Strategic Genius: Once per structured encounter, Sam can create a piece of the environment that is in her favor as a sticky spark. Roll a d3 for its value.
Empathetic: upon meeting an NPC, learn their motivation!
Legendary Commander: Gain 4 Command sparks at the beginning of each mission/combat. Command sparks may be spent to give NPCs orders, which they may either obey or refuse to obey (doing nothing instead.) Command sparks may not be regained via skills or powers.
Hunted: Something wants her - but for what? +1 Danger to all scenes
SKILLS
CLOSE COMBAT (2): Brawling, Edged Weapons
PERSONAL (2): Awareness, Resilience
SOCIAL (4): Charm, Empathy, Leadership, Taunt
MASTERY
ACU Pilot (2): Nanofabrication [Mass], ObSat Operations [Range]
The Hilt (4): Biomorphic Spawning (People), Regeneration (Durability), Physical Perfection (Speed), Telepathic Dominion (Range)
POWERS
The Living Swarm
Vent: 4-0
Effect: Gain 1 Living Swarm spark, +1 per vent reduction.
The Living Swarm: While this swarm exists, move in three dimensions and through anything smaller than a keyhole, reforming at will. You may expend these sparks to cause 3 Hit Sparks in a Area 2 radius.
Area Upgrade: +1 to Area Characteristic
Biomorphic Reinforcement
Vent: 4-0
Effect: Create 1 Biomorphic Reinforcement spark, +1 per vent reduction, which can be given out to anyone within Range 2, or to yourself
Biomorphic Reinforcement: +1 to Damage or Mass characteristic for the purpose of raw physical strength/feats.
Back to Back
Vent: 4-0
Effect: Choose 1 ally (+1 per vent reduction), within Range 1. Each can take one action using one of your skills, any of them that you wish. Once they have done so, you may make a free attack with your melee weapon, getting +1 to your skill per ally that acted.
Adaptation
Vent: 4-0
Effect: Create a number of sparks equal to the enemy's difficulty, narratively based on turning their abilities against them. Works on enemies of Diff 2>, +2 per vent reduction.
Just as Planned…
Vent: 6-0
Effect: Vent 6 heat and create 1 Planning Spark for her or an ally, +1 Spark per vent reduction.
Planning: The person holding this Spark can expend this to get +1 to a skill check as a free action. Using this Stack counts as you are helping for the purpose of relationships.
Shadowstep (3): Can expend as a free action to move without crossing intervening space.
Guarded Space (3): Can expend to use Damage as a secondary characteristic for Durability, reducing incoming Damage characteristics.
GALACTIC WAR
Victory Points: 5
RESOURCES
TERRAN DOMINION [Background] (1)
The men and material of the Dominion - limited, but they're mustering as we speak.
ALLIANCE EXPEDITIONARY FORCES [Mastery] (1)
While you have access to several ACUs of every faction, they lack economic and technological support to be fully effective.
ZERG HIVE [Mastery] (1)
The scant few Zerg you control that are free of Amon's influence. Mostly Zerglings.
AEON FLEET [Background] (1)
While half a dozen CZARs seem impressive, they're not actually well made for ship to ship combat.
ALLIED COHESION [Motivation] (1)
The alliance is fragile and weak.
FRONTS
Trade Sector-34-51 [Pirate Activity]
Pirates Raiding 6 (Supply Lines in Disarray 1)
COMMAND: Jim Raynor | ARMY: Raynor's Raiders
RESULTS: Pending
Braxis [Zerg Invasion]
Borealis Siege 6 (Zerg Rampage1)
COMMAND: General Samantha Clarke | ARMY: Brood Clarke
RESULTS: Pending
The duel write-in feels like something the Protoss don't really have a good reason to accept? Fenix might be honorable about it, but the Justicar's whole reason for coming here is "Kill them all". Offering to leave if they win means they're not killing any Zerg, so it's directly counter to their goals.
If the vote wins, the way I see it is Aldaris will be furious (and surely, none of the danger shall be spent on his chicanery), but Fenix will accept - since he likes Sam a lot. She made a good impression - and, past him, on all the Templar warriors. It shows some real spunk, the Protoss like that kinda moxie.
