The Trek BBS - View Single Post - DS9 Season 10, ep 10x22 - "Ascension" (part 3 of 3). SEASON FINALE!

lvsxy808 · June 17 2012, 11:18 AM

.

ACT TWO

FADE IN:

40 EXT. SPACE

The battle rages in space...

The Even Odds is still darting around, dodging desperately to stay out of the way.

41 INT. EVEN ODDS - BRIDGE

Prynn grits her teeth, all her concentration on her helm...

Behind her, Dez holds on tight to his chair. The screen shows what seems like hundreds of Jem’Hadar and Ascendant ships, the image ducking and swerving as we fly through.

DEZ
(whine)
How many of them are there?

FACITY
Fewer than there were.

42 EXT. SPACE

The Even Odds twists again, avoiding an Ascendant ship...

...that is currently pummelling the giant Jem’Hadar battle cruiser. It’s one of a dozen that are ganging up on the larger vessel. Their electric bolt weapons come at the giant ship from every side...

43 INT. JEM’HADAR SHIP #2

Weyoun and Meera. The Vorta cowers in a corner of the bridge, trying his best to keep the little changeling behind him while protecting himself at the same time.

The bridge is packed with Jem’Hadar soldiers and Ascendant knights battling hand-to-hand, phaser rifles and kar’takin knives against flaming spears and hand-thrown fireballs.

WEYOUN
Founder, please, stay back.

MEERA
These demons have taken enough
from the Dominion already.

Meera slips past Weyoun, striding forwards into the fight, and heads for Ascendant #1. Weyoun chases after her...

WEYOUN
Founder!

ASCENDANT #4 STABS Weyoun from behind, the burning tip of the spear piercing through his chest. Looking down at it in simple surprise, Weyoun crumples to the floor, dead.

Seeing this, Meera screams in renewed fury. She rushes for Weyoun’s killer, her hands MORPHing out into coiling ropes of changeling fluid as she comes...

44 INT. JEM’HADAR SHIP #3

Dominion Vessel 288, featuring VANNIS and REKAN’GANAR. The Jem’Hadar First fights ASCENDANTS #5 and #6, swirling and slashing and spinning as they attack him from both sides.

VANNIS
Second! Concentrate on your
targets. I want them gone!

JEM’HADAR #2 does so. We feel the ship’s weapons FIRE, and hear the boom of a successful kill. Meanwhile, Rekan’ganar kills Ascendant #5 with a hard STAB through the chest.

Then he twirls back to Ascendant #6... whose hand is made of flames. She THRUSTS the hand right into Rekan’ganar’s face, burning the Jem’Hadar First to death on the spot. He SCREAMS and sizzles, and crumples to the ground.

Vannis staggers back with a GASP. Ascendant #6 turns to her, lifts her hand. She’s carrying one of the energy balls we saw Blas use. She grins evilly, readies to throw...

45 EXT. SPACE

The Jem’Hadar ship EXPLODES.

The battle continues to rage...

46 INT. JEM’HADAR SHIP #1

Kira and Taran’atar. Ascendant #3 battles JEM’HADAR #3, the knight’s flaming spear CLANGing against his knife. The rest of the crew are still running the ship.

Taran’atar turns to Kira with a stony look...

TARAN’ATAR
Dominion Vessel Two-Eight-Eight
is destroyed, Captain.

KIRA
Vannis...

Jem’Hadar #3 succeeds in SLASHing Ascendant #3’s throat. In another burst of flames, the knight vaporises.

47 EXT. SPACE

The giant Jem’Hadar battleship, under siege from a dozen of the tiny Ascendant ships, all firing their electric bolts.

The planet-side edge of the battle zone. The Jem’Hadar are holding the line, no Ascendants are getting through.

After a moment, the Even Odds ZOOMS through a tiny gap in the battle, into free space.

