Post by rocketmanedh on Oct 3, 2021 20:43:27 GMT -5
A loud crash emanates from deep in the ship. The four survivors of the mysterious ship hurtling through space are back to back to back to back in the common area. All of them are brandishing weapons with various degrees of confidence visible on their face.
Bob has a terrified look on his face. Ed looks extremely focused. The Australian’s features echo Ed’s and the redhead shows that she is somewhere in the middle of the two extremes.
Bob: “Where are we going to make our stand?”
Australian: “It will come to us.”
Houston: “I almost think we should come to it. We know that it will be in the vents. We need to see if we can beat this thing and if we can’t, we need to be thinking about an escape plan.”
Redhead: “So should we make our way close to one of the hatches?”
Houston: “I think that is probably the best strategy. We can engage it and then be able to retreat fairly quickly.”
Australian: “You lead the way.”
Ed tries to lead but realizes that he doesn’t have any clue where the escape hatch is. This draws an exasperated sigh and some chiding from the redhead but she takes the lead over.
The bangs get louder the deeper they go in the ship as the air-locked doors open and close behind them. Suddenly, the noises from the beast stop as they get closer to the belly.
Houston: “Be on high alert, everyone. This is where shit can really hit the fan.”
A rattle is heard above the four but before they can do anything the alien comes down from the ceiling. It causes a mass panic among the group but Ed is the first to react. He unsheathes his laser sword and as the alien is yelling out his war cry, strikes. He hits the alien in one of his tentacle-like arms. The alien lets out a cry of pain. Ed is about to strike again when a force field appears in between him and the alien. He hits the shield and lets out a shocked yelp as he makes solid contact with it and falls back in pain.
Houston: “What the fuck!”
He takes inventory of his surroundings and sees Bob and the Australian on his side. The redhead looks back in confusion. She is alone with the alien bearing down on her. The Australian has a device in his hand and is tapping it rapidly. The second of confusion is enough to doom the redhead. The alien still appears hurt but shakes off his wound with the prospect of a fresh victim. It turns its attention to the redhead. One swipe causes her to drop the laser sword. The alien lunges towards the redhead and rips her apart with its claws. Blood splatters at the force field and falls harmlessly to the ground. The alien looks at the three people left and snarls. It then jumps back into the air vent.
Ed turns to the Australian and pushes him. “What the hell was that man? You killed her.”
Australian: “I was doing my job, Ed. It brought me no joy to cause her downfall. She was kind.”
Houston: “Then why the fuck did you do it!?”
Australian: “I was following orders. The purpose of this trip wasn’t just to mine. It was to bring this creature back. As I’m sure you can tell it is a perfect hunting specimen. We need to bring it back to study, to improve ourselves I’m sure you can understand continual improvement.”
Houston: “Not at the cost of a human. I know Betsy Granger thinks that I’m corrupted by a championship but that couldn’t be further from the truth. I want to be the best but I know who I am deep down. I’m willing to do whatever it takes and push my limits but that is different than being so blinded by something that I change who I am. Betsy might think a championship has that sort of hold on me but she’s going to find out that it’s wishful thinking and after I beat this ultimate hunter, I’m going to beat her too. She might be good but she’s not a killing machine like this thing is.
But you are just greedy. You can’t control this thing. It isn’t controllable. It needs to be left where it was on, wherever that is. We need to kill it.”
Australian: “I’ll get you to the escape pod but we can’t kill it. I’m sorry that you don’t understand, Ed.”
Houston: “You are crazy.”
Australian: “Not crazy. I’m a little surprised you don’t understand. You know what it’s like to be greedy. To do something for yourself. You created a controversy with NASA to stroke your ego.”
Houston: “What did you say?”
Australian: “What?”
Houston: “You brought up NASA. How do you know about that?”
Australian: “Listen. We don’t have time. We need to get you out of here.”
Houston: “Uh, right. Okay. Lead the way.”
Bob looks suspiciously at Ed who just meets his glance with a nod.
They continue to make their way through the ship. They see some glare from the outside stars that permeate space but the only sound is the airlocks as they move deeper. The light starts to get darker as the windows are replaced once again by solid metal. They take a turn and the escape pods are visible.
Australian: “Unfortunately you two are going to have to take a pod. That is all I have prepped.”