Oh I heard it gets more and more unhinged, but I just don't tend to watch things much at all these days is all, maybe if someone I know gets interested I might watch along
Adhoc vote count started by DragonCobolt on Mar 5, 2024 at 10:18 PM, finished with 23 posts and 9 votes.
[X] Challenge Fenix to a 1v1 duel on board the protoss mothership
-[X] Offer to withdraw all Zerg forces if Fenix wins, though make it clear that we don't have authority over the humans and said humans will not be very happy about having their planet cleansed.
Also, my first attempt using the Contraption was disastrously bad! It turns out if you don't calibrate this Doohicky, it WILL punch you awake repeatedly. Ironically, being woken up every hour on the hour by air punching your face doesn't actually make me more tired than sleeping "normally" which fucking illustrates just how little rest I actually get when I sleep normally.
STILL!
Gonna update this motherFUCKING quest BABYEEEEEEEE!
The bridge of the Hyperion was a clamor of alerts and alarms. The techs at work tapped at computers while the Adjutant plugged into the system closed her eyes, her head bowing forward as she murmured under her breath - her cybernetic forming no words a human would process. You felt two warring instincts.
Inculcated by years of training on Earth and Mars, then two decades of frontline fighting in the Infinite War: Get to your Armored Command Unit. Acquire local resources, build an energy grid. Then spin that off into whatever counter strategy would work. Overwhelming orbital attack - the kind that had only happened a scant half a dozen times in almost eight centuries of recorded conflict - meant nuclear weapons and shields by the thousands so that they could glass the rest of the planet and still leave you untouched. The only problem was that overwhelming orbital attack in the Infinite War meant, like, a cargo barge or a boilde nudged into the path of the battlespace by a robot tug.
It didn't mean what the Protoss meant when they came in for an orbital attack.
The other instinct, the Zerg DNA that was infesting your body and brain, knew this deep to the roots. Your bones ached with the knowledge how the Protoss worked based on centuries of conflict between the two alien species. They would burn, burn, burn a whole world - pole to pole, using the power of a harnessed black hole and unbelievable psionic energies. The solution was to hit back first. You could feel claws and fangs just under your human skin - waiting to come out. To rip and tear.
Your eyes remained locked on the holographic display showing the Golden Armada and its approach. The main vessel was the Mothership - five kilometers wide and round as a dinner plate, it glided forward without reaction mass or fusion torch plume you could see. The center was a titanic khandrian crystal, carved to faceted perfection and crackling with a deep blue energy. The limbs of the ship were interlocked branches and leaves of flowing, almost liquid metal that seemed alive despite their solidity. It was the delicate filigree of a tiara, blown to a world killing scale.
"We should get to the Leviathan, Sam," Sarah said, her voice soft. "This fight's going to be hell. Fortunately, we have our solutions." Her smirk is cold. "The Protoss always think their big capital ships are immune to everything - and forget we Zerg have wings too." Her black clawed fingers squeezed your shoulders.
You frowned harder.
"No," you said, softly. "You can't take it and those carriers down." Your chin jerked at the other blips appearing on the hologram. The carriers, each as large as Artanis' ship, were loaded with robotic interceptors. They were flanked by smaller, sleeker ships that looked like spears that were tipped with crystal blades. "And those are...Void Rays..."
The Zerg memories grumbled. Your genetics didn't like Void Rays.
"Have I ever mentioned how being a Zerg-Human hybrid is fucking weird?" you muttered to Sarah.
The Queen of Blades put her hand over her mouth, as if shocked. "Really?"
Jim Raynor turned from his commanding position on the bridge. "Darlin'," he said - then caught himself. "Sarah, I mean. You don't happen to have a wing of mutalisks in that big ugly thing of yours?"
Sarah smirked. "Funny you asked. I brought scourges and devourers."
"What in tarnation is a devourer?" Swann asked, turning away from the engineering board he was working at - there were an alarming number of systems on the Hyperion that were still yellow and not green.
"Oh, is it a new mutalisk breed?" Stetman perked up, scrabbling to get out a notepad. "Prior breeds of mutalisk variations were purely ground bombardment - those acid spitters, right? They're fascinating creatures."
