M.A.R.S./Opening Cutscene

Transcript for the opening cutscene to M.A.R.S., the penultimate map in the Soul of the Machine saga.

Transcript
(The cutscene opens with a black screen before fading into a montage of live action photos and video clips of scientists working on spacecrafts, pictures of Mars and it's moons Phobos and Deimos, space shuttles and rockets being launched into space, construction of the International Space Station, etc. All this while voice clips of various reporters are heard.)

Reporter #1: It has been many, many years since mankind has set foot on the Moon. And for that same exact amount of time people have wondered when or if mankind can set foot on Mars...

Reporter #2: The age old question: "Is there life on Mars?"

Reporter #3: There has been speculation of might possibly be alien life on the planet. NASA has yet to speak about these mysterious new findings...

Reporter #4: Rumors of a possible colony on Mars...

Reporter #5: I feel that if mankind are to survive as a dominant species we must find new worlds for us to populate, terraform, and ultimately, above all else, survi--

(The screen cuts black again with a brief second of silence before Cortex can be heard speaking.)

Cortex: It has been a very, very long time.

(It then cuts to a scene a two children dressed in medieval era clothing playing in a field while a woman dressed in white is watching over them.)

Cortex: I remember the innocence we had as children. Often making up our own battles and stories through imagination and fun.

(It then shows two late-teenage men holding torches while walking through a dark cave. One of the men are seen finding and picking up a stone that slowly begins to grow.)

Cortex: As we grew older, our creative, adventurous minds remained in tact. But our fantasies would slowly crash with our reality.

(The same man is seen with the stone now leading an army of undead zombies as they advance on human knights. It later shows a scene of the man holding a stone while reciting some sort of ritual next to a large dragon egg that slowly begins to hatch. The two men are now fighting each other on the ruins of an old temple while the surrounding area is scorched in flames.)

Cortex: Those dreams of imagination and fun became nightmares of death and destruction. A reality engulfed in flames. A lifetime of warfare.

(The man is knocked down to the ground by the other man. The same stone from earlier is shown dropping from the man's possession. As the other man grabs it, a dragon flies down to the scene and attempts to attack them, but the other man holds to stone in front of it and the dragon is cast out into the stone.)

Cortex: With all victories, there was a price.

(A middle-aged woman in white is seen lying dead on the ground as the two men run over to her corpse. It then flashes forward through time, showing pictures and stills from various times in history such as Ancient Egypt, The Crusades, The American Revolutionary War, The American Civil War, The Industrial Revolution, The Great Depression, World War II, The Korean War, The Vietnam War, The Moon Landing, The Advent of Modern Computers, Desert Storm, and The War on Terror.)

Cortex: Throughout history, I have obtained many identities. But the previous life I had from my birth still lingered within my brain. I knew he would return one day with his plot of world domination. Even if it had to take the power of other worlds to do so.

(It then cuts to a scene of Dr. Van Lucker and several scientists on Mars kidnapping the martian aliens and surgically converting them to cyborgs.)

Cortex: What was once used for good, became evil.

(It then shows a man in a lab coat sipping a drink inside a small office room before collapsing and dying on the floor as Dr. Van Lucker can be seen in the door way silently laughing.)

Reporter #6: Dr. Van Lucker was announced as the new head scientists of the CODOL Institute after the sudden passing of it's original founder...

Cortex: I have known Dr. Van Lucker for a long time. A very long time. A man of idealistic values. A man of absolute corruption.

(Dr. Van Lucker is seen looking out of a window where protesters are seen being attacked by cyborgs.)

Cortex: I realize now what must be done. I had waited long enough. I know that I wouldn't be able to stop him myself. But I could still find a few good people who can shut him and his legion down.

(Scenes of Cortex first meeting each of the Mercenaries is shown. Lv Bu is escaping an abandoned laboratory that had caught fire and meeting Cortex inside an elevator. Trigger is stumbling down an alleyway when he sees him at the other end. Cowboy is shown walking through a ghost town in the desert when he sees Cortex standing in the middle of town. Sergeant is walking inside an empty army barracks when she encounters him.)

Cortex: Either the rest the world falls apart from the madness or I am damned to spend an eternity in Hell. I cannot let him follow through with his brand of chaos and mayhem any longer.

(Fighting is shown on all of the previous maps before showing the Mercs teleport to the Research Facility on Mars. As the camera pans out, Cortex delivers one final line before cutting to the M.A.R.S. logo.)

Cortex: It is time to extinguish the Soul of the Machine.