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TRIUMVIRATE Plot Summary
By The Host
Hey, all,
Figured I'd post this for anybody who wants to read Second Triumvirate and doesn't have time to read the original. Of course, I still encourage you to read the original screenplay -- it can be found here -- but I want as many people as possible to read Second Triumvirate, and this will make it easier to achieve that goal.
Anyway, enjoy. And feel free to comment here. I should have the first installment of Second Triumvirate posted by tomorrow afternoon.
TRIUMVIRATE
Summary
ACT I (First forty minutes)
The film opens as a fleet of thirty thousand ships converge upon a red planet. Amongst the hundreds of thousands of men we meet two – JACK DAVIES, a nervous young starfighter pilot, and ROBERT JOHNSON, his gunner and best friend. As they approach the battle they reveal their misgivings: neither has fought before and, indeed, this is one of the first battles against the barbarous AL T’HAR – and the first war in decades, maybe centuries.
Son they are locked in battle and, through luck and skill, manage to make it past the first defenses. The only survivors from their flight wing, as far as they can tell, they decide to push on ahead nonetheless, helping in an attack on a weapons station in the stormy upper atmosphere of the planet. But something goes wrong and the two friends are forced to eject. Johnson is rescued by a friendly craft but Davies falls into enemy hands.
He is brought before the station’s commander, MUHOMMAD. After interrogating our hero, Muhommad reveals that his station is not a weapons platform at all – in fact, it is a medical research centre. The Al T’Har have been beset by a plague for thirty years now and researchers on this station had just recently discovered a cure. Now they are under attack and it seems that any hope of ending the terrible disease will soon be extinguished once and for all. After giving Davies a tour of the facilities, Muhommad asks for his help.
The hospital station is soon destroyed but Davies somehow survives and is picked up by friendlies. After returning to STARBASE ONE ONE FOUR, Davies tells Johnson about what he saw. Johnson doesn’t believe him at first, but then Davies produces a vial containing the cure – the last of it. Johnson is incredulous; he tells Davies he should tell a superior about it but Davies isn’t so sure.
It doesn’t matter. The next day he is called before the bumbling station commander, ADMIRAL COPLEY. Copley asks Davies about his experience and forces Davies to agree to undergo a series of ‘tests’. When the meeting is over, Davies is furious. Johnson admits that he told his superiors about Davies being captured, but didn’t tell anybody about what Jack saw – or what Jack has.
That night Davies receives a strange invitation to meet with a mysterious stranger. Although he’s sure it’s a bad idea, he goes anyway. Much to his surprise, the stranger turns out to be none other than ADMIRAL DAWSON – commander of a fleet that just arrived to reinforce the station in this time of war. Dawson explains to Davies that the USS – and the nefarious Corporation which has so much sway over it – has been developing a biological weapon for thirty years, a biological weapon that was somehow unleashed on Al T’Har. With a cure available that precious weapon will be useless, and so the President of the USS and CEO of the Corporation declared war. Dawson has no idea what either body would need such a weapon for after so many centuries of peace, but he assumes it can’t be for anything good. He asks Davies to defect with him, to come to his base and join him in open rebellion. Dawson says that he knows that Davies has the cure, and Copley knows as well, and Davies’s life is in danger. Davies considers this.
He decides to go with Dawson but he wants Robert to come with him. Johnson is skeptical and doesn’t trust Dawson. He wishes to remain loyal. Finally Davies angrily leaves and meets Dawson just as Al T’Har launches a strike against the station. Dawson decides to withdraw with all of his troops to his base at GAULEIUS. This is an act of open rebellion and so he is forced to shoot his way out of the base in the film’s second major action sequence. Of course our heroes escape and arrive at Gauleius, a spectacular underground city: Home sweet home.
ACT II (Next sixty minutes)
We next see the seat of the United Star Systems and headquarters of the Corporation: MAGNAPOLIS! Here the CEO pays a visit to the President of the USS. The CEO implores the President to do something about Davies and Dawson; the President replies that all of his forces are tied down in the war against Al T’Har, but he gives the CEO carte blanche to use his forces against Dawson. The President proves himself ro be not quite as big a buffoon as the CEO expects
Back at One One Four, Johnson asks to be reassigned to Gauleius base after all. Copley answers with a flat ‘no’ – after all, Dawson is at undeclared war with the USS – and then asks that Johnson take a battery of ‘tests’ to determine what he knows about Davies. After Johnson leaves we discover that Copley and the CEO are in cahoots, as they discuss developments in their plan.
