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. 127 INT TUNNELS - 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. 128 INT BUG 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 bitch. 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. 129 EXT TANGO 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 ! 130 EXT BASE 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. 131 INT COMMUNICATIONS - 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. 132 INT PRE-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. JOHNNY Yes, sir ! RASCZAK Who's that with you ? Dizzy shows herself, grinning. RASCZAK Report in ten minutes. Rasczak slams the door shut on them. They fall back into one anothers arms, laughing as they resume lovemaking. DIZZY Planet P ? What kind of name is that ? JOHNNY They ran out of names a long time ago in this part of the galaxy. 133 EXT PLANET P - BAD LANDS - DAY - THE ROUGHNECKS move through canyons of towering wind-carved rock formations. Gillespie carries the communications package. GILLESPIE I don't understand it, Lieutenant. It's not getting anything from 4th Brigade... not even their transponder. RASCZAK Keep trying, Sergeant. 134 EXT CANYON FLOOR - CONTINUING - DAY - THE ROUGHNECKS walk in a column far below. Something is watching from the above... HOPPERS, lots of them, moving from rock to rock for better position. 135 EXT CANYON FLOOR - CONTINUING - DAY - ACE sees something out of the corner of his eye. JOHNNY BUGS...! The hoppers hit. Several Roughnecks go down. Everyone opens up. Dive-bombing bugs are blown to bits. Roughnecks set them on fire when they hit the ground. DIZZY Johnny, watch out ! A burning bug hurls itself at Johnny. Johnny jumps out of the way as Dizzy fires, blowing it apart. The deadly hoppers seem to be everywhere above them in the rocks. RASCZAK LET'S GO ! ON THE BOUNCE ! 136 EXT FLAT LANDS - DAY - THE ROUGHNECKS move out into the open. In the distance they see 4th Brigade HQ, a walled compound and partially constructed landing pad. RASCZAK Gillespie, put in call for retrieval. We're off this rock. Gillespie, do you read me ? GILLESPIE AAAAAAAAAAA ! Two hoppers are pulling Gillespie up into the rocks where other bugs join to feast. RASCZAK Throw a rifle ! Dizzy tosses her Morita to Rasczak. Gillespie writhes in the hopper's claws. Rasczak fires, killing Gillespie. RASCZAK I expext any one here to do the same for me... Rico, Watkins, Flores, Levy prepare for rear guard action. The rest of you make for 4th Brigade. Johnny and the others cover the Roughneck retreat as hoppers soar down on the flat lands from the canyon walls. RASCZAK FIRE...! Johnny and the others blast bugs out of the air. RASCZAK FALL BACK 100 METERS...! A second wave of hoppers come in. RASCZAK AND FIRE...! For now, the sky is clear. RASCZAK 4TH BRIGADE HQ ! ON THE BOUNCE ! 137 EXT 4TH BRIGADE HQ - DAY - THE OUTPOST is 50 meters by 100, standard issue pre-fab. The Roughnecks land on the compound wall. Inside, WORKER BUGS graze on the remains of 200 dead cap troopers strewn over the complex. RASCZAK Jeez, Command really humped the bunk on this one... Rasczak turns away. Roughnecks engage in the sport of methodically killing the workers. RASCZAK Rico, you're acting Sergeant now. My last Sergeant lost the com pack. Put together a search team and find the radio shack. We need retrieval. JOHNNY Yes, sir. 138 INT 4TH BRIGADE HQ - OFFICE COMPLEX - DAY - JOHNNY surveys the aftermath of the last stand with Rasczak, insect and human dead everywhere. DIZZY (O.S.) It's here, sir. 139 INT COMMINICATIONS - DAY - RASCZAK