BATMAN CONFIDENTIAL

“RULES OF ENGAGEMENT”

Part 1 of 6

by

Andy Diggle

Third Draft

[Link]
PAGE 1

We start with a series of full-width panels, gradually pulling

back in a continuous “reverse-zoom”...

1) The night-time cityscape of Gotham City. Slum housing blocks

tower impossibly high, fire escapes clambering up their sides like
black iron vines...

Note to letterer: The only captions in this series are Batman’s

internal monologue.

CAPTION
WIND. TRAFFIC. SIRENS. MUSIC.

CAPTION
FROM THIS HEIGHT, THE SOUNDS OF THE
CITY MELD INTO A DULL ROAR...

MOTHER
(off-panel)
IT WON’T ALWAYS BE LIKE THIS, KATY.
IT’LL ALL BE WORTH IT, YOU’LL SEE.
(link)
WE’LL HEAD OUT WEST, SOMEWHERE BIG
AND WIDE AND OPEN...

2) Pull back to reveal we are viewing the cityscape through the

bedroom window of a cheap, grimy apartment; nasty old curtains to
either side...

CAPTION
... LIKE A GREAT BEAST, BREATHING.

MOTHER
AND YOU’LL GO TO SCHOOL AND PLAY
LITTLE LEAGUE AND GET SCABBY KNEES
CLIMBING TREES IN THE SUNSHINE.
(link)
AND MOMMY WON’T HAVE TO... DO WHAT
SHE DOES ANYMORE.

3) Pull back further into the room. In the foreground, a young

MOTHER is putting her one-year old daughter to bed, placing her
gently in the cot. The mother’s a low-end hooker, but she loves
her daughter more than life itself, and we can see that love in
her sad, tender smile. Her daughter smiles back, reaching one
chubby little hand up towards her. The apartment is cheap, cramped
and worn-out, with peeling wallpaper and yard-sale furniture; but
the funny-animal mobile hanging over the baby’s cot is bright,
colorful and new.
 CAPTION
IT SPEAKS TO ME.

MOTHER
AND WE’LL LAUGH.

4) Pull back further. The mother suddenly turns her head towards
us with a look of alarm, realizing someone’s standing there off-
panel --

CAPTION
BUT IT’S NOT TELLING ME ANYTHING I
NEED TO HEAR.

CAPTION
UNTIL ONE SOUND CUTS THROUGH.

MOTHER
OH - !

5) Pull back further, to reveal the silhouette of a MAN standing

in the doorway, looking into the bedroom. The woman’s face falls;
her shoulders sag, resigned; her eyes are now filled with fear and
deep, deep sadness...

CAPTION
TRIGGERS A RESPONSE.

CAPTION
LIKE ALWAYS.

MOTHER
(small text)
P-- PLEASE. TELL HIM... TELL HIM HE CAN’T HAVE
HER.
(link)
I WON’T LET HIM.

PAGE 2

FULL-PAGE SPLASH! High above the city streets, BATMAN leaps into
action! Swinging across the city on a throwing line, his cape
sweeping out magnificently behind him like great black wings, his
white eye-slits narrowed and intense, a fierce avenger --

This story is set sometime in Bruce Wayne’s second year as Batman,

so he’s younger here than in “current” continuity. Less seasoned,
less controlled, less sure of himself; more susceptible to bouts
of sudden anger, or self-doubt. Somewhat darker, a little rougher
around the edges...

CAPTION
THE SOUND OF SCREAMING.
 TITLE AND CREDITS
BATMAN CONFIDENTIAL:
RULES OF ENGAGEMENT (PART 1)

PAGE 3

1) Batman swoops down towards the fire escape of the hooker’s

apartment building. Up ahead of him, the fire escape catwalk runs
beneath two windows; the living room window is dark, the glass
smashed; the bedroom window is intact and illuminated.

CAPTION
EVEN BEFORE I REACH THE APARTMENT
WINDOW, I KNOW I’M TOO LATE --

2) Low angle, worm’s eye view. Inside the darkened living room
now, Batman stands looming over the dead body of the young mother.
This should be an “all ages” book, so we need to suggest the
horror of the murder rather than show it too explicitly - say,
with just the woman’s bloody hand lying claw-fingered in the
foreground. Batman is little more than a huge black silhouette
here, with the broken window visible behind him...

CAPTION
ANOTHER LIFE I FAILED TO SAVE.

CAPTION
HOW MANY MORE?

3) Reverse angle, so we’re now looking down over Batman’s shoulder

from above, looking down at her body on the floor. Fortunately for
us, Batman obscures her face and upper body, but we can see
there’s a lot of blood on the floor around her. One of her shoes
lies half-off her foot; the other shoe lies on the carpet, halfway
to the bedroom door through which light spills...

CAPTION
SHE STRUGGLED. GAVE HER BEST. BUT
IT WASN’T ENOUGH.

CAPTION
HE DRAGGED HER IN HERE. HE PINNED
HER DOWN.

CAPTION
AND HE BEAT HER TO DEATH WITH HIS
BARE HANDS.

4) In the lit bedroom now, Batman stands over the baby’s cot. The
little girl stands in the cot, reaching up to grasp his black-
gloved fingertip with her chubby little hand. Batman looks down at
her; grim, implacable, his face unreadable...
 CAPTION
SMALL GRACE - THE LITTLE ONE DIDN’T
SEE WHAT HAPPENED TO HER MOTHER.

5) Small inset. Extreme close on Batman’s eyes, narrowed,

extremely intense. We can only imagine the anger, bitterness and
regret in his own heart...

CAPTION
SHE WAS SPARED THAT, AT LEAST...

PAGE 4

This page is made of up twelve small panels, each one an extreme

close-up of some part of the apartment. We want to convey Batman’s
meticulous attention to detail as he methodically checks for
clues. He is the Dark Knight Detective, after all...

1) Four different heavy locks on the apartment’s inside front

door. Dead-bolts, security chains, peep-hole. Serious security.

CAPTION
TRIPLE LOCKED.

2) A bottle of mouthwash and a box of tissues sit next to the

bedside alarm clock.

3) Close on the baby’s wide eyes, watching, nervous but curious;

Batman’s silhouette reflected in them.

CAPTION
WHOEVER SHE WAS TRYING TO KEEP OUT,
IT DIDN’T WORK.

4) The dead woman’s shoe lies on its side on the carpet, the
bedroom light casting a long shadow.

5) The shattered window.

CAPTION
HE CAME IN FROM THE FIRE ESCAPE.

6) Happy, smiling animals on the baby’s cot mobile, bright and

colorful.

7) A baseball bat lies under the bed.

8) A wad of wet newspaper lies scrunched-up on the floor beneath
the broken window, broken glass wadded up in it.

CAPTION
WET NEWSPAPER TO MUFFLE THE
BREAKING GLASS.

CAPTION
OLD SCHOOL.

9) A two-door wardrobe in the living room, one door slightly ajar;

blackness within.

10) Blood pools, soaking into the living room carpet beside the
dead woman’s hand. A boot-print has tracked her blood further out
onto the carpet.

CAPTION
BLOODY BOOT-PRINTS ON THE FLOOR...

11) A boot-print on the window-ledge, broken glass crushed into

glittering powder beneath the tread. But no blood...

CAPTION
... BUT NONE ON THE WINDOWSILL.

12) Extreme close on Batman’s eye, suddenly widening as the

realization hits him --

CAPTION
HE’S STILL HERE - !

PAGE 5

1) BIG! A HIRED KILLER suddenly BURSTS out of the wardrobe in the

living room, firing RIGHT AT US with silenced, laser-sighted micro-
Uzi machine pistols in each hand! Long, fat muzzle flashes, each
weapon spewing a string of spent cartridge cases. He wears black
gloves, “urban camo” combat pants, a bomber jacket, and a fearsome
hockey mask sprayed with gray zebra stripes. In the foreground,
Batman dramatically DIVE-ROLLS aside just in the nick of time as
the bullets chew a twin trail of destruction through the floor,
spitting up carpet fluff and wood splinters --

CAPTION
TWIN UZIS.

CAPTION
SILENCED.
2) Still rolling, Batman THROWS a batarang STRAIGHT AT US in one
fluid movement --

3) The batarang SMASHES the machine-pistol from the Killer’s right

hand --

CAPTION
BETTER.

KILLER
(jagged)
AAGH - !

PAGE 6

1) The Killer FIRES right at us with the other Uzi; a deep

perspective, in-yer-face image --

KILLER
EAT IT!

2) Batman DIVES through a narrow serving hatch which leads from

the back of the living room into the kitchen; the trail of bullet
impacts tracks him relentlessly --

3) Over the shoulder shot. The Killer aims into the darkened, open
doorway of the kitchen. Blackness within.

KILLER
THAT’S RIGHT, FREAK! YOU BETTER
HIDE!

4) Same angle. The Killer swings the weapon to the right, now
aiming through the open bedroom doorway - straight at the BABY
GIRL, who stands in her cot, watching quietly, oblivious as to
what’s about to happen...

BABY
(jagged)
WAAAAAH!

KILLER
NOW THEN. WHERE AS I... ?

5) The Killer FIRES - just as Batman SWINGS IN from the kitchen

door-frame, KICKING the Uzi aside! It fires wild, up and away --

KILLER
(off-panel right)
... OH YEAH.
6) Batman delivers a powerful and precise STRAIGHT-LEG KICK, his
body tilted back to line up perfectly along the line of force,
delivering every foot-pound of pressure straight into the Killer’s
abdomen. The Killer flies back as if his butt was tied to a
speeding car, the machine pistol spinning from his hand --

7) The Killer CRASHES back into a coffee table --

PAGE 7

1) The baby girl stands in her cot, SCREAMING --

BATMAN
WHATEVER IT IS YOU’RE REACHING
FOR...
(link)
DON’T.

2) Badly winded, the Killer tosses TWO M67 FRAGMENTATION GRENADES

towards us; their safety pins already out, the spring-loaded
striker levers spinning away --

3) Batman DIVES in through the bedroom door --

CAPTION
NO.

4) He GRABS the screaming child, hauling her into the air by the
scruff of her sleep-suit --

BABY
(jagged)
WWWAAAAAH!

