Exosquad

Exosquad is a 1993–94 animated television series produced by Will Meugniot and Universal Cartoon Studios. Created as a response to Japanese anime and set in the beginning of the 22nd century, the show covers the interstellar war between the humanity (Terrans) and Neosapiens, a race artificially created as slaves for humans. The narration generally follows the Able Squad, an elite Terran unit of E-frame (mecha) pilots, on their missions all over the Solar system, although other storylines are also abundant. The series ran for two complete seasons and was canceled after one third season episode had been produced.

Recurring quotes

[the Able Squad emerges to save the day]

Kaz Takagi: The cavalry has arrived!

---

[Captain Butler lines up his troopers before any given deployment]

Avery Butler: Any heroes in here?

Jumptroopers: No, sir!

Avery Butler: Good! Then let's jump!

Jumptroops: Arooha!

Season 1

Opening narration

J.T. Marsh (VO): It was a golden age for all mankind. Using the incredible exoskeletons called E-frames, we had successfully terraformed Venus and Mars, and were now poised to move on to the Outer Planets. Suddenly, it all ended. We were pressed into a nightmarish war on a scale previously unimagined. We were attacked by our own creations, the Neosapiens, a race of artificially created humans. Led by Phaeton, they had seized control of Venus, Earth, and Mars. This is Lt. J.T. Marsh, member of the Exofleet, leader of a small band of E-frame pilots dedicated to freeing humanity from Neosapien rule. We are... the Exosquad.

Pirate Scourge [1.01]

Maggie Weston [dragging in some heavy equipment]: Takagi, Bronsky, give me a hand here.

[Takagi and Bronsky start clapping]

Maggie Weston: Comedians. I got 84 pieces of equipment to maintain on this tub and this is the crew I get.

Seeds of Deception [1.02]

Sean Napier [about a bar fight that he provoked]: I was, uh, discussing current events with a concerned citizen.

---

J.T. Marsh: You can review the tapes a thousand times to see what you did, what you should have done. But the only battle that really counts... is the next one.

---

Sean Napier: I got shot, and that's the best thing that's happened to me all day.

Blitzkrieg [1.04]

Phaeton: The birth of the Neosapien order is a thing of beauty. It would be unthinkable to not witness the most important event in history... the moment the Neosapiens seize their destiny. The reign of the old humanity ends this day. We, the stepchildren of mankind, are now its rulers. Think, Typhonus, what the rule of the Neosapiens means. Justice, at last. Logic, at last. Order, at last. Our laws will prevail. What glories the Homeworlds will see, governed by our even hand!

---

Phaeton: Since its conception, the Neosapien race has lived under the oppressive rule of a homo sapien regime. Forced to work and serve as slave labor, only to benefit Terran objectives. Today marks the beginning of a new and enlightened era and the history of your kind comes to an end. The future now belongs to Neosapiens. You as the representatives of the Terran Homeworlds must accept this reality. Your unconditional surrender to us, to me, is now a fact.

History will record the inevitability of your decision. Any form of human resistance will be met with immediate extermination. The tables have turned and now you, Terrans, will serve the Neosapien Commonwealth. And I, Phaeton, am now your leader. I now hereby declare this assembly dissolved, as your services are no longer required.

Scorched Venus [1.08]

[disguised as a Neosapien soldier, Marsala enters the bridge of a Neosapien vessel]

Pilot: You are not authorized to be on the bridge.

Marsala [pulls out a gun]: Perhaps this will be sufficient authorization.

Pilot: What is this?!

Marsala [calmly]: I believe it is called "a hijacking".

The Brood [1.11]

[Neosapien E-frames pursuing the Able Squad suddenly retreat]

Alec DeLeon: Luck appears to be with us, my friend.

Marsala: But why? Logic demands we look for a rational explanation.

Alec DeLeon: I believe J.T. will be satisfied with luck.

---

[Captain Marcus orders the crew of Resolute to abandon ship but himself stays on the bridge]

Matthew Marcus [last words, to Kaz Takagi]: Leave! This... this is still my bridge, trooper! Go back and tell Winfield to watch. Tell him... Matthew Marcus... knew how to die.

