Disclamer: I don't own Kim Possible and any related characters/vehicles/trademarked names to either her or Roughnecks: The Starship Troopers Chronicles. However most of the cast is of my creation.

Chapter 12

Hellstorm

"GET THOSE FIRES OUT!" McMillian yelled at the crew members attending to the emergency aboard the Destiny. She lifted her weapon and fired at the Warriors bearing down on her and Kim as they held the line outside the main reactor. They didn't know how many warriors were on board, but they would defeat them all. They had to.

Kim was once again glad she had accepted this mission. She missed being out in the field, right in the action, right in the heat of the moment where life and death, victory or defeat was decided. It made her feel alive like nothing else could. Adjusting her sights, she pulled the trigger and put a couple more rounds through another warrior.

Fearing a decompression, McMillian had ordered everyone into atmosuits, the fleet version of Mobile Infantry's Power Suits. Sealed to maintain an oxygen atmosphere for the wearer in the event of decompression. Not as resilient as a power suit, but still able to handle a complete vacuum Everyone who wasn't in either a power suit or an atmosuit had been ordered off ship. Admiral McMillian, while known for her reckless tendencies, wasn't known to risk lives unnecessarily, especially if she didn't have to. Kim had commandeered a full power suit and had easily settled back into using it.

Kim attempted to line up another shot at the warriors when they collapsed into a pile

"Whaa...?" she remarked, wondering what had happened, when several dark blue power suits rounded the corner, rifles at the ready.

"Corporals Sveltch and Kan cover the rear, seal off any bulkheads in the area" Lieutenant Amanda Michelle said as she rounded the corner. She turned and looked at the two officers "General. Admiral"

"Lieutenant. Sit rep" McMillian ordered

"Two decks secure. I split my squad to move and seal doors along the way. We've secured a large portion of the area, but warriors remain and we are running out of ways to contain them"

"Okay, we need to corral them" McMillian said "I need options"

"I'm afraid we don't have many. We could clear the ship section by section, corridor by corridor, but that could take a long time"

"Dammit" McMillian cursed. Kim tapped her comm

"General Stoppable to bridge"

"Go ahead, General" Roty answered

"Confirm with the fleet that they have enough firepower if the ground squads call in a strike" Kim ordered. Silence.

"General?"

"Go ahead"

"Commander Kazli says that the fleet could have enough firepower for a surface strike, but if it's underground, they'll need the Destiny's Antimatter rail guns"

"Copy that, Bridge. Stoppable, out" Kim cut the channel

"I guess this means we don't have time" Mikare commented

"No. We don't" Kim replied

"Can't we bait the bugs? Bring them to us?" McMillian asked

"What would we use for bait?"

"I've got an idea" Mikare said

"Go ahead, Lieutenant" Kim replied

"We decompress the upper and lower decks, vent everything to space, bugs included. Deck Four in this part of the ship is the uppermost deck, so we start with that one. The rest of the decks we corral the bugs, moving from two sides to this point, here" she pointed on the map of the ship "This corridor on deck nine goes around the main hangars without connecting to them. It also leads right to here. We push the warriors into that hall and then catch them in the crossfire"

"What if we don't get all the warriors or they don't fall for it?" McMillian asked

"Then we have to search the ship. They aren't getting forward of section Echo without ripping through the bulkheads, so those areas are secure" Mikare replied "But if the Warriors don't fall for it, we are going to be hard pressed to clear the ship quickly before real damage is done"

"Admiral McMillian, you have an incoming transmission" came Ensign Roty over the speakers.

"This is the Admiral. Go ahead" she said. Commander Kazli appeared on the screen

"Admiral, I have an official request from Major Setref to be allowed on board. He insists that his squad can be helpful"

"It would be useful to have a Spec Ops squad assisting" Kim suggested

"Very well. But they'll have to space jump. I'm not going to risk a ship docking" McMillian said

"Understood. I will relay that. Kazli out" and the screen went blank. The Admiral hit her comm

"There will be a transport coming near and having a squad jump out. Open the hanger doors" she said

"Understood, Admiral. Doors open" Roty replied

"Very good. McMillian out"

"Okay, we need to lure them here. Any ideas?" Kim asked

"Blood" Mikare said bluntly "Warriors are attracted by the scent. We draw some blood and leave it on the deck. The Ventilation system will carry the scent to the enemy and draw them here. We catch them in the cross fire in the corridor and take them down"

"Sounds like a plan" Kim said

"Let's move" McMillian said

"Admiral, I would suggest that you stay here. We need people to cover the reactor" Mikare said. The Admiral nodded "Corporals Kerty and Sheffield, stay here and support the Admiral" she ordered. Both troopers saluted.

