Story by David Elmer, DragonWriter17 and CN Winters
Written by David Elmer and CN Winters
Directed by DragonWriter17 and CN Winters
Produced by David Elmer, DragonWriter17 and CN Winters
Edited by Sharon Kierein and DragonWriter17
Art Direction by CN Winters
Artists - Emily, Libbi, Nick, Rob and CN Winters
Cut to:
Ext.
Sunnydale wasteland – Day
After finally prying themselves away from each other, Jocasta and Katherine returned to the area immediately surrounding the now-flaming wreckage of the High Command’s Sunnydale lab. Casting one final glance back at the spot where they’d had their final conversation with Aurora, the two women linked hands and then walked up the transport’s ramp and into its belly.
Cut to:
Int.
Assault Transport – Troop Bay – Moments Later
Jocasta and Katherine braced themselves against one wall of the troop bay as Antonia powered up the transport’s engines and lifted it into the sky.
"I’d better get up to the cockpit," Jocasta said to Katherine.
Katherine nodded.
Cut to:
Int.
Assault Transport – Cockpit – Moments Later
Giles was just strapping himself into his seat in the cockpit when Jocasta came in, bracing herself so as to not be bowled over completely by Antonia’s erratic and exuberant flying. When she spotted Giles, Jocasta made her way over to him.
"You okay?" she asked.
Giles nodded. "A bit winded, but fine," he said. "The important thing is that we thwarted the High Command’s plans."
"That we did," Jocasta agreed with a grin. However, she quickly turned serious. "But what now, Giles? We destroyed Tyrell-and-Company’s Project 314, but what happens next?"
Giles sighed. "The hard part: reporting the High Command’s actions to the Command Council."
"Do you know what you’re going to say? To the Council, I mean?" Jocasta asked.
"I’ll tell them the truth, although I don’t know if it’ll do much good. Despite being a megalomaniacal lunatic, Tyrell was right about the Council’s having lost touch with reality."
"I want you to know that Katie and I are willing to back you up in the Council if you need us to," Jocasta said.
Giles reached out to steady Jocasta as Antonia suddenly accelerated.
"You’d better strap in," he said. Jocasta shot her cousin a disapproving glare, which only served to widen Antonia’s smirk.
"I guess I’d better," Jocasta agreed sharply and kept her stern eyes turned to Antonia.
Cut to:
Ext.
Sunnydale Wasteland – At the same time
On the ground, a semi-charred hand thrust its way upwards through the still-burning debris that had been the housing structure for the High Command’s Project 314. The appearance of the hand went undetected by any of the assault transports, which were steadily disappearing on the horizon.
Fade to Black
End of Teaser
Guest starring Bonnie Hunt as Veronica Wyndham-Price, Harris Yulin as Morgan Travers, Emma Caulfield as ANYA
Cut to:
Int.
Watchers Council – Lobby of Gray Sector – The Next Morning
Jocasta Rosenberg entered Gray Sector, glancing around her as secretaries, technicians, and other Council employees bustled here and there.
"Good morning," a voice called from behind her. She turned to see Colonel West, her second-in-command, smiling.
"Good morning, John," Jocasta replied cheerfully.
"Giles came by about five minutes ago. He needs to talk to you," West said.
"Thanks for the message. I’ll go see him," Jocasta said. As she walked away, she muttered "And so it begins."
Cut to:
Int.
Watchers Council – Outside Giles’s Office – Moments Later
As Jocasta entered the wing of the Council Headquarters that housed Giles’ office, she seemed distracted as if preparing a mental list of all that pertained to the High Command’s attempt to resurrect Project 314. She was so lost in her thoughts that she didn’t notice another person heading her way until he crashed headlong into her, jarring her back to reality.
"You’re excused," she muttered to herself as she watched the person hastily disappear around a corner. Pushing the incident aside, she continued her journey towards Giles’s office. When she arrived, she found the door open but still tapped it lightly to get his attention.
"Come in," Giles said, looking up. Jocasta could tell from the lines wrinkling Giles’s forehead that something was wrong. Gingerly, she pushed open the door and entered.
"Morning, Giles," she said. "You okay?"
