How Would You Try To Destroy the Xiticix?

Psiberknight · Fri May 01, 2015 11:15 pm

With my copy of Xiticix Invasion in storage 60 miles away, I may be wrong about this but given the apparent Rifts current timeline, shouldn't the Xiticix be raising their heads and becoming a real problem for North America?

If so, assuming you were in charge of a large enough force to be a credible threat, how would you combat them?

I ask because when I first read Xiticix Invasion, they, like the Gargoyles in Europe have a huge advantage, their ability to procreate. This gives them a huge strategic edge allowing them to simply remain in place until they have enough numbers to overwhelm their enemies where the shorter the battle, the less chance their enemies have of healing/repairing and getting back into the battle.

Being an engineer, I wanted something elegant that would working the "real world", even a "real world" that included magic and psionics. So I went in search for a weakness, one that might be exploited to magnify the amount of damage done to them while keeping your own troops safe.

And I believe that I found one. Even though the difference between supernatural and magical beings sometimes eludes me, it seems that while the Xiticix are MDC beings, they are also mortal. Being mortal means they need oxygen to breathe (or something), being MDC creatures, they may be able to hold their breathes for extremely long periods of time but they would still need to breathe sometime.

And that could be used against them.

Assume you have a military force based on technology. You need information on the enemy, the hive's construction, numbers of enemy, etc. Small robots disguised as mice or cockroaches might work because they could get into small places in order to be safe and to at as a relay for robots further in so they can still get their info sent through the robot network back to HQ.

If the force has access to magic, you could Astrally move around and chart it out in detail among other ways. If have access to extraterrestrial technology could use the Phase World device to become intangible and move around as you chart the structure (it has been years since I read those books so I might be wrong about this device). Do any on the Xiticix have psionics? I do not have the book available but it seems that would be the only way to attack astrally or intangible since I am pretty sure I do not remember them having any access to magic (but I could be wrong, it has been many years since I read the book).

What if you were to start from a long distance away, possibly tunneling into a mountain in order to build a defendable position (you might need it later if this works). Then once prepared, start to tunnel downward until you are sure you are below the lowest level of the hive. Then tunnel toward it with workers and security in environmental armor complete with their own air supplies.

The reason they need their own air supplies are that the tunnels are filled with carbon dioxide, nitrogen or a combination of the two. Once the tunnels get far enough, build huge chambers that are layered with spray on concrete and then pressurized to hold large quantities of the two gases under high pressure.

Once the tunnel is beneath the lowest known chamber, corkscrew the tunnel upwards so that it penetrates the lowest chamber. Then release the compressed gases into the tunnel as troops pour into the chamber. As the lowest chamber fills with the gases, this will create a barrier to enemy troops. They may be able to hold their breathes but they are exerting a lot of energy so will not be able to remain long. Since both gases are heavier than oxygen, they will settle in the lowest chambers and work their way upwards, making enemy attacks increasingly unlikely after a certain point.

Since the lowest chamber will probably be the Queen's chamber, the initial troops will have to deal with her and her attendant's but a contingent of troops could be more lightly armored where their goals are not to fight the adult Xiticix, leave that to the heavy armor troops, but they are to destroy as many eggs as possible so that even if they are repulsed, the next generation will be significantly reduced, giving better chances to fight them later.

As an alternative strategy, could find a room chamber that was uninhabited and try to build a "beachhead" where the objective is to fill the lower chamber with the denser gas and suffocate as many of the enemy as possible before they release they are under attack. The problem with this is the diffusion of the gases may take longer to achieve low enough O2 levels to act as a defensive barrier than starting from the lowest level and pushing the rest of the atmosphere out.

Use the gas to move the Xiticix aboveground and if they are sufficiently concentrated send a long distance nuclear missile to take out huge numbers of them while vulnerable in the open. Then let the survivors roam around, ideally moving into other Xiticix hivelands which will result in them fighting and killing each other. Oh yeah, choose a location to test this idea out that is as far removed from humans as possible so if it doesn't work can still pull out.

