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

THE SWARM SHEET
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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We do need to talk to Sarah.

Irrespective in story there's a lot of conflicting interest muddling the nicely made story of QOB.

Varian and Co don't have the full picture.

The zerg are still mindless so she's not active.

QOB/Sarah obviously is in control of her faculties enough that she likely saved the human base. But critically as a ghost she can potentiall affect the zerg anyway potentially as part of her ghost powers as opposed to being a zerg.

Mengsk has political/personal interest in killing Sarah who he backstab whether she is or is not the QOB
 
I mean, for not getting how big a billion is, maybe, but for having only six planets?

Six planets are a lot of planets!!! And remember, one of the conceits I set up is that habitable planets are rare in non-Koprulu sectors. Which is also why the Infinite War tends to avoid WMDs and such unless they absolutely have too: They don't want to break the very planets they're fighting over, the only thing that cannot be nanofabricated.
 
Twei said:
Yeah, there are a lot of reasons to be iffy about it, honestly. I'm still leaning towards write-in nonsense, but I don't blame anyone for voting otherwise.
That's why I've my own write-in in addition to the provided option I voted for:
[X] Attempt to play things cool for now -- Valerian might be shocked at his father's behavior, but it's genuinely the sort of thing you'd expect, and it's not, so you want it to appear, like any of the rest of the recording has personal relevance. However, contact the ship to ask if they have any information on a "Kerrigan"... which you'd actually very much like to know, but also do it in a way to fish for a duress code while, knowing you've got psychics likely against you, being on the lookout for any other signs even if one isn't given. Then proceed with the Leadershipping, and... things can go from there, based on what happens.

DragonCobolt said:
Six planets are a lot of planets!!! And remember, one of the conceits I set up is that habitable planets are rare in non-Koprulu sectors. Which is also why the Infinite War tends to avoid WMDs and such unless they absolutely have too: They don't want to break the very planets they're fighting over
Yeah, but don't they control nearly a third of the galaxy? ...Or have I gotten that wrong?
If not, though, six planets doesn't seem all that many in that much space.

the only thing that cannot be nanofabricated.
I mean, I'd be surprised if there aren't already space habitats in use, and people haven't gotten Ideas for really big ones.
 
How big of a space would you say that is, early Star Wars TTRPG sized (where you get a few noteable places, but everything else is ???)? Alpha Quadrant sized?

I'm gonna say the actual astrography isn't really related to quantum teleportation calculations, so people tend to use simplified maps where stars are represented by their distance in energy-costs rather than actual physical distance, since those aren't necessarily correlated based on a profusion of factors like differences in momentum, orbits, rotations and such that the quantum teleport has to correct for.

So, this map is accurate visa vi energy costs, but not space (where they're all shotgunned across the orion arm physically speaking.)

 
protoss communicator
The Queen of Blades stalked through the halls. It was liberating, to finally be able to shed her disguise, no longer forced to fawn and bow. She could slice through a guardrail and the wall behind with a flick of her wing blade, and not fear the alarms. An alarmed tech, slammed into the wall, dispatched with merely a thought.

It had been so easy, to take the ship. Might as the UEF claimed to be, it had no defense against infiltration, no capability to defend against any enemy in it's midst. The Zerg had assimilated a dozen worms who'd put up better fights against the parasites eating them from the inside. But then again, those worms didn't have plasma cannons.

It was not long before she reached the general's quarters. Gently, she entered the passcode that have her access, a biotic sheath keeping her claws from scratching the buttons. "A useless habit", the queen sneered. The acces pad shattered.

It was good to see her true form in the rooms where she'd spent so much time these past few months. To see chitin and claw reflected in the screens and bathroom mirrors, to be able to exercise her strength freely without fear of ripping apart a fixture or knob in a way she could not explain. It was a shame they'd sprung the trap when the general was down on the surface. It would have been fun to reveal her true powers to the general, crushing her down into the bed with psionic force until the floor dented. Clarke would have liked it. But she'd have her soon enough, and the Princeling too. One too kill, another to... Well that decision would have to wait until she got the third.

