By Dennis Rowarr SCENE ONE Somewhere in space The Avenger is seen cruising through space, with three small fighters immediately behind it. The fighters are dull-grey in colour, and their overall shape resembles that of a scorpion. Though small, they still look vicious enough to do the Avenger some serious damage, which is exactly what they are currently doing. SCENE TWO Bridge, the Avenger, space DRAKE and FELICIA are both sat at two of the seven consoles on the bridge, both of them facing DIYANA'S gigantic spell-gem. DRAKE: (concerned) How are the shields holding out? DIYANA: Damage reports indicate that defence shields are now holding at 87% capacity and falling. Continuous attacks by the hostile craft are hindering the progress of the auto-repair systems. FELICIA: What about weapons? Does the Avenger have any weapons we could use? DIYANA: There is one double-barrel maser cannon mounted to the rear of the Avenger, currently performing at 100% capacity. An accurate shot cannot be fired due to the excessive speed of the hostile craft. DRAKE: (to Felicia) We'll have to go full speed. They'll be forced to break formation and come after us. FELICIA: (nods) And then we blast them out! (to Diyana) Diyana, full speed! DIYANA: Confirmed. OUTSIDE THE AVENGER... The chemical engines of the Avenger flare up once again, and she slips away from the fighters and out into the inky blackness. The fighters regroup and pursue her in an arrow-head formation, rapidly gaining speed. However, a maser cannon suddenly appears from its concealed chamber within the Avenger's reinforced hull. It turns 180 degrees to face the fighters, and fires a single, powerful burst of energy, disintergrating all three fighters in a single blast. BACK ON THE BRIDGE... FELICIA and DRAKE both relax, relieved to be out of the skirmish, and DRAKE manually reduces speed on his console, bringing things more or less back to normal. However, their attitudes are quickly changed when DIYANA interrupts them. DIYANA: Damage report indicates that all defence systems are now operating at less than 75% capacity. Damage to the Mark 7 photon accelerator is also beyond the current capacity of the auto-repair systems. Temporary evacuation of crew by teleport is advised. DRAKE: (stands up) What?! DIYANA: In order for auto-repair systems to reach their full capacity, all life-support systems must be temporarily de-activated until repairs have been completed. Teleport bracelets located next to the main teleporter allow for automatic pick-up once repairs have been completed. DRAKE: (calmer) OK, as long as this isn't a trick. FELICIA: It isn't. It was a safety device we built in to avoid constantly docking in spaceports to make repairs manually. We included an army of nanobots to automatically repair any circuit aboard this ship that has been damaged. (to Diyana) Which is the nearest planet we can safely be teleported to? DIYANA: The nearest world capable of sustaining life is located approximately 0.03 lightyears away. It is officially catalogued PP-127 by Federation charts, although it is colliquially referred to as Gulag. DRAKE: Gulag? DIYANA: It is a planet that contains an oxygen-rich atmosphere, but is severely lacking in natural resources, and its gravitational pull is twice that of the planet Genus. It was used at the end of the Toad Wars as a prison planet for prominent Toad officers captured by Mammalian forces, but was abandoned as a prison world with the arrival of the Heron Federation. DRAKE: (frowns) Nice. FELICIA: Does Gulag have any native inhabitants? DIYANA: Negative. FELICIA: (smiles, to Drake) See? Nothing to worry about. She walks down one of the corridors leading off from the bridge, but DRAKE still frowns, uncertain about the way things are going. SCENE THREE Teleport Bay, the Avenger, over planet Gulag DRAKE and FELICIA are toying with several copper bracelets that are being stored in a wall bracket in the Teleport Bay. The far side of the bay consists of a perfectly black alcove with a tiled floor - the teleporter of the ship. DRAKE: (puzzled, looking at bracelets) And these things will get us back onto the ship once the repairs have all been made? FELICIA: Yeah. A small light on the side indicates when the ship is in teleport range, and then we have about thirty seconds before the teleporter automatically beams us back on board. (pause) I'd take a spare if I were you, just in case. DIYANA: Life-support systems will be automatically terminated in fifteen seconds. FELICIA, realising