48 INT. EVEN ODDS - BRIDGE

Prynn is still concentrating hard at the helm. Jake and Rena have returned to the bridge. Glessin and Brad run other stations. Facity checks her panels, elated...

FACITY
We’re clear! We’re through the lines!

JAKE
Yes! Congratulations, Prynn!

RENA
And not a single casualty.

And then an EXPLOSION brighter than any so far appears on the viewscreen...

49 EXT. SPACE

The giant Jem’Hadar battleship has finally lost the battle. It CRUMBLES like the Gryphon, the body disintegrating while the powerful warp core BLOOMS with fire, consuming the ship from the inside out. One by one, the Ascendant attackers JUMP away, avoiding the tumbling debris.

50 INT. JEM’HADAR SHIP #1

Kira yelps and flicks her headset’s eye-screen up, turning off the feed. The bright light had overloaded her eyes. She hisses and seethes at the massive death toll.

51 INT. EVEN ODDS - BRIDGE

The crew all look at the viewscreen, watching the massive explosion and fire as the Jem’Hadar battleship burns.

GLESSIN
(haunted)
There must be thousands of
Jem’Hadar on a ship that size...

BRAD
Meera was on there too...

They all gaze sadly at the view on the screen...

52 INT. DEFIANT – MAIN BRIDGE

Defiant’s crew likewise watches the continuing explosion from inside their hidden cloaked ship. Vaughn hardens, staring at the screen...

VAUGHN
Are we still receiving the trans-
ponder from the Even Odds?

Bowers works his panels, checking...

VAUGHN
Come on!

BOWERS
Yes, sir. The Even Odds is
safely through the lines.

VAUGHN
Good. Get our people on board
as soon as possible.

And he gets up from the command chair and stalks off the bridge, no more said. Dax calls after him, surprised...

DAX
Commander...?

But no response. He leaves.

CUT TO:

53 INT. DS9 – WARD ROOM

Batanides leans across the Ward Room table, alarmed...

BATANIDES
I’m sorry, are you saying that
Commander Vaughn abandoned the
bridge during a combat situation?

Dax struggles to respond. She doesn’t want to lie, but she doesn’t want to get Vaughn in trouble either. Across the table from her, the three admirals look distinctly unhappy.

DAX
Well, the Defiant wasn’t really
in a combat situation at the time.
The Jem’Hadar were handling that.
And Captain Sisko had already
assigned responsibility for our
part of the plan to me.

The admirals glower as they reluctantly accept that.

AKAAR
Where was Captain Sisko at this
point? Why wasn’t he also on
the bridge?

DAX
From what I’ve heard, he was in
his quarters. Making some final
preparations.

54 INT. DEFIANT – CABIN

SISKO is sat at the tiny desk in his tiny cabin, in front of the tiny computer screen. He stares at it, just as down-cast and heartbroken as before. The door chime BEEPS...

SISKO
Come in.

The door opens. Vaughn is there. Sisko looks at him, and looks away again. He doesn’t have time or energy for this.

SISKO
This really isn’t a good time,
Commander.

VAUGHN
I’m sorry to interrupt, Captain.
But this is actually the perfect
time. There’s something I need
to tell you.
(beat)
I’m not here to fight, if that’s
what you’re worried about.

Sisko looks to Vaughn again, and sees that that’s true. He relents. Vaughn comes in, and the door closes behind him.

SISKO
What’s on your mind, Commander?

VAUGHN
Well, that’s the question, isn’t
it? You see I’ve been thinking a
lot the last few days. Wondering
whether the decisions I’ve made
in my career... in my life...
were the right ones. And even
if they were... what they might
have cost me as a person.

SISKO
That’s why you asked me how I
knew what to do.

VAUGHN
Yes.

SISKO
And did you find the answer?

VAUGHN
I found an answer.
(deep breath)
I’ve been so angry at you, for
what feels like so long. I felt
like you betrayed me. Used me.
I cloaked it all in terms of
Prophets and accountability...
but it was personal.

