Starship Troopers Page #18

JOHNNY:

Dizzy bought the farm. She was my

good friend, and friens are the best

luck anyone gets... But in war, we must

go on without our friends. We take

with us their memory, and we are left

to wonder if there is meaning in their

death. Let me tell you what it is:

Dizzy bough the farm so we can keep

on fighting.

Several INTELLIGENCE OFFICERS march into the bay.

JOHNNY:

Officer on deck !

Everyone snaps to attention. Colonel Carl Jenkins strides into the room.

His eyes are hollow, and he looks grim. He returns Johnny's salute,

nods to Carmen.

CARL:

Please continue, Sergeant.

JOHNNY:

Dizzy wouldn't want our tears. She'd

want us to remember her... with a

vengeance. So go out and kill a bug

for Dizzy. Kill as many as you can.

You are her revenge, and every bug

you kill honors her death.

Johnny nods to the GUNNERY CREW. They load Dizzy's body into a

tube. Johnny steps back, salutes Dizzy. Everyone salutes.

JOHNNY:

Womb to tomb, cap trooper !

ROUGHNECKS:

Womb to tomb !

The CREW CHIEF fires the tube. Out the viewports, A PULSE OF LIGHT

disperses into space. The Roughnecks file out. Carl approaches.

Carmen takes Johnny and Carl by the hand.

CARMEN:

Well, look at this. The three of us back

together again.

JOHNNY:

How are you, Carl ?

CARL:

Johnny, I'm sorry it had to be your

unit on Planet P. That mission had

a very low survival probability...

JOHNNY:

Bugs laid a trap, didn't they ?

CARL:

Elegant proof of intelligence,

isn't it ? We thought there might

be a brain on P.

CARMEN:

You knew and you sent them

anyway ?

CARL:

A colony has to reach a certain size

before it produces a Brain... we think

300 generations. Woulda too expensive

to launch an operation if there wasn't a

Brain...

Carl sees the way Carmen is looking at him, like he's a bug.

CARL:

You don't approve. Well, too bad.

We're in this for the species, boys

and girls. It's simple numbers, they

have more, and everyday I have to

make decisions that send hundreds of

people like you to their deaths.

JOHNNY:

Didn't they tell you, Colonel ?

That's what cap troopres are good

for.

Carl allows himself a tiny smile.

CARL:

Hope you're ready for more. We're

going back to P to capture that Brain.

JOHNNY:

The Roughnecks are always ready, sir.

CARL:

I hear they need a new Lieutenant...

Want the job ?

JOHNNY:

I'll take it... until I get killed

or you find someone better.

KLAXONS sound. Suddenly, everyone has someplace to go.

CARMEN:

Hope you get your Brain Bug, Carl.

CARL:

It's good to see you two. It reminds

me of the way things were before...

Carl turns abruptly and heads away. His entourage follows.

CARMEN:

Take care, wilya Johnny ?

JOHNNY:

See you on the bounce !

153INTRODGER YOUNG - COMMAND & CONTROL - CARMEN

steps onto the bridge. There's a new NUMBER 2 sitting in Zander's chair.

She's right out of Tereshkova, and she looks scared.

Carmen turns to Captain Deladier.

CARMEN:

Where's Lieutenant Barcalow ?

DELADIER:

He requested a combat assignment.

There's always a need for experienced

pilots on the ground.

I had no choice but to let him go...

He said you'd understand.

Carmen bites her lip, takes first chair. Deladier feels bad for her, knows

she's made a painful decision.

154INTRODGER YOUNG - DROP ROOM - ROUGHNECKS

are suiting up. Ace enters.

ACE:

Officer on the deck !

Roughnecks fall in. Johnny steps into the room. There are many new and

much younger faces.

JOHNNY:

I only have two rules. Rule one,

everyone fights. Rule two, no one

quits. If you don't do your job,

I'll kill you myself.

Do you get me ?

ROUGHNECKS:

We get you, sir !

JOHNNY:

(to Ace, sotto voce)

Who're all these kids ?