"I’m fine," Giles replied, although she could tell from his tone that he was anything but well.
"Are you sure?" Jocasta asked.
Giles sighed. "I’ve just had an interesting conversation with Morgan Travers. The man is as insufferable as Sean Rayne. He called the report I’ve compiled on the High Command and Project 314 ‘fabricated lies’ and insinuated that I’m trying to discredit Tyrell and the rest of the High Commanders for my own personal gain."
"West said you wanted to see me. Is that what you wanted to talk to me about?"
"Actually, no. I’m trying to schedule an emergency meeting of the Council for tomorrow. I’m planning on submitting my report on the High Command’s treason, and I’d like you to be there. Katie too, if that’s possible."
"I thought Slayers and non-Councilor Watchers weren’t allowed at Council meetings," Jocasta said.
"Under normal circumstances, they’re not, but these are far from normal," Giles replied.
"We’ll be there," Jocasta said firmly.
"Thank you Jo. Assuming the Council functions predictably, they’ll demand evidence to back up anything we tell them, particularly regarding the High Command’s involvement in Project 314. I’d like you to work on compiling said evidence," Giles said.
"Lots of shady types in the Council, ya know? Are ya sure you trust me?"
"With my life," he answered soundly. "Which might be the case if we don’t discover something to take to the Council."
"I’ll find it Giles. It’ll mean more work for Colonel West at the moment, but he can handle it, I’m sure," Jocasta said. "Actually, I’ll get Katie to help me out. With all I’ve got to do, it might be the only chance I get to see her this week."
"That’s an excellent idea. Just don’t get so starry eyed you forget the mission," he quipped.
"Ha, ha," Jocasta answered sarcastically with a smile before she turned to leave. She got to the doorway when she heard Giles call out.
"Jo," he said, getting her attention. "Thank you."
Jocasta gave him another smile upon hearing the sincerity in his voice. She gave him a formal salute by raising her hand to her eyebrow. "Sir, yes Sir." She began to chuckle and waved him off. "I’ll see ya later," she said casually before slipping from the outer door.
Cut to:
Int.
Watchers Council – Jocasta’s Gray Sector Office – Later That Day
Jocasta returned to her office and sat down at her desk. Pushing aside a small stack of documents pertaining to various aspects of her job as the head of Gray Sector, she booted up her computer and leaned back in her chair to think about how to begin her search for evidence. She hadn’t been thinking long when she was brought out of her reverie by the sound of a knock on the door.
"Hello? Is anyone in here?" Katherine asked.
"Come in, Katie," Jocasta said.
Katherine pushed open the door and came in, giving Jocasta a smile.
"H-hi," she stammered, suddenly finding herself a bit insecure around Jocasta. "Did you have a good night?"
Jocasta nodded. "Slept like a baby. Of course, it wasn’t all that hard when I was dreaming about a certain beautiful blonde Slayer."
Katherine reddened and Jocasta smiled.
"You’re cute when you blush. Naturally, it would’ve been better if I’d had the real thing with me and not just my dream Slayer," she added.
Katherine’s cheek color deepened again, and Jocasta fought the temptation to giggle by looking down at her computer screen.
"I’m sorry," Katherine apologized.
"That’s okay," Jocasta said looking up to meet her eyes. "I know you’re busy. We both are. Wait a second. You are busy, right? That’s not just some awful excuse like washing your hair, is it? I mean, you’re not really avoiding me are you, because I don’t want you to feel like-."
"No avoidance," Katherine answered without pause in a reassuring tone. "I swear. If we could pull it off, I’d see you everyday."
"Good, good," Jocasta said as she nodded and beamed from across the desk. "Actually, I’m glad you came by. It saves me from having to find you."
"Why?"
"There’s a Council meeting for tomorrow and Giles wants us to be there. He’s planning on presenting a report detailing the High Command’s attempted coup, and he wants us to act as corroborating witnesses," she said.
"Did he give you an exact time?" Katherine asked.
Jocasta shook her head. "No, he didn’t. By the way, he also assigned me to gather evidence to back up our reports, and I was hoping I could persuade you to help."
"Well, what do we need?" Katherine asked.
"A small miracle," Jocasta answered with a nervous but hopeful grin.