"Let's get to work" Kim said with a grin.

xxxx xxxx

"Theon, Get scans for the General" Sarah ordered "Zelna, Kultai, spread out and cover the cliff sides for Warriors. Hetlya, Fontina, cover the tunnel, Fontina with me"

"Where are you going?" Cosan asked

"Place some charges, in case we need to reopen a side tunnel to get out of here" Sarah replied

"Medech and Remare, go with them" Cosan ordered two of his troopers. Both saluted and walked after Sarah "Corporal Loke and Private Yue, I want geoscientific of the area. Find us options out of here" they both nodded and moved off.

It wasn't a long walk back, but still was a ways

"Where do we place the charges?" Fontina asked

"Right along the wall. If you look closely, you can see that sections have been filled in, sealing off other passages" Sarah replied, flipping down her visor "Problem is, not sure how deep the fill is" she said as she scanned the rock, looking for a weak point "Could be very thin, could be meters thick" she ran her hand along the rock face "Here, this should do" she gestured for a charge, which Fontina handed to her. Pressing down on the arming keys, she wedged it into the rock face "Place two more charges there and there" Sarah instructed the other two troopers, pointing at two other sections of the rock face "Link them together and then to remote detonation" she ordered. They went about their work, switching on the wireless transmitters and priming the small explosive charges.

"Okay, let's move" she gestured for them to head back after the last charge was in place.

"What do you have for me?" Sarah asked when they returned to the ledge

"Well, it's a mass alright. It is a mass of muscle and tissue with I think is a large central brain. But the rest of it, I have no idea" Anna reported

"It is a brain alright" Barcel cut in

"Corporal?" Sarah asked

"It's a brain. But more than that. you see these sacks near it's outer shell on the underside? Those are egg sacs. And by my best guess, this thing must produce them on an incredible scale. And you see these large tips and masses towards the top of it?" she asked, pointing to the diagram "Those look like antennae and there is a lot of them"

"Which means?" Cosan asked

"Which means that either this thing is a freak of nature and just has those things to have them or it is a super powerful bug with the capability to communicate with all the bugs at once and influence them"

"You mean a hive mind" Kultai suggested

"Yes, exactly. We may be looking at the physical form of the Arachnid hive mind. Possibly even the King bug, for lack of a better term. Might even be the creator bug"

"Now that's creepy" Fontina commented

"It is. Can we destroy it?" Sarah asked Barcel

"Not a chance. Not with what we have on hand. See that exoskeleton? Look at how thick it is. Even a small nuke might not break it" Barcel replied

"So we need an Ob-strike" Zelna suggested

"Yes, but if you look at this geoscan..." Cosan chimed in "We're a couple of good, solid kilometres underground. Airstrikes or even ob-strikes wouldn't penetrate"

"We can figure it out later. We need to move" Sarah said, looking at several bugs that had just noticed them. "If they know, then that thing knows. And if that thing knows, then we're..."

"...Gonna need a bigger can of bug spray" Kultai finished. A couple of troopers smirked at him. Sarah looked over at Fontina

"Pull the trigger, let's get out of here" then she looked at Zelna "Drop a couple of tracer beacons. Set them to go off in twelve hours" she ordered. the Sergeant nodded and pulled them out, set the timers and tossed one off the cliff, the other she slid under a rock off the to the side of the tunnel entrance, she then hit her own suit clock to beep in twelve hours

"Done, Lieutenant"

"Good, now fall back!" Sarah ordered just as the fist Warrior crawled over the ledge. She leaned back and fired a few rounds from her rifle, killing the bug and sending it falling over the cliff. Other troopers turned and began firing at the Warriors that were coming up over the ledge. Most of them stopped moving, in fact, to get a better aim

"HIT THE CHARGES!" Sarah ordered. Fontina pulled out the detonator, flipped it in the air and pressed the button when she caught it. The three charges detonated simultaneously.

