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Roughnecks: Starship Troopers Chronicles
Season 1
Episode 38

Propaganda Machine

January 14, 2000

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Roughnecks: Starship Troopers Chronicles - S1 - E38

Higgins is ordered to make a good Fed-Net report hiding the horrors of war and showing something positive about the bug campaign.

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Roughnecks: Starship Troopers Chronicles: Season 1 - 40 Episode s

1x1 - Freefall
August 30, 1999
Rookie troopers Rico, Flores and Jenkins journey to Pluto as part of Alpha Team ""Razak's Roughnecks"" on what is supposed to be a simple mop-up operation, but find a major threat to the research stations from plasma-shooting alien Bugs.
1x2 - Plasma Bugs of Navarone
August 31, 1999
When the Roughnecks pick up a distress call from pilots Ibanez and Barcalow, who are under attack at a research outpost, Rico risks the safety of his own squad to save Carmen.
1x3 - Handle with Care
September 1, 1999
The squad is assigned to assist intelligence officer Earle Walker in capturing a live Plasma Bug and bringing it back through enemy territory.
1x4 - Basic Training
September 3, 1999
Rico has to train Higgins the reporter to defend himself in combat, as the Roughnecks try to defend themselves from new flying Bugs that seem impervious to laser fire.
1x5 - Deep Trouble
September 22, 1999
When the Roughnecks go beneath the surface of Pluto to locate the Bug army's incubation center, Flores suffers from disabling claustrophobia.
1x6 - Water, Water Everywhere
October 12, 1999
The "Transport" Bug that was found bringing reinforcements and eggs to Pluto is followed back to the watery planet Hydora, where it releases barb-shooting flying bugs of a previously unknown type. Is this the bug home world?
1x7 - Swarm
September 30, 1999
The battle against the Bugs moves to the watery planet Hydora, where Rico and the Roughnecks again come to Carmen's rescue when she is stranded while evacuating wounded.
1x8 - Search & Destroy
October 21, 1999
Searching for the Rippler nest on Hydora, the Roughnecks come under heavy fire and Jenkins is severely wounded by an acid-tipped barb. Can Jenkins survive his wound and can they find the nest?
1x9 - Missing in Action
November 11, 1999
Trying to locate two missing squads that seem to have vanished into thin air, the Roughnecks find themselves battling giant amphibious beetles.
1x10 - Sole Survivor
November 4, 1999
While trying to find out what happened to Lt. Ross, who was found wandering on Hydora with his memory gone and his entire squad missing, the Roughnecks are captured by the Bugs.
1x11 - Betrayal
February 16, 2000
Arriving on the planet of Tophet, the Roughnecks are surprised to meet an advanced indigenous species. They claim the bugs came, but couldn't adapt to their climate and died... But where are all the corpses then?
1x12 - Stranded
September 2, 1999
As the war moves to the planet Tophet, the Roughnecks go after Razak and Higgins, who are trapped behind enemy lines and about to be blown up by their own air strike.
1x13 - Of Flesh and Steel
September 8, 1999
On a mission to capture an important mountain pass, Rico has trouble trusting the squad's newest member, a cyborg.
1x14 - Captured
January 28, 2000
The Roughnecks are captured by the skinnies, and held for interrogation.
1x15 - The Face of Truth
February 15, 2000
The capture of the "skinny" Colonel T'Phai reveals that the entire race are being mentally controlled by the bugs and that they are using the planet for fuel and plan to blow it up after they are done. Can the Roughnecks stop the bugs in time?
1x16 - No Substitute
November 19, 1999
The Skinnies, formerly working for the Bugs, have changed sides but one of them meets considerable resistance when he joins the squad for its assault on Zegema Beach.
1x17 - ...And Then There Were Two
December 9, 1999
Rico still doesn't trust T'Phai, but In the jungle on Tesca Nemerosa, they are forced to work together when the other squad members start disappearing.
1x18 - Marauder
December 3, 1999
As the squad tries to locate a brain bug on Tesca Nemerosa from underwater, Rico is trapped when his Marauder suit runs out of power.
1x19 - Liquid Dreams
December 17, 1999
While a monsoon hits the Zegema Base hard, Rico floats unconscious in a regeneration tank, fighting his subconscious to stay alive.
1x20 - Heart
January 3, 2000
Still in the tank, Rico grows increasingly angry and frustarted that no one is taking his claims that the bugs are coming seriously. Meanwhile, the squad is out to charting bug tunnels near the base.
1x21 - Ice-Olation
February 8, 2000
Returning from a combat mission in a retrieval ship, the Zephyr, the Roughnecks are re-routed to an asteroid to join scientists from another ship, the Sequoia, in a quest for a bio-weapon against the bugs. Just as they are coming in for a landing, tiny flame-breathing bugs, Firefries, hatch from Zander's skin. The ship crashes, badly damaged, but there are no serious injuries. Teams are sent out to locate the Sequoia. One team, Razak and Doc, falls into a subterranean network where they are attacked by marshmallow-like Leeches. Another team, Brutto and T'Phai, find themselves in a battle with adult, human-sized Firefries. Razak and Doc, joined by Dizzy and Gossard from the ship, join in this battle. Meanwhile, the third team, Carmen and Rico, is buried by an avalanche, and beneath the snow they share some intimate moments. Dizzy saves them. All return to the Zephyr, where Higgins awaits with the recovering Zander. They finally realize that they're on the wrong asteroid; the Sequoia awa