AND JOHNNY enter the radio room. A DEAD MAJOR is slumped over the console with hole in the back of his head. Johnny checks the equipment. It' dead, too. JOHNNY Diz, see what you can do. DIZZY I'm on it ! Dizzy goes to work. Rasczak checks the wound in the back of the dead major's head. RASCZAK What's that look like to you, Rico ? JOHNNY Looks like a bug was in his brain, sir. ACE (O.S.) Lieutenant, I think you're gonna wanna see this, sir. 140 INT MESS HALL - DAY - A BUG HOLE in the middle of the floor is surrounded by carnage. ACE Dirty bugs came in right when they were having chow ! RASCZAK Gas that hole and seal it. Then they hear a sound. Tap tap tap. Rasczak signals for quiet. Tap tap tap tap. It's coming from the kitchen. 141 INT KITCHEN - DAY - THE ROUGHNECKS enter cautiously. The noise is coming from a freezer. Ace stands ready to fire. Johnny levers open the door, jumps back as GENERAL OWEN, 60, tumbles out face first. ACE Officer on the deck, sir. RASCZAK Pick up the general ! Roughnecks prop him up. General Owen tries to talk, but no words come out. Rasczak bends down to listen. GENERAL OWEN Get out... you gotta get me out...! RASCZAK General Owen, sir ? The old man grins, hugely relieved. GENERAL OWEN At ease, Lieutenant. Thank God for you, for all of you...this is grand... so where's the boat ? 142 INT COMMUNICATIONS - HALLWAY - DAY - JOHNNY AND RASCZAK help the old General, now wrapped in a blanket, rambling. GENERAL OWEN I was forced to hide, of course. The security of the Federation in this theater of operations was at stake ! JOHNNY Diz, what's with the uplink ? Dizzy lokks up from where she is working on the radio controls. DIZZY Workin on it...! GENERAL OWEN They get in your mind... they make you do things ! Look here... They did it to Farley...! He points at the hole of the dead major's head. RASCZAK The distress call... The bugs wanted us to rescue you...! GENERAL OWEN Oh, you can be sure of it ! They were biding their time... waiting for the most opportune moment ! Rasczak's lost interest in the general. He's on the com. RASCZAK To all Roughnecks, this is Rasczak. Prepare for attack. Repeat. We are going to be attacked...! GENERAL OWEN They weren't gonna do it to me. Oh no ! I know too many secrets ! Rasczak looks at General Owen with contempt. SUGAR WATKINS (O.S.) Fire in the hole ! An explosion in the mess hall closes the bug hole. 143 EXT OFFICE COMPLEX - DAY - GENERAL OWEN blinks as he steps out into the light. Roughnecks snap to attention. General Owen looks at the carnage that was once his command and begins to keen, collapsing to his knees. GENERAL OWEN Oh God...! My soldiers...! All of my boys and girls...! The Roughnecks are shocked. They've never seen a general break down before. Lieutenant Rasczak slaps Owen hard. LT. RASCZAK Shut up ! Your soldier's dead and you're not ! GENERAL OWEN I know... I wish you'd shoot me... LT. RASCZAK I oughta ! And it looks like Rasczak just might, but just then Ace touches down next to Johnny and Rasczak. ACE Lieutenant, we got trouble ! 144 EXT RAMPARTS - DAY - RASCZAK and Johnny join other stunned Roughnecks to see THOUSANDS OF BUGS on the march from every direction. Bug batteries open up in the distance. RASCZAK Warm it all up ! Everything you got ! Levy, collect the big guns from the towers. Watkins, put General Owen with the wounded. Rico, where's my communications ? JOHNNY What's going on, Diz ? DIZZY (O.S.) I got power ! Gimme a minute ! Johnny runs for the communications room. JOHNNY We don't have a minute ! 