The VCs
Raid on Caliban
WritersEmailAddress was here
Four Pages.
Page One
Six frames.
Page One, Frame One
We’re standing on the pitted surface of Caliban, looking up at the distant shape of the VC’s ship far above us; we can see the glint of the Sun rising behind it. Three figures in Star Trooper armour are dropping towards us, Jupe is in the lead, Dwarf Star is behind him and Steve Smith is bringing up the rear. Everyone is loaded down with equipment and weapons; Smith is holding a blitz cannon and has a land torpedo launcher slung over his shoulder.
Box (Smith):
“Patrolling back sunwards, we received sudden orders to detour to the Uranus system…”
Box (Smith):
“The Geeks had built a grav generator station on Caliban, and the VC‘s had been given the job of disabling it”
Page One, Frame Two
Longshot view of the Jupe, Dwarf Star and Smith standing on Caliban; we can make out the shape of the a Geek Base on the horizon, it’s a series of interconnected geodesic domes of various sizes; Dwarf Star is piling up supplies, there’s a tarpaulin-like camouflage net nearby. Smith stands in the f/g, he’s talking to Jupe.
Box (Smith):
“I’d been buzzing because I’d been selected to go on the commando raid, but I should have known better…”
Jupe:
You’re to stay in the foxhole and guard the supply dump, got that?
Smith:
Aw, sentry duty? Yes Sarge.
Page One, Frame Three
Longshot view of Jupe and Dwarf Star, we’re looking over Smith’s shoulder as they ready their weapons before they head off towards the Geek Base.
Jupe:
There shouldn’t be any trouble here and don’t go starting any you don’t need to…
Jupe:
…but if any trouble does come along, make sure that it’s you that ends it.
Jupe:
If all goes according to plan, we’ll rendezvous here in nine hours.
Page One, Frame Four
Extreme longshot view of the surface of Caliban, we’re looking at the camouflaged supply dump and maybe we can see of hint of Smith hiding under the netting in his foxhole. The space fort is in the distance, Uranus dominates the sky, the Sun hangs over the horizon but it doesn’t look particularly impressive from this far out.
Box (Smith):
“To be honest, I didn’t mind that much – it was the first time I’d been alone for months”
Page One, Frame Five
Close in view of Smith’s helmeted face, we can maybe see his eyes beneath his visor; he’s partially concealed beneath the camouflage netting. He’s just spotted something approaching in the distance.
Box (Smith):
“But I always forget that the waiting is the worst part. I lay there for what felt like forever”
Smith (thinks):
Oh, hell…
Box (Smith):
“And it felt like a relief when the Geek Patrol turned up”
Page One, Frame Six
Smith’s POV, a squad of four Geeks are cautiously making their way across the surface. They’re all holding rifle-like weapons and are looking around; it’s obviously some sort of regular patrol so they’re not being particularly attentive to their task. First Geek is crouched down, peering around, Second Geek has a small hand held device that he’s fiddling with, Pointing Geek has an arm raised and seems to be pointing directly at Smith, as though he’s noticed the supply dump. The Non-Speaking Geek is standing in the b/g, holding his rifle and not paying much attention.
First Geek (letterer – transform this to special Geek Gibberish font):
I don’t know why we’re bothering with these patrols
Second Geek (Gibberish):
That big idiot’s setting off the motion tracker again, can’t you control him?
Pointing Geek (gibberish):
He won’t listen.
Pointing Geek (yelling, gibberish):
Hey – hey! Protogeek! Get behind us!
Page Two
Six frames
Page Two, Frame One
Action shot of Smith emerging from the foxhole, throwing the camouflage netting aside with dust and debris cascading down around him as he rapid fires his blitz cannon at the Geek Patrol. He’s hit all of them, their suits are torn, helmets shattering, with atmosphere venting from the holes, none of them have managed to return fire.
Smith (yelling):
Suck it in, Geeks!
Geeks (yelling/screaming):
Gee!
Page Two, Frame Two
Medium view of Smith, we standing behind him as he surveys the dead Geek Patrol. He has the smoking blitz cannon raised up, pointing to the sky; he’s standing in a ‘pleased with himself’ pose but his head is just turning as though he’s sensed something behind him, maybe there’s a shadow falling over him. The Geeks are all down and dead in the b/g, suits still venting atmosphere.
Box (Smith):
“One more Geek Patrol down, but I’d forgotten a vital part of my training…”
Smith:
Huh…?
Page Two, Frame Three
Reverse angle frame of Page Four, Frame Five; a low angle view looking up at Smith. There is a massive Protogeek standing behind him (See Starlord’s Guide to the Galaxy, prog 141); it’s wearing a heavily armoured spacesuit and is at least twice as tall and twice as bulky as Smith. It’s reaching forward, snatching the upraised blitz cannon out of Smith’s hand. It’s carrying a huge morning star style mace in the other hand. We can see the Geek Base in the b/g, one of the domes is exploding dramatically in a huge fireball – Jupe and Dwarf Star have succeeded in destroying the gravity generator.
Box (Smith):
Always check your six!
Protogeek (huge font, needs to be at least twice the size of the regular geeks):
Gee!
Smith:
Oh, hell!
Page Two, Frame Four
Smith is now sprinting towards us, moving full pelt away from the Protogeek, which is crushing the blitz cannon to fragments in its fist behind him.
