On a mission to resupply troops on a distant moon, the 58th finds itself the target of advanced Alien germ warfare, which infects them with a self-destructive psychosis that turns them against one another and threatens to destroy them from within.
Synopsis
Vanessa Damphousse is under a preliminary inquiry by Ross for the "failure to obey an order" and "misbehavior before the enemy." She recalls this episode as she looks at the blood on her hand. The 58th is on its way to drop supplies on Planet Tartarus which has experienced the worst casualties since the beginning of the war; not from aliens, but from friendly fire. As they land, a private without a helmet is killed from behind by a Marine. The Marine stalks the 58th citing the following camp cadence, and is eventually killed by a laser mine (buzz beam); "Born in the woods, trained by a bear, double set of dog teeth, triple coat of hair, 'M-mean as hell,' 'A-all the time,' 'R-rough and tough,' 'I-In the mud,' 'N-never quit,' 'E-every day!'" As they retreat to the ISSCV, the 58th is hit with strobing lights which causes burns on their skin. Wang, in trying to kill a cockroach, ruins the radio. Damphousse, after seeing blood on her hand, feels covered in it and tears her uniform trying to get away from it. Hawkes, affected by his feeling of claustrophobia, can't stand to wear his helmet and tries to pull it off while outside. West could swear he hears a woman screaming. Vansen, afraid of the dark, insists on using her flashlight exposing the squadron's whereabouts. To fix the radio, all but Damphousse exit to locate a cluster of 'uplink proms' from the dead Marine's field pack. After the proms are collected, they enter a bunker filled with eight Marines who apparently killed one another. After evaluating the bunker massacre and their own experiences, the 58th discovers that the strobe lights release an electronic nerve gas which intensifies a person's greatest fears. Upon their return, Damphousse, unable to enter the radio room because of her intensified fear of blood, instructs Vansen on how to fix the radio. They succeed in making contact with McQueen and are evacuated from the planet. In closing, McQueen tells Damphousse that the Inquiry Panel has acquitted her of all charges and voted against further investigation.
In the wake of the assassination of the UN Secretary General (Earth's "President"), the 58th is assigned to protect the newly elected leader in the face of political intrigue and a subsequent plot to kill him. Synopsis The 58th Squadron's one week leave is canceled after the UN Secretary General Spencer Chartwell is assassinated by an In Vitro at New Delhi Stadium. Nicholas Chaput, acting world leader until the election, is in competition with Diane Hayden, US Ambassador, for the Secretary General position. Chaput comes aboard the Saratoga and demands, in view of the recent events, that Cooper and McQueen undergo a loyalty test.
On board the Saratoga, two more assassination plots are revealed; Nathan is requested by Chaput to evade his patrol during a secret meeting wi Hayden, and Cooper - who has been 'brainwashed' by the injection - is compelled to shoot at Chaput's swastika-like medal worn on his chest. Additionally, Shane encounters Silicates brought aboard as guests of Hayden's; namely, Feliciti 0H483 (Shane killed the previous model #597 on Bunuel after discovering she killed her parents.)
Cwirko, involved in the conspiracy w/ Hayden and Thompson, tries to shoot Chaput. He escapes Nathan by boarding a hammerhead; but, due to a malfunction, he is killed when his plane blows up in space. McQueen, released from prison after agreeing to complete the loyalty test, becomes aware of the plot against Chaput and prevents Cooper from being an accessory. Thompson is arrested for setting up Chaput, but Hayden escapes punishment. Eventually, she is elected Secretary General.
Nathan later discovers that Chaput was correct when he said the Board of Governors (Diane specifically) knew of the alien existence before the Tellus mission.
The 58th snags a disabled Alien warship and converts it into a "Trojan Horse" which takes them deep into the enemy camp for a surprise attack against a huge alien "mothership." The episode ends on a cliffhanger that finds our hero shot down and captured behind enemy lines.
Synopsis
Saratoga is attacked by alien bombers and left powerless for 10 seconds after being hit by a strange electrical charge. The responsible bomber hovers, apparently dead, 200 meters oft The Saratoga's bow.