145 INT COMMUNICATIONS - DAY - DIZZY has the board up. Outside the battle has begun. Nukes go WOMP ! and pulse guns chatter. DIZZY What frequency ? JOHNNY All bands. DIZZY Roughneck patrol to battle group... Roughneck patrol to battle group... RODGER YOUNG (O.S.) This is Rodger Young... What's going on down there ? We're taking plasma ! We have Orion P-11 as clear ! JOHNNY SHUT UP, SIR ! We need pick up now ! RODGER YOUNG (O.S.) What is your position ? JOHNNY Landing zone is extremely hostile. Come down on this transmission ! RODGER YOUNG (O.S.) Inside 4th brigade compound ? That's crazy ! JOHNNY Then I hope you have a crazy pilot ! Keep the line open, Dizzy ! Johnny races out the door. 146 EXT 4TH BRIGADE HQ - DAY - THE COMPOUND is white hot as Roughnecks on the walls unload nukes. Johnny crosses the compound, lands next to Rasczak on the wall. JOHNNY Boat coming down, sir ! The Roughnecks stop firing as they run out of nukes. ROUGHNECKS I'm empty...all nuked out... Me, too ! Johnny scans the battlefield. Nukes have turned the surface into dark glass. Now, out of the smoke, come the bugs, steaming glass cracking beneath millions of marching feet. ACE Jeez, we musta killed a million already...! JOHNNY Not enough, I guess. Sugar Watkins sees Genera Owen in the compound below, stumbling aimlessly among his dead soldiers. SUGAR WATKINS General ! GENERAL, stay with the wounded... Sir, the general...! RASCZAK Ah, the hell with him... Hoppers sweep into the compound. The Roughnecks open fire. General Owen make easy pickings for ones that get through. RASCZAK Fall back... form a circle ! If no living bug comes over that wall, we cannot be harmed. Dizzy arrives on thr bounce as the Roughnecks fall back into the compound. Bugs pile in over the walls. The circle affords them 360 degrees of kill zone. RASCZAK Rico, Flores, Watkins, Levy ! We control the sky until retrieval ! JOHNNY ET AL Yes, sir ! Rasczak, Sugar Watkins, Johnny and Dizzy stand back-to-back in the center of the circle, sweeping the skies with the heavy guns from the towers. Hoppers are blown to pieces. ACE Getting low here, sir ! DIZZY 300 rounds and counting, sir ! RASCZAK Make every shot count ! Johnny looks up. A RETRIEVAL BOAT hurtles down through bursts of bug plasma, takes a grazing hit, rights itself with retros and lands within the circle. Roughnecks cheer, saved ! RASCZAK Sergeant, secure the boat ! JOHNNY Yes, sir ! Roughnecks move to protect the boat. The hatch blows open. RASCZAK Board the wounded ! Dead bugs ring the compound walls, forming ramps for living insect soldiers to enter the compound in greater numbers. RASCZAK Move to retrieval on my command ! First group, now...! The circle shrinks as Roughnecks fall back and board the boat. More and more bugs pile in over the compound walls. RASCZAK Alright, Flores ! Levy ! Rico...! Suddenly, the ground collapses under Rasczak. He falls in to his waist, vomits blood as something chews on him from below. RASCZAK AAAAAAAAAAAA ! JOHNNY Cover us, Ace ! Ace and the others fire from the boat. Johnny and Dizzy fire at the ground around Rasczak. Rasczak stops screaming. They try to pull him free. JOHNNY Hit your jets, sir ! RASCZAK I can't My legs are gone... Get on the boat... The compund wall collapses. A wave of bugs charges in. RASCZAK Rico, tell'em to glass this goddam planet. I've never seen so many bugs upstairs at the same time... JOHNNY We're not leaving you here, sir ! Weakly, Rasczak picks up his pulse gun, checks the power. RASCZAK This is my farm. Get on the boat, NOW ! That's an order, Sergeant. JOHNNY Give'em hell, sir ! Johnny and Dizzy run for the boat. Rasczak opens fire, picking