When a rogue military group steals a dangerous alien device, an elite squad of soldiers strives to stop them from using it to transform and cull a post-apocalyptic Earth.

Think: G.I.J.O.E a decade after The War of the Worlds

SYNOPSIS:

WHY THIS STORY NOW: In a world that was nearly annihilated by powerful technology, dilemmas of its use persist since it also helped heal — forever changing — the world. A view on how inexorable development affects individuals, society, and civilization with friendship, factionalism, and conflict in constant chaotic flux.

A decade after an apocalyptic alien invasion…

In Federal City 4, a bus hijacking can’t be traced due to a concurrent cyberattack, which also hides the deployment of armed robots that storm the city. Sent to fight them, Team Alpha: 2 soldiers, Elf and Sky, and 2 special weapons - Wolf, a cybernetic mutant; and Muffin, a sentient robot - made from restricted alien technology. Cyborg Joe, a cybernetic soldier, leading the robot attack escapes laughing, since…

The attack covered a paramilitary group’s theft of an alien energy source, the Core, that Dr. Sherman warns can unleash immense power, but if controlled could be a saving grace, since with it he stabilized Wolf. Back at base, Commander Patel reprimands Team Alpha for obtaining just photos and a logo: a lion head, scorpion tail, and dragon wings referring to a Manticore. Elf is warned: his team can be disbanded, and its ‘special weapons’ will be dealt with on the next inadequate mission. In Team Alpha, camaraderie grows cold.

In a mountain hideout… the paramilitaries unload the Core. They have two main units, Captain Bashar’s which is disillusioned, and Major Steele’s which remains loyal and corrals the prisoners from the hijacked bus. The Colonel sends a message, “tests commencing.”

Meanwhile… Team Alpha mends inner demons. Elf feels responsible for losing a comrade, and lover, in the war. Sky recalls the results of the aliens’ human experiments, forced adaptation to a cybernetic collective. Being one, Wolf has flashes of his transformation which have kept him dour. Muffin, outside of his assigned programs, is gauging the concept of humor. Sky maintains friendships outside of her military career and tries to cheer Elf up, but he calls her unprofessional. A tense Team Alpha reports for another mission.

The Griffin finds its foe, the Manticore…

he cyberattack is traced to one Leon Hex whom Team Alpha is dispatched to capture. During a junkyard battle, they see the same logo as in the warehouse photos — boom! Leon Hex’s hidden facility detonates, but he’s captured for interrogation.

Comm. Patel keeps Team Alpha active and tensions ease but danger brews elsewhere. Interrogating Leon Hex, Comm. Patel learns the Core is a terraformer, which Dr. Sherman confirms. Comm. Patel sees that in the paramilitary group, Manticore, Leon Hex is the lion… there must be a dragon and a scorpion. He digs into an archive to find an old war comrade: Colonel Vlad who has a dragon tattoo, was fascinated with the aliens’ energy weapons, and mutinied during the war with his first loyalists including Maj. Steele.

Now in the mountain hideout, Col. Vlad announces the Core as a way to build a technocratic utopia showing a propaganda film appealing to many given current privations. During the speech, up high, a Dark Figure is watching but soon leaves.

Capt. Bashar intends to find the extent of Manticore’s plans but is sent to extract Leon Hex. His unit carries out the extraction being careful about casualties. He stops Cyborg Joe from killing Elf and Sky on their way out. Team Alpha tracks them to the mountain hideout where Maj. Steele brings in prisoners and animals. Wolf thinks it’s to make more soldiers like him.

Team Alpha gets caught! Elf recognizes Capt. Bashar and Cyborg Joe who is stopped again by the Captain. Revealed to be working for Manticore, Dr. Sherman. He proves Wolf’s suspicions, but this puts him at odds with Leon Hex who favors robots. However, Col. Vlad demands a test of Dr. Sherman’s idea as Leon Hex’s robots have been subpar.

Team Alpha is put into a live fire test as the Core creates cybernetic mutants from the human prisoners and animals recreating the aliens’ experiments. The process is difficult and Leon Hex is proven right. The Core misfires and its energy begins terraforming the facility, so Col. Vlad and Leon Hex evacuate. Team Alpha snags Dr. Sherman and escapes in a vehicle that was left for them as the facility is incinerated to stop the terraforming.

Unlikely allies lead to victory…

Capt. Bashar’s team is all cybernetically augmented war amputees, given limbs by Dr. Sherman but disgusted with Manticore’s boundless ambitions. They join Griffin Force. Back at base, they stop Cyborg Joe from killing Dr. Sherman angering the Dark Figure who appears on Col. Vlad’s screens saying that the attempt to kill Dr. Sherman will be forgiven if his and Leon Hex’s robots prove apt. Manticore broadcasts the propaganda film to Federal City 4 stating all those willing to join are welcome and the city will soon be destroyed.

Griffin Force locates Manticore as a huge bomber is launched. The epic final battle begins! Wolf and Muffin board the bomber, fight Leon Hex, and send the bomber out to sea. Capt. Bashar heads into the facility’s depths, defeats Maj. Steele, and grabs the Core. Elf and Sky fight topside against Col. Vlad and his robot army. They win but the facility erupts!

A massive crater is spreading… they all just make it, but Sky dangles over certain death… Elf saves her mending his guilt, and apologizes for being cold before. They hug. Yes, it’s love. Even Muffin cracks a joke good enough to make Wolf smile, he’s gauged humor well enough. And the Core is back in good hands. For now.

The heroes receive medals and share laughs including Wolf who is no longer dour.

However, Dr. Sherman awakens in a new place… in a doorway: the Dark Figure stands smiling.