Original Air Date: Sunday, 26th November 1995
Written by: Stephen Zito
Directed by: Felix Alcala
Edited by: George R. Potter

This transcript is taken from the initial airing on the Sci Fi channel. Transcription by Sue, begun - December 2001, finished - December 2001.

Enclosed in {} are parts where it is hard to hear the dialogue and I've given it my best guess. (These parts have been checked using the closed captioning but that did not help. If you have suggestions let me know at swanage@rocketmail.com)

Enclosed in [] is dialogue that was deleted from the audio track but is clearly spoken. This is not necessarily what CC says should be there.

When I needed to do some checking on various details related to this transcript I used the Space:Above and Beyond Ready Room at http://www.space-readyroom.de/

A wonderful resource!

The escape pod falls down to the planet and bounces once violently on the surface before coming to a halt. Inside it's pretty much a wreck.

McQUEEN: (groaning) Hawkes.

McQueen and Hawkes get to their feet. McQueen is clearly injured. Hawkes begins to check out the other wild cards. McQueen goes outside to check on their situation. There are figures closing in on their position so he goes back inside.

McQUEEN: We got company.

Hawkes tries to remove debris that's pinning Vansen.

McQUEEN: Let's move.

HAWKES: (to Vansen) We're going to get you out of here, I promise. Hang on.

Hawkes follows McQueen out of the escape pod. As the A.I.s approach, the two marines hide on the opposite side of the pod

McQUEEN: Stay back. ... Wait. ... Now!

They begin firing on the approaching A.I.s. There is an exchange of fire. Hawkes and McQueen dive behind a boulder to find shelter. They check their weapons.

McQUEEN: I'm out.

HAWKES: Two rounds.

McQUEEN: Hawkes, what are you doing?

HAWKES: I ain't leaving them.

McQUEEN: We're out numbered. The only way we can save them, is to save ourselves first.

HAWKES: All right.

They run down hill, away from the A.I.s, who continue to fire at them.

Cut to the inside of the escape pod. A.I.s grab the remaining wild cards.

Cut to the captured wild cards being transported to the Kazbek Penal Colony. The 58th are marched inside the prison, each accompanied by an A.I. guard.

MALE GUARD: Come on. ... Move it.

They pass by a cell full of people.

WOMAN'S VOICE: Nathan? Nathan!

West turns around.

CELINA: Nathan, Nathan, it's Kylen.

Celina comes to the front of the cell and reaches through the bars. West struggles with his guard, trying to get back to her.

CELINA: Nathan! Nathan!

They reach out to each other, trying to touch.

WEST: Kylen.

West is dragged away by two A.I. guards.

Opening credits.

Command centre of the Saratoga.

GATES: We're entering the Ceres system, sir. No indications of an alien fleet.

ROSS: Be on alert. They may be positioned on the dark side of the planet. Talk to me, Marine Lieutenant Webb. I want a report on that wreckage. Is that a chig bomber?

Ross walks over to Webb's position on the bridge.

WEBB: We're scanning the debris now ... but it'll take time to reassemble.

KRANTZ: Sir, we could get jumped here by the chigs, at any second.

ROSS: Patience, Lieutenant Krantz. We didn't take the risk to come all this way to leave empty handed. ... (to Sewell) Did we?

WEBB: Got it. Stand by for V.R. reassembly.

STROUD: The alien bomber extrapolation is up. Screen two.

Ross stands behind Webb, watching the screen.

WEBB: Fuselage ... cockpit ... weapons chamber. ... There's a ... huge chunk missing, right here.

Webb points to it on the screen in front of him.

STROUD: Looks like a missile impact.

SEWELL: It's a life pod.

The others on the bridge look at him.

SEWELL: We studied the bomber before you did. Apparently we did a better job. There's an escape vehicle in that section, Commodore. ... And your pilots seemed to have used it.

Cut to the Kazbek prison.

The 58th are led through a series of corridors. They stop. West is taken by a guard down a different corridor. The rest continue on. They stop by a corridor that leads to an open door. They can see and hear sparking electricity. The guards force them on again as the door closes. At another intersection of corridors, they stop again.

FEMALE GUARD: Him.

Wang is separated from the two women and taken down a different corridor.

WANG: Semper fi!

