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

You laid in bed beside Sarah as she walked her fingers, one by one, along your belly muscles - moving from one to one, pausing at a scar. She mimed a little trip and fall with her hand, her hand person almost brushing up against your breasts. She made the scream and smack noise with a soft, 'ahhh! splat!' and then grinned at you.

"You are absurd," you said,

"I don't get to be often enough," she said, before laying her head against your shoulder. In the corner of your room, the count down ticked forward - the E1s quantum jump was preparing and once it had launched, you'd be put into the edge of the unknown home system of the Protoss. It normally didn't take this long to charge, but you had agreed to be...cautious in your approach. You were going to arrive at the very outer range of the E1s omni-sensor radius, then scan the situation while still having enough capacitator juice to bounce away in a damn hurry.

If you had a place to jump in closer, you could do so once you knew it was safe and...

Well.

You were here to get some upspin psionic crystal. How hard that would be depended a lot on the current situation on planet. Then a snapping finger drew your attention back to Sarah, who was waving her palm before your eyes.

"Tarsonis to Sam. Tarsonis to Sam," she said.

"Hmm, yes?" you asked, shifting. "Sorry, just, thinking about the jump."

She nodded. "I was just wondering about..." She paused. "Would...do..." She hesitated. "What would it take to get you to...leave? The Koprulu Sector, I mean."

Your brows drew in and you sat up in the bed, shifting to look her square in the eyes. Sarah looked down at your belly and thighs, her finger having slid from below your breasts to your thigh. She traced one of the plug ports, before darting a scandalous finger up to tug teasingly at your wild thatch of pubic hair. You caught her wrist, before she could think about distracting you. "Why are you asking that?" you asked, concern in your voice. "I'd ask if you'd heard rumors, but, heh, all the colonists are back on Haven now."

Sarah opened her mouth, then closed it, then sighed. She laid her head against your thigh, her cheek a warm pressure against your plug port. "This sector chews people up, Sam. I've seen at least one empire rise and fall in my time here - and you're basically robbing the cradle." You harrumphed. "And you're all alone out here." Her hand stroked down to your ankle, back up to your thighs, a delicate caress that crossed enough scars to require a passport.

You snorted. "Sarah. We have such a technological edge that the war's not...over, exactly, but..." you grinned, holding her other hand up and kissing her palm. "You've joined the winning side. And the moral side. We're not the Dominion, or those awful Confederates, for god's sake. I promise." You kissed her fingertips, one by one.

Sarah hummed softly, her bright green eyes flicking up to meets yours. "You really believe that, huh?"

You nodded to her, trying to...to just get her to understand why and what you had fought for. Your whole life, you had fought for Earth, for the Federation, for everything good and noble and just that it stood for - despite the flaws, despite the bureaucracy, despite the cracks between political parties. You could name half a dozen tarnishes just on Earth, let alone in the whole Federation, that still didn't reach that core that had seen you through officer school and the blood and muck and fallout of a dozen worlds. Your eyes and hers met and Sarah searched them, then smiled slightly. "So, you won't run away with me, huh?"

"Never," you said. "...not until we win, at least."

"Oh?" she asked. "So, you mean you'll retire once you stomp the Dominion flat, round up all those pesky feral Zerg into a big zoo, and glass the Protoss?"

"We're not going to glass anyone," you said, firmly. "The UEF's got one genocide to live down from one...maniac. I don't want to be the next Trent Smith."

"Who..."

"He killed the Xel'naga," you said. At her quizzical expression, you continued. "They were an alien race that one of our science teams met. The contact went poorly - the civilians got brainwashed and the military responded with disproportionate force. The end result is the Xel'naga were wiped out and their human survivors, the Aeon, became a persistent miliary threat for the old Empire and, now, us." You sighed.

"Quite a guy," she said. "I can see why you'd want to avoid comparisons."

You snorted, then laid slowly back into bed. "I think...I hope...we can have a more peaceful interaction with the Protoss."

"And the Zerg?" she laid her head against your shoulder.

"So long as they stay off our planets, we can let them keep cinders like Char, I think," you said. "Maybe nuke their hive mind centers a few times to make sure they stay feral. Assuming that can work." You stretched, then laid your arm across Sarah's shoulders, drawing her in close. She snuggled up against you, hooking a thigh over your thigh, burying her face against you.

"Sam..." she said.

"Yeah?" you asked.

"Can I chew on you?"

You blushed, coughed, then murmured. "Only a litt-"

Chomp.