Lt. Stroud, Krantz, and Webb analyze the ship but cannot inform the 58th if any aliens remain aboard. In spite of Sewell's attempts to thwart the 58th, they board the bomber and discover that it is 'alive.' Filled with a conducting gel made of bacteriohodopsin, the ship can 'heal' itself and transfer bioelectrics to and from the individuals flying it. By inserting their arms into the jell covering the console, the crew and ship can become 'one' in which speed and sequence are key.
Following days of practice, the 58th and McQueen set off for the Orange Alien Planet. They successfully return recognition codes sent by chigs passing by, but are unable to fool the satellite orbiting the planet... An all out battle ensues. Unable to successfully maneuver the ship in extreme battle, they board a life pod and are thrown into space just as the attacker explodes. Unable to steer, McQueen and the 58th tumble in space knowing they'll last as long as the air supply.
Taken prisoner by AI mercenaries working for the Aliens, the 58th struggles against all odds to escape from an organic 'living prison.' Synopsis After crash landing on Kazbek, a hostile planet in Alien territory, the 58th are taken captive by Silicates. Cooper and McQueen manage to escape after the crash. They vow to return for their comrades. Inside the Kazbek mining facility, the 58th are paraded by a group of prisoners presumably taken from the Vesta and Tellus colonies - one of whom reaches for Nathan! Screams his name! Nathan turns to see: Kylen, his long lost love.
On board the Saratoga, Commodore Ross and his crew are able to piece together a cyberspace model of the 58th's destroyed Alien bomber and learn the 58th used the escape pod. But where are they? They have been unable to locate them on the LIDAR. Back on Kazbek, Cooper and McQueen struggle to find where the AIs took the rest of the 58th. McQueen falls down! He orders Cooper to go on without him... Cooper hesitates, then leaves. Inside the prison, Wang, strapped to a "barber chair," is introduced to Elroy El 1327, a Silicate originally designed as a humor model. Elroy menaces Wang asking him for his name, rank, and serial number, then finally twists off the end of his finger, revealing an electric shock needle... In another part of the prison, Feliciti OH 924, the menacing AI (last seen in "Eyes" and "The Dark Side of the Sun"), enters the cell holding Damphousse and Vansen. She gives them a choice: one shall live, the other shall die - they must decide who it will be... Nathan is visited by Kylen, and she tells him to wait for her because she knows a way out - she loves him. She replaces the stone and leaves. Nathan is confused, troubled by something.
McQueen makes his way through the brush, searching for signs of the 58th. Hearing a noise behind him, he waits... then attacks a lone figure. They roll through the thickets, fighting. McQueen puts the weapon to the figure's head, ready to pull the trigger... it's Cooper! He couldn't find out where the Silicates had taken the WildCards so he came back for McQueen. "Time's runnin' out, Colonel," Cooper says, "We gotta find 'em." Nathan paces his cell and hears a sound outside. A MAN enters fromm the corridor and turns off the force field. Nathan is free, but he doesn't leave his cell. He doesn't know who to trust. Kylen appears! She beckons Nathan and he follows... After an encounter with an AI, Nathan and Kylen escape to freedom! Cooper and McQueen surprise an AI and kill it! To Cooper's amazement, McQueen begins to pull the dead creature apart. Inside a cold cell, Wang clamors to maintain his sanity by reciting his favorite Chicago Cubs. Elroy El eavesdrops; then mentions Louis de Jesus, a player who left for the Mets for the money. "But he left for the money," says Wang, "He was a traitor." Elroy concedes the point and ushers Wang out of the cell. Time for more torture. In the Outback, Nathan and Kylen walk together. Kylen wants to get as far away from the prison as possible, but Nathan tells Kylen that he won't leave his friends. Meanwhile, not too far away, Cooper and McQueen have completely dissected the AI; they use its parts to send an SOS call into deep space - hoping to reach the Saratoga. On board the Saratoga, a technician has received the signal... but the transmission has come over a Silicate radio channel, leading Commodore Ross to believe that it might be an AI trap. Not until the technician reads the actual message of the code - "Sailor's grog, Sailor's grog, Sailor's grog..." - Ross recognizes this phrase from a conversation he and McQueen had earlier ("Hostile Visit"), he is now committed to rescuing McQueen. Nathan and Kylen continue their trek away from the prison. Nathan says he's going back to rescue his friends and Kylen says he'll never make it. "There are chig patrols all around the prison," she says. Nathan looks at her again - something's wrong. Still working, fiddling with the AI, Cooper and McQueen discuss what it means to be a hostage... to be tortured. McQueen reveals to Cooper that he was tortured by Silicates during the AI rebellion. Cooper asks McQueen why he sacrifices himself for humans. McQueen answers that he does it so people can't ever say all In Vitros are cowards or lazy. McQueen reinitializes the AI's computer unit, which divulges the AI's "home location" - the prison! Back in the prison, Wang finally breaks under the torture from Elroy El. He tells Elroy he'll do anything he wants...