"Small, huh?" Katherine teased as she looked at her watch. "I think I can fit that in before lunch. A big miracle might take a while longer."
Jocasta gave her an appreciative smile.
Cut to:
Int.
Watchers Council – High Command Tower – Same Time
Horatio Tyrell sat in silence, listening as several of his fellow High Commanders ranted and raved at him from the darkened shadows of the room, unseen.
"You’ve cost us much," a masculine voice told Tyrell from the corner. "You severely underestimated the Command Council and because of your incompetence, we’ve lost out on years of work and research. Plus, we’re most likely going to be watched much more closely once Giles reports our activities."
Perhaps emboldened by his colleague’s frankness, another High Commander rose from his seat and joined in.
"Where’s that friend of yours Sean Rayne? He shares as much blame for this debacle as you do, Tyrell. His incompetence in entrusting his Slayer to help with the autopsy of the renegade unit is what blew the whole thing wide open."
"Gentlemen, gentlemen. Calm down," Tyrell interjected. "As much as your little accusations and blustering amuse me, you’re blaming me for actions that I had no involvement in. I tried to stop Giles and his allies in the Progenitor Room, but they overpowered the guards and escaped. I had no way of knowing how much they’d been able to discover. Anyway, what’s done is done. Our Project 314 facility may now be nothing but rubble and debris, but we’re not finished as an organization quite yet."
At that moment, Morgan Travers entered the room. Casting cursory glances at some of the other men in the room, Travers went straight to Tyrell.
"I apologize if I’m interrupting anything important, Horatio, but I’ve got news. It seems our friend Sebastian has an emergency meeting of the Command Council. I’ve just come from his office, where I read the report he’s compiled concerning Project 314-- a report he plans on presenting at this meeting."
Several unseen High Command members sighed and groaned at the news.
"Despite being doddering old fools who have lost touch with reality, there is a chance that the Council will believe Giles’s report, in which case heads will roll," Travers said.
"I’m already aware of the meeting and planned to be there myself. I can assure you, we’re in no danger. You concentrate on our other project and leave Giles and the Council to me," Tyrell said.
Cut to:
Int.
Watchers Council – Jocasta’s Gray Sector Office – Later That Day
Jocasta sat at her desk, head bent as she stared intently at her computer screen and scrolled down file after file. A few feet away, Katherine was in a similar position. They logged onto the Council’s overall message network and searched through the most recent files, paying particular attention to those files and messages posted to the network by members of the High Command. They searched files over the past week, in the hopes of discovering something that they could use as evidence of the High Command’s treason and the existence of Project 314.
Katherine looked up from her computer screen and caught Jocasta looking at her. She blushed slightly, got up, and walked over to Jocasta’s desk.
"Find anything?" she asked.
Jocasta shook her head. "No. Did you?"
"No, nothing," Katherine said
"It’s frustrating. You’d think that, knowing what we now know, we’d be able to find something that’d throw up red flags, but they’ve covered their tracks too well. Tyrell may be a slimeball, but he’s a smart slimeball," Jocasta said.
Katherine could see the look of pure irritation on Jocasta’s face.
"Come on. We shouldn’t lose hope yet," Katherine told her optimistically. "There’s no way the High Command could cover their tracks completely. We’ll find what Mr. Giles needs. We just have to keep digging harder, like we did when we found the Progenitor File."
The mention of the Progenitor File seemed to spark something in Jocasta, and Katherine watched Jocasta’s lips curve.
"Ah ha!" Jocasta said, wagging a finger in the air. She jumped up and raced out of the room, with a slightly puzzled Katherine on her heels.
Cut to:
Int.
Watchers Council - Computer Center – Moments Later
James sat at the desk with the AnyaBot, both of them focused on a monitor in front of them. Locked into a game of virtual chess, neither was paying any attention to the events of the outside world. James, feeling a little cocky, had just devised a strategy that he felt could help him win. With a smile on his face, James made the next move.
"Okay. I think I’ve got you this time," James said.
The AnyaBot was not at all discouraged by James’s remark. "We’ll see about that, won’t we?"
As Anya made her move, she smiled. "You’ll be checkmated in the next five moves."