5) Batman SLAMS back against the wall next to the bedroom door,
shielding the tiny child with his body, his cape wrapped around
them both. The two grenades EXPLODE in the living room beyond,
sending shrapnel blasting through the bedroom door, LACERATING the
cot and SHREDDING the mobile into tiny pieces --

6) Batman’s POV, looking into the wrecked, shrapnel-blasted living

room. Empty. The windows completely blown out now. The Killer is
gone...

CAPTION
GONE.

CAPTION
TRIED TO KILL THE CHILD.
7) Small inset. Close on Batman, snarling with pure, feral rage --

CAPTION
NOT IN MY CITY.

PAGE 8

1) Up on the rooftops of Gotham; a jungle of rusty water towers

and bristling TV antennae. The Killer runs for his life, sprinting
towards the gaping chasm between two buildings --

CAPTION
THE ALLEYWAY AHEAD OF HIM MUST BE
TWENTY FEET ACROSS.

CAPTION
THINKS HE CAN MAKE IT.

2) Low angle view from down in the alley between the two
buildings, looking straight up at the narrow slot of sky above.
The Killer is LEAPING halfway across the gap, at the height of his
arc; but the Bat-rope WHIPS around his neck! The line is taut, the
Bat-shaped grapple spinning around and around the Killer’s neck,
yanking him short in mid-leap --

CAPTION
PROBABLY WOULD HAVE.

KILLER
ULK-!

3) High angle, looking down the side of the building as the Killer
CRASHES into the wall, dangling from the rope around his neck.
They alley stretches down to infinity below him. He clutches
desperately at the line with both hands to keep himself from
strangling, his legs flailing uselessly --

KILLER
GGH--
(link)
HHK - !

4) Killer’s POV, looking up the wall to see BATMAN looming over

us, his boot planted on the edge of the roof, gripping the taut
line; teeth gritted, fierce --

BATMAN
SCARY, ISN’T IT?
(link)
TO KNOW YOUR LIFE’S IN ANOTHER
MAN’S HANDS? TO FEEL IT SLIPPING
AWAY?
5) Extreme close on Batman, mean --

BATMAN
DO YOU THINK THAT’S HOW SHE FELT?
(link)
HELPLESS... ?

6) Extreme close on the Killer’s eye, wide with pure terror behind
the hockey mask --

PAGE 9

1) Batman hauls the Killer up by the lapels, snarling into his

face --

BATMAN
YOUR LIFE COULD END RIGHT HERE,
RIGHT NOW, AND NOBODY WOULD EVER
KNOW. WOULD THE WORLD BE ANY POORER
WITHOUT YOU?
(link)
TELL ME, PUNK - WHAT’S YOUR LIFE
WORTH...?

KILLER
P-PLEASE--
(link)
P-PLEASE DON’T KILL ME - !

2) Low angle. Batman throws him to the rooftop at his feet,

intimidating --

BATMAN
I CAN DO WORSE THAN KILL YOU.
(link)
YOU’RE NO BURGLAR - PETTY THIEVES
DON’T CARRY MILITARY-GRADE
HARDWARE. WHO SENT YOU? WHO BOUGHT
THE HIT, AND WHY...?

3) The Killer kneels, a broken man, rubbing his sore throat.

KILLER
I-- I CAN’T TELL YOU...

4) Closer. A ruby-red LASER AIMING SPOT hovers against his hockey

mask --

CAPTION
LASER SPOT - !
 KILLER
YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT HE’D--

5) BZAM! The Killer suddenly EXPLODES as a pencil-thin beam of

pure energy LANCES through him from off-panel! All of his body
fluid is turned into an expanding cloud of superheated vapor in an
instant, sending his hockey-mask flying, his clothing blasting
outwards in shreds. Batman is knocked back off his feet by the
shockwave --

BATMAN
GET DOWN - !

PAGE 10

1) Low angle, looking across at Batman, who was knocked back on

his ass by the blast. He is momentarily stunned, appalled. Steam
rises from the foreground...

CAPTION
TOO LATE.

CAPTION
ONE MOMENT I’M LOOKING RIGHT AT
HIM...

CAPTION
... AND THE NEXT, I’M BREATHING HIM
IN.

2) Steam rises from the empty eye sockets of the fallen hockey
mask. It lies on a greasy black blast-mark - all that’s left of
the Killer...

CAPTION
BARBECUE SMELL. CARBONIZED PROTEIN.

CAPTION
NOTHING LEFT BUT A FEW CENTS’ WORTH
OF TRACE CHEMICALS.

3) Alert and dynamic, Batman turns away from us, gazing out across
the city through a pair of tiny, high-tech BINOCULARS. In the
distance, fully two kilometers away, is one particularly tall Art
Deco skyscraper with a pointed spire...

CAPTION
SOME KIND OF ENERGY WEAPON.

CAPTION
IMPOSSIBLE SHOT...
4) This panel might work best as a staggered sequence of several
panels, zooming in. It’s Batman’s POV through the high-tech
binoculars, electronically zooming-in on the skyscraper two
kilometers away. Electronic HUD-style graphics pinpoint a blurry,
inhuman, ape-like SILHOUETTE as it leaps down from a ledge; it’s
carrying what looks like a squat, bulky, bazooka-like rifle with a
heavy-duty power cable.

This indistinct figure is actually one of the G.I. ROBOTS we’ll be

meeting later in the series; and while we don’t see it clearly
here, it’ll eventually play a major role in the story (and
hopefully be incorporated into the DC Universe), so it’s worth
spending some time on the design. It’s a huge, powerful war robot,
8 feet tall, with a thin waist and a massively broad and powerful
upper body. Something like a cross between the fearsome Cain
cyborg from ROBOCOP 2, Briareos from APPLESEED, and a VOTOMS
gundam (I can send you some visual ref for inspiration, if you
like!). Its head is somewhat reminiscent of a modern American
soldier’s helmet, with a single fat eye-lens and several smaller
lenses clustered around it, like spider-eyes. Articulated sections
of armor-plate around its eyes give it some degree of
expressivity. Huge ape-like arms, numerous fold-out weapons and
secondary appendages, lots of exposed hydraulics. Of course, all
we see in this panel is a small, blurry silhouette; but we’ll want
the reader to recognize its shape later...

CAPTION
UNLESS THEY WEREN’T AIMING AT
HIM...

5) Extreme close on Batman’s eyes as he lowers the binocs,

frowning; pissed-off, grim, deep in thought...

CAPTION
... BUT ME?

PAGE 11

1) BIG, high-angle establishing shot of the BAT CAVE - a vast,

cathedral-like limestone cavern, with a network of high-tech
platforms and narrow catwalks poised high above the black,
bottomless chasm. Batman/Bruce Wayne sits slumped in a control
chair in front of a huge computer screen, his cape spread out
around him like the Phantom of the Opera. His mask is pulled back,
hanging loose behind his neck. Lost in thought, he gazes at a
small object lying in the palm of his hand - although we’re too
distant to make out what it is yet...

ALFRED walks down a long, long stairway towards him, carrying a

silver breakfast tray. The cave is equipped with state-of-the-art
computer systems, but no sign of the familiar giant penny or robot
dinosaur - this is a flashback story, and Batman hasn’t yet
acquired these famous souvenirs.
He doesn’t even have a Bat-Plane... yet. In later issues we’ll be
descending into the cave’s lower levels, so let’s lay the
groundwork here to suggest a vast, bottomless network of
labyrinthine catacombs...

ALFRED
COFFEE, EGGS BENEDICT AND THE DAILY
PLANET, MASTER BRUCE.
(link)
I TOOK THE LIBERTY OF PRESUMING YOU
WOULD BE TAKING BREAKFAST IN THE
CAVE THIS MORNING.

2) Move in closer. In the foreground, Alfred places the breakfast

tray on a console. Silver coffee pot, bone china, silver lid on
the breakfast plate, neatly-folded newspaper. A neatly-folded tea
towel hangs over Alfred’s arm. He looks over to Batman/Wayne, who
sits slumped in the huge control chair, lost in deep contemplation
of a black Colt .45 automatic handgun that rests in his palm in
his lap...

ALFRED
MASTER BRUCE? THAT GUN, IS IT... ?

BATMAN
THE ONE HE USED.
(link)
THAT NIGHT.
(link)
ON THEM.

3) Closer still on Batman/Wayne; lost in thought, almost

hypnotized by the gun, and the memories it conjures up for him...

BATMAN
I TOOK IT FROM THE G.C.P.D.
EVIDENCE DEPOSITORY LAST YEAR.
THERE WAS NOTHING MORE THEY COULD
LEARN FROM IT...

PAGE 12

1) Batman/Wayne pulls back the pistol’s slide - ejecting an

unspent bullet, which pings up into the air from the open breech.
Alfred straightens, quietly disapproving, but too reserved to
really show it. His mouth a little tight, eyebrows raised.

ALFRED
I SEE.
(link)
AND WHAT PRECISELY DID YOU HOPE TO
ACHIEVE BY STEALING YOUR PARENTS’
MURDER WEAPON, IF I MAY BE SO BOLD
AS TO ENQUIRE... ?
 (link)
BEYOND AN INCREASED CAPACITY FOR
MORBID INTROSPECTION, THAT IS.

2) Close on Batman/Wayne, now staring intently at the .45 bullet

which he holds up between thumb and forefinger in the extreme
foreground...

BATMAN
HE FIRED TWO ROUNDS. 117-GRAIN
HOLLOWPOINTS, TWENTY-FIVE CENTS
APIECE FROM ANY GUN STORE.
(link)
IS THAT ALL THEIR LIVES WERE WORTH,
ALFRED? FIFTY CENTS OF
AMMUNITION... ?
(link)
HE LEFT FOUR ROUNDS IN THE CLIP,
ONE IN THE BREECH. DROPPED IT AND
RAN - AFRAID TO FINISH WHAT HE
STARTED...
(link)
... AND I JUST STOOD THERE,
HELPLESS.

3) Close on Alfred; kindness and compassion in his eyes.

ALFRED
THE GOOD YOUR PARENTS DID LIVES ON,
MASTER BRUCE. AND I, FOR ONE, AM
GLAD HE LEFT THOSE FINAL ROUNDS IN
THE GUN.
(link)
I HAPPEN TO BELIEVE THE WORLD IS
BETTER SERVED FOR HAVING YOU IN IT.