Shane and Damphousse sit next to one another in the cell and discuss who should live and who should die. As they talk, Damphousse notices a chig soldier in the shadows. The Aliens must be studying them, they postulate... examining human loyalties. A plan is in order... In the Outback, Kylen is keenly interested in the comings and goings of the Saratoga. Nathan, suspicious, gives her the information she needs. Once again she tells Nathan that he need not return for his friends. Nathan is furious! He leaves her and heads back to the prison. On the Saratoga, the Bridge has picked up Alien ships on the LIDAR. As the Saratoga prepares for battle, we learn that the fleet is heading away from the Butterfly Nebula - the same place where Nathan had told Kylen the Saratoga would be. Kylen is a traitor! With what is now a clear opportunity, the Saratoga sets a course for Kazbek to rescue the 58th. Back in his cell, Wang is cleaned up and set in front of a video camera. As Elroy El asks him questions, Wang confesses to war crimes. McQueen and Cooper find the entrance to the prison and gain access inside... Wang is now back in his cell and tries to remember his favorite Chicago Cubs but is too racked with shame. While Shane sleeps, Damphousse whispers to Brandon IM that she wants to be the one who lives. "When we return," Brandon says, "You must kill her."
Feliciti OH and her AI cohorts arrive at Damphousse and Shane's cell. They tell Shane that while she was sleeping, Damphousse chose to be the one who would live. Shane can't believe that Damphousse would betray her but Brandon IM plays back a recording of Damphousse saying she wanted to be the one who lives. Shane is beside herself in anger! She and Damphousse fight! Feliciti moves to stop it, but not before the Alien waves her off. The chig wants to watch them fight... Suddenly, the women attack the AIs! They overpower them and shoot the Alien. Elroy enters Wang's cell and prepares to kill him. Cooper saves the day, but Wang demands that he be the one who shoots Elroy El. Ross sends in a recon team to save the 58th. The rescue is on! Just outside the prison, the 58th find themselves in a firefight, when Kylen appears out of nowhere, calls to Shane and Damphousse to follow her. Nathan draws his weapon and kills her! It was a trap. The dead Kylen morphs into something hideously Alien. Damphousse asks Nathan how he knew. "I never told her your names," answers Nathan. An ISSCV lands and a recon team heads into the prison, one of these men, Sgt. Crossland, clearly has an ulterior motive as he exits the ISSCV. On the way home, the 58th prepare to be seen as a disappointment to the rest of the fleet for failing in their bombing mission ("Hostile Visit"). Back on board the Saratoga, the 58th receive a standing ovation! Commodore Ross tells them that they believed in an act which couldn't be done. With pride, he salutes them. Sgt. Crossland brings a mysterious package to Sewell. Sewell dismisses him, then opens the package so only he can see what's inside. He's scared.
Nathan is medavac-ed to the Saratoga, badly wounded after a fierce battle against the aliens which has apparently taken the lives of his comrades. As Nathan recovers, his memory returns. He then begins putting together the sequence of events leading to his evacuation, which reveal that the 58th is still alive. Nathan and McQueen then undertake a massive operation to rescue the 58th who still cling to hope while fending off superior enemy forces.
