Starship Troopers Page #15

JOHNNY:

I'm gonna need a squad leader.

ACE:

No way. Big K taught me I ain't executive

material.

JOHNNY:

What about it, Diz ?

DIZZY:

(a snappy salute)

Looks like I'm your girl, sir.

Tac Fighters reel by over head. WOMP ! Suddenly, BUG PLASMA shoots skyward

from the flatlands below. Several Tac Fighters are blown out of the air.

Flaming debris rains down.

RASCZAK:

Saddle up, Roughnecks. That's

our trash !

Roughnecks head out on the bounce.

126EXTTANGO URILLA - RIDGE - DAY - JOHNNY

and the others look down a sheer cliff on the bug battery, a charred circular

pit some ten meters across. Inside, something is moving.

JOHNNY:

What kind of stinkin' bug is that ?

Johnny jumps the magnification on his "head up". Down in the pit, a giant

translucent PLASMA BUG rears out of one of the subterranean tunnels

that ring the battery.

SUGAR WATKINS:

You never seen how they do it before ?

Johnny shakes his head. Swollen BREEDER BUGS gather around the

plasma bug to inject it with their catalytic jelly.

ACE:

Agghh ! It's making me sick...!

The plasma bug writhes in pain and begins to swell, color changing from

yellow to blue in accordance with some violent internal chemical reaction.

SUGAR WATKINS:

It's gonna pop !

WOMP ! The plasma bug explodes in its cauldron. A blast of bug plasma

streaks past them towards the heavens. Now a new plasma bug crawls into

the pit to begin the cycle anew.

GILLESPIE:

Sir, look !

Sergeant Gillespie points. A hole opens near the battery and dozens of warriors

rampage out of the ground and up the cliff face toward the Roughneck position.

RASCZAK:

We must be right over the colony.

Let's get some air support, eh ?

GILLESPIE:

Yes, sir ! Fleet, this is Roughneck

patrol, over ...?

Rasczak moves off down the line giving orders.

RASCZAK:

Corporal, I want pulse cannons there

and there ! Rifle teams, spread out

along the ridge ! Sugar, bring up that

flame thrower !

GILLESPIE:

Fleet's pulling the battle group back

to safe distance... They'd like us to

knock out those batteries, sir.

RASCZAK:

They'd rather spend our lives than

risk their ships. Who's got the nuke ?

DIZZY:

That'd be me, sir.

RASCZAK:

Heat it up.

Dizzy activates a tactical nuke. It makes a distinctive HIGHPITCHED SQUEAL.

RASCZAK:

Roughnecks, you may fire at will.

The Roughnecks open fire. Bugs are blown to pieces but they keep climbing. A

warrior breeches their line. Sugar Watkins torches it. The nuke's ready light flashes.

DIZZY:

I'm hot, sir !

RASCZAK:

FIRE ! BLAST SHIELDS DOWN !

Johnny blows a warrior away from the edge. Dizzy leans over and fires. The rocket

streaks down toward the battery.

RASCZAK:

HIT THE DIRT !

An explosion in the two kiloton range turns the world black and white. When color

returns Johnny and the others look down on the smoldering crater which was once the

bug battery.

GILLESPIE:

Now comes the part I hate the most.

JOHNNY:

What's that ?

GILLESPIE:

We go down into the colony and make

sure all the queens are dead.

127INTTUNNELS - DAY - THE ROUGHNECKS

fight their way down gassed-out tunnels into bug city. They meet warrors at

every turn and kill them. Helmet lamps make weird shadows of dead bugs

piled everywhere along the way.

SUGAR WATKINS:

You knew the Lieutenant before the war...

What was he like ?

JOHNNY:

He was a teacher , kind of a know it all...

Always had this little smile.

SUGAR WATKINS:

Geez, I don't think I've ever seen him

smile.

JOHNNY:

Must fill your bottle up real quick

when your wife and kids get smeared.

Johnny joins Rasczak, Ace and Dizzy and they blow away several warriors

guarding the entrance of a large chamber.

