EXT. ROOFTOP – TEMP HQ – EARLY EVENING
128Please respect copyright.PENANALmMcl13cuP
The rooftop is vast, reinforced with metal plating and painted with faded white Security markings. Harsh orange lights hum against the encroaching dusk. In the center of it all, parked like some enormous mechanical bird, is the military transport aircraft known as TACV-IX Umbra.
128Please respect copyright.PENANAAMAYyZAQxx
It’s more than a plane. It’s a flying tactical base—a hulking, weather-beaten fusion of military austerity and duct-taped necessity. Twin rotors roar softly on either side, idling like growling wolves. The body of the ship stretches far back, lined with external containers, antennae arrays, and high-frequency transmitters.
128Please respect copyright.PENANAPPXrMPhAl3
INT. TACV-IX UMBRA – VARIOUS LOCATIONS – CONTINUOUS
JASON (V.O.)
(dry)
“Military transport aircraft,” they said. Sounds cool, right? Makes you think big guns, sleek walls, maybe even a minibar if the higher-ups finally grew a heart.
128Please respect copyright.PENANAFyPKmEPVXu
He steps inside, expression already unimpressed.
128Please respect copyright.PENANAOoZE5qnfrK
JASON (V.O.)
But what do we actually get? A tactical flying sardine can held together by cable ties and caffeine. It’s got the soul of a vault and the charm of a cheap camper van.
128Please respect copyright.PENANAhBlZ3RcMcf
Jason walks through the corridor—metal walls, flickering overhead lights, exposed wires, faint hums of unseen systems. Some pipes creak ominously as he passes.
128Please respect copyright.PENANAXbelfZfMDg
The interior is split across multiple compartments:
128Please respect copyright.PENANAhpg2vuez8t
BARRACKS-STYLE CREW QUARTERS, narrow rows of sliding doors—like hotel rooms if hotels hated you.
128Please respect copyright.PENANAqE5WiN9eNI
OPS ROOM, filled with half-functioning monitors, flashing readouts, tired operators.
128Please respect copyright.PENANAtnOA3MUDJA
STORAGE ROOMS, where crates are strapped down with aging restraints and everything smells faintly like lubricant and overcooked rations.
128Please respect copyright.PENANAl4mEmUiFFh
WEAPONS HOLD, lined with racks of rifles, stun lances, and a worrying number of labeled "experimental" cases.
128Please respect copyright.PENANAdNIYI1ubxG
BATHROOMS, offering a single stall, a mirror that judges you, and a shower head so sad-looking it probably prays for death.
128Please respect copyright.PENANAXU7MftAezG
128Please respect copyright.PENANAZopKx4yxFE
JASON (V.O.)
There’s a bathroom. Singular. With one shower. The kind that spits out water like it’s rationed hope.
128Please respect copyright.PENANAJjn2TKHm1P
Jason’s boots clunk against the grated floor as he reaches the hangar segment—where several Security staff are gathered beside crates, data slates in hand. Vult, in his taller frame and steel-toned armor, waits for Jason.
128Please respect copyright.PENANAEQ9WauPVUX
VULT
“Gearman. On time. Shocking.”
128Please respect copyright.PENANAyj9VqEyAq5
JASON
“Believe me, I had better places to be.”
(then, nodding at the aircraft)
“Is it too late to fake my death and escape this thing?”
128Please respect copyright.PENANA7vLULFOc6J
VULT
“Probably. Get in.”
128Please respect copyright.PENANAEeSeTldk20
The team boards together—Jason following with his duffel in hand.
128Please respect copyright.PENANAvRhyxaBjfa
INT. TACV-IX UMBRA – JASON’S ROOM – MOMENTS LATER
128Please respect copyright.PENANAKAnF9Sk2e3
The sliding door hisses open to reveal... a closet. Technically. A small, rectangular room with cold metal walls painted a pale gray.
128Please respect copyright.PENANA0OBO9MdHEr
Single-person bed, bolted to the wall, mattress thin enough to count as a suggestion.
128Please respect copyright.PENANAeEVfvY436k
Wide window takes up most of one wall—revealing an expansive sky just beginning to bruise purple-blue.
128Please respect copyright.PENANAvSROeh0Bwb
Table and chair, both metallic, the kind you can’t sit at without feeling judged by them.
128Please respect copyright.PENANAJbXQLB32yh
Broadcast system, integrated into a small wall panel, currently playing the generic “Welcome aboard Umbra” message in a robotic female voice.
128Please respect copyright.PENANAVLyR1wiJGi
128Please respect copyright.PENANA2Ag1nFRGEx
BROADCAST SYSTEM (robotic)
“...On behalf of Central Security, we thank you for your service. Meals are scheduled at 0700, 1200, and 1800. Please avoid unnecessary violence inside the aircraft...”
128Please respect copyright.PENANA74qmH0bqEE
Jason drops his bag on the bed with a dull thud. He looks around once, unimpressed.
128Please respect copyright.PENANAzqc0mdL6SC
JASON
“Three days in a flying coffin. With WiFi worse than a tin can in the desert.”
(sighs)
“At least the window’s nice.”
128Please respect copyright.PENANA0l93OkqBWN
He walks over and leans on the edge of the table, staring out at the clouds rolling beneath the lowering sun.
128Please respect copyright.PENANAcu9KNsP3ab
Outside, the loading continues. Crates are stacked. Data cores are secured. The core itself—BIO-CONTAINER 03, glowing faintly blue through its reinforced glass—is carefully loaded in with a series of magnetic lifters.
128Please respect copyright.PENANAPKJaoLXUG9
The Umbra hums with anticipation. So does the tension.
128Please respect copyright.PENANAMrRFhZHCiD
JASON (V.O.)
“Three days of sky. What could possibly go wrong.”
128Please respect copyright.PENANALdTwSS0OZu
CUT TO BLACK.
ns216.73.216.206da2