ASP preload script?

I have a few forms that interact with each other but the time required to load the page seems like forever. The script being processed requires at least 11-13 seconds for telnet and processing commands so there is no way to make the page load any faster than that time. The only option I have is to give the user some type of animation to watch while waiting for it to load.

I have found preload scripts that display a while waiting for the images to load, but that doesn't work for ASP scripts.

My attempts so far:

1. Create an intercepting page that displays an animation. The page also has a form with all hidden attributes that automatically submits when the page loads. The hidden fields are just passing the previously selected data to the next page which processes the data.

The problem with this is the animation stops once the ASP scripts start on the 3rd page (2-4 seconds).

2. Create a on the referring page and when the submit button is clicked the form is hidden and the animation is displayed.

The problem here is the ASP script starts immediately so the animation is frozen as soon as it's visible.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

- I use only because it is an intranet website that uses only IE.