1531 replies to this topic

[terminus]

Yes - sorry. Had my kid brother staying with me from Thursday afternoon until earlier today so haven't been able to invest much time in this for the past few days. I've got tomorrow completely free tho', so I'm expecting to have the Canberra sequences, at least, posted tomorrow.


I've also been pondering - and this is something coco1997 knows about because I mentioned my thoughts on it to him - retiring Ultimate Bond from active pursuit after the finishing of UB25. I'd like to put it onto hiatus once UB25 is complete for a month or two, to let me flesh out the sequel to my fanfic screenplay and allow us all to recharge our batteries.

[terminus]

CANBERRA

Bond and Mary arrive in Canberra. The pair pick up the Aston Martin One-77 at the airport and soon notice that they are being trailed by a car driven by two Asian men. This is ascertained by a high-definition camera hidden in the rear license plate of the Aston Martin - with Bond deciding that they look like they could be military. Bond tries to evade the pursuers - but fails and comes to realise that their pursuers are trying to force them off the road. However, a third car joins the chase - also driven by an Asian man, this time, a distinguished forty-something gentleman in a crisp suit. Bond appreciates the fine tailoring of the distinguished mans suit which, he says, must mean the man can't be all that bad.

It appears as if the newcomer to the chase is friendly when he teams up with Bond to drive the initial, presumably hostile, pursuers off the road. Their car explodes in a fireball as Bond and the distinguished man speed away, with the distinguished man vanishing into the night before Bond can relay any sort of thanks.

Later, that evening, Bond and Mary make their way to Lake Burley Griffin where they are conveyed by a launch to a houseboat moored in the lake that is lit up with Chinese lanterns. This is a press event and Bond and Mary are both packing BBC press credentials, with Bond as reporter and Mary as his photographer.

Bond and Mary enjoy the free food and wine which Bond marks as nothing special. They scope out the attendees at the event - including Krause himself and two people accompanying Krause, a short haired woman and an Asian man. The Asian man, he notes, which was driving the car that helped them during the chase. Bond also has his attention drawn by a beautiful woman in a red dress - we'll call her Scarlett - and they flirt in passing over fresh glasses of wine at the bar.

Bond makes introductions to the Asian man who, unaware that Bond knows he was driving the car and not picking up on Bonds baiting, introduces himself as the liaison between the Taiwanese government and Krause's current operations off the coast of Taiwan - mining for fuel. This event, however, is the launch of an energy plan in the Australian Outback using vast solar energy power stations, an admirable endeavour, concedes Bond. At the end of the event, Krause surprises the reporters by randomly drawing several names out of a hat to invite to his ranch in the Outback - and Bond finds his name drawn out. It is left up to the viewer to decide whether the picking of the names was fixed so this occured.

After the event, Mary takes Bond for food at her favourite restaraunt, given the food at the event was unsatisfying. Bond orders grilled sole and Mary orders red wine. Bond quips 'Glad to see they're teaching you something in spy school -'. The two agents talk about Krause. Bond doesn't trust him and neither does Mary - and both are suspicious about the Taiwanese Liasion. They agree to split the workload - with Mary following the liaison and Bond further investigating Krause by breaking into Krause's corporate headquarters.

In the middle of the night, Bond breaks into the headquarters which is under a programme of renovation and extension - areas of the building are under construction, with all the prerequisite building equipment such as cranes and cement mixers. Bond glimpses 'Scarlett' in Krause's office, stealing documents from a filing cabinet and slipping them into a hard backpack as well as copying files from the computer. She see's Bond and Bond pursues her - they chase through the building, which sets off an intruder alarm, Bond and 'Scarlett' grapple and she drops the pen drive that she downloaded information from Krause's computer. Scarlett slips out of a cracked window in a surprising display of gymnastics - which Bond is unable to copy. He finds himself face to face with Krause's security guards - initially escaping them by spraying the spray from a fire extinguisher. The chase proceeds through the corridors of the under-construction building before discovering that he was being shepherded into a sort of pen (surrounded by an electrical fence) where hired thugs, overseen by Clarisse (who Bond saw at the event on the lake earlier that night), try to smash him with wrecking balls and force him into the electric fence - Bond drags a thug down into the pen and we see the fence is live when the thug is thrown into the fence and frazzles.