128INTBUG NURSERY - DAY - THE QUEENS

are eight meters long with corpulent bodies and tiny heads. Only one survives,

and though she is herself dying, her abdomen, rippled by life within, continues to

undulate.

JOHNNY:

All dead except one, sir.

RASCZAK:

Kill the b*tch.

JOHNNY:

Yes, sir.

Johnny signals. Dizzy's pulse cannon rips open the dying queen. Thousands of

wriggling premature bugs come spilling out. Horrified, knee-deep Roughnecks

set them afire.

129EXTTANGO URILLA - BASE CAMP - DAY - FLEET ENGINEERS

unload PRE-FAB BARRACKS from HERCULES CARGO BOATS.

Roughnecks eat. Rasczak stands, banging a spoon on his mess kit.

RASCZAK:

Tango Urilla is now bug free. Means

the Roughnecks have killed a

helluva lotta bugs...!

Roughnecks cheer. Rasczak kicks open a CARGO MODULE. Beer kegs

rool out. He kicks open a second module. Inside, musical instruments.

Ace picks up a violin.

RASCZAK:

I expect the best, but I give the best.

Habve some fun. That's an order !

130EXTBASE CAMP - NIGHT - LATER - ACE

leads a little quartet, plays a sweet fiddle. Roughnecks laugh and dance.

Dizzy tries to pull Johnny into the fun.

DIZZY:

C'mon...

JOHNNY:

Nah, I don't do that anymore...

DIZZY:

You used to dance...

JOHNNY:

I said no. Want me to pull rank ?

DIZZY:

Well, excuse me, sir...

Dizzy heads back to the others. Johnny turns and finds Rasczak regarding him

with an odd, sad smile.

RASCZAK:

Yopu asked me some advice once, Rico.

Want some now ?

JOHNNY:

Yes, sir...

RASCZAK:

Never pass up a good thing, eh ?

Gillespie appears.

GILLESPIE:

Lieutenant, Brigade's on the com...

Rasczak heads away. Johnny joins Dizzy.

JOHNNY:

Hey, Diz...

DIZZY:

What ?

Johnny takes her hand, bows implishly.

JOHNNY:

May I have the honor ?

He pulls her out among the others and they begin to dance. Ace watches

with a grin, puts some spirit in his fiddle.

131INTCOMMUNICATIONS - NIGHT - RASCZAK

is in holo conference with an INTELLIGENCE OFFICER

INTELLIGENCE OFFICER

At 0821 we received a distress call from

Planet P, priority code, requesting

reinforcement...

RASCZAK:

I thought 4th brigade cleaned out P.

INTELLIGENCE OFFICER

Owen reported the eradication of a low

generation colony a month ago. That's why

MICOM wants onsite assessment.

RASCZAK:

Sounds more like some idiot at

Military Intelligence Command

wants to get me and my cap troopers

killed...

The Intelligence Officer reddens.

INTELLIGENCE OFFICER

Take your group down to P and have a

look see. Leave the thinking to us,

Lieutenant. That's not your job.

RASCZAK:

My job is to protect the lives of my

soldiers so they can kill bugs, Major,

and if you're walking me into a trap-

INTELLIGENCE OFFICER

Bugs don't lay traps... They aren't

intelligent ! Unlike you, they're stupid

enough to follow orders !

VOICE (O.S.)

That'll be all, Major. Dismissed.

The Intelligence Officer disappears abruptly. A new hologram appears.

Rasczak's jaw drops. It's his former student Carl Jenkins, now a Colonel,

weary and pissed off.

CARL:

This conference is over. Do your duty,

Lieutenant. That's an order.

Rasczak recovers, salutes stiffly.

RASCZAK:

Yes, sir.

132INTPRE-FAB SLEEPING UNIT - DAY - JOHNNY AND DIZZY

are making love. The door pops open. Rasczak stands there. Dizzy ducks under

the covers. Johnny manages a salute.

RASCZAK:

Corporal, the Roughnecks are moving

out for Planet P immediately. Get

yourself squared away and report to

Gillespie for logistics.

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