MALE GUARD: (to the women) Go, move it.

He pushes the two women on.

Cut to McQueen and Hawkes outside, as they run, trying to evade those hunting for them. McQueen falls. He gets up and continues on but falls again almost immediately. Hawkes runs back to him.

McQUEEN: Go on, Hawkes, I'm slowing you down.

HAWKES: No way, Colonel, the A.I.s are tracking us.

McQUEEN: Stay with me, you die. ... You go on, find a way out for all of them.

HAWKES: For all of us.

Hawkes tries to help McQueen up but McQueen resists.

McQUEEN: Go! That's an order, Lieutenant.

Hawkes leaves McQueen.

Cut to the prison. Wang is strapped to a table/chair that resembles a dentist's chair, although a lot less comfortable. He's flat on his back, spreadeagled.

ELROY'S VOICE: You've done a very bad thing. ... What's your name? Hmmm?

Elroy comes close to Wang's head.

ELROY: You can call me Elroy-L-one-three-two-seven. I was designed as a humour model. A silicate to make you smile. Hmmm. Ohhhh. (tutting noises) Now, I know you're allowed to tell me your name, and, I just hate people who are impolite.

WANG: Wang, Paul, First Lieutenant, number nine-four-eight-three-zero-three-four-eight-two-eight.

ELROY: Well, it's nice to meet you, Wang, Paul, nine-four-eight-three-four-three-zero-nine-two-eight.

Elroy wanders around the room.

ELROY: I'd like to welcome you to our little penal work facility. (chuckles) Now, I'm sure there's a gag in there somewhere, yes. Sure there is. Well, let me fill you in on what we're up to here, Wang, Paul. Okay? You're in alien occupied territory. But I'm sure you knew that, right?

Elroy approaches close to Wang.

ELROY: Oh, and by the way, they hate when you call them aliens and chigs. Oh ... (tuts) in fact they call you alien and a name that translates, well loosely, into red stink creature. It's a little more poetic, of course, when they say it. But (sniffs) ... your blood smells repugnant to them.

Elroy moves away again.

ELROY: But they're a wonderful species, yes! And we A.I.s get on with them very well. In fact, we run this prison facility for them because the air is just im-possible on them. Uh huh. In return we get to keep certain raw fuels that are mined. Now that's very fair.

Elroy clicks his jaw.

ELROY: Wouldn't you say?

Elroy squats down by Wang's head.

ELROY: Yes, they are very, very fair ...

Elroy begins turning a crank under the table/chair that alters the position of Wang's body so that his head is raised and his feet lowered.

ELROY: ... caring ... just ... all the things you carbonites are not. Right, Wang, Paul? Yeah. You know, you ... invaded their territory first, didn't you? Didn't you?

Elroy's lips are right by Wang's ear. Elroy sweeps his hand across Wang's body just centimetres above it.

ELROY: You threatened them first now, didn't you? Didn't you?

Elroy moves away again.

ELROY: And, this morning, you murdered innocent lives. Civilian lives. Young lives. Didn't you, Wang Paul?

Elroy removes the top of his left index finger to reveal some sort of metal prong that makes electrical noises.

ELROY: With your insensitive bombing attack. Didn't you? ... Yes.

Cut to West in a cell. We can hear Wang screaming.

Cut to Vansen and Damphousse in a cell. A female guard enters and walks around them.

FEMALE GUARD: (to Vansen) Choice or chance. (to Damphousse) Chance or ... choice.

The guard exits the cell and turns to face them both.

FEMALE GUARD: Choice or chance.

Cut to two A.I.s searching for McQueen and Hawkes. They spot what looks like a uniformed figure, buried in sand. They move down the hill towards it and open fire on the figure. McQueen, hiding in some bushes, shoots and kills them. McQueen takes the dead A.I.s' weapons.

Cut to West in a cell. He hears noises and follows their sound to the back of his cell. A stone in the wall moves and he removes it. There's someone on the other side of the wall with a torch.

WEST: Kylen?

CELINA: Nathan? Nathan?

WEST: Where are you? How can I get to you?

CELINA: No, no, shhh, don't talk. There's no time. We know a way out. It's dangerous. Another will help us. Be ready. It could ... it could be at anytime. Just be ready. I love you.

There are A.I. noises.

