THE INFINITE BROOD (Starcraft/Supreme Commander Crossover Quest!)

You had no time to think about the Dominion for the next few desperate seconds. Your nanolathe beam lashed out, throwing down armored screening walls that would keep anything on the ground back, then blazed up a mixture of defensive turrets, some armed with fast firing railguns for the sky, and others armed with high explosive rounds lobbed in a short arc for the ground. As you worked, your eyes glanced up again and again, and...it was one thing to see the dots on the mini-map, another thing entirely to hear Stukov's soft whisper.

"Bozhe Moi..."

You'd seen Aeon experimental attack craft on Mu Cetai, incinerating entire coastlines with their coherent beam weapons, and watched whole fleets of autonomous wetnavy ships going down to submarine attack flotillas armed with nuclear torpedoes, and been the last one to evacuate off Come By Chance before Cybran atomics scoured every last trace of UEF from the planetary surface...and all of that still hadn't prepared you for what it looked like to see the Zerg on the march.

Biological fliers with hanging, gangly limbs swept towards your defensive line like stooping hawks, their wings flared. They spat globules of hissing acid that struck buildings and rebounded between them with unerring precision - striking multiple structures at once. As the turrets started to pepper the air, you worked frantically to repair as many of the turrets as you could while sending orders to your engineers. Land based factories were starting to go up behind you, but even with your focused efforts, turrets started to go down.

They didn't explode.

They melted.

Their support struts collapsed and their railguns smashed into the dirt - only to be shredded by the claws of the ground force that had swarmed from fucking nowhere. Stukov's voice was calm in your ear: "The purple hive has launched their attack through some kind of burrowing worm creature, General. We didn't detect it - there's so much crawling on the planet-"

"It's all right," you said as the small zerg, the zerglings, rushed straight towards you.

Despite the scale differences, despite knowing you were in solid durasteel, despite all that...you still tensed as the rushed forward. The soaring fliers overhead swept down to spit their acidic globules at you. You lasered a few out of the air with a casual swipe of your left arm, but your ACU couldn't put a dent in their numbers - for each one you sent burning to the ground in multiple meaty chunks, five more seemed to be spawned to take their place. The combined distraction of the fliers and the small, swift speed of the zerglings worked together to let the zerglings rush at your feet.

They leaped up. Claws dug into your ACU's shins, and they started scrabbling...

And falling back. Their backs struck the writhing mass of zerglings sprawling around you, hissing and snapping and biting their jaws. Shoulder mounted, bladed limbs scrabbled at your feet. Your eyes flicked to the readout. It was green - no, no, there was a tiny flash of yellow. You sighed, quietly. The yellow flicked to green as your nanotech repair systems got to work - the scouring in the armor filling in slightly slower than the claws making the marks.

"I think this would be a lot more intimidating if I was in those colonial power armor suits," you said, dryly.

"Indeed, General." Stukov chuckled. "For a second there, I was concerned."

"As was I," Matt said, wryly.

The fliers seemed to be a bit uncertain as well, swirling around you. Then Stukov barked: "General, a unit of zerg bioforms are on the move."

You risked a quick glance. The overhead view showed that these bioforms were fairly hefty, but didn't seem to have any kind of combat attachments or armor - they were simply large, graceful manta ray looking critters that skimmed a few meters above the ground, naturally buoyant and almost...beautiful in the smooth way they rippled towards the stretch of ruined city between your base and the Confederate survivors. Then you watched them settle their bellies down...and in a flash, thick, mucous covered membranes stretched from their backs and sunk itself into the glistening purple biomass that seemed everywhere in this place. In less than a heartbeat, the membranes began to swell upwards, pumping full of vicous fluid.

"Oh my god...they're filling with a...mineral rich broth of some kind," Dr. Hanson said. Then, whispering. "Of course. Of course! These drones are the same bioforms that are collecting minerals and bringing them to the centralized structures in each of the bases, the ones with the largest interconnections between their organic matting, their...their..."

"Creep," Matt said.

"Apt name, it gives me the fucking creeps," you said as the first of your factories came online - the zerglings more focused on your feet then on them.

"Those drones are creating gestation pods for large scale zerg bioforms. I believe...I theorize that that's how the zerg hives build additional organic structures - organs, generated out of drone mutations!" Dr. Hanson said, sounding almost excited.

"A secondary base?" you asked.

One of the pustules burst with a spray of blood and ichor. What had been grown in place was a curved ring of spines and blades. Emerging from it was a long, chitenous tentacle that ended in an acid dripping spike longer than the ACU.

"They're turtling, General," Stukov said.

And that was just the most surreal thought you'd had all day: To have something in common with a feral hive of mindless fucking bugs.

