As Tiberium infests Equestria its salvation comes in the form of a new GDI
It is the year 2020 of the Celestial calendar, it has been six months since the devastating “Plague rock” arrived on aurora its deadly green properties already bringing most of civilization to its knees. But there is hope a force both familiar yet different comes from the stars with the intent of destroying the vial green crystal for good, yet with every good news there must always be bad news as another force completely different from the first has its eye on Aurora since the “Plague Rock” came and is waiting for the right time to start harvesting and destroy those who seek to destroy their live blood who go by the name ‘GDI’.
“EVERYONE MOVE NOW WHILE WE STILL CAN!” Avatar princess Twilight Sparkle shouted as she and a few others were organising everybody onto the ladder to the evacuation ship hovering above them in the Apple Family farm outside of Ponyvile. Moments ago they were attacked by Timberwolves and whilst normally they didn’t bother the people of ponyvile because of the mysterious “Plague Rock” many changes how occurred over the past months from the change in atmosphere to the native wild life, which apparently included the Timberwolves as well.
Since the evacuation ship came here only to carry the residents to Canterlot it came with only six-man guard detail, normally such a small force could easily be overwhelmed by the numbers they faced moments ago but for some reason the Timberwolves ran away not that Twilight was complaining.
As she helped the last evacuee onto the ladder followed by the guards Twilight took a moment to survey the place she had called home for so long. Gone was the clear blue sky of the old days instead grey-green tinted clouds cover over the landscape whilst the town the princess had come to love was patched by the green crystal of the plague rock.
A sudden surge of pain shook Twilight out of her daydreaming, turning around to her back she saw the problem and it made her heart ache.
“TWILIGHT!” The familiar voice of Rainbow dash brought Twilight’s attention back to her front.
Because of her hazmat suit Rainbow couldn’t fly as she normally would not that she can either way with the skies being what they are. Applejack meanwhile had a set of armour fixed to hers so she could fight like the other guards as she out of their entire group is the only one with the ability to fight.
As the two climbed down from the ladder Rainbow said “We got everyone that can fit in! So let’s-“
“Rainbow-“ AJ said softly as she got a look at Twilight’s back
Earlier in the fighting a lucky wolf got a snag at Twilight’s hazmat suit ripping the top portions that covered her wings off and even now the green rock was growing on Twilights wings and the toxic air was leaking into her suit.
“Come on! AJ look at her suit! We got to get her-!” RD started to say despite knowing what needs to be done.
Although Canterlot has a shield over it to protect it from the worse of the toxic atmosphere it was far from clean and having someone with a fresh infection would only make things worse. So unfortunately anyone who got infected by the green crystal whilst operating outside of the shield must stay outside, there were no exceptions
Not even to royalty.
“YOU FUCKING KNOW WE CAN’T DASH!!” AJ shouted cutting RD off though it was somewhat muffled by her suit.
Before Rainbow could protest AJ grabbed her by the waist with both arms and using her Terran strength jumped both of them onto the ladder all whilst Rainbow was trying to break free.
“NO DAMMIT LETMEGO AJ! LETMEGO! TWILIGHT!!!!” As Rainbow screamed at the top of her lungs as the airship began to sail up in the air away towards canterlot.
“I’m sorry girls”
As Twilight watched the airship leave her sight towards Canterlot she felt herself slipping away as the plague rock sapped her very life-force away, limping with what strength she had she made her way to AJ’s barn.
The barn had seen better days, it’s red and white wooden walls no longer shine when the sun hits them but rather are eroded by the atmosphere and harsh weather that not even the angles could control, the sign on top of the front entrance was still there but the words could barely be made out.
The rest of the farm was just as the same as the barn, the family house was completely destroyed by a massive crystal shard and most of the trees were mutated into orange-like plants and the grass that once covered the surrounding landscape was all but gone with only a few patch’s of the green crystal dotting the land like spots on a age old face.
As she lade herself down against the wall of the barn Twilight waited for the inevitable end of her life.
As she did so she noticed movement from her left.
Turning she saw another infected Timberwolf stalking the farm grounds in search of prey.
At first Twilight tried to get up and run but after being reminded of her condition she realised that she wouldn’t be able to run it even if Twilight pushed herself.
“Besides” Twilight thought as she reached for a small stone near her person.