4) Batman/Wayne closes his fist around the bullet, turns his chair
away from us as if ashamed of himself...

BATMAN
...
(link)
... THERE WAS A WOMAN. TONIGHT.
MURDERED IN HER APARTMENT.
(link)
THE KILLER HAD SILENCED WEAPONS -
NO-ONE WOULD HAVE HEARD. AND YET HE
CHOSE TO KILL HER WITH HIS BARE
HANDS.
(link)
SHE WASN’T EVEN WORTH A BULLET TO
HIM.
5) Close on Batman/Wayne; head bowed, eyes closed; ashamed,
guilty...

BATMAN
HER DAUGHTER WILL NEVER KNOW HER,
ALFRED. HER WHOLE LIFE. I--
(link; small text)
I COULD HAVE KILLED HIM.

6) Small inset. Close on Alfred; sadness, sympathy, compassion in

his eyes. He knows Bruce is torturing himself, but there’s nothing
he can say that will help...

PAGE 13

1) Exasperated, Batman/Wayne stands, leaning on the console,

looking up at the huge computer screen on which we can see the
blown-up image from his binoculars: the blurry silhouette of the
G.I. Robot leaping from the distant skyscraper...

BATMAN
IT’S BEEN OVER A YEAR SINCE I PUT
ON THIS MASK, AND YET ALL I’VE DONE
IS REACT. RESPOND. RETALIATE.
(link)
HOW CAN I EXPECT TO MAKE A
DIFFERENCE IN THIS CITY WHEN ALL I
DO IS MOP UP THE BLOODSTAINS... ?

2) Alfred steps forward on panel left, but Batman/Wayne turns his

head just slightly - not enough to look round at him - and cuts
him off curtly, snippy --

ALFRED
YOUR FATHER WAS A FORCE FOR GOOD
BOTH IN GOTHAM AND BEYOND, MASTER
BRUCE. PERHAPS HIS CHARITY WORK--

BATMAN
MY FATHER IS DEAD, ALFRED.

3) Hurt, but trying not to show it, Alfred smartly tugs down the
front of his waistcoat to straighten it. Ever the dignified
professional. The long stairway stretches up and away behind him.

ALFRED
... VERY GOOD, SIR.
(link)
THEN IF THAT WILL BE ALL.
4) View from close by Batman/Wayne - too close to see his face,
just his lower body as he turns back to face Alfred, who is
already walking back up the long staircase in the distant
background. Alfred pauses on the stairway, turning back to us
politely--

BATMAN
ALFRED... ?

5) Close on Batman/Wayne, looking straight at us with a thin

almost-smile, softness and gratitude in his eyes now. He means
it...

BATMAN
... THANK YOU.

PAGE 14

1) BIG, full-width establishing shot of the interior of a huge

Wayne Aerospace research-and-development HANGAR. In the extreme
foreground on panel left, a man in a dark silk suit - BRUCE WAYNE,
although we don’t see his face yet - pushes through a door into
the hangar, his back to us. We can see a sign on the door saying
“RESTRICTED PERSONNEL ONLY! THIS MEANS YOU!” with a graphic of a
camera in a red circle with a line through it - no photography
allowed. Wayne breezes in like he owns the place... which he does.

In the mid-ground on panel right, white-coated TECHNICIANS and

boiler-suited ENGINEERS look up from the experimental jet engine
they’re working on, surprised - they’re not used to seeing their
boss down here.

In the distant background in the center of the panel sits a

prototype experimental STEALTH JUMP-JET FIGHTER PLANE in a state
of semi-disassembly. The plane has a flat, rectangular “thrust
vectoring” jet exhaust and swing-wing airframe. Imagine a cross
between the McDonnell Douglas/NASA X-36 drone and the (fictional)
FA-37 Talon from the movie STEALTH. Designed by a bat. Wearing
shades. (I can provide refs for inspiration if need be!). If
viewed from above, with the wings open, the plane would resemble a
crude triangular bat-shape, with the tail-fins on either side of
the exhaust resembling the bat’s “ears” and the cockpit nose as
its “tail”. Although we’re probably too far away to make out any
detail yet, this experimental VTOL (”Vertical Take-Off and
Landing”) stealth fighter will eventually become the first Bat-
Plane (with a few “special modifications”, as Han Solo would say)
and it’ll play a major role later in the series, so let’s make
sure it’ll look bitchin’ cool. Here, it looks less impressive,
painted in gray undercoat with yellow engineering markings and a
step-ladder leading up to the open cockpit.
A spider-like AUTOMATED SERVICING RIG sits behind the plane - an
array of computer-controlled, hydraulically-articulated arms, like
the kind you see in car factories, designed to re-fuel, re-arm,
and repair the plane without the need for human engineers. The
cockpit canopy is open, and although the plane is still fairly
distant in this panel, we might be able to see that someone is
crouching in the cockpit. A huge corporate logo/sign is fixed high
on the hangar’s back wall, hanging over the entire scene: WAYNE
AEROSPACE.

2) Full-width panel. Angle from just above the jump-fighter,

looking down past the open canopy to see Bruce Wayne standing
there with one hand in his pocket, casually calling up to the man
in the cockpit. Wayne has a light-hearted, easygoing manner with
his staff which belies his power and status, playing the carefree
playboy with panache. He’s wearing a smart, double-breasted silk
suit, timeless and stylish.

In the foreground, a MAN crouches in the cockpit, fiddling with

some onboard system down near the back of the pilot’s ejector seat
- so he’s kneeling on the seat, facing backwards, his ass towards
the flight controls. He’s black, his shirt sleeves rolled up, and
he’s too hunched-down for us to see his face here. Wires and
computer cables snake over the side of the canopy, connected to
whatever it is he’s working on...

WAYNE
I HATE TO TELL YOU THIS IN FRONT OF
THE STAFF, LUCIUS, BUT I THINK
YOU’RE SUPPOSED TO SIT FACING THE
POINTY END.

PAGE 15

1) Low angle, looking up past Wayne from behind. LUCIUS FOX

straightens up in the cockpit, smiling down at us, wiping his
dirty hands with a rag. His tie is loose, his shirt-sleeves rolled
up to the elbow; a corporate executive who isn’t afraid to get his
hands dirty on the factory floor. One of the good guys. We should
dig up some visual reference for him if necessary.

FOX
MISTER WAYNE! THIS IS A PLEASANT
SURPRISE, WE DON’T OFTEN SEE YOU
DOWN HERE AT THE COAL FACE...

WAYNE
WELL, NEVER LET IT BE SAID I’M
AFRAID TO GET MY HANDS DIRTY --
(link)
ACTUALLY, SCRATCH THAT. I JUST HAD
A MANICURE.
(link)
SO, DO YOU, UH, HAVE A MOMENT... ?
2) Fox climbs down the step-ladder from the cockpit...

FOX
OF COURSE.
(link)
I ASSUME YOU’RE HERE TO BRUSH UP ON
OUR BID BEFORE THE BIG MEETING
TOMORROW, YES...?

3) Full-width panel. Wayne and Fox stand with their backs to us,
admiring their beautiful plane like proud fathers...

WAYNE
WOULDN’T WANT LEXCORP TO THINK
WE’RE A PUSHOVER. THAT AND, Y’KNOW,
JUST CHECKING TO SEE YOU’RE NOT
SLACKING ON MY DIME.
(link)
JUST TELL ME IT FLIES.

FOX
LIKE A HUMMINGBIRD. ALTHOUGH WE’RE
HAVING SOME PROBLEMS GETTING THE
ONBOARD SYSTEMS TO INTERFACE WITH
THE AUTOMATED SERVICING RIG--
(link)
... YOU JUST GLAZED OVER, DIDN’T
YOU?

4) Wayne smiles guiltily, putting a friendly arm around Fox’s

shoulder and gently steering him away. Leave enough space for back-
and-forth speech balloons...

WAYNE
TRUTH IS, I ACTUALLY CAME DOWN HERE
TO PICK YOUR BRAINS ABOUT SOMETHING
ELSE ENTIRELY. PURELY HYPOTHETICAL,
YOU UNDERSTAND...

FOX
SHOOT.

WAYNE
ENERGY WEAPONS.

FOX
ENERGY WEAPONS.

PAGE 16

1) Close on Wayne, still with his arm around Fox’s shoulder -

serious now, confiding, secretive, his eyes drilling straight into
the reader’s...
 WAYNE
MAN-PORTABLE ENERGY WEAPONS. WITH
ENOUGH JUICE TO, SAY, FLASH-
VAPORIZE A HUMAN BEING AT TWO
KILOMETERS IN HIGH HUMIDITY
CONDITIONS.
(link)
HYPOTHETICALLY.

2) Close on Fox - conspiratorial, the ghost of a smile on his lips

and a twinkle in his eye. He doesn’t know exactly what Bruce Wayne
does on his nights off, but he knows he’s a part of something more
than meets the eye...

FOX
IF YOU DON’T MIND ME SAYING SO,
MISTER WAYNE, THAT’S QUITE A
SPECIFIC HYPOTHETICAL.

3) Wayne also now smiles with a tinkle in his eye. We can tell
these men are friends, sharing an unspoken understanding...

WAYNE
I’M AN ECCENTRIC BILLIONAIRE. HUMOR
ME.

4) Widen to include both of them again. Fox shrugs expansively;

Wayne listens intently. Room for back-and-forth dialogue.

FOX
WELL, WE DID DABBLE WITH SOMETHING
LIKE THAT A FEW YEARS AGO FOR THE
DEFENSE DEPARTMENT. PHASED PARTICLE
BEAM CANNON.

WAYNE
DID IT WORK... ?

FOX
SURE, EXCEPT FOR THE “MAN-PORTABLE”
PART. THE POWER UNIT WAS SO HEAVY,
YOU NEEDED A TANK TO CARRY THE DAMN
THING AROUND.
(link)
SO WE SHELVED IT.

5) Pull back very high and wide. Wayne frowns, thoughtful; arms
crossed, touching a fingertip to his lips in a contemplative
gesture. All around them, technicians are hard at work...

