(no subject)

[camwyn]

APPROXIMATE FIRST DRAFT OF 'RISE OF THE FALLEN' PLOT OUTLINE
THIS IS NOT EVEN ALPHA TESTING YET

PART FOUR: REMEMBER REMEMBER THE FIRST OF SEPTEMBER

Okay, so, we've got Sam going bugnuts in his room and the roommate sending images across. What I want to see in this part of the plot:

- Sam shows some initiative in his efforts to get help and keep away from the Cons
- The humans distinguish themselves- this plot is primarily about the robots but I want the humans to not suck, and in a movie full of giant robots, 'not suck' requires mere squishies to be screamingly excellent
- I was gonna say a return to Sam's parents, but it occurs to me that we may not need them; there is a certain humor to be had in "We're back from vacation- what happened?"
- A general feeling of September 1st, 1939. Here comes the enemy, we're screwed, we're going to go down fighting anyway.
- A turn for the severely sucky
- The glimmers of light

I also want to bring in Hound in this part, and maybe one or two other Autobots.

Sam's glyph pictures arrive in Mikaela's phone. Arcee isn't quite clear on what it says, but Bumblebee recognizes it very clearly, as the last Autobot to touch the Allspark. It's a mention of the Covenant of Primus and the Matrix of Leadership; Prime has to be told. The info gets relayed…

... such a pity that Soundwave is still monitoring communications for signs of the human boy or any humans in contact with Prime…

Soundwave reports to Starscream, as Shockwave is still off-world. Starscream realizes that if the boy is spouting Cybertronian information, he must be carrying the information they had wanted to use the Allspark shard for. Better to snatch the boy now and not bother blackmailing Prime into handing the shard over- not that he wouldn't love to see Prime humiliated, but if he controls the boy he can not only give the impression of doing what he's supposed to, but he can find the Matrix himself. And then, well, Emperor Starscream, woo. Time to go get that brat.

Sam is informed that the Autobots are on their way as fast as they can and to keep an eye out for Bee and Arcee and Mikaela. He hadn't realized she was on her actual way and freaks out because it puts her in danger; she gets cranky because she's perfectly capable of holding her own, thank you. They argue over the phone and Aymer has to come back into the room and grab Sam and tell him they're getting off campus now, because air raid sirens, hello.

They flee. Sam screams like a girl at the sight of a police car coming after him, and then screams again when it stands up, but OH HAI SURPRIES PROWL. Aymer is torn between sympathy for Sam and BEST DAY EVER because: Autobot. Prowl informs them that Shockwave is attempting a planetary interdict and there will be few, if any, more Autobots getting through. Most of his unit got smashed on the way in; he's pretty sure Hound is the only one who survived, but Hound's coming down elsewhere. They need to rendezvous with Bumblebee and Arcee now.

I may need to go back and have Aymer specified as being an art major. I would very much like him to have an excuse to have a Cintiq so that he can hand his tablet to Sam when Sam gets the idea that the Autobots need to know what's in his head. I also want to have him accidentally understand Cybertronian because of what's in his head. At any rate, Sam starts talking to Prowl, who explains as much as he can about what he's seeing. (Prowl's hologram, btw, is to be either Michael Clark Duncan or Temuera Morrison.) This is where we have Sam's Plea for Normalcy, followed by "... but it's not going to happen that way, is it." Prowl: It was never going to happen that way from the moment you first got in that car.

Long silence.

"Fine. Okay. Fine." More silence. "How far to Bumblebee?" He gets told. "Okay. Then I have time." Time for what? "Time to get as much of this, this, whatever it is out of my head. I know how this works. If I'm the only one who knows the big secrets I'm the big fat target hanging out in the middle of nowhere and I'm gonna get captured or killed or my brain get trans-reversed or something, I don't even know. Nothing good ever happens to the only person with the big secret. Give me something to write on. "

I… have just realized I really need to get Prime and Ironhide in all of this somewhere. I had assumed they were part of the fighting during the previous part, I just hadn't assigned them. Urgh. Well, this is pre-pre-testing after all. Anyway, this is a great point to cut to the solemn and terrible discussion between Prime and his oldest friend about what's happening and what they're facing, and exactly what it is they have to do, and how much trouble they've got. They discuss their resources, and then they stop as something occurs to Ironhide. Ironhide indicates that they may not be quite as borked as they think, but they're going to need one amazing delaying action if they intend to get the Space Bridge functional again before the Cons destroy everything they've fought for. When Prime tries to signal all the Autobots to let them know, Hound cheerfully informs him that he's thinking on much too isolated a scale, and that he just so happens to have come down among some humans who absolutely insist on getting into this- 'our war, their world'. Prime inquires as to who they are, and is pleased at the answer, although we do not get to hear it just yet. "Good. Bring them. We have a chance." But it's a slim, slim chance, and Prime acknowledges that as soon as the communication is broken; this is going to be a desperate fight even with that kind of assistance…

SPEECHY TIME. And no, it is not Optimus speechificating. It's a human military commander in Poland, informing his men that they are facing an impending invasion the likes of which their nation hasn't seen in seventy years. They're outgunned and out-teched, and their allies are in a similarly awful situation. But they are not without hope; they, and the rest of the planet, have been preparing for this day. What little they have isn't much, but it's going to have to be enough, because it's all they've got. As it was in the time of their great-grandfathers, so it is now: if they have to give their lives to these machine bastards, then they will give them Hell before they go. "Now saddle up. The cavalry rides in five minutes."

(If this were a movie I'd have cuts to similar scenes all around the world during the Polish commander's speech. Can we manage that?)