Betrayal [1.12]

[Marsala blasts the cavern wall, causing a landslide to trap Able Squad]

J.T. Marsh: Marsala, what is this!

Marsala: My resignation, Lieutenant Marsh, effective immediately.

---

[Marsala pledges loyalty to Phaeton, drawing on their past friendship]

Phaeton: Yes, but that was fifty years ago.

Marsala: We Neosapiens have long lives - and longer memories.

Phaeton: That episode is not one which I would care to have generally known. Shall I have you killed?

Marsala: A waste - I am a skilled soldier.

Defying Olympus [1.13]

Marsala: Humans are great creators, Lieutenant, though often unaware of the consequences of their gift.

Season 2

The Embassy [2.02]

Jonas Simbacca: Many years ago our ancestors came to Tethys as convict labor. In exchange for their work, they were promised freedom and help in building new lives. Many did not survive to see the end of their sentences. Then the Neosapiens were created. The rich mines of Mars were opened. And the mines, and miners, of Tethys were abandoned. From the struggle to survive, the Pirate Clans were formed. Metals were dug, ships were built. Whatever else the clans needed they took from the Homeworlders who had lied to them for decades.

---

[the Able Squad is being overwhelmed by Neosapiens in a space battle]

Bridge Officer: They are cut off, Admiral! They can't get through!

Admiral Winfield: Not if I can help it... Attention all E-frames! Standby for the activation of the GRAF Shield!

Bridge Officer: But, Sir! The GRAF Shield is not operational.

Admiral Winfield: The Neos are monitoring this channel, trooper... On my mark: five, four, three, [the Neosapien forces retreat rapidly] two, one... mark!

Wolf Bronsky: Hey, they are running! Remind me never to play poker with the Admiral...

Pirate's Ransom [2.03]

[Jubail decided to assault the Neosapien fleet that captured Jonas Simbacca]

Barca: Wait, Jubail! Attacking the Neosapiens will cost many lives, all for the sake of one. Leave Simbacca to his fate, and you could be the new leader of the Pirate Clans.

Jubail: Only a coward would let someone else remove the obstacle in his path. We attack!

---

Jonas Simbacca: This fight will make you a legend in the Clans, Marsh. They'll tell the story of our deaths for a thousand years.

J.T. Marsh: I'd rather be alive than a legend.

---

Alec DeLeon: Think we can get out of here with no more surprises?

J.T. Marsh: If you don't like surprises you're in the wrong line of work.

Ultimate Weapon [2.04]

[after a disastrous training session with perspective Pirate E-frame pilots, DeLeon informs Marsh of a spy onboard]

Alec DeLeon: J.T., I think we have a problem.

J.T. Marsh: Only one? I've got six of them in there.

Expendable [2.05]

Sean Napier [during the Exofleet-Pirate negotiations]: The Pirates can share Mars with the Neosapiens. After the war there'll be plenty of room for both of you. I've fought the Neos face-to-face, whatever else you may think of them they've got guts. Besides, there won't be many of them left.

---

Wolf Bronsky: Man, it's just another day at the office. Savin' everyone's butt.

J.T. Marsh: Punch your time card, Bronsky.

---

Jonas Simbacca: You are a brave man, Admiral, to sacrifice yourself for our escape. But it will not be necessary.

[a large Pirate fleet decloaks and decimates the Neosapiens pursuing the Exofleet]

Admiral Winfield: You are a devious man, Simbacca. I like that.

Mindset [2.06]

Sean Napier: One thing you can say for Phaeton, he makes the magnotrains run on time.

---

[Amanda Connor, who was collaborating with Neosapien propaganda machine, has been coerced to participate in the extraction of former Homeworlds Congressmen]

Sean Napier: I hope you've learned something tonight, Amanda.

Amanda Connor: Look, maybe the Neosapiens did try to make this camp look like a resort instead of a prison. Sure they were using it for propaganda. But that doesn't mean they are evil.

Sean Napier: You just don't wanna see the truth. [mans his E-frame] You better get on board. Even you won't be safe here when your "friends" retake the camp.

Amanda Connor: I am not going, Sean. I believe Phaeton's order - with all its faults! - is the best way for the future.