WAYNE
TOO HEAVY FOR A MAN, EH... ?
PAGE 17

1) Low angle establishing shot of a respectable old Government

building in downtown Gotham City; Greek-style columns and wide
marble steps...

SENATOR
(from building)
AS YOU KNOW, GENTLEMEN, THE
SHORTLIST FOR THE DEFENSE
DEPARTMENT’S MECHANIZED INFANTRY
CONTRACTOR HAS BEEN WHITTLED DOWN
TO YOUR TWO COMPANIES - WAYNETECH
AND LEXCORP.
(link)
YOU RIVAL BIDS ARE DIRECTLY
COMPETING FOR OUR CITIZENS’ TAX
DOLLARS - WHICH MEANS THAT, NOT TO
PUT TOO FINE A POINT ON IT, ONLY
ONE OF YOU IS GOING TO GET THE GIG.

2) Interior establishing shot of a large, wood-paneled meeting

room. Respectable, “old money” vibe. A group of Senators is
meeting with representatives of WayneTech and LexCorp, who sit on
either side of a huge circular table. The LexCorp party sits on
panel left, hidden in shadow. The Senator and his party in mid-
panel, and the WayneTech party on panel right. The group of male
and female Senators is led by SENATOR CRABTREE - a portly,
respectable old fella - who stands and gestures to introduce BRUCE
WAYNE...

SENATOR
WITH THAT SAID, I’D LIKE TO THANK
YOU BOTH FOR YOUR PRESENTATIONS,
AND OPEN THE FLOOR FOR CLOSING
STATEMENTS --
(link)
STARTING WITH WAYNETECH OWNER AND
CONTROLLING SHAREHOLDER, MISTER
BRUCE WAYNE.

WAYNE
SENATOR CRABTREE, THANK YOU.

3) Wayne stands to address the meeting, holding a small remote

control device in his hand. Lucius Fox sits beside him.

WAYNE
AS YOU’VE SEEN, WAYNETECH’S
REVOLUTIONARY NEURAL-RELAY CONTROL
SYSTEM ALLOWS THE X-99 STEALTH
INTERCEPTOR TO BE REMOTE-PILOTED
FROM THE SAFETY OF A HARDENED
BUNKER.
(link)
 BUT THIS NEW TECHNOLOGY HAS
IMPLICATIONS EXTENDING FAR BEYOND
THE BATTLEFIELD...

4) Wayne gestures with the remote control, activating a large

plasma wall-screen behind him. It lights up with blueprints and in-
action photos of the O.G.R.E. - a squat, bulky, massively powerful
humanoid robot, at least 10 feet tall. Heavy, rounded surfaces.
Squat jet-engines are built into its back, allowing it to fly,
although we don’t need to establish that here. Although humanoid,
it doesn’t actually contain a human pilot; instead, the operator
controls it via a remote “neural link” from miles away. It’s
designed to withstand titanic forces of pressure, heat, and
impact, and could wade through molten lava or raise a shipwreck
from the bottom of the Mariana Trench. Frankly, it looks like it
could punch the Incredible Hulk clean through the planet and out
the other side...

WAYNE
COMBINED WITH CIVILIAN APPLICATIONS
SUCH AS THE O.G.R.E. DISASTER-
RESCUE SYSTEM, IT COULD
REVOLUTIONIZE FIELDS AS DIVERSE AS
MINE CLEARANCE, HAZARDOUS MATERIALS
HANDLING AND DEEP-SEA EXPLORATION.
(link)
FOR WAYNETECH, IT’S NOT JUST ABOUT
TAKING LIVES - IT’S ABOUT SAVING
LIVES.

5) Close on LEX LUTHOR, his face obscured in shadow; his eyes

drilling into us, sceptical and wry...

LUTHOR
AND IF YOU BELIEVE THAT, I’VE GOT A
BRIDGE I CAN SELL YOU.

6) Wayne smiles thinly, taking the interruption in good grace. He

gestures across the table, politely conceding the floor to his
competitor --

WAYNE
... LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, OUR
DISTINGUISHED COMPETITION - LEXCORP
C.E.O., MISTER LEX LUTHOR.

PAGE 18

1) Lex Luthor stands, bringing him into the light. He is

brilliant, polite, and focused. But although he can switch on the
charm when he wants to, his blue-gray eyes are as hard and cold
and sharp as interstellar hydrogen ice...
 LUTHOR
SENATOR, YOU DON’T NEED ME TO TELL
YOU WE LIVE IN A STRANGE AND
DANGEROUS WORLD.
(link)
NOW, LEXCORP’S REVOLUTIONARY
ADVANCES IN PSEUDO-SENTIENT WEAPONS
SYSTEMS WILL ENABLE US TO PROJECT
DECISIVE FORCE, GLOBALLY - WITHOUT
THE UNCERTAINTY OF HUMAN ERROR, AND
WITHOUT RISKING A SINGLE AMERICAN
LIFE.

2) Behind Luthor, a wall-screen lights up with patriotic images of

fluttering flags and smiling soldiers hugging their families.

LUTHOR
THINK ABOUT IT. G.I. ROBOTS ON THE
STREETS OF GORILLA CITY OR
MOGADISHU WOULD MEAN NO MORE
UNSIGHTLY BODY-BAGS ON THE EVENING
NEWS --
(link)
AND LET’S FACE IT, WE ALL KNOW
THAT’S THE BOTTOM LINE AS FAR AS
THE ELECTORATE IS CONCERNED.

3) Close on Bruce Wayne, frowning, leaning forward in his chair to

say --

WAYNE
(to left)
BUT CAN YOU DESIGN A COMPUTER WITH
A CONSCIENCE? CAN A MACHINE SHOW
MERCY... ?

WAYNE
(to right)
I’M SORRY, MISTER LUTHOR, BUT ONCE
YOU PUT THE DECISION TO TAKE A
HUMAN LIFE IN THE HANDS OF A
MACHINE...
(link)
... WELL, THAT SEEMS LIKE AN
AWFULLY SLIPPERY SLOPE.

4) Wide. Luthor sits, facing Wayne across the table; both

gesturing to make their points. Both firm, but courteous.

LUTHOR
YOU SAY THAT AS IF WE HAVEN’T
ALREADY BEEN DOING IT FOR YEARS.
(link)
LANDMINES, FOR EXAMPLE.
 OR CRUISE MISSILES THAT
INDEPENDENTLY HUNT FOR TARGETS --

WAYNE
I THOUGHT WE WERE TALKING ABOUT
BEING A FORCE FOR GOOD IN THE
WORLD. A MISSILE CAN’T KEEP THE
PEACE.

5) Close on Luthor, wry. Hard eyes.

LUTHOR
NO? I THOUGHT THAT’S EXACTLY WHAT
THEY DID THROUGHOUT THE COLD WAR.
(link)
OR WAS THERE A GLOBAL THERMONUCLEAR
EXCHANGE AND I MISSED IT?

PAGE 19

1) Biggish establishing shot. The street outside the big old

government building. Wayne and Fox walk down the wide marble steps
towards the roadside...

FOX
I GUESS THAT WENT WELL ENOUGH. THE
BOARD’LL BE MAKING THEIR FINAL
DECISION BACK IN WASHINGTON, BUT...
(link)
WELL, THEY SEEMED TO LIKE WHERE
WE’RE COMING FROM.

WAYNE
ALL THANKS TO YOU, LUCIUS. I JUST
SIGN THE CHECKS.

2) Close on Wayne, turning at the sound of a voice from off-panel -

-

LUTHOR
BRUCE WAYNE.

3) View from behind Wayne, revealing Lex Luthor walking towards

him, flanked by smart-suited bodyguards and personal assistants.
His long black limousine is parked at the roadside behind him, his
chauffeur holding the door open - but Luthor decided to come over
and introduce himself to Wayne instead. The car door is fully
twelve inches thick - bomb-roof armor-plating, like the
Presidential limo...

WAYNE
LEX LUTHOR.
(link)
 IT’S BEEN A PLEASURE TO FINALLY
MEET YOU. SHAME IT HAD TO BE UNDER
SUCH ADVERSARIAL CIRCUMSTANCES.

LUTHOR
THAT’S BUSINESS.
(link)
YOU DID WELL IN THERE. IT’S
HEARTENING TO SEE YOU AREN’T JUST
THE VACUOUS HEDONIST THE MEDIA SO
LOVES TO PORTRAY.

4) Wayne shrugs off the compliment, grinning, playing the fool. He

loosens his tie with one hand, throws the other around Lucius
Fox’s shoulder in a somewhat overly pally gesture --

WAYNE
OH, I’M THAT TOO. I CAN PUT ON A
DECENT SHOW AS LONG AS I KNOW I’M
LESS THAN TEN MINUTES FROM THE
NEAREST MARTINI --
(link)
SPEAKING OF WHICH, CARE TO JOIN US?
I CAN’T STAY LONG, BUT I’M SURE
LUCIUS FOX WOULD LOVE TO PICK THOSE
FAMOUS BRAINS OF YOURS...

PAGE 20

1) Luthor and Wayne both become serious now, facing each other
levelly. Wayne stands with his hands in his pockets.

LUTHOR
I WAS IMPRESSED BY WHAT YOU SAID IN
THERE ABOUT SERVING THE GREATER
GOOD. WERE YOU SERIOUS, OR WAS THAT
JUST A SALES PITCH?
(link)
BECAUSE IT HAPPENS TO BE AN ISSUE
THAT’S CLOSE TO MY HEART...

WAYNE
IS THAT RIGHT.

2) Close on Luthor, unperturbed, deadly serious --

LUTHOR
WE’RE BOTH REALISTS. IT’S MARKET
FORCES THAT SHAPE OUR SOCIETY -
WHICH MEANS THAT, AS LEADERS OF
INDUSTRY, IT’S OUR DUTY TO
SAFEGUARD THAT SOCIETY.
(link)
TO DEFEND IT FROM OUTSIDE--
3) Same angle, even closer on Luthor. He turns his head slightly,
eyes swivelling sideways and widening with surprise as he
momentarily becomes aware of something significant happening just
off-panel --

LUTHOR
(small text)
-- FORCES...

