"Departure II"
ACT FIVE
CROSSFADE TO INT. ENGINEERING- SPACE
CU on an unconscious WOLFE lying on the metal floor of Engineering.
PROVIX (off camera)
Major?
WOLFE’S eyes flutter for a moment.
CALLAHAN
We need to get him to sickbay-
WOLFE’S eyes snap open suddenly and he gets up with a groan.
WOLFE (in pain)
No doctors. I’m fine.
He rises from the floor, Engineering is deserted except for WOLFE, PROVIX, CALLAHAN and about ten marines, including JIMENEZ. Nobody’s carrying a weapon or wearing armor. WOLFE looks them up and down, his face twists with anger.
WOLFE
Arm up.
CALLAHAN
Sir?
WOLFE (angry)
Arm up! Get disruptors and body armor and get down here!
CALLAHAN
Sir, Commander Lyons sent us to check on the Chief-
WOLFE
They took him!
A convulsion flows through WOLFE and he nearly falls over. JIMENEZ is at his side, grabbing him around the waist.
PROVIX
Somebody get a medic for the Major, he’s not making any sense.
WOLFE
(grabs PROVIX) Damnit, there’s no time! Get some god damned weapons and get your ass in gear!
CUT TO INT. BRIDGE-SPACE
SARA is speaking into FROST’S comm, the rest of the bridge crew are staring at her in shock.
SARA
What?
CUT TO INT. ENGINEERING-SPACE
CALLAHAN holds a wrist comm up to her mouth. The background, the other Marines are trying to keep WOLFE on his feet.
CALLAHAN
You heard me, the Major thinks we have uninvited guests on board. He says they took the Chief and then took off for the lower decks.
SARA (comm)
Could he identify them?
CUT TO INT. BRIDGE-SPACE
Back to SARA, her jaw set with determination.
CALLAHAN (comm)
He said they looked like Reman.
The Bridge crew looks scared. SARA scans the room for suggestions. She motions for FROST and they move off to the side.
SARA
Wolfe said they moved below decks
FROST
Three guesses where they’re headed.
SARA
Can you transport someone off the brig deck?
FROST (shakes his head)
It’s shielded from transporter signals; Captain Baines added it during the Border Wars.
SARA moves out of her conference with FROST and back to her comm.
SARA
Lieutenant, get to the armory and then get to the brig as quickly as possible. Close off all access on or off that deck, is that clear?
She motions to FROST and DECKER who eagerly await their orders.
SARA
I’m sending some back up to you right now (covers the comm with her hand, then says to FROST) Take the bridge crew with you and make sure they cover the Jefferies Tubes.
FROST (to DECKER)
Come on, kid, you just became a Marine.
DECKER and FROST leave through an emergency exit. SARA grabs WALSH before he leaves.
SARA
Can you undo this?
WALSH
SARA
Can you undo it?
WALSH
Maybe.
SARA
Good, you’re with me.
MONTAGE
FROST, WOLFE, and the ship’s defenders enter the armory and start pulling out phasers, phaser rifles, and Marine issue disruptors. The Marines are putting on body armor and helmets. Everyone’s running down the hallway, deploying at every possible exit.
CUT TO INT. TURBOLIFT SHAFT-SPACE
WOLFE and his MARINES toss repelling lines into the shaft and start repelling down the tube. They land on top of the de-powered lift…
…only to find FROST, NERI, and DECKER standing there, waiting for them.
FROST
There’s a ladder right over there.
WOLFE ignores the quip and starts trying to force open the door. NERI walks up behind him and runs her medical scanner over his head.
NERI (stunned)
Oh my…Major, stand down I’m taking you to Sickbay.
WOLFE
No.
NERI
Major, you are in no shape to be-
WOLFE whirls around and snaps at her.
WOLFE
NO! Now get back into formation Sergeant.
NERI
Sergeant?
He goes back to working on the door. NERI and FROST share a concerned look.
CUT TO INT. BRIG DECK-SPACE
The door opens on more empty blackness; the flashlights are the only thing illuminating the deck. WOLFE and his team rush in, taking point. NERI and the rest follow after him, scanners out and phasers drawn. FROST pulls NERI aside.
FROST
How messed up is Wolfe right now?
NERI
He’s got a severe head injury and I’m not sure but I think he’s experiencing some sort of trauma induced flashback.
FROST
You mean PTSD…
NERI nods and DECKER leans into the conversation.
DECKER
Uh, Lieutenants? Maybe it’s not a good idea to talk about the unhinged professional killer behind his back.
WOLFE ignores everyone and starts prying open another door. When it’s halfway open, he pulls a futuristic grenade from his belt and tosses it inside.
WOLFE
Stun grenade out!
Sure enough there’s a flash and a bang and the room fills with smoke. The MARINES charge inside. One MARINE turns right, another goes left. A third MARINE starts pulling the two stunned guards out to safety.
FIRE TEAM MARINE 1
Clear left!
FIRE TEAM MARINE 2
Clear right!
FROST and WOLFE rush to KOLOTH’S cell. He’s gone and the walls of the cell have been torn apart, the anti-beam shielding is scattered all over the floor.
FROST
Ripped the shielding right out with a plasma torch. (frustrated) Damn it, whoever these people are…they are good.
NERI walks up behind them, she looks mournful.
NERI
Lieutenant Frost…
FROST
Not now. (to WOLFE) They must’ve done their home work because the brig shielding was not a standard feature on the Constellation-class.
NERI (gently)
Lieutenant…
FROST walks over to NERI.