You brushed your collar up, making sure to hide the hickies as you took your seat in the bridge of the E1. Tac-Officers, under the watchful eye of Lt. Stukov were waiting on the return bounce from your omni-scanner. You had your mug of coffee and turned at the sound of the door opening. Major Horner came in, looking like warmed over death, with three freshers in his hand. He popped one pill, then a second, then a third, and dry swallowed every single one of them. He sat next to you, then rubbed his palm against his face. Something about it looked off - but you were a little distracted by the bags under his eyes and bloodshot whites.

"Good god, Matt, what happened to you?" you asked, frowning.

"Diplomatic relations," he groaned through his palm. "Mira Han challenged me to a poker game. I...think. It kinda gets blurry past the third drink..."

"What did...you...w..." you trailed off. Matt rubbed his face more as the gold something glinted on his fingers. You blinked again, and what about Matt looked off solidified in your mind.

That was a wedding band.

"Major Horner," you said, your voice growing serious. "What is that?"

"What's wha-" Matt asked, taking his hand away from his face. "Eugahhh!" He gaped at the new wedding ring, then his face went pale - from emotion, not from hangover, as the fresher pills finished their nanotechnological repair job. "Oh no. Oh! Oh no, no, no!"

You were trying to decide if you should be amused or infuriated when Lt. Stukov turned from the front consoles. "Preliminary scans are coming in, General," he said as Matt started to try and tug at his new wedding ring. As he struggled, you took a moment to get the data into your brain - and as you watched, you decided whatever Matt had done in his free time was something to worry and or rib him for later.

There was the Protoss homeworld - a gleaming jewel that, if the Korprulu Sector hadn't been stuffed with habitable planets you'd have been worried about triggering an imperial move from the UEF's hawk party. And there, surrounding it, was a remarkably powerful looking battlefleet, the ships pinging up with red indicators and silhouettes. If it had been Protoss ships, or unidentified ships that could be presumed to be Protoss ships...well, that would have been one thing.

They were Terran.

"Thirteen battlecruisers, twenty five frigates, enough drop ships to land an army, and they're midway through their efforts," Lt. Stukov said, tapping at his console. "We're out of their scan range, but General, I'd say they sent an entire fleet out here."

"Can we tell which one?" you asked, standing and walking to stand behind him.

"Com Chatter intercepts say this is the 5th Fleet, under General Warfield," Lt. Stukov said, frowning. "Our dossiers on him say he's a newly promoted officer, won acclaim in battles against the Zerg during the previous run of conflicts."

"Well, at least it's not General Duke," you said, frowning. "Are they engaging the Zerg? The Protoss?"

"Preliminary reports say Zerg," Stukov said, pointing. You could see dropships skimming towards a rapidly reducing sea of Zerg bioforms. "Interesting. Showing minimal orbital bombardment - see? They could be immolating this entire plateau, but instead, their space based weaponry is using limited weaponry."

"They're using kid gloves," Matt said, nodding with approval.

"Yeah, but why?" you growled, quietly. "What is Mengsk playing at here."

"Is it so terrible that he's helping the Protoss?" Matt asked. Then he frowned. "Ah."

You saw he had thought along with you - if a bit slower.

The Emperor had come bearing gifts...and usually, those came with strings.

---
HEAT: 0/6

[ ] Approach openly and warp to an oppositional orbit around the planet. Contact the Terran fleet and demand to know their intentions.
[ ] As above, but contact the Protoss
[ ] As above, but contact both at once
[ ] Approach stealthily and contact the Protoss (Stealth check, diff 4 - gain 4 heat)
[ ] Approach stealthily and drop an ACU near the Protoss position - you're just here for the crystal. (Stealth Check, Diff 4 - gain 4 heat)
[ ] Write In

Your hand rubbed along your jaw, slowly and you turned to Matt. "Get Stetmann and Swan up here - I want to see if they have a line to their Protoss friends that we might access...easier than sticking our dick in the meat grinder."

Matt nodded.

Soon, the two Raiders were up on the bridge. Stetmann had been reduced to gibbering excitement based on everything he had seen about E1, and it was still goggling in his face as he hurried onto the bridge. Swann, with his cybernetic prosthetic reattached and looking grumpy as ever, scowled up at you as he walked towards the table. "I gotta say," he said. "I've never seen an engineering bay that's so...lifeless." He seemed a bit preturbed.

"We have better things for techs to do than tighten wrenches," you said.

"Then how are you ever gonna know if anything's gone wrong? If your machines break, you can't get in there and fix em!" he said.