Houston: "Prepped?”
Australian: “I guess it’s time to reveal everything. That alien wasn’t supposed to hatch. That is what woke us up. When I went to fix the ship, I was prepping escape pods.” He shrugs. “The alien had other plans. It is ready to go though.”
Houston: “You’re just going to stay here.”
Australian: “It’s my job. There is a special section of the ship that will protect me. It will put me back to sleep and next thing I know, I’ll be on Earth.”
Ed rolls his eyes. “That thing is going to eat you.”
The Australian smiles. “No, he won’t. Have a safe trip.” The Australian hits a button and the door of the ship starts to open. It is halfway open when another air vent smashes to the ground.
Houston: “Great!”
He raises his laser sword ready to do battle. The alien jumps out and eyes Ed. It remembers their previous encounter. It lunges towards Ed who parries with the sword. The alien looks at it and retreats slightly but it is just for a second. It then launches at Ed, knocking the sword out of his hand. Ed looks at the alien and delivers a superkick to it! The alien isn’t stunned. Ed looks shocked. He has seen many humans fall to it. The alien lunges, its teeth just barely miss a diving Ed.
Houston: “Get in the pod, Bob.”
Bob doesn’t need to be told twice. He leaps inside. The Australian looks shocked. Things are not going according to his plan. Ed looks at him as the alien lunges again. He grabs the Australian and throws him in the way. The alien’s attack lands and it is fully effective. The Australian crumples to the floor.
Houston: “Sorry, mate. Nothing personal.” He turns his eyes away from the carnage before him and jumps into the pod.
Bob hammers the lock on the pod and it closes. Ed looks at the controls and manages to launch the pod off of the ship. It hurdles out towards the vast emptiness.
Houston: “I guess we should probably put ourselves to sleep in this thing.” He starts to hammer away at it when they hear a rattle. They both look around nervously and see the alien in the bottom of the pod.
Houston: “Shit I’m sorry, Bob.”
Bob looks at him: “What are you going to do?”
Houston: “We have to launch this thing into space.”
Bob: “What’s that going to do to us?”
Houston: “I don’t know.”
The alien covers the distance between Bob and Ed. It finds itself right in front of the door to the pod. Ed hits a button as the alien rears its head back to take a bite out of Ed. The open door sucks him out and throws him into the vastness. Ed and Bob are sucked like a vacuum out of the pod. The camera focuses on the empty pod spilling through space and the scene fades to black as the pod flows through empty space.
Ed takes a deep breath and jerks up. He finds himself in a chair with some sort of device on his head. Bob is next to him, in a similar state.
Houston: “What the hell is going on?” He yells into the blackness around him. Big, blaring lights shot on, partially blinding Ed.
Houston: “Oh god damnit. I knew it! Get me out of here.”
Voice: “Did you learn your lesson?”
Houston: “No. And you know what, the world is going to hear about this too. Torture, kidnapping, all because I tweeted a picture.”
Voice: “That caused us a ton of trouble.”
Houston: “I don’t care. Let me go now.”
Ed hears footsteps and sees Dan come up to him. “I’m sorry, Ed.”
Houston: “I don’t care.”
Dan: “We had to do this.”
Houston: “No you didn’t. You wanted to fuck with me.”
Dan shrugs: “We disagree there.”
Houston: “This isn’t over. It’s only just begun.”
Dan: “I guess we’ll see about that.”
The helmet is removed from Ed’s head. He walks over to Bob who has just woken up.
Bob: “Where are we? Is this heaven?”
Houston: “See, Dan. Bob thinks we’re in heaven. Come on, Bob we are leaving.”
Bob: “Um, okay. Hopefully not to hell.”
Ed looks at Dan with raised eyebrows. Dan sheepishly avoids his glance.
Ed stands up with Bob and they walk to an exit. The camera shows the set up that NASA has used to project this story onto Ed and Bob. It includes a dark room, a setup similar to a movie and what appears to be advanced virtual reality equipment. As Ed and Bob open the door, a small light illuminates the otherwise dark space, before throwing the room back in darkness.
Ed and Bob are outside. It is night time and they are walking out of what appears to be an abandoned soundstage.
Houston: “Let’s get to London, Bob. I can guarantee NASA will be paying for this flight."
