PmWiki | LeftBeyond / WingCommander

Warning, this will make zero sense if you aren't familiar with both the Left Behind and the Wing Commander franchises!

Intro: Admiral Geoffrey Tolwyin is dead. Most souls appear naked, some don't. He is, of course, in Confed blues. He is visibly scared, but keeps it under control. When the Angel of the Book starts reviewing his life, he adds exposition, by noting the relevant bits of his family history.

Chapters should alternate, one on Earth undergoing the Tribulation, and one in space dealing with the political and humanitarian fallout of it as people evacuate the Confed homeworld. Rather than an ecumenicalist, the Antichrist fulfills OWG fears by being a globalist/isolationist with an Earth First policy instead (being as Confed is a multiplanetary government, OWG is a step back if anything), demanding what amounts to tribute from the UBW and Landreich and so on. Gemini Sector formally secedes. The Rapture mostly disappeared children and "a few religious nuts" whose disappearance is in the beginning not even noticed, although figuring that out is an important part of the puzzle. Since this is the space equivalent of a Trump presidency, other nations take the opportunity to push their advantage. Notably, the Kilrathi begin a campaign of presenting themselves as the sane alternative to democracy/populism gone awry and make surprising diplomatic inroads, even getting a few human colonies to join the Regency. The WC crew ends up having to put out fires for most of their arc, whether they be banditry or false-flag operations. The LB crew equivalent mostly bumbles about as in LB, but do manage to get their version of the Event out to the public and, notably, Admiral Tolwyn (who was released by the Antichrist as part of an empty-the-prisons decree of all things) takes them seriously. He picks up people along the way who are sufficiently morally grey to do the deed and throws everything he has into reviving the Behemoth project. There's an obvious-to-the-audience mystery arc as to who "The Admirax", cyborg pirate lord, really is. About almost all the way through (during the Desecration) Blair and Flynn figure it "all" out, get Dekker etc. to do a reprise of the Axius raid, and are faced with Tolwyn, who takes off the "cybernetics" disguise (he was in a Davros like chair, from which he simply stands up once Rachel cleverly works out how to cut power from it, apologizes for the theatrics, and explains what the situation really is.

Scenes that need to happen:

- Flynn and Rachel having a massive fight over Blair, he comes back to his quarters to see some seriously epic hatefucking going on and the three decide to never bring it up again.

- The Antichrist doing the UN alphabetical-order speech, but with planet/system names.

- Grayson Burrows being hired by the Chloe Steele equivalent to do smuggling runs once Earth instantiates a rationing system. He fails spectacularly at hitting on her despite being a lot less smarmy than the Buck Williams equivalent. Burrows ends up working for "The Admirax" too, which turns out to be a ploy for Tolwyn to get his mitts on the Steltek gun since it will make building the B2 easier.

- The Warrior King from the cartoon shows up and does something suitably barbarian-y, like going hand to hand with a Kilrathi and winning. After they've shaken hands and made peace, they have a conversation like that of Conan and Subotai.

- The Rayford Steele equivalent, who in this version is unbelievably salty because he's been stuck flying atmospheric craft all his career since he never managed to pass the orbital mechanics certification, gets in a WC style dogfight and miraculously survives it (literally, there is miracle after miracle). He ends up being credited with five kills and, for a while, insists that people call him Ace.

- A Kilrathi marine platoon ends up fighting an Angel (after they board a transport with a Trib Force member on it maybe?). They get decimated. One of the troopers is blinded by the angelic light early on, takes his helmet off, and gets back into the fight by ear and whiskers. Angels don't maneuver well in zero gravity, space cats do. "Your God has no power over me!" He rips the Angel in half after an ambush. "If Sivar had truly sent you, you would have beaten us." The Trib Force guy/girl tries to preach to the cat, who is sufficiently amused by this that he shoves the human into an escape pod before waiting for rescue.

Last chapter: Blair and Marshall have made it to the B2 bridge. Below, the battle of Armageddon is proceding apace. Blair has a piece of software intended to correct the aim of the B2 so that it can fire at something smaller than a planet, and throttle its output, so that it will only obliterate the area around Megiddo. Tolwyn says that he cannot take that chance - for humanity to survive the Earth has to go. Maniac shoots Tolwyn in the leg, but the old man stays up. Unknown to the two, he's pressed the button (it's one of those push-to-arm, release-to-fire jobs). Blair and Maniac yell at each other, both basically screaming that there is no time. Blair takes the head shot after pleading with Tolwyn for a couple more beats. Tolwyn slumps on the ground, lets go of the button, and the B2 fires. On the ground, the fight between Jesus and Satan had just ended as in canon, and the Archangel Raphael was just about to start addressing the survivors with the "He brings light to the world" speech, at which point THERE IS LIGHT.

Finale: Tolwyn addresses Jesus directly. "You've got the story right, at least."

"If you did this for personal or family glory, know that you will be reviled for the rest of history."

"Oh I'm sure. I knew that going in. It doesn't matter. We're still here. I have sacrificed myself for the sake of humanity. You of all people should be familiar with how that feels."

"This changes nothing. In a thousand years, it will all end before the White Throne."

"Maybe. But now there will be no Sheep and Goats judgement. Billions died by my hand, but tens of billions survive. Humanity will endure, and not as a race of pets confined to one world. And if you think that bits of fireworks with the Behemoth 2 was impressive, wait and see what we cook up in ten centuries, especially now that we know you're coming."

"Your defiance is a pathetic and useless gesture."

Tolywin is amused. There's only one possible answer to that. He hopes he's earned the right to say these exact words.

"You bore me, Messiah. Disintegrate me, so that I may join my comrades."

"Disintegration is not for you..."

The Angel of the Book easily grabs Tolwyn bodily and prepares to throw him into Hell. Tolwyn responds with a basic judo throw, stands up, salutes, and before the Angel can get back again, takes a step backwards into the pit.

Coda: Paladin watches religious leaders from all faiths and species leave an ecumenical council that was being held on a space station. Below, a world in the middle stages of terraforming. Earth Two / Planet Bob.

"We got a lot of work ahead of us, laddie" he muses "us and our children and grandchildren. I don't know if we can keep people focused on the long term goal here, and I'm definitely too old to see this through. You'll be around a few years longer than me, so... it's on you now." A large holographic clock, counting down from 1000 years, turns on. "Are you ready?" Camera pan - he wasn't talking to Blair, but to Lance Casey. He's wearing a good-guy-ified version of the Black Lance uniform, complete with a reworked but recognizable logo. Casey salutes.