Starship Troopers

FROM THE FEDERAL NET -- NOTICE -- JOIN UP NOW !

Proud YOUNG PEOPLE in uniform, the bloom of human evolution.

YOUNG PEOPLE:

I'm doing my part... Me, too...

Are you ?

The mobile infantery logo:LIGHTNING BOLTS ON A BLACK SHIELD.

OFFICIAL VOICE:

Join the mobile infantery and save the world !

Service guarantees citizen-ship.

Would you like to know more ?

2BUG METEOR:

Behold actual pictures of a METEOR, this one a mile across, as it hurtles

past an observation ship.

OFFICIAL VOICE:

The Bugs send another meteor our way !

A BRIGHT EXPLOSION in space out beyond the moon.

OFFICIAL VOICE:

But this time we are ready !

Planetary defenses are better than ever !

Would you like to know more ?

3KLENDATHU --- WHY WE HAVE TO FIGHT !

Klendathu, a fierce orange planet ringed by an asteroid belt,

orbits a double star.

OFFICIAL VOICE:

Klendathu, source of the bug meteor attacks,

orbits a twin star system whose brutal gravitational

forces produce an unlimited supply of meteorites...

A "You are here" map of the KNOWN GALAXY shows the Earth in

relationship to the BUG PLANETARY SYSTEM and Klendathu.

OFFICIAL VOICE:

To ensure the safety of our solar system,

Klendathu must be eliminated !

Would you like to know more ?

4LIVE BROADCAST -- FROM ORBIT - THE INVASION OF KLENDATHU !

For BATTLE GROUPS, sixty STARSHPS strong, orbit the orange planet.

Graphics:
KLENDATHU:THE INVASION

OFFICIAL VOICE:

We break net now and take you live to Klendathu

where the invasion has begun !

5EXTKLENDATHU -- NIGHT -- THE CAMERA

takes the Mobile Infantery CAP TROOPERS wearing fully armed Marauder

POWER SUITS as they move up the line, the pans to the

NET CORRESPONDENT

NET CORRESPONDENT

We 've just landes here on whar cap troopres are calling

"Big K" with the 6th Mobile Infantery division...

It 's an ugly planet, a bug planet, a planet hostile to

life as we iGKKKKKK !

Blood hits the lens as the Correspondent is cut in half.

The CAMERA catches a glimpse of HUGE CLAWS as Cap Trooper

JOHNNY RICO , 18, blows away SOMETHING BIG big with his pulse cannon.

JOHNNY:

Com'on, let's go !ON THE BOUNCE

The cap troopers move out, among them DIZZY FLORES, 18, ACE

LEVY, 19, and KITTEN SMITH, 18. The CAMERA pauses, unsure.

FED NET CENTRAL (O.S.)

FOLLOW THEM...! GO ! GO !

The CAMERA follows. The PULSE of BUG BATTERIES is blinding.

Cap Troopers scream as they are torn apart right and left by an enemy

seen only in disorientating glimpses.

JOHNNY:

THIS WAY !

The group splits into two, and the CAMERA follows Johnny.

Something slices Kitten Smith, and he goes down screaming.

JOHNNY:

KITTEN !

Johnny stops to help his comrade. A CLAW slashes into him.

JOHNNY:

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA !

Now something grabs the CAMERA, spinning it around.

We glimpse the hideous jaws of an ARACHNID WARRIOR.

CAMERAMAN (O.S.)

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA !

The CAMERA hits the ground. Johnny, badly wounded, bleeding

from the mouth, crawls into CAMERA, trying to get away from the

dark INSECT SHAPES that close in on him.

JOHNNY:

Oh, God... Oh, God, help me...

please help me...

His eyes glaze over as he remembers

FLASHBACK:

6INTNEW UNI HIGH - CLASSROOM - DAY - CARMEN IBANEZ

is beautiful, just 18, and quite pleased with herself because

Johnny Rico is clearly infatuated with her.

