-83 (helmet off) holding steaming coffee mug in right hand. ''

<p class="MsoNormal">''<span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">WC-83 rolls shoulders and yawns. ''

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"">Wolf (off screen): CAPTAIN!

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"">WC-83 (grimaces): Oh, great. So much for a leisurely morning.

<p class="MsoNormal">''<span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Wolf strides angrily up to WC-83 and glares at him. ''<span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"">Wolf: What was that you said yesterday? Something about protecting what little stock I had left?

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"">WC-83: What happened?

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"">Wolf (furious): Take a wild guess! Those vultures you call your 'crew' have been looting the ruins of my shop all morning--and I might remind you, said ruins were their fault in the first place!

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"">WC-83 (patiently): I've told you before, we have to use the Dust for the salvage efforts before anything else. I am truly sorry for your shop, but the safety of my crew comes first. I promise you, after we've completed the salvage, you will be repaid.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"">Wolf: And what, may I ask, will you repay me in? You're military, and foreigners to boot. What could--

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"">WC-83 (begins walking past Wolf): If you'll excuse me, I need to go to the bridge. Forgive my bluntness, but I simply don't have time to bicker with you all day about bargains.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"">Wolf (follows): It doesn't have to be "all day". I'm just a businessman trying to make ends meet here.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"">WC-83 (curtly): Fair enough. If you're a businessman, then you remember that the customer is always right. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go to the bridge. Unless you'd like to try your luck with TOMM, I'd suggest you mind your shop.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"">Wolf (snorts): Foreigners.

<p class="MsoNormal">''<span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">WC-83 enters a large hole in the ship and turns a corner. ''

<p class="MsoNormal">''<span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Cut to inside ship. Time-lapse scene of WC-83 making his way through the destroyed ship. ''

<p class="MsoNormal">''<span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Camera follows WC-83 as he turns the corner and enters into the bridge. Most of the computer equipment has been pulled out, and the glass viewports are shattered. TOMM's console and hologram are still intact. TOMM (a green hologram of a Napoleonic-Era Cavalier) is "standing" casually with his arms crossed and a mischievous smirk on his face. ''

<p class="MsoNormal">''<span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Angren and Luna are standing in the middle of the command platform, directly in front of TOMM's console. Angren is standing with his left hand by his side, making a gesture at Luna with his right. Luna is also standing, but her hands are both resting on the claws attached to her belt. Both are obviously angry. ''

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"">Angren: …You want to clear it. You just want to delete this AI, because there's no way it can possibly help us when we're shipwrecked in the middle of nowhere.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"">TOMM: I'll take that as a compliment, but it doesn't mean I'll want to help you--

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"">Angren (glares): Shut up. We're not friends.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"">Luna (raises eyebrows): And anyone who finds him will know everything there is to know about our mission, our location…everything. It's not a risk we can take. (gestures at TOMM's hologram) Besides, don't tell me you actually want to keep him around?

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"">Angren (increasingly irritated): I don't, but we need to recover him. I don't care what happens once he's out, but we need to get him off the ship before we take it apart.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"">Luna: And where are we going to keep him, Medicine Man? This bridge is probably the most secure location in this whole forest. Of course, we shouldn't even be needing to bother keeping him secure when we can actually take a security precaution and purge him.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"">TOMM: She's right, you know. I wouldn't miss an opportunity to sell any of you out. I guess that's what happens when you insult the shipboard AI…

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"">Angren (right hand twitches): Woman, there is some valuable goddamn information on that AI, and as much as I'd love to ram my sword down TOMM's holographic throat, we can't just--

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"">Luna (activates claws): Don't you get it!? It's not like we can just dump him on a flash drive, he's practically hardwired into the ship's mainframe! It could take weeks just to isolate!

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"">TOMM (arches eyebrows suggestively): I don't mind, madam. I'd let you look at my hardwires any--

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"">Angren & Luna: ''Shut up. ''

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">WC-83 facepalms and sighs in exasperation <span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"">WC-83: That's quite enough, both of you.

<p class="MsoNormal">''<span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Angren and Luna stop mid-sentence and stare at WC-83. Luna retracts claws. ''

<p class="MsoNormal">''<span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Awkward pause. ''

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"">Angren (clears throat): Captain, the first engineer and I were just--

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"">WC-83: I get it, but we have more pressing issues on our hands. Leave him be for now.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"">TOMM: Finally, someone who appreciates--

<p class="MsoNormal">''<span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Luna punches TOMM's projector, shutting it off. ''<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"">WC-83: I'm aware TOMM's data is valuable, but dangerous as well. In the meantime, however, I need the two of you to bury the hatchet, at least until we've finished salvaging structural materials. I can't have my two first officers at each others' throats all the time. Is that clear?