SISKO
For me too, Elias. I didn’t
enjoy having to lie to you.
But it was necessary.

VAUGHN
I know. That’s what I understand
now – that it was necessary.

SISKO
What changed?

VAUGHN
A recent mission I undertook.
With the help of some others
on DS-Nine. It was my mission,
but I dragged them into it...
exactly the way you dragged
me into yours. You played on
my sense of feeling old and
obsolete, needing to be useful
again. I played the same trick
on Doctor Bashir. I knew he
wanted excitement and thrills.
So that’s what I promised him.

It’s as if this is the first time Vaughn has been able to admit this to himself. Sisko sees that, so he stays quiet and lets Vaughn get it all out.

VAUGHN
And Ro... she needs somebody to
blame for her problems. I gave
her Section 31. The fact that
it’s actually true was neither
here nor there. And in the
process I nearly got both of
them killed.
(beat)
So I guess what I’m saying is...
I understand why you did it.
And it turns out we’re not so
different after all.

SISKO
That’s not necessarily a good
thing, Elias.

Vaughn sadly chuckles, and nods. He agrees with that.

55 EXT. SPACE

Outside, the battle is still going on. Ascendants and Jem’Hadar fight it out, destroying each other equally.

56 INT. JEM’HADAR SHIP #1

The Jem’Hadar soldiers run the ship, tracking targets and FIRING weapons. No more Ascendants, but plenty of burned and damaged consoles. Taran’atar barks orders...

TARAN’ATAR
Target at bearing three-six mark
two-eight-three. Fire!

We feel the ship FIRE, then we SHAKE as the enemy returns fire. Kira holds on to the railing against the shaking...

KIRA
What’s taking Sisko so long?

TARAN’ATAR
Unknown, Captain. However I can
report that the Jem’Hadar are
holding the line. The Founder’s
death will not go unavenged.

Kira looks at him sadly. Another dead Founder.

57 EXT. SPACE

The continuing death of the giant Jem’Hadar battleship.

And then out of flames a small shape emerges – a golden MISSILE, launching out of the conflagration and straight at the nearest Ascendant ship. It flies straight at it...

And SMASHES right through the ship’s transparent canopy.

58 INT. ASCENDANT VESSEL #2

Inside, ASCENDANT #7 is caught by surprise as the golden missile instantly MORPHS into furious tendrils of change-ling matter that TEAR into the controls in a rage.

The changeling momentarily MORPHS again into a shape close enough to humanoid for us to recognise it as Meera, and then comes for Ascendant #7. The shocked and scared knight struggles as the changeling fluid flows over his body...

...and CRUSHES.

59 EXT. SPACE

The ship falls apart, decompressing from the hole in its canopy. Ascendant #7 floats out into open space. Meera unwinds from the body and heads off for her next victim.

The next Ascendant ship along JUMPS...

...and reappears in open space, away from the battle. It’s now pointing right towards the Idran system’s sun.

60 INT. ASCENDANT VESSEL #3

The pilot of this vessel is BLAS, and he is incensed by the loss of the other knight at the hands of a changeling.

In a fury, he dives his hand into the console’s YELLOW patch, clenches his fist... and PULLS.

61 EXT. ASCENDANT VESSEL

The missile launcher we saw in 10x14 “Against the Odds” extrudes itself from the ship’s smooth silver exterior, pointing towards the sun...

62 INT. JEM’HADAR SHIP #1

Kira yells urgently...

KIRA
Destroy that ship! Now!

63 EXT. SPACE

Three Jem’Hadar fighters converge on Blas’s ship, all of them FIRING at once...

...and DESTROY it just before it can launch its missile.

64 INT. ASCENDANT VESSEL #3

Blas screams as he in consumed in the flames.

65 INT. JEM’HADAR SHIP #1

Kira sags with relief...

KIRA
Thank the Prophets...

Then another burst of FLAMES on the Jem’Hadar ship bridge. The flames waft away to reveal...