---
Mechanically: The Mutas flew in and created sparks - not hit sparks, so they don't impact your heat. They're putting down "Harassing Air Cover", which prevents you from moving around land units! They needed to knock your defensive sparks out first, so, they used their Damage as a secondary characteristic, giving them Heroic Effort 6 (Heroic Effort 6 (Harassing Effort 5) versus your Defensive Sparks. Worse, since their harassment is augmented by their People characteristic, they're getting People 6 (People 6 (People 6 (Harassing Air Cover 5) vs your Mass 6 (Mass 6 (Limited Fortification Sparks (6)) - leaving them with Harassing Air Cover 5!

This is good, actually. It means the effects are temporary and don't get worse. Then the round ends! The zerg sparks don't drop, cause they have yet to negate any of your actions.

Next round begins and I, the perfidious and untrustworthy GM, full of inscrutable motives, spend 4 shock and 2 shock to spawn a swarm of zerglings (diff 1, people 3) and a small swarm of drones (diff 1, people 1.) As they arrive, they get to act!

The zerglings are gonna use the Harassing Air Cover to give themselves +5 to their attack, and use their people characteristic as a way to negate your durability characteristics! You got 4 durability, so that's Heroic Effort 6 (Heroic Effort 6 (Heroic Effort 6 (6 Rarrrarh Hit Sparks))) against your Durability 6 (Durability 6 (Durability 6 (Durability 6))). Which means they do...JACK SHIT!

The Drones are gonna go "gngngnghke" and make sparks, like the mutas, augmented by their people characteristic - and they're gonna start making some spine crawlers. Just to be annoying little fuckin'...pieces of shit.

HEAT
0/6

ENEMY SHOCK
5 (-4, -2)

STICKY SPARKS
None

BASE
Economic Structures (Work[Waste]: None | Sparks: None | Adds: +3 (Nanofabrication)
Land Factory (Work[Waste]: People[Size] (2)(2) | Sparks: \Land Forces (1) | Adds: +0 (Leadership)

SPARKS
Drone Mutation 6 (Spine Crawlers 1))

ENEMIES
A huge swarm of Mutalisks: Difficult 5, Damage (2), People (3)
A swarm of zergling (they're a smaller type of zerg): Diff 1, People (3)
A squad of Drones: Diff 1, People (1) [-12 range penalties]

What is your plan, General?
[ ] Operation: Clear The Way - first, attack the zerglings using your Vehicular Weapons, tapping your size and durability as secondary characteristics, and thus, squishing them with a 0 heat action. Next, assist in the construction of some anti-air Archers, then clear the skies with them using Leadership 2 vs Diff 5+1 versus the Mutas. Your barracks negates 2 of their people, and your nanofabricate miracle takes care of the last, meaning you only need to gain 4/6 heat to clear them out. Next, use your free move to send out the tanks, reducing the range penalty to the drones by 6. Vent 4 heat using Take Cover Men to have the tanks be protected by a mobile shield emitter to keep them safe from any counter attacks.)
[ ] Operation: Drone Extermination - ignore the zerglings. Take 3 heat to clear the mutalisks, then push your tanks out to range 6 and open fire on the Drones. That's a -4 (2-6) skill check versus diff 2, meaning it'll take you 6 heat, putting you at 2 overheat, but it takes out the drones and the mutalisks - the zerglings are no threat to you. This creates +1 shock and sets your heat to 0.
[ ] Operation: Hunker Down - the same as Clear the Way, save rather than moving tanks at the end, you use your Nanofabricate miracle at a diff 1+2 for 1 more heat to build your own nested sparks: Mass 6 (Expanding Economy 1). Vent yourself down to 0 with Just as Planned (creating 2 Planning Sparks for future use.)

TLDR: Clear the Way clears out the mutas and zerglings and moves some tanks into closer range for the drones and the growing nest of spine crawlers. Nice and easy, but leaves your base stagnant.

Drone Extermination is just Clear the Way, but you're risking Zerglings will remain focused on chewing on your ankles - and removes the drones BEFORE they can make more sparks. While narratively, the drones spawned during last round are "used up", mechanically, the zerg hives can make more and still use them to make more buildings.

Hunker Down is the more defensive option, and will give you 6 sticky sparks to use for future efforts once they decay (as a note - if you beat this combat encounter, then move onto another one, those sticky sparks remain and will bolster that next conflict.)

You glanced down with your forward cameras - and at the writhing masses of zerglings. Your blood went cold as you saw a thick clump of them drawing slightly back, their snouts lifting into the air. They seemed to be almost listening for something...but then, rather than attacking your factories or anything like that, they surged back towards your foot, harmlessly. You breathed out a sigh of relief.

"I think they're just animals," you said. "Right now, at least."

Just bugs.

And you knew what to do with bugs.

You lifted up the massive foot of your ACU - then brought it smashing down. Zerglings went crunch by the dozens as your fingers played along your console. By the time you lifted your foot and brought it smashing down again, crunching even more of the squalling creatures - blood spurting out from underneath the metal plane of your foot, the first Archie came off the production lines. The four wheeled robotic vehicles didn't need to be told what to do as they came trundling down off the ramp from the automatic factories.