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"">Angren & Luna: Sir.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"">WC-83: Glad to hear it (jerks thumb over shoulder). Now, I need you both outside to take a look at the engine removal. Dismissed.

<p class="MsoNormal">''<span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Angren and Luna nod, then walk out past WC-83. Luna intentionally steps on the back of Angren's foot, he swears but does not otherwise react. ''<span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"">WC-83 (to himself): I swear, those two…

<p class="MsoNormal">''<span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">WC-83's throat mic rings. He looks curiously at it, then taps the receiver. ''

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"">Fire (radio): North perimeter to Thoronath, I've got movement on the edges.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"">WC-83: Acknowledged, North perimeter. Hostiles?

<p class="MsoNormal">''<span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Show Fire sitting in a leafy tree, viewing a small GPS. there are several red dots in the top-right corner ''<span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 115%;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"">Fire: Affirmative. Looks like a small pack of Grim, not sure what type yet. It looks like they're just passing through.

<p class="MsoNormal">''<span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Cut back to WC-83 ''

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"">WC-83: Copy that, North perimeter. Thoronath out.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"">WC-83 (taps mic again): All hands, yellow alert

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Pan across sections of <span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%; font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Thoronath,'' WC-83's message is being blared out of speakers. The crewmen touch their weapons nervously and continue working.''

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"">WC-83: Hostiles nearby. Repeat, all hands yellow alert. Bridge crew, assemble in the courtyard.

<p class="MsoNormal">''<span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Mic rings again, WC-83 taps it. ''<span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"">WoW (radio, urgent voice): South perimeter to Thoronath, multiple human hostiles converging on Thoronath, recommend--(static)

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"">WC-83: South perimeter? Are you there? Come in, WoW.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Static <span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">.'' WC-83 pulls up a data pad and scans it intently. ''

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"">WC-83: Vitals nominal… hmmm. (Puts away data pad, begins walking away) seems he stopped transmitting. In any case, looks like the locals have come for a… (stops dead)

<p class="MsoNormal">''<span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">WC-83 frantically taps his mic. ''<span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 115%;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"">WC-83 (urgent): WC-83 to Leaf, what's the status on Maki?

<p class="MsoNormal">''<span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Cut to Leaf drawing his primary weapon and entering the makeshift jail cell. The cell is empty, with a ragged thermite hole at the back ''<span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"">Leaf (to himself): Oh, shit.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"">Leaf (taps mic): This is Leaf, Captain. She's gone. Thermite hole on the back wall, looks like someone busted her out.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Cut back to WC-83, now sprinting through the wrecked ship with his weapon out <span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"">WC-83: Damn it. Meet me in the courtyard, we've got bigger problems. Out.

<p class="MsoNormal">''<span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">A few seconds later. The bridge crew (WC-83, Angren, Luna, Leaf, Wolf) is gathered in the field between the makeshift houses and the wreck of the <span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Thoronath with their weapons drawn''. ''The 20 or so enlisted crewmen are in the ship, off screen. ''

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"">WC-83: Listen up, all of you. The locals have decided to make a visit, and it seems they're hostile. Remember, doctrine states you may return fire if fired upon, but not before. Try to let them know we don't want any trouble, but keep your guard up.

<p class="MsoNormal">''<span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Gunshot, left of the screen. A bullet whizzes past Luna's ear and hits the dirt in the middle of the circle ''<span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%; font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Cut to a White Fang rifleman standing on top of the <span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Thoronath, ''aiming his weapon. ''

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"">Rifleman: Freeze! Weapons down, one false move it'll be your last!

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"">Angren (snorts): Oh, you're real cool. Did they teach you that one-liner too?

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"">Rifleman: Shut up! You're surrounded. Drop your weapons, now!

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"">Angren: We're surrounded? Oh, that's a new one. Pray tell, what--

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"">Luna (punches Angren): Shut it! He's not bluffing!

<p class="MsoNormal">''<span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">360 pan around courtyard. Several White Fang riflemen drop out of trees and appear from foliage, slowly advancing on the bridge crew ''<span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"">WC-83: Drop your weapons. We can't fight this many.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Bridge crew reluctantly lowers their weapons and puts their hands in the air <span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">.

<p class="MsoNormal">''<span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Rustling sound. WC-83 turns his head to the right to look. ''

<p class="MsoNormal">''<span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Cut to a clump of bushes, shaking. Maki emerges from the bushes, twirling her sword with a carefree grin on her face. ''<span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">

<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Maki (stops): Well, Captain! It seems you'll go down with your ship after all!

<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:normal">''<span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Fade out. ''