The S.I.C.O.N. Fleet is hunting for the Bug Queen, after she escaped in a Transport Bug from Klendathu.

All S.I.C.O.N. forces revert to peace status after the Bug Queen has apparently been destroyed. Carl, though, keeps insisting the Queen is still very much alive and on the earth - somewhere. After another argument General Redwing sends him on leave to cool down. Meanwhile the roughnecks are reassigned - to the moons of Jupiter to repair the radio telescopes. Rico believes Carl is right and manages to convince Lt Razak too. Razak cuts through the red tape and gets Gossard to review satellite imagery of the earth before and after the Queens assumed arrival. Gossard finds an new, unexplained, hot spot near to Little Butte, North Dakota.

The roughnecks divert their shuttle there without formal authorization but the town seems to be normal - until they realize the towns- people all look alike and sound alike. A s soon as they realize this they are attacked by the residents. The Roughnecks manage to capture a resident and get back to the ship. As they take off the r

A massive bug mound has appeared outside of Buenos Aires. S.I.C.O.N. thinks the Bugs are going to assault the city again so they try to bomb the mound from the air. Plasma Tanker Bugs shot the planes down though and, because they keep changing location the air attacks are unable to neutralize them. So the Roughnecks are sent in with four other squads to locate and destroy the Tanker Bugs so the mound can be bombed to destruction. The squads dig in and hide whilst s decoy force lures the Warrior Bugs defending the Tankers away. Rico's group is almost detected by a Bug but Carl is able to mentally change its view and thus save the group. As the squads move in at night the game is given away by a trooper from another squad who launches a grenade at some Bugs. However this turns out to have a positive effect as all the Tanker Bugs start to fire all at once believing it's another aerial attack thus revealing all their positions simultaneously. The squads launch a missi

S.I.C.O.N has discovered that there is a vast network of Bug tunnels and colonies beneath the city of San Francisco. S.I.C.O.N. decides the only way to ensure victory is to hit the whole city with nukes the city thus destroying everything above and below ground.

General Redwing has ordered the Roughnecks to be split up as she does not have a spare Lt to assign to them. They are given time, though, to time to honour Lt Razak's Last Will so they got to spread his ashes over Luna Lake in Colorado. They are joined by General Redwing and by Sgt. Brutto who is now in a wheel-chair and who doubts his own worth. The squad come across a Bug operation and try to withdraw but General Redwing and Higgins are captured. They are threatened by a Brain Bug and Rico knows he ought to order General Redwing's death. However, by using the spare fuel cells from Sgt Brutto's wheel chair Gossard and Doc blow the mountain according to Rico's plan. Sgt Brutto uses his wheel chair to swoop in and save the hostages whilst the bugs are distracted. Afterwards General Redwing tells Rico he should have had her killed. Rico tells her that was plan ""B"". General Redwing realizes the squad is too valuable to split up so she offers Rico a battlefield prom

As Rico Struggles with his promotion to Lt. as leader of the Roughnecks, after Razacks death, They are assigned to defend S.I.C.O.N. high Command in Honolulu. In Route to Honolulu they pick up Sgt. Brutto's son, Max, who has been assigned to the Roughnecks as per an arrangement made by Sgt. Brutto himself. The Roughnecks come under heavy attack by the bugs and are joined by Sgt. Zimm then forced into an outpost waiting for a pickup. During there struggle Rico looks to Zimm for intructions on what to do, as he is not sure of his command abilities, and assigns Zimm leader of the squad while Rico puts himself on gaurd duty. While on Gaurd Duty, Sgt. Zimm tells Rico the reason he was assigned to him back in Basic Training then to the Roughnecks is because Lt. Razak and Zimm were good friends and they knew Rico was born to be a leader so they made a deal. This gives Rico the confidence he needs and he again assumes command, ordering the Roughnecks to blow up the outposts generator,they hid