Synopsis
Nathan West is wheeled into an emergency room on the Saratoga, bleeding and clinging to life... and we learn from a nurse that the rest of the 58th Squadron, his friends, are dead. McQueen sits beside Nathan, laid up and unconscious. Nathan wakes up and asks what happened to the 58th? McQueen gently tells Nathan that he knows what happened to them. Nathan can't remember... In his hospital bed, in a state of delirium, Nathan experiences a FLASHBACK to the past when he and the rest of the 58th - Damphousse, Wang, Vansen, Hawkes and few others - are sitting down on the planet CER to medavac (Red Cross rescue) the 61st Division. The planet has highly-charged ionized atmosphere which makes it prone to many random lightning strikes! The 58th follow their orders and under Vansen's leadership look for survivors. Cooper finds one - Delgado of the 61st. The 58th move to help, but he's been booby-trapped by the Chigs - Delgado explodes! Nathan wakes up with a start! McQueen, who's been holding vigil, holds him down. He gently, and firmly, reassures him that the 58th are all dead. Nathan shakes his head. "No," he can't believe his friends are gone. Later that night, Nathan hears "Taps" coming from a faraway section of the Saratoga. As a twenty-one gun salute is held for the 58th, Nathan watches in agony as their caskets are jettisoned into space. McQueen sits at the foot of Nathan's hospital bed, trying to cheer him up. Nathan reveals that he keeps hearing a voice over and over... "Stay with the dead. Stay with the dead. Stay with the dead." McQueen tells Nathan that he has to try to move on with his life and forget about the 58th, as it's the only way to maintain sanity. Later that evening, Nathan has another violent flashback, which throws him into a convulsive state. Dr. Kanellos, the physician who has been caring for Nathan, grows concerned with the future of Nathan's mental health. He recommends to McQueen that Nathan undergo Electroconvulsive Therapy to erase his long term memory. When McQueen fears Nathan might not ever remember his own family again, Dr. Kanellos worries he might commit suicide if they don't go through with the procedure. In a last ditch effort to restore Nathan's sanity, McQueen plays Nathan a recording from the Saratoga Transmission Communications Log. In the recording, Nathan calls the Saratoga for help and says that everyone is dead. He's the only one alive. Nathan screams, "It's not true!" He twists and struggles in bed, knocking things over...the nurses have to restrain him. Nathan lies awake in bed, staring at the ceiling. He crawls out and hobbles down the hall until he reaches the 58th bunkroom. He looks around sadly at everyone's personal belongings until an unknown lieutenant enters and begins removing the 58th's personal belongings - stuffing it all into manila envelopes. Nathan tries to hide but is discovered! Nathan collapses to the ground! As the lieutenant tries to help him, Nathan has another FLASHBACK to the planet CER. Nathan and the rest of the 58th stumble upon Hatfield from the 61st. He's conscious but he's been booby-trapped by the Chigs. The charge is motion-sensitive so rescue is impossible. He pleads with the 58th to please shoot him and take him out of his misery. The 58th argue amongst themselves over whether or not Marines should kill other Marines. In a horrible moment, Hatfield tells everyone to get back and detonates the bomb himself. As the orderlies begin to prep Nathan for surgery, he continues to FLASHBACK. The 58th determine that the Chigs have been intercepting their frequencies, because when the humans call for help, the Aliens triangulate and ambush. That means they're cut-off from the Saratoga. The orderlies continue to prep Nathan - shaving his head, attaching electrodes to his cranium - readying him for the Electroconvulsive Therapy. In the FLASHBACK, the 58th decide to play by the Aliens' rules. "They ambush our Red Cross," Shane says, "Booby-trap our wounded...I say we give it back to them - eye for an eye." They decide to put the bodies of the 61st in their uniforms, make a distress call, and then cover the perimeter with motion-sensory Claymore mines. Ambush the ambush, as it were. Nathan volunteers to be bait along with the 61st. He stays with the 61st and makes a false distress call - the same one McQueen played for him earlier. The call that says he's the only one left alive. But as the Aliens advance on Nathan's position, one of the Claymore mines EXPLODES too close to Nathan! He's knocked out cold with the dead bodies! Nathan awakens from his flashback in a tub of blue restraining gel - a 21st century straitjacket. He screams out, "The tape...it was a trick...SOMEBODY!" No one heeds his cries. Nathan is now ready for the Electroconvulsive Surgery that will erase his long term memory. Colonel McQueen stands over him. Nathan tries to get McQueen to listen to him - the tape was a trick. McQueen tells him not to worry, as it will be over soon. Just before surgery, Nathan has another FLASHBACK. He sees Shane telling him to stay with the dead, stay with the dead. Nathan awakens, summons all of his strength, fights the anesthetic. He asks McQueen what matters to him (Nathan) most in the world. McQueen answers "Kylen," Nathan's fiancee. Nathan answers, "If you asked me whether she's alive, I'll tell you...I don't know - but I have faith. The 58th? I know they're alive. Now I'm asking you to have faith." McQueen has to make a choice. Back on the planet CER, the 58th have fallen back to supplementary positions - hoping for rescue. They receive an extraction signal but can't be sure it's real until they hear "Stay with the dead" repeated over and over. It's Nathan! Back on the Saratoga, the 58th thank Nathan for remembering them. He tells them how much he cares for them. We close the story with another burial at space, this time with the correct names on the caskets...