If forced back, can leave fuel with their own oxidizers and set them afire when leaving. One of those long tunnels in Europe had a gas truck wreck and burn, since the earth acts like an insulator, the heat had no place to go to and resulted in oven like temperatures within a large section of the tunnel. This will cover your tracks and prevent the Xiticix from counterattacking until they can enter those chambers. I do not remember if the Xiticix are heat resistant or not, I am assuming not.

You may ask how can such large amounts of gas be generated. There are membranes that separate the oxygen from air at relatively low pressures. Carbon dioxide could be made by simply burning fuels and trap the exhaust which should have so little oxygen remaining, it is negligible. Carbon dioxide can also be generated using acids on minerals that could be transported to the location and stored until needed.

All of this done with minimal risk to troops.

What do you think?

Thanks
Philip

P.S. The more I think about it, I believe I first thought of the tunneling strategy as a way to force the Gargoyles in Europe to attack a defended position by tunneling to attack their nests, making them crazy enough to make strategically stupid mistakes. Let the flyers come in but hinder the ground based Gargoyles (Gurgoyles?) Using land mines and obstacles to keep a large part of their forces out of combat until you have dealt with the larger, more powerful flyers who can get to your positions much faster. Wow, that was about 20 years ago. I had totally forgotten about that.

dragonfett · Unread post by **dragonfett** » Fri May 01, 2015 11:46 pm

Personally, I would have a few fast fliers harass one colony then get them to follow them to another colony and get the two colonies to fight each other.

torjones · Unread post by **torjones** » Fri May 01, 2015 11:49 pm

I know that in theory NG is supposed to be a threat to the Hives, but I really don't see it being realistic. About the only political power in NA that poses a legitimate threat to the hives is the CS. Archie could very well also be a threat, if he quits playing around with the humans as a distraction.

As the CS, I would use Skelebots. Lots and lots of Skelebots. Double if not quadruple the Skelebot production, and send them all at one hive. wipe it out. move on to the next. Back the Skelebots up with normal military units, with an emphasis on power armor and HEAVY air cover. If possible, make a flying Skelebot, and make lots of them. If you want to be nasty about it, equip the invading units with Fuel-Air-Explosive devices... lovely little things... :twisted:

Couple million Skelebots attack a hive? I think that there will be very little hive left after they get done with it. Of course, nothing says you can't use real nukes on the hives before you send the Skelebots in... and if I was Prosek, I absolutely would nuke the hell out of those hives before sending troops in. Sustained long range bombardment with normal munitions as well. Air Strikes. Commit to Total War against them, as nothing else would be effective really, and even then, it's not a guarantee.

I'm not so sure about the whole tunneling thing. They may wind up using your tunnels against you, as in, a way to escape your purge. Escapees are not really something you can afford. Consider it an Exterminatus if you will.

guardiandashi · Sat May 02, 2015 5:21 am

how would I deal with the Xiticix 2 things I have heard about 1 I know is real, the second I am not sure about.

well the first is a combination: binary explosive and FAE explosives. binary explosives are chemicals that by themselves aren't that bad.. (or are bad, but together they are worse. an example being "caseron, (herbicide) and roundup another herbicide. both by themselves are pretty nasty, together they are effectively "agent Orange"

binary explosives (real) are 2 part chemicals that together make a very very volatile explosive. if you also make the deployment effectively a FAE (Fuel Air Explosive) then you should get a really BIG (hive shattering) BOOM

the other thing I have heard about is a wavefront explosive, the way this works is the explosive works kind of like an expanding foam, but only the "leading edge" explodes, so the effect is you get an ongoing explosion that keeps digging deeper and deeper into the hive and burning or exploding over and over.

Svartalf · Unread post by **Svartalf** » Sat May 02, 2015 5:46 am

massive thermonuclear bombardment, or better, get the SDF 1 or a Zent ship equipped with one, and use the reflex cannone

wyrmraker · Unread post by **wyrmraker** » Sat May 02, 2015 6:18 am

I originally made this up for the Nerf Warrior, a genius Techno-Wizard concept that never got off the ground. It could easily be adjusted for pure chemical content as opposed to minor alchemy:

Mega-Damage Thermobaric Explosive
A variant on the Thermal-Induction Propellant that is slower burning, this is a set of procedures designed to decimate large areas. As the Thermal-Induction Propellant is a light mega-damage explosive, it is perfect for this purpose.
Essentially the TIP is granulated into a fine, airborne powder after the mixture is readjusted slightly. When scattered across an area and ignited while still airborne, the ignition will consume all of the TIP in a single flash, forcing heat and pressure blast fronts similar to nuclear-grade detonations. To quote: "The [blast] kill mechanism against living targets is unique–and unpleasant…. What kills is the pressure wave, and more importantly, the subsequent rarefaction [vacuum], which ruptures the lungs…. If the fuel deflagrates but does not detonate, victims will be severely burned and will probably also inhale the burning fuel. Since the most common FAE fuels, ethylene oxide and propylene oxide, are highly toxic, undetonated FAE should prove as lethal to personnel caught within the cloud as most chemical agents." That quote was used to describe a coal dust FAE.
Anything actually within the confined-space blast funnel is almost definitely consumed instantly, but only if the material can manage to stay airborne. If given time to settle, which is the real purpose of this compound, then it will burn everything it has come in contact with for 3d6 MD per melee round for 15 minutes. That works out to 180D6 MD, or 9D12x10 over the full course of time. This does not add in the initial blast wave, which is 2D6x10 MD. Because the fuel contains it's own oxidizing agent, it cannot be extinguished by conventional means for the duration.
The Nerf Warrior designed this weapon to be used againt entire Xiticix hives, decimating and burning the alien invaders out completely. If the device is spread over a hive, which would require several deliveries of 5000 pounds over the course of several days, the natural air currents of the structures will draw the compound into the innermost areas of the hives themselves. The final drop is set off while still airborne, surrounding the exposed sections of the hive. When ignited, flames will rush in from the ignition point. First to go will be the exterior, which will explode, instantly killing all of the primary defenders and scouts. As those explode, flames will rush into the hive, burning everything within to every last place the powder has reached. If done correctly, this will burn out every single member of the Xiticix hive.
Once the flames go out, the suffocation begins for any survivors, as by the time the flames go out, which have burnt away all of the oxygen, the upper towers will have collapsed, sealing the lower hive levels from the surface. Without the upper hive levels, all air flow within the hive ceases, and everything reliant on anything apart from carbon monoxide for breathing dies within minutes, if they aren't already dead from the burning.

Riftmaker · Unread post by **Riftmaker** » Sat May 02, 2015 10:47 am

They communicate by psionics and scent. Maybe something to confuse their ability to tell hive mates from enemies, then hit the queen so shy cant sort the mess out psionically. The hive then turns on itself before a new queen can emerge.

This of course needs to be something huge in a campaign. You don't create a solution to the bug men issue in an afternoon any more then you kill the emperor and turn the cs into a democracy in that time.

Getting rid of normal none man sized bugs is something we struggle with today. MDC super bugmen that might just be one of the dangers foreseen in sourcebook two should involve something epic. Make them PC bleed for this!

say652 · Unread post by **say652** » Sat May 02, 2015 1:06 pm

A mobile factory that creates flying skelebots.
Maybe a converted Deathshead.
And swarm the swarm.

flatline · Unread post by **flatline** » Sat May 02, 2015 3:03 pm

What is the population of a single hive?

--flatline

Incriptus · Unread post by **Incriptus** » Sat May 02, 2015 4:05 pm

Design Note: Hey, what did you expect? If the heroes wipe
out the entire Xiticix population in one adventure, it would certainly
be anti-climactic and make this world book pretty worthless.
Biological warfare is just not a viable option against the
Xiticix

I would attempt to contact the story gods, and convince them the above is un-true :-)

Hotrod · Unread post by **Hotrod** » Sat May 02, 2015 4:08 pm

Bug spray.

Seriously, a heavier-than-air gas tailored to their physiology that kills them nerve agent style. Follow up with a thorough search to confirm the hive is dead.

Shark_Force · Unread post by **Shark_Force** » Sat May 02, 2015 4:37 pm

flatline wrote:What is the population of a single hive?