RASCZAK (O.S.)

The end of another school year, and for

me no doubt another failure...

Rico, pay attention !

The teacher JEAN RASCZAK, 38, a rugged veteran who proudly

displays his missing hand, scowls at Johnny, bemused.

JOHNNY:

Sorry, Mr. Rasczak.

But as soon as Rasczak turns back to the class, Johnny begins to sketch

a cartoon on his desk's touch screen.

RASCZAK:

Here in History and Moral Philosophy

we've explored the decline of

Democracy when social scientists brought

the world to the brink of chaos, and how the

veterans took control and imposed a stability

that has lasted for generations since...

You know these facts but have I taught you

anything of value ? You.

Why are only citizens allowed to vote ?

Rasczak points at LANNY, 17, with his stump

.

LANNY:

It's a reward... what the Federation gives you

for doing Federal Service.

Rasczak is crestfallen, makes a big show of patience.

RASCZAK:

No. Something given has no value !

Haven't I taught you dimwits anything ?

I guess they ought to revoke my

teaching credential...

Laughter. Johnny's cartoon, meanwhile, is taking shape:

Johnny and Carmen flying round planet Venus in a space ship.

RASCZAK:

When you vote, you're exercising political

authority. You're using force. And force, my

friends, is violence, the supreme authority

from which all other authority derives.

CARL JENKINS, 18, a superintelligent geek, jumps in.

CARL:

Gee, we always thought you were the

supreme authority, Mr. Rasczak.

Laughter. Rasczak grins.

RASCZAK:

In my classroom, you bet. Whether it's

exerted by ten or ten billion, political

authority is violence by degree. The

people we call citizens have earned

the right to wield it.

DIZZY FLORES, 18, athletic, pretty, no nonsense, chimes in.

DIZZY:

My mother always says that violence

never solves anything.

RASCZAK:

Really ? I wonder what the city fathers of

Hiroshima would have to say about that.

You.

Rasczak points at Carmen.

CARMEN:

They probably wouldn't say anything.

Hiroshima was destroyed.

Johnny presses ´"SEND" on his desk, and the cartoon appears

across the way on Carmen's screen.

RASCZAK:

Correct. Naked force has settled more

issues in history than any other factor.

The contrary opinion 'violence never

solves anything' is wishful thinking

at its worst.

While Rasczak looks away, Carmen throws Johnny her wonderful

smile, and Johnny's gone, checked out, flying round Venus.

RASCZAK:

People who forget that always pay...

They pay with their lives and their

freedom.

Dizzy notices the dreamy look on Johnny's face.

So does Rasczak. He points at him with his stump,

snaps Johnny to.

RASCZAK:

You. Tell me the moral difference,

if any, between the citizen and the civilian ?

JOHNNY:

The difference lies in the field of civic

virtue. A citizen accepts personal

responsibility for the safety of the body politic,

of which he is a member, defending it,

if need be, with his life.

The civilian does not.

RASCZAK:

The exact words of the text. But do

you understand it ?

Do you believe it ?

JOHNNY:

Uh, I don't know.

RASCZAK:

Of course you don't. I doubt if any

of you here would recognize 'civic virtue'

if it bit you in the ass.

A bell rings. Rasczak shrugs, indifferent.

RASCZAK:

Well, that's it. Have a nice life.

7EXTNEW UNI HIGH - HALLWAY - DAY - JOHNNY AND CARMEN

walk with their friends. Several COUPLES hold hands. Johnny

tries to take Carmen's hand, but she demurs. Johnny broods.

CARMEN:

C'mon, let's see if they've posted the

math final test yet.

STUDENT:

Hey, Rico, we gonna take Tesla ?

JOHNNY:

How should I know ?

STUDENT:

You're captain of the team !

8EXTQUAD - DAY - JOHNNY AND CARMEN

join other students around a MULTI-SCREEN KIOSK.

CARMEN:

First thing Fleet Academy looks at

is your math scores.

Wish me luck !

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