Lieutenant Starbuck quotes from Battlestar Galactica (1978)

Lieutenant Starbuck

[having been invited into a launch tube by Cassiopeia] Oh, Lord, I'll do anything you ask tomorrow. Just, uh... don't call an alert tonight.

Starbuck

Yes! I do understand! I just don't see the sense of dwelling on what might go wrong! (quieter) It's a lousy way to live.

What are you saying about my father?! Do you realize what we've just been through?!

Lieutenant Starbuck

Oh, yeah? You should have seen how we spent our day! We managed to single-handedly keep the Cylons off our backs while you took off on a little cruise!!

Starbuck, don't you realize what's happened?!

Lieutenant Starbuck

Oh, yeah! Sure, I realize what's happened! You should see this baby in the air when it takes off across the sky!! It's a beautiful sight! Beautiful! Unless it happens to be your base ship!

Starbuck, listen to me! The Colonies are gone! All of them!

Lieutenant Starbuck

What are you talking about, gone?!

Lieutenant Starbuck

Why don't you just give me your name, okay? It's all right.

Cassiopeia

My name is Cassiopeia.

Lieutenant Starbuck

Cassiopeia. It's beautiful. It means fairy queen, doesn't it?

Cassiopeia

I think so.

Lieutenant Starbuck

Designation?

Cassiopeia

I'm designated a socialator. It's an honorable profession; it's had the blessings of the elders for four thousand yahrens.

Lieutenant Starbuck

I didn't say anything. I'm just curious about what all that excitement was about back on the barge.

Cassiopeia

That woman is a member of the Otori sect amongst the Gemonese. They don't believe in physical contact between genders, except when sanctified by the priest during High Worship of the Sun Storm, which comes once only every seven yahrens.

Lieutenant Starbuck

No wonder those little buggers are such good card players.

Cassiopeia

It's beautiful, isn't it? It's a perfect machine, born to dance among the stars...

Lieutenant Starbuck

Yeah, it's bumping into them that has me worried.

Cassiopeia

Why did you volunteer, Starbuck?

Lieutenant Starbuck

Well, somebody had to do it.

Cassiopeia

Did Apollo make you?

Lieutenant Starbuck

Yes... you certainly have a way of cutting through the felgercarb.

Cassiopeia

Do you ever take that smoldering weed out of your mouth? [She kisses him.]

Lieutenant Starbuck

I have this wonderful speech all prepared...

Cassiopeia

About this being your last night here? About possibly not seeing another night as this one, or another girl as beautiful as I am, ever again?

Lieutenant Starbuck

Yeah, well, that speech is a little better that the one I had. Would you mind if I borrowed it on some future occasion?

Lieutenant Starbuck

I wonder this looks like in the daytime.

Lieutenant Boomer

Hey, this is the daytime.

Lieutenant Starbuck

Oooh... lovely.

Starbuck

Uh, I've got this hot streak goin' here, and–

[with false brightness] Oh, I see!

Cassiopeia

Yes, I do, too. Well, have a good time, you two. And... [proving that "socialator" is a Colonial euphemism for "high-class prostitute"] ...next time, it's at office rates, Lieutenant.

Lieutenant Starbuck

[in hushed tones] Me and my big mouth.

Captain Apollo

Well, at least we know the secret of Carillon. Let's get out of here.

Lieutenant Starbuck

Wait. You go.

Captain Apollo

What are you talking about?

Lieutenant Starbuck

We still don't know the connection between the casino and this mining operation. For all we know, they could be supplying half their fuel to the Cylon empire. We just can't leave it fully operational.

Captain Apollo

We've got our entire population up on top. That includes women and children!

Lieutenant Starbuck

Look, you go. I won't do anything until you've had a chance to get away.

Captain Apollo

What can you do all by yourself?

Lieutenant Starbuck

Look, this whole planet is loaded with Tylium. If I can ignite it with my laser, it will blow the entire planet apart.

