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Checking PAD:
Everybody RUSHES to combat stations!
No time for evac!
(to mic)
Riley!
On it!
Cousin!
We're caught! They followed us!
Deploying AutoCannons and Railgun.
As they rush thru:
How long 'til we can Jump?
30 minutes. Unless we want to fry all the engines.
(eyes the others)
Which we... don't want... right?
The Railgun's "song" echoes around. VARRO reacts.
(re: STAFF)
With what!? We don't even have all the AutoCannons!
Hear, hear!
Faraway & near EXPLOSIONS start to be HEARD & FELT (sizable DEBRIS flying or falling, CABLING becomes loose).
But I planned for it anyway.
Close 'behind' the massed Command Ships IN JUMP 8 NOVAN BATTLECRUISERS, which start STRAFING/BLASTING them with gusto.
1 Command Ship BLOWS UP. 1000s of 'bodyguard' drones TURN towards the new threat.
Far & not-so-far EXPLOSIONS, noise & SHAKING.
The Boss TECH at CONTROLS (not unlike a warship's AA gun, with "handles" for hands & shoulders, a hips "strap"...)
ARRIVING at a run:
Who's in charge of this weapon? What's the ammo situation?
RUSH arrives with WRAY. PARK close behind.
(not his usual contained self?)
I see Mr. Brody found as good a way to spend our last moments as anything else.
BRODY pours more glasses of WHISKY for the others. More enemy HITS heard. Everybody reacts.
Rushing to 'captain' chair:
The Novan Fleet?
GREER takes a free Console. All SCREENS drowning in RED DOTS.
Keying:
We need more power to shields!
Re: Screens with Novan BattleCruisers:
'Privateers' would be a better term.
'Below' MATERIALIZE 6 SUBVERTED COMMAND SHIPS with Novan markings, which waste no time DEPLOYING their attached 'Novan' SWARMS.
The dronestorm WIDENS to encompass the new targets.
All 8 NOVAN BATTLECRUISERS start POURING DRONES (many with Novan 'colors') from 10s of open PORTS. Half the 'Novan' Command Ships do the same. The new arrivals quickly ENGAGE their attacking brethren while the big guns keep SHOOTING the ENEMY Command Ships, another of which EXPLODES.
Big SCREEN shows a rapidly SHIFTING battle with 2 humongous drone clouds (1 RED, 1 BLUE) FIGHTING each other. Another ENEMY Command Ship ICON VANISHES.
Another SCREEN:
'Gate activity MAP':
4-5 additional Depots complete a rough semicircle with the original 4, well behind Destiny's current position. 3-4 extra Gates are also ACTIVE in that area, presumably more Depots. Another 10+ ACTIVE Gates all around them (farther away) could mean anything. 10-12 more 'intermediate' Gates have become ACTIVE, forming several redundant/complementary ROUTES between the 'Depot area' and Destiny.
None of this is improvised!
Re: BLUE DOTS exiting Destiny's ICON:
'That' is what Ginn nearly paid with her life.
A not-so-far EXPLOSION FELT. A SHOWER of SPARKS.
Re: Novan markings:
Keying Console:
DRONE POV:
SCRAPING a narrow passageway.
Reviewing PAD:
PAD SCREEN: "Drone Swarm Control" menu:
Select Drone.
Set Group.
Choose Target.
Rules of Engagement.
Swarm Parameters.
Advanced Options.
Statistics.
DRONE POV:
ZOOM OUT:
SHIELDS & (partly protected) HULL PEPPERED with drone FIRE.
AutoCannons, Ancient Batteries, RAILGUN & MAIN GUNS firing non-stop.
The subverted Command Ships STOP pouring drones, one after the other. Not so the Novan BATTLECRUISERS.
Both sides of the battle reach a sort of EQUILIBRIUM of forces. Then:
1 of the SUBVERTED COMMAND SHIPS, under heavy fire (barely protected by a weak Novan shield), RUPTURES, EXPLODES.
And keyed 'em to the Gate network itself for control signals.
An ENEMY Command Ship is BLOWN to SMITHEREENS by concentrated BattleCruiser BEAMS.
FOCUS: several enemy drones COLLIDE with each other, careening out of control and/or EXPLODING.
Keying Console:
See? Ours will keep active while there's a Gate in the area!
'Gate Activity' SCREEN shows 2-3 gates CLOSING near Destiny. Another 2-3 TURN ON.
Another couple ENEMY ICONS DESTROYED.
GATE CLOSES.
Almost immediately:
RING ACTIVATES again.
How can you manage to open and sustain so many wormholes at once so close to one another?
We're using 2 or 3 at most. Gets too tricky with more. Luckily our BattleCruisers got huge cargo holds: we can shift our reinforcements around pretty much where and when we want.
We've been studying and tweaking the original Ancient protocols for decades. Destiny's Gate's unique and still uses the original routines, but it worked in simms!
So now everything turns on the Gates!?
It always has: Our key technology, the one our enemy's unable to crack. Makes sense to use 'em to the max.
Won't that make 'em a... military target?
Another ENEMY Command Ship EXPLODES on Console.
And, thanks to Destiny depleting their reserves, we'll have months or years instead of hours or days before a drone counterattack arrives...