CELINA: Quick! quick! Put it back. Put it back. Believe in me.

West returns the stone to the wall.

McQueen hears someone approaching his position and doubles back through the bushes. The person reaches the place we last saw McQueen when McQueen jumps them and they end up rolling down the hill. As McQueen prepares to use his weapon he realises the person is Hawkes.

HAWKES: I went back to the life pod. No sign of cards.

McQUEEN: Thought I told you to go on without me.

HAWKES: I followed the road they left by but I couldn't find where they took them. Time's running out, Colonel, we've got to find them. ... Come on, Sir, you better take it easy.

McQUEEN: {Then} move.

McQueen stands and begins to leave.

HAWKES: There's an A.I. patrol that direction.

McQUEEN: Is that a problem?

Cut to West's cell. Carson, Celina's fellow escapee, enters the area and punches numbers into a keypad by the door. The electric field keeping West in his cell is deactivated. Celina enters.

CARSON: Come on, let's go. ... Come on.

The three leave together and make their way through the prison to a grate in a wall. An A.I. approaches and Carson tries to stop him with a knife. There's a tussle during which the A.I.'s weapon is dropped. Carson is pushed through an electric field and is killed. West grabs the A.I.'s weapon and kills the A.I.

WEST: Come on, he's dead. Come on.

West and Celina go through the grate and make their way through a ventilation-like system.

WEST: Easy.

West and Celina find their way outside. They run through a steam in a wood. West stops.

CELINA: We're not safe here.

WEST: I can't leave them.

Celina walks back towards West.

CELINA: Nathan, it took Carson and me six months to plan a way out. I'm not going back. He shouldn't have died for nothing. ... Didn't you come for me?

WEST: And they came with me.

West crouches and drinks some water from the stream. He sees blood on his hand.

WEST: I'm bleeding.

Celina has her hand raised to cover her face.

WEST: It's not that bad. It's just a cut.

CELINA: I never thought I'd feel your breath on my face again.

West and Celina kiss.

WEST: I won't leave them. ... And I can't leave you.

They head off together.

Cut to Wang's cell. Wang is standing, stooped, leaning against the wall.

WANG: Remember who you are ... who you are ... okay. ... All time Chicago Cubs team.

Wang moves away from the wall. His left hand is clutch under the opposite armpit.

WANG: First base, Ernie Banks, Mr. Cub. Second base, Ryno, Ryne Sandberg, lifetime batting average is ... I can't remember. Shortstop ... shortstop.

ELROY: (from outside the cell) That would have to be ... wait don't tell me, Louis de Jesus, back-to-back M.V.P.s in 2055 and 2056.

WANG: He left for the money. He went to the Mets. He was a traitor.

ELROY: Yes. See, isn't it so much nicer that we talk, rather than hurting each other?

The door to the cell opens and Elroy indicates that Wang should leave the cell.

Cut to Damphousse (standing) and Vansen's (crouching) cell. They hear Wang screaming.

DAMPHOUSSE: Paul.

VANSEN: In a while it'll be us.

Damphousse crouches by Vansen.

DAMPHOUSSE: As marines it's our duty not to cooperate. As friends we stick together.

The two women clasp hands. Three A.I.s enter.

FEMALE GUARD: That's the problem.

The two women stand.

FEMALE GUARD: That's the problem with you carbonites. You meet someone by chance, at school, work, just by chance.

Vansen and Damphousse stand back to back as the female guard walks around them as she speaks.

FEMALE GUARD: But then you make it a choice, to bring them into your life. For a night. For a year. For a lifetime. Sometimes you choose to stay with a person so long that ... right before your eyes ... you watch them die. So why wait a lifetime? Our employers have decided, one of you is to be executed and the other will spend their life working in the mine and they're leaving the choice up to you.

DAMPHOUSSE: Go to hell.

The female guard draws her weapon. Vansen reacts slightly. The guard then shoots one of the two guards who entered the cell with her.

MALE GUARD: See? It's really not so tough ... once you set your mind to it.

The A.I. guards then leave the cell.

Cut to the outside where an A.I. is crouching, by some sort of beacon-like structure, taking a drink. Suddenly he is shot. McQueen and Hawkes approach.

McQUEEN: That's for the old corps.

HAWKES: What now?