Captain Apollo

Starbuck, I can't leave you down here. You'll never get out alive.

Lieutenant Starbuck

You don't have a choice.

Captain Apollo

Starbuck, I had to leave Zac behind. I'm not leaving you, too. You go up and I'll set fire to the Tylum.

Lieutenant Starbuck

Apollo, by the time we get through arguing about this, it'll be—

Captain Apollo

[noticing the elevator activating] Shh! Someone's coming.

[runs out of the elevator behind a Cylon centurion] Muffit...! [The centurion unsheathes his sword to behead him]

Captain Apollo

[firing at the centurion] Run, Boxey, run!

Lieutenant Starbuck. How nice of you to drop in.

Lieutenant Starbuck

Baltar! I'd trade my life for one shot at you.

You will come to understand that I had nothing to do with the defeat of the Colonies. I, too, was a victim.

Lieutenant Starbuck

Yeah. You look like one.

Fortunately, there have been some changes in the Cylon Empire, changes favorable to humans and their predicament.

Lieutenant Starbuck

You'd know a lot about that.

Don't antagonize me. I come to bring an offer of peace to all humans. There people here are our friends.

Lieutenant Starbuck

Really? Then you won't mind my leaving with the good news.

In time. [to a Cylon Centurion] Remove him. See that he's fed and made comfortable.

Lieutenant Starbuck

I just want you to know that torture won't do you any good. I had a course in resisting. [The Cylon Centurion forces him to start walking] Hey, careful. I bruise. Easy.

Lieutenant Starbuck

Croft, garrison commander on the ice plant Kalpa. Four of them raided a Cylon outpost.

Lieutenant Boomer

There's nothing illegal about that.

Lieutenant Starbuck

Not a military operation. Armed robbery. They'd plundered a Cylon Platinum mine. Wouldn't surrender the bounty to the Colonial commander.

He didn't go in under Cylon guns, so he didn't deserve any part of it.

Lieutenant Sheba

You will maintain silence until we land aboard the Battlestar Pegasus.

Captain Apollo

Pegasus?! But that's just not possible!

Lieutenant Starbuck

Do you know whose ship that was?

Captain Apollo

Cain, the greatest military commander who ever lived. He was my idol!

Lieutenant Starbuck

What is it? What's wrong, Count?

Nothing's wrong.

Lieutenant Starbuck

Then why do you look so worried? Did you break some kind of rule?

It's time for me to go.

Lieutenant Starbuck

Why? What happened? Was it within your dominion to strike down a follower? A soul given to you freely, but not an innocent? A spirit whose life you took against his will?!!

No one has dominion over me!!

Lieutenant Sheba

I wonder.

I am not finished with you mortals. There will come another time, another place. And we will meet again.

Lieutenant Starbuck

I'm picking up something. Just rising on the back side of the planet. Oh, no. No!

Captain Apollo

Starbuck?

Lieutenant Starbuck

Get out of here! It's a Cylon base star!

Lieutenant Starbuck

You still don't think that transmission was a lure, do you?

Captain Apollo

No. Only now, we'll never know. Wilker's lab was destroyed in the battle and the recording with it.

Lieutenant Starbuck

So you're waiting here for another transmission.

Captain Apollo

Yeah. Boomer rigged a gamma signal booster. If anything's out there, I should pick it up.

Lieutenant Starbuck

[realizing] You – think it came from Earth, don't you?

Captain Apollo

I hope it did. Our first contact should be a transmission, something similar to what we saw.

Lieutenant Starbuck

Just looked like an old spacecraft on a routine run to me.

Captain Apollo

[chuckling] Well, what would you expect, a momentous message? No, we'll just pick up routine radio or video scans. Nothing extraordinary... to them, anyway.

Captain Apollo

They're really gonna give us a medal?

Lieutenant Starbuck

Did I say us? I think they're just decorating me!