that they have little time, immediately clamps on the bracelet over her right wrist, and places another in her side pocket. DRAKE does likewise, and both step into the teleporter. FELICIA: Diyana, take us down! The teleporter is immediately filled with a dinful hissing sound, and both DRAKE and FELICIA fade out of view, leaving only a glowing white shape of their outlines, which also disappears in a single flash of light. SCENE FOUR A plain, planet Gulag, midday DRAKE and FELICIA both materialise onto the barren, unwelcome world. The planet is covered in dry, arid desert that is interrupted here and there by a handful of scorched weeds, although a handful of Rattan trees are dotted here and there. DRAKE and FELICIA, after getting their bearings, struggle to move around, owing to the heavier gravity. DRAKE: (groaning, to Felicia) Pity that ship of yours doesn't have some fancy gadget to get us adjusted to the gravity. FELICIA: (hurt) Well, we weren't exactly planning on coming here once it was launched, were we? DRAKE, in his attempts to try and stand upright, suddenly notices a thick cloud of dust approaching towards them rapidly. DRAKE: Looks like company. I just hope they're friendly. Before they have time to respond, DRAKE and FELICIA find themselves surrounded by several TOADS, all of whom are mounted on borsels (a large, stalwart horse with the head of a bull). The TOADS all have wrinkled faces, yet their bodies are rippling with muscle, having become accustomed to the heavy gravity. They wear primitive gowns that seem to have been fashioned from their old uniforms. One of them, who wears the tattered remains of a scarlet uniform (and is thus CAPTAIN SMATA), dismounts and inspects the two prisoners. SMATA: (lisping) Ah, fresh meat, I see. The High Priest'll be pleased! FIRST TOAD: Do you think KOMPLEX'll be satisfied with them, captain? SECOND TOAD: Yeah, remember when he rejected the last Queen of the May? SMATA: (sharply) You know perfectly well, Frix and Frax, that only the High Priest may interpret KOMPLEX's beliefs. FELICIA: (quietly, to Drake) I think they've lost it. DRAKE: (whispers) Yeah, I though KOMPLEX had been shut down. SMATA: Enough! (to Frix and Frax) You two help them onto the borsels. It is time for KOMPLEX to receive his fresh blood! FRIX and FRAX dismount, carrying the struggling prisoners over to the borsels. DRAKE and FELICIA attempt to escape, but the heavier gravity puts them at an advantage. The borsels ride off with their folly, as a hooded FIGURE in a rugged, brown cowl watches them from a distance. SCENE FIVE The stone circle, Gulag Set amidst the deserts of Gulag is an enormous megalithic complex, consisting of two small, identical stone circles (which, in turn, have two even smaller stone circles set inside them) set within a larger stone circle, with an avenue of standing stones marking the entrance to the whole complex. The whole thing looks very much like the henge at Avebury, albeit with all of the stones standing perfectly upright. DRAKE and FELICIA, despite their predicament, cannot help but look in awe at such a monument on a planet as desolate as Gulag. DRAKE: How the frell did they build that? (to Felicia) I thought Diyana said there were no resources on this planet. SMATA: (gestures to circle) These stones had fallen from a rockface in the next field, and we used them to create our master you see before us. This is KOMPLEX! DRAKE and FELICIA both look at each other skeptically, knowing that the TOADS have since turned mad from their exile. The TOADS all dismount, and lead their prisoners towards the beginning of the avenue leading into the complex. As they approach, DRAKE and FELICIA notice several decapitated, rotting heads of STORK-TROOPERS, still in their helmets, impaled on wooden poles at the entrance of the avenue. SMATA: For the glory of KOMPLEX! FRIX & FRAX: (in unison) For the glory of KOMPLEX! They all begin to chant incoherently as they lead the prisoners towards the complex. Before they can pass the first set of stones, an arrow suddenly shoots out of nowhere, striking SMATA through the heart. FRIX, FRAX and the other TOADS look around, and see the hooded FIGURE standing on a nearby promontory, ready to strike them down with a bow and arrow. FRAX: (whimpers) It's the outcast! FRIX: Quick! Into the circle! FRAX: What about the prisoners? FRIX: Leave them! They'll die anyway! The TOADS all panic, and retreat inside the stone circle, leaving DRAKE and FELICIA lying in the dust. The