(gestures)
Their counterattack!? Then what are those out there?
Perhaps a last-ditch rearguard action?
Let's kick that rearguard!
Who was that? Were they evacuating?
DESTINY POUNDED by not-entirely-deflected drone SHOTS. Many AutoCannons start 'floating up' to make room for their increasing numbers and form the COCOON, barely protected by the 'boosted' SHIELDS.
FOCUS: AutoCannon HIT, EXPLODES. The rest repeatedly FIRING.
Half the remaining SUBVERTED Command Ships are POURING drones again.
RAILGUN FIRE CHASES then BLASTS another enemy Command Ship.
(screaming)
Yeeeeehhhaaaawwww!!!
(starts TWEAKING position)
Reload!!
Re: Console:
But it won't work! We'll be killed long before the last of 'em is destroyed!
Start jamming!
Keying their PADs:
Will take a while: We cannot stop firing!
On it!
We must get out of here!
But we'll lose our own drones too!
There's no alternative! Shields will collapse in minutes!
SCREEN shows another couple ENEMY Command Ships disabled.
Piloting:
Where's the surface-based Artillery when we need it?
Both keying:
Off we go!
AutoCannons & subverted drones SHOOT & BLOW UP approaching 'dormant' drones. Still, 1 of those CRASHES against the hull.
RAILGUN FIRE reaches then RUPTURES an enemy Command Ship.
The 7 BATTLECRUISERS (all DAMAGED, 3 of them MORE so) start jamming too, causing lots of drones to go 'dormant' & trigger MANY COLLISIONS. Their LongBows & RailGuns pour DESTRUCTION onto the enemy Command Ships, destroying/disabling 3 more.
2 BATTLECRUISERS start POURING drones again.
Injured patients ARRIVE.
Re: BATTLECRUISERS:
Sir?
Fist against palm:
Piloting/keying:
Aye aye, sir!
All keying:
Can't keep jamming 40 swarms for much longer!
Keep shifting frequencies. As long as we're faster than their path-choosing routines, we should be good.
On it!
More enemy Command Ship ICONS VANISH.
Checking Console:
We may live yet!?
6 enemy Command Ships start KAMIKAZING Destiny, from different directions. The BattleCruisers have retreated too far to destroy them (though they TRY).
Destiny's RAILGUN FIRE BLOWS UP the 1st kamikaze.
(pauses keying)
Sir?
Brilliant!
MONITORS show another kamikaze DESTROYED.
Fast-keying:
I'll need jamming to stop for 5 seconds!
Keying wristPAD:
On the count of 3! 1...
Most drones become BALLISTIC again. Enemy Command Ships FLEE the substantial number threatening to hit them, into the space vacated by the retreating (yet still furiously FIRING) BattleCruisers.
Destiny's MAIN GUN FIRE BLOWS UP another kamikaze.
A heavily DAMAGED (on fire) subverted Command Ship SLIPS ahead of Destiny, COLLIDES with the closest kamikaze, resulting in a HUGE joint EXPLOSION.
Hand shielding eyes:
How many crew these Command Ships?
(points)
Over there!
Both PILOTING at the edge:
I see it! Greer!?
After you!
Screens show 4-5 enemy Command Ships HIT by 10s of kamikazing drones, 1 EXPLODING, another VEERING OFF PATH.
(checks Console)
Yesss! But the rest's getting away!
(alarmed?)
We must stop! Without enough cooling the entire works'll melt!
The techs hurriedly CONFER:
...overflow secondary circuits, should do in a pinch...
Tertiary's gonna leak like a sieve...
Hard vacuum will take care of that!
As the Novans start on the machine's TUBING/VALVES with their tools, unseen liquid HISSES loudly. SMOKE replaced by VAPOUR.
Again at controls:
Brace for impact!
As PAD-keying Novan techs react:
RING ACTIVATES.
Destiny's bow PLOWS inert drones, some of them BLASTED before impact, others IMPACTING (with loud CLANGs), 1 EXPLODING on contact.
Lots of drones from both sides still ACTIVE, FIGHTING, COLLIDING.
Star-wards drones (mainly enemy) REACTIVATE as Destiny gets away. The last 2 kamikazing Command Ships TURN around towards Destiny again.
Another enemy Command Ship BLOWN UP by the BattleCruisers, now CLOSER to the planet, more DAMAGED, still SPOUTING smaller quantities of subverted drones.
Watching a BattleCruiser ICON Jump OUT:
There goes another!
Tell me there's more of them!
Consoles show the last 2 kamikazing Command Ships APPROACHING.
(FIRING)
C'mon, c'mon!
Keying:
Gimme a sec!
Everybody CHEERS.
Oh, no, no, no, no, no!
(to mic)
Anyone at the Observation Deck...!
CUT to:
...LEAVE NOW!
RAILING POV: ongoing BATTLE. First 1 drone, then a 2nd one, VEER into view, at CLOSE RANGE, deftly manoeuvering, aimed straight at CAMERA.
The door starts to (slowly) CLOSE. The 2 stragglers RUN for it.
DRONE POV:
BACK TO:
The 1st drone is BLOWN UP to pieces, the 2nd CRASHES (with a fair-sized EXPLOSION) squarely against the OBSERVATION DECK. A 3rd, COMING from a different direction, gets also very CLOSE.
