THE NEBULOUS SAGA
PART FIVE: GUARDIAN OF THE STARDUST
Single-mindedly driven by his grief, Dolion confronts Kalopsia on the Holuvian moon. The inevitable showdown leaves one of them wounded and the other with an impossible choice. With the fate of the entire Nova Alliance hanging in the balance, Dolion is forced to tip the scales, knowing that no matter what he chooses, not everyone will make it out alive.
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NEXT WEEK:
Seconds stretch into eternity as Dolion realizes that what he wants most has been in front of him all along. With the Alliance breathing down his neck, and a frenzied space-kraken wreaking destruction on everything it sees, every moment becomes more precious. Can he save himself – and save the one thing he has left to live for?
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The Nebulous Saga was written by Jane Maree, and produced by Magnus Carlssen.
Casting courtesy of Shogo Miyakita.
Part Five soundtrack courtesy of Will Fox.
Closing theme by Hampus Naeselius, courtesy Epidemic Sound.
Sound design by H.M. Radcliff.
Cover art by Kirk DouPonce.
Part Five 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
Tali De Assis, as Kalopsia
TRANSCRIPT:
TRANSCRIPT:
INT - THE PIRATE SHIP NEBULA - DAY
DOLION and COOKIE stand on the bridge of the NEBULA. In front
of them, a glowing glass display shows the ship's navigation
data and flight controls.
PETER DOLION (NARRATOR)
I check my star-compass and adjust
the Nebula’s course, following the
needle toward a small, oddly shaped
moon. The double suns to our stern
stretch my shadows across the deck
as I lean around the mainsail to
see. At first, stardust seems to
glow around the rock, but as we
approach, the floating, glimmering
objects shape into swarms of space
life.
Luminescent tentacled jellyfish
sway hypnotically. Twisting eels
weave through clumps of coral that
feed off nothing but the thin gases
of space. A small dragon-like
creature with leafy fins bobs
beside a familiar sail-jet that
belongs to the woman I’ve tracked
here, Kalopsia.
Satisfaction wells within. This is
the stardust guardian’s sanctuary.
CAPTAIN DOLION
Weigh anchor!
Several claw-like devices resembling grapping hooks are
cannoned into the surface of the moon. The ship slows to a
halt and strains against the wires.
PETER DOLION (NARRATOR)
As I secure the tiller, I sense
someone’s gaze and find the old
ship’s cook watching me quietly by
the mast. I step to him.
CAPTAIN DOLION
This is it, Cookie. This will
finally be the end.
PETER DOLION (NARRATOR)
He’s been with me through ten years
of torment as I’ve sought
vengeance. It feels right that he
should be here to watch the end.
COOKIE
For your sake, Pete, I hope it is
the end.
PETER DOLION (NARRATOR)
Sadness glistens in Cookie’s eyes.
He doesn’t need words to tell me
that he doesn’t like this, but I
need Kalopsia’s wish-granting
stardust.
I turn from Cookie, lest doubt
steal my resolve. I deserve this.
CAPTAIN DOLION
(WHISPERING)
I wish for death upon the Nova
Alliance.
PETER DOLION (NARRATOR)
Soon, I can finally leave this pain
behind.
INT - NEBULA LIFEJET - DAY
PETER DOLION (NARRATOR) (CONT'D)
Clambering aboard the lifejet, I
secure my oxygen mask and push off.
Kalopsia’s sail-jet is empty, but
stony clumps cover the moon,
providing a myriad of places she
could be hiding.
EXT - SURFACE OF HOLUVIAN MOON - DAY
The Holuvian moon is a irregular, mountainous body, too small
to have any industrial value to its mother planet. The
surface is studded with crater-like divots and a dusting of
sand-like material is everywhere. There is only a very weak
gravity. On close inspection, one might notice a gentle
curving form to the surface of the moon, like an ancient
symbolic mound. DOLION is not this observant.
He wears a light spacesuit. His red scarf is tied securely at
his neck, and floats gently around him. It gives him a
strangely childlike appearance.
PETER DOLION (NARRATOR) (CONT'D)
I secure my jet to one of these
barnacle-crusted formations and,
assisted by the weak gravity, leap
onto the moon. Pinkish sand plumes
beneath my feet.
I check my compass and glance in
the direction of the pointing
needle. Movement. I draw my pistol.
KALOPSIA
You dare to threaten me in my
sanctuary?