Bond is powerless until the electricity is shut off and he finds himself rescued by Sun Demeng - Krause's Liaison to the Taiwanese government. The Taiwanese man delivers Bond back to his hotel - a fast friendship is formed. Mary returns from her own investigation, walks into the bar and is shocked to see Bond and Sun Demeng together - explaining that he is actually an operative of Taiwanese Intelligence.

Sun Demeng admits that he is Taiwanese Intelligence and explains that they have suspicions of untoward dealings between Krause and militant factions within the People's Republic. The car that attempted to force Bond and Mary off the road was driven by representatives of the militant faction. Taiwanese Intelligence agree to let MI6 and Bond take point on the investigation.

Bond wants to know what Scarlett was doing stealing files from Krause. Luckily, Bond managed to drop a homing device on 'Scarlett' and the trio find her car abandoned - but no sign of Scarlett herself. They eventually track her down and find her with representatives of a second Chinese political movement, this one is pro-democracy. Bond must steal the documents from them that Scarlett took from Krause's office that Bond didn't manage to grab - which they do, discovering that the documents pertain to deep-sea drilling and geological studies off the Taiwanese coast.

At the same time as Bond, Mary and Sun Demeng track down Scarlett and the pro-democracy faction, Krause discovers that the documents have been stolen by Scarlett and work to track her down as well. Krause gets to Scarlett before Bond does, but after she has passed the documents to the pro-democracy faction. Krause has her tortured by Clarisse and, under duress, she reveals that Quantum were hanging Krause out to dry - that the project to mine the faultline off the coast of Taiwan was set-up as a means to get documentation for the pro-democracy group to embarass Beijing with.

Krause is furious. He isn't happy with being manipulated by Quantum and claims that he'll show them that he's not to be messed with. Krause knocks Scarlett out. Clarisse asks what he wants done with her - he asks when the foundations of the building are being filled. Clarisse smiles - and the final shot we see is off a woman's hand wearing a Quantum ring being submerged beneath concrete as the foundations of the construction site are being filled. This, we presume, is the end of Scarlett.

[coco1997]

Very well done and plotted out, terminus. It was well worth the wait. Hopefully the other UB regulars will drop by soon for a read.

[tdalton]

Very well done.

[QOS007]

my that's good

[terminus]

Thanks guys, hopefully I'll have completed the treatment by this point next week. As always, if we've got any suggestions or modifications to the treatment, shout them out and we can try and incorporate them.

We do still need a title.

[Mr. Blofeld]

How about The Inevitable Hour?

[terminus]

It's a decent title - but not sure how it would fit the movie.

[Mr. Blofeld]

The inevitable hour upon which the military under Krause's leadership will plan to overtake Taiwan?

[Mr. Blofeld]

It's also a line from Thomas Gray's Elegy in a Country Churchyard, a famous 18th century English poem...

[Captain Tightpants]

I might jump back in for the next round because I've got an awesome story idea in mind ...

[terminus]

Unfortunately, as mentioned above, I'm going to put the game on 'hiatus' for a month or so to allow everyone to recharge their batteries.

[coco1997]

I might jump back in for the next round because I've got an awesome story idea in mind ...

Is this the most recent story idea you posted at MI6?

[Captain Tightpants]

Yes, the JASON serum one.

[terminus]

And here's the next section - sorry for the delay.

THE AUSTRALIAN OUTBACK

Think of the beautiful, swooping landscape scenes of the Japanese countryside in You Only Live Twice - because that's the exact same sort of feeling we get here as two helicopters thunder across the lush Australian landscape. Over rainforest, desert and small towns. Bond and Goodnight peering out of the windows - with the experienced secret agent a bit less awed by the flora and fauna and the rookie gasping in awe as a group of kangraoo's bound across the scrubland below the helicopters.

Eventually the two helicopters land at a sprawling ranch - a mix of futuristic and modern architecture - somewhere in the Australian Outback where they are guided into the ranch and welcomed by Krause, who instructs his men to direct them to their rooms. Bond and Goodnight arrive in their room, scan it for bugs and agree that Bond will take a look around whilst Goodnight places a call on a secure cellphone to MI6 (and, by default, Taiwanese Intelligence) to let them know that they have arrived.