Everybody, BRACE for IMPACT!!!
An EXTREMELY CLOSE-QUARTERS (double) EXPLOSION FELT. LOUD NOISE. HARD SHAKING. Both runners are violently thrown forwards as the door finally CLOSES behind them. CRIES. SPARKS & loose DEBRIS. LIGHTS FLICKER MADLY (or go out). SMOKE.
The reinforced (blast?) door HOLDS, barely.
Re: Console:
2 people injured.
2 BRIGHT DOTS can be barely discerned on the planet's surface.
The retreating enemy Command Ships + their attendant drones CLOSE with the BattleCruisers.
2 BRIGHT surface-based ARTILLERY BEAMS pierce as many enemy Command Ships, BLOWING 1 to SMITHEREENS, setting the 2nd on FIRE. Quickly, they SHOOT more enemy Command Ships, which start trying to EVADE.
500+ enemy drones TURN towards the planet's surface, pursued (almost immediately) by as many 'friendlies'.
DESTINY closes, STRAFING, RAINING RAILGUN + MAIN GUN FIRE on the enemy Command Ships, RUPTURING ANOTHER, while the attendant subverted Command Ships still POUR out more subverted DRONES.
ZOOM OUT: 1000s of 'dormant/inertial' drones (enemies & friendlies) left behind, SWIRLING, sometimes COLLIDING like so many snowflakes.
Closer to the star, 10s of surviving 'friendly' kamikazes still inertial, in a STREAM, little by little fanning out.
Re: BattleCruisers:
STAFF in hand, heading for exit:
We cannot lose those surface beams!
He rushes out the Bridge.
We're closing too fast!
Keying:
Increasing power to forward shields!
Piloting/firing:
Fire in the hole!!
Ready another round of kamikazes!
We need better jamming control!
As another 2 enemy Command Ship ICONS DISINTEGRATE on Consoles:
Allow me. Mandy? Lend a hand, please.
There's AA Batteries down there: 1 beams, 1 bullets. Huh... we always expected to have more time to build real defenses for our surface cannons after the initial salvo.
Get everyone that can be spared ready to Gate in 5 minutes, with anything that can down a drone!
You sure you can stop 'em?
As he rushes past some AutoCannons:
We gotta slow 'em down at all costs! Overdrive the pursuers! Gate some to the planet too! And AutoCannons!
(cheers Console)
Yeah! That's how it's done!!
A half-dozen Novan SOLDIERS gate IN, with various gear, armor suits, WEAPONRY.
MARSHALL arrives, running. The Novan soldiers SALUTE him.
(returns salute)
I need power cabling! And tools! Everybody's got their kinos ready for intel? Ok!? Dial the planet!
Novan techs (& some soldiers) keying PADs. GATE DEACTIVATES.
MARSHALL is given a toolbox + a (big) bundle of heavy-duty cabling.
RING ACTIVATES, starts SPINNING.
MARSHALL & the Novan soldiers get ready for battle.
A neo-kino SCOOTS towards nearby trees.
1000 drones high in the sky, barely visible, CLOSING FAST in 2 groups, the 'friendlies' almost catching up to the enemies (FIRING at 'em, without much success).
DRONE POV:
The 1st half-dozen Novan soldiers have spread around & setup their weapons on the nearest shelters (rocks, fallen trees, the riverbanks). Marshall's "Noctis squad" mixed with them.
MARSHALL (with helmet ON) by the Gate, busy attaching the power cabling to INNER CIRCUITRY glimpsed thru an open PLATE.
Not the party we had planned, eh, Sarge!? But we'll make 'em pay! For everything!!
TARGET HIM.
The Novan soldiers all FIRE (from too far?). So do the gated drones, while dangerously APPROACHING.
DRONE HIT. SWERVE/EVADE. HIT AGAIN. FIRE BACK.
In the distance, (upriver) beyond the Gate, renewed SURFACE BEAMS.
BACK TO:
The AutoCannons FIRE, with only partial success. The 35+ just-gated subverted drones ENGAGE the attacker wave.
The forward enemy drones all SPREAD OUT their original course, rising, EVADING, many forging ahead, not bothering to fire back.
FOCUS: AutoCannon BEAM races towards a 'fleeing' enemy drone, HITS it, causing it to wildly SWERVE.
Another BattleCruiser BAILS OUT.
Fierce drone (DOG)FIGHTING around the remaining BattleCruisers and enemy Command Ships.
Destiny approaching, POURS FIRE on enemy drones & Command Ships, no longer spouts subverted drones.
2 subverted Command Ships SPOUT 'Novan' drones at a reduced rate.
Most drones near ('behind') Destiny are 'dormant', only briefly regaining ACTIVITY. 100s of those keep HITTING DESTINY & BEING HIT/DESTROYED.
Still cheaper than building our own!
Keying/firing:
Eat fire!!
To the left! The left!
They're surrounding us again!
Get rolling!
A hapless zig-zagging kino SHOT DOWN. An AutoCannon HIT, EXPLODES. An enemy drone ROLL-CRASHES into the river. A BURNING drone flies into a tree.
