Scene 1:


<Setting: Main character, a space marine, wakes up knee-high in cold water in a dank glass cell similar to the one in the movie The Cell>

<FX: Blurry vision, Elias groans constantly.>

<Script: After 10 seconds segue to cutscene.>

<Cutscene: Camera cuts to claustrophobic shot from high up, Elias walks to far wall.>

Elias Therac: I woke up in a glass cell, the flickering florescent lights barely keeping my mind afloat in the abyssmal darkness. The cold had crushed my body into a distorted, husk of a man, and then I realized that I had just awoken, crouched in a pool of frigid water. I leapt up, and disregarding the flames of pain from hours of immobility, I threw myself at the blackness of the glass wall before me. As I struck it, the pain tensed my body, and I sat back into water and wept. How did I come to here? How... when... and why... why was I here... I only remember a distant morning... it was November 7th, 2080...


<SFX: The sounds of a platoon of men yelling and booming jets crescendos.>

<Script: Screen blacks out, door opens in the distance shining brightly as camera moves closer and closer.>

Scene 2:


<Interactive Cutscene: Camera moves through door into a jumpjet cargo bay. Player in in Elias' POV now. Huge thud of a landing, and jumpjet cargo bays open for player to step out into a jungle-swarmed Nali planet. The Nali village Cremlek is visible in the distance a mile downslope. Other jets land nearby. Player has limited mouselook control, but Elias walks to scripted positions.>

<Subtitle: "Four clicks away from the tropical Nali village Cremlek, source of distress beacon transmit.">



Marine: "Go! Go! Go! Time's a'wastin' ladies."



<Trigger: After player moves near the troops, control taken from player. Loche moved to near the player until sequence ends>



Commander: "Boys, update your mission objectives, we've made some adjustments. Bravo squadron shall proceed to Nav 1 as primary recon. We need to know who's behind the massacre at Cremlek. Alpha squadron shall follow immediately for support. Stay outside the village gates.

Data indicates the big cavern near the village to be less than two weeks old, and may be a hostile base. Villagers were slaughtered less than 24 hours ago, be on your guard. You have been primed, company prepare for engagement."

Elias Therac: I turned to Loche next to me. "Probably Skaarj mercenaries, sick bastards. Why do we always gotta provide cover, Bravo squadron should do their own damn cover."


Loche: "Hehe... yeah, evaire sins the Centrillium Stashion mishun... alvays dere beetch."


Elias Therac: "With weather this nice, I might just sit back and watch them from my scope, heh."


Commander: "Well then lieutenant,"


Elias Therac: ...came an impregnable bark of our commander,


Commander: "I'm glad to hear that because YOU get a special mission."


Elias Therac: I wasn't too excited. I bit my lip. "Yessir." The corporal's hand swept out across the lush mountainous jungles of the Nali planet, losing form against the blue of the sky.


Commander: "Down this path is the village. Nav 1. You aren't going down there, hotshot. You are proceeding to a sniper point at the second slope over there. You will overlook both teams as they investigate. There's cover work for you, lieutenant."


Elias Therac: Thanks, but that was quite more of a climb than I wanted. His smirk said he was serious.


Commander: Move out!



<Trigger: Control returned to player.>

<Trigger: Wait for player to make his way up to the hilltop, fighting only some wildlife along the way.>



Elias Therac: At 0900 hours, I was firmly embanked at the hilltop. The teams far down below were proceeding towards the village. Even from here, I could see tremendous pools of blood and bodies strewn in the village, and the wail of the high winds did nothing to quell my anxious gut. In the mountainside next to the village was a tremendous hole, as if a huge bomb had blown a cave out of it.



<SFX: Elias hears other soldiers through the staticy transponder he's wearing>



Squad Leader Lithos: "This is Bravo Squadron leader Lithos, we are at gate entrance. Village is littered with bodies, I can see at least 40 from where I stand. Carnage seems to be caused by beasts of some sort, but definitely not Skaarj tactics. Bodies are blown apart, gibs everywhere, hardly a whole complete corpse to be seen."



<SFX: Mutiple sources of heavy breathing on radio static. >

<Script: Ground teams move near the cavern.>



Squad Leader Lithos: "No evidence of conventional weaponry. Commander, requesting permission to explore cavern."


Commander: "Roger that, proceed with Alpha squadron as backup."


Squad Leader Tyran: “Copy that, this is Alpha Squad Leader Tyran. We are in position. Bravo, we've got your ass.”


Elias Therac: The two teams made their way out of the village and towards the hole. Suddenly we heard a rumble, like an earthquake but some how more organic. It rumbled, shook, and... and... palpitated...



<FX: Deep rumbling.>

<Script: Rocks tumble, screen shakes.>



Lithos: "Commander, we've got some uh... seismic activity of unknown origin. What are your orders, sir?"


Commander: "Bravo, take primary and enter the hole. Alpha, follow and maintain visibility. Keep your fire teams steady, I'm getting suspicious readings back here."