"Egon, quiet," Jim said, in the tone of voice of someone who had seen 'fascinating creatures' lay waste to too many colonies from orbit. "So, I think we can put up a pretty good fight. Artanis already has our backs."
Though it pains me to draw my hand against my fellows, Artanis said, his voice grim. Aldaris is a fanatic. There is no way we can make him stand down - but maybe if we can defeat his forces, he will be shamed before the Conclave. I have many supporters, they-
"Oh yeah, I'm sure the Conclave will absolutely love to hear their youngest Executor sided with some Terran yokels and Zerg to kill-" Sarah started.
"Darlin', don't- I mean, Sarah," Jim said.
Sarah rolled her eyes.
"...why does he keep calling her darling?" Stettman whispered to Swann, who put his hands over his face and sighed.
"I think-" Jim started.
"Enemy fighters are launching!" One of the techs said, her voice edged with nervousness. "Uh, Captain, what do we do?"
Something in your brain snapped. You weren't a fucking automaton. You weren't driven by your training, and you weren't programmed by your grafted on genetics. You were Samantha Clarke, goddamn it. And that realization drove you forward. You stomped to the communication console, grabbed the tech and shoved him aside. He arced up and over the hologram and crashed into Jim, who caught him and stumbled. Your palm slammed down on the broadcast. "Protoss of the Golden Armada. This is General Samantha Clarke of the United Earth Federation - you know me as the Savior of Aiur. I demand a chance to prove myself as myself without getting a few hundred thousand innocent people killed." You scowled. "Back where I come from, we have only two people meet on the field of battle. Not thousands. Well...Fenix, old friend. What do you say to that? "
There was silence. Silence on the bridge. Silence on the communication lines. Static came from the radio.
Of course, you thought. Two Commanders in ACUs aren't...exactly the same thing as a duel between champions. A lot more landscape tends to get leveled when you have ACUs.
You pushed the thought out of your head...
And then the sound of Fenix's voice came into your mind.
Samantha Clarke...my friend... He sounded worn down. Tired. More tired than you'd ever heard him before - and that was saying something for a man entombed in a cybernetic life support harness. I have lost many friends to the Zerg. But never before have I lost one like you. Every fiber of my being wants to believe that you are still you. But the Overmind had spent millennia proving that those it takes into its Swarm are not themselves. They are twisted. Evil.
You leaned back in the seat. You felt the duct tape that made the chair stay together creak faintly. Your boots went up and thumped onto the console - a fusion powered starship with laser cannons and quantum slipstream drive, and the console was made of sheet metal and had a naked lady pinup poster stuck to the side.
Colonials.
"I'll prove it," you said, firmly. "You and me. You fought by my side, Fenix. You know me."
Silence.
Aldaris' voice, resonant and furious, broke into the conversation. Praetor, you cannot be thinking of-
Silence, Justicar, Fenix said. You are of the High Templar. Your place is in books, scrolls, and history. Mine is on the field of battle. If you are proven false, Samantha Clarke, then will your forces quit the field and allow the Armada to do as they must?
You glancing at Sarah. Your queen was shaking her head, ferociously.
"...yeah. That's the deal," you said. "And if I win, you have to listen to me. You have to talk."
Talk!? Aldaris boomed into the conversation. I can't believe we will be countenancing this madness.
It is no madness. It is hope. We shall send a shuttle. Fenix said.
"Well, I'll be a son of a gun," Jim said.
Sarah, her hands closed around one of the railings used to line the bridge, broke the awed silence by ripping two chunks of durasteel out of the railing with her bare hands.
***
"This is actually not a bad idea," Major Horner said as the Protoss shuttle detached from the Hyperion. The interior of the alien ship was unnervingly similar to the few Aeon vehicles you had captured - though, at times like this, the factions of the distant Infinite War seemed incredibly distant and remote. The walls were smooth and the furniture was golden bars and tongues of metal that floated above the ground without any means of noticeable support. There was no pilot - the front of the ship had a rather adorable looking robotic face built into it - all simple curves and polygons. When the shuttle started moving, it let out a soft rumbling noise and the entire vehicle started moving away from the Hyperion without even a minute kick.