Box (Smith):
”It was a Protogeek. They’re close combat specialists, so the first thing to do was put as much distance between us as possible”
Protogeek (Huge font):
Geeeee!
Page Two, Frame Five
We’ve moved around ninety degrees so we can see the scene in profile; it looks more like Smith is frantically fleeing for his life from this angle. The protogeek is starting to lumber along after him, the brutal club raised above its head.
Box (Smith):
“I admit it probably looked a lot like I was running away”
Protogeek (Huge font):
Gee!! Gee!!
Page Two, Frame Six
Smith running again, but he’s suddenly in micro gravity; his feet are peddling the empty void beneath him as he launches into space, he’s looking startled. The Protogeek behind him is tumbling forwards, loosing its footing as it too suddenly succumbs to the lack of gravity.
Box (Smith):
“Jupe and Dwarf Star must have pulled it off – shame they forgot to warn me that blowing the gravity generator would also knock out my gravity boots!”
Protogeek (huge font):
Geeee?!
Smith:
Huh?!
Page Three
Six frames
Page Three, Frame One
Smith is tumbling above the surface of Caliban, he’s awkwardly ‘falling’ backwards, his arms stretched out and his legs still kicking, the Protogeek behind him is tumbling in the opposite direction but looks even more uncoordinated. We can see the Geek Base in the distance, smoke and debris is rising from the shattered and exploded dome.
Box (Smith):
“I hadn’t bothered to work out Caliban’s escape velocity, but apparently I could run into orbit”
Page Three, Frame Two
Medium view of Smith, he’s twisting around as gracefully as he can manage in his suit.
Box (Smith):
“Fortunately, I did remember my zero-G training”
Smith (thinking):
C’mon, Smith, you know this – turn now, twist, turn again…
Page Three, Frame Three
Longshot view of Smith and the Protogeek, Smith has managed to stabilise himself and is now facing towards the Protogeek, which is still tumbling uncontrollably, its arms and legs flailing.
Box (Smith):
“I just needed to recover before the Protogeek”
Page Three, Frame Four
Head and shoulders view of Smith, he has the land torpedo launcher raised to his shoulder and is peering through a rangefinder.
Smith (Box):
“I knew my side arm wouldn’t make a dent on that armour, but I’d brought a Land Torpedo…”
Page Three, Frame Five
Longshot view of Smith firing the Land Torpedo at the Protogeek, it’s blasting right through it and the warhead is exploding on the surface of Caliban.
Box (Smith):
“It fires a HEAP shell designed to take out AFVs, so it’s not exactly an anti-personnel weapon and I’d wasted the High Explosive…”
Page Three, Frame Six
Close in head and shoulders view of the Protogeek, it has a massive hole blasted through its chest, it’s looking down at the wound, atmosphere and blood are pouring out of the breach.
Box (Smith):
“But the Armour Piercing component made a big enough hole”
Protogeek (smaller font, muttering):
Gee…?
Page Four
Six frames
Page Four, Frame One
Longshot view of Smith again, he’s dropped the empty land torpedo launcher but he’s tumbling worse then ever now.
Box (Smith):
“Unfortunately, the launcher has a recoil that’s capable of breaking your shoulder, so it’s not recommended for use in Zero-G”
Smith:
Urrrghhh
Page Four, Frame Two
Smith is upside down, he’s just tumbled backwards and his back is impacting hard on a large surface we can’t see yet.
Box (Smith):
“It was a good job I’d remembered to take my anti-nausea pills that morning, because you can never get the smell out of these helmets”
Smith:
Arrgghh!
Page Four, Frame Three
We’ve zoomed out and are now behind Smith, he’s still upside down but no longer tumbling; he’s turning his head to look over his shoulder. We can see that he’s collided with a gun turret on the side of a Geek ship, through a window we can see a pair of Geek Gunners; one is pointing directly at Smith, the other is operating some controls and a cannon is beginning to swing in Smith’s direction.
Box (Smith):
“Something stopped me before I went too far, but it turned out that the Geeks’ air support had arrived…”
Smith (small font, muttering):
Oh, hell
Page Four, Frame Four
Extreme longshot view of the Geek Ship, we’ve zoomed out a long way and Smith now seems tiny in comparison. The right side of the ship is being torn apart in a massive explosion, we can see a couple of missiles incoming from outside of the frame. The gun pointing at Smith is flaring and energy bolts are just missing him.
No dialogue
Page Four, Frame Five
Close in view of Ringer’s face, his features are twisted into a vicious snarl, a mean looking grin on his lips.
Ringer:
Looks like we’ve found the best use for the Earthworm…
Ringer (yelling):
Bait on a line!
Page Four, Frame Six
An even more extreme longshot that Page Four Frame Four, we’ve zoomed out even further so that we can see the surface of Caliban; the tiny figure of Smith can be spied landing on the surface, maybe we can see the indistinct shape of Jupe and Dwarf Star making their way back towards the rendezvous. The Geek Ship is burning and being torn apart by explosions, there are another couple of smaller craft manoeuvring behind it and the VCs ship is swooping into frame towards them, cannons blazing.
Smith (Box):
“I wasn’t any help in the space battle, but I had a hell of a view.”
Smith (Box):
“I got chewed out because I wasn’t back in time for the rendezvous, though…”