[My latest seg. Enjoy.] Op: The Marraketh Connection Adventures in Destiny OPENING SHOT EXT C-205 Troposphere cargo hauler, above Colorado: The transport craft cruises at 10,000 metres, drifting through cloud banks. The wingtip light flashes green, just slightly out of sync with the orange beacon on the tail. SndFX: bleep MAGIC COMPUTER VOICE Blanca Mountain extrapolated time to airspace penetration is ten minutes. INT C-205 Troposphere, Flight Cabin: Room enough for six, the cabin walls are covered in multi-function LCD panels and readouts for the onboard systems. There are two rows of three swivel chairs each with the forward two having access to the main flight controls. Two flightsuited crew occupy these chairs with Hanlon reading a book in one of the aft seats. PILOT EMERSON Alright... start looking for a beacon transciever. We're not seeing an airstrip of any size, but let's see what they've got planned for us. COPILOT PAYNE Right. Payne issues several commands on one of the multifunction boards. SndFX: Rapid series of multifrequency tones One of the panels lights up with a map of the central US. She slides her index finger diagonally across the map and it zooms to southern Colorado. COPILOT PAYNE Funny, we're not finding any beacons on standard frequencies... Trying Jihad wartime frequencies and codes now. Payne's fingers fly across a second multifunction console. SndFX: Rapid series of multifrequency tones Still no joy. Wonder what the hell they're running here. They've got to have some kind of facilities for air - MAGIC COMPUTER VOICE Blanca Mountain extrapolated time to airspace penetration is five minutes. PILOT EMERSON Why don't we see if they're awake down there? I wonder if - He reaches over to a display board and brings up a status monitor of some type. PILOT EMERSON Hmm... we're getting traces of what could be a beacon... it's got a pattern but it's not on any of the standard frequencies. You're sure on this? He turns and looks at Hanlon. Hanlon notices the silence and looks up from his book. HANLON Oh! Oh, right, yeah... this is where we're supposed to be- The radio crackles sharply. BLANCA CONTROL ELX2042, ELX2042, this is Blanca Mountain control. We have your IFF signature confirmed and are tracking on radar. Stand by to power down for landing sequence. I say again, stand by to power down for portal, over. Payne picks up a handset from the console in front of him and taps a multifunction screen with his other hand. He keys the handset. COPILOT PAYNE Blanca Control, this is ELX2042. Power down on your mark, wilco, over. BLANCA CONTROL ELX2042, this is Blanca control. Cut forward power in five, four, three, two, now. Payne keys the handset again. COPILOT PAYNE Roger. He turns to Emerson, who nods and pulls back the four throttles simultaneously. The aircraft dips dangerously and then pulls up as the autopilot attempts to compensate. EXT C-205 Troposphere: The transport craft is barely gliding. The plane shimmers and disappears, leaving only the faintest trail of jet smoke. INT Blanca Mountain hangar A roar fills the hangar as the transport fades into existance on a landing track. Air braking surfaces open from the wings seconds before the parachute braking systems deploy. The transport rolls to a stop, then turns and taxies to a spot in the parking grid. INT C-205 Troposphere, Flight Cabin Hanlon stands up, picking up his bag. HANLON Well, we're here. See you all when I get back... If I get back. This is warfare, after all. PILOT EMERSON Right. Hanlon punches a sequence into the keypad next to the exterior hatch. SndFX: multifrequency beeps, mechanical whine The door rises and Hanlon steps into the doorframe. INT Blanca Mountain hangar Hanlon climbs down the ladder which has extended itsself from the doorframe, carrying his bag over his shoulder. A staffer runs up. STAFFER Uh, sir... if you'll follow me... HANLON Right... He follows the VR staffer across the hangar floor and out through a door marked "HANGAR ACCESS 4C". FGSndFX: MacPherson's Lament [ambient audio off] Fade to INT Blanca Mountain war room Hanlon walks in and quickly takes a seat, nodding and waving to the other officers assembled in the room. Malcalypse slaps the podium and talks for some time. FGSndFX: Fade out [ambient audio up] MALCALYPSE ... find out where Katze is being held, liberate her by any means possible, and then return to Earth. Understood? All assembled officers nod. MALCALYPSE Good. Now, get everything you need and meet back here in 10 minutes, starting now. Hanlon stands up and walks quickly out the door. Cut to INT Blanca Mountain transporter room The crowd is milling around the room, and as the camera picks out Hanlon, Nexxus steps up and raises her voice. NEXXUS Alright, I just talked to Mal and it's all ready to go. Just step in and we'll get started. She then steps into the portal and disappears. Five others follow suit, and then the camera cuts to Hanlon's perspective as he enters the transporter. VisFX: Video feedback backdrop VisFX: Hanlon falling through space indefinitely Hold for 4 seconds, then cut to EXT Marraketh landing site Nexxus, Red, Phoenix, Cyo, Brynhild, Maruchan, and Calculus shimmer into existance in sequence as they exit the gate. Nexxus waits for the remaining 3 to appear, then frowns. NEXXUS Where the hell is everyone else?! Bryn and Red begin whispering to each other in low tones and glancing nervously at the other group members. Nexxus paces up and down the beach. The other group members stare at the gate and glance around impatiently. NEXXUS Ok, no panic, it's probably just a small delay, someone probably freaked out and they'll be here any minute. PHOENIX I wonder