ACE:

We got reinforced. Most of'em

just got outa boot...

JOHNNY:

We're the old men, Ace.

155EXTPLANET P - 4TH BRIGADE HQ - DAY - CARGO SHIPS

have landed. Cap troopers set fire to huge piles of dead bugs. BULLDOZERS

push bodies into a mass grave, among them Rasczak.

Johnny walks past with his team.

JOHNNY:

We'll take this high ground. Lookouts

there and therte and up there. If the

bugs come upstairs in this neighbor-hood,

we'll be the first to know.

ACE:

Got it. Fleet tactical wants to know

where they can deploy the skimmers.

JOHNNY:

Down there on the flats, eh ?

Listen up, Roughnecks ! Our

primary objective is to assist

our friends from the Fleet...

Roughnecks boo.

JOHNNY:

Alright, cut it out. We will deploy

from skimmers in teams of six.

If the bugs open up a battery,

we put it out of business.

Any questions ?

A HERCULES CARGO BOAT hurtles out of the sky and lands on the high

ground Johnny has intended forb his H.Q. Johnny scowls, marches over

to the boat and confronts a FLEET OFFICER.

JOHNNY:

Would'ya mind moving your boat ?

FLEET OFFICER:

Better talk to the boss.

The cargo bays open to deploy FLEET SKIMMERS. Zander jumps down

to oversee the operation.

JOHNNY:

You're standing on my H.Q.,

Lieutenant !

ZANDER:

This is a Fleet-driven operation, son,

and the Fleet thinks my boat will be

safer on the high ground.

You can have everything else, eh ?

JOHNNY:

You heard the Sky Marshall...

Move it all down -

Suddenly, in the distance, bug batteries open fire, not one but twenty.

Zander and Johnny share a look of concern.

ZANDER:

Rodger Young, prepare to receice

outgoing fire...!

(to his crew chief)

I'll take the first group.

JOHNNY:

Saddle up, boys, that's our trash !

156EXTSPACE - PLANET P ORBIT - BUG PLASMA

begins to take a toll on the battle group as the orbiting ships lay their eggs.

Cap Troopers are scliced as they drop.

157EXTRODGER YOUNG - BRIDGE - CAPTAIN DELADIER

turns to Carmen.

DELADIER:

Evasive action !

Carmen dodges other starships, turns to her new number 2.

CARMEN:

Prepare for warp !

NEW NUMBER 2

Yes, ma'am ! Warp in 5... 4...

3...!

KA-WHAM ! The Rodger Young takes a direct hit.

158EXTRODGER YOUNG - PLANET P ORBIT - THE RODGER YOUNG

is cut in two. The rear section explodes, the forward section begins to burn towards

the bridge.

159INTRODGER YOUNG - BRIDGE - CAPTAIN DELADIER

calmy evacuates the bridge. Power fails and so does the gravity.

CARMEN:

This is Rodger Young, we're going

down... Repeat, this is Rodger Young,

we're going down...!

DELADIER:

Ibanez...LET'S GO !

160INTRODGER YOUNG - ESCAPE CORRIDOR - CARMEN

and Captain Deladier run for the lifepods. An explosion flips the corridor.

Captain Deladier's leg is crushed when an airlock closes on her.

DELADIER:

AAAAAAAAAAA !

Carmen hits the release, pulls her free. Deladier pushes Carmen away.

DELADIER:

Leave me, Lieutenant ! That's an order !

CARMEN:

No way, ma'am !

161INTRODGER YOUNG - LIFE POD BAY - CARMEN

pushes into the chaotic life pod bay. PANICKED CREW shoving, screaming,

fighting. The ship pitches. They tumble, landing near a pod. Carmen jumps

for it, pulls Deladier in after.

162EXTRODGER YOUNG - PLANET P ORBIT - THE RODGER YOUNG

disintegrates as lifepods shoot away toward the planet.

163INTLIFEPOD - PLANET P ORBIT - CARMEN

navigates through a graveyard of floating wreckage, dead cap troopers,

someone's trombone. She sets her beacon and the pod plummets

downward.

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