4) Full-width panel! Wayne suddenly DIVES at Luthor, GRABBING him

around the waist and sending them both FLYING sideways in a full-
on gridiron football tackle! It’s sudden, violent, and wildly
incongruous --

WAYNE
(jagged)
MOVE - !

PAGE 21

1) An ARTICULATED TRUCK suddenly falls nose-first into the

sidewalk where they had been standing, as if dropped from a great
height... which it was! The impact crumples the nose of the truck
like tinfoil, the windshield exploding in a shower of glass
fragments. Wayne knocked Luthor aside just in the nick of time,
saving his life; Lucius Fox and Luthor’s people all jump aside,
frantically scrambling for their lives --

2) Wayne is already on his feet; alert, dynamic, suddenly Batman

again in all but costume. Luthor lies sprawled on his backside
next to him, staring up in shock at the sight before them --

3) The wrecked truck topples over, the back end CRASHING to the
ground in a shower of debris --

4) A black 1955 Rolls Royce Silver Cloud suddenly SCREECHES to a

halt next to them, the back end slewing around in a tightly-
controlled police-style emergency stop. ALFRED leans out of the
driver’s window, wearing a chauffeur’s uniform and cap, shouting --

ALFRED
MASTER BRUCE! GET IN - !

5) Close on Luthor, staring in horrified awe off at something off-

panel, towering high above him --

LUTHOR
I HATE TO BE THE ONE TO SAY THIS,
WAYNE, BUT, UH...
PAGE 22

FULL-PAGE SPLASH! Pull back to reveal the WayneTech O.G.R.E. robot

towering over us, standing in the middle of the street - large as
life and twice as ugly! Menacing as hell, surrounded by the
wreckage of smashed-up cars and lorries, it raises a car above its
head, ready to throw it at Wayne and Luthor. The word “O.G.R.E.”
is clearly stenciled on its torso, just in case we didn’t get it,
and let’s make no mistake about it - it’s here to KILL! After all
this talk, this is where we remind the readers they’re reading a
goddamn SUPERHERO COMIC!

CAPTION
“ISN’T THAT ONE OF YOURS... ?”

END CAPTION
TO BE CONTINUED!
 BIONIC COMMANDO

“CHAIN OF COMMAND”

by

Andy Diggle

[Link]
PAGE 1

Hey Colin, welcome to the party! These first few pages are fairly
exposition-heavy, so please do let me know if I haven’t left you
enough room for the dialogue. But don’t worry, the blab-level
should drop once we start blowin’ shit up real good...

It’s not a hard-and-fast rule, but where possible it would be cool

if you could try to favor full-width panels; this’ll make it
easier to slice it up into a web-friendly format.

As always, if you have any questions or concerns, don’t hesitate

to drop me a line and I can re-work the script where necessary.
Have fun!

1) A twin-rotor MILITARY TRANSPORT VTOL thunders dramatically

towards us through gunmetal skies. Circa 2035 A.D. tech level.

CAPTION
I don’t look out the window any
more. It hurts too much.

CAPTION
All that sky. All that freedom.

2) BIG! Reverse angle; the VTOL descends towards the TASC BIONICS
DIVISION HQ - a heavily-fortified bunker-like complex with the
TASC logo (the tesselated hexagons on the BC game logo) emblazoned
on the side. Heavy blast doors yawn open to reveal a deep,
cylindrical landing shaft atop the structure, like the mouth of a
squat concrete volcano. Most of the complex lies deep underground,
and all we’re seeing here is the tip of the iceberg.

CAPTION
This metal box is my whole world
now.

CAPTION
But since I lost everything...

CAPTION
... it’s all I need.

3) TWO FIGURES walk towards us along a gloomy corridor deep within

the subterranean bowels of the complex; JOSEPH “SUPER JOE” GIBSON
(see visual ref); and MAJOR MILLER - a stern, humorless soldier
wearing dark urban-camo SWAT gear, with a compact submachine gun
slung across his torso.
The wide corridor, low ceiling and inward-sloping blast-reinforced
walls create an oppressive sense of claustrophobia.

JARED: Any “Location Title” text should be free-floating on the

image, with no cation box, to differentiate it from Spencer’s
“internal monologue” captions. The font should suggest a computer
readout, e.g. Bank Gothic or OCR A Extended.

LOCATION TITLE
T.A.S.C. Joint Operations Executive

MILLER
I’m sorry, sir, but this doesn’t
sit easy with me. At least let me
send a team in there.
(link)
Operation Blackout is just too
sensitive to entrust to a bionic.
If the truth were ever to get
out...

JOE
It won’t get out. I’ll make sure of
that.
PAGE 2

1) Small inset. Close on Joe, grim. Flinty eyes, steeled to making

hard choices.

JOE
But that’s not your burden to
carry, Miller. It’s mine.

2) Two-shot. Joe and Miller pause before a pair of heavy blast-

doors as Joe puts his hand to a wall-mounted palm-print scanner.

MILLER
I think you’re letting your
friendship cloud your judgment on
this.
(link)
Bionic or not, he’s just one man.

MILLER
A one-man army.
(link)
If anyone can pull this off, it’s
Spencer. Remember, I’ve seen him in
action. He sprang me from that
Imperial interrogation center back
in the war.

3) Close on Miller, grudgingly impressed, turning to look at Joe

(off panel) as the blast doors slide open to reveal him.

MILLER
The Master-D mission?
(link)
You telling me Spencer pulled that
off single handed... ?

4) Now we’re down at the bottom of the landing shaft, so deep the
sunlight barely penetrates. In the foreground are the squat
hydraulic shock-absorbing pylons of a landing platform and its
access gantries, and the VTOL’s steaming landing gear. A boarding
ramp lowers from the VTOL’s underside. In the background, Joe and
Miller emerge from the blast doors set into the landing bay
wall...

JOE
Single-handed but, uh...
PAGE 3

1) BIG reveal of Major NATHAN SPENCER, aka “BIONIC COMMANDO”,

stepping out onto the VTOL’s boarding ramp. A low-angle “hero
shot”, revealing his bionic arm in all its glory. He looks badass
in a dark green vest/tee with the TASC logo, high-tech slit-lens
wraparound shades, and dog-tags.

JOE
(from off-panel left)
... Heavily armed!

B.C.
Well now, look who’s runnin’ the
spookshow.
(link)
Super Joe.

2) Profile shot. B.C. and Joe stand almost nose-to-nose, grim-

faced, staring each other out as B.C. pulls off his shades.

JOE
My correct title is Supervisor,
Joint Operations Executive.
(link)
As you well know, soldier.

B.C.
Whatever you say...
(link)
Super Joe.

3) Close on Joe, who can’t keep a straight face any longer; he

cracks into a broad grin.

JOE
... Heh!
(link)
Same old wiseass.
PAGE 4

1) Joe and B.C. stroll towards the landing bay doors; both smiling
now, old friends easy in each other’s company. Joe slaps B.C. on
the back, and jabs the other thumb back to indicate Major Miller
who tags along behind, looking slightly nonplussed by this sudden
outbreak of camaraderie.

JOE
It’s good to have you back,
Spencer. We pull you off R&R for
this?

B.C.
Recruitment detail.
(link)
Pep-talking the walking wounded at
Walter Reed, trying to convince ’em
they haven’t been tossed on the
scrap-heap just yet.

2) Joe’s POV. Close on B.C., turning to look at us. Becoming more

serious now. As the scene progresses they’ll head through the
blast doors and back down the corridor.

B.C.
I told ‘em we’d fix ‘em up -- that
there’s a new lease of life waiting
for ‘em at TASC Bionics Division.
(link)
Question is, was I lying?

3) Joe’s face darkens.

JOE
I hope not. But the Secretary of
Defense has been looking to pull
the plug on us, and, well...
(link)
... Something’s happened that may
give him all the excuse he needs.
(link)
Unless you can make it right.

4) B.C., serious. Eye contact.

B.C.
I owe my life to Bionics Division,
sir. You know it.
 (link)
Just tell me what you need.
PAGE 5

1) Establishing shot of the TASC BRIEFING ROOM - a small, dimly-

lit auditorium. Joe stands giving the briefing; B.C. is the lone
audience, one foot planted on the back of the seat in front of
him. The only light comes from the big holographic display screen
behind Joe, which currently shows headshots of the bionic
defectors FORGE and SHRIKE. Force has two massive bionic arms,
giving him a top-heavy, ape-like appearance; Shrike has bug-like
bionic eyes and wings, giving her an insectoid appearance. They
both look freakish, inhuman, almost monstrous.

JOE
Your primary targets, call-signs
Forge and Shrike. They were this
division’s first bionic
prototypes...
(link)
... and our first failures.

2) Closer on Joe, grim.

JOE
After surgery they proved...
unstable. Couldn’t live with the
modifications. Couldn’t live
without what they’d lost.
(link)
Unfit for active duty, and too
dangerous to release back into
civilian life, they were kept on
ice...
(link)
Until four days ago.

3) Behind Joe, a satellite image of an abandoned mining facility

in the snow-capped mountains of Alaska, overlaid with wireframe
HUD graphics pinpointing different areas. An electromagnetic mass-
driver rail track crosses a deep crevasse and runs up the side of
a snow-covered mountain like an inverted snake skeleton. Directly
across the crevasse from the top of the mass-driver is a large,
bunker-like mining facility topped with a helipad. A rat’s nest of
gantries, catwalks, fuel tanks, cracking plants, cranes and mag-
lev rail tracks.

JOE
Agents Forge and Shrike went AWOL
from our secure facility and jumped
the border.
(link)
 Now, our source has pinpointed them
to an abandoned uranium-mining
facility...
(link)
... in Alaska.

4) B.C. scowls in the shadows, the hologram light reflecting in

his eyes.

B.C.
Alaska? Damn.
(link)
You think they’re spilling our
cyber-tech secrets to the
Separatist rebels?
PAGE 6

1) Joe, serious. Behind him, a map of Alaska, showing the Bering

Strait and a red-marked “Demilitarized Zone” along the Alaska-FSA
border. Think disputed Kashmir on mainland USA.

JOE
Terrorists, Major. Not rebels.
(link)
You know what’s at stake here. If
Alaska was to break away from the
FSA...
(link)
Well, we just can’t allow that to
happen. And our bionic tech could
give them the edge they need.