The explosion rocked the tunnel and threw troopers off their feet, but luckily the tunnel didn't collapse on them. They kept firing, even though they had fallen down.

"MOVE!" Sarah ordered reaching out her hand to Zelna, who grabbed her hand and was hoisted up. Sarah fired her rifle, covering the troopers who were still getting on their feet. The pulse rounds pierced a Warrior and it flopped down, lifeless. She fired again, missing the nerves on another one, but putting several large holes in it. It struggled and then fell to the side, on top of another Warrior. Kultai fired his weapon, putting several precise rounds in the crushed warrior. He readied the launcher on his rifle and let fly a grenade into the large and growing cluster of Warriors that were now making their way down the tunnel.

The troopers were slowly backing up, killing off the hundreds of Warriors that were coming after them. Ammunition reserves were starting to run low and the pulse rifles were starting to stress.

"Keep it moving!" Cosan ordered "Through the side tunnel!" he directed the troopers as the bugs bore down on them. Lifting his rifle, he fired several rounds, killing another Warrior. He turned and ran down the side tunnel tossing a live grenade over his shoulder as he ran. It exploded and brought down a large amount of rocks, not sealing the tunnel, but crushing a few Warriors. He ran as fast as his power suit would carry him. Everyone did.

xxxx xxxx

"The trap is set" Lieutenant Amanda Mikare reported over the comm. Her and Corporals Mathew Stewart, Icsillia Matrina and Jun Hwy-Kan were hiding at the end of the corridor that was controlled by S.I.C.O.N. forces. A few liberated blood packs from med bay, cut open with the ventilation active would draw the Warriors into the trap. Kim and Sgt. Tyson Metridge and Androv Sveltch were in the vents up above. When the Warriors moved in, they would drop down and unload heavy fire on the enemy. Kim just hoped the blood packs were enough to hide their scent. The other two were back with Admiral McMillian, guarding the reactor. Amanda hated breaking up her squad like this, but it had to be done. Once the fracas started, the Spec Ops team under command of Major Setref would begin moving up the ship, corralling any remaining bugs towards the corridor.

"Copy that, commencing radio silence" Kim replied

"Understood. We are in position and awaiting signal" Setref reported.

"Now, we wait" Mikare said to the three troopers beside her.

They didn't have to wait long before they heard the crying screech and heard the sound of pincers clanking on the metal plating. Mikare readies herself for the confrontation, checking her rifle, making sure her boots are magnetized, checking that her helmet is secure.

"Here they come" she says quietly. The troopers nod and ready their weapons. The seconds pass as they wait for the warriors to get close enough.

"Remember, check your aim. Take only shots that will hit. We don't want to hit the hull, clear?" she reminded her troopers

"Understood, Lieutenant" they all say in succession

"Good" she replies "Let's get to it" she looks up at the mirror that had been placed so she didn't have to look over and expose her position. The Warriors were getting closer, closer, closer. Their pincers and claws becoming more and more visible, their cries becoming louder.

"3...2...1...TAKE 'EM!" she ordered and popped up from behind cover. Looking down her rifle sights, she let fly a burst of rounds, all of them hit their mark on a incoming bug. It fell to the deck, lifeless. Another rounded the corner, followed quickly by another. She and her troopers kept popping holes in them with rifle rounds. Mikare dropped behind cover and tapped her comm

"Major, they have taken the bait. You are cleared to move"

"Copy that. Moving towards you" Setref replied

Down on the lower decks...

"Okay, this is how we are going to do this" Setref said to his squad "We have a fairly straight shot up to the trap area. But there are a few diverging corridors. When we get to those, we split up evenly until regrouping. Leapfrog advances, last to first. We come across any open door, we seal them up and no pulse rifles, shock sticks only. We aren't here to kill them unless they advance. The idea is to drive them, clear?"

"Sir, yes sir!" came from the troopers

"Outstanding" he said with confident bravado "Move out behind me" he finished and moved into the corridor, looking down his weapon sights to make sure they were clear. He quickly moved to behind some cover in the hall and motioned for the next trooper to join him. Corporal Czera moved up and took the next piece of cover, then whispered

"Clear" into his comm. Corporal Kutya came up behind him and moved into cover even further down.

xxxx

Corporal Hetland opened the hatch to deck Fifteen and was thrown backwards by the Warrior that had been waiting.