Cut to the Saratoga command centre.

CONNOR'S VOICE: I'm picking up a transmission.

ROSS: Put it on speaker.

He does. It's a series of beeps.

Cut to Hawkes and McQueen. They are fiddling with wires and electrical parts of the A.I. they shot.

McQUEEN: Now, with a little tweaking of this motherboard, we've got enough power to boost the signal.

Cut to the Saratoga command centre.

CONNOR: Five-Eight, four prisoners. One hurt.

ROSS: Localise that transmission.

CONNOR: We triangulated the signal. It's dead centre in alien territory and it's ... not making any sense. ... Sailor's grog ... sailor's grog.

ROSS: That's McQueen.

Cut to Hawkes and McQueen.

McQUEEN: Not enough power left to transmit.

HAWKES: I bet they heard it.

McQUEEN: Not even an A.I. would take that bet, Cooper.

They are crouched by the A.I. body.

HAWKES: We've got to find the others.

McQUEEN: A.I.s are networked through their modems.

McQueen flips open a panel behind the A.I.s ear and fiddles with the circuitry as they talk.

McQUEEN: So when you reinitialise them, they give up their home location. ... Near the end of the A.I. war I was a P.O.W.

HAWKES: They do, uh ... stuff to you?

McQUEEN: Frightening how much pain an invitro, ... a human body can stand. You'd like to believe the body would break before the will. I held out three days and then ... once when they were ... doing stuff to me ... I heard screaming. It sounded far off, down the hall. I remember thinking ... that poor [bastard,] what must he be going through? Then, when I came to, I realised the screams had come from me. ... Save your last bullet, Hawkes.

HAWKES: Why'd you come on this mission? How come .... How come you're willing to die for humans?

McQUEEN: I could ask you the same question, you're an invitro too.

HAWKES: This ain't my idea. Damn judge decided I ought to be a grunt. That's not your story. I mean most tanks just sat out the A.I. war. Why would you give your life for a human?

McQUEEN: I did it ... I do it ... for every invitro who's ever been called a tank or nipple neck. I do it so no one, human or invitro, will ever be able to say that all invitros are lazy or cowards or don't stand for anything.

VOICE FROM A.I. CIRCUITRY: Transmission received. One-four-zero-two-one-nine Kazbek Penal Colony, R.P.X. grid number nine-beta point three.

McQUEEN: Found them. We need one more thing.

McQueen rips the arm of the A.I.

HAWKES: Cool.

Cut to Damphousse and Vansen pacing.

VANSEN: No windows. No vents.

DAMPHOUSSE: Could we bribe them with chocolates and panty hose?

VANSEN: Yet, they pass through this opening.

Damphousse crouches, grabs the boot of the A.I. who was shot earlier and throws it at the opening. Sparks fly.

Cut to Wang's interrogation cell. He's strapped in the chair, feet toward the ground.

ELROY: I hate when you make me do that, Wang, Paul. Although, ... look at you. Wow. I really wish I was human. What must what I'm doing to you feel like? What must you be going through? Ahhh. Veins all blue. Perspiration. Pulse racing. Hey, why are you giving your life for them, huh? This war is being run by a bunch of Harvard white guys. What do you owe them? Hmmm? Are you tired, Wang, Paul? Are you thirsty? Are you hungry? Would you like a hamburger? Huh? I can help you. Yes. No one else can help you but me. ... Ahhh, you're ready. I can see it in your eyes.

WANG: Outfield ... Dawson, Andre ... the Hawk.

ELROY: Ah, (tuts) think you'll never crack, huh?

WANG: Never!

ELROY: I'd like you to hear something. It's a play back of a recording.

We hear a recording of Wang screaming.

ELROY: Sound familiar? Oh, well, perhaps you don't recognise it, of course. You were unconscious at the time. But that is you ... screaming, Wang, Paul. Yes. I've already broken you, haven't I? Huh? Haven't I? Haven't I? Yeah. Ohhh!

Wang begins to sob.

ELROY: No! It's okay, it's okay. Shhh. Shhh. Oh, please. I'm sorry. It was for your own good. Listen, Wang, Paul, your boy, Elroy, will never hurt you again. Okay? I promise. Scouts honour. But listen, I want you to do something for me. All right? It's a small thing. It won't take long, I promise. Okay? Will you do that for me? Hmmm?