Bond finds himself winding his way down a series of external steps and comes to a swimming pool. The sun is high overhead and Bond can vaguely see the silhouette of a woman ascending a diving board - from the discarded bikini that he fingers on a sunlounger, the figure is naked. The woman jumps off the board, does a backflip and lands expertly in the water - surfacing near Bond. He's there with a towel and her bikini as she emerges from the water -

"Well, I'd give that a ten out of ten -"

The woman gives Bond a seductive smirk, letting her hand rest in his for just a moment. This is Dana Krause, Krause's wife, former model and war orphan. She flirts with Bond and Bond returns the flirtation until Krause arrives. Dana becomes the dutiful wife. That evening, there is a barbecue for the reporters and Bond meets Krause face-to-face for the first time, discover a mutual enjoyment of certain sports and Krause challenges Bond to a game of his favourite sport - chess boxing. Dana goads Bond and her husband into competing in a match together. It's a tough competition - Bond is initially loosing but ends up winning, both the game and Krause's respect as a worthy competitor.

Bond and Mary try to continue their masquerade as reporters on a visit with other representatives of the press to a solar energy facility based in the blast furnace of the Outback. The tour proceeds as expected, but Bond tries to get information on the Taiwanese project but Krause brushes those questions aside - despite the questions clearly iritating him. The tour of the energy project should feel like it's an honest-to-God public relations affair - not the trap that it actually is. As the tour comes to a close, the trap is opened up - and the reporters are invited to inspect some sort of solar energy furnace at the factory. Each pair is guided into the furnace and it is soon Bond and Goodnight's turn - they enter, the rest of the tour is guided away and the doors are locked, the other reporters unaware of what is going on.

The panels lock onto the sun, the temperature in the room begins to rise. Bond and Goodnight start saying their prayers - and begin to start smashing the solar panels in the room helping to generate the heat. But all they do is smash the panels, the temperature continues to climb - the pair strip of their clothes, sweat drenching their skin until they're in just their underwear. And even then - they pass out, collapsing to the floor of the furnace.

In a haze of confused half-memories, Bond recalls being loaded onto a plane and flown to SOMEWHERE - this sequence is portrayed in black and white and sepia toned shots. Until he blacks out again, only opening his eyes at ...

[coco1997]

Top notch work, terminus. It looks like the Chinese funfair portion and a good deal of the Oil Stones section are already fairly fleshed out--I presume little work needs to be done on both before the entire story is complete.

[Mr. Blofeld]

A "barbecue for the reporters", indeed, terminus; a "glowing tribute".

[tdalton]

Another excellent entry, terminus.


I'm very much looking forward to how this project ends up coming together in the end. As I've said before, I think that this has been the best round of the game, and the amount of time spent working on developing the Mary Goodnight character has really been a fun creative process. I know that we're taking a break after this one, but I'll be eagerly looking forward to the next round, whenever it happens to begin. I might even go ahead and try exploring some of the background of my version of the Mary Goodnight character in a fanfiction or something. Could be an interesting project to take on.

A couple of title suggestions as well (as I don't think we've actually settled on one yet). Two chapter titles from Dr. No that could serve as decent film titles, I think: Choice of Weapons and Horizons of Agony.

[coco1997]

I do like "Choice of Weapons" as a title, or some such iteration of it. I've always felt many of the Fleming chapter titles were ripe for great movies names.

[tdalton]

I do like "Choice of Weapons" as a title, or some such iteration of it. I've always felt many of the Fleming chapter titles were ripe for great movies names.

I like many of the chapter titles as well. "A Whisper of Hate" (from "A Whisper of Love, A Whisper of Hate" in Casino Royale) has long been a favorite of mine for a Bond title. I think that both "Choice of Weapons" and "Horizons of Agony" would fit this particular project fairly well. If I could only choose one for this particular project, I'd go with "Choice of Weapons", but I quite like "Horizons of Agony" as well.

[terminus]

Have to say I like Choice of Weapons the most out of the suggested titles too, but I'm happy to go with whatever the masses decide.

[coco1997]

Any idea when the next part will be up, terminus?

[terminus]

Probably tonight.

[terminus]

CHINA

Bond and Mary come round to find themselves in the middle of a long abandoned funfair somewhere in China, judging by the writing on the rides. Bond climbs the rotting wooden struts of a rollercoaster to get a view of the surrounding areas, revealing there is a town next to the funfair but that the town looks similarly abandoned - and that other than the town, there is no other signs of civilisation as far as the eye can see. Bond recognises the location as somewhere that the Chinese are believed to have tested nuclear weapons in the sixties and seventies - and, if they remain in the area for much longer, they will die.