1x22 - Mixed Signals
February 15, 2000
The Zephyr remains crash-landed on a frozen asteroid. A team is sent out to collect Toxin B-3, a potent bio-weapon that they've found here (to their surprise, since it was supposed to be found on another asteroid entirely), while Gossard and others remain at the ship to try to get the communications system working to send an SOS... and to protect the ship from Firefries, fire-breathing bugs that the Roughnecks accidentally brought to the asteroid as eggs. The collection team fights Leeches, aggressive amorphous blobs, inside a cave; in the aftermath of the battle they discover that the Leeches are the source of the Toxin B-3. But while collecting them the team finds itself at the mercy of a hurricane-force wind coming from inside the cave. The wind blows Carmen away, and the team fears for her life. The episode climaxes in a massive battle with the Firefries around the ship. When it's over, Gossard is able to send an SOS, and Carmen returns. It looks like help is on the way. (from pazs
1x23 - Hot Ice
November 25, 1999
Having crashed on a barren asteroid, the Roughnecks try to make their way to a crashed science vessel for help.
1x24 - The Inside Story
January 17, 2000
The Zephyr is still stuck on the ice asteroid. The Roughnecks are running low on ammunition and the Fireflies keep attacking. Gossard suggests they use the Toxin they've collected to set up a poison gas perimeter. To give him time T'Phai, Flores and Rico lead the Fireflies off as human bait. Things go wrong though and they are trapped with no apparent way out. Suddenly Zander appears and does a Pied Piper act with the Bugs - they all seem to fall into a giant crater. The team return to the ship and their report convinces every one Sander has bought the farm - but he suddenly reappears even crazier then before. Razak boots Rico up to a Corporal during the next battle session during which an tremor send the Zephyr into another crater. The ship eventually lands in a lake of corrosive liquid and is running low on air. Doc and Brutto go looking for an oxygen supply. T hey manage to find one but barely make it back to the ship. Doc though has other news! He is
1x25 - The Ice Men Goeth
March 9, 2000
The Zephyr is trapped inside a giant Bug. Razak sends out a team to try and retrieve oxygen from the location found by Doc and Brutto. The way to the oxygen is down a shaft. Flores and Doc enter a strange portal in the side of the shaft but Brutto has a bad fall. Rico rescues Brutto and returns him to the ship then returns with Higgins to find Doc & Flores. These have been swept away in one of the Bugs arteries. Rico has to leave Higgins but finds Flores and Doc OK. Razak goes looking for them and finds Higgins who is suffering from lack of air in his suit. Air is now being pumped into the ship. Back at the ship, Zander is getting madder. Gossard gets the idea of using the Firefries as a fuel source from listening to him The rest of the squad return to the ship just prior to take off. Zander has been restrained but somehow escapes and attempts to sabotage the ship but the squad stop him. As they prepare to launch he escapes again and triggers the self-de
1x26 - Metamorphosis
February 18, 2000
The Valley Forge is enroute to their next campaign, a long trip. The Roughnecks drew the watch as most of the ship's crew is in stasis. Doc is suddenly attacked by Zander who has mutated into a new form of Bug. Zander escapes and runs amok in the ship, letting samples of other Bug types free to keep the Roughnecks busy whilst it heads for the bridge. There it captures Carmen and the Commander and, to stop the Roughnecks from interfering, kills power to the stasis tubes. Gossard manages to restore power to the tubes whilst Rico and Brutto go outside the Valley Forge to the emergency air lock on the bridge. As they enter the Sander Bug notices them and closes the door trapping Brutto in the process and damaging his legs. The rest of the team arrive and Zander escapes in a life-pod to the planet he was trying to crash the Valley Forge onto. Carmen manages to avoid the crash causing the Commander to withdraw earlier comments about automated pilots. The planet is t
1x27 - D-Day
February 17, 2000
S.I.C.O.N. prepares for the D-Day invasion of the bug home planet of Klendathu. During the build-up Flores gets an M.I.A. notice from telling her. that her brother, Eddie is MIA - presumed dead in a retrieval ship crash. She is badly shaken by this bombshell and her performance as a trooper is severely affected. The Roughnecks land in an area deemed uninhabited by Intel, as usual Intel get it wrong and the meet stiff opposition. Flores hesitates in the DZ and Rico who's been kicked up to Sergeant to replace Brutto is worried as Lt Razak has left it to him to decide whether she is now a liability. Rico is torn and leaves Flores in charge of a group of wounded troopers from other squads whilst the Roughnecks carry on the fight. As they get bogged down in the fighting Flores is brought back to reality by the will to fight of an injured trooper from another squad. She is able to surprise the Bugs from behind and save the Roughnecks. Later she meets another trooper who
1x28 - The Mission
February 25, 2000
Higgins is on guard duty at a camp on Klendathu. Whilst in front of the gates he sees a trooper staggering along. As he talks to the trooper a new type of Bug, hence known as an Impostor Bug, bursts out of the suit. The Impostor is a Bug that approximates the size and shape of a human and is able to fit inside stolen power suits. As such they present a major threat to the security of S.I.C.O.N. forces. The troopers manage to kill the bug but not before it manages to drop Lt Razak and knock his helmet off. After the attack, the Roughnecks are ordered to rescue the crew of a downed transport ship. When they get to the crashed ships location they discover that the crew have been captured by Bugs. As the squad track them Bugs back to their nest Lt Razak collapses - it seems he has been infected by spores carried by the Impostor Bug. Doc and Flores go to find the fungus responsible so Doc can synthesise an antidote whilst the rest of the squad keep tracking the Bugs.
1x29 - Letters Home
February 21, 2000
The Roughnecks are dug in on Klendathu and are facing an inevitable Bug attack. High Command order them to hold the position at all costs. Higgins finds an unfinished letter home an anonymous trooper had begun but not finished. This gives him the idea of taping a series of ""Goodbyes"" from the rest of the squad to the folks back home - just in case. Through out the night the troopers individually record messages to their families on Earth. At day break the Bugs attack but the Troopers manage to hold them off just long enough for a major air strike to hit the Bugs. As they prepare for retrieval Higgins asks Lt Razak if he wants to tape a message to his family - Razak points him at the squad and tells him that these are his family.
1x30 - Checkmate
March 6, 2000
Lt Razak is called to a mission briefing to find it being given by Sky Marshall Sanchez himself. The Sky Marshall tells the assembled officers about the of the Bug Queen. He then assigns Alpha and Echo squads the mission of locating and destroying the Queen. One bit of seemingly good news is the return of Carl to the squad. But the Roughnecks are dismayed to find an apparent change in his personality. Carl guides the roughnecks to the queens lair but is captured by Bugs enroute losing his helmet in the process. The Roughnecks find the Queen but she is holding Carl as a shield and Rico is unable to pull the trigger on his friend. In the fire fight the Queen drops Carl and Rico returns his helmet. The squad give chase to the Queen but are unable to stop her escaping on a Transport Bug - enroute to Earth!!!!
1x31 - Trackers
March 28, 2000
The S.I.C.O.N. Fleet is hunting for the Bug Queen, after she escaped in a Transport Bug from Klendathu. Whilst in transit the Roughnecks get a mail delivery and find out Higgins had a girlfriend they weren't aware of who had just dumped him. The Roughnecks get annoyed that, whilst Higgins has the info. on them, they are ignorant about him. The Valley Forge intercepts what seems to be the Transport Bug the Queen is in and destroys it. As they make their report the same thing is received from the other fleet vessels. Carl twigs that the destroyed bugs were just decoys to distract the fleet whilst the Queen heads toward Earth. Due to Carls psychic abilities the Valley Forge is able to intercept the Queens Transport Bug. But the Bug seems resistant to all the ships weapons. 2The Roughnecks are sent into blow the Bug from the inside. They only have 48 hours before it reaches the Earth. Despite heavy resistance inside the Transport Bug they apparently achieve their missi
1x32 - Among Us
March 3, 2000
All S.I.C.O.N. forces revert to peace status after the Bug Queen has apparently been destroyed. Carl, though, keeps insisting the Queen is still very much alive and on the earth - somewhere. After another argument General Redwing sends him on leave to cool down. Meanwhile the roughnecks are reassigned - to the moons of Jupiter to repair the radio telescopes. Rico believes Carl is right and manages to convince Lt Razak too. Razak cuts through the red tape and gets Gossard to review satellite imagery of the earth before and after the Queens assumed arrival. Gossard finds an new, unexplained, hot spot near to Little Butte, North Dakota. The roughnecks divert their shuttle there without formal authorization but the town seems to be normal - until they realize the towns- people all look alike and sound alike. A s soon as they realize this they are attacked by the residents. The Roughnecks manage to capture a resident and get back to the ship. As they take off the r
1x33 - Hide n' Seek
March 17, 2000
A massive bug mound has appeared outside of Buenos Aires. S.I.C.O.N. thinks the Bugs are going to assault the city again so they try to bomb the mound from the air. Plasma Tanker Bugs shot the planes down though and, because they keep changing location the air attacks are unable to neutralize them. So the Roughnecks are sent in with four other squads to locate and destroy the Tanker Bugs so the mound can be bombed to destruction. The squads dig in and hide whilst s decoy force lures the Warrior Bugs defending the Tankers away. Rico's group is almost detected by a Bug but Carl is able to mentally change its view and thus save the group. As the squads move in at night the game is given away by a trooper from another squad who launches a grenade at some Bugs. However this turns out to have a positive effect as all the Tanker Bugs start to fire all at once believing it's another aerial attack thus revealing all their positions simultaneously. The squads launch a missi
1x34 - Requiem
March 13, 2000
S.I.C.O.N has discovered that there is a vast network of Bug tunnels and colonies beneath the city of San Francisco. S.I.C.O.N. decides the only way to ensure victory is to hit the whole city with nukes the city thus destroying everything above and below ground. Because an evacuation of that size would warn the Bugs it has been decided not to warn the civilian inhabitants. Lt Razak objects to this action and, surprisingly, is supported by his nemesis from INTEL, Lt Walker. The Sky Marshal gives them 24 hours to complete the only alternate plan. They need to blow massive holes in the tunnels that run underwater and thus flush out the bugs to street level where troopers would be waiting for them. As a safeguard the bombs will be mixed with the last reserves of Toxin B3. If they fail though San Francisco will be destroyed by S.I.C.O.N. as will the two squads. Overall the mission is a success despite a bomb going non-op and needing to be reset. But Lt Razak is killed by
1x35 - Pluto and Beyond
September 21, 1999
Higgins summarizes the current state of the war on Pluto and Tophet in clips from previous episodes.
1x36 - Funeral for a Friend
March 14, 2000
General Redwing has ordered the Roughnecks to be split up as she does not have a spare Lt to assign to them. They are given time, though, to time to honour Lt Razak's Last Will so they got to spread his ashes over Luna Lake in Colorado. They are joined by General Redwing and by Sgt. Brutto who is now in a wheel-chair and who doubts his own worth. The squad come across a Bug operation and try to withdraw but General Redwing and Higgins are captured. They are threatened by a Brain Bug and Rico knows he ought to order General Redwing's death. However, by using the spare fuel cells from Sgt Brutto's wheel chair Gossard and Doc blow the mountain according to Rico's plan. Sgt Brutto uses his wheel chair to swoop in and save the hostages whilst the bugs are distracted. Afterwards General Redwing tells Rico he should have had her killed. Rico tells her that was plan ""B"". General Redwing realizes the squad is too valuable to split up so she offers Rico a battlefield prom
1x37 - Spirits of the Departed
March 15, 2000
As Rico Struggles with his promotion to Lt. as leader of the Roughnecks, after Razacks death, They are assigned to defend S.I.C.O.N. high Command in Honolulu. In Route to Honolulu they pick up Sgt. Brutto's son, Max, who has been assigned to the Roughnecks as per an arrangement made by Sgt. Brutto himself. The Roughnecks come under heavy attack by the bugs and are joined by Sgt. Zimm then forced into an outpost waiting for a pickup. During there struggle Rico looks to Zimm for intructions on what to do, as he is not sure of his command abilities, and assigns Zimm leader of the squad while Rico puts himself on gaurd duty. While on Gaurd Duty, Sgt. Zimm tells Rico the reason he was assigned to him back in Basic Training then to the Roughnecks is because Lt. Razak and Zimm were good friends and they knew Rico was born to be a leader so they made a deal. This gives Rico the confidence he needs and he again assumes command, ordering the Roughnecks to blow up the outposts generator,they hid
1x38 - Propaganda Machine
January 14, 2000
Higgins is ordered to make a good Fed-Net report hiding the horrors of war and showing something positive about the bug campaign.
1x39 - Marooned
February 22, 2000
Rico is left floating in space after his pod malfunctions during a drop.
1x40 - Court-Martial of Lt. Razak
April 5, 2000
The Roughnecks are about to be dropped on Klendathu into a hot LZ. Lt Razak tells Carmen to clear the LZ as he thinks it's too dangerous for the squad to land. Carman tells him INTEL in the form of Lt Walker ordered no weapons to be used, stealth drop only. Lt Razak overrides her and the LZ is cleared by bombs. As soon as Lt Walker finds out he tells Lt Razak that 6 squads were in that area under General Redwing but they'd lost radio contact. Lt Razak asks why he wasn't told and Walker tells him it was a covert op. on a need to know basis - and Razak didn't need to know. Back at the base Lt Razak faces a court of inquiry with Walker as prosecutor. Lt Walker charges Razak with endangering the squad and wrecking S.I.C.O.N. equipment needlessly, using troopers evidence and flash backs as proof. As the hearing goes on a swarm of bugs attacks the base prompting Lt Walker to exclaim there was a traitor in their midst feeding information to the Bugs and he points at LT Razak