Idle musing was suddenly interrupted by a communicator ringing. Not an UEF communicator, nor the bombadtic tones of the dominion technology. This was the psionic pulses of a Protoss communication crystal, a gentle nudge to any mind in range to pay attention to the glowing crystal. "Annoying garbage" the Queen of Blades, as she made to crush the thing. "No, they'd know sonetging was wrong if their crystal got crushed" reconsidered Kerrigan. Sarah spotted the general's bathrobe, thrown haphazardly upon a chair.

En Taro Clarke. Felix begon. He observed the destroyed room, the bed, it's frame buckled, the cushion and blankets spread around the room, the sound of running water coming from the adjoining bathroom. And, center of it all, the lady hastily covered in a bathrobe that did not belong to her.

Tell your general we shall speak at a later moment.

The connection closed.
 
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[X] Call up to the ship. You're having a great deal with this dominion, but you know how they are. Princes, big on pomp and circumstances. So you need the ACU, Mira's Marauders, all your combat forces for a parade to impress the princeling, whose going to show of with his own troops. Real hassle. And yeah, bring your girlfriend down as well, maybe she wants to watch?
-[X] This is of course, a clever ploy to lure her into a place where you can have a calm conversation without collateral damage, and overwhelming force if needed.
 
Adhoc vote count started by DragonCobolt on Dec 11, 2023 at 8:16 PM, finished with 46 posts and 16 votes.

  • [X] Call up to the ship. You're having a great deal with this dominion, but you know how they are. Princes, big on pomp and circumstances. So you need the ACU, Mira's Marauders, all your combat forces for a parade to impress the princeling, whose going to show of with his own troops. Real hassle. And yeah, bring your girlfriend down as well, maybe she wants to watch?
    -[X] This is of course, a clever ploy to lure her into a place where you can have a calm conversation without collateral damage, and overwhelming force if needed.
    [X] Immediately attempt to contact the ship (Use your Leadership skill to try and batter down the control Duran has over Stukov's body - 7 heat, lightly overheats you)
    [X] Interrogate Valerian as to the abilities the Queen of Blades has - if Sarah and her are one in the same, you don't want to play into her hands. (Talking is a free action, will not end your turn.)
    [X] Attempt to play things cool for now -- Valerian might be shocked at his father's behavior, but it's genuinely the sort of thing you'd expect, and it's not, so you want it to appear, like any of the rest of the recording has personal relevance. However, contact the ship to ask if they have any information on a "Kerrigan"... which you'd actually very much like to know, but also do it in a way to fish for a duress code while, knowing you've got psychics likely against you, being on the lookout for any other signs even if one isn't given. Then proceed with the Leadershipping, and... things can go from there, based on what happens.


*tension music increases*
 
ACT ONE, MISSION SEVEN: Smash and Grab the Uraj (0.4)
Your heart hammered in your chest. You paced, one step, another. Prince Valarian put his hands over his face, his voice soft. "He made her," he whispered. "That son of a-"

You pulled out your communicator, thinking to immediately call Stukov. Tosh. Someone. Anyone. But then you closed your eyes. Sarah was a psychic. The ghosts were psychic, and the Queen of Blades was an augmented, Zerg-human hybrid of that. You couldn't trust anyone you commed on the E1. Unless...

You tapped the coms and called up Matt. "Hey, Matt," you said, trying to sound casual. "Do you think you can get Mira and her marauders down here?"

"Of course, Darling!" Mira's voice came over the com, causing you to jolt almost entirely out of your near panic state through sheerest shock. There was a struggle, then Matt's voice came over the line.

"W-We'll be right down there!" Matt said. "I'm actually, uh, on Mira's...battlecruiser. For a...an examination. We're..."

"Got it, Matt just get down here. And, um...send for, uh...my girlfriend to come too. She might as well get to see the parade," you said, as casually as you could. You flipped the com shut and Valerian gaped at you, spinning to face you.

"Your girlfriend? Is now the time?" he asked, sounding shocked.

