Scene 4.11 - Cybertronic Institute
EST: EXT./INT. Starship Indica - In battle
(Things aren’t going too well back at the ranch -- thousands of miniature orbs swarm The Indica, pelting it mercilessly with laser fire; and, if that wasn’t enough, the orbs also launch smaller, orb-shaped grenades -- small explosions and holes pepper the entire hull. The interior lighting is high-contrast and multi-colored; the control panels light up like a Christmas Tree, noting numerous system failures throughout the sophisticated ship.)
JOHN THOMAS
Woody, damage report!
WOODY
It's getting bad, Chief, The ship can't take much more of this!
JOHN THOMAS
Rod, how's our weaponry?
ROD
We're hitting our targets, but there's just too many of ‘em! We'll be falling-fast before we can even put a dent in their number!
ELIZA
Primary and secondary systems failure. Star Destroyer Sativa is located aft and is readied for evacuation of all essential personnel. All non-essential functions and operations now switching offline for emergency power conservation.
(Crackles out.)
JOHN THOMAS
Eliza, reactivate Patch.
(PATCH bounds in and jumps to lick JOHN THOMAS’ face. Patch is animated as a real dog made to look robotic -- with silver, bronze and gold patched chrome accessories, PETA-approved hair paint and a cool metallic collar that lights up now and then. JOHN THOMAS squats halfway to allow PATCH enough time to lick his face while JOHN THOMAS pets him:)
JOHN THOMAS (Cont’d)
Willie, what if we land?
(A large, structure-shaking explosion vibrates the bridge of the ship, dropping the floor a few meters from everything not bolted-down or strapped-in, causing the ship to become a field of disarray. JOHN THOMAS nearly kneels as his hands gracefully catch his short fall -- fingertips to the floor. Other team members equally land -- in various ninja postures. PATCH, unfortunately, is not a ninja and lands much-less gracefully. He skitters back to JOHN THOMAS.)
WILLIE
If we stop moving, those flying orbs will finish us off fer sure.
JOHN THOMAS
(Stands erect:) Dick, report!
DICK
Starboard counter-thruster is out! We've got to land before-
(Another explosion, bigger than the first, sending the floor upward and everyone towards the ground. JOHN THOMAS braces himself with one hand and holds a larger-than-puppy-sized PATCH with his other, who is mewing and climbing in fear -- trying to somehow “hide” atop JOHN THOMAS’ head -- which makes as much sense to JOHN THOMAS about as much it makes to anyone who wonders why their dogs sometimes do odd, crazy things.)
WOODY
(Concerned:) Chief! The hull is ablaze! We can't keep it in the air!
JOHN THOMAS
Keep it up as long as you can! Patch, take a chill pill! (Puts the dog down, PATCH sits at JOHN THOMAS’ feet, determined to make his master proud, despite his fear.) Willie, where are the destructobots? There's where one landed, why can't I see them?
WILLIE
Sensors say they're underwater, Jon-Tom, over there, about a -- four hundred fathoms.
JOHN THOMAS
A half-mile underwater? She’s not after a meteorite, she’s after something of ours, something ancient. (Beat.) Woody, what's the internal pressure of those explosive orbs?
(Another explosion rocks the ship.)
WOODY
Well Skipper, it's like little popcorn kernels, with the explosive gel- uh, about ten-thousand-pounds-per-square-inch, give or take-
JOHN THOMAS
(Urgent:) No, no, before they explode.
WOODY
Uh, spherical air projectile, space-worthy, counter-pressurized -- ah, ten to fifteen P-S-I maybe. Twenty pounds tops.
JOHN THOMAS
Willie, can we make it to the coastline? The ocean?
WILLIE
It'll be a rough landing anywhere she sets down, but yeah, I think she can make it.
JOHN THOMAS
Peter, convert The Indica on my command to deep-aquatic mode, and set to dive a half-mile deep.
PETER
Idunno ifda ship’ll tayket, buhshe's reddyann shesane shell doo-witt. Onyacomman, J.T.-
(A very big explosion begins a very slow tailspin.)
WOODY
Chief, no matter how we slice it, she's gonna crash!
WILLIE
We're dropping like a stone!
ROD
All hands, brace for impact!
JOHN THOMAS
(Cradling PATCH with one arm, holding girder-beam-thing with the other-) Now, Peter! Now!
