Starship Troopers Page #11

90INTC.O.'S OFFICE -DAY - THE C.O: AND ZIM

and other staffers watch the grim news unfold. Animation

illustrates the insect treachery.

OFFICIAL VOICE:

The meteor derived from here, near Klendathu,

in the Arachnid's home system...

ZIM:

I'm serious, sir. I'll go anywhere.

I want combat.

C.O.

Forget it, Zim. We're gonna need you

here. The only way you'll get a combat

assignment is if you bust yourself to

private. You get me ?

ZIM:

Yes, sir, I get you.

C.O.

What can I do for you, Rico ?

JOHNNY:

Sir, I wish to reconsider my request

to drop out, sir.

C.O.

Sorry, son. I can't do it. You signed

the 1240/A. It would be illegal.

JOHNNY:

Sir, i know it was wrong. I didn't

learn from one mistake and I made

another, sir.

(then)

Sir, my family... my whole family was

in Buenos Aires, sir.

Zim picks up Johnny's 1240/A off the C.O.'s desk.

ZIM:

Is that your signature, Rico ?

JOHNNY:

Sir, yes it is, sir.

ZIM:

Doesn't look like it to me.

Zim gives the C.O. a look. The C.O. shrugs, turns away, watching the news

of the coming war. Zim tears up the 1240/A.

ZIM:

Get outa here, private.

91FROM THE FEDERAL NET - HUMANKIND GOES TO WAR !

Actual pictures of Buenos Aires:SURVIVORS pick through rubble,

people wail, kids play tag in the ruins.

OFFICIAL VOICE:

Out of the ashes of Buenos Aires comes first

sorrow, then ANGER !

ANGRY PERSON:

The only good bug is a dead bug !

OFFICIAL VOICE:

Would you like to know more ?

92COMBAT - VICTORY ON DANTANA !

A wounded CAP TROOPER, grim smile, flashes "V" for victory as his

weary comrades carry him off the field.

OFFICIAL VOICE:

Cap Troopers establish a foothold on Dantana,

a planet system at the outer edge of the

Arachnid Quarantine Zone. Casualties are high,

but casualties won't stop the Mobile Infantery !

Would you like to know more ?

93HOME FRONT - KIDS KILL BUGS AND MOM IS GLAD !

MOM smiles as her CUTE KIDS stomp insects in the garden.

FACTORY WORKERS turn out ordnance. PEOPLE line up

to enlist.

OFFICIAL VOICE:

Everyone's doing their share. Are you ?

The war effort needs your effort at work,

at home, in your community.

Would you like to know more ?

94LEADERSHIP - SKY MARSHALL ANNOUNCES OFFENSIVE !

SKY MARSHALL DIENES, 72, addresses the FEDERAL COUNCIL.

SKY MARSHALL DIENES

We are a generation commanded by fate to defend

humankind ! We must meet the threat with our valor,

our blood, with our very lives, to insure that human

civilization, not insect, dominates this galaxy now

and always.

The council rises to its feet for a standing ovation.

OFFICIAL VOICE:

Sky Marshall Dienes announces plans for an

offensive against Klendathu, source of the

bug meteor that destroyed Buenos Aires.

95LIVE BROADCAST - AQZ - FLEET BATTLE STATION TICONDEROGA

is a sprawling pre-fab structure covering several square kilometers of space

where STARSHIPS are stacked in berths.

Super title:
COUNTDOWN TO VICTORY.

OFFICIAL VOICE:

We now break net and take you live to

Fleet Battle Station Ticonderoga deep

inside the Arachnid Quarantine Zone.

96INTBATTLE STATION - NIGHT CYCLE - THE CAMERA

follows the Net Correspondentas he works a corridor crowded with

MOBILE INFANTERY and FLEET PERSONNEL.

NET CORRESPONDENT

No one here in the AQZ knows when the

invasion of Kendathu will occur, but

everyone's talking about it, and the talk says

tomorrow !

Newly minted cap troopres Johnny, Dizzy, Ace, and Kitten Smith happen along.

NET CORRESPONDENT

Here's a bunch of M.I. kids who look like they

eat bugs for lunch !

DIZZY:

Yum, yum yum ...!

