[Eerie music plays followed by an ominous voice]

 

 

VOICE: At the beginning of the second decade of the twenty-second century, the earth, ravaged by humankind has been evacuated. In an effort to save what was left of our species we spread out through the galaxy, colonizing planets for our survival. Like a virus, we spread. Mars, Venus, Jupiter, just exactly how many planets and how far we reached is unknown, but in a mass panic we set out into the unknown after centuries of research and very little to show. We had no choice to evacuate. After all, I’ve seen, I can say without a doubt, there is no amount of research that would have prepared us for what we found.

 

[The music fades only to be replaced by -- ]

 

[The blaring of an Alarm echoes through the corridors of Mars Colony MR-54821.]

 

ALARM: Attention! Colony breach! Please evacuate to the nearest evac-station immediately!

 

[The alarm is followed by an other-worldly growl and terrifying screams and footsteps scrambling through the corridors.]

 

DEVLYN DRAX:  Patrick we’ve got to get going.

 

PATRICK DRAX:  Just a second. My research!

 

DEVLYN:  We don’t have time! Leave it!

 

PATRICK: It’s downloading. Just a few more seconds.

 

[The growling grows louder just outside.]

 

DEVLYN: We don’t have a few more. Come on.

 

PATRICK: Wait! Where’s Riley?

 

DEVLYN: She was in the care center with the nurses. I’m sure she’s fine. We have to go! Now!

 

PATRICK: No! We have to find her!

 

DEVLYN: Patrick, no. Come back!

 

PATRICK: Go without me. I’ll find you.

 

DEVLYN: Patrick!

 

[As Patrick heads into the chaos, an Alien ROARS followed by the bloodcurdling scream of Patrick being attacked.]

 

DEVLYN: NO!

 

[The panic and horror fade away. For a moment, silence, then the ominous voice ]

 

VOICE: After all the research. All the thermo-scans, drones, satellite imaging we took every precaution. How could we have known that the dangers on Mars lay right beneath our feet?

  

[A suitcase is zipped closed]

 

DR.THEO JONES: Let’s go over this again. Scanner.

 

DR.AARON DAVIS: Check!

 

THEO: Oxygen Reserves.

 

AARON: Check!

 

THEO: Rations.

 

AARON: Check.

 

THEO: Med Packs.

 

AARON: Check.

 

THEO: I think that’s all.

 

AARON: You ever get the feeling we’re missing something?

 

THEO: All the time, but we have everything.

 

AARON: How are you so sure?

 

THEO: What else is there?

 

AARON: I don’t know I just feel like—

​

THEO: Toothbrush!

 

AARON: That’s it!

 

THEO: Not like it matters…You know in space, no one can see you floss.

 

AARON: Very funny. How are you so calm right now?

 

THEO: Practice.

 

AARON: Even from the Moon, Mars is still quite a leap.

 

THEO: Thank science for hyper-speed am I right?

 

AARON: Still. You don’t get a strange sense?

 

THEO: What do you mean?

 

AARON: I just have a bad feeling.

 

THEO: It’s been almost a year since we’ve heard from Colony MR-54821. Sometimes you just have to take matters into your own hands.

 

AARON: If we’re caught, we’ll be arrested.

 

THEO: Then don’t get caught.

 

AARON: Easier said than done.

 

THEO:  It’s a quarter till. We have to get moving.

 

AARON: If anyone finds out we—

 

THEO: No one will find out.

 

[Footsteps approach]

 

THEO: Captain Richards.

 

CAPTAIN RICHARDS: Theo. Aaron. Good to see you. 

 

THEO: Is everything secured?

 

CAPTAIN RICHARDS: We have clearance. If anyone asks this is simply a research and report mission. If my crew knows we’re there to rescue –

 

THEO: Our lips are sealed.

 

AARON: Crew? I thought it was just us.

 

CAPTAIN RICHARDS: If you know someone who can captain this baby all on their own, I’d like to see it.

 

AARON: I was just expecting something smaller.

 

CAPTAIN RICHARDS: Mars is too far for a short-range craft. Plus, Theo was adamant I make sure we are locked and loaded for whatever we might encounter.

 

THEO: Thank you, Captain.

 

CAPTAIN RICHARDS: We should begin our final checks. If we don’t meet our window, we won’t be able to get past the scanners.

 

THEO: Lead the way, Captain.

 

CAPTAIN RICHARDS: Welcome aboard the Star-Breaker.

 

[A Computer counts down. The engines of the Star-Breaker roar to life]

 

Computer: Five…four…three…two…

 

[The ship's thrusters ignite]

 

AARON: I’ve never gotten used to this part.

 

THEO: You want some bubble gum?

 

AARON: Ha. Ha. Very funny.