Novan soldiers (+ the other half of the AutoCannons) target the many attacker drones that are steering AROUND the fight, focused on their faraway primary target [+]
DRONE POV:
BACK TO:
Soldiers & MARSHALL barely avoid being HIT by abundant enemy fire + DEBRIS. Various drone WRECKAGE dots the ground.
A damaged/SPARKING drone zooms downwards CLOSE past camera.
(disoriented? reacting)
What!?
(as he regains his bearings)
Reload!!
One of the Novans points a Fire Extinguisher (out of FRAME) shoots lots of FOAM.
Drone DOGFIGHTING has shifted forwards, above the Gate area.
Under them, MARSHALL ACTIVATES the RING. It starts SPINNING.
A 'Novan' drone, HIT & on fire, CRASHES nearby.
As he STANDS (javelin-thrower-style), staff (traversed by mounting SPARKS) pointed to the bulk of the (overhead and getting past) drone CLOUD:
(shouts)
Okay, people: Just like old times! Drop your WEAPONS!! Brace for IMPACT!!
Ring LOCKS. As the VORTEX WHOOSHES, he (safely to its side) THROWS his EXTRAORDINARILY SPARKING/ARCING staff (still attached to the feebly SPARKING power cables) at the 'fleeing' drones.
REVENGE!!!!!
The staff flies a good distance. Numerous ELECTRIC ARCS branch/fly/expand around, CONNECT with many enemy & 'friendly' drones, AutoCannons, kinos, metallic parts of the RING itself, even some Novan weapons (on the ground or not).
PYROTECHNICS: Every impacted thing (except perhaps the Gate) SPARKS, catches fire or EXPLODES.
GATE DEACTIVATES.
The half-fried, half-melted, smoking STAFF falls to the ground, followed by BURNING debris/drones.
Less than half the drones (enemy or subverted, some SMOKING) manage to forge ahead. Others COLLIDE mid-air.
MARSHALL, in pain, clutches his slightly SMOKING throwing arm with his other hand, FALLS to his knees, just as drone fire NICKS his helmet (above ear) & his thigh (partly DEFLECTED by armor).
All around him: drones tumble, COLLIDE, CRASH around, FIRE madly. Surviving AutoCannons fire back. A barrage of uncomfortably close EXPLOSIONS.
Lots of dust clouds obstruct the view.
RING ACTIVATES, starts SPINNING. Yells of triumph & cries of pain from the soldiers.
VORTEX WHOOSHES. PUDDLE stabilizes.
More Novan soldiers GATE IN as the last few enemy drones approach, STRAFE and rush PAST, barely avoiding pursuer FIRE.
As the newcomers REACT:
Almost immediately, RING ACTIVATES, starts SPINNING.
Marshall, how did it go? Marshall!?
DRONE POV:
SHOOT, SWERVE, EVADE AA Battery FIRE. HIT from behind. OUT.
ANOTHER DRONE POV:
ZOOM OUT:
Many attackers (inert) falling like meteors, a few STRAFING/FIRING on rocks around the mostly-out-of-their-range BEAMS, the rest SHOT DOWN by 'friendlies'. COLLISIONS. EXPLOSIONS. CRASHES to the ground.
Destiny (rolling & all) + 3 remaining BattleCruisers HIT them with RAILGUNS & BEAMS, DESTROYING another enemy Command Ship.
(stuttering) Subverted drones TACKLE enemy (stuttering) drones, keeping them (mostly) from attacking the larger ships. COLLISIONS. EXPLOSIONS. REPEAT (with variations).
A HUGE swirl/cloud of 1000s (+ 1000s) of inert or DESTROYED drones enshrouds the entire battlefield.
The 2 remaining subverted Command Ships, badly damaged, trailing 'behind' Destiny, turn away from the mostly inactive dronestorm.
An enemy Command Ship DETONATES. Another RUPTURED (by surface-based BEAM).
Piloting:
C'mon! C'mon!
Keying:
Shields at 9% strength!
Kill them now!
Keep evading! Evading!
Another BattleCruiser Jumped out!
SCREENS show 1 enemy Command Ship ICON DESTROYED by surface-based BEAM, another by BATTLECRUISER fire.
(alarmed?)
Where's uncle Marshall?
As several SCREENS show the looming threat:
Where!? Evasive manoeuvers!
Here!!
As everybody REACTS:
BRACE for IMPACT!!!
The 3rd CRASHES against DESTINY, close to the Bridge's (protected) position, causing a fair-sized EXPLOSION. Then 2 more kamikazes APPROACH from different angles, closely followed by 'friendlies' FIRING at 'em.
SPARKS/flames ERUPT from the forward Consoles, bathing SCOTT and GREER. JAMES throws herself down & away. CHLOE is forcefully thrown backwards, ELI diving for her. YOUNG falls from/with his chair. CHAIRMAN (losing balance?) hurriedly retrieves/dons his helmet. RILEY tries to protect Eli JR.
BRIDGE DOOR CLOSING FAST. SHUT.
BRIEF GLIMPSES OF DESTINY slightly tumbling. Somewhat chaotic, CLOSE UPs from different angles, thru plenty of (drone) DEBRIS & STRAFING/CHASING drones (+ AutoCannon FIRE), so it's not easy to tell if the ship is still in 1 piece:
A slowly EXPANDING / dissipating FIREBALL crowns the 'Castle', just on the Bridge's position.