Wang has calmed down and has his sobbing under control.

WANG: Yeah. Yeah, I'll do anything you ask.

ELROY: Good boy. Good, good boy.

Vansen and Damphousse's cell. They are both crouching. Damphousse is fiddling with her jaw.

VANSEN: It's okay, Vanessa. In here, I kinda like it. Sort of reminds me of home.

DAMPHOUSSE: (sighs)

VANSEN: Vanessa ... if we can't get out ... then it's gonna be me.

DAMPHOUSSE: No. It's neither.

VANSEN: Look, I joined knowing marines die. That's what they're here for.

DAMPHOUSSE: Yeah, so what am I?

VANSEN: If they put you to work, there's a chance of escape. You have a family.

DAMPHOUSSE: So do you.

VANSEN: Not like you. You have ... a mother and a father and a man who is just waiting for you to come home. His daughter ...

DAMPHOUSSE: No! I won't let you do it. And you shouldn't let me do it.

VANSEN: We may have no choice.

DAMPHOUSSE: Now you sound like them.

VANSEN: For once, those things, they, they made sense. Our families are given to us by chance. But you can't choose for your family not to have you in their lives. I won't let them remove you from your family.

DAMPHOUSSE: Don't turn. In the shadows behind you. ... A chig is watching. ... So maybe that's what they are getting out of this. Our enemy is studying its enemy's loyalty to one another. They are watching how we react. We're hamsters.

VANSEN: Guinea pigs.

DAMPHOUSSE: Right.

VANSEN: Hmmm. What do you think?

DAMPHOUSSE: Well ... maybe ... we should give them what they expect.

Cut to Wang's interrogation cell.

ELROY: What is your name?

WANG: Wang, Paul, First Lieutenant, 58th Squadron United States Marine Corps.

ELROY: And what would you like to tell the people on Earth?

Wang's image is being projected on the wall behind him.

WANG: I caused the death of innocent beings.

ELROY: How?

WANG: I violated the chig ...

ELROY: Ohhh. (tuts) Careful. Careful.

WANG: I killed non-combatants. I dropped bombs on civilian populations. I destroyed the innocent.

ELROY: Are you guilty of war crimes?

WANG: Yes.

ELROY: Hmmm. And how does what you've done make you feel, Lieutenant?

WANG: I feel shame.

Cut to McQueen and Hawkes as they approach the prison. They gain entrance using the A.I. hand. McQueen leads the way.

McQUEEN: Hawkes.

Hawkes follows McQueen in.

Cut to further inside the prison. An A.I. guard puts down his weapon and fiddles with his boots. Hawkes approaches stealthily and jumps the guard, knocking him out. Hawkes drags the body away so that it's out of sight. There are flashing lights and electrical sounds.

HAWKES: Colonel.

McQueen follows Hawkes.

HAWKES: Take a look at this. What the hell is that?

They stare at the chig workings inside a huge cavern. McQueen throws the A.I. arm over the ledge. They then depart.

Cut to Vansen and Damphousse's cell.

DAMPHOUSSE: Hey. Hey. Hey. Come here.

The male guard approaches. Damphousse glances back at a sleeping Vansen.

DAMPHOUSSE: I want to be the one who remains alive. And I'll do whatever it takes to be the one. Anything.

MALE GUARD: When we return, you must kill her.

Cut to the outside with West and Celina walking through the woods.

WEST: The prison, it's about two clicks.

CELINA: Two clicks?

WEST: It's military slang for kilometre.

CELINA: It's hard to imagine you in the military. Just the uniform ...

WEST: It was the only way to get to you.

CELINA: The A.I.s tell us that we lose every battle. That the chigs are impossible to attack.

WEST: It was until yesterday.

CELINA: How did you bomb them?

West stops.

WEST: How did you know we bombed them?

Celina turns to face him and walks back.

CELINA: It was what the prisoners were saying. They said a ship would come for you, for the others. Is that true? ... You can tell me.

WEST: If we didn't return ... the Saratoga was to lead a fleet around the far side of the Butterfly Nebula. Interference from the nebula would make it impossible for the chigs to ... track the fleet. They're entering the Ceres system through the back door.