2) Closer on Joe. Eye contact.

JOE
Secretary of Defense Armstrong has
already ruled out an orbital
strike. The last thing we need is
for this cold war to go hot.
(link)
Too many unpleasant questions he’d
have to answer in public. About who
we’re fighting, and why.

3) Close on B.C., grim.

B.C.
So you want me to take ‘em out.

4) Close on Joe, grim.

JOE
Like they were never there. Zero
residual.
(link)
This one’s black-on-black, Major.
Total deniability.

5) B.C. scowls darkly at a miniature hologram of Forge and Shrike,

complete with scrolling data, which he now projects from the
upturned palm of his bionic claw. Alas, poor Yorick...

B.C.
Isn’t it always?
PAGE 7

1) An ultra-high-tech STEALTH BOMBER screams towards us supersonic

speed, flying insanely low between the snowy, pine-forested slopes
of an Alaskan mountain range. Like the bastard gene-spliced hybrid
of a manta ray, a hammerhead shark and a B-2 Spirit. It’s NIGHT,
and the only illumination on the sleek black aircraft comes from
the narrow red slit of the cockpit.

CAPTION
The Alaskan rebels wanted to break
away from the Federation and form
their own country.

CAPTION
Which was all well an’ good --
‘cept it would mean they’d be able
to control all shipping through the
Bering Strait.

RADIO JAG
(no tail)
We are now penetrating Alaskan
airspace.
(link)
Welcome to the demilitarized zone!

2) View of the underside of the plane as a sleek black metal

INSERTION POD falls away from the bomb bay doors. It look like a
stubby, stealth-designed missile with stubby fins, but it’s
actually a radar invisible one-man insertion vehicle, as we’re
about to discover...

CAPTION
Since the polar caps melted, the
Strait had become been the major
lifeline for the mainland FSA --
and that meant no free Alaska.

CAPTION
Not at any price.

RADIO JAG
(no tail)
Releasing operational payload...
Now!

3) Small inset on panel 4. The insertion pod SPLITS OPEN in mid

air, to reveal --
4) BIG! B.C. Spencer comes LEAPS dynamically out towards us as the
discarded sections of the insertion pod tumble away behind him.
He’s wearing an Arctic bomber-jacket with fur-lined hood, pulled
back to reveal his features. High-tech goggles or slit-lens night-
vision shades. He’s free-falling through the air without chute or
harness, his legs tucked under him as if crouching in the air,
bionic arm raised to deliver a mighty hammer-blow. You’ll be
wanting to channel some Mignola HELLBOY on this one, Colin!

CAPTION
Didn’t stop ‘em fighting for it,
though!

RADIO JAG
(no tail)
Good hunting, Major!
PAGE 8

1) High in the pine-forested mountains, a four-man ALASKAN

SEPARATIST PATROL wades through knee-deep snow. The leader holds
up his left fist, telling the men behind him to halt. They’re
rugged guerrilla fighters, kitted out with whatever weapons and
equipment they’ve managed to scavenge in their bitter guerrilla
war with the FSA. Snow goggles. Thermal padding on their weapon
barrels. Breath misting in the cold air. To the FSA, they’re
terrorists. To others, they’re freedom fighters. Take your pick.

LOCATION TITLE
Separatist Border Patrol
Chugach Mountains, Alaska

RADIO OPERATOR
Hold up!
(link)
Sir, you hear something? Like a...
whistling sound?

PATROL LEADER
Better call it in.

2) The Separatist RADIO OPERATOR presses his headset earpiece into

his ear with his gloved fingertips. He looks at us, eyes wide with
alarm --

RADIO OPERATOR
Can’t get a signal through. The
channel’s gone dead!
(link)
Someone’s jamming us - !

3) Small inset. VERY HIGH ANGLE, from directly above the Patrol
leader. He LOOKS UP at us with sudden horror --

PATROL LEADER
... Oh sh--

4) BIG, dynamic image! B.C. LANDS in the middle of the patrol,

SLAMMING his bionic fist down into the ground like a wrecking
ball! This is the special “Death From Above” move from the BC
video game; it sends a circular seismic shockwave blasting
outwards, knocking the Separatist patrol flying backwards! Snow
flies outwards like meteor ejecta. B.C.’s feet don’t even touch
the ground; all his downward momentum is channeled down through
that iron fist.

FX
WHAMM!
PAGE 9

1) BC crouches, semi-silhouetted with his back to us in the

foreground. Steam rises from the bionic claw, a remnant of the
impact. Before him is the impact crater, with all four Separatists
sprawled out cold...

CAPTION
The boys in Basic Training like to
call that move “Death From Above”.

2) High angle, looking straight down on BC. He FIRES the bionic

grapple up towards us, the claw zooming up into the extreme
foreground in dynamic perspective --

CAPTION
But this Bionic Arm’s more than
just a weapon...

3) BIG! BC SWINGS through a high, jagged, steep-sided, impassable

mountain pass like Spider-Man, dynamic. This image should really
sell the excitement of swinging through vast environments in the
video game.

CAPTION
Much more.
PAGE 10

1) Wide aerial establishing shot of the mining facility beneath

the helipad, previously glimpsed on page 5 panel 3. It’s still
NIGHT.

CAPTION
Plan was to rendezvous with Jayne
Magdelene, the double-agent TASC
had embedded inside the Separatist
enclave.

GUARD
(from facility)
Shift change, Mag.
(link)
Have our honored guests decided to
talk yet... ?

2) A big industrial space deep inside the mining faclity; rusted

catwalks and hulking, long-dead machinery. Standing on a high
catwalk in the foreground, to either side of the panel, are two
Separatists - JAYNE “MAG” MAGDELENE (refs!) and her Separatist
GUARD. Automatic weapons. Mag has bionic legs. The Guard obviously
has no idea she’s an FSA double-agent. They look down at FORGE and
SHRIKE, huddled down on the floor far below, their prisoners.

CAPTION
When Mag didn’t show, I tried to
suppress the old uneasy feeling
that rose in my gut.

MAG
Nothing we can use. They ask us for
shelter, but they’re not willing to
offer anything in return.

GUARD
Then the sooner they’re out of our
hair, the better. Keeping ‘em
here’s only gonna draw heat.

3) Mag strolls towards us along the catwalk, throwing a look back

over her shoulder, casual and confident.

CAPTION
That was only my first mistake.

MAG
Chopper’s picking them up in a few
hours.
(link)
 They don’t get on it, I say we pick
‘em apart for spares.

4) Outside in the snow, Mag lurks in the shadows behind a huge,

rusty gas cylinder, ducking low as she peers out around the edge
to see if anyone’s noticed her. In the far background, a
Separatist patrol moves away, their backs to her, oblivious. In
stark contrast to the previous panel, Mag’s body-language now
looks stealthy, furtive and suspicious. She’s about to do
something dangerous, and if discovered, she’ll be killed on sight -
- and she knows it.

5) Close. Mag speaks to a small object as she places it at head-

level on the surface of the gas-tank. It’s a tiny hemispherical
holo-camera, attaching itself magnetically.

MAG
Comsat uplink. Biomet ident, go
secure.
(link)
Major, this is Lieutenant
Magdelene. You copy?
PAGE 11

1) Exterior establishing shot of a cave mouth, high in the snowy

mountains, utterly inaccessible by normal means. Dim firelight
glows in the gloom.

B.C.
(from cave)
Five by five, Lieutenant.
(link)
You didn’t make the R.V. What’s
your situation?

2) Interior, our POV looking out through the mouth of the cave. In
the mid-ground, BC sits before a small camp-fire, talking to a
holo-image of Mag projected from his bionic claw.

MAG
(radio jag)
Sorry, Major, but I pulled guard
duty. Couldn’t slip away.

B.C.
All I need is a time and location
on the targets. Just put ‘em in my
sights an’ you can dust out of
there.

3) BIG. Move in closer on BC talking to the Mag holo. Leave room

in the panel for back-and-forth speech balloons.

MAG
(radio jag)
I’m afraid it’s not as simple as
that.
(link)
Super Joe’s intel is bogus. Forge
and Shrike aren’t selling tech
secrets to the rebels -- They
haven’t told them a damn thing!

B.C.
... Yet.

MAG
(radio jag)
The rebels don’t even want them
here. They’re kicking them out!
(link)
There’s an ex-Russian Army chopper
coming to pick them up, and then
the Rebels are washing their hands
of the whole affair.
PAGE 12

1) Close on BC, frowning.

B.C.
So what are you saying? That our
targets aren’t a security threat?

2) Medium close on Mag’s holo.

MAG
(radio jag)
I’m saying they don’t deserve to
die.
(link)
They can’t survive without their
bionics. When the Secretary of
Defense requisitioned their
hardware implants, he was signing
their death warrant.
(link)
Don’t you see? Going AWOL was their
only chance to live!

3) Two-shot, BC and Mag’s holo.

B.C.
We’ve known each other a long time,
Mag. You know better than to start
second-guessing an operation on the
fly.
(link)
There’s a chain of command. It’s
not our decision to make.

MAG
(radio jag)
“Just following orders,” huh?
(link)
Funny, I remember that’s what the
Imperials used to say.

4) Extreme close on BC, scowling darkly. Troubled.

B.C.
Just give me the damn coordinates,
Lieutenant.
PAGE 13

1) Colin, this could be a single tall thin panel stretching down

the left-hand side of the page if you like. We’re at the foot of a
deep crevasse, and it’s now DAY. BC, small at the foot of the
panel, has fired his grapple-claw straight up to the underside of
a gantry far above. Now, the bionic grapple-line retracts, yanking
him up off the ground and into the air, rising straight up. Slung
over his shoulder is a squat but powerful sub-machine gun, which
will come into play later. He also has a weapon case slung across
his back.

CAPTION
A sniper knows you can’t always be
in the right place at the right
time...

CAPTION
... But you can go to the right
place and wait.

2) A pair of SEPARATIST GUARDS patrol along a rusted iron gantry

which runs along the underside of the mass driver as it crosses
the crevasse that bisects the mining facility. BC crouches unseen
beneath the gantry, squatting upside-down, “anchored” in place by
his claw. The guards walk over him, oblivious. One of them speaks
into a walkie-talkie or radio headset.