"Woaaaah" she reacted, nearly falling back into the shaft, but managing to grab onto the side of the door and pulled out her shock stick giving the bug a big zap. It quickly backed up and roared and charged again, but Hetland was ready this time and pushes, making direct contact with the Warriors exoskeleton and giving it a rather large zap. It shrieked and jumped back, allowing Hetland a chance to advance towards it, giving it light zaps. Corporal LeGorfe came up behind her, doing the same. The bug continued to retreat.

Bugs may not have emotions or know fear, but they did have survival instincts and being prodded and zapped with a moving electrical charge did tend to bring out the baser survival instinct.

"C'mon you filthy bug, move it" Hetlend egged the bug on. It cried out, trying to summon assistance. None came.

"Ain't no one coming to help you" LeGorfe said with a sneer "Move!" he prodded it again. It continued backing up.

The other members of the squad were in similar positions, corralling Warriors towards the target corridor and so far, it was going smoothly. As smoothly as corralling giant bugs in the narrow corridors of a star ship could go. But they were progressing. Five decks were down and things seemed to be looking up as they entered deck Thirteen. Moving the bugs between decks was the real tricky part, but luckily the elevator shafts could be sealed off between decks, so with extra prodding, they could barricade and give the Warriors only one way to go. Or at least, as Setref reminded himself, that was the plan.

xxxx xxxx

"MOVE!" Sarah shouted and fired off a few rounds from her rifle. They connected with a warrior and it fell to the ground. She lowered her weapon and took off running, sweat beading down her face. They had been running for over an hour straight. After a few winds and turns they had emerged into a long corridor that didn't seem to end. Warriors were hot on their tail and almost keeping pace. Luckily their path ahead didn't seem to be obstructed. The tunnel did curve slightly at points and, luckily, it was going uphill ever so slightly. Sarah hoped they would breach the surface before they hit a...

"DEAD END!" Anna shouted, looking up from her geoscientific gear

"TROOPERS, FIREWALL!" Cosan stopped and shouted. Following the order, every trooper immediately stopped, turned on their heel to face the Warriors. Some stood, some knelt, but they all opened up with a barrage of pulse fire into the oncoming bug horde. Many of the bugs were dropped instantly, falling into a pile on the rock floor.

But they kept coming. They kept advancing. Sarah could feel her fear, but she held steady, her finger rarely leaving the trigger for more than a split second. All her troopers were tired and almost near the breaking point, but they held the line.

Then an idea sparked in her head. She pulled back from the line and another trooper moved to fill her spot, she looked up at the rock ceiling.

"Theon, pull back!" she ordered. The trooper came over to her

"Yes, Lieutenant?"

"Get me a geoscan of the area. I want to know how far underground we are" Sarah ordered, looking up at the rock ceiling

"Copy that, l.t." Anna replied and pulled out her gear, waving it around the rock area. Sarah moved up to the front again, taking her place behind the line

"FIRE IN THE HOLE!" she yelled and launched a grenade. The projectile flew out of the barrel and across the floor. It slammed into a Warrior and exploded, searing through the exoskeleton. Two other Warriors around it were also caught in the blast and ripped up, tossed to the side. But they kept coming, kept barrelling down. For every two Warriors the troopers dropped, the bugs moved several meters closer, it was only a matter of time.

"AUTO FIRE! KEEP FIRING!" Cosan ordered and held his finger down on the trigger.

"Lieutenant Stoppable!" Anna called out, Sarah moved back from her position

"What do you have, Private?"

"We're less than thirty meters underground. We could blow our way out"

"Copy that" Sarah replied and turned to the troopers "Zelna, Barcel. Assist Theon with excavating the tunnel. Laser mags on an angle. GO!" she ordered. Her troopers stood up, put an attachment on the end of their rifles, pointed at the ceiling on an angle and pulled the trigger. The bright lasers shone through the rocks

"PRIVATE YUE!" Cosan commanded, the trooper moved up to the front, flame thrower on hand. She pulled the handle and the stream of flame erupted right into the horde, burning many bugs to a crisp

"Launchers! Hit the ceiling!" Cosan ordered. The troopers launched grenades into the rock ceiling which collapsed on top of the Warriors, crushing many of them and creating a barricade for the rest.