The 58th's ISSCV is crippled in a Chig attack and left to drift in the Eridanus region. Their makeshift Christmas celebrations are interrupted when the Chig fighter returns to finish the job. Synopsis Images of World War One dissolve into one another as Paul Wang, in a voice over, describes what has come to be known as "The Christmas Truce." British, French and German soldiers took a break from fighting on Christmas Day to bury their dead, exchange photographs and even play soccer. "The world," says Wang "had never seen anything like it before... and one hundred and forty nine years later, to the day... it's impossible to imagine ever seeing it again." And with that the screen dissolves into a fantastic space battle! A flight group of ISSCV's is scraping with a sortie of Chig fighters. As the battle rages, the 58th is hit! One of their thrusters is hit and locked into landing position! The ISSCV spins out of the battle! Out of sight!
The ISSCV spins! The choice is simple: shut down the engines and stabilize the ship or they will soon lose consciousness. However, if they shut down the main engine, there's the possibility of not being able to start it again... Nathan shuts down the engine and stabilizes the ship with the remaining fuel. Once the ship has stopped spinning, the Wildcards try to raise the Saratoga on the radio. No luck. It's dead. On board the Saratoga, McQueen watches the ISSCV's land. He counts them off on his fingers. No 58th. He grills the pilots on the flight deck for information concerning the last known whereabouts of the 58th. Stories conflict. No one seems to know what happened to them. McQueen demands answers. He wants ten SAR teams (Search and Rescue) teams dispatched to the area immediately. The damage aboard the ISSCV is extensive; they have to shut down the heat to save power for the radio and the cabin air systems. It's going to get cold soon. Shane takes note of the time and realizes it's twelve past midnight on December 25: Christmas. At that moment, McQueen's voice comes over the radio - he's searching for them. They attempt to call back but their transmitter is out - they can hear McQueen but he can't hear them. McQueen relays to the ISSCV that the Saratoga is conducting its search in the Procyon system. Wang sighs, brings down the optimism of the others: "We're not in the Procyon system. Far from it. We got kicked out in the firefight." The 58th toss around the idea of sending out a flare. Wang nixes it; they're drifting into enemy territory. A flare would announce their presence to the Chigs... On board the Saratoga, Ross confronts McQueen on his request for ten Search and Rescue units. "Searching for them in that vast a region of space would be the equivalent of finding a specific drop of water in the Mississippi River." McQueen vows to search anyway... Ross allows him to have three ships... with no fighter support. As the temperature drops in the ISSCV, the 58th huddle around the radio and wait to hear from McQueen. Suddenly, Chig fighters show up! The members of the 58th prepare for the worst... three Chig fighters circle the ISSCV, swarming, diving, then... Nothing happens. The Chigs leave. The 58th can only speculate as to why they were spared...
The ISSCV drifts through space. Shane decides that this is as good a time as any to distribute Christmas gifts. She passes them out to all the members of the 58th. Paul thanks her but tells her that he doesn't have faith anymore. He's seen too much killing... At that moment, an oxygen pipe breaks! The 58th figure they've lost at least another two hours of oxygen. Time's running out... McQueen maintains a vigil at the radio. He plays the 58th a recording from the Apollo Eight mission, when astronauts Bill Anders, Frank Borman, and Jim Lovell read from the book of Genesis to the people of Earth. The 58th is moved and uplifted by the reading. Later, in the ISSCV, Wang hears strange noises over the radio... It's Morse Code! He takes down the message then runs to the window. He uses his sextant to locate something, then gets a closer look with his telescope: A comet! Heading for the ISSCV! Cooper asks him how he knew it was there... Wang seems afraid of his answer: "I don't know."