“Shining said that a quick and painless death is better then a slow and painful one.”
With all the remaining strength she could muster Twilight hurled the stone in the wolf’s direction which hit it on the head.
As the beast turned to Twilight with death in its eyes the young Avatar closed her eyes and prepared to embrace the cold after life that awaited her.
Canterlot: 1/2/2020CC
Avatar Princess Celestia wiped her forehead with her free arm as she finished signing off the requisition for more materials to be used in the mountain refuge in mount Canterlot. Because of the surprising amount of work and management that was needed in these times the solar princess sometimes had to do some of the work that would normally fall to other bureaucrats, this also because many were now dead thanks to her so Celestia thinks of it as a sort of punishment.
For you see six months ago when the green crystal first arrived on Aurora the Solar avatar took only a few provocations on the containment of the strange mineral, the reasoning was simple yet still held the consequences that plague the present that reason being that nobody not even the immortal Avatars can predict that a seemingly small thing can cause so much destruction in just half a year.
It started small, in the containment area itself at ground zero where the crystal first landed near the broader with the crystal empire. During which the scientists involved were doing a variety of tests on the plague rock back when it was just known as Element-TX1, most of the tests failed to produce any significant results, the theory was that the technology Equestria has at the time was not advanced enough to comprehend the secrets of the element. The only things that could be learned was that the mineral was toxic to carbon-based life and that it was growing, threating to overrun the containment camp.
As such in an effort to further understand the nature of the anomaly and protect the outside world from the toxic nature of it Celestia authorised that magic would be used in further experiments and in reinforcing the containment zone, further measures were also taken including evacuating the surrounding areas of the GZ site and inviting medical personnel from other nations making the GZ operation an international effort.
But even then there were signs that the damage was done such as the compression in the atmosphere changing rapidly and the rumours of the green crystal appearing in other parts of the globe but Celestia and the other world leaders didn’t heed those signs.
SHE didn’t see those signs.
Because of her inaction the containment area would suddenly exploded a month after the crystal first arrived and the planet would rapidly change, destroying most of the other nations or at least that was the general opinion that going around as of late.
The reason for the was theorised to be because of the magic that was used in some experiments but no further research could be done while survival was priority.
As for the wider world?
No one really knows, in the chaotic six months following the explosion the nations involved in the GZ operation fell out of contact with communication both by air, ground, radio and magic becoming less and less effective as the atmosphere grew more with ionic particles. Canterlot was speared the worst by the efforts of its new captain of the royal guard after king Shining armour moved to the crystal empire, Captain Silver Blade son and student of the deceased General Iron Blade learned the spell that King shining uses to create the shield over Canterlot.
Since then they’ve been evacuating as many people as they could with ponyvile being the most recent town evacuated.
A knock on her office door brought Celestia out of memory lane as her sister Luna walked in wearing her combat armour similar to what the guards wear.
Smiling the solar avatar said “Luna! I trust the evacuation ship from ponyvile is here?”
Luna answered with a nod as she remembered Celestia asking her to keep an eye out for that one particular airship from Ponyvile.
Nodding with a small smile she replied “Indeed sister I trust you wish to see them yourself?”
After putting her pencil down and standing up whilst straightening her clothing Celestia said “Is that even a question Luna?” With a smile.
With that the two made their way through the castle in the center of canterlot which changed quite a bit in the last six months.
Due to the amount of people that needed shelter and the fact that the inside of mount canterlot must be clear of all infection the castle had to be host to many people whose homes were turned into clinics or refugee areas, many of the previous owners were at first unhappy but thanks to the ongoing crisis and the fact that most of them were nobles who had a chat with the solar avatar their dissatisfaction were a minor problem in the grand scheme of things.
As the two sisters walked through the castle they made sure they had a personal shield around themselves as some of the patients who lined the many halls could still have an active infection, this was evident by the glowing green crystal on their person.
Doctors were doing what they can but they could only do so much for so long.
Soon the siblings were out in the courtyard where they could see mount canterlot just beyond the faint blue glow of the shield, the courtyard itself was being used as a makeshift farm to help ease the burden of the ones inside the mountain.As they passed the gate they took in the sights of the streets of their once proud capital, where the streets were once bubbling with life now were housed to people who could not find shelter in the makeshift refugee homes or make shelter on the rooftops.
