Fan Film Friday: Cockpit: ‘The Rule of Engagement’

“In 2103, humanity is at war with the Tarceds, an alien race that can control minds.

“Our brave pilots of the U.E.S. Navy hold them at bay at the outer edge of the galaxy.

“To bomb them into extinction is to win. To see them is to fail.”

This text is the beginning of an 11-minute short written, produced and directed by Jesse Griffith that opens with Lieutenant Commander “Outback” Daniels (Karl Champley) looking for help since his fighter has very little air remaining.

He then contacts the carrier led by its captain (Ronny Cox), who at first is delighted with the prospect of rescuing a fellow soldier in the space war.

That joy turns into suspicion when the captain and his crew find no sign of “Razor” (Jamie Callahan), the wingman assigned to assist in the mission.

As a result, the captain orders all defensive weapons and fighters prepared to destroy Outback and his ship if it’s determined that he’s been taken over by the enemy.

Daniels is ordered to stay where he is and provide his security code, which verifies his identity.

When asked to explain the loss of his wingman, Outback refers to his ship’s log, which shows him and Razor destroying an enemy installation and then heading back to base.

After the fighters decide to escape through an asteroid field, Daniels detects space mines in the field, but that discovery comes too late for Razor, whose ship is destroyed after hitting one of the bombs.

“I did not make enemy contact, and my logs are intact,” the pilot concludes.

“Come on home, son,” the captain says with obvious relief in his voice.

“Belay that!” a female agent (Hellena Taylor) calls out from the back of the bridge. She’s one of the inspectors dispatched to the U.E.S. Carriers to ensure that all pilots follow this particular rule of engagement.

“If there are any discrepancies in his logs, he can’t be allowed to land,” she states.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” the captain replies angrily. “You saw the video!”

“He must be interviewed” and his records checked by an investigation team, she states.

“My boys know the rules of engagement,” the captain states emphatically. “If you get near the enemy, you eject.”

“It’s a little more complicated than that,” the agent says before giving her view of the events that led to the current situation.

The pilots did indeed destroy an enemy installation and headed back to their base through an asteroid field, the agent says.

However, an eerie gremlin-like Tarced found its way onto the left wing of Outback’s fighter, then crawled its way to the window in the front of the ship, catching Daniels off guard.

The commander brought his fighter to a halt, which sent the creature into the line of fire. But when Daniels tried to destroy the Tarced, he accidentally destroyed Razor and his ship instead.

Still, the damage was done. After getting so close to an enemy, Daniels was now in their control, so he adjusted the ship’s log to avert suspicion while making it appear that his wingmate had hit a mine.

“That is one hell of a theory,” the captain says after listening to the agent’s view of what happened. Nevertheless, he decides to “play it your way” by rescuing the pilot as cautiously as they can.

He orders a fuel drone be drained and filled with oxygen and set up to be activated by remote control.

But the process will take four minutes to complete, and Outback has less than a minute’s worth of oxygen.

“Relax,” the captain tells Daniels. “We’ll get your through this.”

Spoiler Alert: If you’d rather watch the fan film’s ending yourself, skip down to the links at the end of my review; or if not, just continue reading.

Suddenly, Outback’s ship starts moving toward the carrier despite the captain’s repeated orders to stand down or turn his ship around. Daniels claims he’ll just land the vessel on the carrier’s outer deck so he can get the oxygen more quickly.

While the captain doesn’t want to destroy the vessel or its pilot, he reaches a point when there’s no other choice than to fire on the fighter.

“Do it,” he says sadly.

As if destroying a ship and its pilot isn’t hard enough on the captain, the agent tells him that because he hesitated, “you’re officially under investigation.”

The captain’s response is simple and direct: “Get the hell off my ship.”

As the agent enters the elevator in the back of the bridge, the captain has one more question to ask: “What if he was telling the truth?”

The agent’s response is also simple and direct: “It’s not my job to care.”

When the captain turns back to the viewscreen, he sees the debris of Daniels’ ship—with a gremlin-like creature crawling toward him. Was the agent right after all?

Looks like it’s time to put on my “space cowboy” Clint Eastwood hat and start reviewing.

The Good: Cockpit is a clever drama that keeps you guessing until the end. Still, the pivotal character is the captain as portrayed by Ronny Cox, who was “Captain Jellico” in two episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation and starred in movies including Total Recall and Beverly Hills Cop.

Cox’s experience in science fiction comes in handy here as a soldier who wants to rescue one of his men but is forced into making a life-or-death decision under unusual circumstances.

Also, the special effects in Cockpit are spectacular. It’s hard to believe that most of this short film was shot in front of a green screen with the backgrounds and space battle scenes added later. Nicely done!

The Bad: My only tiny qualm about the story is that the Tarceds reminded me a lot of the gremlin from William Shatner’s appearance in The Twilight Zone episode “Nightmare at 20,000 Feet” when there was a critter on the left wing and no one believed Shatner’s character. Of course, Cockpit could have been a tip of the hat to that episode, and if so, it’s a well done homage.

The Ugly: I was pleasantly surprised to learn that Cockpit is intended to be the basis for a feature-length motion picture. But if that’s true, we’ll have to do what fans do best, which is wait for something great to come along. Still, if “The Rule Of Engagement” is any indication, it’ll be worth the wait!

If you want to watch Cockpit for yourself, turn your Web browser here. And if you’d like to learn more about the project and its creator, go here.

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