Persephone - "He's right."
Hades - "They are hated."
Persephone - "Feared."
Hades - "Barbarous ..."
Persephone - "Destroying each other and all else beyond."
Hades - "With neither clue nor care how many do watch."
Persephone - "Or whom !."
Hades - "So why do you care ?"
Nyx - "They're warriors."
Hades - "Humans ... " A laugh, "Murderers with reasons."
Persephone - "And without. I'm sorry Nyx. We cannot help you."
Nyx - "In their hearts. Warriors. They do not know this and so they
do not learn honor. We need men to teach boys. We need Gargareans."
________
A news crew in the farmer's yard outside the battle, the gathering wind jostling.
News Human - "We're here with ... 'Farmer Bob ...' "
Farmer Bob - "Farmer Bob."
News Human - "Farmer Bob ... and he claims that a giant ... 'space ... ship' ... has invaded his land !"
Farmer
Bob - "Yeah." He gestures behind to the cruiser in its near distant
assault, "That one right there. And well. We've had squatters here before
and, you know, I've got a lot of land. If they're cool, we're cool, know what I mean ? But that ..."
He looks over his shoulder at Empirical's cruiser and it's bombardment.
Farmer
Bob - "That looks like an inter-di-mentional 'space ship', blowing the shit
out of my land, to me. That's the sort of thing you got to talk
to me
about first. I think I just won that case." He looks at the camera,
thumb gesturing to the invasion, "You gettin' this shit ?"
The camera swings to the invasion, the news human swings it back by the lens.
News Human - "It would appear so ... so what plans ?"
Farmer Bob - "Well. I called my friends on this telephone my daughter bought me to call her with ... and I called her too. So they're on their way. And they're all calling their friends, and so on ... and so on ... 'cause these motherfuckers right here ... ?"
He looks off to the distance as a tree's destroyed,
Farmer
Bob - "You see that ? I grew up swingin' on that damn tree. They're
gonna have to pay for that. You know what I'm sayin' ?"
News Human - Stares a moment, "No ... so what plans ?"
Farmer Bob - Looks back with discerning annoyance, "You're from the city, aren't you ?"
~ Duct tape pulled across the screen in an 'X' ~
Nocturne
is duct taped with a big 'X' to the front of the lead helicopter with
two pistols draw, on top of the nose-mount gatling. The soldiers load
up grenade satchels and duffels with launchers while Pragmatism checks
Nocturne's tape.
Pragmatism - To all after the tape is secured,
over the sound of the starting chopper engine, "Okay ! This is point A
to B and she will shoot down the ordinance, or I would not be on board, with you !"
A few in the back turn to watch as a heavy iron dome with a top-mount steam mechanism is loaded beneath a Chinook.
Pragmatism - Lighting a cigarette, "That's shit-hook's got, 'the lady bomb' ! We'll see why that's what it is but apparently, ... it can breach that hull !"
Timepiece glares back a moment from watching the loading op.
Pragmatism
- "And once inside, you know what to do !" He kicks open a crate
filled with blunts and drink, everything else. Then to Nocturne,
putting the cigarette in her mouth as she draws it in, "And I'll see you on the other side of the run."
A smokey kiss as he lowers her goggles.
Pragmatism - Walking through the gathering after filling a pocket with a random handful, to the back of the helicopter, "Now load up ! And load up."
~ 25,000 years ago ~
Empirical
and 'The Architect' look over the battle cruiser's designs. It looks pretty
much like that big dumb asteroid people keep saying is a UFO.
Empirical
- Suspiciously, "I prefer rockets to cutting lasers, you know. Bombs
and missiles." He raises his fist. "They strike the fear."
Architect - "Indeed they do. We've redesigned the base structure for all your personal comforts."
Empirical - "Oh !"
A child Thesis plays with the model, crashing it.
Level Begin
As the helicopters rise over the field, a transparent Tetris game, bricks falling overlay her view controlled by her eye twitches left and right and eye-rolling. She's an expert in eye-rolling ( ... ).