After some time the siblings arrived at the airport to the right of city where the castle faces the mountain.
As the guards lead them to the correct dock they could see that much of the airport has been converted into a makeshift shelter like the rest of the city.
They soon reached the dock which was on the edge of the shield with a U shaped platform for the airship to slide in, on either side of the cart underneath the main blimp the doors slide open and the passengers fill out with some of the guards keeping watch.
As Celestia walked to the left platform she kept an eye for someone in particular but unfortunately she couldn’t find her. Quietly teleporting to the other side she searched again but found the same results, nothing.
“Where could she be? Inside making sure everyone is safe? It would seem likely.” Celestia thought as she started to walk back to Luna who was talking to the lieutenant in charge of this dock.
Before she could get far however....
”GODDAMIT!”
Turning around Celestia saw a girl in a hazmat suit kneeling down just outside of the airlock to the ship, whom by the voice she recognised as Rainbow dash. Another girl in a hazmat suit who she presume is AppleJack walked outside the airlock beside her presumably trying to comfort her.
“Rainbow...,” AJ said as unbeknownst to both of them Celestia was approaching.
Shooting up and turning to AJ with her back to Celestia Rainbow shouted with rage “WE COULD'VE SAVED HER AJ! WE COULD’VE FUCKING SAVED HER!”
“Rainbow I get-“ AJ started but paused as she saw the solar avatar approaching.
“YOU GET!?-AJ AT WORST SHE WOULD'VE CONTAMINATED THE MAIN CABIN AND HAVE TO LEAVE HER IN THERE!!” Rainbow snaped rocketing back up to her feet and face her farmer friend.
Celestia was cautious as to whom she was talking about but decided to best simply try and comfort the young angel, gently she passes the crowed getting close before-
“WE COULD HAVE SAVED TWILIGHT!!”
She stopped, those that noticed Celestia’s presence stepped away whilst those who didn’t merely looked at the young Angel in disbelief.
“T-Twilight is?” The solar avatar thought as AppleJack got Rainbow to turn around, seeing Celestia RD could only look in shock at what she did or said given the circumstances.
Silence persisted over the landing before Luna came over and said, “Lieutenant! Get everyone out and sort them into their new accommodations NOW!”
Before long the guards have gathered everyone and made their way out of the platform and into the main facility of the dock, leaving only the elder avatars on the now empty platform.
Turning to her sister after everyone left Luna could tell that despite her calm exterior Celestia was braking down on the inside.
“Sister,” Luna said but before she could say anything else Celestia rushed into her arms and with no one looking.
Let it all out.
With all that’s happened and then some even Demi-goddess can have their limits.
As she held her sister as she cried Luna whispered in her ear, “Sister.. though it does seem bleck now I promise that somehow we WILL get through this crisis and make sure that those we’ve lost were not in vain.”
After a few moments of further sobbing and crying Celestia stood from her sister, her eyes red and tried but still ferm and resolute then she nodded and said, “And I will be strong for those we’ve lost as well dear sister.”
With all that said and done the two left the platform and the docks shortly after to continue their duties. Not realising that help is already coming.
Date:1/2/2620AD Location:GDS Fubuki Status: On route to AO
“First Class commander Parker please report to the Command center immediately.” Said a synthetic voice repeating throughout the Spartan-like room. The only things present in the commander’s quarters are a desk with a built in computer, a door to a small shower room, a small container and a cryogenic pod which opens to reveal a 23 year old man with red hair, pale skin, blue eyes and dressed in a tight body suit with very thin layers of metal along the various areas of the suit.
After existing the pod the man did a few stretches and some movements to get the stiff out of his body.
“Ahh just another day...” Roger Parker muttered as he walked over to the container and after pressing a few buttons a hatch opened on the top to reveal a water bottle.
Taking the bottle Roger drink the liquid gold down his throat whilst the synthetic kept on repeating its first sentence.
“First Class-“
“ALRIGHT EVA I’ll be there soon!” Roger snapped as he finished his drink before putting the empty bottle back in its place and then after quickly checking his attire he walks out of his room and makes his way through the corridors of the assault carrier to the ship’s command centre.
The hallways themselves were utilitarian and simple with their dull steel colour adding to the feel.