McQueen grills the Saratoga's astronomer and radio person for answers. They are confounded: the transmissions have a distinctly inhuman quality to them. They contain coordinates that indicate the position of the comet Yanelli-Wimberly. McQueen ponders all of this... On board the ISSCV, the 58th questions Paul about the validity of the transmissions. Wang takes offense: "There's a comet barreling down on us," he says, "that we wouldn't know about if I didn't get these RIGHT!" At that moment McQueen radios the 58th with news that the Saratoga is tracking the comet as well. Commodore Ross, in a touching moment, begins to play a Delta Blues version of "I'll Be Home For Christmas" when suddenly - Strange signals come over the radio... Wang records then interprets them. It's telemetry data! Computations that, if followed, would allow the 58th to maneuver the ISSCV into the comet's gravitational pull. "It's telling us how to hitch a ride... In fact, back toward the Saratoga," says Wang. To follow the mysterious instructions however would require an act of faith. Not one of Paul Wang's strongest traits. But before any of this can happen however, someone needs to leave the ISSCV in a space suit to fix the angle of the engine damaged in the attack. In a revealing moment for Lieutenant Paul Wang, he volunteers to do it. He has faith. Paul leaves the ISSCV's airlock and floats in space! He has to race against the clock: he only has a few minutes of oxygen left in the suit... but he manages to right the engine! They have a shot at making it home!
On board the Saratoga, McQueen and Ross puzzle over the signal's origin. "You and I know where these signals originated," Ross says to McQueen. Indeed, its an enemy transmission. Ross believes it's setup, a trap set by the Chigs to ambush the Search and Rescue party. McQueen believes the signals are a gift. He urges the Commodore to dispatch a search team to Comet Yanelli-Wimberly. Ross finally grants McQueen his request. Back on the ISSCV, the 58th prepare for the 56 second burn they must execute to enter the comet's orbit. The guidance computers are out. Wang produces a sextant from his flight suit. "I'll guide you" he says," or, I mean... the stars will." The crew counts down before the burn. The air is tense as they strap themselves in for the ride. With only a minute to go, Shane re-offers Wang the Christmas present she bought for him earlier. He unwraps the gift - It's a paperback copy of "Romeo and Juliet." He's touched... The 58th take their places, the countdown starts... "Alright," Nathan yells, "let's get lit!" IGNITION! The ISSCV bucks! Then speeds toward the comet! They are carried into the comet's orbit! Their rescued by the Search and Rescue team! A Christmas miracle! Later, at a Christmas party in the Saratoga's Rec. Room, Cooper gives Shane a Christmas present: Three free games of bowling at the Saratoga's bowling alley. Paul attempts to give Nathan back his phototags of Kylen, but he's told to keep them. Wang decides to give them to McQueen... A symbol of Faith.
Cooper is offered an opportunity to cut short his sentence to the military by volunteering for a dangerous commando mission against the aliens. In so doing, details of his troubled past are revealed.
