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

Selendis, seeming to notice your thoughtful pause, turned her gaze upon you again. Now, General Clarke. Tell me. Why are you here?

You regarded Selendis through the crystal. Your lip quirked up ever so slightly. "We're here to find a sample of the crystals you have in your heartland," you said, blandly.

The Kahndarian crystals? They are the core of our technology, of the Kala. They are not for outsiders, she said, her voice icy and cold.
"We only require a small sample - nothing bigger than a single palm." You held your hand out - that would be sufficiently large enough for nanotech examination and replication. As you spread your fingers, you added. "And we're willing to offer a trade. Better than the Dominion is offering."

Those icy, glowing blue eyes narrowed. And what trade is this, General Clarke?
"Your world," you said, nodding as you did so.

You cannot offer what you do not have, General. Selendis lifted her chin. But if it is battle you offer, to our foes? Then we will gladly see you at your work.
You nodded. "Oh, but one thing. We've run into a Protoss faction - the Tal'darim. What is your relationship-

Relationship? Selendis asked, incredulously. You may as well ask as to my relation to a dream or a child's story. The Tal'Darim are nothing but myths - superstition to explain why starfaring ships traveling beyond our boarders vanished into the night.
"I see," you said. It sounded like the stories about the Aeon - before worlds started to vanish under their green banner. You stood, slapping your palm against the desk. "Keep your eyes open, Prefect Selendis. You're going to see something remarkable."

The crystal dimmed with a faint whine as you turned to Matt. "Matt, I want your ACU prepped and ready. And get Tosh here. He's going to have to work for a living. Lieutenant," you said, turning to face the tactical command array. "Bring us a full topographic map and find me three places for an active combat drop." Your grin was feral. We're going to hit the Zerg with everything we've got."

Lt. Stukov nodded. "Understood!"

There had been a sliver of time, between the invention of the quantum gate network and the invention of the Armored Combat Unit, where planetary invasions had required tens of thousands of people and the overwhelming material support of planetary industrial ecologies - masses of men and material moved through gates to distant worlds. There had been enough chokepoint problems and tactical issues that it had led to the creation of the first ACUs, specifically to solve those problems. Now, you could think of taking on a planetary infestation of Zerg with only three people and a support staff of less than two dozen officers and not believe you were insane. Stukov and his crew had pinged Aiur with several long ranged probes, and brought up a strategic situation map with remarkable speed. You, Tosh, and Matt sat watching as Stukov outlined the team's findings.

"The Dominion has landed here, southwest of the Protoss positions. It is a relatively modest landing area, and they are protecting it heavily from zerg attack - it appears their plan is to simply offer humanitarian support to the aliens from there. We've already seen supplies transporting over. A commendable effort, considering their lack of logistic technology," Stukov said, his pointer outlining the movements. "But the vast majority of the Zerg infestations throughout the Aiur continents and land masses has not been touched by their efforts."

The view zoomed out, showing that the Protoss enclave was merely a small part of an equatorial region. A curving continent swept up above them, then down to the south. The southern regions were trailed off into sea-side cliffs and islands, with only a few scant Zerg bioforms on them. The northern regions had costal jungles surrounding a single large desert, all of which was completely overwhelmed with Zerg biomass: You could see the purple Creep spread from orbit.

"There exists multiple interlocking, self supporting hives. There are millions of zerglings, hydralisks, ultralisks, mutalisks, and drone workerforms spread throughout this entire region," Stukov said.

"What about the oceans?" You asked.

"There appears to be minimal interest in the oceans from the Zerg," Stukov said.

"Why not?" Tosh asked. "Oceans tend to have the most biomass of anything on a planet, yes?"

"Well, the Zerg do not actually collect and consume biomass. They harvest resources and vespine gas, similar to Terran or Protoss bases. The minerals, it seems, are used to reinforce their carapaces and grow their skeletal structures - if they just ate a bunch of fish, they wouldn't be able to create warforms like a zergling or a hydralisk. It's useless to them. Furthermore, the Protoss seem to have completely neglected economic development of the water."

"They've had antigravity and starships for centuries," Matt said. "Maybe longer. They don't need oceanic transport, they don't need it for food. Why not leave it untouched, kept as an ecological safe zone."

You grinned, slightly.

"I've noticed that Terrans...don't seem to know what a ship is either," you said, slowly. "Sarah thinks all ships are spaceships."

The grins across the table were wolfish.

The immediate and obvious plan that came to your mind was a three pronged attack: One ACU on the east coast, one on the west, one in the center. The costal forces would build naval ship yards and defensive lines - then push along both coasts with fleets of ships, long ranged artillery platforms and aircraft carriers. They could then safely sit off the side of the coast and blow Zerg to kingdom come within several dozen kilometers, longer if they brought cruise missiles or nuke subs. Meanwhile, the central ACU would be handling the take and hold land strategy - build up, push, take, entrench, push. Let the Zerg hammer themselves against artillery and automated fortifications.

All three pincers could meet very close to the Protoss enclave and declare Aiur zerg-free within a week. Maybe a few days, if you drove hard enough.

"Hell, we could make it even easier with nukes," Tosh said.

"I don't think we should," Matt said. "Remember, this is their homeworld. Who knows what cultural sites we'll level."

"Cultural sites, man?" Tosh laughed. "They're already infested to hell and gone. They won't be much prettier after we smash through them with our tanks."

"We can at least try," Matt snapped back.

"Gentlemen," you said, holding up your hand. "We..."

---
HEAT: 0/6

There are three deployment sites! Assign ACU commanders to em! You have three ACU pilots - Clarke, Tosh and Matt. Write them in


[ ] West Coast - the Kohlda Agricultural Sector
[ ] East Coast - The Velari City States
[ ] Center Of the Map - The Antioch Desert

Next!

[ ] Nukes Allowed
[ ] No Nukes Allowed