Bond seeks out a method of transport out of the area, but many of the trucks are out of petrol or in disrepair - though, in one of the trucks, Bond and Mary find a ham radio and they manage to jury rig it to transmit a signal to Beijing and Bond's friend, Jiang Yimou, at Chinese Intelligence. It is now when a bullet clips Mary's shoulder - the agents duck behind a dodgem and realise they are being hunted by men in biological and chemical protection suits, pumped full of anti-radiation medication with more attached to the suits themselves. Seeking refuge in an abandoned ghost train, Bond wraps a piece of his trousers round Marys shoulder and the pair formulate a plane - they must take on the hunters at their own game.

Across the funfair and the abandoned town, Bond and Mary play a game of cat and mouse. Hunted by extremely talented predators used to stalking prey in Africa, they eventually manage to sneak up one of the hunters and knock him out with a wrench - with Mary donning the BCP suit and pumping herself full of medication, the two use this to get the drop on the other hunters and then steal their truck and flee the town after pumping Bond full of medication in a shot to his muscled but bruised abdomen. The pair drive until they encounter a convoy coming in the opposite direction - and, free of the dangers of radiation, out of the lead vehicle steps Jiang Yimou in a tasteful short sleeve polo shirt and tan slacks.

After Bond and Mary are given the all-clear by Beijing physicians, Bond plans to take down the leader of the militant Chinese faction - a senior army official known for being a bit of a radical and a wildcard but someone with undying loyalty to the sitting government. He's attending a swimming event at the stadium built for the 2008 Olympics - and Bond, with the help of Jiang and Mary, lures him out of the comfort of the stadium and into the exterior corridors where the older military man tries to flee when he realises what's happening but Bond is younger and fitter and, giving chase, catches up and brings him down.

Placed into a jail cell, they interrogate him to get information about his association with Krause. He confirms the smuggling of nuclear weapons into Taiwan and to the drill sites, something which he himself negotiated through Henri Grant. He first pretends to not know where Krause has vanished to - but when Jiang asks the two British operatives to step out of the room, he reveals that Krause has retreated to a location off the Russian coast known as Oil Stones - it is where the German was brought up.

But, the military official says, they're too late. The first nuke is due to be set off - and, as we see a montage of clips, the coastal areas of Taiwan are decimated.

[coco1997]

Fantastic job, terminus! I had a blast picturing that entire sequence at the creepy abandoned funfair in my head. It's surely something that possesses the bizarre/surreal Fleming flair that's been missing for far too long from the films. Really anxious to see the finale, and given that the closing scene has already been written, that should complete what I feel has been the most productive edition of "Ultimate Bond".

[terminus]

Agreed. Out of Talk of the Devil, The Property of a Lady and Choice of Weapons, Choice of Weapons has definitely been the most fun I've had out of the three. I think the discussion about the plot and Goodnight and the villain have all been very productive.

[tdalton]

Agreed. Out of Talk of the Devil, The Property of a Lady and Choice of Weapons, Choice of Weapons has definitely been the most fun I've had out of the three. I think the discussion about the plot and Goodnight and the villain have all been very productive.

I would agree as well. I've very much involved all of the back and forth discussion we've had over the various elements, namely the Goodnight character and her arc in the film and potentially in future projects as well. I think that now that we've gotten to a point where there's more discussion on the various elements, future installments will be even better.

Also, going back to a previous suggestion in the thread, we should see if we can get someone to make a poster for this project. I would do it myself if I had any clue how to use any kind of photo-editing software, but (and I think that it was terminus who came up with the original suggestion a few pages back) I do think that this is a project that deserves something like that when it's all finished.

[terminus]

Indeed. I would love a poster - especially for CHOICE OF WEAPONS.

[Mr. Blofeld]

Hell, it goes great with the final line in the PTS, about Bond's weapon being loaded; go with it!

[terminus]

I've only edited these scenes slightly - as they were already well fleshed out in the earlier outline, so I'm considering this the official closing scenes of UB26 'Choice of Weapons' and the ultimate close of this leg of the game. Maybe we can restart it nearer Christmas and have another run of two or three movies - and I've already got a twist or two in store for the next round.


