Starship Troopers Page #13

A HOPPER (an airborne Arachnid warrior with powerful rear legs and "pop out"

wings for gliding) lands on Lieutenant Willy and cracks his head like a nut.

ACE:

KILL IT !

Johnny and Ace open fire, backing away. Pulse rounds tear it apart, bug guts

gushing.

JOHNNY:

Lieutenant's bought the farm.

Where's the Sarge...?

ACE:

I didn't see him !

Now comes a flood of WORKERS building ever advancing fortifications,

and with them, hundreds of deadly ARACHNID WARRIORS.

KITTEN SMITH:

Here they come...!

DIZZY:

Ace, what're we doing ?

ACE:

I uh... uh...

Dizzy and the others open fire simultanously. The whole area goes white hot

in the magnesium flash of so many pulse cannons. Shujumi fires wildly at

advancing insects.

SHUJUMI:

You want some ? Here's some !

C'MON !

JOHNNY:

Don't waste your ammon on the

workers !

Shujumi can't hear. A warrior finds him, rips his leg off, hurls him back

into the waiting jaws of the oncoming bugs.

SHUJUMI:

AAAAAAAAAAAA !

He fights, screaming. A claw reaches for his face, ripping the top of his head off.

KATRINA:

Let's get out of here !

Now the ground opens behind her and a huge (6 meters) TANKER BUG

lumbers out of the ground, it's funnel-shaped snout extruding above

multiple eyes.

DIZZY:

Look out !

The tanker bug sprays and hits Katrina. She screams, as her legs melt out

from under her.

KATRINA:

AAAAAAAAAAAAA !

Warriors converge to feed on her. Ace wants to help her, but Johnny blocks him.

JOHNNY:

C'mon, Katrina was right. We

gotta get out of here !

110EXTKLENDATHU - NIGHT - JOHNNY

and the other survivors on the bounce. The entire surface of Klendathu seems

to be churning with insects as more and more bugs come to the surface to

repel the invasion.

JOHNNY:

It's a general retreat ! The boats are

coming down.

They come to the rear lines where the Net Correspondent and his

CAMERAMAN are doing live coverage of the invasion.

NET CORRESPONDENT

We've just landed here on what cap troopers

are calling the "Big K" with the 6th Mobile

Infantery Division. It's an ugly planet, a bug

planet, a planet hostile to life as we kow iGKKKKK !

The Correspondent is cut in half by a warrior. Johnny blows it away.

JOHNNY:

C'mon, let's go ! ON THE BOUNCE !

The cap troopers move out. Kitten Smith looks up as a purple beacon

streaks acroos thr sky.

KITTEN SMITH:

I can see the beacon...!

ACE:

Retrieval !

A hopper pounces on Kitten Smithm, and he goes down screaming.

JOHNNY:

KITTEN !

Johnny touches down, stares in horror as Kitten Smith's head rolls past his

fee. Johnny opens up with his pulse cannon. The hopper attacks, puts a claw

right through Johnny's thigh.

JOHNNY:

AAAAAAAAAAAAA !

Crushing jaws close around him, crushing, cutting his flesh. Johnny brings the muzzle

of the pulse gun under the hopper's nerve stem and SPLAT !blows its head apart.

DIZZY:

Johnny !JOHNNY !WHERE ARE YOU ?

JOHNNY !Johnny...!

But Dizzy can't find Johnny, and soon she's lost in the smoke. Johnny looks

down at the terrible hole in his leg where bright arterial blood gushes.

JOHNNY:

Medic... MEDIC...!

Now two more Arachnid warriors close in on him through the enveloping

smoke. He fires his pulse rifle empty, and dropping it, crawls desperately,

dragging his useless leg.

JOHNNY:

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

please help me...!

A third Arachnid warrior rears up in front of him, deadly jaws slashing down

toward him, when suddenly it is blown to pieces in the blinding blast of a

point-blank pulse cannon.

VOICE (O.S.)

Take my hand !