--flatline

that depends on which source you believe.

one source mentions hundreds of millions. the other "only" a few million, as I recall.

in either case, I'm not sold on the "brute force" approach working.

say652 · Unread post by **say652** » Sat May 02, 2015 4:48 pm

Let me design the characters for your play group.
I could probably build three that could do it, definitely design seven capable of it. Lol

Killer Cyborg · Sat May 02, 2015 4:51 pm

Iirc, the population of a hive that was full was 200 million on the low end, and 500 million on the high end.
Aftermath mentions that the hives on Rifts Earth are full.

Killer Cyborg · Sat May 02, 2015 4:58 pm

If I was the CS, I'd start spamming out war bots.
Skelebots are good, but they could do better.
Smaller, cheaper bots that could be cranked out in higher numbers.
I'd also start spamming out mutant animals. Dog boys, but I'd check into mutant insectivores as well, and even mutant insects. Critters that would see the xiticix as prey or competition naturally.
Not to mention nukes, fuel air bombs, chemical weapons, bio-weapons, nanites, and anything else I could come up with.

say652 · Unread post by **say652** » Sat May 02, 2015 5:59 pm

Skelebots are at least mdc.
Dogboys add to the overall cost of the job.
Maybe mdc mutant animals?

wyrmraker · Unread post by **wyrmraker** » Sat May 02, 2015 6:07 pm

I still like my idea. But that's me. Fuel/Air explosives are totally the way to go. Or would be, if Palladium wasn't so heavily slanted towards melee combat.

say652 · Unread post by **say652** » Sat May 02, 2015 6:39 pm

The virus thing is what ruined Blade:Trinity.
Js

Mack · Unread post by **Mack** » Sat May 02, 2015 7:25 pm

Here's the solution I proposed a while back.

In short, use Astral Projection to scout the hive, then teleport bombs right in.

say652 · Unread post by **say652** » Sat May 02, 2015 7:32 pm

The X-ticks also have highly psionic leaders.
I mean clairvoyance would tip them off of an invasion force coming. And they'd prepare accordingly. Traps. False hives etc.

Tor · Unread post by **Tor** » Sat May 02, 2015 8:16 pm

These guys' TW TK rifles have range to rival the average rail gun. About the only advantage against Xiticix that I can see is using longer-range artillery, whether it's boom guns, missiles, or... that epic cheap artillery in Merc Ops.

Course the downside there is the inability to target underground bunkers, and usually the Xiticix will leave intact forests you'd have to wade through to get close enough to fire at their towers and they could be hiding in those trees to ambush your artillery or GBs.

Which just leaves you with missiles launched from aircraft, super expensive. GBs/artillery are at least affordable long-range solutions.

Shark_Force · Unread post by **Shark_Force** » Sat May 02, 2015 8:32 pm

say652 wrote:Skelebots are at least mdc.
Dogboys add to the overall cost of the job.
Maybe mdc mutant animals?

skelebots cost probably a million credits to make. perhaps more; iirc, their nuclear power plant can be sold on the black market for that much, and the black market doesn't exactly go around giving people full market value for things.

dog boys cost a few years to raise, a few months of training, and their gear is valued at less than 100,000 credits on the open market. costs rise somewhat if they have to be made artificially, which they likely will at first, admittedly.

you'd probably need to make the initial push with skelebots (or expendable human recruits from the 'burbs) because it's *extremely* important to get started sooner rather than later, and you don't have 5 years or whatever to ramp up dog pack production, but ultimately once you get production to the desired level dog boys are going to be much less expensive than skelebots.

if you want to spend a million credits per person, there are far better ways to spend that money than the basic armour plating and handheld weapon you'd get from a skelebot.

(for example, shell out for some low-end power armour and a fully automatic grenade launcher with lots of ammo for a regular human recruit).

kaid · Unread post by **kaid** » Sat May 02, 2015 8:38 pm

Ideally the best way to if not kill xiticix to at least take their numbers down to a reasonable level would be asking triax nicely if they can donate the schematics for their egg destroyer drones. The same tactic they are using on gargoyles is probably a good tactic vs xiticix. Coat them in the hive scent and given how small the things are its pretty unlikely xiticix would even notice them you could equip them with a small MDC pen laser or drill and just send in swarms to infiltrate and just kill egg after egg. They have to be cheaper to produce than skelebots and could be air dropped on or near the hives easily enough without risking any lives. If you can do it well enough you could cause their population to collapse and attritional warefare starts being a viable way to finish them off.