CAPTION
The old mining station was built
like a fortress -- which is exactly
what it had become.

SEPARATIST
Eyrie, this is Eagle Six checking
in.
(link)
All quiet at the crevasse. Heading
north.

RADIO JAG
(no tail)
Roger that, Eagle Six. Keep your
eyes open.

3) Angle on the mass-driver curving up to the mountain summit. BC

climbs it using his grapple.

CAPTION
The magnetic mass-driver used to
accelerate six-ton blocks of iron
into low orbit...
4) BC squats atop the highest “rib” of the mountain-top mass-
driver, anchored in place with his bionic grapple, peering
through a set of high-tech binoculars.

CAPTION
... And provided a perfect
overwatch position on the
Separatists’ helipad.
PAGE 14

Colin, this page is VERY caption-heavy, so please try to leave

plenty of space for them -- and do let me know if I just haven’t
left you enough room to work!

1) Close. BC is assembling a squat, high-tech, serious-looking

ANTI-MATERIEL RIFLE.

CAPTION
TASC wanted our defectors dead and
gone. That meant no evidence to
sift through, no bionic components
to retro-engineer.

CAPTION
Fortunately, I had the perfect tool
for the job.

2) Angle on a device on BC’s equipment belt: a portable power-pack

with a single high-tech 50-caliber bullet slotted into it -- the
so-called “SCRAM round.” The pack is festooned with failsafe power
gauges and hazard warning labels like SCRAM and CAUTION:
ANTIMATTER!

CAPTION
Inside the fifty-cal warhead was a
miniature electromagnetic
containment system, holding a
single particle of antimatter
suspended in a vacuum.

CAPTION
When the slug hit the target, the
suspension field would collapse and
the anti-particle annihilate itself
in a burst of raw energy that’d
vaporize anything within ten yards.

CAPTION
The eggheads in R&D called it the
Self-Collapsing Reactive Antimatter
Munition. Out in the field, we
called it SCRAM.

3) Angle on BC looking along the length of the rifle at us as he

loads the SCRAM round into the weapon’s breech. Flinty eyes,
steeled to the task. He is anchored in place with his bionic
grapple, resting the rifle on it for stability.
 CAPTION
There’s only one downside. Once
removed from its portable power-
pack, the SCRAM round’s internal
battery only has enough juice to
maintain the containment field for
four minutes.

CAPTION
Wait too long to pick your shot,
and it’ll self-detonate in the
breech.

B.C.
Easy does it...

4) BC’s POV through the rifle scope. The old helipad across the
gorge. FORGE and SHRIKE steps out onto the helipad from an
underground access door, followed by a group of several Separatist
guerrillas holding their weapons on them. Forge and Shrike look
more like prisoners than collaborators. A chopper waits for them,
rotors turning. Note there’s a STALKER near the helipad which will
come into play later -- a multi-legged tank, designed for
traversing awkward terrain.

CAPTION
Fortunately, they didn’t keep me
waiting long. The Separatists
wanted Forge and Shrike hell and
gone...

CAPTION
... And they were about to get
their wish.

RADIO JAG
(no tail)
Major, this is Mag. Targets en
route to the cliff-side helipad.

B.C.
Roger that. Get yourself clear.
PAGE 15

1) Close inset. BC’s gloved finger tightens on the trigger. His

gloved thumb clicks the safety off.

CAPTION
They were right where I wanted them
to be. One shot, and it was all
over.

CAPTION
So why did I hesitate... ?

2) Forge is a sullen hulk, head downcast, almost in tears as they

step up the ramp of the waiting chopper. A big dumb kid,
Frankenstein by way of Quasimodo. Shrike puts a comforting arm on
his massive shoulder.

CAPTION
Maybe it was because the rifle
scope threw them up so close, I
could have reached out and touched
them.

CAPTION
Maybe when I saw them down there, I
saw myself.

3) Extreme close. The scope projects targeting data up onto BC’s

scowling eye.

CAPTION
They were soldiers.

CAPTION
They gave everything.

CAPTION
Just like me.

4) BC UNLOADS the SCRAM round from the rifle. He’s snarling,

pissed off with himself.

B.C.
Dammit all to hell--

RADIO JAG
What is it, Major?
(link)
 They’re taking off, we’re gonna
lose ‘em!

5) Angle looking up past BC as he slots the SCRAM round back into

its power pack. He’s looking up into the clear sky, watching the
defectors’ chopper fly away into the distance...

B.C.
Mission abort.
(link)
Let ‘em go, Lieutenant.
PAGE 16

1) BC, in foreground, suddenly TURNS in a dynamic crouch to see a

HOPPER rise up menacingly behind him! The numeral 1 is stencilled
on the hull. The Hopper is a small, nimble, one-man VTOL gunship,
bristling with weapons pods -- and they’re all pointing at BC!

B.C.
Son of a-- !

HOPPER
(jagged)
Alert! Intruder!
(link)
All units to code red!

2) BC drops his sniper rifle as he SPRINTS flat-out towards us! A

line of bullets STITCHES relentlessly towards him, dogging his
heels. Huge muzzle-flash and a chain of empty shell casings
spewing from the hopper’s rotary cannon. A MISSILE also snakes
towards BC from the Hopper, leaving a smoky trail in its wake --

B.C.
I’m blown! Mag, get the hell outta
there - !

3) Low angle, looking up the sheer mountainside as BC DIVES OUT

into empty space, his arms spread wide like an Olympic diver, his
SMG still slung over his shoulder. The snowy mountaintop EXPLODES
behind him --
PAGE 17

1) Tall vertical panel down the left-hand side of the page. BC

FALLS down the sheer cliff-side, FIRING his bionic grapple out
towards one of two more hoppers (Hoppers 2 and 3) which come
swooping in towards him --

2) Small inset. BC’s grapple CLAMPS onto the hull of Hopper 2 --

3) BC SWINGS on the grapple, FIRING his compact sub-machine gun

towards Hopper 3 --

4) Hopper 3 EXPLODES--

F.X.
VADDAMM!

HOPPER 3 PILOT
(jagged)
Aaagh!
PAGE 18

1) BC has clambered up onto the hull of Hopper 2. He RIPS off the

cockpit canopy with his bionic claw, revealing the STUNNED pilot --

PILOT
Holyyy--

2) BC THROWS the pilot out over the side!

PILOT
(jagged)
Yyyaaaaaaaaahhh!

3) Close, intense. SNARLING into camera, BC clings for dear life

onto the edge of the pilotless Hopper’s cockpit as it spirals
wildly out of control!

B.C.
Two down, one to go!
PAGE 19

1) Up in the snow near the helipad is a Separatist STALKER -- a

multi-legged tank, designed for traversing awkward terrain. Its
weapons include a railgun, a rotary cannon and a ground-to-air
missile system. The Stalker Pilot stands in the open turret hatch,
shouting down to the Separatist COMMANDER who stands in the snow,
barking orders and pointing emphatically --

COMMANDER
Those damn cyborgs -- they’ve
betrayed us!
(link)
Blow them out of the sky!

STALKER PILOT
Yes, sir!

2) The Stalker FIRES an anti-aircraft missile, which comes snaking

up towards us on a smoky white vapor trail --

RADIO JAG
(from Stalker)
Fox one!

3) The missile EXPLODES against the side of the chopper carrying

Forge and Shrike -- crippling it, but not destroying it...

F.X.
SHRAMMM!
PAGE 20

1) Mag comes SPRINTING through the snow on her powerful bionic

legs, FIRING her machine gun, fierce --

MAG
(jagged)
Dammit, No - !

COMMANDER
(jagged)
Aaagh!

2) The Separatist Commander is cut down in the hail of gunfire.

The Stalker Pilot ducks down, unharmed, and Mag’s bullets spatter
off the turret hatch as he pulls it closed after him --

STALKER PILOT
(closing hatch)
It’s Mag -- she’s one of them!
(link)
Take her out!

3) The Stalker trots nimbly through the snow, turning and firing
its rotary cannon at Mag in the foreground.

CANNON FX
BRRRRRT!

4) She DIVES aside dynamically -- an impossible leap, thanks to

her bionic legs -- towards the cover of some old mining machinery.
The Stalker’s gunfire CHEWS up the snow close by her --

MAG
(jagged)
Yaaah - !

5) Mag hunches behind the machinery as the hail of gunfire erupts

around her, sparks spattering off the rusted metal. She’s keeping
her goddamn head down, screaming into her radio mike --

MAG
(jagged)
Major, I got a situation here!
(link)
Stalker’s got me pinned down an’ I
got nothing that’ll put a dent on
it!
PAGE 21

1) Above the crevasse, Hopper 1 swoops straight towards us, FIRING

its weapons!

B.C.
I’m en route! Hold fast!

2) BC DIVES off the hull of the stricken, pilotless Hopper 2 as

bullets rip into it. His arms spread wide, like the in-game “Leap
of Faith” move --

B.C.
Gotta time this just right...

3) Hoppers 2 and 3 COLLIDE, EXPLODING spectacularly --

F.X.
VADDOOOM!
PAGE 22

1) Low angle, looking up into the sky as BC FALLS towards us in

silhouette, his BIONIC FIST RAISED TO STRIKE --

B.C.
Heads up! Incoming - !

2) BIG, SPECTACULAR IMAGE! BC SLAMS his fist down onto the

Stalker, CRUSHING it like an anvil dropped on a beer can!

F.X.
WHAMMM!

3) BC stands atop the smoking, crumpled ruin of the Stalker, grim

and super tough. In the foreground, Mag stands in the snow, calmly
loading a fresh clip into her SMG. No more bad guys. All is
calm...

MAG
See, now you’re just showing off.
PAGE 23

1) Now it’s DUSK, and we’re looking down into a snowy saddle of
land surrounded by dense pine forest, high up in the mountains.
The blood-red sun setting behind the distant peaks. In the mid-
ground, the wrecked chopper lies crumpled in the snow like a
broken insect. It would have a been a rough landing, but the
occupants could have survived. Thick black smoke boils from the
open access ramp. BC and Mag emerge from the treeline in the close
foreground, moving down towards the wreck...

