Screamers

- Okay, ante up.

- Five.

Okay, l see your five.

- Back in the slammer.

- Those were my last smokes.

This game sucks.

This whole place sucks.

Lieutenant, l think you'd

better have a look at this.

What the hell is he doing here?

Tell the captain we've got

a situation. A NEB coming in.

- How did he get this far?

- l'm going to take him.

He's mine.

- What are you waiting for?

- Something's not right. He's alone.

Here comes the cavalry.

No matter how many times

l see this, it still makes me sick.

l'm glad

those things are on our side.

Our side's the good side, right?

Tell me again, it's a little blurry.

We created them.

We didn't have any choice.

Without the screamers

we'd have lost the war.

- ls the NEB still out there?

- Yeah, but not in one piece.

Just the one?

What the hell was he doing out here?

He had something in his hand

that he wanted to show us.

Well...

l guess l'd better take a look.

Are you going out there?

That's a great plan.

lt's probably some kind of bomb.

Get off your butt

and open the goddamn door.

Check your tabs, sir.

CRUClAL:
TO ALLlANCE COM MANDER

- Who wrote this sh*t?

- Mozart.

- "Don Giovanni."

- Don Giovanni?

What the hell do you want, Chuck?

Tear your eye away from that coin,

and l'll tell you.

lt's the portrait of a sphinx.

lt belonged to Augustus Caesar, the

first great emperor of the world.

Riddle me this, Caesar. We haven't

seen a NEB soldier in six months.

Why does one solitary grunt

get shredded by a screamer -

- trying to hand deliver this?

Priority seven. You and me... and

God, if he's still paying attention.

l doubt it.

- ls it a trick?

- l couldn't get into it, either.

- Don't do that!

- Scared you, didn't l?

Jesus!

"From Marshall Richard Cooper,

Fifth NEB Army Command."

"To Joseph Hendricksson.

Matters of extreme urgency."

"Demand immediate

peace negotiation."

"Request two officers.

Safe passage guaranteed."

"We await your arrival ASAP."

- Peace negotiation.

- They sound pretty desperate.

- We've been waiting for this.

- What have we been waiting for?

The end of the war.

Maybe it's another bullshit tactic

to get us to lay back.

- MacDonald, are you there?

- Yes, sir.

l want the following message

transmitted to San Francisco.

Have received first contact

from NEB army in six months.

They wish to open peace

negotiations. Please advise.

We picked up an emergency message

from a commercial transport.

We're 5 million miles

off of the shipping lanes.

Find out what their emergency is.

No clearance, no landing.

Joe, what do you make of this?

Looks like a map

of the forward command post.

- They're laying themselves open.

- So why the pony express?

They've been completely silent

for two weeks. Not even radio.

But why just one guy?

Why not a patrol?

- Secretary Green is arriving.

- Thank you, MacDonald.

Joe, Chuck, l have some very

inspiring news for you all.

Alliance HQ has been keeping

it classified. Wrapped up tight.

The NEB Corporation has approached

us requesting an armistice.

We could actually end this war.

Reserves of berynium

have been found on Triton 4.

After extensive testing,

there's no sign of radioactivity.

We are on the verge of signing

a world peace agreement.

We'd also renew contracts

with the NEB to mine on Triton 4.

These negotiations

are extremely delicate -

- and we can't afford to do anything

that might upset the apple cart...

- Sorry, sir.

- Fix it.

- There's radiation interference.

- Give me the damn thing.

Morse code was better

than this virtual reality sh*t.

lt is imperative to make no contact

with NEB Command on Sirius 6B.

l'm sure you won't do anything that

would jeopardise our chances now.

Peace, can you believe it?

The NEBs are businessmen.

Now they're mining on Triton 4,

peace is in their interest.

- Thank God for Green.

- He's a good man.

He prevented a war on Earth.

A war on Earth

might've done them some good.

lf those a**holes

rolled around in the mud.

- Which a**holes?

- NEBs and us.

- We were all NEBs once.

- Exactly.

l just want to go home.

What's the first thing you'll do?

l've got no plans for the future.

- You have a lot to look forward to.

- lncome tax.

Are you going to look her up

when you get back?

- What for?

- You tell me.

She couldn't take it.

She's married and moved on...

...and l'm still here.

Not for long.

Do you still think about her?

lt used to be every minute,

then once a day.

About twice a year

l get a kick in the chest.

What did she look like?

All personnel. Radiation alert!

Please light your reds.

l left mine in the office.

Have you got one?

He must have been a brave man...

that NEB soldier.

Alert!

All personnel to their stations.

- They're not civilians.

- No, a troop transport. All ours.

- How bad is it?

- No survivors.

- Then what the hell is that?

- Get me out of here, man!

We're going to cut you out of here.

Just hang on.

"Sirius 6B Transportation."

We've got no transportation service!

- What the hell is that?

- You've got to look at this.

- Look at this.

- And this. lt's a bomb factory.

Holy sh*t!

A nuclear reactor!

- When did we last see one of these?

- What's happening here?

Come on.

- Careful. Are you all right?

- Calm down. l'm all right.

- Get this man a tab.

- What the hell's a tab?

- This guy's naked here.

- Hold on a second.

One second!

l'm out of here.

You wanted to see me, Commander?

Yeah.

At ease, we're informal around here.

That'll be all, Rodgers.

- How are you doing?

- Good... there's a scar on my arm.

lf you go outside without a tab on,

you'll lose your arm. Name?

Private Michael Jefferson.

Gunnery specialist on six levels.

First class.

Level six? You can shoot

the dots off a dice at 1 00 yards.

lf you can load it, l can shoot it.

lnstructors used to call me "Ace".

- Everybody here calls me "sir".

- Yes, sir.

- Sir, what are they?

- lt's a sword. Take a look.

Screamers were developed to

neutralize the war on the ground.

- How do you know it's dead?

- l yanked its brain out.

- That'll take your finger off!

- You said it was dead.

lt still has

a mechanical surface reflex.

They get shot up, but can still

swing a sword. Pretty smart.

Maybe too smart.

lt seems to have modified itself.

Where's everybody else?

The guys who were with me?

- How many men onboard?

- 38, including me.

Now there's one, including you.

Those guys...

l didn't even know them.

l couldn't even talk to them.

Jefferson... what in the hell

are you doing here?

There was a nuclear reactor aboard

programmed for weapons manufacture.

- l wasn't aware of that.

- You radioed you were civilian.

- Where were you bound?

- Triton 4.

Why were you carrying

a nuclear reactor and weapons?

To invade, attack

and extinguish the enemy.

- What enemy?

- The NEBs.

You were going to attack

the NEBs on Triton 4?

Yes... but we're just a task force.

4,000 Alliance Army regulars are

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