Subject: [FFML] [fic] Backwards! (2)
From: juris@mt.lv
Date: 8/30/2000, 4:18 AM
To: ffml@fanfic.com

Thanks for C&C people, it's really welcome. Send comments to juris@mt.lv

On to the madness
--8<------------------------

Stage 2

[Inside the fasttank. There isn't much room, so everyone's cramped. Kiri is
nursing her hand and eying Name and Beck suspiciously. Tobu is examining the
bucket handle. Gaza talks to no one in particular.]

  "... right though it's eye! The monster lost hist brain all over the place,
and oh God did it stink there! ..."

  There's a beeping noise from console Tobu is sitting on.

Beck: "Someone's contacting us."

All: "!!!"

Gaza: "Pick it up!"

  Beck squishes past evryone, reaches under Tobu and starts pushing some
controls. The female voice sounds from a speaker.

Voice: "Second unit, reply!"

Beck: "Uh, your majesty, junior communication officer Beck here."

Voice: "What the hell happened?" Loudly, "Where are you?"

Beck: "Your majesty, we've been taken hostages by freedom army and now are
  heading to their ..."

  Gaza presses his hand across Beck mouth.

Voice: "What, by those fools in rusty tin can? Impossible!"

  Gaza reddens.

Yuki (from driver's place): "Hey, it wasn't rusty!"

Voice: "Who's that?"

Gaza: "I'm Gaza, the captain of the freedom army. We've gotten so far and
I'm going to stop National Integration Army and their treacherous plans!"

Voice: Laughs, "Ha-ha, you old fool! All you do is run from place to place
picking crumbs that are left after us. You don't have guts to take us on.
If you really have a plan, why don't you try to stop us next time, when we'll
strike at ..." Tobu slips and falls back on console, cutting connection.

  "..." Everyone is staring at him.

Cutscene

[Fasttank approaches side of a steep cliff. It slows down. The piece of
cliff slides outwards and aside, opening tunnel that leads inside. Tank
goes inside, dissapearing in the darkness of the cave.]

End Cutscene

  [Inside a brightly lit cave. Tank stands on concrete platform, surrounded by
different equipment. There are several doors leading to other rooms.Kiri
and Gaza are gone, Tobu walks around with his bucket handle, Beck and Name
look around the cave in awe.]

Name: "This place is ancient!"

Beck: "No wonder we couldn't find them."

Yuki: "You like it here? Dad found this place. Nobody was there, so we moved
in. There's some pretty cool machinery inside, I've still not quite figured
out how it all works..."

Tobu: "And you never will. This place was build by an ancien civilisation that
possesed the secrets of magic. They're lost now, and nobody believes in magic
today."

Yuki: "Magic is for kids. Everything can be explained!"

Tobu: "No, you can't ..." They start what looks like an old argument between
them. Name is looking at one of the walls. He goes closer and looks at a
faded signs that were painted on it centuries ago. He puts his hand to wall.

Name (to himself): "... home"

Yuki: "Hey, what are you doing!"

  Name jumps. He turns around to see that Yuki is shouting at Beck who's
getting into the tank.

Yuki: "Don't you dare!"

Beck: "I'm going to escape!" He closes the hatch.

  Kiri and Gaza come running from one of the doors. Tobu and Yuki are trying
to open the hatch. Tank jerks, then starts moving backwards. Tobu looses
balance and rolls off the tank. There's a sound of engine picking up the
speed. Tank starts to spin around and move in a random way. Everyone tries
to get away from it's path. Yuki is clinging to the main gun.

Yuki: "Get out of my tank!"

  The turret starts to turn around and Yuki is thrown away after several
rotations. Fasttank goes over some equipment, crushing it under it's tracks.
Suddenly there's a noise of short circuit and tank freezes.

[Hangar room. Tobu and Kiri take Beck away, Gaza is trying to hold down Yuki.
Name stands near the tank, from which dark smoke is coming.]

Yuki: "... and then I'll turn my welder on and stick it's handle in your
butt!"

  Beck tries to place Kiri between himself and Yuki. Tobu and Kiri take Beck
away, Gaza tires to comfort Yuki.

  "I'm sure we can fix it."

  "He broke my tool rack." Yuki goes to tank and starts inspecting the damage.

  Gaza comes closer to Name.

  "I'm thankful for your help. This NIA fasttank will be a great asset to
our cause. As you've seen, our forces are rather small..."

Name: "I haven't seen your forces yet."

  Gaza looks at him for a moment. "But they all were here just now!"

  "You mean there are only four people in freedom army? What kind of army is
that?"

  "Well, we are fighting against evil NIA plans, and 'army' sonds rather
good ... However, we're experiencing several difficulties due to our little
numbers, and in the light of today's ..."

Name: "Let me guess, you want me to join your bunch?"

  "Well... that's about it."

  "But you don't even know who am I!"

Yuki (overhears): "Join us, Name! You could get me a new ghost scoutship!"
Yuki gets a dreamy expression.

Name: "I don't want to fight anymore! It's dangerous!"

Gaza: "I know that. But our lives are filled with danger and hope..." He goes
off to another speech.

Name (to himself): "I didn't mean dangerous to myself." To Gaza, "Let me think
about your offer."

  "Of course! Take your time, it's not an easy decision. You can stay here
in the meantime. Do you want me to show you around? This place is huge."

  "I know."

  "What?"

  "I mean, I don't know. I'll look around myslef. Thank you."

  Gaza leaves. Tobu returns, still holding bucket handle. Yuki is crouching
at an opened hatch in tank's side and examinig the machinery.

Name: "Say, Yuki, why handle first?"

  "What?"

  "The welder."

  "Oh, so he couldn't pull it out. Ngrr..."

  Tobu looks at the bucket handle again.

Tobu: "Nope, just an old rusty bucket handle." He throws it away. It hits
Yuki.

  "Ow, watch it!" Yuki picks up the handle. "Hey!" She straightens it then
sticks it into machinery. There's a whirring noise, followed by a healthy
click. "Allright!" She closes the hatch.

Tobu: "..."

[Yuki is sitting inside her tank. Everything is clean and shinig. She pushes
few buttons, nods to herself, then looks at one of the pannels that has only
one large red button on it.]

  "I wonder what it does ..." She reaches and pushes it.

[Fasttank stands in a middle of a cave, illuminated by several lights.]

[Cliff stands in a middle of a desert. Wind moves sand in wave-like patterns.]

[Desert is located at the easten coast of a medium sized continent. Few clouds
obscure it from view.]

[Green planet with a lot of water and beautiful athmosphere orbits small
yellow star. There's a flash at the eastern side of one of the continents,
then circular shockwave ring spreads from it, leaving beautiful blue glow
after it. Few moments later planet bursts in countless fragments that drift
away from the center at different speeds. One fragment comes closer and
closer. The fragment is Yuki in her pajamas, hugging brown teddy bear.]

Yuki: "Aaa..."

[Yuki's bedroom. It's dark.]

Yuki: "...aa!" Yuki wakes with a start. Light comes on automatically, and
Yuki presses the teddy bear agains her face to hide from sudden bright light.
When her eyes adjust, she gets out of bed.

  "I better read the manual." She steps in her slippers and goes to the big
hangar room.

[Inside the hangar. Name sits in the corner and looks at the ceiling. There's
only a dim light, and it creates eerie shadow patterns in the large room.
Name rises amulet by it's chain. It starts spinning. Soft hum comes from it.
Name stands up and goes to the wall with ancient symbols. Amulet starts
hovering towards one particulary complex sign. It touches the sign, and part
of the wall slides forward and to the side, opening an entrance. Name goes
inside.]

[Yuki enters hangar. She goes to her tank and puts her head agains it's cold
armor.]

Yuki: "Mmm." She steps away and looks at it. In the darkness it looks like a
bug shaped monster. She notices dark rectange in the wall.

  "I wonder..." Yuki goes to the secret entracne. She looks at it, then steps
through. The wall closes behind her.

End Stage 2



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