I hate it when an idea gets into my head. Here, now I'm done with this discussion.
Freespace: The Last Immortal
Movie Summary
We open on Tombaugh Station in the Ribos system. Below sits Ribos (#), a blue green world much like Earth. Through a subspace portal, a pair of Elysium transports tow the crippled SC Taranis to the station. From the windows, on lookers watch as the GTA captures its first Shivan warship.
Our Hero (O.H.) is a pilot of one of the fighters sent to escort the cruiser. Background information is filled in as they near the station.
Warnings go off in the CIC of the GTD Reliant, stationed to guard Tombaugh. A massive subspace portal opens near the station and the SD Lucifer appears. Reliant’s Admiral orders all fighters scrambled. Fighters pour out of the hanger bay, and as they do, the Lucifer responds in kind. Laser blasts light up the sky and O.H. asks if he should stay on post. He’s told to forget the cruiser, get into the fight.
Fighters explode around him, ships are going down, pilots are screaming over the comms. Even as he gets yet another kill, he is hailed by the Reliant. The great ship is taking a pounding from the Lucifer. Tombaugh is as well, and it’s only because both are there that they’ve lasted this long. Civilians are trying to get away, but there are so many Shivan fighters, it seems none can get through. O.H. is ordered to take data logs from the station, Reliant and anything else with sensors and bug out. O.H. protests, but the Admiral orders him more forcefully.
With the data uploaded to his fighter, O.H. looks back on the battle. The Reliant explodes as the Lucifer hits it with a beam weapon. With a slam, he activates his jump drive and disappears into a portal. . .
He then wakes up in a transport. Across from him is The Chick (TC), the female protagonist (and possible love interest) of the film. They talk quietly for a bit, TC confirming that 1) she is a new pilot for Random station, 2) her original training is in psychology and 3) Odds are good everyone on Random will know he’s the last member of the 10th Immortal squadron. The last part bothers him the most.
On the station, civilian side. Lots of people, human and Vasudan wander around. OH not exactly happy to see the Vasudans, but takes interest when a human and Vasudan start getting into an argument. He and another Vasudan, Quarter Master (QM), break them up (and OH tells the human that the Vasudan will BREAK him). QM is an officer, responsible for transferring Vasudans through the station and to their various colonies after the destruction and escape from their homeworld.
One last stop at the Admiral in charge of Random. He confirms that there has still been no response from Earth since the Lucifer was destroyed, and the Shivan threat seems to be diminishing. In the meantime, OH is named squad commander (despite objections) and to get to work, now.
In the hanger we are finally introduced to The Asshole (TA) who is second in command of the squadron and doesn’t like OH coming in and taking over. He also messily hits on TC (Earth’s gone baby, we need to repopulate or something). All this ends when a Shivan Demon class destroyer appears and attacks.
OH and the rest jump in their fighters and back out into combat, but OH is having trouble concentrating. Flash backs to the Lucifer and the masacure at Tombaugh bother him throughout the fight, and eventually he’s hit enough to lose control of his fighter. He swerves off, and notices a Shivan transport bearing down on the station, but can’t do anything as he crashes into the station himself.
He wakes up a bit later and crawls out of his wrecked fighter into a now force field sealed section of the station. The space battle is apparently over, so he crawls to the hallway where he runs into a squad of Terran and Vasudan Marines. OH is told the battle is over and the Demon left, but the Shivan transport crashed into the station and Shivans are all over the place, killing people and sabatoching equipment. Oh, and the Admiral and the rest of the command staff were killed by errant missiles or something.
Together they start making their way back through the station. At one point, one of the Vasudans and one of the humans get into an argument, and the Vasudan picks him up by his neck, only for the whole group to be interrupted by a Shivan. They kill that Shivan, only there are more coming, so they run. Eventually they get to a very large door and another group of Marines. They fire into the Shivans until everyone (who is alive) gets behind the door then slam it shut. Then the automated defenses come online on the Shivan side. There was much rejoicing.
In between running and gunning Shivans, we return to TC and TA, who are panicked about the death of the Admiral. It appears QM, being the most senior military officer on the station, has taken command, and TA doesn’t like it. TC is actually worried about OH, not because she likes him (OF COURSE!), but because she had orders from Command to try to figure out why he’s not up for being made a big damn hero for Tombaugh (GTA Command, still not getting it).
Anyway, OH returns, QM admits he isn’t really command type, but OH doesn’t want to take over (despite now being senior Terran officer on the station). He finds out about TC’s extra orders, and is pissed. Lots of yelling. Also we’re told that the long range comms are down and any attempt to fly to the node and call for help has been brutally slapped down by Shivan fighters. Finally we get down to the meat of the matter: Why are they still alive?
A Demon destroyer had appeared, and had NOT destroyed the station and killed everyone there, and there’s a question about that. It’s concluded that they don’t have the firepower to do it. What’s more, the Shivans may not have the power to hold off an attack on the Demon itself. The allies hatch a plan to take out the Demon by baiting it’s fighters with a bunch of civilian transports heading for a nearby planet.
Before the plan is enacted, TC and OH kind of make up. Then they find out that OH’s Apollo from the Tombaugh mission is on the station (got to love Command for that). After a lot of yelling, and realizing they need every fighter that can fly (extra pilots from the Vasudans on the station), OH takes the Apollo.
So OH leads the group against the Demon (TC on the squad) and TA leads the group defending the transports. Things work well, at first, and the Demon takes hits, but then more Shivan fighters show up and OH and his group are fighting for their lives. OH then starts having his flashbacks again, but this time TC notices and talks him through it. Eventually he snaps back to reality and lays down the hammer. The Demon is destroyed, the Shivans are on the run and everyone is happy.