Deathworld (audio story)

Deathworld is the third episode in Vienna: Series One. It was produced by Big Finish Productions and was notable for being written by Jonathan Morris, who created the character of Vienna Salvatori.

Synopsis
The planet Mercator. Twenty trained assassins enter a game arena, armed only with their wits to compete against each other in a harsh environment. Twenty killers go in. One comes out.

Amongst the killers is Vienna Salvatori. This is the moment she has trained her whole life for, honing her skills as an assassin to become the best in the galaxy.

As the killers are wiped out one by one, Vienna fights on in the hope of finally learning the truth about her past. In the last battle, only one can be the last assassin standing.

Plot
Vienna resets her on-board computer to the previous setting. Suddenly, a voice overhead ends the simulation claiming that Vienna has scored just forty-three percent, much to Vienna's disappointment. She leaves the immersion pod and is helped by Malrick. Malrick plays back her adventures aboard Custodian and with the New Church of Wonderment, claiming they have been only training simulations that have taken six months. Malrick boasts his ninety-eight percent at the same training programs. Vienna is then advised to prepare for the opening ceremony for the Tournament of Death, which is taking place in the induction hall.

In the induction hall, Felman Shazarel introduces himself and the Tournament of Death, which entails a group of unarmed assassins fighting to the death until one remains. He wishes them luck and shows them towards the hovership. Aboard the ship, Vienna learns that Malrick was born on this world, growing up in the Warrior Cast and moving to the Assassin's Academy. Vienna tells Malrick that what the students have been witnessing in the simulations have actually happened to her. Malrick tries to convince her that she only thinks that due to the simulations being indistinguishable from real life. However, Vienna knows she's correct because she has memories after leaving Kendra. Malrick states that that would be impossible as that's the end of the simulation.

Vienna recalls that the next thing she did was go to therapy. She recalls turning on psychoanalytic mode on her ship and excitedly telling her that she had found Crevo Finn on a planet called Kazba. The computer informs Vienna that she has already uploaded this information to the harddrive and then deleted it, thinking it would allow her to work more effectively. This leaves Vienna confused. The computer restores her memories. During her childhood, Vienna had been living with her parents on Mercator. In her bedroom, her mother places her to sleep and through her see-through roof, she watches the ice moons before she falls asleep. She is then awoken from her sleep by the noise of an intruder, who intent on murdering her parents. Vienna is placed inside the airducts by her mother before a man enters the room. When the man asks for Vienna's whereabouts, Vienna's mother tells him that she's with her grandparents on Miracle 3. Crevo goes ahead and murders her. Finn then leaves, allowing Vienna to exit the duct. Vienna states that one day, she will find Finn and take her revenge.

After that, she was taken to the Warrior Cast to be raised and fast-tracked to the Assassin Academy. The ship informs her that her mother is alive on Miracle 3, and that all of the proceeds of Vienna's assassinations have been going towards her treatments. Vienna recalls visiting her mother in a hospital two years prior. Her mother is wired to a machine, in a coma since the attack. Vienna refuses to forget ever again and sets a course for the planet Kazba.

Vienna's reminiscing is interrupted by Malrick, who informs her of their arrival. Vienna and Malrick agree to a temporary team-up until the end. Malrick agrees just so that he can hear the rest of her story. A man by the name of Galaron Darvil overhears them and takes the matter personally. Vienna warns him that when the door opens, he better begin running. The Tournament officially begins. Vienna notes the numerous terrains crammed into one area. Within minutes, Darvil makes his first kill. Vienna and Malrick go off to find higher ground.

As they continue, Darvil narrowly misses them with his poison darts. The two of them split up and launch a surprise attack on Darvil who accidentally inhales a poison dart, temporarily knocking him off. Believing him to be dead, they move onward. They find a cave and go to shelter. Malrick asks her to continue her story:

Vienna recalls that after landing on Kazba, she headed towards he magisterial palace and broke in. She hijacks a perimeter guard and locates Finn in room fourteen. The robot starts to panic and so agrees to show her directly to Finn. After an attempt to warn the other guard of Vienna's jamming device, Vienna then blows up the other robot and decides to make her own way. Inside the room, she finds Crevo Finn. She takes out her weapon and introduces herself as his executioner. The man before her claims he has no idea what she's talking about. Apparently, thirty years ago, he'd have been a kid himself, to which Vienna does not believe him. He states he can prove his innocence and just as she accepts it, other attackers can be heard from outside. Vienna attempts to keep him alive, so that only she can kill him.

Cast

 * Vienna Salvatori - Chase Masterson
 * Felman Shazarel - Michael Chance
 * Malrick - Andrew Dickins
 * Crevo Finn/Galaron Darvil - Mark Frost

Continuity

 * The simulations taken by the students entail Vienna's previous adventures onboard the Custodian and with the New Church of Wonderment were part of a training simulation. (AUDIO: Dead Drop, Bad Faith)
 * Vienna's payments to Miracle 3 have been paying for her mother's treatment following Crevo Finn's attempted murder. (AUDIO: The Memory Box et al)