[Sound of laser cannons firing, darkness lifts onto a scene of battle]
“Hold your fire! Wait for the next mindworms to show themselves. Be on your guard, and do not let the fear overtake you.”
[Battle continues, first line is overrun, see gruesome shots of death by mindworm infestation]
[Cut to behind the lines, rover captain {Richard Baxton} and force commander at the edge of the settlement.]
“Our men and women are going to be slaughtered out there! This garrison has little training, and no more than one in ten has faced mindworms before.”
“We will have to abandon the colony. Take your rovers and report back to Commissioner Lal at Headquarters. All of the civilians should have reached the rover station by now. Take as many as you can.”
“No. We don’t have enough to save even half the population of this settlement, and your men will all die out there.”
“If you don’t run, we’ll all die here, the little children as much as me. The U.N. Mission is paramount. We have to preserve as much as we can.”
“What if we took the rovers into the fungus itself? The mindworms’ greatest weakness is their slow speed, and we are protected somewhat against their attacks by the glass. We could distract them, hold them off, maybe long enough for your forces to take the civilians out of here and into the open plains, far away from any fungus.”
…etc. I figure, plotwise, it would be a good idea to intertwine the factions a bit more than in the actual game, have them kind of be competing groups within a disorganized human nation rather than completely different settlements. They can still fight with each other, send out colonies of their own, etc., but they would in theory be united in the Planetary Council.
The break down of the command structure and factionalization would make a very involved plot. Seeing all the leaders waring for power and ideology amidst the daily struggle for basic survival and wrestling with the faceless mindworm horror. =o
EDIT: I was outside having a smoke and writing it in my head, this is what I came up with.
Start out with something similar to the opening sequence to the game. Deffinetely use that quote from the very Genesis, 'And so man was cast out of the Garden..', that's some really powerful stuff. Then, you know, civilization breaking down and the quick explanation, 'in the closing years of the 20th century blah blah blah'. The Spaceship flying through space, then the opening credits roll and the camera pans to see the see the stars wiz past and the wonders the galaxy has to offer (probably somewhat inaccurately, since Aplha Centauri is the closest star, but only the super-geeks are going to care, it's just representational.) Then it pans and we see Planet come into view, the twin stars comming out from behind it and illuminating the words 'Alpha Centauri'.
The camera descends into the atmosphere and gradually raido transmissions are audible and become clearer, indistinguishable military sounding stuff then once it's decipherable, we see the recon rover scooting around and hear his transmission. "Roger that, command. Recon1 returning to base."
Base: Negative Recon1, hold your position. Just a second... the sensors are picking up some odd readings out in that area, you seeing anything? Over.
The camera reaches the rover, by now. We take Rick's view and he looks around from the cockpit. Then the camera moves out and we get a closer look at the Xenofungal outcropping he's patrolling along.
Recon1: That's a negative, command. All's quiet out here. Suggesting they might be malfunctioning, again? Over.
We start seeing movement in the Xenofungus, but it's not clear what the movement is.
Base: Yeah, it's the same one as last week. But the diagnostics seem okay. What the? Delta wave emissions? That doesn't make any sense. Yeah, they must be. You are cleared to return to base, Recon1. Over.
A mind worm boil creeps out towards the craft.
Recon1: Roger that...
He notices and the boil as it lunges towards him. He starts taking evasive action. Manuvering to try to put the creatures in the line of his weapons.
Recon1: Negavtive! Negative! Command, alien lifeforms spotted. What the hell are those things??
Images of various horrors flash over the screen and the sound of screaming becomes apparent.
Base: RECON1? RECON1? Status report? Rick, what the hell's going on out there?
Recon1: AAAAAAAAAHhhhhhhhh! Jesus! Command, these have got to be those Mind Worms we've been hearing about.
Rick regains composure just in time to shake loose the worms. Occasional horrors flash on the screen but Rick steels himself and shuts them out, whips around and blasts the boil.
Recon1: Command, I have a confirmed kill. Damn! My rover's damaged, I'm heading back in.
Base: Afirmative! Rick, sensors are going crazy out there get back to base immediately... *static*
Another boil he spotted and skirmished with takes out his antenna and the camera pulls back to show the entire Xenofungal outcropping comming to life and Rick realizes he doesn't stand a chance either way and so takes the waves of mindworms head-on.
Seems sorta corny, when I write it. Needs a little sharpening and I think that would work pretty good. x_X