ELIZA
(Throughout ship:) Converting to deep-aquatic form. All personnel, prepare for submersion...
(It converts and crashes into the ocean; like some messed-up, sci-fi hindenburg crash. Consumed by inertia, the camera manages to tailgate the ship underwater along with trailing debris and air pockets. Hundreds of flying orbs also follow the blazing INDICA, which has converted into a rapidly-cooling underwater craft, laser blasts continuing to pelt-it-throughout. As the ship sinks deeper under the water, a threshold is reached -- the hull of the INDICA buckles slightly near a previously-damaged place or two, and the orbs uniformly implode and drop as dead weights as they cross a pressure threshhold into a zone of compression too great for their design limitations. The INDICA slowly sinks to the floor of the ocean and levels itself before hitting bottom, very little external damage apparent since most visible parts underwater were previously unseen while it still assumed the form of an aeroblimp. Immediate danger eradicated, the INDICA moves slowly across the ocean floor, hovering slightly above it, seemingly-drifting with the underwater tide. The panorama of the former city of Los Angeles is majestic; and in an aquatic irony it is randomly-obscured by overgrowth and plagued overall with aquatic overpopulation.)
CUT TO: INT. INDICA
POV: From aft of ship, looking forward
ZOOM IN
ROD
It's incredible! I had forgotten...
JOHN THOMAS
The destructobots, where are they?
WILLIE
Moving away from us, out to sea.
JOHN THOMAS
Plot their heading and prepare to pursue. Woody, we're gonna need some power, and fast.
WOODY
(Drops heavy wrench. Clang! Dink-de-ding-dee-rowlip-pup-pup-thock. Water sprays in here and there about him, it doesn’t concern him in the least.) Sir, we're not going anywhere. We're about a roll of duct tape and a loose bobby pin away from joining the fish down here -- permanently. (Pause. Silence. Everyone is somber. He reacts, suddenly seeing how the team not only considers him competent, but realizes all of them respect his opinion much more than he had previously thought. He picks up and puts the wrench to a bolt, easing the tension and reducing the constant spray to a modest spurt-) I need at least an hour before we can move again.
JOHN THOMAS
Okay. (Pause.) We don’t have much time. Do what you can, Woody, it’s more than any of us could do in your place- How's she holding underwater, Dick?
DICK
I dunno how she didn't implode in the shape she's in, but she didn't. I read we're about four-hundred-twenty-fathoms-deep. (Pause.) Lemme get the external lights going so we can really see.
JOHN THOMAS
Willie, find the location of where the Destructobots were. Dick’s gonna shed some light on the subject.
WILLIE
While we've got the time, you want to tell me what you’re thinking? You've got that look in your eye, Jon-Tom, I can see those motors in your head going.
JOHN THOMAS
It's just a theory...
ROD
Any theory is better than no theory. Why don't you share it with all of us? Maybe we can help.
(The remains of the Cybertronic Institute for the Def is illuminated. Evidence of the Destructobot's recent visit, even among rubble and ruins, is noticable -- especially among the habitat.)
DICK
It's magnificent! (Pause.) What... was it?
JOHN THOMAS
(Staring outward, like all except WOODY, who is working quickly:) The Cybertronic Institute for the Def. Built in a glorious time when hip-hop and ethnic pride ruled the Earth. I loved that time. We were children, then, golly, a couple of you were even in diapers, yet back-then it all meant so much to us; to think what we would be leaving behind for future generations. Heh. Now even those generations are long gone. Ironic that it has all come to this. The largest vault of knowledge, cultural triumphs from the dawn of time until the Big Shower -- now it's just rock and rubble; forgotten and ignored.
ROD
(Somber:) Yeah... It sure is different now. It seems like another lifetime.
PETER
Iffiereecallitswonuf daggraydestesheevmintzuf man. Evry wreckerduf you maniteez kultcha wuz indickst dere.
JOHN THOMAS
No, Pita, dey din av evry wreckerd. (To the others:) There was an exception.
WILLIE
An exception?
JOHN THOMAS
A safeguard, actually. (Begins inward contemplation:) Maybe not, I dunno, I'm not so sure of my facts. We won't really know what Diablo retrieved or what diabolical intention she has until we find her. We’ve got to follow those Destructobots. That's where we'll find Diablo. Then we'll know for sure.
DISSOLVE TO: