THE NEBULOUS SAGA
PART ONE: CAPTAIN OF THE NEBULA
A ten-year crusade reaches a pitched crescendo following a devastating attack on an unsuspecting civilian outpost. A sailor on the renegade starship ‘Nebula’ desperately seeks reason in the wake of the atrocities he witnesses. An old man begs for mercy…and finds none.
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NEXT WEEK: In the aftermath of the Trade Ring’s destruction, an unlikely survivor gives Dolion a second chance. The NEBULA sets course for a remote planet system, hoping to find answers in a bard’s secret…and Jesse Keiffer reveals an ability that Dolion will do anything to gain for himself!
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The Nebulous Saga was written by Jane Maree, and produced by Magnus Carlssen.
Casting courtesy of Shogo Miyakita.
Part One soundtrack courtesy of Epidemic Sound, with closing theme by Will Fox.
Sound design by H.M. Radcliff.
Cover art by Kirk DouPonce.
Part One cast, in order of appearance:
Reginald West, as the Ancient One
Magnus Carlssen, as the Narrator
Rhys Lawton, as Captain Peter Dolion
Shogo Miyakita, as Cookie
“We all have a choice, lad. If you think you don’t,
it’s just because you don’t like the options.”
TRANSCRIPT:
PART 1: CAPTAIN OF THE NEBULA
INT - THE PIRATE SHIP NEBULA - DAY
Deep space. A galaxy glows brilliantly in view.
PETER DOLION (NARRATOR)
All pirates are dirty liars and
murderers, but none worse than
Captain Dolion of the Nebula. His
aim is as sharp as his tongue, and
his neck scarf as red as the blood
of his victims.
Stardust parts around the bow of
the Nebula and swirls in our wake
as we forge toward the trade ring
with the captain’s orders still
ringing within the airlock between
our sails.
The pirate starship NEBULA bursts into the frame. The fabric
of space seems to ripple around the ship as it slides
gracefully toward a massive ring-like structure easily the
size of a large moon, yet clearly still far enough away to
appear no larger than a small space station.
The Nebula is a graceful, beautiful ship, a curious
juxtaposition of an Earth seafaring ship and an interstellar
spacecraft. Its lines are flowing, curving and evocative of
graceful movement, like an enormous star-serpent frozen in
place. To one side is an enormous SOLAR SAIL, several times
larger than the ship itself, glittering in the reflected
light of a nearby star.
A man in captain's regalia stands on the ship's bridge, a
high, semi-circular deck toward the stern, which affords a
view of the entire starship. He wears a long black coat,
trimmed with gold, and a scarf the color of scarlet floats
around his neck in zero gravity.
CAPTAIN DOLION
We chart for the center, and once
the cannons are in range—put an end
to this alliance!
PETER DOLION (NARRATOR)
I grip the ship’s railing, the echo
of the words like bile in my
throat.
The trade alliance is meeting today
to sign for peace along this entire
stretch of the galaxy, and after so
many years of skirmishes over trade
routes and merchant vessels...this
agreement could be the next best
thing for civilization.
Until our ship blows them all to
space dust in fifteen—no, ten
minutes.
How has it come to this? How have I
come to be standing at the prow of
this death-bringing pirate ship?
I glance over my shoulder at the
crew bustling around their
stations, securing ropes here,
readying on-deck harpoons there. If
I let them see even a sliver of my
fear, they’ll send me to the plank
to meet my doom outside the airlock
in the cruel silence of the void.
The void that claimed my family all
those years ago, thanks to this
very same pirate crew.
I grip the railing tighter, lest my
trembling hands give me away. A
thousand innocents will die, all
for the captain’s vengeance, and I
can’t stop it. What can one man do
against such insurmountable odds?
Nigh on twenty men in this crew,
each as cutthroat as the captain
they follow.
COOKIE
Pete, lad.
PETER DOLION (NARRATOR)
The gruff voice of the ship’s cook
brings me around, and I meet the
weathered man’s gray gaze. The blue
and purple tones of the starlight
globes hanging from our lantern
hooks cast shadows in the deep
wrinkles of his brow.
An OLDER MAN stands on the bridge behind Captain DOLION. His
beard is grey and well-trimmed, and in the wrinkles of his
face could be charted the farthest reaches of the
constellations. A pair of half-rim glasses perch on the end
of his nose, gently lighting COOKIE's eyes with the soft glow
of their digital augmentation.
PETER DOLION (NARRATOR) (CONT'D)
I acknowledge him with a curt nod.
Cookie peers at me over his
scratched glasses — which are long
overdue for replacement, but he
refuses to let me pay for them.
COOKIE
You sure 'bout this?
PETER DOLION (NARRATOR)
I lean my hip against the railing,
pulling my tailcoat about me to
button it. My quivering fingers
betray me, and I mismatch the last
few holes. Abandoning the effort, I
smooth my scarf over the mistake.
CAPTAIN DOLION
Don't see how I have much choice.
PETER DOLION (NARRATOR)
Cookie tucks his hands into his
pockets, watching me in that steady
way of his.
COOKIE
Ach, we all be havin' a choice. If
you think you don't have one, it's
just because you don't like the
options.
PETER DOLION (NARRATOR)
I fidget with the ragged ends of my
scarf, looking away from the old
man’s gaze as my chest knots.
Sweeping into view ahead, between
the glowing trails of stardust, the
trade ring glitters like a star
itself. The structure is large
enough to encircle an average-sized
planet, and specks of light twinkle
all over it—specks I know are ships
and citizens and oh so many
innocents.
PETER DOLION (NARRATOR) (CONT'D)
But what does Captain Dolion care
for innocents? Pirates like these
never concern themselves with how
many ordinary people get caught
between their firefights. They care
only for the reward, the thrill,
the fear.
I glance up at the black, skull-inscribed
flag flying from our top mast,
and a chill grips my spine.
Like a grim, glittering light show, a holographic FLAG
ripples from the forward pillar anchoring the solar sail to
the NEBULA. The light it casts reflects off the reflective
fabric of the sail in shimmering trails, giving the entire
sail the illusion of rippling in the non-existent
interstellar wind.
A RADIO CRACKLES on the bridge's console.
CREW MEMBER 1
(SCREAMING)
Target coming into the sights!
PETER DOLION (NARRATOR)
My stomach heaves. Below my feet,
the crew will be bringing the
cannons to bear. On either side of
me, the harpooners prepare to meet
any opposition. Cookie grips my
upper arm.
COOKIE
(LOW, QUIETLY)
Lad...
PETER DOLION (NARRATOR)
He doesn't have to say more,
because I can see the rest of his
words in his kind but sorrowful
eyes. In a few minutes, we really
won't have a choice. All of us on
the Nebula will be hunted down by
any survivors from the trade ring,
even down to the last wretched
cabin boy. They won't ask whether
we wanted to be here or not.
CAPTAIN DOLION
(SHOUTING)
Keep the course steady!
PETER DOLION (NARRATOR)
I shy away from Cookie's soul-searching
gaze. He won't find much
good there, I'm afraid.
My eyes sting as I turn back to the
bustling trade ring. We approach
rapidly, the ring beginning to take
shape into buildings and ports and
levels upon levels of riches and
life. The white skull on our flag
gleams in the ethereal starlight in
defiance to the safety the trade
ring promises. Any moment now, our
arrival will be noticed.
There! Even as the thought crosses
my mind, a dozen small ships leave
dock, the alliance flag at their
masts.
My heart whispers a silent no, but
the captain shouts the order to
send a round through their hulls.
They don’t stand a chance.
From a dozen torpedo-holes across the ship, kinetic warheads
are launched from RAILGUNS beneath the armor plating of the
NEBULA's hull. The portholes glow red from the angry glow of
the thin force-fields that separate the crew from certain
death by the cold, empty vacuum of the Void.
The ship GROANS from the kinetic recoil of the warheads
launching. They travel so fast they are almost invisible,
leaving behind a faint glow of charged ions.
PETER DOLION (NARRATOR) (CONT'D)
The boards shudder beneath my feet
as the harpooners fire. A streak of
light flashes between our ship and
the leading alliance vessel, and in
an instant, it explodes. One
moment, there’s a white-sailed
ship, shedding a wake of stardust.
The next moment, a ball of fire
devours the craft inside its oxygen
airlock, then vanishes almost as
quickly as the blaze starves of
air.
And all that’s left is ash and
burnt stardust.
COOKIE
We all have a choice, Peter lad.
PETER DOLION (NARRATOR)
Cookie's gaze captures mine again
as our harpooners make quick work
of the rest of the oncoming
vessels.
CAPTAIN DOLION
(HOARSE, BROKEN)
Not anymore.
PETER DOLION (NARRATOR)
I gave up my choice years ago.
CREW MEMBER 2
(SHOUTING)
In range, Captain!
PETER DOLION (NARRATOR)
Fingers clenched in my blood-red
neck scarf, I close my eyes, not
willing to see the impact of our
cannon fire on the hundreds—no, the
thousands of innocents before us.
But I still shout the command. My
men merely follow my order, as they
always do.
Because I am Captain Peter Dolion,
and this is my confession.