FIGURE approaches, helping the two prisoners to their feet. FIGURE: (oily voice) Quickly! The sooner we get away from here, the better! DRAKE and FELICIA, struggling to keep pace with the FIGURE, make good of their escape. It is only once the trio are out of sight over the promontory that the TOADS dare to venture out from their sanctuary. They look down at the body of SMATA lying in a thick pool of blood on the ground. FRIX: (to others) Take him. The sacrifice will proceed, and then we will deal with the others. SCENE SIX A promontory, beyond the stone circle, Gulag The FIGURE continues forward, bur DRAKE and FELICIA, exhausted by the events, collapse against the side of a small hill. The FIGURE notices this, and walks calmly back to them, dropping down the hood, revealing the face of a young, male TOAD in his twenties. His brown eyes lack the sinister glare of the others. TOAD: You two are lucky. Once people are in the circle, they never come out. DRAKE: (catching his breath) Well, thanks for getting us out, whoever you are. (pause) What did they mean about KOMPLEX? TOAD: They think that the spirit of KOMPLEX resides in the stones of this planet, and that KOMPLEX himself is their stone circle. (sighs heavily) When KOMPLEX was finally destroyed, the effects of the brainwashing left them permanently damaged. FELICIA: But you're not? TOAD: (shakes head) No. I was born on the very day KOMPLEX was destroyed, so I was never subjected to the brainwashing process. When we were cast out onto this world, I was exiled when I questioned their newfound values. Since then, I've lived out on the plains, hunting borsels with these weapons I fashioned from the plantlife of this planet. DRAKE: And do you have a name? We would like to thank you properly, after all. TOAD: No. I've only ever been called Outcast by the others, and I was never actually given a name before my exile as a child. If you must call me something, then call me Outcast - it is the closest thing I have to a name. DRAKE fishes for something in his pocket, and pulls out the spare teleport bracelet, which he hands to OUTCAST. DRAKE: Take this. You saved our lives, now it's our turn to save yours. Place it on your wrist and wait. OUTCAST, although puzzled, complies. FELICIA perks her ears up as she hears some very faint music reaching her ears. FELICIA: (frowning) What's that? OUTCAST jumps to the top of the promontory, looking down on the stone circle several hundred yards away. Even at this distance, OUTCAST can still see the TOADS huddled inside the stone circle. They are dancing around the corpse of SMATA, smearing their hands with his blood and using it to decorate their faces. All of them are singing a garbled version of "Sumer Is Icumen In" as they perform this rite. OUTCAST: (to Drake and Felicia) They're getting ready to feast. FELICIA: (alarmingly) Feast?! OUTCAST: You didn't think they lived on eating twigs, did you? They never got past taming borsels, so they incorporated cannibalism into their rituals. FELICIA retches at the thought. All of a sudden, the lights on their teleport bracelets begin to glow. DRAKE gives a slight smile at this. DRAKE: Good. The repairs are complete. OUTCAST: (puzzled) What's going on? DRAKE: Brace yourself, Outcast! They immediately fade away as they are teleported up, leaving behind only their footprints from where they had stopped. SCENE SEVEN Teleport Bay, the Avenger, over Gulag DRAKE, FELICIA and OUTCAST all arrive via the Teleporter, with DRAKE and FELICIA removing their bracelets upon leaving. OUTCAST, however, is too bewildered to wonder what is happening. OUTCAST: What... is this place? DRAKE: Our ship. We're survivors, like you, and we're travelling to meet up with others out on Aes. OUTCAST: (furrows brow) Aes? I... I don't understand. FELICIA: It'll be easier if we explained things later, but for now, Outcast, you're safe. DRAKE: (calls out) Diyana, report. DIYANA: (over tannoy) All systems now operating at 100% capacity. All necessary repairs by auto-repair systems and on-board nanobots have been completed satisfactorily. OUTCAST: (amazed) A voice from the air! DRAKE: Any developments, Diyana? DIYANA: Information: very faint distress signal detected approximately 0.01 lightyears from this current position. Its precise location places it on the planet Wednos. Federation designation: IP-302. FELICIA: A distress signal? DRAKE: Check it out, Diyana. If they're victims of the Federation, then they deserve top priority... TO BE CONTINUED...