Iliana and Raiq, standing side by side. Iliana smiles evilly at Kira. On Kira’s shock and alarm...

FADE OUT:

END OF ACT TWO

.

June 17 2012, 11:18 AM	#4
lvsxy808 Rear Admiral Location: London	Re: DS9 Season 10, ep 10x22 - "Ascension" (part 3 of 3). SEASON FINALE . ACT TWO FADE IN: 40 EXT. SPACE The battle rages in space... The Even Odds is still darting around, dodging desperately to stay out of the way. 41 INT. EVEN ODDS - BRIDGE Prynn grits her teeth, all her concentration on her helm... Behind her, Dez holds on tight to his chair. The screen shows what seems like hundreds of Jem’Hadar and Ascendant ships, the image ducking and swerving as we fly through. DEZ (whine) How many of them are there? FACITY Fewer than there were. 42 EXT. SPACE The Even Odds twists again, avoiding an Ascendant ship... ...that is currently pummelling the giant Jem’Hadar battle cruiser. It’s one of a dozen that are ganging up on the larger vessel. Their electric bolt weapons come at the giant ship from every side... 43 INT. JEM’HADAR SHIP #2 Weyoun and Meera. The Vorta cowers in a corner of the bridge, trying his best to keep the little changeling behind him while protecting himself at the same time. The bridge is packed with Jem’Hadar soldiers and Ascendant knights battling hand-to-hand, phaser rifles and kar’takin knives against flaming spears and hand-thrown fireballs. WEYOUN Founder, please, stay back. MEERA These demons have taken enough from the Dominion already. Meera slips past Weyoun, striding forwards into the fight, and heads for Ascendant #1. Weyoun chases after her... WEYOUN Founder! ASCENDANT #4 STABS Weyoun from behind, the burning tip of the spear piercing through his chest. Looking down at it in simple surprise, Weyoun crumples to the floor, dead. Seeing this, Meera screams in renewed fury. She rushes for Weyoun’s killer, her hands MORPHing out into coiling ropes of changeling fluid as she comes... 44 INT. JEM’HADAR SHIP #3 Dominion Vessel 288, featuring VANNIS and REKAN’GANAR. The Jem’Hadar First fights ASCENDANTS #5 and #6, swirling and slashing and spinning as they attack him from both sides. VANNIS Second! Concentrate on your targets. I want them gone! JEM’HADAR #2 does so. We feel the ship’s weapons FIRE, and hear the boom of a successful kill. Meanwhile, Rekan’ganar kills Ascendant #5 with a hard STAB through the chest. Then he twirls back to Ascendant #6... whose hand is made of flames. She THRUSTS the hand right into Rekan’ganar’s face, burning the Jem’Hadar First to death on the spot. He SCREAMS and sizzles, and crumples to the ground. Vannis staggers back with a GASP. Ascendant #6 turns to her, lifts her hand. She’s carrying one of the energy balls we saw Blas use. She grins evilly, readies to throw... 45 EXT. SPACE The Jem’Hadar ship EXPLODES. The battle continues to rage... 46 INT. JEM’HADAR SHIP #1 Kira and Taran’atar. Ascendant #3 battles JEM’HADAR #3, the knight’s flaming spear CLANGing against his knife. The rest of the crew are still running the ship. Taran’atar turns to Kira with a stony look... TARAN’ATAR Dominion Vessel Two-Eight-Eight is destroyed, Captain. KIRA Vannis... Jem’Hadar #3 succeeds in SLASHing Ascendant #3’s throat. In another burst of flames, the knight vaporises. 47 EXT. SPACE The giant Jem’Hadar battleship, under siege from a dozen of the tiny Ascendant ships, all firing their electric bolts. The planet-side edge of the battle zone. The Jem’Hadar are holding the line, no Ascendants are getting through. After a moment, the Even Odds ZOOMS through a tiny gap in the battle, into free space. 48 INT. EVEN ODDS - BRIDGE Prynn is still concentrating hard at the helm. Jake and Rena have returned to the bridge. Glessin and Brad run other stations. Facity checks her panels, elated... FACITY We’re clear! We’re through the lines! JAKE Yes! Congratulations, Prynn! RENA And not a single casualty. And then an EXPLOSION brighter than any so far appears on the viewscreen... 