Johnny reaches out. A STEEL HAND takes his, dragging him back as bugs

attack. His rescuers's pulse cannon thunders overhead. Bug parts fly as

insects swarm in for the kill.

FADE OUT:

111FROM THE FEDERAL NET - 100, 000 DEAD IN ONE HOUR !

Actual pictures of the battlefield, man and insect lying dead together on the blood

drenched plains of Klendathu.

OFFICIAL VOICE:

Crsisis for Humankind ! Fleet official

admit they underestimated the

Arachnid's defensive capability.

Would you like to know more ?

112SKY MARSHALL RESIGNS !

Retiring Sky Marshall Dienes salutes incoming SKY MARSHALL TEHAT MERU, 75,

bfore a gathering of the Federal Council.

OFFICIAL VOICE:

Accepting responsibility for Klendathu,

Sky Marshall Dienes resigns. His successor,

Sky Marshall Tahat Meru, outlines her new

strategy.

SKY MARSHALL MERU

Until we understand the bug better, we

must proceed with caution...

We can ill afford another Klendathu.

113SCIENTISTS SUSPECT MYSTERIOUS BRAIN BUGS !

FEDERAL SCIENTISTS display an organizational chart of the

Arachnid species topped by a QUESTION MARK.

OFFICIAL VOICE:

To explain the intelligent military actions

of the Arachnids, Federal Scientists postulate

the existence of a leadership caste...BRAIN BUGS !

114SOMETIMES LOVED ONES DIE FOR A GOOD REASON !

Names scroll by designated KIA, WIA, and MIA accordingly.

OFFICIAL VOICE:

Families oof those who have died or become

incapacitated by Federal Service are entitled

to benefits ! If you see the name of a loved one,

please do not call. A Federation official will call

you. Would you like to know more ?

115EXTFLEET BATTLE STATION TICONDEROGA - THE RODGER YOUNG

limps to port, a huge chunk ripped out of its mid-section. Although stable,

she flies inverted.

CARMEN (O.S.)

Ticonderoga, this is Rodger Young requesting

approach vector...

TICONDEROGA C&C (O.S.)

Affirmative, Rodger Young...one zero zero

niner five two... welcome back.

116INTRODGER YOUNG - COMMAND AND CONTROL - ZANDER AND

CARMEN:

stare at the BATTLE-SCARED STARSHIPS and BURNT-OUT HULKS that line the

docks of Ticonderoga.

CARMEN:

You know, we're lucky to be alive.

A bloody bandage wraps Carmen's head. Zander nods grimly.

117INTRODGER YOUNG - GANGWAY - THE DEAD BODIES

of CREWMEN and CAP TROOPERS are being off-loaded via conveyer belt.

Zander and Carmen make their way up the steep companionway beside the

ghastly conveyer belt.

ZANDER:

Give me hand, willya ?

Carmen takes his hand. Zander kisses her.

ZANDER:

I was thinking. Maybe we should get

married, Carmen.

CARMEN:

You weren't thinking...you were dreaming !

ZANDER:

If we're gonna be a team, why not be a

real team ?

CARMEN:

There's a war on. I want a command,

I want my own ship, you do, too...

ZANDER:

So ?

CARMEN:

So who's got time to get married ?

Carmen lets his hand go and leaps through the hatch. Zander falls back

onto the conveyer belt, finds himself eyeball-to-eyeball with a horribly

maimed trooper, scrambles to get off.

118INTBATTLE STATION TICONDEROGA - COMMON AREA - ZANDER

joins Carmen in the crowded common area where dead bodies compete for space

with wounded awaiting triage. Survivors watch casualty lists scroll ba on a

Federal Net terminal.

ZANDER:

Fleet encourages marriages among flight

officers. You'd probably get a promotion

out of it.

CARMEN:

Funny...

ZANDER:

I'm not kidding. Marriage is -

CARMEN:

No, funny there's almost no wounded at all.

ZANDER:

Hey, bugs don't take prisoners.

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