his shots, but soon the bugs are all over him. RASCZAK C'mon you sons of bitches ! There's no bug alive can kill a real mAAAAAAA ! At the boat, Dizzy turns to look back at Rasczak. A hopper swoops down on Dizzy, it's claws ripping into her abdomen. DIZZY AAAAAAA ! GET IT OFF ME GET IT OFF GET IT OFF GET IT AAAAAAAAAA ! Johnny blows the bug off her back. Blood sprays from a deep gash in her neck. Johnny picks her up, tries to stop the blood with his hand. The life is leaving her eyes. JOHNNY Hang on, Diz... don't die on me... A TANKER BUG breaches the broken wall. Ace jumps out to help his friends. The hatch closes just as the tanker bug sprays. The boat blasts off, dripping metal. 147 INT CARGO BAY - DAY - JOHNNY holds Dizzy in his arms, drenched in her blood, fighting G-forces as the boats heads for orbit. DIZZY I bought the farm, didn't I, Johnny ? JOHNNY No, you're gonna be alright, Diz ! DIZZY It's alright 'cause I got to have you, Johnny... MEDICS push Johnny aside, go to work on Dizzy. 148 INT BOAT - COCKPIT - DAY - JOHNNY slams into the cockpit. Out the front screen, violent bursts of BUG PLASMA fill the sky as they break atmosphere. JOHNNY Get on the com and tell Fleet to glass that rock...! The co-pilot turns around. It's Zander. His eyes narrow. ZANDER On whose authority, Corporal ? JOHNNY This would be mine, sir. Acting Sergeant John Rico. I've assumed command on this mission. The pilot turns around. It's Carmen. CARMEN Johnny...! I thought you were dead ! JOHNNY I'm not, but alot of my soldiers are. Glass the planet ! Johnny leaves. Carmen punches up Fleet Command. CARMEN Rodger Young, this is inbound shuttle De Ruyter with an official request from the Mobile Infantery to bombard Planet P-11... 149 INT BOAT - CARGO BAY - DAY - JOHNNY returns to Dizzy's side as the medics struggle to save her. Blood pours out of her mouth. Her body thrashes. DIZZY JOHNNY HEH HEH CAN'T HEH BREATHE GOD JOHNNY CAN'T HEH HEH HEH HEH...! Dizzy dies. A Medic slaps her. Her head lolls, mouth open, eyes blank. They drop her and move on to the next casualty. Johnny sits there, stunned. Carmen enters from the cockpit. CARMEN Negative on your request. Fleet Command has the battle group on standby... Carmen sees Dizzy lying dead on the deck. CARMEN ...I'm sorry. JOHNNY We gotta choke on the mud and the blood and Fleet can't be bothered to spit. CARMEN No, I think something's up. The Sky Marshall's here. She points out for a viewing port. Johnny looks. Fifteen battle groups, 100 ships strong, lay off Planet P, all of them dwarfed by the Sky Marshall's flagship, Buenos Aires. CARMEN I thought you were KIA, Johnny... JOHNNY That was just a mix up. CARMEN You look so... I don't know, you look like you've really been in it. JOHNNY What happened to your eye ? Carmen touches the scar over her eye. CARMEN Almost got knocked out of the sky over Big K. JOHNNY I like it. It's kinda...you. 150 EXT BATTLE GROUP - ORION SYSTEM - THE BOAT lands on the flight deck of the Rodger Young in the midst of the flotilla. 151 INT OFFICERS QUARTERS - DAY CYCLE - ZANDER enters, watches Carmen dress. She hums as she checks herself in the mirror, touches thr scar over her eye, smiles. ZANDER Where are you going ? CARMEN A funeral. ZANDER That girl who died on the way up ...his girl ? CARMEN Yeah. ZANDER How do you feel about him now ? CARMEN I don't know, Zander. ZANDER I do. 152 INT RODGER YOUNG - GUNNERY DECK - CARMEN enters as Johnny speaks. Dizzy is laid out in dress gray. The surviving Roughnecks have gathered to pay final respects. 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,