"Are you insane?" Sarah asked, her wings tight against her back, her arms crossed over her carapace studded chest. "She's walking us straight into the Protoss firing squad. Fenix is four hundred years old - he's killed millions of Zerg with his bare hands, and that was before he was put into that...thing." Her eyes flashed. "He's a ten ton mechanical spider with robotic limbs and an auto-tracking fucking photon cannon! You're a Cerebrate, Sam! You're-"
"I can take him," you said, quietly.
"I made you to be a general, goddamn it!" Sarah said, her voice tight. "To be my hilt, to command my Swarm."
"Well, I didn't goddamn ask you too!" You said, glaring back at her, your own head-spines twitching as you scowled at her. The human guise you had worn was starting to fray. Bits of skin peeling away, to reveal the sleek green muscle beneath. The dark brown spots of bone and sinew.
Major Horner, Jim Raynor, and Artanis all stood against the far wall, their eyes flicking from you to Sarah. It would have almost been funny, if you had had a single iota of time for them.
"I didn't have a choice," Sarah said.
"You can't keep fucking using that excuse, Sarah," you said, fiercely. "You'd say we didn't have a choice here! You'd say we'd have to butcher Aldaris and Fenix and kill Artanis once we're fucking done, just to make sure you're safe! Wouldn't you!"
Sarah's wings flared out, the bladed spines at their tips flexing. She glared at you. "What do you think is going to happen? You're going to beat Fenix up and he'll realize through martial brotherhood that you're actually the Samantha Clarke that he fought with side by side to save his homeworld? Grow up! The Protoss hate the Zerg. They've hated us since before humanity had spaceflight. We've been trying to kill eachother across the entire sector and there's dozens of planets with mantles you can walk on because of how much the Protoss hate us!" She thrust her hand to the side. "What's going to happen is you are going to kill Fenix, or Fenix is going to kill you. Then you're going to reconstitute back in the brood pits with a fucking headache, and I'm going to be there a few seconds later and all your friends are going to be dead. That colony you're trying to protect is going to be rubble. That-"
You turned your back on her.
Sarah dropped her hand. "Damn it. Damn it!" She turned her back on you.
Artanis shifted from foot to foot. Jim rubbed the back of his neck.
I believe, oh Queen of Blades, that you underestimate both your Armiger and-
"Jay-sus Christ!" Jim exploded as Matt jerked and scrabbled for his pistol - you and Sarah both spun to see that Zeratul was now sitting on one of the shuttle's benches. "Zeratul! Old man! How the hell did you get on this ship?"
I am Nerazim, Zeratul said, simply. I walked aboard and you did not notice me.
"Ask a silly question..." Jim muttered through his palm.
"Zeratul," Sarah said, scowling. "You know you being here doesn't fill me with confidence."
I have not come to offer my blade nor my Cerebrate killing talents to my fellow Protoss, Zeratul said, his mental voice dripping with sarcasm so dry it was like the winds of Shakuras.
...where the fuck was Shakuras and why did you know what it was? You shoved the thought aside for later.
As I was saying. You underestimate your Armiger, Queen of Blades. I know not what twisted machinations led you to create a servant without ties of mind and soul to you, but any High Templar in the same room as Samantha Clarke will feel the lack of...connection... He paused, looking from you to her. Well, the lack of psionic connection.
"...are you two still-" Major Horner said.
"Yes, Matt, we're still dating," you said, throwing up your hands. "Fuck it! It's not like the UEF JAG can fucking court martial me harder than what I've already done!"
Major Horner coughed and hastily hid his right hand - and the wedding band he wore - behind his back. "Well, uh, congratulations, sir."
Sarah sent him a withering glare.
The shuttle docked with a rumble and a click. As the airlock started to cycle, Sarah stomped towards it - getting out of the main chamber. You watched her go - and knew her anger was pure fear. Maybe the others wouldn't notice. Scratch that. Maybe everyone but Jim wouldn't notice. Jim actually ambled to your side, his hands in his pockets. "As Sarah's ex, I gotta say," he said, casually. "I didn't think she could fall for anyone again. Being Zerg and all."
You sighed.