NET CORRESPONDENT

So you're not to worried about fighting the

Arachnids...?

ACE:

Hey, shoot a nuke down a bug hole,

lotta dead bugs, am I right ?

KITTEN SMITH:

I just hope it's not over before we get in it !

NET CORRESPONDENT

Some say the bugs were provoked by human

attempts to colonize within the AQZ, that a

"live and let live" policy is preferable to

war with the bugs...

JOHNNY:

Yeah, well, I'm from Buenos Aires, and

I say kill'em all !

97INTRECREATION DECK - NIGHT CYCLE - JOHNNY

and his friends drink at a crowded bar. Around the room there's

singing and dancing, a mad sort of revelry bred of fear and

excitement, but nearby a VETERAN drinks alone.

KITTEN SMITH:

That guy's been in it.

JOHNNY:

How can you tell ?

KITTEN SMITH:

The eyes. He's got the 1000 meters stare.

He's hard and humorless, all wised up. Ace admires his LASER CUT TATTOOS.

Dizzy eyes his skull and crossbone earring.

ACE:

Great scars.

DIZZY:

I like the jewelry. Hey, amigo, where can

I get an earring like yours ?

VETERAN:

Port Joe Smith, Outer Rings, Dantana...

Every time I come back from a drop, my

gunny gives me a bone. I got three now.

You don't see a lot of guys with three.

JOHNNY:

Waht's it like... combat ?

VETERAN:

I guess it's not so bad. I mean as

long as you don't get any on you.

KITTEN SMITH:

Get any what on you ?

VETERAN:

Oh, you'll know when it happens.

See you on the bounce.

The veteran pays his tab and heads out.

ACE:

I say we all go to the laser parlor

and get cut together.

JOHNNY:

What do I want with a scar ?

DIZZY:

What, your skin's too pretty ?

C'mon, everyone's doing it !

CARMEN (V.O.)

HeyJohnny !Johnny Rico !

Johnny looks up and sees Carmen. She lloks graet in uniform with

the hat and the lieutenant's bars on her shoulders.

JOHNNY:

Carmen... ?

Johnny remembers himself, snaps to attention, salutes. Dizzy and the others

follow suit. Carmen salutes back, sheepish.

CARMEN:

Oh... at ease. Guess I oughta lose the hat

when I'm off duty, eh ?

Dizzy, disgusted, turns back to Ace and Kitten Smith. Carmen tucks her hat

under her arm. Her hair is very short.

JOHNNY:

What happened to your hair ?

CARMEN:

What do you think ? Everyone did it when

we got our wings. You don't like it, do you ?

JOHNNY:

It's alright, I guess. You hear from anyone

made it out of B.A. alive ?

Carmen shakes her head, sadly.

CARMEN:

It's funny. Sometimes I forget. Then it

hits me, and I can't stop crying.

JOHNNY:

I try just to be happy I'm still alive.

CARMEN:

You don't look very happy to see me.

JOHNNY:

Should I be ?

CARMEN:

Johnny... Life is so different from the

way it was. One day you'll see what

I did was best for both of us.

Zander leaves a group of FLEET OFFICERS to join them.

ZANDER:

Everything coposetic, Lieutenant ?

CARMEN:

Zander, you remember Johnny ?

Zander and I are a flight team now.

Zander puts his arm around Carmen, gives her a squeeze.

ZANDER:

Best in the Fleet !

JOHNNY:

I get it. This is the part that's best

for both of us.

Don't do me anymore favors, eh ?

Johnny turns to leave.

CARMEN:

Johnny, wait...

ZANDER:

Forget it, Carmen. The Mobile Infantery

does a thankless, dirty job, so they

naturally tend to be short-tempered,

thoughtless and rude.

Johnny turns back to face Zander.

JOHNNY:

You got something to say about the

Mobile Infantery ?

ZANDER:

You heard me. Wanna make something

out of it, private ?

JOHNNY:

Not with an officer, no, sir.

The M.I. doesn't mint stupid cap

troopers.

Everyone can see what's about to happen. A circle is forming,

Fleet on one side, Mobile Infantery on the other.

Rate this script:4.0 / 2 votes