Elias Therac: Bravo entered the cave, Alpha followed tightly behind, and the Commander was at the gate of the village with thermalscopes checking for signs of life. He watched as they entered the cave, glancing down from his scope every so often to check time.



<Script: The teams enter the cave.>

<SFX: Screaming is heard both on the ground and in the transponder.>



Elias Therac: Oh my god.



<Script: The teams are killed and tossed out of the cave with body parts flying.>

<SFX: Static hisses blare and beneath it men are shouting orders. Gunfire goes off sporadically. A dull ringing sound, moanlike, grows loud.>



Elias Therac: Suddenly, the earthquake stopped, and a humming sound began, so deafening that it even rang and shook the slope that I was on. As I watched through the scope, I was swept by horror at what I saw. Chunks of humans spewed out of the cave; my teams were being slaughtered by some insane... force. Shouts turned to screams, and screams turned to static... and calls for help went unheard as bodies continued to erupt out of the maw of the mountain.

Oh god... oh god... The cave was too dark for my scope to penetrate, and all I could do was imagine. The rain of blood, like the torrent of sweat from my brow, spelled the theft of all hope and strength in me, and as I grew sick, my vision blurred...



<SFX: Ringing fades.>

<Script: Screen blacks out for a second, but when it comes back, the scene hasn't changed. Player vision is wobbly and distorted noise ends. Player control restored.>



Elias Therac: I think I blanked out for a moment, but when I could feel my own body again, the humming was gone. And with it, the bodies and souls of my squad. With shaking heart and shaking hand, I began the perilous climb down to face this unknown.



<Script: Wait for player to descend to where the Commander was standing in the Nali village. No enemies on the way back.>

Scene 3:


<Setting: Player at base of mountain, at the village gates. Cavern mouth nearby is littered with gore.>

<Cutscene: Panoramic cam showing the destruction around.>



Elias Therac: Just as I reached the bottom of near the cave, I realized that my radio was still on. "Commander! Commander this is Lt. Therac, my position is point-five clicks from squad casualty site! Come in Commander! Commander! Commander!" No response, I had no idea where he went, but he must have run into the cave to provide support. Support against what? What good could it have done? An unidentified enemy that had just wiped out both our squads?

<Cutscene: Continued from script. Camera from cave's POV, Elias' dark outline shows up against the sunlight at the cave mouth, then camera swings to look into the darkness.>


Elias Therac: I felt that moment that I was the first man to ever face our race's collective horrors, and the ancient smell of it, that deeply embedded seed of panic bled out of my heart... and I heard its deathly voice resonate in my mind...


Unknown Voice: <spoken in a multitude of voices in pain, but without reverb as if spoken within his mind> TURN BACK.


Elias Therac: Have you ever heard the voice of eternity? Of Life and Death and Dread and Desolation all at once and all in agonized chorus? That voice, those voices, swept me clean of hope and again, despite a desperation to control myself, my bodily fluids flooded out, and I fell to my knees... and even in the darkness I knew my eyes were closed.



<Script: Player sees a crackling torch suddenly light the cave... sees his own reflection in a pool of water hovering upright against wall, then light fades out to all black again.>



Elias Therac: The stench...



<SFX: heavy, wicked breathing in the dark>



Elias Therac: "...where am I... no, where would I go?"


Unknown Voice: TURN BACK.


Elias Therac: "WHERE AM I? "


Unknown Voice: TURN BACK.



<SFX: Heavy breathing fades out, long pause.>



Unknown Voice: WHY DON'T YOU TURN BACK, ELIAS THERAC? DO NOT STAY. YOU WILL DIE HERE, YOUR BLOOD SPILT AGAINST THESE COLD ROCK WALLS, AND VERILY THERE WILL BE NO REMORSE. TURN BACK ELIAS.


Elias Therac: "No you... you whatever the hell you are... I can't... where do I go? Huh?"


Unknown Voice: BACK TO YOUR SHIP. LEAVE THIS PLANET. I AM SATIATED. YOU MAY GO.


Elias Therac: "Can't... help me... tell me are there any men left?"


Unknown Voice: THEN YOU WILL DIE HERE.


Elias Therac: "No, I will… I-I will move, I will find out who you are... I won't leave alone..."



<Script: Short pause in audio.>

<SFX: Wind whistles louder, sound of flame and screams rising from nowhere.>



Unknown Voice: ELIAS, YOU ARE A STRANGE ONE.


Elias Therac: And just like that, it was gone.



