With Great Power... [Zerg SI, Crossover, Eventual Multicross]
- Thread starter bool1989
- Start date
- Location
- Washington DC
When precogs start seeing non-precogs staring back at them from the future, things get real scary fast. Out of curiosity, is the precognition in this story based on the Dune style?
bool1989
Stop reacting to old stuff i posted.
- Location
- New Mexico
Why do you ask?
I dislike crossovers where authors go "if I give Harry Potter a lightsaber, I need to give Voldemort a Death Star to even the scales."
I will keep reading, but if it happens too much I will drop it in a heartbeat.
- Location
- Washington DC
I ask because good precognition is really hard to do unless you wrap your head around the implications. Dune dealt with it well (in my opinion) and gave precognition the powers and flaws it deserved while treating it with internally consistent logic and sufficient gravitas.
In this specific case, the wraith queen got a vision of her future, apparently a thousand year stretch of it, before snapping back to the present. That vision was pretty concrete (as opposed to her prior more vague visions). That makes me wonder if she has accidentally just trapped herself into that future by dint of seeing it. After all, if it never comes to pass, she could not have seen it. Therefore by seeing it she ensures it must happen regardless of anything else that occurs. That's why in many settings precogs either by nature or training keep their visions of the future vague, so as to not accidentally see a future that they don't want, and thus lock themselves into it via the inevitability of temporal mechanics. Precognition is in many ways the inverse of time travel, but it holds to some of the same rules and paradoxes.
All that said, in the vision, the Queen didn't actually see herself die, so its possible that she could allow herself to be imprisoned (as that is now unavoidable) but actually succeed in ascending during her moment of death if she spends those thousand years preparing for it. That's sort of how Leto Atradies got through his golden path.
bool1989
Stop reacting to old stuff i posted.
- Location
- New Mexico
I am planning on setting this queen up to be a long term antagonist that will probably outlast the wraith war.
When She had the vision, the timeline split, one branch where she didn't have the vison, the other where she did. The vision takes place in the timeline where she didn't have the vision.
However, a version of the events she saw in the vision is likely to come to pass, should she fail at containing the Zerg Overmind.
- Location
- Australia
So when is the next update going to occur?
- Location
- Australia
Off-topic, but a multiverse full of these SI jumper buggers would make for quite an interesting tale.
- Location
- Arizona
It was tried already, and basically fell apart. And that was just 4 or so different authors. I'm referring to the PA Commander fics that tried to do a shared universe in Mass Effect, then just fell apart because of different author priorities.
TheOmnimercurial
Dragon Bard
- Location
- UK
Have to be honest.... The writing made it seem like it was an Asuran until the Zerg Essence acquisition tech was mentioned.
It was a bit too jarring.
I pretty much hate stories with flashes of the future as they kill suspense.
You imply that future is not set which is a good thing, but this was the only chapter I did not like really.
It was a bit too jarring.
I pretty much hate stories with flashes of the future as they kill suspense.
You imply that future is not set which is a good thing, but this was the only chapter I did not like really.
bool1989
Stop reacting to old stuff i posted.
- Location
- New Mexico
- Location
- Fort Wayne, Indiana
Question are you going to update soon?
bool1989
Stop reacting to old stuff i posted.
- Location
- New Mexico
Maybe.
I would have perfered it if you had asked that question personally, though.
People don't like it when you neckro a thread.
- Location
- Georgia
Would love to see more
Expansion 2.5
bool1989
Stop reacting to old stuff i posted.
- Location
- New Mexico
Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get rid of unit upgrade buildings, as it appeared that they were specialized for producing the essence needed to make particular units. Without them, one couldn't produce more than overlords, drones, and queens.
With that in mind, I first decided to create a ranking system that would determine the size of the individual ground and flight zerg units. Ling, Lisk, and Lord, with Ling being the smallest, Lisk being mid-range, and Lord being the largest.
Instead of having a baseline unit for each type, from which unique types would be upgraded to(like how you upgrade banelings from zerglings), I decided that each unit would be grown individually.
For Ling ground units, I went with the Bladeling, the Gattaling, and the Baneling:
For the Bladeling, I gave them appropriately sized kaiser blades, which would sit horizontally from the Bladeling's body, instead of hanging over their head like a Zergling's blades. I gave the Bladeling two upgrades, stealth and speed. Things like armor upgrades were standard for all zerg units, so I didn't have to make a special upgrade for armor for them.
For the Gattalings, I gave them special appendages which hung over their heads that could shoot spines like Hydralisks could. They also had three upgrades, Spine production rate increase, shooting range increase, and explosive spines, which were spines that had a small amount of corrosive bile in them.
Banelings were pretty much the same, but I replaced their normal acid with corrosive bile, as that stuff did more damage.
