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

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THE SWARM SHEET
  • Informational
    • The Brood of Blades
    ​
    Cerebrate Prime: Samantha Clarke
    LEVEL: 5
    XP: 205/210
    TRAITS
    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.​

    GEAR
    Zeratul's Psi-Blades
    Adds: +0 (Edged Weapons) | Characteristics: Damage [Speed] (4)[1]​
    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

    Typhan II [Active Xel'Naga ACU]
    Typhan II Occupied 6 (Xel'Naga ACU Spotted 1)
    COMMAND: Lt. Colonel Mathew Horner | ARMY: UEF Armored Command Unit
    RESULTS: Pending

    Deep Space Sector 981 [Hive Fleet Identified]
    Zerg Hive Fleet Spotted 6 (Kerrigan? 1)
    COMMAND: Citizen-Commander Dostya | ARMY: CN Armored Command Unit
    RESULTS: Pending
    ​
    ENEMY ASSETS (Currently Known)
    ​
    THE GOLDEN ARMADA
    ACTIVITY: Unknown | Threat Level: 6​
     
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  • Informational
    • Adhoc vote count started by DragonCobolt on Apr 29, 2024 at 12:31 PM, finished with 3 posts and 3 votes.
    • [X] Plan Cannon Rush
      -[X] A cliff overlooking the hive, providing natural cover for our attack
      -[X] Build some PD turrets to hold off the Zerglings and shred drones, then overcharge the ACU's gun to blow up the sunks from a safe distance.
    Click to expand...


    Weirdly, one of those times where you do roll dice in HEAT. Roll me 1d3 for your cliff advantage.
     
    [X] Plan Cannon Rush
    -[X] A cliff overlooking the hive, providing natural cover for our attack
    -[X] Build some PD turrets to hold off the Zerglings and shred drones, then overcharge the ACU's gun to blow up the sunks from a safe distance.
     
    Can we "trick" or confuse the Zerg into not attacking us?
    Make them think it's a feint and get them out of positions…..
    Update
     
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    ACT THREE, MISSION ONE: Among the Black Day (0.6)
  • Threadmarks
    • Author: Sorry for the delay! my brain was just like, "nah!" for several days!

    You saw that your course had brought you near to a ridgeline that was just perfect. Your teeth skinned back into a feral grin as you maneuvered your ACU towards the ridgeline. As snow bloomed under the heavy weight of your treads, the Zerglings started to hiss and chitter. They thronged, then rushed towards you - then burrowed. People who had never fought a zergling before might wonder how on earth anyone might get caught by a burrow ambush, but the thing was...Zerglings could move under the ground. They weren't as fast as a properly evolved roach, but they didn't exactly stop. When a zergling burrowed, they could be anywhere in a massive area - nearly a square kilometer of space. And it wasn't like they made it very obvious where they were. It took highly specialized sensors to spot the minute vibrations that they used to claw through even dense earth and stone.

    Still.

    They had guessed your motions wrong.

    On Earth, there had been a General, of the old Roman Empire, named Belisarius. His doctrines had been repeated by other clever generals - and it had become a rather standard UEF tradition. It was why the shield generators were so prominent, why your artillery was so effective. And while the Aeon didn't have the same level of defensive technology, you were pretty damn sure that it would work here too. This basic trick had been the centerpiece of fighting on Traxis and Alpha Centauri and Pollux: Take an area that the enemy simply couldn't let you keep, then force them to come to you.

    It wasn't quite as dramatic as the mother of all geothermal power sources or an orbital railgun cargo launcher, but this ridge would do qutie nicely. Your ACU slowed and stopped and you aimed the nanolathe at the first spot of land - and blinked as the underslung device sprayed a wide, spreading puddle of glistening gray glop onto the ground, then stopped. You looked down at the controls, but everything seemed to be functioning as it was meant to be.

    You lifted your eyes and saw that the puddle was beginning to self assemble. Nanobots, working without supervision or suspension in a nanolathe beam. It meant they had to be networked individually and in cross-communication with one another and the resource pipeline of your as of yet piddling little baes. That fact sent a shiver down your spine. It was like standing too close to the lathe of God. Under your breath, you whispered. "Jesus Christ, Princess."

    Still.

    It had its advantages. You fired another glop of self-assembling nanorobots, then another, and another.

    The zerglings - the hive cluster as a whole - began to realize the issue as sleek, impossibly slender Aeon structures rose from their grey puddles. The final droplets of the nanorobotic liquid resolved into paintjobs and lines of green wiring that ran into the ground. The Aeon Eruptor class mark one turret had been pretty nasty to run into from one side...and you were quite pleased to see that the same was true in the inverse. Concentrated graviton waves rippled through the air, expanding into a crescent that seemed almost totally harmless right up until it struck the approaching Zerglings and turned a wall of them into expanding clouds of red mist. Your nanolathe started to slap down a pattern of power generators behind the line as the hive started to mass more zerglings - eggs springing into being as the larva morphed.

    It wasn't going to be enough.

    As the energy plants started to come online, you checked what exactly the Aeon overcharge cannon was. You had been expecting something somewhat similar to the antimatter cannon that your ACU had used - but Aeon commanders tended to avoid getting into the thick of it...and the UEF's primary confrontations had been first naval then nuclear. So, there hadn't been much chance to see their ACU's mix it up in the thick of it. So, instead of an antimatter pellet launcher...you were a bit surprised to find that it was called a quantum implosion beam.

    Well.

    That sounded fun.

