“Sunstorm” Screenplay

56
0

A small time smuggler lands a high priced contract but is hunted by a superhuman assassin intent on stopping him from delivering a device that could save the lives of millions of Martian colonists.

Saul Clay is a young man, dragged up by an alcoholic father and cursing the existence he’s fallen into; that of a small time smuggler, friendless and scorned by all. When his ship’s seized because of debts and a local mobster wants him dead, things finally reach rock bottom.

That’s when he meets Hanna Altus, a young, idealistic scientist, desperate to save millions of Martian colonists from a lethal solar storm about to hit. After much initial reluctance and a clash of viewpoints, fear for his own life and the promise of high reward prompt Saul to defy the powerful Corporate League’s ban and head for Mars.

Paul Kubo, president of HEX and an ally of the League, has other plans. Determined to gain control of the solar system by turning the red planet into its only food producer, he wants the colonists wiped out. Hanna and the terra forming device she’s carrying cannot be allowed to reach Mars. To this end he sends an Amitar after them, a super powerful, hybrid assassin his corporation has developed.

Through skilful flying, asteroids, a minefield and a team of ill- tempered prospectors; Saul manages to keep them one step ahead of the assassin until they are finally forced to confront the seemingly unstoppable foe on Mars. By this point Saul is a changed man, having rejected his old, misanthropic beliefs and instead embraced the colonists’ humanitarian values and their wish to live free of Earth’s brutal corporatocracy.

Relying on what he can salvage in the colony’s dilapidated processing plant and his own tech skills, Saul lures the Amitar into a series of confrontations, gradually negating his opponent’s abilities until he finally defeats the monster. It is only then that we discover the shocking truth about the assassin’s true identity.

The colonists launch the device into the atmosphere as the storm hits, creating a protective energy shield that saves the dream of their free, independent society. Saul, once the embittered loner, now has a place he belongs, and along with Hanna, somewhere to settle down.

On Earth meanwhile, Kubo’s wife, learning what really happened to their “murdered” son, brings HEX and the all powerful Corporate League crashing to their knees by revealing the plans to enslave the human race. As an outraged population rises up Kubo takes his own life and we are left with the promise of a new beginning, not just for the colonists but for Earth as well.

Sunstorm ©

An Original Screenplay by James McCormick

Read More