PETER DOLION (NARRATOR)
Kalopsia emerges from behind a
boulder. Her hair floats around her
cheeks, tinged auburn in the
Holuvian suns’ light.
KALOPSIA
I told you, I don't bargain with
pirates.
CAPTAIN DOLION
I'm not here to bargain. Where is
the stardust?
PETER DOLION (NARRATOR)
She glares silently.
CAPTAIN DOLION
(ANGRILY)
Where is the stardust?
PETER DOLION (NARRATOR)
I cock my pistol. Her eyes spark
with defiance, and she draws a
knife.
KALOPSIA
You've killed enough, Captain
Dolion.
PETER DOLION (NARRATOR)
She dares to stand between me and
my vengeance? The fool. I curl my
finger around the trigger, but
Kalopsia attacks. Her blade nicks
my sleeve as I dodge. My shot goes
wild. She follows with a second swipe,
and a leather cord slips from
beneath her shirt - a key attached.
I grab her wrist, wrestling the
knife away and forcing her to drop
it. She bares her teeth, but I tear
the necklace free, then shove her
back.
Out the corner of my eye, a flare
rises from the Nebula. A fleet of
ships emerge from the void beyond,
bearing the spiral symbol of the
Nova Alliance. My heart clenches.
They’ll go for the Nebula first,
but a stray shot may obliterate
this moon before I can find where
Kalopsia has hidden her stardust.
This key must unlock a chest...
I return my attention to Kalopsia.
CAPTAIN DOLION
Tell me where the stardust is, and
we'll leave. Or else the Alliance
will destroy this moon and
everything on it.
KALOPSIA
Tell you at what cost?
PETER DOLION (NARRATOR)
Kalopsia stamps her foot three
times.
The ground lurches, pitching me
against the nearest rocky
formation. A rumble vibrates
beneath me, and a fissure cracks
across the sandy surface. Almost
half of the moon falls away.
CAPTAIN DOLION
What??
PETER DOLION (NARRATOR)
The pink surface of the space-rock
blossoms to a burnt orange. Long
strands peel away from the main
shape—no, not strands. Glowing
amber eyes turn on me as a giant
kraken spreads its tentacles.
The creature roars as an explosion
rocks its asteroid home. I dive for
shelter beneath a stone arch as the
kraken slides overhead. Green ooze
blossoms from a mark on its side—a
hit from an Alliance cannon.
The kraken bellows again, and one
tentacle reaches past the Nebula to
the closest Alliance vessel. It’s
fighting for us! But it won’t be
enough. Cannon fire streaks the
void with red trails. The Nebula
fires on the Alliance. The Alliance
fires on the Nebula and the kraken.
Within the shallow cave, I stare
helplessly as cannon fire hits my
ship’s main mast and sends it
crashing to the deck. I must find
the stardust and finish what I came
here to do. Even with a kraken, we
cannot defeat the whole fleet. Not
without a wish.
Pushing to my hands and knees, I
notice a crumpled bed mat beneath
me. Is this cave Kalopsia’s room? I
scan the shelter and spot an odd-shaped
shadow, crusted with barnacles.
A chest. I grab it, but a shadow
hurtles into me. Kalopsia’s knife
slices across my face in a burning
line. I fall back, palm to my
cheek, warm blood sticky between my
fingers.
KALOPSIA
You cannot take it!
PETER DOLION (NARRATOR)
Kalopsia clutches the chest,
backing away.
Beyond her, the Nebula lurches. The
kraken and our cannons have taken
out half a dozen Alliance vessels,
but a ship rams against the
Nebula’s starboard. Alliance
soldiers pour onto my deck. Too
many.
PETER DOLION (NARRATOR) (CONT'D)
I can’t just hide here while my
crew is captured or killed. I
snatch up my pistol—I must have
dropped it when the kraken appeared
- and aim.
The pistol kicks against my blood-slick
palm, and Kalopsia takes the
bullet in her shoulder, crumpling.
Seizing the chest, I unlock it.
Golden motes glimmer within, and I
don’t need proof that this is no
ordinary stardust.
But my wish trembles, unspoken, on
my lips.
I can wish my ship and crew to
safety - a port for repairs and a
medic for the injured...or fulfill
my thirst for the Alliance’s
destruction.
The ache of revenge traps my heart,
but I kneel, frozen, as the Nebula
keels to one side. After all these
years...what do I truly want?