They fly over as she shoots the ordinance attacking, from her occasional Tetris goggle view to the side gunners clearing the ground below, while Timepiece's crew defend their wall.
As the crew approaches one another, minor disruptions occur, storm and whirlwind combine to greater as they're thrust against the invaders.
A tornado drops it's cone behind the gate, gliding through and dissipating with a sideways swipe at the army, knocking walkers aside in it's last gust.
The wind disruptions have little effect on the heavy walker approach but visibility becomes low, with their own fresh turned dirt forced into the slits and eyes, while ground troops are swept into the dust and flung against them.
~ Goggle view to the now aggressive focus on the helicopters' approach, heavy ordinance shot down gracefully
Shocks cross the instruments aboard the walkers from lightning in the storm, but are effected only by their metallic parts. The raw mechanisms that drive them appear to have no electronic components at all.
The armored drivers endure the electrification with annoyance, blinded by sand and bodies splattered.
End of the level (and song), the landing.
The helicopters land and unload, soldiers check gear and each others.
The Lady-Bomb swings six legs from under it's dome, before the soldiers
drop it from the Chinook underside. It begins tapping the hull for weakness, walking
here and there around them.
The
intelligent drone seeks along an impact crater in the surface. A thick
nearly pliable shale, but brittle like a stone Damascus. Small cracks
and imprecations to ply, but met with more thin layers beneath.
Pragmatism - Looking away from it's search and leaning his forehead on
hers, she takes his cigarette and inhales, "Okay. You're going to
live."
Nocturne - With a small adrenaline bounce, "Yeah. I'm gonna live."
She turns to the gearing soldiers, "But they ..."
Pragmatism - He turns her head back gently with his hand and takes the
cigarette, inhaling, "They know what they're doing. They volunteered
and I did not lie to them." He takes the cigarette in his hand to kiss
her, while the soldiers look away uncomfortable, then leans his head on
hers again.
Pragmatism - He puts a fresh cigarette over her ear, and his Zippo in her pocket, "Live.", and turns away fast.
Nocturne - "But ..."
________
Young Thesis - "But it rolls really easily so won't the entire mortal
crew fall on their heads and die when it crashes ?" He rolls the model.
"ahhh ..."
They pause and look at him confused ...
Architect - Turning back to Empirical, "Well as you can see we use these cranes to stack the vehicles ..."
Empirical - "Ahh ... yes."
________
Nyx - "Your death is a prison, and you keep them here. Your own keeper of fire and your
poet's muse ! The keeper of our world and the pusher of stones, you
keep them all ! All for your precious Zeus." She spits, "Patricide, son of
matricide." She draws, "I'm here for the Gargareans. I'm here for all the honored dead. Or we start proving paradoxes."
Persephone draws her sword and places it ready in her lap.
Hades - "Amazon Nyx, do you not consider your meaning, if even you do not bluff the gods ?"
Persephone - "Your people give us honor. But you ..."
Hades - "You come like a beggar then thief."
Persephone - "Murderer."
Nyx - "Gorgon Baccante. Do we fight or do I pass ?"
Persephone's eyes widen.
Hades - "And why ... would a true Baccante ... kill for these killers, then come begging life from death ?"
Nyx - "Because you're right. They will always be warriors. They need teachers. Gargareans. Amazons. We need the Honorable Dead !"
Persephone - Staring, "... and here too you are right. Everyone is
right. And everyone is so very wrong. And so there must be blood."
Hades - "May we all die together, but still. We cannot let you pass."
Persephone - Turning to her husband, as he stares at Nyx, "The dead are
dead." They lean back in their thrones staring, weapons in their laps,
while Nyx's path lay between them.
Nyx - Drawing blade and leaping to the cavern between their thrones, "And there will still be death when you're Gone !"
________
The Lady-Bomb fires shotguns from leg tips bouncing it. It pops the one time gun parts and begins drilling from the legs
into the minute cracks in the shell-like surface, then cups.
Nocturne notices the round eyes forming as they slowly loop in their
settings toward her, staring intently until a deep explosion beneath it
bounces it again, releasing black smoke from underneath.
