Lesson 7

[Jason Lauer]

Jason Lauer's Story Map

### **OPENING**

**Scene:**
Vintage VHS footage from an '80s action movie plays: Rick as “Dutch” must choose — save his team or disarm a missile. He stops the missile — the legend is born.

**Cut to Present Day:**
The President’s grandson finishes watching the film. Moments later, masked assailants breach the estate and kidnap him.

They leave behind a VHS tape labeled:

> “REEL HEROES ONLY.”

> **A1 – Dangerous Situation & Rescue** (off-screen kidnapping)
> **Purpose:** Establish immediate danger, evoke nostalgia, and set up the high-stakes premise.
> **V1 – *LURE THE LEGEND***: Voss kidnaps the President’s grandson to bait Rick back to Blackridge — the site of his most infamous mission.
> **M1 – First Action**: Rick HALO-jumps into Blackridge, evading thermal drones with outdated gear. Enters via a maintenance hatch from the original mission.

—

### **INCITING INCIDENT**

**Scene:**
Rick, 60 but looking 40, signs autographs at a retro action convention.

He’s approached discreetly:

> “It’s real this time. And it’s personal.”

The boy’s being held in a **Cold War missile silo** — the one that inspired Rick’s most famous operation.

> **Purpose:** Kickstart Rick’s return to action.
> **V2 – *TRAP THE CONSCIENCE***: Voss has rebuilt the site as a weaponized recreation of Rick’s original mission.
> **M2 – Obstacle**: Rick must survive a gauntlet of high-tech traps styled after his past missions — only deadlier.
>
> * AI drone corridor disabled with sprinkler valve.
> * Laser floor crossed using smoke and 80s mirrors.
> * AI gas trap distracted by cassette audio.
> * EM room grounded using analog compass & rubber soles.

—

### **FIRST TURNING POINT (End of Act I)**

**Scene:**
Rick HALO-jumps into the site. Rusting Cold War tech. Silence. Shadows.

He sees the boy’s possessions — including a VHS of *Dutch Striker*.

> **A2 – Infiltration & Stealth Entry**
> **Purpose:** Rick is in. The mission isn’t nostalgia — it’s life or death.
> **V3 – *REVEAL THE TRUTH***: Voss leaks footage of Rick’s real mission — he made an impossible choice to save millions but left his team behind.

—

### **MIDPOINT**

**Scene:**
Rick triggers a pressure sensor. A drone swarm attacks.

He uses analog improvisation to:

* Jam drones with tape static
* Overload circuits with a magnesium flare
* Slide down a coolant pipe to escape

> **A3 – Drone Chase / Escape**
> **Purpose:** Show Rick’s analog skill outmatching modern tech
> **M3 – Escalation**: Rick finds the boy — **chained beneath the missile’s exhaust vent**. Countdown begins.
> **V4 – *FORCE THE CHOICE AGAIN***: Voss replays Rick’s greatest trauma — save one or save many. Just like before, except this time it’s personal.

—

### **SECOND TURNING POINT (End of Act II)**

**Scene:**
Rick is captured, chained near the silo.

Damien appears on screen:

* Mid-to-late 20s, elite operative
* Furious Rick’s real missions became films, while he stayed in the shadows
* Seeks to replace Rick’s legacy with his own

Missile launches in 20 minutes. The boy is strapped below.

> **A4 – Psychological Pressure & Stakes Raised**
> **Purpose:** Reveal Damien’s motive and set the timer
> **V5 – *REPLACE THE LEGEND***: Voss wants to defeat Rick on his own stage, streaming it live to become the new icon.
> **M4 – Overwhelming Odds**: The base locks down, elite operatives descend, and Rick has only 10 minutes.

—

### **CRISIS**

**Scene:**
Rick escapes using **a belt buckle and exposed wiring**. No team. No backup. Just grit.

He builds a last-ditch plan using scavenged parts:

* Paracord
* Flares
* Analog gear
* Steels himself for a final showdown

> **Purpose:** It’s pure survival now — Rick stripped to the core of who he is
> **M5 – New Plan**: Rick rigs a Cold War **manual override system** to destabilize the launch platform.

—

### **CLIMAX**

**Scene:**
Missile is fueled and ready.

Rick and Damien brawl on scaffolding over the launch bay. Brutal. Steel pipes. No safety rails.
Rick kills Damien — sending him crashing into the silo abyss.

With seconds left:

* Rick bungee dives from a gantry
* Grabs the President’s grandson and Damien’s body
* Slams into the wall, alive

> **A5 – Fight & Rescue**
> **Purpose:** End Damien. Save the boy.
> **V Final – Fitting End**: Damien dies in silence — no audience, no glory, forgotten by the world.
> **M6 – Full-Out Attack**: Rick finishes the plan. One shot left.

—

### **MISSILE DISARM SEQUENCE**

**Scene:**
Missile powers up. The boy points to a **working drone** nearby.

> “I can fly it.”

