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Page 5
EXT. TATOOME - STRIPMALL - FRONTAGE ROAD – DAY
From the roof of a stripmall store, perpsective makes the Camaro look tiny. In the foreground two exceptionally large and
rag-shrouded Strand People lie on the roof, trying to be inconspicuous, and they peer through binoculars at the car. One
of the only tangentially-human beings raises a heavy rifle with a laser sighting, and aims it at the vehicle, but the second
Strand Person puts his hand on the barrel and forces it to point down and away.
The Strand People, or Raiden Barbarians as they're often called, speak in an untintelligible language between themselves,
and appear to get into a heated argument over whether or not to shoot and wreck the Camaro. The second Raiden Barbarian gets
the final word and they scramble down from the rooftop and disappear into the back alley.
EXT. TATOOME - BACK ALLEY OF STRIPMALL
The Raiden Barbarians approach two huge and intimidating motorcycles of no particular make. The bikes have been repaired
and redesigned, and put together from whatever is available, a conglomeration of chrome and rust, with disturbing elements
of bone and other unidentifiable bits and pieces dangling everywhere on them. Even as inanimate objects, they seem to radiate
menace. The Raiden Barbarians mount dark-stained and cracked leather saddles, and take off down the alley.
EXT. TATOOME - SOMEWHERE OUT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE FIELD OF PARKING LOTS
The Camaro is parked out in the middle of a parking lot. Lance, armed with a shotgun, stands in front of Aryoo.
LANCE: Yo! Just where the hell do you think you're going?
The short rivethead tinkles gently in reply, as Thirteenpio glares at him from behind Lance.
THIRTEENPIO: Man, Lance is responsible for us. Couldn't this have waited until we'd sorted out the whole indenture thing?
Aryoo shakes his head, jingling quietly, as Thirteenpio steps around Lance to confront him.
THIRTEENPIO: Look, no more of this Obi Fora Kimono bullshit.....and I don't want to hear about any mission, either. You'll
be lucky if he doesn't just kneecap you right now.
LANCE: Oh, I don't know if I wanna do *that*, just yet. But it is getting late. I just want to get back before Uncle Paddy
blows a gasket.
THIRTEENPIO: Still, if you don't mind me sayin', I think you ought to at least blow out one knee, on general principles.
Fuck him up some, see if he’s still stubborn.
Thirteenpio winks at Aryoo while Lance nervously looks around to check their surroundings.
LANCE: No, he's not going anywhere now, are you, Aryoo?
Aryoo starts to shake his head again, then jumps as if someone had just walked over his grave. He starts to clank and jangle
agitatedly.
LANCE: Oh, crap, what's wrong with him now?
Thirteenpio and Aryoo have both become ultra-still, listening intently to something on the wind.
THIRTEENPIO: Oh my.....can't you hear that? There's something coming....
Lance shakes his head, but swings his rifle into position and tries to identify the threat, still unseen. He twists back
and forth, attempting to look in all directions at once.
LANCE: Strand People! Oh man. Oh man, oh man, oh man. Oh man!
EXT. TATOOME - STRIPMALL ROOFTOP – DAY
Lance gingerly clambers to the top of the low-lying building, lies down in about the same spot where the Raiden Barbarians
had been not minutes before, and scans the vast parking area with his binoculars.
He spots the two parked motorcycles. Thirteenpio and Aryoo also climb up, and peer out over the lots.
LANCE: Those bikes are classic Raiden Barbarian bikes, but I don't see the riders....hang on....hang on.....Yep. I can see
one of them now.
Lance and the rivetheads watch the distant Raiden Barbarian, passing the binoculars back and forth between them. Thirteenpio
and Aryoo are pretty disconcerted with the way this person looks, even with themselves as a basis for comparison. All three
of them have their attention directed out towards the parking lots, when suddenly their problems become more immediate. A
shadow blocks out the sunlight, and chills them all. All three turn their heads, and see the large Raiden Barbarian standing
over them, ready to pounce. Thirteenpio reacts quickly, but in this case too quickly, as he rolls away from the threat and
rolls right off the edge of the roof, dropping painfully to the concrete below. He takes the binoculars with him, and as
he falls, they strike the large plate glass window, shattering it and spraying him with shards.