49 EXT. SPACE The giant Jem’Hadar battleship has finally lost the battle. It CRUMBLES like the Gryphon, the body disintegrating while the powerful warp core BLOOMS with fire, consuming the ship from the inside out. One by one, the Ascendant attackers JUMP away, avoiding the tumbling debris. 50 INT. JEM’HADAR SHIP #1 Kira yelps and flicks her headset’s eye-screen up, turning off the feed. The bright light had overloaded her eyes. She hisses and seethes at the massive death toll. 51 INT. EVEN ODDS - BRIDGE The crew all look at the viewscreen, watching the massive explosion and fire as the Jem’Hadar battleship burns. GLESSIN (haunted) There must be thousands of Jem’Hadar on a ship that size... BRAD Meera was on there too... They all gaze sadly at the view on the screen... 52 INT. DEFIANT – MAIN BRIDGE Defiant’s crew likewise watches the continuing explosion from inside their hidden cloaked ship. Vaughn hardens, staring at the screen... VAUGHN Are we still receiving the trans- ponder from the Even Odds? Bowers works his panels, checking... VAUGHN Come on! BOWERS Yes, sir. The Even Odds is safely through the lines. VAUGHN Good. Get our people on board as soon as possible. And he gets up from the command chair and stalks off the bridge, no more said. Dax calls after him, surprised... DAX Commander...? But no response. He leaves. CUT TO: 53 INT. DS9 – WARD ROOM Batanides leans across the Ward Room table, alarmed... BATANIDES I’m sorry, are you saying that Commander Vaughn abandoned the bridge during a combat situation? Dax struggles to respond. She doesn’t want to lie, but she doesn’t want to get Vaughn in trouble either. Across the table from her, the three admirals look distinctly unhappy. DAX Well, the Defiant wasn’t really in a combat situation at the time. The Jem’Hadar were handling that. And Captain Sisko had already assigned responsibility for our part of the plan to me. The admirals glower as they reluctantly accept that. AKAAR Where was Captain Sisko at this point? Why wasn’t he also on the bridge? DAX From what I’ve heard, he was in his quarters. Making some final preparations. 54 INT. DEFIANT – CABIN SISKO is sat at the tiny desk in his tiny cabin, in front of the tiny computer screen. He stares at it, just as down-cast and heartbroken as before. The door chime BEEPS... SISKO Come in. The door opens. Vaughn is there. Sisko looks at him, and looks away again. He doesn’t have time or energy for this. SISKO This really isn’t a good time, Commander. VAUGHN I’m sorry to interrupt, Captain. But this is actually the perfect time. There’s something I need to tell you. (beat) I’m not here to fight, if that’s what you’re worried about. Sisko looks to Vaughn again, and sees that that’s true. He relents. Vaughn comes in, and the door closes behind him. SISKO What’s on your mind, Commander? VAUGHN Well, that’s the question, isn’t it? You see I’ve been thinking a lot the last few days. Wondering whether the decisions I’ve made in my career... in my life... were the right ones. And even if they were... what they might have cost me as a person. SISKO That’s why you asked me how I knew what to do. VAUGHN Yes. SISKO And did you find the answer? VAUGHN I found an answer. (deep breath) I’ve been so angry at you, for what feels like so long. I felt like you betrayed me. Used me. I cloaked it all in terms of Prophets and accountability... but it was personal. SISKO For me too, Elias. I didn’t enjoy having to lie to you. But it was necessary. VAUGHN I know. That’s what I understand now – that it was necessary. SISKO What changed? VAUGHN A recent mission I undertook. With the help of some