OIL STONES

Bond, Mary, Jiang and Sun Demeng must work together to stop Krause setting off the remaining nuclear bombs and causing further catastrophe. Krause has had the bridges connecting the mainland to the Oil Stones location blown up to slow the approach of the joint military convoy intended to stop him. One of the bombs goes off as a truck conveying Bond and his comrades to the location is passing over a section of the bridge - the truck almost plunges into the freezing Caspian Sea but stops with its rear tires hanging over the edge of the collapsed section. Bond radio's in for assistance - which leads to an assault by the joint military forces by air and sea.

Sun Demeng - more of a bureaucrat than the others - remains behind to coordinate operations whilst Bond, Mary and Jiang are all inserted onto Oil Stones by helicopter. They fight their way through to Krause and Dana and the control centre and stop the detonation of further nuclear bombs, preventing unwanted further devestation of the Eastern coast of Taiwan. At some point, the three agents inserted into the location are placed in mortal danger - and Jiang sacrifices himself to save the other two. He dies in the arms of the 'decadent capitalist'.

Clarisse is seen to die during the assault on Oil Stones - no May Day-esque last minute change of heart for her, she remains loyal to the cause until the end. Killed when an already crumbling staircase collapses on top of her after a grenade is tossed into it - it clatters to her feet, she looks at it with a dawning realisation - and then BOOM. Goodbye Clarisse.

This leads to Bond and Mary encountering Krause and his wife on a military helicopter that several commando's have used to get to Oil Stones. Krause and his wife have disguised themselves and smuggled themselves onto the helicopter, killing the pilot and co-pilot with ruthless efficency. Dana throttles the helicopters pilot to death using her necklace (a tip of the hat to 'Teen Agent') and Krause begins to run take-off procedures. Bond and Mary jump onboard as the helicopter (am picturing a Boeing CH-47 Chinook, or something in that mold) takes off - a fight ensues. The helicopter spirals out of control as the fight ensues - it tosses and turns and our heroes are thrown into the bulkhead walls and slammed into the floor. Bond is wounded after his earlier injury leaves him open to Krause's boxing moves, but he defeats Krause and Mary defeats Dana - this is Mary's second kill in cold-blood (she killed someone earlier) - and Bond takes the control yoke of the helicopter despite his wounds, pulling up before the craft slams into a rocky promontory into the sea, landing the helicopter on the deck of a waiting aircraft carrier that is part of the taskforce in either the Mediterranean Sea or Persian Gulf.


MI6 HEADQUARTERS

In the penultimate scene, we are shown a meeting between M and his opposite number in Chinese Intelligence (whom we met during the conference scenes in Iceland). Bond and Mary are honored by the People's Republic of China for their services to Beijing and in maintaining stability in the region. Likewise, M commends the sacrifice of Jiang Yimou and calls him a true patriot - and an example to the peoples of the United Kingdom, China and Taiwan. M's opposite number asks if he could thank Bond and Mary in person but M explains that they are recuperating from their injuries.


THE PERHENTIANS

A figure in a barely-there bikini swims through clear blue waters before stepping onto a beach fringed by palm trees and the odd backpackers shack. The woman in the bikini is Mary and she's approaching one of the shacks outside of which is a hammock. Bond is in the hammock and as Mary approaches, he puts the book he is reading onto his chest and reaches into a cooler filled with ice, removing a bottle of champagne -

BOND: "Do you have any idea how hard it is to find a bottle of Dom Perignon '73 in the middle of the South China Sea?"

Mary laughs, Bond opens the bottle which erupts (it's almost sexual) in a fountain of foam -

BOND: "Congratulations - 008"
MARY: "Thankyou - 007"

Bond pours two glasses of champagne and as Mary sips it:

GOODNIGHT: "Not really your usual high-class fare, is it, James?"
BOND: "Mmmmm... well, teachers on sabbatical is certainly turning out to be a better cover than I'd ever thought it'd be."
GOODNIGHT: "So, we've won the lottery, then?"
BOND: "Oh, so you heard about that, did you?"

Bond pulls her down onto the hammock, winces as the pressure aggrivates his bandage-wrapped abdomen, and kisses her on the lips.

GOODNIGHT: "Didn't your Doctor tell you to take it easy?"
BOND: (in between kisses) "Now where's the fun in that?"

We pull out from the backpackers shack, away from the golden sand on the beach, across beautiful turqoise waters until the Perhentian Islands are but a speck on the horizon - and there's a moan, and "Oh, James ..."


THE END

BUT JAMES BOND WILL RETURN

(MAYBE)

IN ULTIMATE BOND 26

(POSSIBLY)