Meanwhile, Davies tours Gauleius base and meets his new wingmates. He has been assigned to the BLACK ACES, a small team composed of kind leader HAYDEN DOYLE, quiet and mousey HOLDEN GETTY, aristocratic (and domestic) WILLEM BOYD, obnoxious STEVE JAMESON, and angry outcast ‘HAWK’ MACY. Davies quickly learns that the Aces are one of Dawson’s most elite units, a special forces unit that Davies is entirely unqualified for. He has a tough time fitting in, and soon angrily demands Dawson to reassign him. Dawson explains that he sees great potential in Davies and wants to develop that by placing him with the best, even if it will be hard on our hero. Finally Davies relents, and he finally decides to give Dawson the cure so that it may be replicated before all-out war breaks out.
With cure firmly in hand, Dawson confronts the President and prepares for battle, even as Davies keeps trying valiantly to fit in with his crew. Unfortunately, it seems the only one interested in being friends is Macy, who takes pity on Jack. Soon all of this is shoved aside as the Aces are called into action. The first great battle of the war will be at MACGUFFIN BASE, an underwater starship manufacturing center. The Aces’s job will be to infiltrate the station and disable its weapons and counter-measures systems so that Dawson’s bombers can make a run at it.
The crew suits up and heads out. At the same time, the President prepares to make his State of the Union Address to the Senate and people of the USS. As he begins to speak Davies and crew are splashing down and streaking towards the base.
Soon they have glommed on to the hull of MacAffee base and are attempting to cut through as battle rages around them. Suddenly, however, something goes wrong; their ship is hit by flying debris and Hayden Doyle is killed instantly. Now their ship is being torn apart by pressure and they barely manage to escape into the outer shell of MacAffee Base before their ship is destroyed.
There goes their way out.
Back at the United Center, the President makes a shocking announcement: not only is Dawson rebelling, but the President has decided to join him! The USS will lay down its arms against Dawson and pick them up against the Corporation and the CEO.
Of course, the Black Aces don’t know this. They move along a catwalk until coming to an airlock – but after they open it they are doused with rushing water, as they have apparently opened the door to a flooded section of the base. The water sweeps them back onto the catwalk – and sweeps both Getty and Davies over the side. Getty falls to his death and Davies just barely holds on with Macy’s help.
Steve and Willem can’t get the airlock closed alone, however. Finally Macy has to let go and speed over to help them close the door. At the last second they succeed and Davies is pulled back onto the catwalk.
Moments later they emerge into a crowded hallway to discover that the battle is already over. The USS has stood down.
In the aftermath, Macy is promoted to interim commander until they decide whether or not to disperse the remainder of the Black Aces. Dawson and the CEO both meet with the President. It’s made clear that Dawson and the CEO have a history together; after the CEO leaves, it’s made clear that Dawson and the President don’t like each other. Nonetheless, the President appoints Dawson commander of his armies. The CEO returns to speak to Copley one last time before they’re officially on opposite sides of the war. They muse about their past together – specifically, the TRIUMVIRATE they had formed with Dawson to create the disease and control the USS. Apparently Dawson had left them – and not amicably, to be sure.
Some time later the Black Aces finds out that they are not being broken up at all – instead they’re getting a new member! Robert Johnson has finally been transferred. Davies isn’t as thrilled as Robert expected, however; he still feels betrayed by Robert and soon feels jealous of how well and how quickly Robert integrates with the rest of the flight group.
Soon, however, everything is thrown topsy-turvey when the Senate overrides the President’s decision to go to war. In a televised address the President announces he will step down to carry on the fight, and tries to rally the troops to his cause. At that moment there is a terrible explosion and the Presidential tower comes tumbling down. The President, of course, is dead. This sparks a rash of bombings across Magnapolis and a great deal of violence. Martial law is declared. And the combined forces of the Senate and CEO prepare for war.
ACT III (Final forty minutes)
Davies rallies his troops with a stirring speech. He then instructs the Black Aces on their vital mission. The fleets will be battling over Magnapolis; the Aces, meanwhile, have to infiltrate the CORPORATE TOWER and hack into their computer systems, causing a chain reaction that will lead to the destruction of the Tower and the underground factories where the disease – along with other weapons – is manufactured. In order to do this they will have to find and capture the CEO, who will almost certainly be waiting for them in his office on the top floor.
After the briefing Dawson calls Davies over. He gives Davies a special device that will allow him to communicate with Davies directly, and tells Jack to bring back the CEO – alive. When they’ve all gone, Dawson’s second-in-command – EXLER JOGGINS – asks why Dawson would entrust Davies with something so important. Dawson’s simple answer: ‘He trusts me.’
The CEO confronts Dawson for one last time. He says that they created the disease to fend against an ‘ALIEN THREAT’; Dawson says it was to obtain power. The CEO questions Dawson’s motives for leaving the Triumvirate and he questions Dawson’s motives for leading the charge against the Corporation now.
After this exchange the fleet launches and heads for Magnapolis. Macy explains the Aces’s mission in greater detail. They will go in three ships – Steve and Willem in one, Davies in Johnson in another, and Macy alone in the third. They will auto-destruct and eject at different times over the same spot so that they won’t be noticed in the general melee, and will then meet up in a park outside the Corporate Tower and infiltrate the building together.