Sean Napier: I could force you to come with me but I won't. You have the right to make up your own mind. Even if you're wrong.

Amanda Connor: You are living in the past, Sean! Terran and Neosapien cooperation is the key to the future.

Sean Napier: I'm sure it is. But not on Phaeton's terms.

The Last Man [2.07]

[the first appearance of the recurring quote]

Avery Butler: Any heroes in here?

Jumptroopers: No, sir!

Avery Butler: Good, the only heroes I ever saw weren't breathin'. Now let's jump!

---

[the jumptroops capture a Neo Mega for the first time]

Vince Pellegrino: Captain, about that weird Neo we captured, there's good news and bad news.

Avery Butler: I could use some good news.

Vince Pellegrino: The good news is that, uh, his air supply is holding out.

Avery Butler: What's the bad news?

Vince Pellegrino: He's stopped breathing.

Coleen O'Reilly: You call that bad news?

Dragon's Rock [2.08]

Marsala [about Burns and Bronsky who were captured by Neosapiens]: By now, they could be almost anywhere on the planet.

Kaz Takagi: Oh now that's a great attitude.

Marsala: It is equally probable that they are no longer alive.

Kaz Takagi: We'll find her, we have to!

Marsala: I am simply pointing out probabilities.

Kaz Takagi: How can you be so calm about it? Don't you care?

Marsala: I do not express my feelings the way you do. That does not mean I feel less. Concern for friends is common to all humans, and we Neosapiens are very much human. If Terrans had remembered that, perhaps this war would never have been fought.

Inner Dark [2.09]

[Professor Algernon introduces his method of curing the Dark Matter Syndrome]

Med-tech: You propose to save this man's life with light?

Algernon: Well, yes if you put it that way.

Admiral Winfield: Do you really think this is going to work?

Algernon: If my theory about Dark Matter Syndrome is correct, it will.

Admiral Winfield: And, if it isn't correct?

Algernon: That never occurred to me.

The First Step [2.11]

[Glycon orders Thrax to lead Mercury forces to Venus, should their attack on the Exofleet fail]

Thrax: What about you?

Glycon: I will lead the counterattack.

Thrax: You are sacrificing yourself for nothing.

Glycon: Has it not occurred to you that we are all sacrificing ourselves for nothing? It has become Phaeton's war, not ours.

Sharos: What are Glycon's orders?

Thrax: Do you never grow tired of it, Sharos? The fighting?

Sharos: It is what we were bred for.

Thrax: And when the war is over? What will we do then?

Sharos: For us, the war will never be over.

The Greatest Fear [2.12]

J.T. Marsh: Let him go Takagi, break off pursuit. We're here to look, not fight.

Kaz Takagi [returning]: Hey, can I follow orders or what?

Rita Torres: Takagi, only you can show off by not showin' off.

Venus Rising [2.15]

[Kaz Takagi disarms Thrax who then turns around to face him]

Kaz Takagi: I know you.

Thrax: It's not true, then, that we all look alike to Terrans.

Kaz Takagi: You were on Mercury, you let me live. Why?

Thrax: It seemed like a good idea at the time. [puts his arms down and calmly walks away]

Kaz Takagi: Halt! Don't make me fire.

Thrax: No one makes you fire. It's a decision you make for yourself. And you have to live with it.

[Takagi lowers the gun, Thrax takes off in his E-frame]

Miracle [2.16]

Marsala: Phaeton has chosen to rule through terror. But when everyone fears you, you must fear everyone.

The Dream War [2.20]

Maggie Weston [kicks DeLeon's damaged E-frame, which suddenly boots up]: Whaddya know, I'm a mechanical genius.

---

Shiva [on being put in charge of the Neo Warriors]: I was once Commanding General of all Earth forces. Now, I am a zookeeper.

Martian Luck [2.23]

J.T. Marsh: Can you fly?

Marsala: I presume you mean "in an E-frame".

J.T. Marsh: Great. You pick now to find a sense of humor?

Trial by Combat [2.29]

[captured by Neosapiens, Marsh claims to be Kaz Takagi to avoid unwanted attention]

Praetorius: You will use Commander Marsh's E-frame. Are you capable of operating his machine?