    As the Eruptors continued to pepper the zerglings, which were rushing forward in thicker and more desperate clumps, you maneuvered your ACU around the back of the outcropping. You started to thump forward, limbs whirring and clunking as you thumbed up the QIB's main power charge. The ACU started to let out a slow, steady whine. You moved past the cliff as the zergling stream thinned to a trickle, the drones working hard to try and match automatic extractors and fusion power plants. But there were still the sunks. You moved faster - and a tentacle burst from the ground and smashed into the side of your ACU's shoulder.

    You were flung left in the straps, grunting hard. Your grin, though, was feral.

    "Gotcha!"

    You thundered towards the sunks and brought the arm to bear. You fired and a blue-white beam shot out of the arm, going significantly slower than the speed of light - after all, you could track it. It intersected with the ground between the two main sunken colonies and an orb of white light expanded outwards. You winced, turned your head aside - then looked back at the wreckage...and saw that a glossy, mirror perfect hemisphere had been scooped out of the ground. It was rapidly filling with blood as the creep around the edges looked severed, veins and arteries spurting into the hole.

    And from there?

    It was all clean up. Your laser swept the drones in half and your nanolathe slapped down several turrets into the un-creeped hole. Their turret heads peeked out of the top and graviton waves rippled outwards and smashed apart organs. Soon, the creep was crumbling up and dying and a full third of the Zerg forces on Boreal were dead and gone. You had a little smile on your lips.

    Things were going well. And the enemy hadn't even had time to re-

    Boom. Boom. Boom.

    The sounds reverberated with the distant tininess of something very far, and very large. Your brow furrowed while the Dominion radio coms crackled to life. "General Clarke, three-" Boom. "-no, four protoss ships have appeared in low orbit. Uh, they're capital class ships, ma'am. But...but they're emitting a very strange energy sig-"

    The communications crackled off. A moment later, the image of Artanis appeared on your screen. His eyes were glowing with a red light and his normally deep, almost jovial tones were overlaid by a rippling, familiar voice.

    I knew you'd show yourself sometime, Clarke.

    "Amon," you growled.

    That would be General Amon, human, he said, his voice dripping with scorn. Now, I believe your choices are to either butcher your comrades, or to surrender unconditionally. Either way, I think I've won here.

    Your eyes flicked down to the console. You frowned, thinking furiously. The Way...the Aeon used a system similar to the Nerazim's psychic powers to push out Amon's influences. Could you somehow...replicate that on a large scale with the Zerg? You'd have to defend the biomass with one hell of a base...but there was a Dominion headquarters right here, perfect to situate yourself in. If you could manage to create a hive-mind that could counteract Amon's control, the Golden Armada would be freed. Or, at least, this part of it would.

    Of course, that'd involve surviving a full on attack from a spacefleet that could glass an entire planet, backed up by whatever tricks the Xel'naga had brought...and Zerg allies. It'd be like being swarmed and outgunned, all at once.

    ...but thinking of the Nerazim reminded you of Zeratul. He had tried to slash off Artanis' pony-tail, his connection to the Khala.

    There was a faster way to do it.

    It'd just require getting past the Protoss controlled by Amon, the Zerg controlled by Amon, through a capital class plasma shield, and onto the bridge of a Protoss flagship, then face down the single greatest swordsman of the Templars.

    Choices, choices.

    ---
    HEAT: 0/6

    What do you do?

    [ ] Turtle up and prepare the disruptor (30 XP battle)
    [ ] Face Artanis, blade to blade (30 XP battle)
    [ ] Write In (30 XP battle)

    I'd say the spark for the cliffside will be expended to give you +2 to your defensive actions

    So, building the PD turrets means using your nanofabrication miracle to bump their people down to 1. Since they're coming to you, their speed doesn't matter for this kind of defense! So, you need to beat people 6(Diff 4) with your Nanofabrication 2, +2 for your sparks! So, that's 6 heat to do so!

    Then bzapping the sunks means taking an action to use your nanofabrication to build up Mass 6(Mass6(Mass 1)) to represent the power generators to overcharge your gun as a diff 1+1 action. Vent down to 6 for just as planned!

    The sunks slap you for 5 hit sparks, but your durability means their damage does NOTHING.

    Then with 0 heat and a +12 makes it easy peasy. Bzap!

    Regen slaps away their hit sparks.
     
  • Threadmarks
    • the objectives of the disruptor battle are super unique: you have to defend various area of the map from progressively stronger and stronger attacks...
     
    Hmm, I do not which one to pick here, With the FA units the Aeon do have something that might be able to do the job of defend random spots around the map in the Restorer gunship (T3 Gunship that also has Anti-air, If you get up something like 50 of them everything around them just dies). Aeon Firebases are also pretty good with a stronger shield which the drawback is that it covers less area. Oblivion Turrets are really good against single targets and Harbs can shred smaller units. Although it will cost the Protoss a lot of lives. I doubt Amon is going to be careful here.

    But going for a duel and snipe on Artansis might be a good choice for preserving lives and would be a good taking a third option from what Amon expects. But it also carries the risk of killing Sam if Amon prepares for something like this, which he would given that Dark Templar are a thing. If it work though it will be a great addition to our overall forces and leave the designed disruptor trick still available to us for Kerrigan.

    So while I am hesitant for it, the wiser choice I think is to go for it.

    [X] Face Artanis, blade to blade (30 XP battle)
     
    Adding to my vote then, even though I'd like some more RTS-focus stuff w/ a unique mission:
    [X] Face Artanis, blade to blade (30 XP battle)
    [X] Write In: Turtle up, prepare the disruptor, and prepare to capture an awful lot of captives. (30 XP battle)
     
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