For Lisk ground units, I went with Gattalisk and the Bilelisk, both of which were basically built from Roaches and Ravagers. The Gattalisk was basically a Roach that shot spines instead of acid, and the Bilelisk was basically a Ravager. The biggest difference was that they now had Drone-like locomotion, allowing them to move from place to place more smoothly and quickly than the Roach or Ravager previously could. Their upgrades were basically the same as what the old Roachs had.
For Lord ground units, I went with the Bladelord, and the Bilelord.
The Bladelord was basically an Ultralisk with a new name, but the Bilelord was new. The Bilelord looked like a huge scorpion, with with a long tail that hung over their heads, which could shoot huge amounts of corrosive bile, very long distances.
The Bladelord had the same upgrades as the Ultralisk, but the Bilelord had upgrades to range, shooting speed, and amount of bile per shot.
For Ling air units, I decided to use the Locust as the baseline, and got rid of swarm hosts altogether.
The two air ling units I created were the Dakkaling and the Glaiveling. Unlike the Locust, neither the Dakkaling nor the Glaiveling needed to land on the ground to attack, and they lived as long as normal units did.
The Dakkaling shot spines like the Gattaling and Gattalisk did, and the Glaiveling shot miniaturized Glaive Wurms. The Dakkaling had upgrades to spine production rate, shooting range, and explosive spines. The Glaivelings had no major upgrades.
The Lisk air units were a bit more difficult to design, as the only examples of mid-ranged zerg air units were the Mutalisks and the Corruptors, neither of which I particularly liked. The Mutalisks where basically worms with wings attached, and Corruptors were glorified ticks.
The air units I came up with were basically scaled up versions of the Ling units, The Dakkalisk and Glavelisk, and they had similar upgrades. I also made the Banelisk, which could drop packets of corrosive bile. They were basically fast flying bombers.
For Lord Air units, I kept the Broodlord, but it could be created on its own, instead of having to be made from a Corruptor. I also created the Scourgelord and Banelord. The Scourgelord could create live Scourge like the Broodlord make Broodlings, and the Banelord could make Banelings. They all had unit production rate upgrades, and flight speed upgrades.
For Spell casting units, I made the infestor flight capable, and since the Viper was already flight capable I didn't need to worry about that. I also changed the Overseer so that it could be created on its own, instead of having to be made from an Overlord. I gave the Overseer the new name of Observer.
I made a mental note to make a unit that was focused on Psionics in the future, after I had done some experiments in that regard.
In addition to individual units, I decided to make some changes to how units were controlled. The old Overmind's policy of TOTAL CONTROL didn't really sit well with me, as it was the current Overlords could only control about a thousand units before they had to hand off control to another Overlord.
I didn't want TOTAL DOMINATION, I wanted cooperation, I wanted my units to be able to think and cooperate with each other, so with that in mind, I redesigned the hive network so that instead of only being connected to their individual Overlord, the Zerg units could also connect to each other, and share neural resources, like the Geth from Mass Effect.
I also redesigned the Overlords as well. They now resembled the Leviathans from Mass Effect as well, but were much smaller, at only 500 meters in height. Smaller than Leviathans I mean, not traditional Overlords.
Additionally, I changed the way the Hive connection worked, with the Overlord only having to exert complete control over a unit once, after which the unit would imprint upon the Overlord, obeying it's every command without the Overlord having to waste mental resources controlling them. My new Overlords could now control 100,000 units at a time.
To transport units from place to place, I recreated the Gonarch from Half Life, but much bigger, an individual Gonarch was able to carry up to 100 Bladelords, and could fly.
I also made a unit that looked like a giant floating starfish called the Scourge Mother, which was meant to act as an orbital defense platform, protecting the Hive Cluster from orbital attack, not that I expected the wraith to find me out here. Still, it pays to be prepared.
The Scourge Mother had six arms, each of which was 500 meters long, and a midsection that was about 200 meters in diameter. It was equiped with the means to make 100 scourge per hour. However, her main purpose was as a guidence system, so that the Scourge could accurately hit their target. I had made some minor changed to the Scourge themselves, increasing their speed and explosivity.
Satisfied with all of my changes for now, I withdrew from the Evolution Chamber and gave the order for one of the new Overlords to be grown.
With that in mind, I first decided to create a ranking system that would determine the size of the individual ground and flight zerg units. Ling, Lisk, and Lord, with Ling being the smallest, Lisk being mid-range, and Lord being the largest.
Instead of having a baseline unit for each type, from which unique types would be upgraded to(like how you upgrade banelings from zerglings), I decided that each unit would be grown individually.
For Ling ground units, I went with the Bladeling, the Gattaling, and the Baneling:
For the Bladeling, I gave them appropriately sized kaiser blades, which would sit horizontally from the Bladeling's body, instead of hanging over their head like a Zergling's blades. I gave the Bladeling two upgrades, stealth and speed. Things like armor upgrades were standard for all zerg units, so I didn't have to make a special upgrade for armor for them.
For the Gattalings, I gave them special appendages which hung over their heads that could shoot spines like Hydralisks could. They also had three upgrades, Spine production rate increase, shooting range increase, and explosive spines, which were spines that had a small amount of corrosive bile in them.
Banelings were pretty much the same, but I replaced their normal acid with corrosive bile, as that stuff did more damage.
For Lisk ground units, I went with Gattalisk and the Bilelisk, both of which were basically built from Roaches and Ravagers. The Gattalisk was basically a Roach that shot spines instead of acid, and the Bilelisk was basically a Ravager. The biggest difference was that they now had Drone-like locomotion, allowing them to move from place to place more smoothly and quickly than the Roach or Ravager previously could. Their upgrades were basically the same as what the old Roachs had.
For Lord ground units, I went with the Bladelord, and the Bilelord.
The Bladelord was basically an Ultralisk with a new name, but the Bilelord was new. The Bilelord looked like a huge scorpion, with with a long tail that hung over their heads, which could shoot huge amounts of corrosive bile, very long distances.
The Bladelord had the same upgrades as the Ultralisk, but the Bilelord had upgrades to range, shooting speed, and amount of bile per shot.
For Ling air units, I decided to use the Locust as the baseline, and got rid of swarm hosts altogether.
The two air ling units I created were the Dakkaling and the Glaiveling. Unlike the Locust, neither the Dakkaling nor the Glaiveling needed to land on the ground to attack, and they lived as long as normal units did.
The Dakkaling shot spines like the Gattaling and Gattalisk did, and the Glaiveling shot miniaturized Glaive Wurms. The Dakkaling had upgrades to spine production rate, shooting range, and explosive spines. The Glaivelings had no major upgrades.
The Lisk air units were a bit more difficult to design, as the only examples of mid-ranged zerg air units were the Mutalisks and the Corruptors, neither of which I particularly liked. The Mutalisks where basically worms with wings attached, and Corruptors were glorified ticks.
The air units I came up with were basically scaled up versions of the Ling units, The Dakkalisk and Glavelisk, and they had similar upgrades. I also made the Banelisk, which could drop packets of corrosive bile. They were basically fast flying bombers.
For Lord Air units, I kept the Broodlord, but it could be created on its own, instead of having to be made from a Corruptor. I also created the Scourgelord and Banelord. The Scourgelord could create live Scourge like the Broodlord make Broodlings, and the Banelord could make Banelings. They all had unit production rate upgrades, and flight speed upgrades.
For Spell casting units, I made the infestor flight capable, and since the Viper was already flight capable I didn't need to worry about that. I also changed the Overseer so that it could be created on its own, instead of having to be made from an Overlord. I gave the Overseer the new name of Observer.
I made a mental note to make a unit that was focused on Psionics in the future, after I had done some experiments in that regard.
In addition to individual units, I decided to make some changes to how units were controlled. The old Overmind's policy of TOTAL CONTROL didn't really sit well with me, as it was the current Overlords could only control about a thousand units before they had to hand off control to another Overlord.
I didn't want TOTAL DOMINATION, I wanted cooperation, I wanted my units to be able to think and cooperate with each other, so with that in mind, I redesigned the hive network so that instead of only being connected to their individual Overlord, the Zerg units could also connect to each other, and share neural resources, like the Geth from Mass Effect.
I also redesigned the Overlords as well. They now resembled the Leviathans from Mass Effect as well, but were much smaller, at only 500 meters in height. Smaller than Leviathans I mean, not traditional Overlords.
Additionally, I changed the way the Hive connection worked, with the Overlord only having to exert complete control over a unit once, after which the unit would imprint upon the Overlord, obeying it's every command without the Overlord having to waste mental resources controlling them. My new Overlords could now control 100,000 units at a time.
To transport units from place to place, I recreated the Gonarch from Half Life, but much bigger, an individual Gonarch was able to carry up to 100 Bladelords, and could fly.
I also made a unit that looked like a giant floating starfish called the Scourge Mother, which was meant to act as an orbital defense platform, protecting the Hive Cluster from orbital attack, not that I expected the wraith to find me out here. Still, it pays to be prepared.
The Scourge Mother had six arms, each of which was 500 meters long, and a midsection that was about 200 meters in diameter. It was equiped with the means to make 100 scourge per hour. However, her main purpose was as a guidence system, so that the Scourge could accurately hit their target. I had made some minor changed to the Scourge themselves, increasing their speed and explosivity.
Satisfied with all of my changes for now, I withdrew from the Evolution Chamber and gave the order for one of the new Overlords to be grown.
Last edited:
bool1989
Stop reacting to old stuff i posted.
- Location
- New Mexico
there you go.
bool1989
Stop reacting to old stuff i posted.
- Location
- New Mexico
Thank you. It is kind of tech porn tho.
bool1989
Stop reacting to old stuff i posted.
- Location
- New Mexico
Oh it's fine.
- Location
- Missouri
It seems a good way to explain t1 through t3