 

CAPTAIN RICHARDS: Reaching optimum height. Setting the hyperdrive. Hold on to your butts!

 

[The ROAR of the thrusters fade away]

 

[Eerie music plays followed by the ominous voice ]

 

VOICE: Humankind. Curiosity and innovation will be the death of us. We strive to better ourselves and in doing so we’ll be the makers of our own destruction. We never should’ve set foot off our planet.

​

[The thrusters of the Star-Breaker power down]

 

CAPTAIN RICHARDS: All right, kiddos. Let’s suit up.

 

AARON: Is all this really necessary?

 

HOG: Never know what you’ll find on E.T. planets. Best to always be the hunter, not the hunted.

 

[Hog COCKS his blaster]

 

RAVEN: Hog, settle. Don’t mind trigger finger here. It’s only a precaution. I’m Raven. So you two are the ones leading this wild goose chase.

 

SKIP: You know what happened down there. Can’t take any chances.

 

THEO: That’s why we’re going. We need to find out what exactly went wrong.

 

RAVEN: Don’t let these hard asses get to you. The scars and tats make them look all tough, but inside, you put on Bambi and they all melt like butter.  I’m Raven. Cap’s second in command. Trigger finger over there is Hog, or if you really want to get him riled up, Martin.

 

HOG: I told you not to call me that.

 

RAVEN: That scrawny thing over there is Skip.

 

SKIP: ‘SUP.

 

RAVEN: Explosives expert.

 

SKIP: You ever need something moved…boom. I’m your guy.

 

RAVEN: The tiny one over there is Kit.

 

KIT: Yo!

 

RAVEN: Our medic. A bit of a pain but be nice to him. He just might save your skin. And lastly, that brooding femme fatale in the corner over there is Suicide Sarah.

 

AARON: Why do they call her Suicide Sarah?

 

SARAH: Because I’m the first one in and the last one out. When we’re on the ground down there, my word’s the law. If you decide to disobey orders, well, that’s on you.

 

AARON:  Charmed.

 

RAVEN: I promise she means well.

 

SARAH: So you mind telling us why two scientists have us risking life and limbs to venture into a quarantine zone? Because last I heard there was nothing left down there. Nothing but a deserted colony filled with rotting corpses.

 

THEO: Well…

 

[Footsteps approach]

 

RAVEN: Attention!

 

CAPTAIN RICHARDS: All right everyone, listen up! This is a simple R&D walk. We are to asses the damage of the colony and the cause of the missing colonists. That’s it. Doctor Theo Jones and Aaron Davis will be there to take samples and assess the cause of the disappearances.  Hog?

 

HOG: And if we encounter hostiles?

 

CAPTAIN RICHARDS: Then you do what you do best. Get your asses out of there and return to the ship. We stick together. Leave no one behind.  We don’t know what could be waiting for us down there. So be prepared for the worst and hope for the best. Is that understood?

 

MERCS: Sir, yes, Sir.

 

CAPTAIN RICHARDS: Then get ready. We leave at 0600.

 

 

 

AARON: I don’t know how I let you talk me into this.

 

THEO: I know you’re nervous, but we have to know for sure. It’s possible she could have survived this.

 

AARON: We’re spending every last dollar we have on this mission. If someone finds out—

 

THEO: They won’t find out. Besides we’re in this too deep now.

 

AARON: You don’t know for sure if she’s down there.

 

THEO: Aaron, she’s our baby. We tried and failed for years, I’m not just going to give up on her.

 

AARON: I want proof. Proof why you brought us all the way out here. Proof that we’re not about to risk our lives for nothing.

 

THEO: Fine if you think I’m blowing smoke up your ass, look at this.

 

AARON: What are these?

 

THEO: Surveillance photos. Taken about a month ago.

 

AARON: But it can’t be.

 

THEO: It’s her, Aaron. She’s down there, and if I’m not mistaken, I think I know just the man on that planet to help us find her.

 

 

CAPTAIN RICHARDS: Readings are clear. All systems are go. She’s purring like a kitten. Ladies and gentlemen, this is your Captain speaking. We are about to make our descent onto the Red Planet. There is a good chance of turbulence so fasten your seatbelts it’s going to be a bumpy ride.  And if you have to puke, be kind to your neighbors and spew your guts to the front.

 

[Eerie music fades in]

 

VOICE:  Space. The great unknown. We looked above to colonize, make a home for ourselves and claim the universe for humankind. Truth is we couldn’t take care of our own planet so we tossed it aside and moved on from one to the next. But out here, there were no rules. No treaties drawing the lines. The only law in space was Darwin’s, survival of the fittest.

 

 

[A loud hiss as the ship's doors open up onto the surface of the red planet.]

 

 

HOG: Fuck. What the hell happened here?