CELINA: Then there's no need to go back to the prison. The marines will get their men.

WEST: Stop it.

West approaches Celina.

WEST: Stop it. I risked my life for you. They risked their lives for you. ... Don't you understand? ... You don't understand. ... She would.

West runs off.

Cut to the Saratoga. Ross enters the command centre.

CONNOR'S VOICE: Sir, we have lidar contact.

ROSS: What and where?

CONNOR: Their fleet's emerging from the dark side, sir.

ROSS: Set general quarters.

MALE VOICE: All hands, general quarters.

ROSS: We'll take some of them with us. (to Sewell) You led us into this.

SEWELL: You know better than that, sir.

CONNOR: Sir, the fleet's heading away from us. Bearing leads them towards the Butterfly Nebula. We must have avoided detection.

SEWELL: This is your window of opportunity, Commodore. It's a straight shot. We don't do it now, we don't know when they'll be back.

ROSS: Set course for Kazbek. Let's get our people back.

Vansen and Damphousse's cell. The two A.I. guards enter.

FEMALE GUARD: Decisions, decisions. ... I understand you've made a choice.

VANSEN: And it is to say that you can stick it in any artificial orifice of your choice.

FEMALE GUARD: That's not what I heard.

The female guard turns to the male guard and he replays his earlier conversation with Damphousse.

DAMPHOUSSE'S VOICE: I want to be the one who remains alive and I'll do whatever it takes to be the one.

FEMALE GUARD: In craps, we'd say Damphousse bet the don'ts.

VANSEN: I don't buy it, you created that. It's a lie.

DAMPHOUSSE: No, it's not.

The female guard offers Damphousse a weapon.

VANSEN: What the hell is this?

DAMPHOUSSE: Look, Vansen, you said it yourself, I have a family. I've got somebody waiting for me.

VANSEN: I can't believe you would do this to me.

FEMALE GUARD: You've shown you're the one who can't be trusted.

Damphousse reaches for the weapon.

FEMALE GUARD: Pull anything, Brandon pulls the trigger.

VANSEN: How can you live with yourself, Damphousse?

DAMPHOUSSE: At least I'll live.

Vansen throws a punch and the two wild cards brawl. The male guard moves as if he's going to stop the fight but the female guard stops him. Damphousse kicks and hits the female guard, who goes down. Vansen wrestles the weapon from her and then shoots the male guard and the chig who's watching from a distance. Damphousse attacks the prone female A.I., rips circuitry out of the A.I. with her bare hands and then shakes her arm like she has some awful slime on her hand. Vansen and Damphousse crouch down together, panting.

VANSEN: You're Brando, babe.

DAMPHOUSSE: You're DeNiro, girl.

Cut to Wang's interrogation cell. Wang is on his feet as Elroy enters.

ELROY: Our enemy is attacking the prison, Wang, Paul. They've done a very bad thing. I want to thank you for all you've done for us. And I want you to know, you only hurt the one you love.

Elroy points his weapon at Wang. Hawkes approaches from behind and knocks Elroy down.

WANG: No, don't kill him.

ELROY: Yes, yes, yes.

Wang touches Elroy's face, takes his weapon and shoots him. Hawkes takes Wang by the arm.

HAWKES: Come on, man. Come on, man.

Hawkes puts his arm around Wang's shoulders and leads him out of the cell.

Cut to Vansen and Damphousse, still in their cell.

VANSEN: We still can't get out of here.

DAMPHOUSSE: She's our ticket.

Damphousse points at the A.I. and stands. Vansen stands.

VANSEN: 'Phousse.

Together they lift the female A.I. Damphousse fiddles with her jaw. Vansen does the same thing. They step through the electric field. They drop the A.I., grab some weapons and make their way through the prison corridors.

McQUEEN: Vansen, where's West?

VANSEN: I don't know, they took him.

Hawkes and Wang come around the corner and are clearly in tow.

Cut to the outside of the Saratoga.

CONNOR'S VOICE: Seventeen mikes to planet fall.

Cut to the command centre.

CONNOR'S VOICE: Multiple bogeys bearing three-niner-{A-Z}-ninety.

GATES: Closing fast, alien bombers.

ROSS: Battle stations.

Cut to the outside of the Saratoga. Hammerheads are launched.