The REAR, smoking / sparking, with several sizable HOLES. (most) Engines SPUTTER ON. Then OFF.
An Ancient AA Battery, torn out. Nearby AutoCannons firing.
SHUTTLE PADs: New damage visible. RAILGUN's firing mainly short BURSTS.
OBSERVATION DECK: Spewing smoke, some FLAMES.
Elsewhere: (deep) Scorched marks on HULL. FLICKERING (about to fail) shields.
MAIN GUNS fire ONCE, fall quiet.
The BOW, sporting (flaming) drone wreckage + 1 new (smallish, shielded) BREACH.
AUTOCANNON. Pointing, yet not firing. Stops moving.
RUMBLE 'n SHAKE. Lights, Screens, + most equipment flicker OUT. Someone SCREAMS.
(Beat)
Lights turn ON again, little by little.
Ancient Screen SHOWS last 2 enemy Command Ships: 1 is HIT (by surface-based BEAM), becoming dormant, the other JUMPS OUT. The remaining RED DOT CLOUD becomes 'dormant/ballistic'.
Battle ENDS.
Rejoicing. (subdued) CHEERS.
Everett, is everyone ok, up there?
(beat, no answer)
Colonel!?
Slumping a bit:
Wow!
His BACK's all BLOODY with SHRAPNEL.
As the Novans rush to help him:
Keying Console:
Nothing on long-range sensors. Far as we know, they're all gone.
Re: Console:
We're pretty mashed up: nothing immediately critical, but the list of urgent repairs is... pheeewww! Long!
SCREENS show several GRAPHS with lots of RED ALERTS.
I'll get on with those.
Shields are too low. Can't Jump to FTL!
I'll help with that.
Colonel Young!? We beat 'em!
Keying Console:
I'm getting a blank on the Bridge's lines.
Re: Console:
Dr. Rush!? Whoever's around the Control Interface Room, take the ship to a safe place. Bridge's been disabled!
BRIDGE DOOR partly opens.
CHAIRMAN (fully suited w/helmet) helps an injured YOUNG (bloody leg, hopping on the other) exit, as FIREFIGHTERS rush in.
ELI sitting on the floor, his back against sizable DEBRIS. An unconscious CHLOE lifted off his protective EMBRACE. He's shaken, has one 'paralyzed' arm. Uses the 'breather' canister he used with her.
FIREFIGHTERS foam everything, including:
SCOTT, fallen, bloody SHRAPNEL sticking out his bloodied abdomen, while his bloodied hands try to stop the BLEEDING but cannot, as he PASSES OUT.
Nearby, GREER, sitting on the floor, exerts himself to reach SCOTT, but cannot: his bloodied LEGS are trapped under Console DEBRIS.
FOAM (not unlike the 'medical' kind) covers GREER's legs, also SCOTT from chest down. GREER GROANS.
JAMES (bloody eyebrow, nosebleed) and a shaken Eli JR. ('breather' canister in hand) help a groggy RILEY (blood trickling down his hairline/forehead/ear).
Emergency LIGHTS turn on. CHAIRMAN helps ELI get up.
RUSH joins the Bridge's group (minus Chloe, Scott, Greer, James). Eli JR. got a wrist/hand all bandaged, a PAD in the other. RILEY with small face cuts/scratches PATCHED. T.J. bandages ELI's ribcage, tight.
Half-reclining on stretcher, leg bandaged & with temp braces:
Everything's under control. Repairs are underway.
Receiving mic news:
(glum)
5 BattleCruisers badly damaged. Plus, we've lost another 3 ship-borne Gates and 2 Lucian pilots.
Helmet off, tired-looking:
(grim)
The Armstrong, Ancestor class. Half the crew couldn't Gate out in time. That's 56 brave people. And we have another...
The Wray. Huh, Constitution class.
(moved)
We should have battle-tested them harder! Against more than 8 swarms!
(gentle)
You can't train for everything. The time always comes when you can only hope you've done enough.
GATE CLOSES.
Shortly:
RING ACTIVATES again.
As he shows his PAD around, with a STARMAP full of gates/planets, but no enemy ICONS:
Maybe they... ugghh... just stopped transmitting?
You caught her fall and saved her neck, but your own ribs need a chance at healing too!
That would keep 'em from coordinating, too.
(re: his PAD)
But the sensors we put on Gates say the same.
We must make sure, we need better sensors.
Or the colonies. Anywhere there's a Gate. War's entered a new stage, a race where we now have a chance too, if we play our cards well.
(weary)
Glad your deck was truly stacked.
Most of the drone-specific ordnance uncle Marshall developed at Noctis isn't yet in play. And now that we'll be able to work with Earth experts, we'll develop still more!
Earth!? How? Just the one Comm Stone will hardly be enough. Or you mean your own Icarus Project?
(smiles)
Someday, perhaps, but we don't need it for that. Ginn made a visit to Destiny's twin too, just before you did: Got a shipload of Ancient kinos and a dented briefcase full of Ancient comm Stones.
(grinning)
Mom's the best!
