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

It was time to see just how fragile the chain of command in the Dominion was. You started to tap out controls to the mech marines holding your newfound prisoners - and they started to broadcast towards the Lost Cause. You were sending out some basic synthed traffic - making sure to slip in enough static and hisses and pops to make it seem like your units were being jammed. Sarah watched you at your work, narrowing her eyes slightly. "Oh that's clever," she said, grinning as she saw the transcript you were typing out one handed.

As far as lies went, it wasn't exceptionally convincing: You were reporting that a fake prisoner transfer had come in to snatch the prisoners and your attack was a spoiling assault. It didn't quite hold together. It didn't have too. You just needed to buy the time for Stetmann. Your cameras showed that he was attaching the last of the wires. Your talkative mech, though, had reached the Dominion commander. Your voice, hushed, nervous, came through. "Sir?"

He grunted, turning to face you.

"Isn't that some decent timing?" you asked. "Right when the prisoners slipped out under that diversiony attack. Right when the sensors blew? Maybe a cloaked ship's going out to get picked up by that Lost Cause, and we're gonna be so much space dust before we know it. This place ain't got armor for shit."

The commander's brow drew in - while the drawling CO of the Lost Cause started to speak: "First...Tarnation, listen, here, Galileo, we haven't sent shit. What are you talking about?"

The commander frowned, then shook his head. "We have to get to the bottom of this," he said - and you could tell, he was going to be the exact right kind of commander in the exact wrong moment. It was a good sign for the Dominion, but a better sign for you. He was going to focus on figuring out the exact security issues before letting a heavily armed and armored warship near his attacked installation. It was a good call. Bad timing. Stetmann let out a nervous giggle over the link.

"Got it!"

You started to tap in the orders, and the majority of the marines started to quietly walk from the room while your talkative marine stood between the commander and the exit. The conversation he was having with the Lost Cause was attracting most of his attention - and you were happy to hear the irritation coming over the light-lag delayed return communique.

"Listen here, I just got here, you surly mouthed pipsqueak!"

You took your eyes off the mech-marine's camera feed. Swann's voice was sounding a little on edge as he marched quickly with Stetmann in the middle of your cluster of units. "So, what's the plan for getting us off this little tugboat? Since you, uh, blew the hell out of your dropship."

You rubbed your palm along your chin.

"And what about the mech marines you're leaving behind?" Sarah asked.

"Those are easy," you said, quietly, turning your head from the mic. "Just activate a disassembler charge - nanite swarms eat every component, turn it into undifferentiated goo, then disassemble themselves using their power reserves." Her brow furrowed and you explained. "They blow themselves up."

"They'll notice that, right?" she asked.

"Not really," you said. 'The waste heat to burn up a bunch of nano is less than you'd think. They shake themselves apart pretty fast. That's the trick with nanolathes...it's why we secure them so hard." You grinned, wryly. "It's also why they make piss poor direct weapons - you can stop a gray goo scenario with a flame thrower. Hell, with a bonfire in some cases." You watched as the squad of fake marines stepped out into the dock area, to where the squad of marines and medics you had captured looked over, tensing slightly, confusion clear in their postures. Fortunately, your mech marines had shut down their coms, so they weren't about to signal to the commander.

You bit your knuckle. The last choice, and one of the hardest ones, you were sure.

---
HEAT: 5/6

[ ] Evacuate Stetmann and Swan with a grab-pod, melt local marines. (Diff 3 Organizational Expertise check, 0 heat)
[ ] Evacuate the Raiders and the prisoners, melt local marines. (Diff 5 Organizational Expertise check, 2 heat - light overheating)
[ ] Leave nothing, nothing at all. (Diff 7 Organizational Expertise Check, 4 heat - heavy overheating.)

No matter what, you're leaving with Good PR (4) and Spy Bug (4)!

Prisoners will get you Dominion HUMINT (4), while not leaving behind the mechs will mean the Dominion can't try and reverses engineer anything. But heavily overheating will make your next mission more dangerous!

You cracked your knuckles. "Stukov, start plotting a quantum jump. We're leaving."

"Understood," he said over the PA.

Sarah watched as you plotted out the course for the grab-pods. They were relatively small, simple devices, which had been designed by Dr. Hanson and the techs specifically for this situation - and you weren't going to have time to explain their operations to Swann or Stetman. So, you just said: "Hold still."

"Hold-" Stetmann squeaked as one of the mech marines standing by him grabbed him and threw him straight up. Agrav plating had a 1G field, but it dropped off even faster and even harder than a natural gravity field - it was what made operation in space, even in modern EVA tech, relatively dangerous. It's why grab-pods were a pretty simple adaptation of the rescue-pods from that service.