The oversized Barbarian, seeing his prey start to react, quickly strikes with a long, curved, weapon that is some peculiar
result of the mating between a club and a sword - the Raiden Barbarians are extremely skilled with these graffititti. Lance
barely manages to block the blow with his shotgun, which smashes to pieces in his hands, the shock of it riding right up his
arms. Terrified, he scrambles backward until he is on the very edge of the roof, trying to maintain his balance. The Raiden
Barbarian, sensing victory, pauses a moment to savour it.
Aryoo, with the Barbarian’s attention focussed for the moment on Lance, scrambles quietly into the relative shelter
and safety of the rooftop (and now long-defunct) air-conditioner, and tries desperately to pry open a panel, hoping he can
squeeze inside.
EXT. TATOOME - STRIPMALL ROOFTOP – DAY
Aryoo squeezes out of the air-conditioner duct, and belly crawls back to the edge of the roof as the Strand Person walks by
under him, carrying an unconscious Lance Nightwalker, and then dump him by the Camaro. The Strand People toss the car, tossing
things around like moles hitting paydirt. Then they stop for no apparent reason. Everything becomes eerily quiet for a few
moments, then a low, howling moan echoes across the industrial park, goosing the Raiden Barbarians and sending them scurrying
for their motorcycles. They jump onto them, and ride off with screaming tires.
Aryoo clings tightly to the roof, watching fearfully, and sees a shabby old man appear as if from thin air, and lean over
Lance. His cracked and craggy face surrounds deeply-set and gleaming eyes. Sylk Kimono squints at Lance, staring hard into
his face. Aryoo lets out his held breath, jingling softly, and Kimono turns abruptly, his eyes pinning Aryoo to the rooftop
immediately.
KIMONO: Hey you! Come down here. Don't worry about me, young man.
Aryoo clambers down, and somewhat reluctantly walks over to the Camaro, and kneels down by Lance to see if he's okay. He
looks up at Kimono and tinkles questioningly. Kimono touches Lance's forehead, and Lance starts to come out of it almost
immediately.
KIMONO: (looking at Aryoo) He's going to be okay.
Aryoo looks back and forth between Kimono and Lance.
LANCE: Huh? Wuh ha'uhnd?
KIMONO: Take it easy, boy. You've just survived being smacked upside the head by a Raiden Barbarian.
LANCE: Sylk? Sylk Kimono? Wow, imagine meeting you here.
KIMONO: You can't wander around the Weyland Wastes like it was some kind of playground, boy. What possessed you to come
out here?
LANCE: Oh, uh....this rivethead, man. Uncle Paddy bought out his indenture yesterday, but I don't think it took. He says
he's got a message for someone called Obi Fora Kimono. Is he a relative of yours, or what?
Kimono stares at Aryoo, scratching his chin in thought.
KIMONO: Obi Fora Kimono....Obi Fora? I haven't heard that name in donkey's years.
LANCE: Uncle Paddy said he was dead, and I got the feeling he didn't like him very much.
KIMONO: That doesn't really surprise me. But Obi Fora isn't dead; not yet, anyway.
LANCE: You *do* know him!
KIMONO: Well, yeah - he's me. But I haven't gone by Obi Fora since before they invented sliced bread.
LANCE: Then the message Aryoo's carrying *is* for you.
KIMONO: I don't recall knowing many rivetheads, not good enough for one of 'em to send me an actual person with a message....huh.....
He turns his attention to the stripmall, staring at it thoughtfully.
KIMONO: We'd better get inside. The Strand People startle easily, but they'll be back soon with the rest of the gang.
Lance rubs his head and wobblingly stands up. Aryoo tinkles a remonstrance, and Lance looks around.
LANCE: Whoops....We'd better get Thirteenpio!
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