We hope to use 'em as hi-speed bidirectional data links. A backup for the Federation's Gate-network comms system will be handy too.
That could be harder than you expect: those things weren't made for sustained transfers across intergalactic distances.
(grinning)
A lot can be done with multi-terabyte bursts, tho. And I'll get to meet grandma with the spare ones!
Did Ginn save... hufff... the Seed Ship too?
Alas, no. The best her team could do was use Destiny's link codes to copy its database without alerting the Ursini.
They must be scooping up every last bit of its debris as we speak.
We've learnt things even Destiny's database didn't have. Soon we'll be able to build our own Gates, or at least repair them!
Looks like the Novans will thrive, after all. But Destiny's gonna need an escort, if we're to make more stops, until we exit this galaxy.
I was planning on that. Still the best way we'll have to ambush 'em drones and deplete what reserves they got left.
Reviewing PAD:
Speaking of which: we're under 50% energy again.
(looks beyond FRAME)
Oh, my... Isn't that...?
The Novan soldiers (4, + 2 military medtechs + T.J.) ENTER carrying their big kino-stretcher with the inert MARSHALL (still in full armor, minus helmet). His face's bloodied, eyes closed.
As BROOKS (with Band-Aid on temple) & others react:
Flying KINO POV:
On its roof: Active AA BATTERIES (beams+kinetic). As these TURN & point to CAMERA:
PAN/ZOOM OUT:
12-15 rows of chairs and mourning people: Destiny crew, CHLOE with a neck-brace, PAD in hands, ELI by her side, arm in a sling, (fidgeting at the bandages under his jacket), Novans (incl. Marshall's Noctis squad)... arranged before a (big) CASKET (crowned with plenty FLOWERS) and a lectern. More kinos & armed soldiers around.
MONTAGE of different speakers:
With reinforced leg BRACE & simple walking aid, hands grabbing lectern:
...without him, and his determination, none of us would be here today.
Showing jewel case:
...a privilege for me to be here, on behalf of all Novans, to offer Marshall Wallace the Medal of Honor of our Federation. We owe him a giant debt of gratitude for his life's work, his courage, and his sacrifice...
Hand/wrist encased in flexible/translucent brace, w/fingers free:
...although he died before I was born, my mother used to talk wonders about him, how she was always looking up to him...
(awkward)
What with him being so tall and everything...
...never treated us children as if we were... idiots. He said life was too precious, and the future was ours, if only we worked for it. His war tales were embellished, but truthful...
...knew him for years, and when I met him again after so long, I never doubted he was essentially the same man. More than just an older brother: a friend, an ally...
(beat, moved)
I learnt from him that the most important part of the journey is the people you travel with.
He looks around at the others, manages a ghost of his usual smile, keys his wristPAD. A 3D HOLOGRAM unfolds in the air above the CASKET:
KINO FOOTAGE OF:
Across the room, SLIDING DOORS part, revealing a freshly arrived MARSHALL, with SUNGLASSES, a 'Pure Earth' JACKET + worker CAP (with some snow on 'em). As he approaches a chair near the big PANORAMIC windows, CHILD RILEY points a toy gun at him: MARSHALL mimics a heart hit...
Divesting 'disguise' cap & jacket on chair:
Sitting near the children, well-dressed (Novan style), somewhat trimmer, PAD in hand:
It isn't that bad. If not for the damned political situation, and the stupid restrictions and surtaxes on trade with non-aligned worlds, the multiplanetary economy would be far busier.
Sunglasses in hand:
(shows PAD)
Might soon be: Last month's "Big Kino" demo brought a call from a mid-tier military supplier.
Standing by panoramic windows:
Unless somebody got a better plan, money opens doors, and ears. And builds bigger things, like new labs. Our influence needs to grow.
Raising just-built 'Lego' RING as if to crown herself:
Zstar'ate!
She lands the 'Gate' in the middle of her toy 'city', PROPS it upright.
Ain't they the most amazing thing ever?
Well done, little one!
CHILD GINN 'walks' some dolls to the 'Gate'.
(smiling)
She's been fascinated by the Ring since that day we were to Ancestor Plaza, watching people Gate to and fro.
CHILD RILEY gets up, approaches the big windows. Kino FOLLOWS him.
(points)
T'gate! T'gate!
KINO FOCUS:
Thru windows, a fair distance from the building, 'luckily' not hidden by other buildings, Novus' Stargate (active, in use) can be GLIMPSED thru the light snowfall, dwarfed in the middle of a wide & busy urban INTERSECTION.
Kneeling besides CHILD RILEY, pointing:
CHILD GINN gets up. As he approaches the windows:
They're both brighter than I remember ever being. Would you believe he drew a passenger train, Gating? Think of the possibilities!
Putting his CAP on CHILD RILEY's head, much to the child's merriment:
Novan schoolsystem's great, despite its strict rules. But we have a hard deadline and too many things to take care of. FTL tech is slow work.
As CHILD GINN takes his hand:
Star Industries will soon branch out to the colonies. Things will go faster. We'll get the full Ancient Database online. You won't be working alone for much longer.
No future but what we make for ourselves.
MARSHALL_ELI_WALLACE
Novan Defense Forces.
