Space: Above and Beyond1995

Major Cyril MacKendrick:
Lieutenant Hawkes, the entire time in His Majesty's Service, I was assigned as what you young Americans would call a 'pencil-pushing geek'. Supply, support. And every year, I would request a transfer to a unit that would taste the sting of battle, so that I might do my part to serve my country and my planet. And every year they turned me down. Eight months ago at the Battle of Mandrake Ridge, the Chigs hit our supply lines, and I finally felt... battle's sting. I saw men and women so dear to me so mutilated they were unrecognizable as human forms, let alone as people I loved. I'm sure *you* know. No, I don't like being alone, Mr. Hawkes. But it has offered me the chance to study our enemy - learn his tactics and some of his language to a degree I'm certain no human has achieved. And one day I will return with what I've learned here, alone, and that information will help defeat this horrific enemy that massacred my friends. But if I were to return now, they'd have me back on inventory of packaged food and blankets, while completing Forms 18, stroke, 79. And while I realize the vital importance of that role - it's not enough. For me, for those friends I've lost, it's not enough.