long scar through the facility's perimeter forest. The mechanoid advances unimpeded, snapping trees like twigs.
EXT. ABOVE PLANET CIDEBA
Piren's scoutship barrels into the system. It rapidly decelerates.
A barely visible beam pulls it down toward the planet's surface.
INT. HANGAR FIVE - PLANET CIDEBA - DAY
The beam is emanating from a small spacecraft docking port.
The scoutship is guided smoothly into it.
Piren looks around confusedly. He activates an intercom.
PIREN
Hello?
A SLIGHT TREMOR vibrates the docking port's support. Piren is startled by it. He grows visibly impatient.
A uniformed Cideban comes running into the hangar, waving all four arms above his head. He is GEDDEN.
GEDDEN
I'm coming, I'm coming.
Gedden rams a power cable into the side of the scoutship. He releases a pressure seal, then pushes up the canopy.
GEDDEN (CONT’D)
Welcome home, Commander Piren. I'm
Administrator Gedden.
PIREN
Protocol requires the presence of at
least two docking engineers for all
arriving scoutships.
(unbuckling from the seat)
What if the docking program-
GEDDEN
I'm sorry, sir. You were supposed to dock
in Hangar Six. Uh, we've got a slight
emergency on our hands.
PIREN
What kind of emergency?
Gedden waves Piren over to a computer terminal near the hangar's entrance.
Piren climbs out of the cockpit while Gedden codes in.
A contour map of the planet's surface displays. More than a hundred red pixels flash over its full range. INTRUDER ALERT displays prominently across the screen.
GEDDEN
The Kek captured one of our scoutships
and were able to reverse engineer its
NEUTRINO DRIVE.
PIREN
(referring to the red pixels)
Those are all Kek ships?
GEDDEN
I'm afraid so. We received an emergency
transmission from the pilot just before
he was captured. It revealed that the Kek
have been spinning out spacecraft at an
alarming rate.
PIREN
How did they breach the orbital defense
net?
GEDDEN
They caught us completely off guard.
Their ships' energy signatures matched
those of early model scoutships. We have
older ships coming in all the time.
A MORE POWERFUL TREMOR rattles the hangar.
PIREN
Is that the Kek?
GEDDEN
Must be.
Piren scowls at Gedden.
Gedden Pulls Piren out the door.
EXT. LAUNCH FACILITY - PLANET CIDEBA - DAY
The Kek mechanoid approaches from just outside the facility's perimeter.
Piren is struggling to match Gedden's stride as they run toward a nearby hangar.
PIREN
Where are we going?
GEDDEN
