Roughnecks in the Crossfire

Notes: This is a Starship Troopers crossover. With what will be revealed later (although I have dropped a couple hints). As for my adaptation of Starship Troopers, it is based primarily on the book although it contains elements of the TV miniseries.

Prologue

Winds swept through the dark and barren gully. Night had fallen about an hour ago, by Terran standards, that is. On this planet a day lasted a Terran week and ipso facto the night as well. Two guards stood at the entrance of a large perimeter fence. These two were colonial marines and they were chatting away casually. The one with two chevrons on his shoulder pad marking him as a corporal, said, "Listen Hal, you need to relax, O.K.?"

"I know, Rusty. I just can't help it. These week long nights give me the creeps, especially with what those scientists are studying. Those things scare me."

"They scare me too, but all we have to do is follow proper procedure and they won't hurt us. Why do you think we haven't moved them from the 'Pit' yet? So no one gets whacked by them. It's outside the base and has a security fence set around them. Those techs know what they're doing. They want to figure out how to safely extract them first."

"It's not just that. It's also the fact that we're on a remote planet during a war. What if the Bugs find us?"

"Don't worry about the Bugs! We're well out the way of the fighting. There aren't bugs for parsecs around. Beside even if by some slim chance we do get attacked by them, this research station is practically a fortress. We got electrified fences, razor wire, gun turrets, you name it. All we have to do is fire off a distress signal, hide in the bunkers and wait for SICON to send the navy. And then the Mobile Infantry will drop from the sky, shoot up the bugs, and we can get back to work. That is if any of the specimens survive."

"Well, that's fine and dandy, but why is our communication tower way over there," Hal said as he pointed to a rock ledge; from this point one could barely see the tip of the tower, "outside the base? Isn't it a tad vulnerable?"

Rusty groaned. Did he have to repeat this every week? He replied, "It's temporary. The permanent one is being built inside the base as we speak and it's almost done. The one out there is there because that's where the best reception for a tower that size is. Anyway you know full well that even if Bugs got to the comm tower before we could call for help, the navy would still come. The WYC gets a call from us at least once a week. If it doesn't get its weekly call, they'll know something's happened and they'll send the cavalry."

"I suppose you're right. I..." Hal stopped and then stared into the bleak landscape. Rusty, puzzled, asked, "What is it?"

"I thought I saw something."

Rusty rolled his eyes. Great, he thought, Hal's getting paranoid. He asked, "What do you mean you saw something?"

"I don't know. But it seemed to be on that ledge over where the comm tower is."

Rusty sighed. He knew that even if he told Hal to forget about it, Hal would not be able to get it out of his head and would worry himself sick over it until the sun came up which was in a week. So instead he said, "Alright, you think there's something over by the tower, so go check it out."

Hal didn't quite believe what he heard, "What?"

"You heard me, go check it out and report back. That's an order, private"

Hal gulped, cocked his M41B pulse rifle and headed for the tower. As he made his way up the rock ledge, Rusty shook his head. He hoped that when Hal saw that there was nothing his mind would be put at ease. Knowing Hal though, that was doubtful, but it was worth a shot.

A minute later Hal reached the comm tower. He looked around and saw that nothing or nobody was around. He was about to turn back to the base when he noticed something odd about the tower. He took a closer look and what he saw shocked him. He quickly took out his walkie-talkie and called Rusty, "Rusty, the comm tower's broken!"

Rusty's voice came through, "What do you mean the tower's broken?"

"The control panel's busted up and the cables leading to the base are cut!"

Rusty was stunned. So Hal wasn't being paranoid. He had indeed seen something and that something had apparently sabotaged the tower. He ordered Hal, "Return to base. We'll figure out what's going on later."

Hal acknowledged and was about to head back to the station when suddenly something hit him over the head and he blacked out. When he regained consciousness, he found himself being dragged and his hands tied. He looked up to see who was doing it and his terror struck him mute.

Rusty in the meantime had informed the base personnel of the tower's condition and was waiting for Hal. He started to get worried; Hal should have been back by then. So he headed for the comm tower. When he got there he saw Hal's helmet and rifle lying next to it. In the ground he saw a trail indicating a body being dragged. He swore and radioed the station to tell them what he had discovered and then started to follow the trail.

Hal felt himself being picked up and thrown. He landed hard on the ground and he could feel his arm break. Disorientated, he didn't know where he was. The creature that had been dragging him disappeared. Hal regained his senses and looked around. To his horror, he realized where he was.

Rusty heard a scream. A long continuous scream, it sent a chill though him. And it was coming from the Pit. Rusty ran with all his might praying that he wasn't too late. He was. What he saw in the Pit petrified him. It was a minute before he recovered and he radioed the base, "F-foxtrot to Base, The Pit has been compromised. We have a man down and need a medical crew ASAP."