They wish each other good luck. Davies and Johnson argue a bit. And they prepare to fight.
The battle begins furiously, and it takes all the skill Davies can muster just to make it to the planet alive. Willem and Steve are the first to eject. Willem thinks it’s fun; Steve is scared shitless. Together they slowly descend toward the greenspace below them.
Meanwhile, Davies and Johnson are chased through the city in their fighters. Macy see them and goes to help, but by the time he arrives and blasts all but one pursuer, their vessel is damaged beyond repair – and their eject system won’t work. They climb out onto the wings and Macy comes to the rescue again in a thrilling action sequence that ends with the destruction of the final pursuer – and Macy’s own fighter. He and the others ride the smoking wreckage down and prepare to jump onto a pedestrian bridge thirty feet above a busy freeway. Macy barely makes it and, with roles reversed, Davies is forced to haul him up over the rail. He hesitates, though, as Dawson tells him through his communicator that there’s no time and he must leave Macy behind.
Steve and Willem, meanwhile, land to discover the way to the Tower blocked by the wreckage of buildings all around them. They decide that they have to hail a cab. As Macy, Davies, and Johnson walk the last few blocks to the Tower, Steve and Willem pile into a vehicle driven by the colorful cabbie LEO – whom, as it turns out, is a jewel thief. Pursued by the police even in the midst of battle, they are themselves led on a crazy chase through the city, eventually crashing into a shopping centre next to the Tower. As they flee, chased by police, Leo offers to help them – he is, after all, a former Corporate employee.
They all converge upon the Tower at the same time and a huge firefight breaks out. Davies and Johnson rush off together to find a way to the CEO’s office; Macy and the others are chased into a stairwell.
The CEO, meanwhile, has a final confrontation with Copley. Seems the old Admiral has just won the war against Al T’Har but will NOT be sending reinforcements as promised. He can see the way the battle’s going and wants to be on the winning side. The CEO is left to fend for himself.
Davies and Johnson arrive, then, at the CEO’s office; Dawson begins coaching Jack through his communicator. Johnson contacts Macy through his own communicator and tells Macy to find a computer to hack; in a brief scene of swashbuckling action, Willem and Steve and Macy and Leo escape their pursuers and literally swing into a computer lab.
Davies and Johnson confront the CEO in the film’s climactic scene. In a tense scene of dialogue, Davies orders the CEO at gunpoint to provide the necessary access codes to allow them to destroy the building. The CEO pleads to be heard and Johnson says he should have his say – Davies disagrees. The CEO, nonetheless, persists. He says that a Triumvirate – himself, Copley, and Dawson – discovered the disease at the same time they discovered an alien race slowly preparing to destroy humanity. They discovered that the disease, painful and often fatal to humans, was capable of wiping out hundreds of aliens in mere minutes. They have been developing the disease and their own cure under strict secrecy, but had to destroy Al T’Har when it discovered a cure itself – a cure that, ironically, could mean humanity’s destruction. Now Dawson, seeking power for himself, wants to destroy not the disease but the cure. Dawson has already ordered hundreds of freighters to begin spreading the disease throughout the galaxy. With both Al T’Har and The Corporation out of the picture, Dawson will be the only one in possession of the cure – the cure Davies so freely gave him. He’ll be able to use that to get untold power bestowed upon him.
Dawson, through the communicator, tells Davies it’s not true; it’s the CEO that wants the power; it’s the CEO that ordered those ships to spread the disease. Johnson, on the other hand, believes the CEO and begs that Davies bring him back to Dawson for questioning before destroying the Tower. Ultimately, Dawson forces Davies to choose: to choose between his former friend and the father he never had. He chooses the latter and, with that, kills both Johnson and the CEO and uses the CEO’s limp dead hand to provide final access for the hackers.
Macy and the others arrive just as Davies is leaving the office, covered in blood and severely disturbed. Macy is disgusted and enraged by what he sees. Together they all file into a shuttle and make their way into space as the Tower explodes behind them.
EPILOGUE
Many weeks later, Dawson is confirmed by the Senate to be President of the United Star Systems; Exler Joggins is is Vice-President. Davies – the new Chief of Staff – has a final meeting with recently-promoted Major Hawk Macy.
We find out that Dawson did, indeed, use the disease to gain power; he is more Dictator than President. Macy is disgusted with the situation and tells Davies he is quitting the military and never coming back to fight for Dawson. Davies is left alone with his thoughts as the new Emperor accepts his throne.
THE END
Anyway, that's it. If your interest is piqued -- and you don't think the experience would be entirely worthless after reading the whole plot in five pages -- be sure to read the full version of TRIUMVIRATE SPECIAL EDITION. And if you do please leave comments on at least some of the chapters! I still check, y'know.
Thanks,
The Host
8/18/2004 2:35:06 AM
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