"It's..." you tried to encapsulate what the toxic cocktail of feelings Sarah still woke in you. The memories of your time as a human - not knowing that under that red hair and smiling face was the Queen of Blades - mixing with the scent of her, the feeling of her carapace under your claws, the taste of her fangs against your tongue. The crunch of bone and tearing of flesh was just as a much a part of it for the Zerg half of you as the wry humor and fierce intellect was for your human half. "...complicated."
"Ain't that the truth," Jim said, shaking his head.
You started for the airlock.
But Zeratul stopped you.
It would not do for a master to let his student leave without being properly armed. He was holding out the second of his psi-blades. The one he had given to you earlier was still heavy under your sleeve. You took it in your hand, feeling the weight. Your eyes widened. Remember all I taught you.
"...were you preparing for this moment?" you asked.
No, he said. My hope was that you would plunge these into the Overmind's heart and rip it asunder with all the fury of your people, Samantha Clarke. But...using the blades of a Dark Templar in an arena overseen by Justicar Aldaris will be... He paused. Protoss had no mouths and yet, somehow, he was smirking slightly. ...highly entertaining.
***
The interior of the Mothership was vaster than you had imagined. The last big ship you had been on, the E1, had been a brick that was mostly engine. But the Protoss had ways of making old rocket equations dance to their preferences - and so, while the Mothership was not that much bigger than the E1 (at least if you measured from tip to tip), it had so much more space inside. You, Sarah, Major Horner, Artanis and Jim Raynor were met by phalanxes of Protoss warriors, girded in glittering armor and with sheathed psi-blades. Their shields hummed and buzzed slightly - as ceremonial as their armor looked, they were ready for a fight.
Sarah walked forward with her head lifted high. She had bone-spurs that replicated high heels, giving her a deadly sway to her walk. You had once asked her about those - teased her really.
Sarah had said that spending the first twenty, thirty years of her life as a Confederate Ghost meant she had never once actually controlled her body. Spending years as a slave to the Overmind had been even worse.
Now?
Now she could do whatever she damn well wanted. And so, she was going to have high heels, and she was going to strut.
You were fairly sure the Protoss didn't appreciate the aesthetics as much as you did.
You followed after, trying to not feel like a heavy tank rumbling behind a deer bounding through a forest. The Protoss phalanx fanned around you and you quickly realized that the shuttle had landed quite close to arena, for the door ahead of you was titanic and it was grinding open as you approached. Gold filigree, covered with symbols of the Protoss people. The room beyond was circular and full of mouthless faces: Protoss sitting along the curving edges of the arena. They were seated in hundreds of seats, and the murmur of their conversation was a buzz at the back of your mind, like half remembering a million facts...
Sarah paused beside you - but you could see several warriors moving to usher Artanis and Jim up the stairs to the side of the arena entrance. You could see at the top of the arena that Aldaris was standing there, surrounded by guards and shielded. It seemed he was being paranoid, but not paranoid enough to show fear by not having Sarah stand near him for the view.
Sarah looked at you, her lips turned down. "...if you die-"
"I can't die," you cut her off.
"We're surrounded by Protoss. You may be reborn through me normally, but I wouldn't put it past these High Templars to try and snuf you out. Just..." She put her hand on your shoulder. "Sam-"
"You didn't make me to be your pet," you said, jerking your shoulder - still angry at her. It was a mixture of bitterness lingering from her changing you, and how every problem was solved with a knife in the back. You weren't sure if it was the Zerg, the Confederates or Mengsk that had put that monster in your Sarah - but-
Sarah grabbed your shoulders, spun you, and kissed you. In full view of the Protoss, Major Horner, and Jim Raynor. Her mouth and yours met, her tongue sliding into your mouth, sliding home and pressing against your fangs. She grabbed onto your arms, her fingers unable to even half encircle your biceps. Her body pressed harder, as if she wanted to bypass skin and genetics and fate and time. She drew back, panting.
"Kick his ass and prove me wrong, Sam," she whispered.
Dazed, you stammered. "Y-Yes, my Queen."
She grinned. "...I still like it when you call me that." She kissed your lips again - then drew back, and scowled at the two Protoss who were trying to move over and escort her up the stairs. She flipped her hands and telekinetic force grabbed them and slammed them against the wall, hard enough that their shields crackled and buzzed. You watched her all the way up the stairs.
