ZOIDS ASTRAY ACT 004

 ACT 004: EXT. CLIFFSIDE – DAY

The Zoids thunder across the rocky terrain, emerging from the edge of the forest into a wide open plain. The lake glistens in the distance behind them, the dead Barigator lies motionless at its shoreline.

NYSSA pilots the Darkhorn in stoic silence. Her face is unreadable, fixed in a grim frown.

FLASHBACK – EXT. CLIFF EDGE – EVENING – THREE DAYS PRIOR

Danny flicks a small drone into the air. With a pop, a shimmering nano-camo net spreads out over the Aqua Fox.

DANNY
All covered.

NYSSA (over comms)
Great job. Take position, get visual, and relay to our consoles.

Danny lies prone over a rock, two small drones buzzing around him. He peers through binoculars.

The camp sprawls ahead — a rough assembly of cargo containers, tents, and Zoids. Three Gustav sit idle nearby, each with a heavy cargo trailer.

At the centre, HOUSER GATS stands talking to the MERCENARY COMMANDER — KASTER VENN. Behind Gats, an imposing, silent figure looms: 8.0.8. Gats gestures to one of the Gustav cargo holds with a smug grin. Venn nods and bows slightly.

DANNY (quietly, into comms)
That's Houser Gats.

NEKU (over comms)
Who?

DANNY
Houser Gats. Wow, Neku — history. He’s a Zoids biologist. Used to be on Chelonia’s council, got booted for all kinds of shady experiments.

NEKU (over comms)
Looks like he's collecting cores.

The drone pans to the trailers — piled high with glowing, unstable Zoid cores.

DANNY
Yeah, and the Mercs are working for him.

NYSSA (over comms)
Eyes on the mission. We're not here for him — it's the Merc leader.

The drone camera lingers on Kaster Venn, and then shifts to 8.0.8.

DANNY
Who… or what… is that?

NYSSA (over comms)
Mission, Danny.

8.0.8 steps up into the cockpit of one of the Gustavs. As he does, his blank, featureless face turns. For a moment, he stares directly towards the drone. Directly at Danny.

DANNY (uneasy)
What the—

EXT. MERC CAMP – NIGHT

Shadows swallow the perimeter. The mercenary camp buzzes with low murmurs, dim lights, and the occasional clang of metal. Crickets hum beyond the firelight.

Neku, cloaked in a sleek stealth suit, moves like smoke — one with the dark. Each step is calculated, silent. She glides between crates, slipping behind tents, ghosting past armed sentries like they weren’t even there. Her eyes fixed forward. She’s hunting.

Somewhere on a nearby ridge, Danny lays prone, eyes glued to her feed.

DANNY (softly, into comms)
Gotta say... that stealth tech’s impressive. And so is the view she’s providing.

The drone pans across Neku’s figure as she moves.

NYSSA (dry, over comms)
Mission, Danny.

Danny grins, caught but unapologetic.

INT. KASTER’S TENT

A blade flashes. The mercenary Kaster Venn collapses with a gurgle. Neku melts into shadow, disappearing into the underbrush.

In the camp, alarms blare. Mercenaries scramble. Three SEA PANTHER Zoids break off in pursuit.

NYSSA (in Dark Horn, over comms)
I’ve got them. Firing.

BOOM. A mortar shell streaks through the night sky, exploding mid-air above the pursuers. The shockwave topples one; shrapnel tears into the others.

Neku dashes through the chaos towards the Aqua Fox. Gunfire trails her.

Danny’s drones pop from cover, unleashing a burst of electrified nets, disabling two on-foot Mercs.

Neku leaps into Aqua Fox’s cockpit. Systems whir to life.

NEKU
I'm in. Let’s go.

The team regroups and speeds off into the night.

Far behind them, a lone figure stands atop a cliff: 8.0.8, motionless, watching them go.

INT. DARK HORN – PRESENT

Nyssa, her face unreadable, remains fixed in a grim frown.