FROST
What the bloody hell do you-
FROST looks down where NERI is looking. On the floor of the brig, like a crumpled doll, is
His lifeless eyes stare up accusingly at FROST.
FROST looks devastated.
CUT TO EXT. THE SHADOW IN ORBIT-SPACE
The Shadow shimmers into existence over a dead, black looking world. There’s an atmosphere but the planet almost looks like it’s been burned over and over and over again. In the southern hemisphere, an entire continent is in flames from a never ending plasma fire and on the northern pole, long jagged scars criss cross a dried up ocean.
It descends over the upper atmosphere just as the sun rises over this hellish world’s curve.
CUT TO INT. SHADOW BRIDGE-SPACE
VYRX is at the helm, commanding his crew. KOLOTH stands beside him, a stern look on his face. WEI is at the back of the bridge, leaning against the wall. He examines the planet on the view screen with curiosity.
WEI
I’ve never seen this world before. Are we still in Tars Tavik?
VYRX and KOLOTH turn to glare at him, then go back to their duties. WEI pouts in the corner, no one is treating him like the big shot he thinks he is.
WEI (through gritted teeth)
Fucking pirates.
One of the pirates nods to KOLOTH and VYRX, they make a silent instruction to the rest of the crew. These pirates are so well trained that they don’t even need their orders issued verbally. VYRX approaches WEI.
VYRX
You will come with us to the planet, you will be silent.
WEI shrugs and follows them into a turbolift.
CUT TO EXT. THE SHADOW IN ORBIT-SPACE
The ship’s bay doors open and an evil looking Romulan scout ship exits the Shadow’s shuttle bay. The craft flies towards the planet and into the atmosphere, over burning hills and dead riverbanks to a large makeshift complex in the middle of a hellishly dry desert.
The ship in the center of the complex courtyard.
CUT TO EXT. PIRATE COMPOUND-DAY
WEI steps down from the open door of the scout craft. He marvels at the hundreds of pirates of every shape and size.
On the other end of the compound, surrounded by SYNDICATE MEN, is HADAR BARAN. They lock eyes as VYRX and KOLOTH escort WEI into the main house of the compound. WEI gives BARAN the finger; BARAN makes an Orion gesture of contempt (perhaps some completely alien version of the middle finger).
CUT TO INT. THE COUNCIL OF BONES-DAY
KOLOTH and VYRX walk WEI into a dark room with a long, rickety wooden table. They push him into the nearest seat and walk to the other side of the room.
Four more people walk into the room and take their place along the table: MESA CROI, a Breen pirate in an ornate body suit. GALISSA MOTIR (Gah-lissa Mow-Ter), a well dressed Bajoran business woman. MOX, a Denobulan computer hacker. The forth council member looks completely human (he isn’t), very nondescript wearing all black. He doesn’t have a name; they just call him THE FIXER. All four of them are wearing the same silver skull ring as KOLOTH and VYRX. This is the Council of Bones.
WEI smiles and puts his feet up on the chair, he feels important.
WEI
I just want to say that you people have made an excellent choice and that I am going make a wonderful edition to your...(motions to the room around them) “social club”.
THE FIXER is not amused.
THE FIXER
Do you know who we are?
WEI (shrugs)
You work with the Lord of Bones-
THE FIXER (snaps)
Forget that name. Just say yes or no, do you know who we are?
WEI takes his feet off the table and turns on the charm.
WEI
I’ve heard rumors.
THE FIXER
Then you know we don’t consider ourselves criminals, correct?
WEI
That’s the rumor.
THE FIXER
What is your opinion of the Federation, Mr. Wei?
Tight on WEI, he chuckles a little. It’s a cold chuckle, the sound a sociopath makes when he thinks about death.
WEI
The Federation? It’s a joke. A vanity project created by humans and a few of the less annoying aliens in the galaxy to give off the impression that we all ‘enlightened’. It’s bullshit. There’s no such thing as enlightenment, there’s kill or be killed and no prime directive is going to save your life when a guy like me meets you in a dark alley.
He leans back in his chair.
WEI
Considering how much angry scum you’ve got rolling around outside, I feel confident I’m not the only one in this room that feels that way.
THE FIXER looks over at the other COUNCIL MEMBERS, they nod. Then he looks at VYRX, who nods and walks over to WEI, draws back his hand…
…and pimp slaps the shit out of him. Just knocks him right out of his chair.
THE FIXER walks over to a now stunned WEI and puts his shoe on WEI’S neck.
THE FIXER
Five out of the six people you see here are proud supporters of the Federation, two of us happen to be prominent Federation citizens who donate heavily to Starfleet run charities. We love the Federation and everything you see here was created to help make the dream of Galactic harmony a reality. (he motions his head to KOLOTH) Now Mr. Koloth is like you, he can’t stand the Federation but at least he doesn’t go around butchering innocent people to prove a point.
THE FIXER presses his shoe down on WEI, strangling him.
THE FIXER
When I heard about what you did on that ship, I wanted to tell Vyrx to kill you right there. But the great man who leads this little “social club” had a better idea. In less then twelve hours, a fleet of pirates and mercenaries are going to participate in the largest privately funded raid on a sovereign galactic power in two centuries and when it’s over we need someone to take the fall so the Bone Lord can continue his glorious work unhindered. Originally I wanted to use Hadar Barran and his idiot Syndicate but you…
He pulls out a little recording device and hits play, the last half of WEI’S little Federation speech plays back.
THE FIXER
You’ll do nicely.
The council turns to leave as VYRX drags WEI out the door.
WEI
What the hell are you people?
THE FIXER (without looking at him)
We’re the good guys, Mr. Wei.