Their anti-air firepower started to pepper into the air with a rythmic thump thump thump noise. You hastily selected more of your factories with a swipe of your finger, typing in a quick que up pattern - mixing in some mech marines as the zerglings had taken three stomps before their gestalt agression broke in the face of how much crunching you could do.

The remainder scattered as the Archies filled the air with spitting death. Something thick and red slapped against your camera.

"Ugh," you said.

"We may need to upgrade the self cleaning systems on the ACU, General," Stukov said, his voice cheery - at least he was enjoying the show. You took a moment to glance at the red blips cycling overhead. One by one, they were being cut down by the Archies, while the few remaining zerglings were being hunted down by the few mech marines you had worked into the factory.

You wondered what the Dominion and that smug bastard Duke was thinking of this - how much could they see through your force fields? A small, petty part of you hoped that Duke was sweating in his oversized metal pants. You grinned, then selected the mech marines with your first control group - keyed to one of the half a dozen buttons along the left flank of your console. With them in control, you fanned them out through the ruins of your defensive line. Their machine guns continued to hammer away as you spun the ACU around and started to add to the mass fabricator and fusion plant field - your mind ranging ahead.

You were fairly sure that you could get the...

"General, the drones! They're hatching!" Stukov said.

"That was fast," Matt said, quietly.

"Incredibly fast, if this biotech could be harnessed..." Dr. Hanson said, her voice excited.

"Uh, I'm not sure we want this biotech anywhere near us," Matt said, sounding slightly concerned.

"R-Right, of course," Dr. Hanson said - but you could tell she was still considering possible...hell, for all you knew, she was thinking out medical possibilities. Every the optimist. You? You were too busy checking out what the Zerg had...built for lack of better word. There were several yawning cavern-like buildings, with a hideous esophageal motion to them, like they were breathing. As you watched, a few slithering creatures came from them. Bioforms could enter into tunnels back at the main base, then emerge out here. Fantastic. But there were also these oddly spindly buildings studded with glistening, spherical nodules. You zoomed in on one of them.

"Theories?"

"Uh..." Dr. Hanson paused, then you heard typing noises. "All right. We're getting a close up scan. It's creating similar biostructures to the purple mass that they're building on-"

"The creepy shit," Stukov muttered.

"Quite, uh, we'll need to come up with a better name than the Creep, though," Dr. Hanson said, her voice distracted. "It looks like they're creating bouyant propelled creatures out of the biomatter, uh, filled with similar material as those orbital cruise missiles..."

"...they're anti-aircraft turrets," you said, slowly.

"I believe so, yes," Dr. Hanson said, a bit nervously.

"Tentacles for stabbing tanks, anti-aircraft, mobile unit transport tunnels. They've turtled as well as we have," you said, frowning slightly. "God, I was just thinking they're feral creatures. How much of this is planning? How much of this is instinct?"

"Could be all instinct - that facility is being avoided by attack swarms because of their Zerg in hibernation," Matt said, quietly. "They may just be defending a hive."

You rubbed your jaw with your hand. Attacking through that was going to be a bitch and a half. And you didn't exactly have a ton of time - the countdown timer was still ticking along in the corner of your vision. While you'd be safe, the Confederates would be toast if the OP hit the dirt.

Well.

If this shit was easy, everyone would do it.

---

So, breakdown: I have 5 shock - I could spawn easy units buuuuuuut you've smashed the initial attack, and I did promise multiple encounters. Thus, I decided: The fight has wrapped, I spend all 5 shock on adding +5 to their Drone Mutations, bumping it from 6 to 11! You gain 10 XP! Good for you! The sparks in existance all decay into sticky sparks, giving you Expanding Economy (6) and they...get Zerg Defensive Line (11.)

If you attack that line, it'll be another Danger 10 fight - but that defensive line sticky will turn into regular sparks, which are then added right into their Danger, bumping it to 21! Then 22 by hunted!

It'll definitely be a fight to remember...still, maybe you can come up with something more clever?

HEAT
0/6

STICKY SPARKS
Zerg Defensive Line (11)
Economic Structures (6)

BASE
Economic Structures (Work[Waste]: None | Sparks: None | Adds: +3 (Nanofabrication)
Land Factory (Work[Waste]: People[Size] (2)(2) | Sparks: Land Forces (1) | Adds: +0 (Leadership)

SPARKS
Planning 2

[ ] Unleash Hell! - turn your sticky spark into a buff for buying an Air Factory (which will cost 0 heat, as it's diff 7 versus a skill of 2+8), then attack with everything and hope your robust and huge base carries you through a Danger 21 fight.
[ ] Do Something Sneaky - write in a sneaky plan! Be creative and I can tell you how you can mechanically manage something if you're not sure!