Stetmann, hearing this, opened his mouth and began to sputter a string of incoherent words - you heard nano- and lathe and replication in there, so you were fairly sure he was disagreeing. You snorted, softly. "We can just make more machines, if we have too. Now." You put your hands together, leaning forward over the table. "You see that situation map out there?"

"Looks like if Jimmy's down there, he's stuck," Swann said, sounding grim. "Way i sees it, the Protoss had to be asking for some serious help during our mission - so he had to swing off and go rescue em. But then he got stuck in - and then the Dominion showed up, which left us in the lurch." He shook his head. "Better than getting drunk off his ass again."

"Again?" you asked.

"Eh..." Swann waved his hand. "Jimmy's always been a drinker. He's just worse about it since he lost his girl on Tarsonis."

You nodded, slightly. It sounded like a story that wasn't particularly uncommon, considering the magnitude of the disaster. "I see...do you have a means of contacting the Protoss on the ground?"

"Maybe," Swann said. "Egon, you got that crystal thingy?"

"Uh, maybe," Stetmann said, patting down the rather remarkable number of pockets in his outfit. You frowned.

"I thought we had you two searched," you said.

"Hey, we're freedom fighters, we're good at sneakin' things around places," Swann said, cheerfully, as Stetmann took out a small, gleaming blue crystal. He frowned, fiddled it around, then set it down on the table. It floated upwards, righted itself, then began to spin slowly. You opened your mouth, about to say that you should get Dr. Hanson, when the crystal glowed and then projected a half-circle of light upwards. It resolved into the image of a Protoss face - mouthless, glowing blue eyes, but rather than being heavily armored in black and red, this one was draped in flowing golden lines and...had a more swept, graceful appearance to their features. You almost wanted to say feminine - and then the voice that wasn't quite a voice came from the crystal, echoing in your mind.

Bold Swann, wise Stetmann, it brings me great pleasure to see you safely returned from your daring adventures, she said - and her feminine tones were so overwhelmingly present you wondered if the Protoss was...putting the idea of womanhood in your mind. You weren't sure if that was helpful or invasive as hell. But who is yonder warrior? Her eyes swept to yours.

"This is, uh, General Clarke, of the United Earth Federation," Swann said. "Clarke, this is Selly."

Selendis, she said. Prefect under Executor Artanis and current protector of the survivors of Aiur. I have heard whispers and rumors of the distant homeworld of the Terrans - but had heard it was long destroyed, bereft of life. Yet, here you stand before me. Explain yourself.

...so, all Protoss talked like that.

"We're here to bring the human population of the Koprulu Sector under the administration of the UEF - for their own good," you said.

And that has brought you here...why? She asked, cocking her head to the side. We Protoss meddle in Terran affairs only when pressed. We have our own concerns - our own struggles.

"Then what about that Terran fleet in orbit?" you asked.

They are in communication with the warrior James Raynor - he has said to not trust Emperor's bearing gifts. But I fear we have little choice - our situation is grave. Selendis narrowed her eyes, slightly. If they have come to aide us, and you have come to fight them, then know this: While our world may be overrun by the Zerg, our might is not to be contested in this space.

You crossed your arms over your chest while Matt frowned behind you, his voice soft. "Persnickety bunch, aren't they..."

"Jimmy's here?" Swann asked.

Yes, Swann, Selendis said, turning to face him. He feared leaving you without assistance - but trusted that you could see your mission through and knew that our need was most dire. Without his aid, many of our people would have fallen to the fell attacks of the Zerg.

"Well, that's good," Stetmann said. "I mean, that he stopped them, not that...I mean, Zerg attacking is bad and all!"

Indeed, Stetmann, Selendis said, her voice quite serious.

You frowned and leaned back in your seat. You were usually not in charge of diplomatic meetings, but you knew better than to just blurt out the crystal that you were after. But then again, these Protoss seemed to be almost painfully earnest. Maybe honesty was the best option for them. Of course, honesty had the risk that if it backfired, you had nothing to lean back on. And did you even give a shit if the Terran Dominion threw their weight into fighting the Zerg here? From an operational and tactical perspective, that was even to your advantage...right up until the Protoss threw their own weight in behind Mengsk against you in exchange. Hurm. You weren't sure about how dangerous they actually were, your only fight with the Tal'darim being too swift to get much data.

You hated walking on uncertain ground like this

---
HEAT: 0/6

[ ] Be open about the Khandarian crystals you're here to get - offer an exchange for it.
[ ] Ask more questions!
[ ] Two can play at this alliance game - offer to show them what the UEF can do that the Dominion can't. You'll clear our Aiur. All of it. Within the week. (Deploy all three ACUs - triggers a XP 25 battle for you.)
[ ] Write In