Pragmatism - To the soldiers, "All right ! You know ! Find the soft targets ! Hit them
harder."
~ The Lady-Bomb settles again, looking puff faced and staring again at
Nocturne, disturbing her a bit. It repeats the blast.
Pragmatism - "Take that control room and smash it to hell ! And when this ship goes down ! And it will go down ! Duck and cover like your grandpa did. I've got one more gig down there ! And I will see you after the run."
~ Blunts, bottles and cigars, a little this and that, a fast party on the hull, the field below in chaos,
arriving choppers, jets streaking over, news helicopter ...
A last explosion beneath the Lady-Bomb, with no bounce. It's eye's
still staring at Nocturne relax a bit as a smile appears in it's
mechanisms and the feet unscrew. A last foot is stuck and yanked on,
then the drill popped off.
Pragmatism - Walks to the edge, checking his chute as he looks over his
shoulder whispering to Nocturne, "I'll find you." He pulls pistols and
jumps with a soar from his leg, the Lady-Bomb flopping off the edge after.
Charon - Pushing the boat with his pole, "And ... did you kill him ?"
Nyx lowers her head.
____
They
spin from their thrones, blades twirling with their robes.
Nyx is
faster, but they work as one when Persephone slips the blade from Hades'
belt to a glancing blow along Nyx's side and kicks the back of her
knees, kneeling her as she spins off while Hades puts blade to her
throat.
Persephone - Nyx's blood dripping from the blade, "It's poisoned, Nyx. We are death."
Hades - "Did you think you were going anywhere when this is done ?!" Looking at her angrily, "So answer me this, that I may hear it before and after you die ..."
His eyes go wide and he falls from the end of his sword in Persephone's hand.
Persephone
- She yanks it out unceremoniously and lets him fall, watching with contempt. "Poisoned with your blood. Did you know ?"
____
Charon - Near the shore, "Then we are free."
He
puts his hand on her shoulder. The boat hits land as he looks around
with a small laugh before stepping off the boat and disappearing,
clothing and pole falling to the ground, the river flows it's water out until dry.
In the riverbed the dead who fell from the boat begin to rise looking at her.
~ On a television in an old apartment (Rhea's) the traffic reporter shouts his depiction of the scene before an on coming missile blanks the screen.
One by one the soldiers drop in the hole, time slowed on entry (all scenes inside are slowed, outside normal, all silent except the song). Pulling weapons, they start their attack.
Two flame throwers step forward to clear their path, slow blooming flame.
A four foot wide railing over a massive deployment deck, filled, gun turrets seated from placements across the high deck over deployment doors. 100 yards to the control room ahead, rail lined with thin ladder-stairs from the deployment deck.
~ Outside, the gathering forces begin their attack, the last soldier entering the cruiser. Tanks turn their cannons, mobile missile units calibrate and launch, spotters laser-light the active cannons.
~ Random targets destroyed on the ground as cannons respond.
Inside RPGs hit the rows of cannon while grenades are tossed in loads over the rail from their satchel, the explosions begin.
From the deployment deck, Empirical spots the charging team above.
~ Outside the ground force grows, soldiers reinforcing the forward ops and setting up comm as Pragmatism approaches.
A slow bullet passes through an invader's skull (2:30 ~ 'When I'm riding 'round the world'), exploding though down the path to the command center, grenades timing off along the path, cannon mounts exploding.
~ Outside the cannons blow, while inside the bullet seems to follow in slow, passing through the reaching hands climbing up from the ladders. Blowing cannons in line on the song's up-chords, bullet view on the down.
The invaders do a slow bullet dance while Nocturne pounds the Architect. Others hold the door with failing ammo, Empirical seen behind the clogging at the door.
~ The cruiser strikes with a twist ...
Inside the army is airborne among the invasion walkers and exploding debris while the decks spin around them ...
~ Thesis smiles from the hill ...
The cruiser cracks in half with a skidding roll, it's brittle nature finally cracking it in half. The dust and debris filling the screen ~