 

AARON: We’re not sure. Security footage cut out just before the incident.

 

THEO: Whatever it was, it measured high on the Richter scale.

 

RAVEN: Mars gets earthquakes?

 

AARON: Mars is an alien world. There’s still a lot we don’t know about it.

 

SARAH: Yet we colonized it anyway. Serves us right.

 

THEO: Maybe you would have liked to stay on earth and turn into a human baked potato like the rest of the sorry assholes down there.

 

SARAH: Maybe we shouldn’t have fucked it up in the first place.

 

SKIP: [Whispering] Hey Kit, you believe this R&D shit?

 

KIT: Can’t say, but by the looks of this place, not sure there’s much left we can salvage.

 

RAVEN: How are we supposed to get in?

 

AARON: There should be a print scanner somewhere. Ah ha. Here.

 

[The scanner beeps and with a hiss, the door to the colony opens]

 

CAPTAIN RICHARDS: Keep your helmets on. No telling if the air is secure.

 

SARAH: Eyes open. Guns at the ready.

 

[Sarah and the other mercs COCK their blasters]

 

[A RADAR beeps]

 

SKIP: What’s that you’ve got there?

​

THEO: Thermo-scanner. Don’t want any surprises do we?

 

[A loud metal creaking followed by footsteps scurrying in the darkness]

 

KIT: What was that?

 

HOG: Afraid of the dark there, Kit?

 

[More scurrying]

 

RAVEN: Shh. I heard it too.

 

SKIP: What’s the scanner say?

 

THEO: Nothing.

 

[A loud GROWL echoes through the halls]

 

KIT: That don’t sound like nothing.

 

[The scurrying footsteps get closer]

 

RAVEN: Hold your ground.

 

CAPTAIN RICHARDS: We’re being surrounded.

 

SARAH: Backs together. No surprises.

 

[ROARS of the aliens echo as they attack the crew]

 

HOG: Shit. They’re everywhere.

 

SARAH: Open fire.

 

[Blasters open fire on the aliens. Their screeches fill the air]

 

KIT: What the hell are these things?

 

[An alien ROARS as it attacks]

 

[Captain Richards screams as he falls victim to one of the aliens]

 

RAVEN: Captain!

 

SARAH: No. Stay put. We can’t go after them.

 

[More BLASTER fire]

 

HOG: If we stay he’s not going to be the only one on the menu.

 

SKIP: Let me handle this.  Fire in the hole!

 

[A grenade EXPLODES into the alien horde.]

 

SARAH: Through the gap people. Move. Move.

 

AARON: Where are we going?

 

SARAH: Far away from those things. Hog, come on.

 

HOG: I’ll hold them off. Get the hell out of here.

 

[Hogs laser blasts -rapid-fire – into the aliens]

 

HOG: Come on you slimy sons of bitches.

 

RAVEN: We can’t just leave him.

 

SARAH: He’s on his own. Go.

 

THEO: This way. In here.

 

[With the ring of a keypad, a door hisses open]

 

SARAH: Shit. Those things don’t quit.

 

KIT: What are they?

 

AARON: No idea.

 

RAVEN: Where are we?

 

THEO: The laundry room.

 

AARON: We’re trapped.

 

[Roars from the aliens just outside the door]

 

SKIP: And there’s nothing useful for us to use against those things.

 

RAVEN: Now that we’ve lost the Captain and our weapons expert.

 

SARAH: Why the hell did you bring us in here? Did you shit yourself and need a change of pants?

 

THEO: It was a split-second decision, OK. Just someplace to get us away from those…things.

 

RAVEN: How long before they get in?

 

[More growling from outside the door]

 

AARON: Hard to say. Wouldn’t say the laundry room is the most fortified place in the colony.

 

[Suddenly….silence]

 

SKIP: Wait. The sound…It stopped.

 

[Beeping from the keypad]

 

THEO: The door. Something’s opening it from the other side.

 

SARAH: Looks like this is it, kids.

 

[The crew cocks their blasters]

 

[A hiss as the door opens]

 

AARON: They’re gone.

 

SKIP: There’s someone in the doorway.

 

SARAH: Show yourself, asshole.

 

DEVLYN: Come with me.

 

SARAH: Who the hell are you?

 

THEO: Devlyn Drax. Space Ranger 421. We’ve been looking for you.

 

AARON: We need your help.

 

[The distant ROAR of the aliens resounds]

 

DEVLYN: We don’t have time they’ll be back any second.

 

[Eerie music fades in along with the ominous voice of Devlyn Drax]

 

DEVLYN DRAX [VOICE]: I can’t remember how long it’s been since I’ve interacted with another human. In the end, I should’ve left them in that laundry room.

​

[END OF EPISODE 1]