say652 · Unread post by **say652** » Sat May 02, 2015 8:59 pm

Offer citizenship in the cs territories for a proven thousand kills.

taalismn · Unread post by **taalismn** » Sat May 02, 2015 9:03 pm

kaid wrote:Ideally the best way to if not kill xiticix to at least take their numbers down to a reasonable level would be asking triax nicely if they can donate the schematics for their egg destroyer drones. The same tactic they are using on gargoyles is probably a good tactic vs xiticix. Coat them in the hive scent and given how small the things are its pretty unlikely xiticix would even notice them you could equip them with a small MDC pen laser or drill and just send in swarms to infiltrate and just kill egg after egg. They have to be cheaper to produce than skelebots and could be air dropped on or near the hives easily enough without risking any lives. If you can do it well enough you could cause their population to collapse and attritional warefare starts being a viable way to finish them off.

I suspect the Queen would go into a 'egg-layer overdrive' mode to compensate for losses of eggs and nits. I think of the Xiticix hives as organisms that communally are quite smart. Their hives are built tough against harsh climatic conditions on their homeworld and/or godzilla-scale predators(kajui-anteaters?), so they can probably seal up a good percentage of their internal sections against overpressure(like ants working against flooding), and queens are just about impossible to get at easily.
But I'd say a lot of EVERYTHING presented here...Skelebots to swarm and distract, artillery to ablate away, FAEs to scorch and crush, then skelebots again to go in and tap the walls for sealed passages, Then you drill and inject your poisons. Or, if you got brave/foolhardy mages working for you, getting some Earth Warlocks to get some rivers of lava pouring down shafts and passages....

say652 · Unread post by **say652** » Sat May 02, 2015 9:07 pm

Powersurge charges!
"Stupid spacefleas! Face the wrath of Asgard!!"

Blue_Lion · Unread post by **Blue_Lion** » Sat May 02, 2015 9:39 pm

Giving the numbers defeating a hive has 5 steps.
1. Prep/planning. You would need to develop military systems and spells to deal with their numbers, recon and counter swarms.
2. Recon scouting-locate all queens in the hive as major resource centers.-revise the plan.
3. Put in place containment measures for their angry swarm.
4. Strategic simultaneous strikes on all queens hatchers and major resource centers.
5. Full hive extermination.

Note this must be done for each individual hive. with efforts to try and improve military systems after each hive. Typically start with the smallest hive.

say652 · Unread post by **say652** » Sat May 02, 2015 9:43 pm

"For ASGARD!!"
44 Meatheads 16000mdc supernatural attributes, fly 450mph, 1D6×10+2md blasts and time control powers.
I was serious.

Shark_Force · Unread post by **Shark_Force** » Sat May 02, 2015 11:26 pm

say652 wrote:"For ASGARD!!"
44 Meatheads 16000mdc supernatural attributes, fly 450mph, 1D6×10+2md blasts and time control powers.
I was serious.

16000 MDC sounds impressive.

but then you realize that the xiticix outnumber them by so much, that collectively the xiticix have a lot more MDC. likewise, 1d6x10 + 2 MD per blast? good for you. the hundreds of xiticix each can deal far more damage collectively.

multiply that number by a thousand and with very good planning and a lot of luck, you'll have a tiny chance (assuming the lower values quoted in one book are accurate) or will merely make a dent in the hive before dying (if the population numbers KC quoted for us are the accurate ones, which as many of his prior postings have shown is probably the case unless kevin makes an official retcon of it).

before brute force becomes a viable option, you're going to need an awful lot more brute.

even if you had an army of a couple million, i think you'd struggle unless your army was mostly dreadguard and outriders from the splicers setting, or maybe if they were all powerful nightbane against a couple hundred million xiticix.

edit: i think step 1 of the plan would probably involve high-level astral mage (level 10+) from the nightbane setting, preferably with a channeler friend. why a channeler? because normally an astral mage has all kinds of time to do whatever magical study he desires, with the caveat that he might go a bit bonkers from the buildup of psychic energy. channelers can prevent that.