FADE TO BLACK
- Pure Earth -
Finest Foodstuffs BROCHURES) ushering injured patients (some on foot, others on floating kino-stretchers) & medical Teams as they GATE IN.
Among them: CHLOE, still with neck brace, and PARK, with her cyberGLASSES watching both their surroundings & Chloe's PAD.
PAD SCREEN:
LIVE KINO-FEED:
He MOTIONS kino to come closer, between both beds.
But that's nothing compared with saying 'no' to a brand-new replacement leg from knee to toe. You wouldn't believe what he told 'em!
POV wavers/jumps as the kino is forcefully REPOSITIONED.
Kino in hand, mock-serious:
"I'm rather fond of the old one's smell and tanned tones!"
GINN GIGGLES. She's visiting, very bandaged, strapped to a FLOATING stretcher-chair + plenty of Novan GEAR, escorted by Eli JR., her teen DAUGHTER, another (younger) SON, + 2-3 doctors & bio-engineers (who won't allow their star patient to jeopardize her health).
BACK TO:
Destiny's crewmembers & helpers advance along a PATH defined by attentive SOLDIERS, arrows painted on the floor, temp BARRIERS. They see a big overhead hanging BANNER:
Welcome to the Brody
The finest of the Fleet!
Beyond the banner there's a larger ROOM with some TABLES, chairs, food, a few low BEDS (some bandaged crewmembers sit on them), all temporary-looking. No windows. Plenty of Novan Military & Techs around. Small vehicles, machinery, ordnance... Place's BUSY.
To one side, out of their path: several open/wireframe SHIPPING CONTAINERS (almost too big to Gate) with SIGNS:
Stage 4 recruits.
Condition: Damaged C-F.
Allied Refurbishers Inc.
Batch 2694.
Beyond the TABLES, they notice a large WALL slowly SLIDING (not too noisily) to one side. On it, big SIGNS:
BLAST DOOR 19A.
Must be CLOSED
at ALL times!
Use override CODE
7-11 to OPEN.
A small TV CREW by the tables ('escorted' by several soldiers) NOTICES them.
(overeager)
Hi, ladies! Ms. Armstrong!? I'm...
A big soldier OBSTRUCTS him.
FEMALE 'Destiny Watch' CREWMEMBER
Always the same, with celebrities. And still no sign of Rush or Young!
Behind the large WALL-DOOR, a couple big 'forklifts' loaded with 10+ DRONES each (all wrapped up for transport). They ADVANCE on the shipping containers soon as the way's OPEN for them.
As they (carefully) LOWER their cargo onto the containers:
BEYOND them:
Flying kinos & parking drones, large overhead gantry cranes, pilots, workers, welders, mechanics, vehicles...
Far beyond it all: a large open PORT (rectangular, several drone body-lengths, flanked by a 'fence' of AA batteries) shows the blackness of SPACE, where the guests can also glimpse a few STARS + a PLANET.
Adjusting her GLASSES:
WRAY also with backpack and 'Pure Earth' BROCHURE.
It's a 9-Gate trip. An hour and a half commute, unless there's too much traffic.
Ready to gate OUT too:
You'll have plenty time to chat Earth while I'm doing paperwork. And the rest of the day free for us to sample the best Novan civilization has to offer!
(playful?)
Nooo: Just the very best. There'll be other days.
Assuming SGC lets me go so soon. They asked Young a lot of things he didn't know, including how we never found a hint of Eli's life on Novus.
(shrugs)
The oldtimers who remembered him didn't dare jinx their good luck by telling what they knew. At the receiving colony nobody looked for things like underground cities beyond the settlement nearest the Gate.
We were in too much of a hurry... Hope that fits Dr. Carter's timeline theories.
(re: BROCHURE)
This doesn't explain why I'll be switching with a chemist, of all people.
A food-industry bio-chemist, to be exact. 'Pure Earth' wants all the details they can get on Earth foods, flavors, and 'authenticity'. They're footing the bill of the entire crew's stay for the same reason.
Publicity'll help 'em too. And it's a first step to getting Earth interested in our technology.
They approach the PUDDLE.
It'll be good for your diet, too.
As they all gate OUT, VOLKER's grinning.
His Novan PAD shows SCIENCE BOOKS, several NOVAN TV CHANNELS, + a "Personal message:" window:
Kino FOOTAGE OF:
Showing it to camera, 'candy store' mode:
You seein' this? Could supply Destiny, everything, several times over! And it's only what they carry onboard, their planetside warehouses are bigger!
A small CART, loaded with railgun IMPACTORS, zooms by.
Pointing behind it, out of FRAME:
(half-joking?)
I should have guessed what would happen if he set foot on a Futuran-built starship!
T.J. 'sweating the flu' in an 'oxygen-bubble'-covered bed, with a nearby SCREEN monitoring her progress. YOUNG by her side, tending to her, holding her hand. Both watch a PAD.
...thanks to the samples from her parents Dr. Brooks recently got, we can guarantee her DNA's viable. She'll be an unusual second-chancer, but I can promise you she'll be loved. She'll have a future here as a Novan. I know it isn't easy for you, but it's still your decision.
T.J. whispers something.