You stepped out into the broad, flat surface of the arena. The far doors were opened and thumping out was Fenix - his dragoon body moving with remarkable grace. The four legs of the cybernetic frame that suspended his life support pod thumped and stomped forward with heavy, rumbling impacts. The photon cannon mounted on his top swiveled around and he settled.
You...had honestly forgotten how big he was.
Right.
The last time you and he had been face to face, you had been in a building sized Armored Command Unit. You felt a pang of nostalgia for those simple days - when the Zerg were just monsters. Where the Protoss were beleaguered would be allies. When the United Earth Federation was just, where the goal of securing the galaxy in its name was a shining core you could build your whole soul around.
"Fenix," you said.
Samantha, he said as the crowd quieted.
Aldaris stood. En Taro Tassadar, my Templar. We come here, to see this done. It is the judgment of the Conclave and the Khalai that a trial by combat shall be held. If Samantha Clarke of Earth is proven to have a pure soul, and spirit of a warrior, then we shall forgive the transgress done to her and to our people by the Queen of Blades. If she is not...then she will die by the hand of our Praetor, Fenix of Aiur.
He lifted his hand. His eyes glowed brilliantly.
Begin!
You clenched your fists and two brilliant green blades of psionic energy screamed to life, burning away your sleeves. Ashes blew and billowed, revealing not just your muscular arms - but the intricate weaving of Zeratul's psi blades.
The entire arena exploded with a clamor of thought - pulse pounding explosions of shock.
She is Nerazim!?
An insult to Tassadar!
This is sacrilege!
The only voice that mattered was Fenix.
His mind boomed with delight. Show me your fury, Samantha Clarke!
Then one of your best friends started trying to do his level best to vaporize you with a photon cannon.
---
HEAT: 0/6
[ ] Bye Bye Cannon: Sprint forward and slash his photon cannon off. Dangerous and risky, as it will expose you to a lot of incoming fire. Will lightly overheat you.
[ ] Shield Blitz: You can see where the zero point energy is being drawn for his plasma shields: Punch through and rip it out and damn the consequences. Will lightly overheat you.
[ ] Pulling Your Leg: Turn a mobile photon cannon into an immobile photon cannon in the most expedient way possible. Rip off Fenix's leg. Will lightly overheat you.
[ ] Gathering Strength: You're Zerg, aren't you? Evolve. This will mean Fenix gets the first punch - but you will become impossibly strong for a short time. Long enough to put him down? Maybe.
So, mechanically: Internal means that an enemy is "protected/linked" to another enemy. In this case, Fenix's chassis contains all the other components, meaning they all get the advanced of his shields (durability.) However, his durability requires 2 Reliability each time they're used. however, his reactor PROVIDES 2 reliability! So, until it goes down, his shields are staying up. His Photon cannon's waste characteristic is range: If you get within Range 1, then he can't use his damage or range characteristic (you're too close!)
You can only remove Internal sparks with a really clever narrative justification of skills - be creative! If you can manage it, then you'll be able to get at the juicy, juicy insides!
Plan Breakdown
Bye Bye Cannon: Use your Physical Perfection to clear the range and 1 level of durability of his photon cannon, then use your Psi Blades: 4 damage vs Durability 5 means you need to take 8 heat to hit (2 to beat the diff, 6 to overcome the last bit of durability.) This nixes the cannon and lightly overheats you, adding +30 Danger to the fight...but it means his cannon is gone and he can't blast you.
Shield Blitz: Use your physical perfection and damage versus his reactor. It's the same math as Bye Bye Cannon, and lightly overheats you. But it means his reactor is gone and shields will need recharge time to come back online.
Pulling Your Leg: Same as shield blitz and bye bye cannon, but targets his mobility!
Gathering Strength: Vent 0 to get 5 sparks of Biomorphic Enhancement. This will make you SUPER swoll and let you bash through shields well, but basically lets four of Fenix's components take a whack at you at once.
[X] Gathering Strength: You're Zerg, aren't you? Evolve. This will mean Fenix gets the first punch - but you will become impossibly strong for a short time. Long enough to put him down? Maybe.