now, have that astral mage learn various spells; energy sphere (to allow the required build-up of PPE for other spells), plus talisman and/or create scroll probably being the primary ones, plus some sort of high-damage AOE (or otherwise de spell to load into those devices. give him double sorcerous proficiency in ritual magic and group magic, plus a group of 9 minions who also have double ritual casting sorcererous proficiency and group magic proficiency (or possibly 19 of them, depending on how you interpret the doubling of proficiency bonuses). this would give you either 20 times the damage or 40 times the damage, and either 80 times the range or 160 times the range, on spells cast as rituals by the combined group (the duration multiple will also be the same if that matters). arguably, any benefits derived from casting the spell on a ley line nexus may also be transferred into a scroll or talisman created on said locations, but that's not entirely clear.

this should enable things like 40,000+ foot range firequakes, 160,000+ foot range meteors, 80,000+ foot range disharmonizes (500 foot radius, 2000+ minute duration), sorcerous fury spells that grant 120,000+ foot range bolts that deal 2d4x80 damage (lasting 400+ minutes), 80,000+ foot range mystic portals, and so forth. in particular, that last one enables things like 4,000+ foot radius realm of chaos spells (it is recommended that you hide in a wall of defence cube, so bring 5 friends) and 4,000+ foot radius shockwave spells that deal 1d4 x 400 damage (it is recommended you load these into a talisman and use all three charges, then exit back through your mystic portal, which nobody else should be standing remotely close to... as an added benefit, you might be able to leverage two or more points of origin for your shockwave in this manner).

note that, courtesy of time differential on the astral plane, you can churn out scrolls (or in some cases talismans) of the required spells relatively quickly, even though you'll be creating them as rituals. the team creating these spells need not even be at the location they're being used in, and are probably too valuable to risk; expendable mooks of some form or another are highly recommended in case they are unable to use the scrolls/talismans before the proper time (alternately, people who are just really good at escaping or who simply don't die in the traditional sense are another option).

provided, of course, you actually have a level 10 astral mage with the appropriate proficiencies and an appropriate supporting ritual group that all know all the required spells and rituals.

with that kind of brute force, i think you could probably take out the xiticix with comparative ease.

say652 · Unread post by **say652** » Sat May 02, 2015 11:44 pm

1/2 spd, damage and number of attacks.
Autododge. Bio regeneration. 1.5 mile attack dealing 1D4×10md.
Even solo I could hurt'em up. Full rampage mode...yea I got this.
When I finally get beatdown....fly away very fast.
With Quantum teleport only one of the copies need to survive. With aps:electricity I am IMMUNE TO ALL DAMAGE WHILE USING ELECTRIC FLIGHT. No 1/2 or 1/4 no IMMUNE.

say652 · Unread post by **say652** » Sat May 02, 2015 11:50 pm

I designed the character to be the living embodiment of Mjolnir.
With his time and electrical powers he ended up a little more like Zues than Thor.
Still with only one weapon proficiency and no prowl skill, he is very very effective at smashing things.

Alrik Vas · Unread post by **Alrik Vas** » Sun May 03, 2015 9:13 am

here's a question:

when you drop a MoAB on a hive from 30,000ft, do the bugs even know what happened? how do they retaliate?

flatline · Unread post by **flatline** » Sun May 03, 2015 9:23 am

Alrik Vas wrote:here's a question:

when you drop a MoAB on a hive from 30,000ft, do the bugs even know what happened? how do they retaliate?

Probably not, but considering that the majority of the hive is well underground, how much damage do you expect to do to the hive by exploding a bomb above the surface?

--flatline

say652 · Unread post by **say652** » Sun May 03, 2015 9:34 am

The Brahma Pantheon.
Truly the heaviest hitters in any pantheon.
Who incidentally were beatdown by the Spluggies.

Kagashi · Unread post by **Kagashi** » Sun May 03, 2015 10:35 am

Mack wrote:Here's the solution I proposed a while back.

In short, use Astral Projection to scout the hive, then teleport bombs right in.

This. Then mop up with Skelebots and Mutant Animals. Followed up by mechanized infantry (SAMAS, Borgs, Juicers) to truly eradicate them.

The bug spray option would be good too, if we had a canon source of something that was effective.

The only thing holding this back is motivation. In 105 PA, (when Xiticix Invasion was written to begin at), Tolkeen and Free Quebec both kicked off and the bugs fell to a lower priority. Since then Psi Stalker tribes, Lazlo, and the Spluorth have been waging campaigns of their own on the bugs, keeping them at bay. If Lazlo and the Splugorth have been occupied by the bugs, why not let them continue to weaken each other while the CS focuses on the rest of the Campaign of Unity and colonize Kansas and Nebraska first?

Now that its 109/110 PA, Tolkeen is defeated and the war with Free Quebec has ended, the CS can focus on other things. According to the status of things in Aftermath, what the Splugorth, Lazlo, and Psi Stalker tribes have been doing have been keeping the bugs at bay and there is no real reason to interfere from all those powers to stop doing what they are doing. Eradicate the bugs and those powers might shift their focus on other projects.

If I were the CS, my next target would be the Pecos Empire and gain full control of Texas while colonizing Kansas, Nebraska, and Oklahoma and get rid of those pesky Native Americans who live there. During that time, continue to re-build relationships with Free Quebec as a possible ally against a future invasion of Lazlo and New Lazlo. Once the West has been solidified and the Pecos Empire destroyed, start a new campaign in the Northeast.

While Free Quebec attacks from the East, Northern Gun attacks from the West, keeping Lazlo occupied while the CS takes out the bugs with the above strategy. Once the bugs are taken out, the full force of the CS can be focused on Lazlo, almost completing the Campaign of Unity. Only thing left to do is convince Free Quebec to officially rejoin the Coalition and possibly even Northern Gun, but an alliance with the two nations would satisfy the completion of the campaign IMHO.

After that, shift focus on the Federation of Magic and start thinking about doing something about those Shemarian aliens in the East.

All this of course if the Minion War does not interfere somehow. So far, we have no resolution to the end of that conflict and how it will unfold on Rifts Earth (much like the resolution of the Xiticix War).

flatline · Unread post by **flatline** » Sun May 03, 2015 11:18 am

The write up for Astral Projection is so bad that as both a player and a GM, I normally pretend it doesn't exist.

Does anyone have proposals that don't depend on Astral Projection?

--flatline

say652 · Unread post by **say652** » Sun May 03, 2015 1:32 pm

Use an antigravity device to lift a small city, float it over the hive then drop it from up real high.

taalismn · Unread post by **taalismn** » Sun May 03, 2015 2:04 pm

We're talking Starship Troopers here.....power armor, tacnukes, robots, and the bugs tunneling around behind you if you go into the hives after them.
Wash with heavy artillery, soap with massed heavy armor, rinse with heavy artillery again and again until bugtown is a crater...

Hotrod · Unread post by **Hotrod** » Sun May 03, 2015 2:47 pm

If you're going to invoke Starship Troopers, you should take your inspiration from the excellent book, and not those less-than-excellent movies. The way they cleaned the bugs off planets was dumping heavy nerve gas down the caves. Going down the holes was a death sentence, except in Operation Royalty.

flatline · Unread post by **flatline** » Sun May 03, 2015 2:50 pm

There was more than one movie?

guardiandashi · Sun May 03, 2015 2:58 pm

flatline wrote:There was more than one movie?

there were at least 3, but the others were direct to dvd.

say652 · Unread post by **say652** » Sun May 03, 2015 3:42 pm

Would the major superpower Control Insects&Arachnids work on X-ticks??

Nekira Sudacne · Sun May 03, 2015 3:48 pm

flatline wrote:The write up for Astral Projection is so bad that as both a player and a GM, I normally pretend it doesn't exist.

Does anyone have proposals that don't depend on Astral Projection?

--flatline

Use Four Dimensional transformation in lieu of astral projection?

say652 · Unread post by **say652** » Sun May 03, 2015 3:53 pm

I think a team of supers could with preptime and the right mix of powers defeat a x-tick colony.

taalismn · Unread post by **taalismn** » Sun May 03, 2015 4:16 pm

Hotrod wrote:If you're going to invoke Starship Troopers, you should take your inspiration from the excellent book, and not those less-than-excellent movies. The way they cleaned the bugs off planets was dumping heavy nerve gas down the caves. Going down the holes was a death sentence, except in Operation Royalty.

Indeed, I was using the book as my reference.
They had two primary agents...one was the main killer, and the other was a weaker, less difficult to manufacture/cheaper agent that simply caused the Bugs to suffer temporary nervous disorder.
In my Paladin Steel thread, I've got a power armor designed specifically for pest extermination, heavey 'shotgun' cannon for ablating swarms, several chemical agents useful for harming Xiticix(including several acidic agents that sear sensitive surfaces like hard eyes and antennae, temporarily blinding them, and a cyborg infiltrator based on Xiticix appearance(and supplemented with pheromone camouflage), but these are decidedly non-canon.

Killer Cyborg · Sun May 03, 2015 4:19 pm

say652 wrote:Skelebots are at least mdc.
Dogboys add to the overall cost of the job.
Maybe mdc mutant animals?

If they can make them.
If not, mutant animals CAN wear MDC body armor, just like anybody else.

Killer Cyborg · Sun May 03, 2015 4:34 pm

Kagashi wrote:Now that its 109/110 PA, Tolkeen is defeated and the war with Free Quebec has ended, the CS can focus on other things. According to the status of things in Aftermath, what the Splugorth, Lazlo, and Psi Stalker tribes have been doing have been keeping the bugs at bay and there is no real reason to interfere from all those powers to stop doing what they are doing.

I think you're being overly optimistic about their successes against the Xiticix.

Aftermath 69
Left unchecked for these past four or five years, the Xiticix population has continued to explode, not quite at a geometric rate, but close to it. Soon, swarms from each hive will go forth with a new, young Queen to start their own hive and increase the current Hivelands range by 33%.

Nekira Sudacne · Sun May 03, 2015 5:04 pm

Killer Cyborg wrote:
Kagashi wrote:Now that its 109/110 PA, Tolkeen is defeated and the war with Free Quebec has ended, the CS can focus on other things. According to the status of things in Aftermath, what the Splugorth, Lazlo, and Psi Stalker tribes have been doing have been keeping the bugs at bay and there is no real reason to interfere from all those powers to stop doing what they are doing.

I think you're being overly optimistic about their successes against the Xiticix.

Aftermath 69
Left unchecked for these past four or five years, the Xiticix population has continued to explode, not quite at a geometric rate, but close to it. Soon, swarms from each hive will go forth with a new, young Queen to start their own hive and increase the current Hivelands range by 33%.

I think Lazlo's alliance has mostly only succeeded in keeping them from expanding twords lazlo itself, the 33% being them expanding in other directions.

kaid · Unread post by **kaid** » Sun May 03, 2015 6:27 pm

Alrik Vas wrote:here's a question:

when you drop a MoAB on a hive from 30,000ft, do the bugs even know what happened? how do they retaliate?

Yup that is the big question. Their vision range is not that amazing and if you start high altitude bombing from 30-35k feet do can they even tie the bomb to the fuzzy dot far far above thats beyond their hearing range and well outside any engagement evenelope. The biggest danger is basically the hives just flipping out and attacking EVERYTHING near them.

Killer Cyborg · Sun May 03, 2015 6:56 pm

kaid wrote:
Alrik Vas wrote:here's a question:

when you drop a MoAB on a hive from 30,000ft, do the bugs even know what happened? how do they retaliate?

Yup that is the big question. Their vision range is not that amazing and if you start high altitude bombing from 30-35k feet do can they even tie the bomb to the fuzzy dot far far above thats beyond their hearing range and well outside any engagement evenelope. The biggest danger is basically the hives just flipping out and attacking EVERYTHING near them.

Pretty much.
It's hard to say what exactly the bugs do or do not understand, because they're so alien.

The Queens have an IQ of 20+1d6, which means that the dumbest queen is still an incredible genius compared to the average human. A lot of this is instinctive, though, so they may well have blind spots.

I'd say that yes, the bugs would probably freak out and hit everything near them.
But I also think that they'd adapt (if only over time), and start making their hives deeper and stronger to resist that kind of attack.