Roughnecks: Starship Troopers Chronicles is a CGI animated television series based on the 1959 novel Starship Troopers by Robert A. Heinlein and the 1997 movie adaptation. The film's director, Paul Verhoeven, served as executive producer. It follows the exploits of the Mobile Infantry squad, "Razak's Roughnecks," during the SICON–Bugs War between a newly united humanity and an extraterrestrial race, known as the "Bugs," also sometimes referred to as Arachnids. The show focuses mainly on the Roughnecks' missions, rather than addressing the larger war. The series aired for one season in the syndicated Bohbot Kids Network block beginning in August 1999 in the United States and Canada. It was later picked up by the Sci-Fi Channel in the U.S. (along with the rest of the BKN block) and Teletoon in Canada. The entire series is available to be streamed on Crackle in the U.S., along with several Minisodes. The show combines elements of Verhoeven's film and the original novel, such as the extraterrestrial race known as the Skinnies, powered armor suits and drop pods. The series also adds some original elements (e.g., the war starts on Pluto), while omitting the political aspects of the original work and film. Plot When the Mobile Infantry defeats an infestation on Pluto, the world is united as the Strategically Integrated Coalition of Nations (SICON) declares war on the insectoids. The main story focuses on a group of troopers known as Alpha Teamotherwise known as Razak's Roughneckswho are headed back to Pluto after Operation Pest Control. After destroying Bug City on Pluto, SICON sights a giant Transport Bug. This reveals that the Bugs are not native to Pluto. They track it to the planet Hydora, which orbits a star in the Constellation Virgo and encounter a Brain Bug, an intelligent Bug that controls the other castes so they won't go insane and destroy each other. The Bugs are planning to take control of the entire universe and won't stop until the human race is extinct. SICON attempts to set up a base on the planet Tophet, inhabited by a species nicknamed Skinnies. The Skinnies, however, have been enslaved by the Bugs to mine Xylon, a precious mineral used for Transport Bugs. The Mobile Infantry are able to destroy the Control Bugs overseeing the Skinnies and free Tophet, but the victory costs them their comrade Carl Jenkins, who has been put into a state of mental trauma.