if the gate's stable... how long can Mal hold it open? NEXXUS Come on, we haven't got all day! VisFX: The gate goes through a color shift and flashes bright white, then disappears. NEXXUS Calculus, can we get a confirmation on their location? Are they at HQ? CALCULUS That's a negative. HQ reports they entered the gate and should be here. NEXXUS AIIEEEE!!!! Phoe, you come with me, everyone else follow through with the plan. Nexxus turns to Phoenix, then walks down the beach. He follows. NEXXUS We have to find them. Cut back to EXT The Void VisFX: Hanlon falling through space indefinitely VisFX: An opening in the Void appears in Hanlon's path, and he dives into it. EXT The Crossing: A pedestal rising out of seemingly bottomless mist supports a small platform from which 6 bridges extend in uniform directions, leading to 6 doorframes which appear suspended in the air supported only by the bridges. Hanlon shimmers into existance on the pillar. He glances around, then a look of alarm crosses his face. HANLON Where the fuck is this? It sure doesn't look like Marraketh, at least not the Marraketh they showed in the briefings... MAGIC VOICE You're right... this isn't Marraketh. Hanlon whirls around, his hand reaching to grasp the pistol grip of the Righteous Weapon slung across his back. MAGIC VOICE No, you won't need that... Relax. HANLON Who the hell are you? MAGIC VOICE What does it matter? Well, not like it makes any difference. I'm this place... Or you could call me the interactive guide. HANLON Alright, "Guide"... what IS this? MAGIC VOICE It's a decision point... it's a literal turning point in your life. Remember when you used to play Final Fantasy 1 on the Nintendo? Remember how after beating Garland for the first time, you got a chance to change your party and start over? HANLON I'm not following this. MAGIC VOICE It's not all that easy to explain. Just think of this as a place where you have to, or get to, make a choice, depending on your viewpoint. Any of these bridges will put you on a different path in life. You just have to pick one. Keep in mind, though, that you can't come back once you've crossed to the other side of one of the bridges. It's not like a Choose Your Own Adventure book, where if you don't like the consequences you turn back to the page where you came from. You can go halfway out onto a bridge and take a look at what's down that path, but there's no guarantee you'll see anything but the faintest image. HANLON What if I don't want to make a choice? What if I want to go back? I was ready to go on that rescue mission... VisFX: A tendril of mist extends itself from the almost solid mass below the platform, turns slightly red, and points down one of the bridges. MAGIC VOICE That bridge there takes you back where you came from. There's nothing stopping you... you'll come out just where the others did. Think about it, though... do you really want to go back? You can change your whole life now. You can go anywhere... come out with no past and nothing but the future ahead of you. HANLON Alright... where's the catch? Where's the trap? And why aren't I dead? Mal's fucking transporter nearly blew up getting me here, and them where- did Nexx and all the rest end up in Marraketh, or... MAGIC VOICE Yep... they ended up safely in the other dimension... Right now, they're wondering why you didn't show up. If you don't, they'll chalk it up to a transporter accident. HANLON It's almost perfect... there's got to be a catch here somewhere. MAGIC VOICE Only that you can't come back here once you've chosen. It's your life, your destiny that you're picking here. HANLON Shit... where do I want to go? What do I want to do with my life? He stares down one of the bridges, and the Magic Voice is silent. Hanlon walks tentatively down the bridge and stops three- quarters of the way across. He leans forward, and the camera pans to show the view through the doorway framing the far end of the bridge. A 15-year-old high school student sits at a computer, supervising a lab. He pushes his chair backwards with his feet and rolls over to another computer, types in a few lines of code and executes a command. The computer begins a raytracing. MAGIC VOICE Oh, there's something you should know about this one. It involves a jump back in time... you'd become that guy. Don't worry about paradox... and you get to keep all the knowledge you've gained thus far. HANLON ... and there's no catch... Hanlon turns back and walks back to the platform. He walks down several of the bridges, only to turn back and stare up at the perfect blue sky. MAGIC VOICE Take your time... time's virtually frozen and you wouldn't want to rush a decision like this. HANLON Yeah, yeah, I know... there's just a lot to think about. He walks to the edge of the platform and stares down into the mist. He remains there, pensive, for a good five minutes, then walks to the middle of the bridge leading to the timejump and the computer lab. HANLON Well, here goes. Why not? It's as good as any. MAGIC VOICE Best of luck... Hanlon walks all the way to the end of the bridge and steps through the doorframe, pulling a door which fades into existance closed behind him. VisFX: Fade to black. VisFX: Credit roll Epilogue Sebastian looked up from the computer he was working at to find Allan looking over his shoulder. "Hey, what're you breaking now?" Al asked. "Oh, just working on a render... I call it the Righteous Weapon." "Looks like a paintball gun. It needs a stock," Al said. "Yeah, stock comes right after I put a trigger on it... but can you imagine actually having one of these? Double-barrelled automatic with a pistol grip." Hanlon grinned. "Nasty-ass gun."