You slid the com into your belt. Softly.

"I just learned...that her surname is...Kerrigan," you whispered.

"Oh." Valerian said, blinking. His mouth opened, then closed. Then, in an almost parodic display that nearly startled a snort from you, he offered his hand, about to grasp your shoulder, before dropping it away. Then, aloud, he said: "That's...that's quite terrible, General."

You stepped to the window, looking out at the wastelands of ice and snow.

At least Sarah didn't know.

Right?

***
We have to abort. She knows.

She's without her ACU. She's without her troops. Duran's voice was warm and gentle, his hand outstretched as Stukov continued to tremble.

The silence from his decisive Queen was palpable.


Time to roll the dice, then.

Exactly, my queen.

The order came telepathically - whispering in the shadows of ice and snow.

***
You were watching the ice and saw it, just as it happened. There was a bloom of snow and ice beyond one of the bunkers. Something burst forth and a stuttering hammer of gauss fire filled the air. But the bunker peeled apart in a hail of glistening shards that shot from the flurrying snow. The entire base's alert siren went up...and died as the room's lights plunged out.

"Shit," Valerian growled as the door opened to his room - shoved inwards by a Dominion marine's palm.

"Sir, there are Zerg in the perimeter!"

Through the window and the shifting of snow and ice, you could see them: Hydralisks, but with brilliant red carapace and sharpened bony protrusions along their spines that marked them out. They moved faster than you'd ever seen a Hydralisk move before, and you saw one opened its frilled jaw wide and vomit out a haze of shards that slammed into three marines running to reinforce their line. Their bodies flew apart in sprays of crimson gore against the blue and white of the landscape.

"Those aren't normal fucking hydralisks," you muttered as Valerian jerked his head.

"Come on," he said. "There are dropships, and your reinforcements are coming."

You nodded and the two of you started down the darkened corridors. Roaring and explosions echoed from outside. Shards were being fired. Gunshot. YOo heard a roaring sound of tanks going off - then a low whump as something blew. Something big enough to cause the command center to rock. You stumbled against a wall with a grunt, and the marine heading infront of you paused - then snapped his rifle up.

"Get down, Sir!"

The roar of the gauss rifle in an enclosed corridor hit your ears and left them ringing. Prince Valarian bore it with a grim stoicism that...well, you weren't sure if it was genuinely impressive nerve in the face of the situation going so rapidly to hell in a handbasket, or if it was just him playacting that this was how a Prince was supposed to be acting in situations like this. You honestly didn't know if there was a difference between acting and reality, not at times like this.

The hydralisk moving down the corridor didn't slow. Bullets sparked and pinged off its fan-like bone crest and it leaped onto the marine, who stepped backwards with a grunt - and with a screech of bone on metal, two massive scythe blades bloomed through a shoulder blade and the belly of the marine. Despite that, he managed to groan out. "R-Run! Get o...ut of here!" His arms grabbed onto the hydralisk, forcing it back, and away. Valerian stepped forward, but you yanked him backwards.

"No, you idiot!" you said, then realized something.

Where the hell were your mech marines?

Valerian started to actually draw back at the ping and clatter of one massive thumb managing to pull the heavy frag grenade, hanging from the marine's blood soaked belt.

***
ALERT ALERT
ZERG BIOFORMS DETECTED
ALERT ALERT


Stukov's eyes trembled, his hand quivered. He couldn't look away from the screen - at the red blips moving across it, at the green dots and blue dots vanishing one by one. The row of lined up mech marines, arranged perfectly by a single command order from a gloved hand he could just barely see out of the peripheral of his vision - were already gone.

ALERT ALERT
ZERG BIOFORM DETECTED
ALERT ALERT


"Stukov, is everything all right down there? We're not getting any messages from the surface," Major Horner's voice came over the link.

"Everything is clear. You don't see anything dangerous."

Stukov's lips trembled. He let out a wheeze. "Hnn...nn..."

"Everything. Is clear." A blade of sharp, honest, terran metal pressed to his throat. "Say it."