20+ MK.II LongBows (longer, with a central 'tube' surrounded by 6 smaller ones, plenty of vents/fins, riding 7 midsize-largish spheres) in various states of assembly. Observation Deck being fitted with sliding metal "covers". An Ancient AA gun turret being replaced... Even the metallic 'aerodynamic' side mesh/lattice is being renewed.
4 Novan BattleCruisers nearby (1 with all-around 'scaffolding' + plenty of artificial light), in various stages of being repaired too.
ZOOM OUT: 100s of patrolling Novan drones.
Drone debris cloud mostly gone. ALL enemy 'intact' drones vacuumed away.
(pondering)
A couple days ago, I jumped ship with no clue about the future.
(gestures vaguely)
Yesterday we buried the 'me' that actually lived that future, and came back as a war veteran to give me a second chance, whose new 'me' became rich and famous, and has saved Destiny, and the galaxy.
With help from, among others, my own consciousness. They've had plenty of time to analyze Destiny's data and logs.
(THROWS away some GRASS leaves)
Now both keep saying there's things I don't need to know.
All we get is small tokens of their generosity, while they play around with Destiny's systems...
Not since Varro raised the issue. There's no-one where we dumped 'em, and no sign of Gate usage. Maybe a dino...
(mimics CHOMPING)
Y'know...
Chairman's widened the search. And wants to install more 'safety' keycodes to lock all Gates inside or near Novan space.
(grinning?)
And we now have the entire Novan database to keep us busy. But he told me the secret to his success was something my consciousness told him early on: "Trust your gut, trust your wits, but above all trust hard work."
Both look around, just in case.
No natural blackhole will change course when pinged with EM signals of any kind. If Novus' 'rogue' blackhole did, even the tiniest bit, thanks to a lucky frequency mix, it must mean someone built it, or at least tampered with it.
(looks skywards)
Advanced aliens at war, would be my guess. It could be the ultimate weapon to get rid of rival worlds. This is the Drone Galaxy, after all. [+]
Ahem...
(looks skywards)
So, when he talks of a hidden intelligence guiding the drones' astounding adaptability...
Everything's possible. Novans will need to keep searching, theorizing, and readying themselves for the unexpected. That's science's way, and they'll be better for it.
About that: Your... alter ego re-wrote your hasty translation of Destiny's Project notes: Apparently, the Seed Ships were conceived to race ahead of Destiny despite being built and launched several decades *afterwards*.
Hhmm... An interesting nuance, if he's right. It would not only explain how their FTL's faster, and their energy systems denser, but also why their Gates are more advanced than Destiny's clunky prototype. Amazing!
(happy?)
Not just them: The Ancients already were an FTL civilization. They didn't strictly need Stargates, and there's no evidence of any older than Destiny's, anywhere. So, they likely developed Gate travel to better be able to reach their star project when it journeyed too far away for any FTL courier.
Or, maybe they just replaced the obsolete models when they developed better ones, though that would have been a lot of work across who knows how many planets, galaxies and... pheeww!
They look upwards to the sky: DESTINY can be barely glimpsed, orbiting in the distance.
SCROLL: Upper atmosphere to:
Their seeding with Gates entire galaxies and altering the course of countless alien races and civilizations probably stemmed from their epic effort at understanding the deepest secrets of the universe itself: Project Destiny!
PAN TO:
CREDITS START ROLLING
PAN TO:
PROJECT CREDITS on Command Ship HULLS. 'Cause you can't show the demise of half a galaxy's worth of Drones in just a few minutes.
CREDITS KEEP ROLLING
More Drone destruction. COLLISIONS. And more, much MORE, with variations.
CREDITS KEEP ROLLING
GOOF SCENE:
One Ring to find 'em all.
(closes fist, bares teeth)
My precious!!
- - - - - - -
DRONE POV: Destiny BLASTING. WHITEOUT. ANOTHER. No end in sight.
CREDITS KEEP ROLLING
GOOF AUDIO-ONLY 'SCENE':
Footsteps running away:
More footsteps running:
SOUND of DRONE BLASTING real close by, more'n once. SOUND of someone's AGONY. Footsteps slowdown, stop.
CREDITS KEEP ROLLING
- - - - - - -
SPACE BATTLE for the Drone/Novan galaxy goes on & ON. Slo-mo 'bullet-time' of Command Ship RUPTURING under RAILGUN FIRE then BLOWING UP... Go wild!
CREDITS KEEP ROLLING
Showcase Novan BATTLECRUISERS too. They earned it. FIRING non-stop, ofc.
- - - - - - -
If and when CREDITS END:
GOOF SCENE:
Keying PAD:
Still keying:
FLY TOWARDS IT. Accelerating.
Queues of people (not unlike those at an airport), waiting with their LUGGAGE.
FLY CLOSER.
The last of a group Gates IN. Gate DEACTIVATES.
CLOSER.
Uniformed PERSONNEL organize the next group. Ring Activates, starts SPINNING.
CLOSER.
Ring LOCKS. VORTEX WHOOSHES. Some people take SELFIES with their kinos.
CLOSER.
PUDDLE stabilizes.
Smiling, signaling for people to approach:
Have a nice trip!
The puddle's event horizon RIPPLES randomly, mysteriously.
FLY THRU.
CUT TO:
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