<Script: Cut in all environmental sound, ala Usual Suspects.>

Scene 4:


<Script: Player is unable to walk further into the darkness of the cave because he can't see anything. There is a strange breathing sound everywhere. He will returns to the village to search for clues.>



<Setting: This time when Elias returns to the village, the body parts of his comrades are gone, and the gate to the inner part of the village is broken down so that he can enter.>


<Setting: Inside player finds a horrifying spectacle. His comrades are upright, and lounging about. Each of them is obviously a zombie, but they have all lost their faces, but their face area is clean as if they never had faces to begin with. There is an unearthly moaning everywhere. Some sit at the wall breathing hard, some are spread eagle on their backs, some are playing absentmindedly with their entrails, some will try to attack Elias half-heartedly.>

<Items: Other items and weapons lay around for player to pickup>

Scene 5:


<Trigger: Player turns on the flashlight in the cave and sees a wall of faces, and an organic, fleshy door blocking passage through the cave. Sequence begins when player shines light on a particular face, one squirming and making constant expressions of pain and mirth.>

<Script: Player retains mouselook, but can not move. Flashlight stays on.>



Unknown Voice: ELIAS WHY HAVE YOU RETURNED?


Elias Therac: "What have you done to my comrades? And where the hell are their faces? HUH? WHERE?!"



<Script: Short pause in audio.>



Unknown Voice: TURN BACK NOW. WHAT THIS IS, NO MAN WANTS TO KNOW.


Elias Therac: "I want to know! I DESERVE to know! My men, their... their corpses aren't even human! What have you done!?"



<Script: Long pause in audio.>



Unknown Voice: YOU WANT TO KNOW.


Elias Therac: "Yes!!! Yes, goddammit!!!"


Unknown Voice: I WILL LET YOU PROVE THAT.



<SFX: Slight ghostly chuckle... then a willowly gasp.>

<Script: Flesh wall opens, layers of muscle-like material part to reveal a dimly lit hallway. Player control restored.>

Scene 6:


<Setting: Passage leads into cave lit with strange glows coming from nowhere>



<Setting: Some strange drider-like creatures attack Elias along the way. There is a trail of blood that the player follows.>



<Setting: Player passes a few holes in the cave ceiling pouring in stormy rain. Player turn a corners and walks into a sunny part of the cave, like an oasis in a bad dream. One hole in the ceiling here streams sunlight onto the meadow in the center, as if part of another world.>



<Script: When player steps into the middle of sunlit meadow, suddenly zombies burst out of the ground moaning and clawing at Elias. But the moment the player fires off a shot, everything returns to normal as if nothing has happened. There is no evidence that anything occurred at all. All traces of zombies, ruptured earth, etc. have disappeared.>

Scene 7:


<Setting: The cave opens out into a valley lit with waves of purple and red energy. The sky is dark, the howling unbearable, the rain pours down in odd places, even odd angles, and he needs to find shelter.>


<Setting: Various enemies attack him. He continues until he find shelter in a small fort that acts as a temple to the strange monsters around. Continuing his fight into the fort, he finally reaches an empty dungeon lit warm by blood-red torches.>

<Trigger: Entering the Mausoleum, Elias is attacked by a faceless version of the corporal, who begs in vivid screams to be killed. Unlike the zombies before him, he's actually living, but his face has been ripped off and is bloody. The blood trail leading up to him has shown all sorts of torture.>



Elias Therac: <During cutscene before boss fight begins> My god, what had happened to the man? He was alive, I think, but in great pain. “Commander! It's Lt. Therac! Commander!” I think he heard me calling to him, but he couldn't respond. In his madness, he attacked me.



<Script: Player must kill the Commander in this boss battle. Commander cannot see the player if the player is not standing on his a part of his bloodslick, although every so often, he will emanate a large dark mist of blood to extend his vision. The amount of blood on the floor gradually increases as the commander is damaged. The flashlight can blind the Commander temporarily if he's in the middle of misting, but he will fight wildly for a few seconds after.>



Elias Therac: This was the deepest point. I had killed the only other man, the only evidence left of this madness. The Commander, that son-of-a-bitch, was still a great man. We never failed with him, and we never failed him. Men who valued the mission over their lives got far with him.

Scene 8:


<Cutscene: Elias stands in the room over he body of the Commander. The room grows dark and heavy breathing comes from all directions. The blood on the ground evaporates.>



Elias Therac: "Are you satisfied?"


Unknown Voice: WHY AREN'T YOU AFRAID?


Elias Therac: "Because... because there's nothing left to be afraid for..."


Unknown Voice: YOU HAVE YOURSELF.


Elias Therac: "They were my buddies, my buddies. They were family..." But that moment I was afraid, not just for myself... I wasn't sure what I was afraid for. It was like I feared for all mankind.



<SFX: Elias begins crying slightly, then restrains it. There is a long pause.>



Unknown Voice: I WILL MAKE YOU A DEAL. FIND MY NAME. FIND MY NAME AND I WILL GRANT YOUR WISH.


Elias Therac: What did I wish? I didn't even know. I knew what I wanted, and that was for this nightmare to end, even if it meant dying. And what was its name? For all I knew, it was Satan, a devil that followed man when he left Earth for space. But this enemy felt even more ancient... what was its name? I would endeavor to discover. Could the devil himself bring a man to his knees just through sheer presence? Would the devil even want to kill a soldier? Were we not his friends? Was the devil not a seducer? Well this wasn't seduction... this was paranoia. This was the unknown. My journey began.