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

Author's Note: Sorry for the delay! While my covid symptoms are mild, my anxiety is like, "Auhhhhhhh!" and imagining covid fucking up my brain and heart and all the other fun things it can apparently do. Which makes writing sometimes a little hard. I'm going to try and ease back into updating more regularly, though!

You crossed your arms over your chest, regarding Zagara - mimicking her posture without even thinking about it. Your brow drew in and you asked the question that seemed most important thing right now: How far had Daggoth's plans gotten. How much did Zagara know?

"Did you know that Daggoth wanted to use you as an emissary to the Terrans?" you asked, cocking your head to the side, head spines twitching.

"Yes," she said, guardedly.

You considered that. It meant that Daggoth wasn't keeping his goals as secret as he might have been. How was the rest of the Swarm taking that idea. Would it have worked? You considered Zagara, and noticed that she was herself evaluating you. You snorted softly. "So, what do you actually want, in the near term, given taking over the top spot yourself isn't going to be an option any time soon? From what you said about you feelings on retreading a path that led to failure once and your view of Kerrigan, I'd expect you to have an even worse view of Daggoth."

She laughed, quietly. "Wouldn't you like to know?"

You stepped away from the wall, moving towards her. She shifted her head back - but you grabbed onto her mandible, yanking her close. The impulse to rip and to tear was strong, but you kept it in control. Your eyes and hers met, fierce and boiling. "I would," you said, quietly. You released her mandible, opening your fingers. Zagara jerked her head back, then shivered from her head to her toes, her mandibles opening and shutting with a faint click. She seemed to make up her mind.

"Daggoth has new ideas. New ideas the Overmind never had. One you even know about," Zagara said, cocking her head. "And unlike your pathetic human queen, Daggoth is a Cerebrate. With other Cerebrates he can remake the Overmind - and we remain immortal."

Your grim smile grew grimmer. "So, really, you didn't have a problem with the function of the Overmind, just who exactly the Overmind was was an issue?"

"Precisely," Zagara said.

"And they say we humans and Zerg have nothing in common," you said.

Zagara hissed. "I didn't know you came here to insult my species. Do you have more questions?"

You had a few. But you could tell pushing her would get her riled up and the last thing you wanted was to have to exert yourself putting her back down again. So you shook your head and turned, walking towards the rent in the cell membrane. As you walked, you spoke over your shoulder. "I'm not sure what Sarah has planned for you. FUck. I'm not sure if even she knows." You paused at the membrane wall, then slid your finger along it. A small extrusion emerged from your fingertip, slipping through pores and skin to slather onto the membrane. It was as instinctive as shutting a door and left you feeling cold and clammy. You regarded Zagara through the membrane. "But we have something in common."

"What is that?" she asked.

You...

You find yourself oddly hesitant to say...

Neither of us want to be here.

It caught on your tongue. Fuck.

You looked away. "Neither of us want to be Sarah's slave," you say, quietly.

"You aren't, though," Zagara said, her voice growing cold. "You are free to walk around this place. You don't have a parasite in your body. You-"

You glared at her, silencing her. Then you turned and started to walk away. Yeah. You could just see it in your mind: Walk off the Leviathan at some hopeful looking colony world, hitchhike on a starship. Oh yeah, I just happen to look like a horrifying nightmare abomination. Sure, bring me to the local warzone where the UEF's expeditionary ship is located and I can just walk up to whoever is in the ground-site ACU. You could see Dr. Hanson looking down at you and...ugh. Of course, she wouldn't get to try and disentangle your genetics or do reconstructive surgery - fuck, as if that was even possible, you regenerated flesh fast enough to see it with the naked eye. But it wouldn't be down to Dr. Hanson, would it. Oh no. No, no. You'd get whisked back to Earth.

And you knew what they did to people that wouldn't fit in there, now, didn't you?

You paused in your walking, finding yourself in a large, seething chamber full of glistening eggs. The larva that writhed between them were thick and segmented and oddly beautiful in the thick coating of biological muck. The scent of the place made you think of warm beds and comfortable fireplaces, of lounging in a sunny summer afternoon - despite the room's temperature being considerably hotter than some jungles you'd been in. It was the humidity factor, which felt close enough to drinking the room's atmosphere. You picked your way through it, not sure where you were heading. Just...needing to move. You emerged and saw several adjoining rooms with gleaming crystals set in the center of circular hollows of bone and muscle. Hanging by one of them was Dostya.

"...Dostya?" you asked.

"Hm..." She roused, lifting her head up, turning to make sure you could see her infested cheek.

"You okay?" you asked.

"Are you?" she asked, her voice amused.

You frowned. And you supposed you...owed her an answer, didn't you?

How...were you. You considered the walk through the eggs. You considered Sarah. You considered Cr and the gentle warmth of the Overlord - ov's name still a hazy unknown, but ovi's context still overwhelmingly comforting in your memory. You looked down at your hand - at the muscle and chitin and blending of Zerg and human biologies. From a certain light, the delicate exoskeleton, the knotting connections of sinew and muscle, the smooth skin, the hard black cutting claws...

They could almost be beautiful. You tilted your hand the other way - and the light fell on the horror.

Dostya, you noticed past the fringe of your spiked bangs, was regarding you with unreadable eyes.

---
HEAT: 6/6

It's a diff 5 Resilience check to avoid how good it all feels...

[ ] You...think you like it. (Fail Resilience check to remain human.)
[ ] You hate it and hate yourself. (Lightly Overheat to succeed - gain 4 Morose Sparks - negating self motivated actions until removed.)
[ ] You hate it and hate Sarah. (Lightly Overheat to succeed - gain 4 Vengeful sparks - creating a penalty to positive social interactions with Sarah.)
[ ] You hate it. You love it. You're fucked in the head and don't know what to do. (Choose not to take the check and continue to feel torn one way or the other - remain at 6 Heat.)
[ ] Write In