[X] Bye Bye Cannon: Sprint forward and slash his photon cannon off. Dangerous and risky, as it will expose you to a lot of incoming fire. Will lightly overheat you.
Ok, that was a great update. As to what to do.... uhhhh, of the four pre-made plans, I'm leaning towards take out the cannon or shield first. Not sure which one is my top pick of those two.
I'm trying to think of a way to possibly leverage our social skills since those are pretty high, but all I can think of is taunts but like I feel like taunting Fenix hard enough to actually get him to make a mistake is the sort of thing that would ruin the friendship the two character's have. And Sam is the one who asked for the duel so any sort of asking for Fenix to take it easy just feels wrong as well.
Anyways "Strategic Genius: Once per structured encounter, Sam can create a piece of the environment that is in her favor as a sticky spark. Roll a d3 for its value." we can definitely do something with this. Obviously, it would have to be something fitting as part of a Protoss dueling arena, so I'm thinking some sort of statue as either cover or to eventually drop on Fenix.
Hmm there's no statblock for scanners or sensors, but logically blinding Fenix's dragoon suit should be an option as well. Kind of curious what sort of back ups or workarounds the protoss would have for that. Maybe just their psychic powers, maybe opening up some of the plating so that the protoss jar is now exposed and the pilot is now using their own eyes directly. ...Which is hmm probably not what we want. We want to beat Fenix not kill him.
I kind of want to use our new shadowstep to open up cause I bet that would let us take out a component without overheating since its supposed to be a free action. Yeah, if I'm assessing this right the 3 points of shadowstep will let us completely clear the range, so physical perfection which is being also used against the durability will be able to do a full 4 point reduction, meaning our actual strike only has to overcome 2 durability at that point. Which saves us 3 heat.
[X] Plan Once a Commander always a Commander:
-[X] In a skirmish between 2 ACU Commanders there is only 1 truly finite resource, time. A simple battlefield feint to taunt the enemy into committing against false intel can cripple their efforts in a way they cannot recover. You've seen Fenix fight, you know the repeating rate of that cannon, and he doesn't know how fast you actually are. Bait out a barrage and posture yourself in a better position so he cannot bring the weapon to bear- then punish him for it. (Use Taunt and Physical Perfection[Speed] to draw out a plasma barrage and dodge it, creating Outmaneuvered Sparks to have us count as within the minimum range. Then tap some Outmaneuvered Sparks and use Close Combat: Edged Weapons with Shadowstep and Physical Perfection[Speed] to bypass his shield and rip out that reactor if Sparks can be left over)
We can add D3 to the Outmaneuvered Sparks as well maybe?
Also, if they are freaking out over the blades of a dark templar being used in this fight how will they react to the actual shadowstep defiling the place
Ok, that was a great update. As to what to do.... uhhhh, of the four pre-made plans, I'm leaning towards take out the cannon or shield first. Not sure which one is my top pick of those two.
I'm trying to think of a way to possibly leverage our social skills since those are pretty high, but all I can think of is taunts but like I feel like taunting Fenix hard enough to actually get him to make a mistake is the sort of thing that would ruin the friendship the two character's have. And Sam is the one who asked for the duel so any sort of asking for Fenix to take it easy just feels wrong as well.
Anyways "Strategic Genius: Once per structured encounter, Sam can create a piece of the environment that is in her favor as a sticky spark. Roll a d3 for its value." we can definitely do something with this. Obviously, it would have to be something fitting as part of a Protoss dueling arena, so I'm thinking some sort of statue as either cover or to eventually drop on Fenix.
Hmm there's no statblock for scanners or sensors, but logically blinding Fenix's dragoon suit should be an option as well. Kind of curious what sort of back ups or workarounds the protoss would have for that. Maybe just their psychic powers, maybe opening up some of the plating so that the protoss jar is now exposed and the pilot is now using their own eyes directly. ...Which is hmm probably not what we want. We want to beat Fenix not kill him.
I kind of want to use our new shadowstep to open up cause I bet that would let us take out a component without overheating since its supposed to be a free action. Yeah, if I'm assessing this right the 3 points of shadowstep will let us completely clear the range, so physical perfection which is being also used against the durability will be able to do a full 4 point reduction, meaning our actual strike only has to overcome 2 durability at that point. Which saves us 3 heat.