Bob still looks dazed. The camera focuses on the sky as the stars twinkle before the entire scene fades to black.
Bob has a terrified look on his face. Ed looks extremely focused. The Australian’s features echo Ed’s and the redhead shows that she is somewhere in the middle of the two extremes.
Bob: “Where are we going to make our stand?”
Australian: “It will come to us.”
Houston: “I almost think we should come to it. We know that it will be in the vents. We need to see if we can beat this thing and if we can’t, we need to be thinking about an escape plan.”
Redhead: “So should we make our way close to one of the hatches?”
Houston: “I think that is probably the best strategy. We can engage it and then be able to retreat fairly quickly.”
Australian: “You lead the way.”
Ed tries to lead but realizes that he doesn’t have any clue where the escape hatch is. This draws an exasperated sigh and some chiding from the redhead but she takes the lead over.
The bangs get louder the deeper they go in the ship as the air-locked doors open and close behind them. Suddenly, the noises from the beast stop as they get closer to the belly.
Houston: “Be on high alert, everyone. This is where shit can really hit the fan.”
A rattle is heard above the four but before they can do anything the alien comes down from the ceiling. It causes a mass panic among the group but Ed is the first to react. He unsheathes his laser sword and as the alien is yelling out his war cry, strikes. He hits the alien in one of his tentacle-like arms. The alien lets out a cry of pain. Ed is about to strike again when a force field appears in between him and the alien. He hits the shield and lets out a shocked yelp as he makes solid contact with it and falls back in pain.
Houston: “What the fuck!”
He takes inventory of his surroundings and sees Bob and the Australian on his side. The redhead looks back in confusion. She is alone with the alien bearing down on her. The Australian has a device in his hand and is tapping it rapidly. The second of confusion is enough to doom the redhead. The alien still appears hurt but shakes off his wound with the prospect of a fresh victim. It turns its attention to the redhead. One swipe causes her to drop the laser sword. The alien lunges towards the redhead and rips her apart with its claws. Blood splatters at the force field and falls harmlessly to the ground. The alien looks at the three people left and snarls. It then jumps back into the air vent.
Ed turns to the Australian and pushes him. “What the hell was that man? You killed her.”
Australian: “I was doing my job, Ed. It brought me no joy to cause her downfall. She was kind.”
Houston: “Then why the fuck did you do it!?”
Australian: “I was following orders. The purpose of this trip wasn’t just to mine. It was to bring this creature back. As I’m sure you can tell it is a perfect hunting specimen. We need to bring it back to study, to improve ourselves I’m sure you can understand continual improvement.”
Houston: “Not at the cost of a human. I know Betsy Granger thinks that I’m corrupted by a championship but that couldn’t be further from the truth. I want to be the best but I know who I am deep down. I’m willing to do whatever it takes and push my limits but that is different than being so blinded by something that I change who I am. Betsy might think a championship has that sort of hold on me but she’s going to find out that it’s wishful thinking and after I beat this ultimate hunter, I’m going to beat her too. She might be good but she’s not a killing machine like this thing is.
But you are just greedy. You can’t control this thing. It isn’t controllable. It needs to be left where it was on, wherever that is. We need to kill it.”
Australian: “I’ll get you to the escape pod but we can’t kill it. I’m sorry that you don’t understand, Ed.”
Houston: “You are crazy.”
Australian: “Not crazy. I’m a little surprised you don’t understand. You know what it’s like to be greedy. To do something for yourself. You created a controversy with NASA to stroke your ego.”
Houston: “What did you say?”
Australian: “What?”
Houston: “You brought up NASA. How do you know about that?”
Australian: “Listen. We don’t have time. We need to get you out of here.”
Houston: “Uh, right. Okay. Lead the way.”
Bob looks suspiciously at Ed who just meets his glance with a nod.
They continue to make their way through the ship. They see some glare from the outside stars that permeate space but the only sound is the airlocks as they move deeper. The light starts to get darker as the windows are replaced once again by solid metal. They take a turn and the escape pods are visible.
Australian: “Unfortunately you two are going to have to take a pod. That is all I have prepped.”
Houston: "Prepped?”