CAPTION
We got a transponder fix on the
chopper, which at least told us it
had put down in one piece.

CAPTION
Forge and Shrike could still be
alive -- no thanks to us.

2) FORGE suddenly ERUPTS up out of his hiding place beneath the

snow behind BC, startling him --

FORGE
Hhurrrrr!

B.C.
What the--

3) Close. One of Forge’s massive cyber-paws GRABS BC round the

throat, lifting him bodily off the ground. BC snarls through
gritted teeth --

B.C.
Aghhk - !
(link)
Take it... easy... Lug Nuts!

MAG
Let him go, Forge! We’re on your
side - !

4) Mag brings her SMG to bear -- but turns at the sound of a voice
from behind, where SHRIKE hovers on cyber-wings with a weapon
levelled at her back.

MAG
We’re F.S.A. We were sent to, uh...
(link)
To bring you home.
 SHRIKE
(from off-panel right)
Like hell you were!
PAGE 24

1) Shrike lands deftly in the snow, her weapon still on us.

SHRIKE
The F.S.A. wants us dead.
(link)
We’re not like you. We didn’t
volunteer to have this done to us.
(link)
They forced us to take the bionics -
- turned us into monsters...

2) Shrike puts a comforting hand on the shoulder of Forge, who has

let go of BC. Forge lowers his head, sullen. Beside him, BC stands
rubbing his sore neck.

SHRIKE
And then when we wouldn’t play
nice, they tried to pull the plug.
(link)
We sacrificed everything for our
the F.S.A. -- and all we got for
our loyalty was a knife in the
back!

3) Medium close on BC.

B.C.
Then come back with us.
(link)
We can sort this mess out, take it
as far up the chain of command as
it takes to get justice--

4) Shrike and Forge, close.

SHRIKE
Oh, don’t be naive!
(link)
You really think they’ll let their
dirty little secret get out in the
open?

5) Close on BC, scowling, tough, sincere.

B.C.
I give you my word.
PAGE 25

1) Big, wide long-shot. The four of them trudge through the snowy
mountains, just tiny figures in an unforgiving landscape. BC in
the lead, then Forge and Shrike, then Mag watching their six.

CAPTION
I knew it was crazy, bringing them
in. But that didn’t mean it wasn’t
the right thing to do.

CAPTION
Sure, the brass wouldn’t like it.
But Joe was still calling the shots
at Bionics Division, and I’d saved
his ass more times than I could
remember...

2) Move in closer on them as they trudge towards us. In the

foreground, BC looks up as two fat F.S.A. MILITARY GUNSHIPS fly
overhead -- their transport.

CAPTION
He owed me.

3) One of the gunships has now landed, and MAJOR MILLER (from the
opening scene) hops out as half a dozen other FSA snow-troops
deploy around him, securing the landing zone. Behind and to one
side, the second gunship is descending to land, the downwash
kicking up snow.

MILLER
What the hell is this? The
extraction’s for two, not four!
(link)
Drop your weapons! Now!

4) Close on BC.

B.C.
They ain’t armed, Miller, they
agreed to come in peacefully.
(link)
I dunno if they’re traitors or not,
it ain’t for me to judge. We can
leave that to the court martial.

5) Close on Miller, sneering, weapon aimed.

 MILLER
You’ve disobeyed a direct order,
Major. Aided the enemy...
(link)
And if you’re not man enough to
finish the job, I’ll happily do it
for you.
PAGE 26

1) Miller and his men aim their weapons at BC.

B.C.
You’re makin’ a big mistake here,
Miller.

MILLER
Men, if the Major doesn’t surrender
his weapons in the next ten
seconds, open fire.
(link)
One... Two.. Three...

2) Close on BC, grim. Over his shoulder we see Shrike and Mag,
waiting, edgy. Hair-trigger tension.

SHRIKE
(from panel above)
I told you this wasn’t going to
work.

MAG
(from panel above)
We can take ‘em. Just gimme the
word, Major.

B.C.
Hold fire, Lieutenant. These boys
are on our side.
(link)
Ain’t their fault they got an grade-
A butt-nugget for a commanding
officer.

3) Angle looking past Miller’s weapon aimed at BC. A soldier

(”ALPHA”) steps in and takes the SCRAM ROUND from BC...

MILLER
(off-panel left)
Eight... Nine... T--

B.C.
Okay. You win.
(link)
Here, take it. Just don’t drop it.

4) Wide. BC and Mag kneel in the snow at gunpoint, surrendering

their weapons. Other soldiers haul Forge and Shrike away.
 MILLER
Alpha, stow their weapons in the
support chopper.
(link)
Delta, Gamma -- separate the target
subjects and escort them to the
tree-line.

5) BC SNARLS --

B.C.
Dammit, Miller, you can’t just
execute them!
(link)
We’re soldiers, not assassins!
PAGE 27

1) Close on Miller, sneering with contempt.

MILLER
Speak for yourself, Major.
(link)
I told Joe you’d screw this mission
up. Never send a bionic to do a
man’s job.

2) Close on BC’s eyes scowling with barely-suppressed rage.

B.C.
What was that? I didn’t quite hear.
(link)
Step a little closer and say it
again.

3) Wide aerial shot, clearly establishing the geography of the

scene before the action kicks off. Off to panel left, the two
choppers. Soldier Alpha makes his way BACK FROM the choppers,
heading towards Miller who stands over BC and Mag. Off to panel
right, other soldiers walk Forge and Shrike off towards the far
tree-line, where they will presumably be shot. Bleak. Footprints
in the snow.

CAPTION
Playing for time. That was the
longest four minutes of my life...

CAPTION
Every second anticipating gunshots
from the tree-line that would tell
me I’d waited too long...

B.C.
(small text)
Lieutenant Magdelene.

MAG
(small text)
Sir?

4) Extreme close on BC, grim, his flinty eyes drilling into ours --

CAPTION
Four minutes...
 CAPTION
... which is exactly how long it’d
take for that SCRAM round I’d given
them to self-detonate.

B.C.
Stand to.

5) WHAMM! The support chopper EXPLODES, blasted open from the

inside by a ball of pure white energy as the SCRAM round detonates
inside it! Soldier Alpha is blasted off his feet towards us, but
is otherwise unharmed.

F.X.
VDDAAMMMMMM!

ALPHA
Aaah!
PAGE 28

1) Action! BC’s bionic claw FLIES out towards us, massive in the
foreground --

2) The claw SLAMS into Miller’s chest, grabbing him and knocking
him back. He drops his weapons, stunned by the suddenness of the
attack --

MILLER
(jagged)
UUHF

3) Miller is SLAMMED into the other soldiers like a sack of

potatoes! Men and weapons go flying --

F.X.
SWACK!

4) Mag pulls a fancy move-- rolling forward from her kneeling

position while kicking one bionic leg up -- kicking the jaw of the
trooper standing over her. He drops his weapon as his head snaps
back --

MAG
TCHA!

F.X.
Thok

5) Mag completes her forward roll and CATCHES his gun as it falls!

F.X.
K-chak!
PAGE 29

1) Over near the tree-line, Forge and Shrike seize their chance!
Forge SMASHES their two captors aside with his massive bionic
arms, sending them flying. Shrike takes to the air --

SHRIKE
Now’s our chance! Go!

FORGE
Huuhrrr!

2) They run towards the remaining chopper -- which is beginning to

lift off the ground, its weapons pod already swivelling towards
them --

SHRIKE
The gunship! Take it and we can hop
the Strait--

3) BC has grabbed a fallen gun and slaps a magazine into place. As

he does so he turns, alarmed at what he sees off panel --

B.C.
No! It’ll cut you in half --

4) The gunship’s weapons-pod FIRES --

F.X.
BRRRRT!

5) -- and Forge and Shrike are cut to pieces in its withering hail
of fire!

SHRIKE
(jagged)
Nnaaaaah!
PAGE 30

1) BC snarls in anguish --

B.C.
(jagged)
NOooooo - !

2) BIG! BC’s suddenly BLASTED through the air by an explosion

close behind him --

F.X.
BOOM!

3) Mag peeks out from behind the cover of the trees, keeping her
head down...

MAG
Sorry, Major, but you got yourself
into this crazy mess...

4) Mag SPRINTS away from us through the snowy forest. Her powerful
bionic legs kicking up snow in her wake.

MAG
You’ll just have to get yourself
out of it!
PAGE 31

1) Close on BC as he groggily picks himself up from the snow...

B.C.
(wobbly)
Uunhhh...

2) The gunships hovers in the air above the smoking ruin of its
partner craft, weapons aimed down at us.

B.C.
... Damn.

3) Forge and Shrike lie dead in the bloody snow...

4) BIG! BC is SURROUNDED by the FSA troops, all of them aiming

their weapons right at him -- including MILLER, gloating...

MILLER
Mission accomplished, Major.
(link)
Hope you think it was worth it.
PAGE 32

1) Exterior establishing shot of a mountain-top maximum security

prison, let’s make this somewhere hot and arid.

CAPTION
Joe couldn’t even look me in the
eye at the court-martial. Hung me
out to dry and washed his hands of
the whole affair.

CAPTION
They took my arm. Took my rank.
Took away my only reason to live.

2) Move in on one small, barred window high up on the flat

concrete face of the prison.

CAPTION
That was five years ago now.

CAPTION
I’ve been rotting on Death Row ever
since, just waiting for the hammer
to fall.

3) Now we move in through the barred window to reveal the dark,

claustrophobic prison cell within. BC lies doing one-armed push-
ups on the cell floor. Grimy vest. His bionic arm has been
removed, leaving only a cybernetic shoulder-coupling in its place.

CAPTION
I don’t look out the window any
more. It hurts too much.

CAPTION
All that sky. All that freedom.

4) Move into an extreme close-up on BC’s eyes, drilling directly

into the reader. He’s unshaven, his hair now grown into long grimy
dreadlocks. He looks every inch the badass anti-hero of the new
video game, and the look in his eyes tells us there’s five years’
worth of pent-up aggression just waiting to explode out. He’s a
pressure cooker. Somebody‘s going to pay...

CAPTION
This metal box is my whole world
now.

CAPTION
But since I lost everything...
 CAPTION
... it’s all I need.

END TEXT
To be continued...