Synopsis
On a mysterious planet with two moons, Cooper and Major JACK COLQUITT assassinate a high level Chig officer from their hidden sniper nest. After confirming the kills, Cooper and Colquitt consult a hand-held electronic device. It reads: "Extraction at 208884. 00.43" With this information, Cooper prepares to follow Colquitt into the woods... but they're attacked! Colquitt is killed! Cooper "rabbit runs" from the scene, but is grazed in the head! He goes down! The last vision Cooper sees before losing consciousness are three Chigs proceeding towards their position... Cooper remains unconscious as the Chig soldiers advance on the downed Major Colquitt. An Alien fires an insurance shot into Colquitt! Hawkes wakes up! He can only watch as the Aliens butcher Colquitt into tiny pieces with a horrible-looking machete. He carefully reaches for his rifle and when the Aliens finish with Colquitt and advance on him, Hawkes leaps to his feet and blasts two Chigs before his rifle jams. He removes his trusty K-bar field knife and dispatches the third: quickly and quietly. The melee over, Cooper looks down at his partner and finds his dogtags: "COLQUITT. JOHN R. MAJOR" This image takes Cooper into a flashback... He's back on the U.S.S Saratoga, using the ship's firing range with Shane and Nathan. To the side, decorated with several sharpshooter ribbons is Major Colquitt. He watches intently as Cooper consistently hits the bulls-eye. Colquitt turns his attention from Hawkes' impressive shooting... to Hawkes himself. Back on the planet, Cooper has buried Colquitt in a shallow grave. He places all of Colquitt's equipment, including his rifle, into the grave. Cooper finds Colquitt's satellite communications box and types in: ENEMY ENCOUNTER. 1 CASUALTY. REQUEST NEW EXTRACTION #'S To which the reply is: EXTRACTION AT 201881. 02:15 Cooper navigates toward the new extraction point, then looks at his watch: It's 1:58. He has some time to kill... Suddenly gunfire explodes all around him! His gear comes loose and he loses his flat black box - his link to rescue! Six Alien soldiers descend upon his position, firing! He looks to the lake, thinking. Hawkes makes up his mind and takes a flying leap - into the water! As he ducks under the surface, evading Chig bullets, we flashback to ... An In Vitro birthing facility, the year is 2057. Hawkes' birth. He slides out of a recently depleted tank of amniotic fluid onto a cutting table of sorts. The In Vitro facility is not a warm, cheery place... As the "doctors" cut the umbilical cord that attaches to the back of his neck... Hawkes screams for a breath! We're back in the present and Cooper springs from the water and gasps for air. He's ringed by explosions. The Chigs are searching for him... He finds a foxhole but his gun is wet. It's useless. Suddenly, Cooper spots a WOMAN on the ridge. She simply stares down at Cooper and the dire predicament he's in. Cooper shakes off the image, then looks up at her again... She's gone! Cooper hides in the foxhole as the Chigs continue to "walk in" their artillery toward him. With each explosion, Cooper realizes he must make a run for it... He goes! Hawkes runs through a clearing, gunshots and artillery fire strobing around him. The strobing evokes another memory for Hawkes... Hawkes sits with twenty other In Vitros in a run down classroom. A strobing projector displays propaganda on the wall like: "To be monitored is to be free." and "America loves you. This is why you are monitored." Cooper, along with his classmates, accept all of this as truth... Cooper has reached a rocky area, and he hides from an approaching Chig soldier. He looks to his hand and remembers back to his training. He jumps the Chig soldier, twists his neck and kills him! Cooper tries to use the enemy's weapon but can't seem to get it right. He even tries on the Chig's helmet! As the enemy closes in on the defenseless Cooper, he looks down to the Chig rifle. It sparks an idea... Cooper digs up Colquitt's rifle, now he's ready to fight. As Cooper reads Colquitt's name from the side of the barrel, he flashes back to the Saratoga... Cooper sits in the interrogation room as Colquitt paces behind him. The Major explains to Cooper that since he's the best shooter on the Saratoga, he's most qualified to accompany Colquitt on his assassination mission. He offers Cooper an honorable discharge certificate in exchange for his help. "I know a judge sentenced you to the Marines," says Colquitt. "That's the ticket. "Go on this mission... and the Old Man'll sign it." The catch, however, is that Cooper will not be able to tell the 58th, his friends, that he's on a mission. If he dies on the planet, they'll never know what happened to him. The temptation of honorable discharge is too great. He accepts the mission. As Cooper hovers over Colquitt's grave, he sways from the head injury he received earlier. Once again, the Whore of Death appears. She beckons Cooper to come to her, teasing him sexually. Cooper responds until he sees her face: the skin of a white worm with orange eyes. Cooper recoils with terror and runs away! He runs into the woods, checking over his shoulder to see if the Whore of Death is behind him when... he sees a flashlight turn on in the distance and hits the deck! Cooper peers through his rifle barrel telescope to see a pair of Alien sentries