Cut to the command centre.

SEWELL: There are far more bombers than our intelligence indicated.

ROSS: Gunners, target the bombers three degrees past the highest point of their return arc.

SEWELL: How did you know that? It took us nine Charno mainframes to extract that information.

ROSS: (to Sewell) All your secrets in intelligence can't take the place of human experience. (to Gates) Take them out of my sky.

GATES: Fire mission; multiple targets, all batteries, fire at will.

Cut to battle scene in space.

Cut to the command centre.

GATES: {Popped} him, sir.

ROSS: I want a force recon assault team on planet in ten mikes. I want our people out.

Cut to Kazbek. West stops running. He looks at the pendant that Celina gave him and plays her voice. Then he begins running again.

Cut to the prison. The wild card make their way out, McQueen leading the way. Damphousse is helping Wang. Hawkes is at the rear.

HAWKES: Take cover.

They take cover behind a group of boulders and begin exchanging fire with the A.I. guards. Wang stands up making himself an easy target.

VANSEN: Take cover!

HAWKES: Wang!

West arrives on the scene and tackles Wang, pulling him behind some cover.

WEST: What the hell is the matter with you? You want to get yourself killed? ... You're going to get someone else killed right along with you.

The fire fight comes to a halt and the wild cards stand. Celina arrives.

CELINA: Wang, Vansen, Damphousse, this way!

They start to move towards her.

VANSEN: Nathan, no!

West shoots Celina.

WEST: I never told her who you were.

A couple of A.I.s, with weapons, stand. They're exactly where Celina was indicating the wild cards should go. The 58th shoot them. The wild cards walk towards Celina's body. They arrive in time to see it disintegrate into green goo.

DAMPHOUSSE: Oh god, Nathan. Oh, god.

We hear the sound of a marine transport arriving.

WANG: Colonel.

They turn and see a transport land.

Cut to outside the transport.

MALE VOICE: Move out ... let's go ... move.

Marines begin disembarking from the transport.

MALE VOICE: Right, gentleman, let's go. {indistinct, orders being given.}

Cut to a view of the planet surface, we see the 58th running towards the newly arrived marines. They pass each other.

McQUEEN: All accounted for.

MARINE COMMANDER: We'll clean up.

Cut to the transport. Hawkes helps McQueen onboard. McQueen finds the first aid kit and begins treating himself. Damphousse helps Wang onboard the transport. Hawkes and Vansen slump on the floor, their backs against the side of the transport. Wang and McQueen pass. McQueen grabs Wang's arm but Wang won't look at him and moves away. Damphousse kneels down next to Vansen and they hug.

DAMPHOUSSE: When I'm on a battlefield and I see a human, dead ... you can tell. I can feel something is missing. Something, unexplainable is gone. A.I.s ... they're like the living dead. You can feel ... they have no souls.

WEST: That's how I knew it wasn't her.

WANG: You think we'll catch heat because we missed the target?

McQUEEN: I think we should prepare to be seen as a ... disappointment.

The door opens and the marines come on board. McQueen grabs a seat by the entrance. One of the marines sits opposite him, stowing a rucksack under his seat.

Cut to the transport approaching the Saratoga.

FEMALE VOICE: Shuttle three-seven-five clear for arrival, pad six.

MALE VOICE: Roger, thank you.

Cut to inside the loading bay. The 58th disembark, looking around. Hawkes is holding McQueen up.

ROSS: Five-eight, you believed in an act that couldn't be done. You put your lives on the line for that belief ... and returned with both. Welcome home.

Ross salutes them. The other crew members, gathered to welcome them home, applaud as they 58th leave the loading bay.

As Wang climbs the steps, his hand holding the railing, Stroud covers his hand with hers.

STROUD: Welcome home. ... I said this was yours when you got back.

She offers him the gift.

STROUD: You're a hero.

Wang leaves without saying a word.

STROUD: Paul. .... Paul.

Cut to another area on the Saratoga. The marine, who brought the rucksack onto the transport, puts it on the table in front of Sewell and takes out a box from inside it. The marine leaves. Sewell opens the box. We see a glowing red light and hear a strange hum.

Comments? Did you find this transcript useful? Please email me at swanage@rocketmail.com Any and all feedback is appreciated. Sue.