Australian: “I guess it’s time to reveal everything. That alien wasn’t supposed to hatch. That is what woke us up. When I went to fix the ship, I was prepping escape pods.” He shrugs. “The alien had other plans. It is ready to go though.”
Houston: “You’re just going to stay here.”
Australian: “It’s my job. There is a special section of the ship that will protect me. It will put me back to sleep and next thing I know, I’ll be on Earth.”
Ed rolls his eyes. “That thing is going to eat you.”
The Australian smiles. “No, he won’t. Have a safe trip.” The Australian hits a button and the door of the ship starts to open. It is halfway open when another air vent smashes to the ground.
Houston: “Great!”
He raises his laser sword ready to do battle. The alien jumps out and eyes Ed. It remembers their previous encounter. It lunges towards Ed who parries with the sword. The alien looks at it and retreats slightly but it is just for a second. It then launches at Ed, knocking the sword out of his hand. Ed looks at the alien and delivers a superkick to it! The alien isn’t stunned. Ed looks shocked. He has seen many humans fall to it. The alien lunges, its teeth just barely miss a diving Ed.
Houston: “Get in the pod, Bob.”
Bob doesn’t need to be told twice. He leaps inside. The Australian looks shocked. Things are not going according to his plan. Ed looks at him as the alien lunges again. He grabs the Australian and throws him in the way. The alien’s attack lands and it is fully effective. The Australian crumples to the floor.
Houston: “Sorry, mate. Nothing personal.” He turns his eyes away from the carnage before him and jumps into the pod.
Bob hammers the lock on the pod and it closes. Ed looks at the controls and manages to launch the pod off of the ship. It hurdles out towards the vast emptiness.
Houston: “I guess we should probably put ourselves to sleep in this thing.” He starts to hammer away at it when they hear a rattle. They both look around nervously and see the alien in the bottom of the pod.
Houston: “Shit I’m sorry, Bob.”
Bob looks at him: “What are you going to do?”
Houston: “We have to launch this thing into space.”
Bob: “What’s that going to do to us?”
Houston: “I don’t know.”
The alien covers the distance between Bob and Ed. It finds itself right in front of the door to the pod. Ed hits a button as the alien rears its head back to take a bite out of Ed. The open door sucks him out and throws him into the vastness. Ed and Bob are sucked like a vacuum out of the pod. The camera focuses on the empty pod spilling through space and the scene fades to black as the pod flows through empty space.
Ed takes a deep breath and jerks up. He finds himself in a chair with some sort of device on his head. Bob is next to him, in a similar state.
Houston: “What the hell is going on?” He yells into the blackness around him. Big, blaring lights shot on, partially blinding Ed.
Houston: “Oh god damnit. I knew it! Get me out of here.”
Voice: “Did you learn your lesson?”
Houston: “No. And you know what, the world is going to hear about this too. Torture, kidnapping, all because I tweeted a picture.”
Voice: “That caused us a ton of trouble.”
Houston: “I don’t care. Let me go now.”
Ed hears footsteps and sees Dan come up to him. “I’m sorry, Ed.”
Houston: “I don’t care.”
Dan: “We had to do this.”
Houston: “No you didn’t. You wanted to fuck with me.”
Dan shrugs: “We disagree there.”
Houston: “This isn’t over. It’s only just begun.”
Dan: “I guess we’ll see about that.”
The helmet is removed from Ed’s head. He walks over to Bob who has just woken up.
Bob: “Where are we? Is this heaven?”
Houston: “See, Dan. Bob thinks we’re in heaven. Come on, Bob we are leaving.”
Bob: “Um, okay. Hopefully not to hell.”
Ed looks at Dan with raised eyebrows. Dan sheepishly avoids his glance.
Ed stands up with Bob and they walk to an exit. The camera shows the set up that NASA has used to project this story onto Ed and Bob. It includes a dark room, a setup similar to a movie and what appears to be advanced virtual reality equipment. As Ed and Bob open the door, a small light illuminates the otherwise dark space, before throwing the room back in darkness.
Ed and Bob are outside. It is night time and they are walking out of what appears to be an abandoned soundstage.
Houston: “Let’s get to London, Bob. I can guarantee NASA will be paying for this flight."
Bob still looks dazed. The camera focuses on the sky as the stars twinkle before the entire scene fades to black.
