[Caption: "PROLOGUE". Opening scene: Shot of Enaia from space. It is a very quiet, pastoral planet. In the next frame, an unmarked Imperial Police cruiser moves into orbit. From the fighter bay, it launches one IMP fighter, as well as twenty to thirty large metallic, cylindrical capsules, which are launched like torpedoes from tubes. The capsules and the fighter enter Enaia's atmophere. (IMPORTANT-->) The fighter brakes like the Space Shuttle, going down flat to slow its descent. The capsules each fire thrusters to brake. (Brake this time, okay, Larry? Last time the thrusters were forcing them down faster. :-) ) The capsules and the fighter land in a field. The pilot presses a button on a control he carries. Close up on ONE capsule. It splits open to reveal something that was once human but is now a V-slave, with white eyes and a blank stare. It carriies no weapons, but is dressed in a form-fitting battlesuit. (I.e., no pockets, no sloppy folds. Don't make the suit completely featureless, though. Place a designation symbol on each, at least.) I want a good view of the face, so the readers get an idea of the type of creature they're dealing with. End of close-up. The other capsules have split or are splitting open as well. There are female as well as male V- slaves. Some V-slaves wear bulky mecha suits (Bulky, Larry! Mecha, Larry! Think "landmate". Well, not that bulky, but the suits you designed were so un-bulky, it was hard to tell that it was a mecha!), others wear only battlesuits. The suited slaves pick up the armored slaves and carry them. The suits make thruster-aided jumps, covering the land like hyper-kangaroos :-). The slaves don't notice as one of the suits lands directly in front of a little sensor concealed in the high grass. Cut to a high-tech scientific lab. The entrance to the lab is to the left. To the front (not visible as of yet), is a bank of security monitors. In the center of the lab, a large man (FLEN) is strapped, spreadeagled, on a nearly vertical table, as he lays in a human-shaped depression. He looks very uncomfortable. Wires are attached to most of his body (similar to EKG, except it isn't all on the chest), and to a device on his head that resembles a tiara. To the right, the wires connect to a device which is being monitored by five white- coated lab scientists, who monitor him as well. Behind the monitor is the rest of the lab, tables cluttered with tools, "cupboards", etc.] FLEN AUNGH!! TORMOS Hang in there, Flen. This'll all be over in a few more minutes. Zhon, where are we? ZHON Reading Vector 0.4. TORMOS Good, right where we want to be. Flen, how do you feel? FLEN Like shit, but my mind's intact. TECH #1 Engaging stabilizer. TORM If Dassni's right, we should be able to get him to Vector 0.8 without side effects. TECH #2 Oh, SHIT! TORM!! TORM What is it? TECH #2 We got company. V-slaves. [He refers to a viewscreen. The V-slaves are approaching.] TORM Oh, gods! Not NOW! [Next frame] Engage the security system! Have all forces assemble near the main entrance! Be ready for anything! We have no idea what these slaves can do. [To the other techs] Get Flen down! We're under attack! FLEN What...? [The V-slaves reach the steel door of the hidden complex, which is set into a hill and looks fairly unimpressive from the outside. Twin laser cannons pop out out of the ground, flanking the slaves and destroying two of the mecha-wearing ones. Two other mecha'ed slaves respond by firing their thrusters and destroying the cannons from the air with psi-cannons. A battlesuited slave approaches the entrance and is fried by an invisible force field, which becomes visible as it does its work. Another armored slaves concentrates, and his hair whips around as a swirling energy effect manifests behind him. Back at the lab, everything blacks out.] TORMOS What happened?! ZHON Massive energy surge, sir! It overcame the shielding and blew all the main circuits. We can bring lights and voice communications back with the auxiliary generators, but our security systems are gone! TORMOS Well, at least we got them to use it early. That's something... [Back at the door, the EMP-generating V-slave crumbles to ashes.] [CAPTION in quotes] ...because I doubt the slave will be able to do that twice. [Continuing the scene, a mecha slave cuts through the door with a laser. The slaves enter. Inside the doors is the main "parking area" for the complex. Security forces have set up, using vehicles as barries. Movable cannons are set up and trained on the slaves. As the slaves enter, a commander shouts "FIRE!" and the slave are met by a barrage which destroys another suited slave and disables another.] GUARD #1 [manning a cannon] How do you like that, you soulless bastards?!! Why don't you take this back to Corve for me?! [An battlesuited V-slave holds up her right hand, palm out, thumb up, open as if she were holding a large grapefruit.] (Please get the hand right this time, okay? :-) ) GUARD #1 [feeling something holding him] Wha--? [The slave closes her hand into a fist.] GUARD #1 AAAARRRRRGGGGHH! [The guards body is crushed and blood spurts out of his mouth.] GUARD #2 (female) Chirgon! [She shoots the slave dead, but it is too late. She runs toward his body but passes the damaged suit. The pilot hops up and faces her. She pulls up her gun to fire, but the slave screams and explodes, throwing out shrapnel.] AUUUGGGGHH! [The guard is torn apart.] [Back at the lab, Flen is sitting on the floor, recovering, surrounded by guards. Techs work to remove an important-looking device from the thing that Flen was attached to.] TORMOS Get that thing off! Dammit, Zhon, what's happening? ZHON The cameras were taken out by the energy-surge, sir, there's no way to tell! [Behind them, a hole is melted in the steel plate covering the entrance by a V-slave as it walks through, dying as it makes it to the other side. A tech grabs a pistol and moves toward another incoming slave but it shoots beams from her eyes, killing him. A guard kills the slave with his rifle.] TORMOS Fall back! Protect Flen! FLEN No... [Flen shakily gets to his feet.] No-one else is going to die here if I can help it. [A close-up of his eyes shows them fading to white.] TORM Flen, no! You're not stable! ZHON You can't! TECH #1 You'll die just like the slaves do! FLEN They're going to destroy all our work. I can't allow that. [Two more V-slaves enter. One begins shooting flames from his hands. Flen, sweating from the pain, fires a white blast from his palm that kills the slave. The other he takes out before it can activate its power.] FLEN A taste of your own medicine! How do *you* like it?! [Yet another V-slave enters, this one carrying a gun. Flen fires, and his shot bounces off a force-field. The slave fires the gun and hits him in the leg, collapsing him. He strains and fires again, this time with both hands. He keeps the beam continuous.] TORMOS FLEN, NO!!!! [The slave's force-field finally collaspes and he is killed. Flen screams and explodes a moment later. Another slave enters, recognizes the device that is been removed and uses telekinesis to capture it. The guards fire but the blasts are deflected. Skates pop out of the slave's boots and he leaves the lab at superhuman speed, zipping through the now destroyed garage on the way, where we see that the slaves have one (the place is full of corpses). Outside, the slave streaks past and is at the IMP fighter. He hands the device to the pilot, who presses another button on the control. The slave obediantly disintegrates. The IMP takes off. Back at the lab, the survivors survey the damage. A charred, smoking patch on the floor marks where Flen passed away.] TECH #1 Reports coming in. All the remaining slaves have self-destructed. TORMOS Of course they did. They got what they wanted. Oh, gods, Flen, this isn't fair. ZHON [at the entrance] Hey! Look what I found! [Zhon has a small male V-slave by the arm. It doesn't seem to care.] It must've malfunctioned! This is evidence, man! I'm going to take this dude and march him into the Council chambers! [The slave's head snaps up.] LET'S SEE CORVE LAUGH THIS ONE OFF!! [The slave opens its mouth and screams: "EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE", as it starts to glow. Everything goes white. Outside, the complex is comsumed by an explosion of nuclear intensity. Nothing is left but a large crater, as winds whip the debris.]