ALERT ALERT
ZERG-


***
You and Valerian got around the corner before the grenade blew. It was a grenade sized for and modeled to take down those suits of Confederate power armor - and so the concussive wave blew you and the prince skidding down the corridor. Your head was ringing and you felt almost deafened as you got your hands under you - and then...you felt it. It was not a noise so much as a...a bone deep buzzing. The air itself felt as if it was alive with an energy you barely registered. Then the entire steel face of building and rooms and corridor ahead of you wrenched aside. It was like a massive fist had just grabbed onto an entire corner of the command center and ripped it aside. The glittering metal fanned outwards around a single figure, who floated in the air before you.

It was her.

You wanted to scream. You had seen her. You had seen her in your room, whispering in your mind, back on Earth.

In person, the Queen of Blades was even more awful than she had been in fleeting dreams. Awful in the classical sense. Awe inspiring. She was tall and glistening, her green and brown and purple body covered with sleek muscle and chitinous plating. Her hair was like spined claws, twitching and flexing, as if her thoughts were reflected in their stabbing, writhing motions. Her blade-wings fanned around her, a dark angel, and her feet hung an inch and a half off the snow, which boiled away beneath her. Radiative heat blazed over you. She waved a single hand and your hearing snapped back into existence as she said, her voice the same wry little teasing tone you loved so much.

"How do you like my new look, General?"

You glared at her. Prince Valerian coughed several times, getting his knee under him.

Seeing him, Sarah's face grew fiercely wicked. She smirked, showing her fangs. "Well, well, well, I expected daddy's little prince to go running and leave you in the lurch. How...chivalrous." Her hand lifted and Valerian let out a choking noise. His hand went to his neck, desperately, his eyes widening as his face started to turn purple. He kicked his legs.

"Sarah," you said, panting. "Let him go?"

"Why?" She asked. "You already told me how many times you have no use for nobility? And...you know what his father did. You know what they did to me." Her eyes flashed...and then she smirked. "But to be honest, that's not why I'm going to kill him." Her eyes flicked over, looking right at you, her eyes smoldering. "He's a threat."

Valerian's hand clenched at his throat. His legs kicked even more.

Your hand fumbled, grabbed onto the coms. "Stukov, I need an ACU right fucking now!"

Silence.

"Stukov?"

Valerian's eyes rolled back into his head.

"Stukov!?"

---
[ ] "...damn it, let him go, Sarah! This isn't you!" - save Valerian, end act one
[ ] "Stukov, goddamn it, that's a FUCKING ORDER!" - save Stukov, end act one

HEAT: 5/6

XP VALUE [26] | DANGER: 6

GEAR: Pistol (Damage 2, Range 1)

FRIENDLY SPARKS:

ENEMY SPARKS: Blinded by Betrayal (9)

STICKY:

ENEMIES: The Queen of Blades (Diff 10), Consort Duran (Diff 10), Swarm of Hunter Killers (Diff 9, Damage 2, Range 2, People (Size) 3[1]

How it goes
You take out QOB with your conversation, then end your turn, resetting your heat from 5 to 4! The hunter killers act then and slap Hydra-Attack (6)(6)(9) on you, which sets your head minimum to 3. It decays, bumping you to 5 heat! Then I maliciously re-spawn The Queen of Blades, representing Duran's dark whispers in her mind. She stacks another 10 sparks onto the Hydra-Attack, putting it at (10)(5)(6)(9), and putting your heat minimum at 4!

This puts you in a...difficult position.

Taking out Sarah again with your Charm skill is 7 heat - which overheats you to 12, which is a serious wounding.

Taking out Duran with Leadership by liberating Stukov also overheats you to 12, which is a serious wounding.

Taking out the Hydra boys with your pistol is instantly lethal, like, that's 7 heat atop the 6(6)(6) for their size, which...yeah, that'll just kill ya.

So the question becomes: who do you want to save?

...I'm EVIL, hehe!
 