examining the area. One of them has found the satellite communications box: Cooper's only means of returning to the Saratoga. He shoots them both dead with his sniper accuracy. He crawls forward and retrieves the flat black box. As before, he punches commands into it then examines the read-out: "No Response. Satellite Out of Range." This doesn't bode well for Cooper... Morning. Hawkes hasn't moved a muscle all night. He checks his satellite box. No luck. As the loneliness sinks in, Hawkes thinks back to the recent past and how he stole away into the night (like the Baltimore Colts) from the Wild Cards, his friends. He holds a look on Shane in particular. He doesn't know how to say good-bye to her. A CAW from a pterodactyl, an indigenous life form of this strange planet, snaps Cooper out of his trance. He watches it fly overhead, the memory takes him back to... The In Vitro facility. From behind the bars of his dorm room window, Cooper watches a bird fly. His expression reads fascination, then shifts as something very troubling occurs to him. Later, in the In Vitro classroom, Cooper raises his hand during a lesson. The Monitors are not pleased with this unorthodox act. Cooper asks a question: "Monitor? Who... who monitors the birds?" The Monitor answers: "I monitor the birds." To which Cooper answers: "Who... who monitors... you?" The Monitors exchange looks. Cooper is going to be a problem... A Chig soldier STEPS in front of Cooper! Cooper snaps out of his flashback! The Alien, though, is unaware of the Marine's hidden position. It walks off toward the woods. Cooper raises his rifle, ready to blast the Alien. The Chig, a wandering foot soldier, takes a moment to look up at the pterodactyl. Cooper hesitates. The Chig is watching the bird in the same way Cooper was earlier; he can't bear to shoot him and lets him move off. He squeezes his eyes shut and flashes back to the past... In his In Vitro dorm room, Cooper receives an anonymous note warning him that it has been overheard that he has been deemed "defective" and that he will be "erased." Later that night, a Monitor brings Cooper into the Birthing Room. They've "monitored" the onset of a head cold... The Monitor pulls a knife on Cooper! Cooper reacts! He kills the Monitor with his bare hands, swipes his pass card, then escapes into the harsh city. Cooper wakes up from his flashback to find the Whore of Death sitting only inches away from him. She shows Cooper that six Chig soldiers are approaching his position from the front... and six more are approaching from behind. Cooper's doomed. The Whore of Death smiles... With twelve soldiers advancing upon his position, Cooper readies his rifle to "semi-auto" position and prepares a smart grenade. He leaps out from cover and takes on the Chigs! He manages to elude all but two when his rifle jams! He makes a break for it, running for cover from the weapons fire erupting all around him. He turns a corner to find... a lone Chig. Cooper knocks his weapon away, but before they can get into it, a mortar shell sends them both flying into a dry river bed. As they both recover, Cooper removes his K-bar knife and prepares to make quick work of the Alien. The Alien throws up its hands: "Please don't kill me." Cooper hesitates, then resheathes his knife. The Alien and Cooper exchange mementos before going their separate ways to rejoin the fray. Cooper runs through a stream bed, then stops to administer the last of his medication. He's on his last legs. As Cooper examines his surroundings (which include a small, eight foot pool of water) an idea comes to him... A few moments later, we see three Chig foot soldiers tracking Cooper, one of which smells the repugnant human blood on a stray piece of Cooper's leftover gauze: "The Human is near." Indeed, Cooper is hunched behind a sapling waiting for the point Alien to come closer... closer... The Chig trips a trigger branch and the K-bar swings and nails it in the chest! Gas escapes! Cooper pulls the remaining two Chigs into the pool of water! In the water he pulls one Chig's helmet off, killing it instantly. The last Chig pulls its way out of the water and fights hand-to-hand with Cooper. Cooper kills it! After taking a breath, Cooper notices that the last Chig he killed was the same Alien with whom he swamped mementos. Cooper is saddened. Later that evening, Cooper sits among the dead. The Whore of Death approaches him - she points out a pair of Alien troop transports preparing to land - another nail in Cooper's coffin. She offers a hand to him - come with me. He reaches out to take it, resigned. Suddenly, the satellite communications box comes to life: "Extraction @ 205643. 18:42" Cooper has a new lease on life! He struggles to pull away from the Whore of Death but she fights him! He struggles with her, finally beating her off... She leans in one last time: "Until we meet again," she says in an unnatural voice. Hawkes moves through the woods without regard for his safety. He's numb. He returns to the spot where he and Colquitt cached equipment earlier. A few moments later, we see Hawkes in the scuba gear we saw him wearing in the teaser, preparing to enter the water. Before he descends, he holds the "Honorable discharge" document. He looks at it for a few beats, then tears it up. He moves into the lake and then dips below the surface, disappearing.
