Twilight's Last Gleaming

Twilight's Last Gleaming is a video game based loosely on a The Magic School Bus episode, Ralphie Strikes a Nerve, a video game, Red Zone, a film, Twilight's Last Gleaming, and a When the Cold Breeze Blows Away chapter, The Wrath of the Nile. The game is a German/American co-production, produced by Kalypso Media.

Loosely based on them, it tells the story of Winfred Vincelli, a 10-year old Italian-American boy, Julius Schmidt, a 10-year old Jewish-American boy, Hector Estavez, a 10-year old Hispanic-American boy, Pratap Yadav, a 10-year old Indian-American boy, Molly Cheng, a 10-year old Chinese-American, Frances Andrews, a 10-year old blonde American girl, Gabriela Sanderson, a 10-year old African-American girl and Yvonne Castello, a 10-year old Filipino-American girl, who used a giant cheerleading robot-turned-war mecha, called the Whoopee-Bot, which will be called by NATO troops as "Wilderness Tempest," while their mentor, Ismail Ivanov, the leader of the Azonistani Liberation Front, calles it "White Pinion," which it once cheered for the Kinderberry Rams during a soccer (association football) game, with a 10-year old Korean-American girl, Katie Yang and a 10-year old African-American boy, Gregory Plainman, the ones who once played with them, which are both captured by the government of the Republic of Azonistan, a former Soviet republic and a totalitarian dictatorship located in Central Asia, which is led by its dictator, Mikhail Reznov, who too is also the pilot of another Whoopee-Bot, which is also piloted with his finest generals, Ibrahim Popov, Zeyad Hakimi, Abdullah Khalil, Boris Abd Manaf, Miloslav Sokolov, Fyodor Smirnov and Amir Khoury, along with his trusted comrade, a 10-year old girl who is the cousin of Julius Schmidt named Olivia Schmidt, who is the team captain of her own team who seeks revenge on her loss.

Alongside with rescuing Katie and Greg and freeing Azonistan from the Ivanov regime, they must also a teenage damsel-in-distress, Sapphire Sampaguita, who is also a good monster hunter, and the daughter of the Prime Minister of the its neighborhooding country, the Republic of Anijistan, Zhanna Hassan.

Also, the Whoopee-Bot will face enemy giant monsters, enemy giant robots, enemy mechas, super-heavy tanks, siege weapons and battlecruisers as their boss fights like in 1943: The Battle of Midway.

Like Ralphie Strikes a Nerve, a split screen technique is used at several points in the video game to give the audience insight into the simultaneously occurring strands of the storyline. The film's title, which functions on several levels, is taken from "The Star-Spangled Banner," the national anthem of the United States:

O say can you see, by the dawn's early light, / What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming?

April 9th, 2025
A military takeover has just happened in a small, Central Asian country named Azonistan. The coup was lead by the former colonel of the Azonistani Ground Forces: Mikhail Reznov, a brutal power-seeking psycopath and a notorious liar. Unfortunately, there are hugh depots of nuclear weapons in the country, fresh out from the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991.

June 4th, 2025
Reports about mass deportations and torture in Azonistan reach the news agencies. The countries of the free world get together to discuss what should be done about the aggressive Azonistani annexation, but decides to wait and see.

April 9th, 2026
Azonistan unprovoked, invades a small, neighborhooding country after an inhuman merciless bombing raid, killing thousands of innocent people and viciously destroying any resistance.

October 28-29, 2026
A soccer (association football) game had happened between the Kinderberry Rams and the undefeated Olivia Schmidt's personal team in an outdoor field, and yet, believe it or not, thanks to Winfred Vincelli and the Whoopee-Bot, which is also piloted by Julius Schmidt, Hector Estavez, Pratap Yadav, Molly Cheng, Frances Andrews, Gabriela Sanderson and Yvonne Castello, the Rams, along with Katie Yang and Gregory Plainman, won with a score of 25-24, thus ending the team's losing streak.

November 25th, 2026 (0700)
About a month after the game, dictator Mikhail Reznov makes a territorial claim on two new countries. He threatens to use nuclear weapons on the neighborhooding countries and on any country from the free world, daring to interfere. He gives the world 48 (fourty-eight) hours to comply with his demands. Mikhail promises that it is the last territorial claim he will make, but a series of spy hard disks and flash memories reveals his plans about obtaining world domination by taking over one country at a time.

November 25th, 2026 (1030)
Military experts have chosen to tell Winfred, Julius, Hector, Pratap, Molly, Frances, Gabriela and Yvonne to go back to the Whoopee-Bot, after upgrading it and transforming it into a combat robot, and send it into the country on a stealth mission bearing the codename: "OPERATION TWILIGHT'S LAST GLEAMING." The objective is to disable the Azonistani missile launching facilities, rescue not only Katie and Greg, but also the teenage warrior, Sapphire Sampaguita, and the daughter of the President of the Republic of Ajinistan, Zhanna Hassan, and defeat Mikhail Reznov and the Whoopee-Bot clone, piloted by Azonistan's seven finest generals, which is to be followed by an allied infantry invasion.

You have been chosen to lead the most critical mission in the history of mankind.

You will activate a computer virus, that will shut down the enemy military computer and disable some circuits. Then, while the enemy early warning system is down, you will get a chance to remove the nuclear threat.

Remember: You only have 48 hours!

So have a nice day...

Game Over
You failed, commander. Your robot, the Whoopee-Bot, aka Wilderness Tempest, and/or White Pinion, is dead. Your eight pilots are dead. You are a disgrace to the futures of Kinderberry, the Rams, a free Azonistan and the whole world. This nuclear war will create a nuclear winter that will kill most life, and radioactivity will render the world uninhabitable for thousands of years to come.

DEATH BEFORE DISHONOR!

Don't worry, you can try again, or perhaps, I advice you to go terraform another planet.

Ending
CONGRATULATIONS!!!

Through brave and skillful combating, you have not only prevented a nuclear holocaust, but stopped the rise of Olivia Schmidt's evil reign. Also, you've rescued your friends, Katie and Yang! Especially Sapphire and Zhanna! Plus, you've destroyed Reznov's Whoopee-Bot too! You are a true hero! This will truly be a day worth remembering for a long time to come.

UNTIL NEXT TIME....

THE END