[X] Bye Bye Cannon: Sprint forward and slash his photon cannon off. Dangerous and risky, as it will expose you to a lot of incoming fire. Will lightly overheat you.
Hm. And:
[X] Plan Once a Commander always a Commander:
-[X] In a skirmish between 2 ACU Commanders there is only 1 truly finite resource, time. A simple battlefield feint to taunt the enemy into committing against false intel can cripple their efforts in a way they cannot recover. You've seen Fenix fight, you know the repeating rate of that cannon, and he doesn't know how fast you actually are. Bait out a barrage and posture yourself in a better position so he cannot bring the weapon to bear- then punish him for it. (Use Taunt and Physical Perfection[Speed] to draw out a plasma barrage and dodge it, creating Outmaneuvered Sparks to have us count as within the minimum range. Then tap some Outmaneuvered Sparks and use Close Combat: Edged Weapons with Shadowstep and Physical Perfection[Speed] to bypass his shield and rip out that reactor if Sparks can be left over)
[x] Gathering Strength: You're Zerg, aren't you? Evolve. This will mean Fenix gets the first punch - but you will become impossibly strong for a short time. Long enough to put him down? Maybe.
How does Internal work for target difficulty for targeting thresholds of powers like adaptation? If we wanted to make one of Fenix's components malfunction via that would the internal components be inaccessible, Difficulty 4 as written, Difficulty 10 (base 4 +6 shields) or even Difficulty 14 (base 4 +10 base difficulty of Fenix' Chassis)?
How does Internal work for target difficulty for targeting thresholds of powers like adaptation? If we wanted to make one of Fenix's components malfunction via that would the internal components be inaccessible, Difficulty 4 as written, Difficulty 10 (base 4 +6 shields) or even Difficulty 14 (base 4 +10 base difficulty of Fenix' Chassis)?
It wouldn't apply, since it only exists to work against characteristics and that power specifically elides characteristics because it's not really causing direct damage, but instead, ways to justify creative and interesting sparks!
Thank you! Now, for your plan, blinding him would be Diff 10 (since his perception is in his chassis, I'd figure) and you are right about the Shadowstep! Reducing the durability by one actually saves you 6 heat, since you need 6 sparks of heroic effort per level of a characteristic! You are also right about the strategic genius thing, which I totally forgot about due to ~cognative impairment~
-[X] In a skirmish between 2 ACU Commanders there is only 1 truly finite resource, time. A simple battlefield feint to taunt the enemy into committing against false intel can cripple their efforts in a way they cannot recover. You've seen Fenix fight, you know the repeating rate of that cannon, and he doesn't know how fast you actually are. Bait out a barrage and posture yourself in a better position so he cannot bring the weapon to bear- then punish him for it. (Use Taunt and Physical Perfection[Speed] to draw out a plasma barrage and dodge it, creating Outmaneuvered Sparks to have us count as within the minimum range. Then tap some Outmaneuvered Sparks and use Close Combat: Edged Weapons with Shadowstep and Physical Perfection[Speed] to bypass his shield and rip out that reactor if Sparks can be left over)
This works quite well! You'd create Outmaneuvered Sparks (6)(6)(6)(6)(4), then attack his reactor at diff 4+1 - which would cost you 3 heat.
It's basically replacing shadow-step with using your taunting and Zergy speed, so really the main difference isn't mechanical, but narrative. What impression do you want to leave on the Protoss, how do you want them to think of you?
[X] Gathering Strength: You're Zerg, aren't you? Evolve. This will mean Fenix gets the first punch - but you will become impossibly strong for a short time. Long enough to put him down? Maybe.
> What impression do you want to leave on the Protoss, how do you want them to think of you?
This is also what I was thinking of. If we hulk out and smash Fenix to bits then I don't think that will do much narratively to convince them that we are still General Clarke.
OTOH, it would have some similarity to our fight alongside Fenix where we defended him for a bit so he could build up his forces, then he smashed the enemy. If we tank some damage so that we can hulk out then we're doing something conceptually similar to what Fenix did, tho it might not be very clear.
I think showing a degree of flair or cunning may serve us well, so I'm going with:
