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The Roughneck Two-Zero, or simply Roughnecks, is a Mobile Infantry unit that served in many battles against the Arachnids in the Bug Wars. The unit was originally lead by Lieutenant Jean Rasczak. After Lieutenant Rasczak's demise during Ambush at Whiskey Outpost, the unit is commanded by Johnny Rico, who later becomes a General.

History[]

"Everyone fights, no one quits. If you don't do your job, I'll shoot you. You get me?"
—Lieutenant Rasczak[src]

The Roughnecks is a platoon of Mobile Infantry that had performed better than most other units during the early stages of the war with the Arachnids. They fought at Zegema Beach where Sugar in the Roughnecks described it as "not being there anymore".

Johnny Rico, Dizzy Flores, Ace Levy were transferred to the Roughnecks after the defeat of Willy's Wildcats, their unit, during the Battle of Klendathu. Johnny discovered that Jean Rasczak; his former teacher on Buenos Aires was given command of the Roughnecks, with the rank of Lieutenant. Starship Troopers (1997 film)

Tango Urilla[]

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Roughnecks on Tango Urilla

Main article: Raid on Tango Urilla

Shortly after this transfer, the Roughnecks were deployed to Tango Urilla. After a bombing raid on a Bug horde, the Roughnecks went in and mopped up any remaining resistance. During this raid, a Tanker Bug burst out of the ground behind the Roughnecks battleline, forcing them to flee. Corporal Birdie the second-in command, lost her arm to the Tanker Bug and Rasczak rescued her from it. Meanwhile, Johnny managed to climb a hill that the Tanker was walking past and was able to jump on its back. Johnny then used his Morita Assault Rifle to open a hole on its back, throwing a grenade into before falling off, successfully killing the Tanker. With the mission complete, Johnny was promoted. Starship Troopers (1997 film)

Ambush at Whiskey Outpost, Planet P[]

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Main article: Ambush at Whiskey Outpost

The Roughnecks were then off duty and allowed to celebrate the victory. While off duty, the Federation forces receive a distress call from a outpost on Planet P, ordering the Roughnecks to investigate. The Roughnecks were dropped a distance away from the Whiskey Outpost, so they had to travel through several canyons, where a Hopper Bug was able to pick of stragglers. Whilst traveling through the canyons, Sergeant Gillespie was unable to get a radio signal and moved to higher ground in an attempt to restore it. This turned out to be a fatal mistake as a Hopper Bug flew at him, capturing the Sergeant and dragging him to a high ledge where it proceeded to tortured him until Lieutenant Rasczak shot his Sergeant dead using Sugar Watkins' scoped Morita Assault Rifle then stating "I'd expect everyone to do the same for me" and returns the rifle back to Watkins and chose Johnny to become acting Sergeant.

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The Roughnecks then proceeded on their mission reaching Whiskey Outpost where they found the base covered in corpses and with a Bug hole in its mess hall. When a sudden banging sound appeared from a locker, they surrounded it whilst Johnny opened the locker, releasing General Owen. The general congratulated the Roughnecks on rescuing him until he discovered that they were not on a rescue mission with dropships.

It was at that point that of the Trooper Sugar screams "BUGS!" and the Roughnecks soon discovered hundreds if not thousands of Warrior Bugs charging towards the outpost. They ran to the outposts walls, trying to defend the base as best as they could whilst Dizzy got on the radio and tried to get a rescue ship. This attempt took some time before she could get a signal and Johnny came in from the defense, ordering a rescue boat. After Johnny informs Lieutenant Rasczak that a rescue boat was coming, Rasczak ordered the Roughnecks to withdraw into the compound whilst Warriors breached the walls. Suddenly, the ground below Rasczak caved in, pulling him in and ripping his legs off. Rasczak ordered Johnny to kill him, to which Johnny complied.

Arachnid Rush

The boat landed and Zander Barcalow exited, telling the Roughnecks to get aboard while he provided some supporting fire. Then from the ground beneath where Rasczak died, a Tanker Bug burst out of the ground and inhaled a gulp of air before shooting its molten liquid. When it was preparing, Dizzy took the chance and threw a grenade into its mouth, blowing its head off. Full of joy, Dizzy turns to the rest of the Roughnecks and is celebrating when a Warrior Bug runs up behind her, stabbing her four times. The warrior is killed and Johnny and Ace pulled her into the dropship. Zander yelled at the two troopers on the tower to come on, but while running towards the dropship, another Tanker Bug incinerates them. Dizzy then died on the dropship. Johnny then assumed command as the most senior officer of the Roughnecks and ordered Fleet to bombard the planet's surface; his request was refused, which lead him to furiously state "M.I. does the dying, Fleet just does the flying.

Onboard the Rodger Young, the Roughnecks had a funeral for Dizzy, after which Carl Jenkins entered and promoted Johnny to Lieutenant, ordering the Roughnecks to return to Planet P. Starship Troopers (1997 film)

Capturing the Brain Bug on Planet P[]

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The Roughnecks preparing for the mission

Main article: Invasion of Planet P

The Roughnecks, along with a large task force went back to Planet P in order to try capturing the Brain Bug. Upon their arrival on the planet, the Roughnecks received a new batch of soldiers to replace their losses at the Ambush at Whiskey Outpost, most of which were straight out of boot camp. The Roughnecks proceeded on-mission, however, in the caverns, Johnny and two men, Ace and Watkins, take a detour and manage to rescue Carmen Ibanez, who was captured by the Bugs after the destruction of Rodger Young. Unexpectedly, they located the target Brain Bug, which would flee only to be captured by Private Zim. Starship Troopers (1997 film)

Military Power Suit reforms[]

During the Second Bug War the Federal Military underwent a huge reform replacing its Cap Trooper units with smaller Power Suit units. As part of this the Roughnecks was divided into at least 2 squads which would operate separate from each other. These squads were still considered to be Roughnecks but were designated A-01, and K-12.

Fort Casey Rescue[]

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Main article: Battle of Fort Casey

The A-01 team of the Roughnecks[1] on Alesia received the order to rescue the survivors of the Roughnecks K-12 team,[1] including Otis Hacks, "Ratzass", Holy Man and Kharon. The mission was accomplished and the Fort Casey was destroyed. Starship Troopers: Invasion

Capturing the Queen[]

Nearly 10 years after the battle on Planet P, the K-12 Team of Roughnecks stationed at Fort Casey were ordered by Carl Jenkins to capture the Queen. Major Henry Varro, the commander of K-12, disobeyed the order as it was almost a suicide mission that could wipe the whole team. He was then charged with insubordination and arrested by Carl Jenkins. Starship Troopers: Invasion "Mobile Infantry"

John A. Warden Incident[]

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Main article: The John A. Warden Incident

Later, while the A-01 and K-12 were going back to Terra, General Rico gave them a new order: finding the lost John A. Warden, which was taken by Carl Jenkins from its captain, Carmen Ibanez. Major Varro was released to take the lead under K-12 Team members' request.

Upon reaching and boarding the John A. Warden, they found all personnel of the ship were killed, except for Carl Jenkins After they reactivated the generator, the mission turned into a disaster, since the Queen Bug had controlled the whole ship, destroying the Alesia before setting out to Earth.

After the John A. Warden reached the orbital of Earth, the Queen destroyed one and heavily damaged two Starships trying to intercept it and entering the Earth's atmosphere. General Rico lead the Marauder Team to rescue the survivors on John A. Warden before L-6 Satellite Base was to deploy several nuclear warheads onto the crash site. The nuclear warheads eventually were launched against the John A. Warden whilst the Roughnecks were still onboard. However, they were destroyed by the John A. Warden's turrets. To prevent an Arachnid outbreak, the Roughnecks placed C-4 explosive on the ships engines then just barely escaped using Jenkin's shuttle that was still docked to the ship.

In the end of the engagement, though the Queen Bug was killed, the A-01 and K-12 were nearly wiped out, only three Roughnecks members survived. The Marauder Team also had five Cap troopers killed in action. Starship Troopers: Invasion

Known members[]

Name Image Status Notes
Jean Rasczak
(Lieutenant)
Lieutenant Jean Rasczak
Deceased
Commanding officer until death during Ambush at Whiskey Outpost
Gillespie
(Sergeant)
St-gillespie-film-1
Deceased
Killed by Hopper Bug onroute to Whiskey Outpost
Birdie
(Corporal)
St-birdie-film-1
Alive
Lost an arm during Raid on Tango Urilla and was removed from unit for treatment.
Johnny Rico
(Private - Corporal - Sergeant - Lieutenant)
Draft lens15991811module137618931photo 1291261150JohnnyRicoFace
Alive
Rose from private to rank of Lieutenant and assigned command after death of Rasczak.
Ace Levy
(Private)
Vlcsnap-153642
Alive
Reassigned from Willy's Wildcats after it was dissolved.
Dizzy Flores
(Private)
Dina-01-300
Deceased
Killed at Ambush at Whiskey Outpost.
Sugar Watkins
(Sergeant)
Sugar Watkins
Deceased
Sacrificed himself with a nuke after being wounded while rescuing Carmen Ibanez.

A-01 Team[]

Name Image Status Notes
Lieutenant Daugherty Sti-daugherty-film-4
Deceased
Commanding officer
Sergeant Mech Sti-mech-film-ratzass-5
Alive
Explosive Expert
Corporal Deborah Ogden Pretty Ice Blonde
Alive
Lance Corporal Chow Sti-chow-film-2
Deceased
Tia Durer Durer
Deceased
Sniper
Chase Sti-chase-film-bet-1
Deceased
Scout
Shock Jock Sti-shockjock-film-2
Deceased
Medic

K-12 Team[]

Name Image Status Notes
Major Varro Hero
Deceased
Commanding officer
Lieutenant Hacks Sti-bugspray-film-6
Deceased
Sergeant Major Cunningham "Ratzass" Sti-ratzass-film-5
Deceased
Survived the John A. Warden Incident and later killed in a drop on Mars
Private "Holy Man" Sti-holyman-film-pray
Deceased
Kharon Sti-kharon-film-2
Deceased

Notes[]

  • In Starship Troopers: Invasion, each team of the Roughnecks consisted of eleven troopers. So a "team" could be a squad, which usually consists of eight to thirteen members.
  • Despite the official blog referring to the Elite Troopers Teams as part of the Roughnecks,[1] it's possible that the Elite Troopers Team aren't part of the Roughnecks, since the Roughnecks are a Mobile Infantry platoon. Also, when Ratzass mentions Major Varro to General Rico, he doesn't seem to know Rico as a unit leader.

Appearances[]

References[]

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