J.T. Marsh: I can do anything J.T. Marsh can do.

The Price of Courage [2.31]

Jonas Simbacca [to J.T. Marsh]: There will be fortunes to be made after the war. More wealth than I ever saw as a Pirate. I intend to be one of the most important men in the Solar system. And you could be there, with me, at my side. In this war I have trusted men with my life. You, I would trust with my money.

---

Jonas Simbacca: I like the way you think, J.T. Marsh. You will command the counterattack.

J.T. Marsh: But, Simbacca, that's a job for a senior commander.

Jonas Simbacca: If you win, no one will complain. And if you lose, there won't be anyone left to complain.

---

Phaeton: The blow you are about to strike will send the Terran rabble back to the cover of their Pirate hideouts. You will have your revenge for the Terrans' destruction of Mars. I will build a monument to your victory on Venus, and inscribe your names in stone, so that future broods will remember your courage.

---

J.T. Marsh [after shooting the General's E-frame down]: You were the best of them, Shiva. Too bad you didn't serve a better cause.

---

[injured in the crash, General Shiva is found by Exoscouts]

"Pirate": You're our prisoner, Neo.

Shiva: Not for long. Soon I will be free.

"Doc": What's your name and rank?

Shiva: I am... I... am just a soldier.

---

Shiva [to the Exoscouts]: Put me... down. Leave me. I do not wish to spend my last moments with half-formed Terrans.

---

Shiva [last words, as the Exoscouts start crying]: Why?..

One Small Step [2.34]

Alec DeLeon [last words, to Colleen O'Reilly]: You never... you never answered my question... you do care about J.T., don't you? [...] Tell him... I never told Maggie... remember...

---

Wolf Bronsky [on DeLeon's death]: Man, I've never thought it would be him.

Nara Burns: It's never who you think.

J.T. Marsh [to Weston]: Will it be OK?..

Maggie Weston: Uh... sure...

Colleen O'Reilly: When is this stupid war going to end?!.

Fifth Column [2.35]

Sean Napier [to the Terran workers]: I understand you people are hungry. But what are you hungry for? Food? Or freedom? It's 400 kilometers to Chicago. Those tanks can make that in 2 hours. Anyone feel like a drive?

A Night Before Doomsday [2.37]

J.T. Marsh: If we're wrong the sun may never rise on the Earth again.

Algernon: The sun is always rising somewhere. After all, our darkness means light to the other side of the world.

J.T. Marsh: Heh. You almost sound optimistic, Professor. How would a doomsday device work?

Algernon: If I were going to destroy the Earth, and I had as little imagination as Phaeton, I'd simply blow it up.

---

Thrax [to Livia]: Do you imagine that I'm afraid of you?

Abandon Hope [2.38]

Thrax [to Galba]: I used to worry how I would face the end. Would I go bravely like a soldier? But let me tell you something, Neo Mega, it's life itself that matters, not how it ends. Each moment is a precious gift, if only we have the courage to accept it. That is where our duty lies, not in taking life, but in living it.

---

Vince Pellegrino [reading the engraving over Phaeton's bunker]: Abandon all hope...

Coleen O'Reilly: ...ye who enter here. It's Dante, from The Divine Comedy.

Wolf Bronsky: Sounds like a load of laughs.

---

Phaeton: Shiva, you have always been my best general. Can you stop them?

Shiva: No, but I will try.

Beyond Chaos [2.39]

Marsala: Without tradition to guide us, without posterity to judge us, we live in a moral void as empty as space itself. We are desperate for something to give our lives purpose. That is what Phaeton offered us.

Character profiles

Prof. Algernon's profile

Admiral Winfield (VO): In war, the deadliest weapon of all is brain. Exofleet's secret weapon is Professor Algernon. Algernon is so brilliant that sometimes, even a war isn't enough to hold his interest. His mind roams far beyond the battlefield, beyond the confines of the Solar System, always searching for the unknown.