Stetmann tumbled into space - and then a grab-pod slammed into his back and shot back towards the ship, rocket thrust burning. The inertial dampener attached wasn't pretty, and you could hear the groaning and vomiting over the link. But it didn't need to be pretty. It just needed to do its job - and that job was to bring Stetmann back towards the E1 without being crumpled like a soda can before being tossed in the recycler.

"Whoa, no one tosses a Kel-" Swann started.

Two of your marines tossed him into the air.

A grab-pod slammed into him. By now, the Dominion marines were starting to realize what was happening - but since their power armor had been stripped of their rifles and their side arms, there wasn't much they could do. A few struggled, but even struggling could help: A single mistimed jump and one was sent tumbling into space. Grab-podded. Another and another shot up as the grab-pods refueled, shot out, came back, refueled. You had the entire thing managed so neatly that by the time the Dominion commander in the C&C of the Galileo had noticed what was happening, almost all the marines and medics were gone.

"What the hell is-" he started.

You barked into the one marine still in the room's speakers. "Sir, look out!"

One of the grab-pods slowed down near the window as the commander saw it, and threw himself flat. The techs grabbed for breath mass and sprinted for the door, their trained reflexes better honed for this kind of emergency. The grab-pod smashed into the window, and a spiderweb of cracks exploded outwards. You heroically moved the mech-marine so that a chunk of exploding pod hit the faceplate and shattered it. The mech-marine staggered, stumbled, and then you grabbed and threw the commander out the door. It slammed shut and you allowed the mech-marine to get pulled into space, where a second grab pod snagged the first - and then grabbed the marine when it was out of view.

"Excellent acting. Very dramatic," Sarah said as you watched the tiny blue dots coming back to your E1.

You nodded. "I think we managed it."

She smiled. "Managed enough," she said. "Are you going to give me the proper credit for this?"

You snorted.

"Prosperity. Peace. Security. All these and more are what the United Earth Federation doesn't just promise - it's what we guarantee!"

In the smokey, quiet room, the cigar tapped against the edge of a gorgeous gold and brass inlaid ashtray.

"Well, that's quite possibly the most preposterous bit of propaganda I've ever seen in my life."

The man who had spoken was young and blond and, out of the view of holovid cameras and parades, wore a simple red tunic with just his service insignia - the rank and uniform he'd earned through academy graduation and service. His eyes belied his confident words: Fear glinted in them. "There's no way that their technology could be that much more advanced."

"Don't be so sure, son," the bald man in the dress red and gold of a general said, stubbing out his own cigar. "I've done talked with the high forehead types in Covert Ops and the Phy-Sci department. They say our nano's only two, three generations behind there's but the difference is ah, ah whatcha'call it. An exponential growth curve."

"How quickly can we match them?" The dark skinned man at the other end of the table asked, his lips pursed. "And...do you think the anti-Zerg gear we've been working on will do a damn against this kind of tech? Hellions, Thors, Odins, they're all made to kill Zerg, not to fight an army that makes tanks in vats."

The man at the head of the table picked up his cigar. He took a long slow drag, then breathed out.

"I think," he said, quietly. "That we need to look at this Earth problem from a new angle."

"What angle is that?" The youth asked, quietly.

"During the dark times against the Confederacy, we took allies where we could get them. Think that that..." he gestured to the gleaming blue and white flag that was projected on the wall. "...and everything that holo offered is going to appeal to freedom fighters like Jim Raynor?"

"That cowboy will never listen to you," the balding general said.

"True." The cigar lifted up. It glowed, illuminating goatee and hard, steely eyes. Smoke exhaled into the darkness, cutting through the glittering light of the glowing holo - making blue and gold and the fluttering flag seem to be a physical object in the room, if only for a moment. "We'll have to offer a carrot. Won't we."

"Sir?"

"General Warfield. Take your finest and most respectable troops. You're headin' for Protoss space."

"Is starting a war on a third front-"

"I never said you were going to be attacking our esteemed alien neighbors." The cigar stubbed out, twisting. "You are to kill every Zerg they got on Aiur and offer every bit of humanitarian aid we got."

General Warfield considered, then nodded. He stood.

"And Warfield?"

He turned back.

Emperor Arcturus Mengsk I leaned forward into the light.

"Don't use any goddamn nukes on em," he said. "I want that there Protoss homeworld to be as nice and shiny as you can make it."

General Warfield nodded again. "Sir."

He turned and left - and the holo turned off.

---
Dun dun dunn! That's the interlude between missions! Choose next - and you will note, a mission has been removed and another has...changed subtly.


[ ] Head to Braxis (Smash and Grab the Uraj)
[ ] Head to [Unknown] (Emperor's Gift)
[ ] Head to Char (To Slay the Queen) [Warning: Final mission]