"How long is this going to take, Private?" Sarah asked Anna, who was working with her computer gear

"Not long. Five to ten minutes tops" she replied

"And if we don't have five to ten minutes?" Sarah asked

"I can't make this go any faster, unless we had an actual drill. We're overusing the laser mags. The weapons were designed for this. If we push it, they might not make it" Anna protested

"Understood. Just go as fast as you can"

"Copy that, Lieutenant"

It didn't take long before a hole was breached in the surface. The bad news was that the hole was only big enough for one trooper at a time, but it was on an angle, so that helped a bit. Sarah looked up as sand fell down from the surface. Raising her rifle, she launched her grapple and, after making sure it was secure, she began to pull herself up.

As she did that, the first Warrior broke through with a loud screech, but was quickly dispatched with a few well placed shots from Kultai.

xxxx

It didn't take too long before the entire force of troopers were above the ground

"Sergeant Zelna" Sarah said "Seal that hole"

"Aye, Lieutenant" Zelna replied and tossed a grenade down into it

"Where are we?" Cosan enquired

"On the surface, that's what matters" Sarah replied with a grin, Cosan rolled his eyes

"Lieutenant, the air is extremely magnetic, I can't get a signal through to the fleet" Anna reported "But I am picking up a large metallic structure approximately five kilometres up ahead. Could be used to get a signal through"

"Good enough, let's move" Sarah waved her arm and began to run.

xxxx xxxx

Kim had kept quiet this whole time, her honed reflexes waiting for the right moment to strike. She watched Warrior after Warrior go by her to their death. All of them not noticing her and the troopers with her. Hardly her eyes even moved. Years of combat training and then years more of military discipline had perfected her in a being of almost robotic discipline and control.

Her comm beeped. She pressed the button her wrist and heard the voice of Setref

"Warriors are almost in position. We're entering deck Nine now with a large group of friends" he finished

"Copy that, Major. We are ready for them here. The deck is a bit slippery so be careful" Mikare replied

"Ten Four. General, they are almost in position for you" he said. Kim nodded her head. The camera in the vent that was linked to Lt. Mikare's position captured it and relayed the image.

"She copies. Standing by" Mikare reported

"Understood. S O Twelve out" he said and cut the channel

"Come on bug, move" Setref prodded the bug, sending a light shock through it. Screeching, it backed up into its kin. The herd was being prodded from the trooper squad. Any time they tried to break through and advance towards the troopers, a half dozen shock sticks came down on them and delivered a massive jolt.

They neared the final corner. The bugs in retreat. Setref stopped moving his squad as the bugs were around the corner

"Now" he whispered into his comm. Mikare and her troopers popped up over their cover and began firing precise shots.

The ceiling panels popped off and Kim leaned out, facing the warriors. She opened fire and caught two warriors in the nerve. Even hanging upside down, retired and a desk general, she was still an amazing shot thought Setref as he dropped the shock stick in favour of his rifle. He quickly plugged a Warrior and it fell to the deck.

Setref noticed another Warrior moving and moved in for the kill. He fired. The shots connected with the bug, but not before a pincer managed to impale itself in Kim's arm

"Aghhhhhh" Kim yelped

"General, you okay?" Mikare yelled

"I'll live, Kim replied, holding her arm close to her torso, her Atmosuit splattered with blood.

The fight didn't last long. Within minutes, all the warriors were slaughtered. A pile of dead ooze and exoskeleton on the deck floor.

"Alright, that's done" Kim said as she flipped down from the vent shaft "I want a complete search of the ship. Every space that a bug could fit. Two person teams moving stern to bow. Move!" she ordered, clutching her arm as a medic ran up to her

"Sir, yes sir!" both Mikare and Setref replied and headed off. Kim made her way to the reactor core where McMillian and two of the Marine troopers were holding the door. Both Marines were getting ready to move

"You two, stay here and guard the door until the all clear is given. Understood?" Kim said to them

"Understood" Kerty replied, holding up her weapon

"Admiral, I suggest we head for the bridge" Kim suggested as one of the troopers bandaged her arm

"I concur, General" she replied