Wolf Bronsky's profile

Admiral Winfield (VO): All exotroopers had to undergo a psychological evaluation. In Wolf Bronsky's evaluation, the psych-tech concluded that inside Bronsky, there was a shy, frightened little boy. Beside that, somebody wrote "Yeah, because Bronsky ate him". Somebody told Bronsky about it, Bronsky said: "Psych-techs don't fly E-frames".

Nara Burns' profile

Admiral Winfield (VO): Her family was the most important thing in Lt. Nara Burns' life... until the Neosapiens came. Now the exosquad is the only family she has. Some people say she lacks experience, that she isn't ready to lead an exosquad... That's not what the Neosapiens say.

Avery Butler's profile

Admiral Winfield (VO): I have once asked Cpt. Avery Butler what was the hardest thing about commanding a jumptroop platoon. He said, a platoon leader sends a personal message to the family of every trooper lost in action - that's the hardest thing. With the Neos in control of the Earth, there is no way to contact the families but Avery Butler still records the message...

Alec DeLeon's profile

Admiral Winfield (VO): Alec DeLeon grew up on the streets of Paris. He grew up fast... and alone. He joined Exofleet the way men once joined the French Foreign Legion - to escape the past. He told me once that for the first time in his life, he's found peace.

Marsala's profile

Admiral Winfield (VO): Marsala was one of last rebels captured at the end of the First Neosapien War. This time, he is on our side. Marsala and Phaeton were created together, in the same brood. If they were Terrans, we'd call them "brothers".

J.T. Marsh's profile

Admiral Winfield (VO): People fly in their dreams, but what they are really dreaming about is freedom. For J.T. Marsh, flying doesn't mean freedom - but responsibility. Responsibility for the lives of the men and women in his exosquad. J.T.'s dream is that someday, the war will be over and there will be open sky again.

Neo Warriors' profile

Phaeton (VO): For two hundred years, it has been illegal to combine human and non-human genes. But now, Phaeton is the law. The fierceness of the predator has been given to the Warrior Neosapien.

Phaeton: Are we not all animals, pretending to be human?

Vince Pellegrino's profile

Admiral Winfield (VO): Cpl. Vince Pellegrino comes from a long line of soldiers. If they were still around, he'd drive them all crazy. He is undisciplined, un-military, unpredictable. And also, a born fighter.

Colleen O'Reilly's profile

Admiral Winfield (VO): Graduation Day at the Exofleet Academy is the proudest moment in a young officer's life. On the day that Colleen O'Reilly graduated, the Neosapien War began. Only a few cadets from her graduating class survived to join the Exofleet. Lt. Colleen O'Reilly will never forget the ones who didn't make it.

Jonas Simbacca's profile

Admiral Winfield (VO): There was no man in Solar System more feared than Simbacca, the leader of the Pirate Clans. But that was before Phaeton. Now Simbacca is the captain of Resolute II, flagship of the new Exofleet. I've joined with the man who was once my enemy to fight an evil that threatens both of us. Someday, perhaps, we'll unite with the Neosapiens against an enemy more terrible than Phaeton.

Rita Torres' profile

Admiral Winfield (VO): If Exofleet supply could build troopers the way we build E-frames, Sgt. Rita Torres would be standard issue. For the soldiers as good as Torres, it's easy to forget that there is a human being inside the uniform. It's the same as to forget what's going on inside a reactor... until it explodes.

Typhonus' profile

Phaeton (VO): As Minister of War, Typhonus is my strong right arm but I cannot grow a new arm. Someday, it may become necessary to destroy Typhonus. A clone is ready, an exact duplicate. I will replace Typhonus with... Typhonus.

Voice actors

• Lisa Ann Beley - Nara Burns
• Robby Benson - J.T. Marsh
• Michael Benyaer - Kaz Takagi
• Gary Chalk - Marsala, Shiva
• Michael Donovan - Wolf Bronsky
• Janyse Jaud - Rita Torres
• David Kaye - Hallas, Draconis
• Rob Morton - Typhonus
• Richard Newman - Phaeton
• John Payne - Sean Napier, Alec DeLeon
• Teryl Rothery - Maggie Weston
• Alvin Sanders - Avery F. Butler

External links

• Exosquad quotes at the Internet Movie Database