[X] "...damn it, let him go, Sarah! This isn't you!" - save Valerian, end act one

I'm not sure if I've seen Stukov actually survive as just like- a terran/human, I know SC2 has the infested Stukov thing, though I think that was cuz of Kerrigan, but I think Valerian otherwise survived to the end-

Like, some of the logic Rn is like, the ol' "I know you're in there/this isn't you" thing (also charming her one last time for this act I guess lmao, wonder what this wounding will do), and also the vague existence of a surviving form of Stukov past his initial murder in the original canon being like "alright this can still work" vs Valerian not having that (even if technically it shouldn't be impossible to happen later)- actually it's kinda the same for both but- iunno, canonical precedent? Poor Stukov either way,

That and him being a local ally is probs still gonna be kinda useful I suppose, if he feels he can just step down/like he hasn't got a good a reason as the Zerg to keep leading/being a politician then- iunno, I don't see him kicking up as big of a fuss about not being crown Prince than most (tho obvs there's the adjustment period).

Kinda knee-jerk "well, 2 choices here I guess" placeholder thing kinda/reasons don't feel as solid, but yeah
 
[X] "...damn it, let him go, Sarah! This isn't you!" - save Valerian, end act one
 
[X] "Stukov, goddamn it, that's a FUCKING ORDER!" - save Stukov, end act one
Who wants to bet the next time we see Kerrigan we just vaporize everything near her?
 
[X] "Stukov, goddamn it, that's a FUCKING ORDER!" - save Stukov, end act one

Save Valerian and a noble might be able to help out later. Save Stukov and we get an ACU that can chump these hunter killers plus the morale boost of "leave no man behind"
 
[X] "...damn it, let him go, Sarah! This isn't you!" - save Valerian, end act one

The simple fact of the matter is that Valerian's key to flipping the Dominion. I like Stukov, even if he hasn't gotten a ton of screentime, but ultimately junior officers are replaceable in the way Crown Prince's are not. Plus, this has the added benefit of Kerrigan not murdering a good, innocent person directly in front of Clarke, should we care about that sort of thing.
 
[X] "...damn it, let him go, Sarah! This isn't you!" - save Valerian, end act one

I am kind of a single issue voter, and that issue is Sarah, so... Yeah.
 
Wait. @DragonCobolt - can we use that circle of peace ability we got at the last level up?

The defensive emplacements? You'd only be able to vent a little and, while it would slow down the violence in your area, there are enough enemies with enough difficulty and characteristics to throw around that the QOB, Duran and the Hunter Killers (Plus anything spawned with my remaining danger) would be...pretty bad.

This choice is basically you taking your one action to salvage one thing from a "supposed to lose" fight.

(it's extremely easy to just kill PCs if you want to, and I wouldn't do this in a normal TTRPG game, but...this is a quest, with different narrative goals!)
 
The defensive emplacements? You'd only be able to vent a little and, while it would slow down the violence in your area, there are enough enemies with enough difficulty and characteristics to throw around that the QOB, Duran and the Hunter Killers (Plus anything spawned with my remaining danger) would be...pretty bad.
Circle of Peace - enforce a no shooting/fighting zone for some time

Ah, so the defensive emplacements are the translation of this ability? I see.

My rough idea is we'd slap it down to prevent Valarian from getting killed while hitting Stukov with the Leadership whammy to free up our mech, but if we're essentially in a cutscene, I suppose there's no point in trying to drag out the inevitable.
 
My rough idea is we'd slap it down to prevent Valarian from getting killed while hitting Stukov with the Leadership whammy to free up our mech, but if we're essentially in a cutscene, I suppose there's no point in trying to drag out the inevitable.

Sorry!

...though, as a designer, I am kinda happy with how HEAT, which is designed to emulate video games in its play, also can do cutscenes. Gonna need a sidebar warning GMs to not do this unless everyone's cool with it. (Please don't yell at me, I will cry.)
 
[X] "Stukov, goddamn it, that's a FUCKING ORDER!" - save Stukov, end act one

Fuck the aristo. Stukov is our man and we want an ACU.
 
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