Rick grips it. The boy pilots Rick **up the silo**, toward the missile.

Rick midair:

* Opens the hatch
* Rips out the sequencer
* Yanks the chip
* Shoves a flare into the coolant line
* **Missile dies**

Rick **jumps** and grabs the drone mid-fall. They swing to safety.

> **A6 – Rescue + Disarm + Drone Flight**
> **Purpose:** Final fusion of analog and new-gen. Ridiculous, bold, and totally earned.
> **M7 – Success**: Rick saved the boy and the city. This time, he did both.

—

### **RESOLUTION**

**Scene:**
Back at the retro convention.

The **trailer** plays on screen — real footage from the mission:

> “One missile. One shot. No stuntmen.”

Audience goes wild.

The President’s grandson hands Rick a photo to sign.

Rick:

> “This time, the stunts were real.”

> **A7 – Epilogue: Convention Reveal**
> **Purpose:** Rick gets the legend he deserves — not for the myth, but for the man.
> **M8 – Resolution**: The mission becomes a new legend — one that inspired the next generation.

• This reply was modified 1 week, 3 days ago by  Jason Lauer.

[Jeremy Kirk]

Subject line: Jeremy Story Map

What I learned doing this assignment is, I think I got this.

1. Opening: A1 – We begin with a small boy climbing a mountain, who grabs a bad rock and falls. He is caught by an unknown individual who is not really there. We begin with Jackie in the shit as he was sent on an assignment that went bad. It was another attempt to kill Jackie. However, Jackie’s guardian Angel keeps him alive. V1 -We also discover that his Angel believes the hit was intended to kill Jackie.

2. Inciting Incident: V2 – We then get Birchwood, who runs the S.O.C.K. Society of Contract Killers, plotting to get Mr. Yang and Mr. Wang to take out Jackie. A3 – Jackie shows up at the fast-food drive through and a hit against him takes place. With the help of his Angel Jackie survives the attack. Jackie still hasn’t figured out that the agency is against him. But Yael has.

3. First Turning Point at end of Act 1: M1 – Yael when speaking to another Angel decides to get Jackie a divine handgun. V3 – This is also where Birchwood, unhappy with the failed hit, decides to place a ten-million-dollar bounty on Jackie’s head. A4 – Jackie is attacked by his landlord Abuela who lets him know there is a bounty on his head. M2 – Realizing, he is a hunted man, Jackie makes a run for it. V4 – Assassin’s show up to collect on the bounty. Letha Koffin, Moose LeHarl, Johnny Wrought. M3 – A5 – Jackie comes face-to-face with his first assassin and uses the divine revolver and kills him. M4 – It is at this point; Jackie learns that the agency has put up the bounty. He decides to steal the ten-million-dollars.

4. Mid-Point: M-5, A6 – Jackie steals the money and burns down the agency. V5 – Letha visits Shelly and takes her hostage.M6 – A7 – Jackie shows up at the house and frees Shelly and wounds Letha. M7 – They are on the run with the money. V6 – We find out that Letha herself has a Guardian Angel who is keeping her alive. M8 – They are set-upon by another assassin. Johnny Wrought on a motorcycle. In the ensuing fight, Johnny is crashed into a vehicle. V7 – With another failed attempt, Birchwood calls in everybody.

5. Second Turning Point at end of Act 2: M9 – Jackie drops off Shelly with Abuela with the idea that if she watches over her, she gets a cut of the money. He knows it will be an army of killers he’s going up against and will probably die. Jackie contacts Birchwood and lets him know where he’ll be.

6. Crisis: V8 – A fifty team hit squad shows up at the docks. M10 – A8- A gunfight ensues with use of the divine revolver. V9 – At the same time, killers show up at Jackie’s apartment looking for Shelly. M11 – A9 – To bad for them, she is under the watchful eye of Abuela. She takes out the six-man crew with lightening reflexes. A10 – The battle rages on between hit squad and Jackie and his angel. Jackie is getting the better of them when he is shot through the heart. V10 – At the same time, Birchwood ends up at gunpoint from his disgraced son. They both end of shooting each other. M12 – Yael ends up making a deal with Death and brings back Jackie before his soul is carted away to the underworld.

7. Climax: V11 – Letha Koffin and her Angel show up. A11 – Jackie and Letha fist fight just as Yael and Sariel fight. The angel fight eventually turns into a “feather knife,” fight. Jackie and Yael both get their ass kicked. Eventually, Jackie tires of the games and shoots Letha with his hidden .45 pistol. V12 – Sariel takes Yael and is going to kill him for the death of her principal. A12 – Jackie takes up a divine revolver and takes a shot of faith. The round strikes Sariel and turns her to salt. Jackie and the Angel live to fight another day.

8. Resolution: V13 – More assassin’s show up to collect on the bounty. M13 – Jackie let’s Yael know that Death told him, “You work for Death and you’re on the clock.” A13 – Jackie raises the both guns just as Yael blocks the incoming bullets. Ends on a cliffhanger.