others on DS-Nine. It was my mission, but I dragged them into it... exactly the way you dragged me into yours. You played on my sense of feeling old and obsolete, needing to be useful again. I played the same trick on Doctor Bashir. I knew he wanted excitement and thrills. So that’s what I promised him. It’s as if this is the first time Vaughn has been able to admit this to himself. Sisko sees that, so he stays quiet and lets Vaughn get it all out. VAUGHN And Ro... she needs somebody to blame for her problems. I gave her Section 31. The fact that it’s actually true was neither here nor there. And in the process I nearly got both of them killed. (beat) So I guess what I’m saying is... I understand why you did it. And it turns out we’re not so different after all. SISKO That’s not necessarily a good thing, Elias. Vaughn sadly chuckles, and nods. He agrees with that. 55 EXT. SPACE Outside, the battle is still going on. Ascendants and Jem’Hadar fight it out, destroying each other equally. 56 INT. JEM’HADAR SHIP #1 The Jem’Hadar soldiers run the ship, tracking targets and FIRING weapons. No more Ascendants, but plenty of burned and damaged consoles. Taran’atar barks orders... TARAN’ATAR Target at bearing three-six mark two-eight-three. Fire! We feel the ship FIRE, then we SHAKE as the enemy returns fire. Kira holds on to the railing against the shaking... KIRA What’s taking Sisko so long? TARAN’ATAR Unknown, Captain. However I can report that the Jem’Hadar are holding the line. The Founder’s death will not go unavenged. Kira looks at him sadly. Another dead Founder. 57 EXT. SPACE The continuing death of the giant Jem’Hadar battleship. And then out of flames a small shape emerges – a golden MISSILE, launching out of the conflagration and straight at the nearest Ascendant ship. It flies straight at it... And SMASHES right through the ship’s transparent canopy. 58 INT. ASCENDANT VESSEL #2 Inside, ASCENDANT #7 is caught by surprise as the golden missile instantly MORPHS into furious tendrils of change-ling matter that TEAR into the controls in a rage. The changeling momentarily MORPHS again into a shape close enough to humanoid for us to recognise it as Meera, and then comes for Ascendant #7. The shocked and scared knight struggles as the changeling fluid flows over his body... ...and CRUSHES. 59 EXT. SPACE The ship falls apart, decompressing from the hole in its canopy. Ascendant #7 floats out into open space. Meera unwinds from the body and heads off for her next victim. The next Ascendant ship along JUMPS... ...and reappears in open space, away from the battle. It’s now pointing right towards the Idran system’s sun. 60 INT. ASCENDANT VESSEL #3 The pilot of this vessel is BLAS, and he is incensed by the loss of the other knight at the hands of a changeling. In a fury, he dives his hand into the console’s YELLOW patch, clenches his fist... and PULLS. 61 EXT. ASCENDANT VESSEL The missile launcher we saw in 10x14 “Against the Odds” extrudes itself from the ship’s smooth silver exterior, pointing towards the sun... 62 INT. JEM’HADAR SHIP #1 Kira yells urgently... KIRA Destroy that ship! Now! 63 EXT. SPACE Three Jem’Hadar fighters converge on Blas’s ship, all of them FIRING at once... ...and DESTROY it just before it can launch its missile. 64 INT. ASCENDANT VESSEL #3 Blas screams as he in consumed in the flames. 65 INT. JEM’HADAR SHIP #1 Kira sags with relief... KIRA Thank the Prophets... Then another burst of FLAMES on the Jem’Hadar ship bridge. The flames waft away to reveal... Iliana and Raiq, standing side by side. Iliana smiles evilly at Kira. On Kira’s shock and alarm... FADE OUT: END OF ACT TWO . __________________ DS9-R fans! Want to know what happened after The Soul Key? Read Deep Space Nine, Season 10 All 22 eps also available here.