1x1 - Freefall

1x2 - Plasma Bugs of Navarone

1x3 - Handle with Care

1x4 - Basic Training

1x5 - Deep Trouble

1x6 - Water, Water Everywhere

1x7 - Swarm

1x8 - Search & Destroy

1x9 - Missing in Action

1x10 - Sole Survivor

1x11 - Betrayal

1x12 - Stranded

1x13 - Of Flesh and Steel

1x14 - Captured

1x15 - The Face of Truth

1x16 - No Substitute

1x17 - ...And Then There Were Two

1x18 - Marauder

1x19 - Liquid Dreams

1x20 - Heart

1x21 - Ice-Olation

1x22 - Mixed Signals

1x23 - Hot Ice

1x24 - The Inside Story

1x25 - The Ice Men Goeth

1x26 - Metamorphosis

1x27 - D-Day

1x28 - The Mission

1x29 - Letters Home

1x30 - Checkmate

1x31 - Trackers

1x32 - Among Us

1x33 - Hide n' Seek

1x34 - Requiem

1x35 - Pluto and Beyond

1x36 - Funeral for a Friend

1x37 - Spirits of the Departed

1x38 - Propaganda Machine

1x39 - Marooned

1x40 - Court-Martial of Lt. Razak

S0: Specials

S1: Season 1