There were a few of the ship’s personal walking about either doing their tasks or on their way to them, when Roger passes them however they were sure to salute him and he made sure to return the gesture as any good officer should.
Soon Roger enters the Command centre of the assault carrier, where the command crew mostly FNGs stood from their posts to salute their commanding officer with one of them saying, “Commander on deck!”
“At ease,” Said Roger as he walked to his chair at the centre of the room.
“Okay EVA I am here what did you want to discuss?” The commander said as the view screen ahead of him which occupies most of the wall comes to life as his EVA (Electronic Video Agent) began to correlate the necessary information from the ship’s available archives.
Roger knows EVA is gonna give him a lecture on the state of things before getting to the matter at hand and normally he’d intervene but given that most of his green command crew barely had time to study the mission details before being assigned he’ll let EVA this one time if only so he didn’t do it in a less effective manner.
As the screen butted up with a map of known space EVA began saying, “As you know Commander it has been six years since the Scrin have re-instated hostilities between humanity and two months since Sky Marshall Sheppard launched the Gia offensive with the best of the Offensive branch’s space forces. Since then HIGHCOM and OFCOM has begun to organise a retaliatory strike against what is believed to be the Scrin empire’s frontier territories, as evidenced by the fact that the most defended Scrin worlds are on the very edge of dark space.”
That last part was a surprise to the new command crew which to Parker makes sense, most of these folks just got out of the academy normally they wouldn’t be the first choice for a replacement command crew but with the casualties during the last six years and the aforementioned Gia offensive lots of personal were being switched around to different units and commands.
This included Parker’s old command crew and so now he had the a fresh and very inexperienced crew to work with, of course it’s not something he can’t work with he’d dealt with worse situations before.
After displaying a specific section of space on the screen with the Fubuki in the centre EVA continued,”There are however three obstacles that must be overcome before such a strike could be launched.”
“The first is to ensure that the routes of advance are not disturbed by Scrin gorilla action.” As EVA said this two coloured territories appeared over the map, blue and purple.
The purple territory indicated that it was Scrin space whilst the blue territories are under the authority of humanity and protected by the Galactic Defence Initiative the successor organisation to the Global Defence Initiative or GDI.
Then three blue arrows were shown in the centre alongside the Fubuki pointing towards Scrin space whilst dozens of smaller Purple arrows appeared behind them.
It was a sound threat to be sure, even though they have acquired the data on the location of the Scrin territories that data was old and it be impossible to tell if that territory has expanded or not. So scouting the area of space where the future offensive would have to cross is a major objective.
“The second is to establish a series of Forward Operating Bases on several worlds to facilitate the logistics of such an operation.” EVA then switched the small purple arrows with many small dots, most arrangements in dotted lines going from the blue territory to the arrows whilst other blue dots were scattered around them.
“And the third?” Parker asked just for the sake of it.
“The third is to uphold GDI’s mandate of clearing the FOB planets of Tiberium to ensure the Scrin cannot counterattack easily.” EVA concluded.
With that out of the way, “So what’d you need me for EVA? We’ve arrived?” Parker asked.
“Affirmative our fleet which consists of the Assault carrier Fubuki, Assault cruisers Valiant and Resolute, Fourteen escort vessels and four Interstellar Troop Carriers which are carrying only 50% of their total capacity, have arrived at G-A2289 and are standing by for instructions Commander.” As EVA said this the screen changed again this time to the target planet they’ll be staying for the foreseeable future.
Parker nodded the reason why those transports aren’t full is because Parker’s regiment had just come out of nasty campaign to retake one of the few worlds that were still held by the Scrin after the Gia offensive. So instead of a full regiment which is five battalions he instead had three, one of which is just a logistical battalion and another is mostly green like his command crew, the only experienced unit Parker had in case of trouble is an armoured battalion and they weren’t at 100% either lacking most of their heavy vehicles.
Turning to his console on the left side of his chair Parker said,”Well then lets get to work people, Comms inform the captain to bring us into orbit of the target world and have the escorts perform a system wide sweep for Scrin ships, Tactical I want full readiness of all combat units for deployment planetside, Techs I want all pre-fabs ready to deploy at anytime understood?”
“YES SIR!” Came the universal reply.
After his crew went to do their tasks EVA then spoke again, “Commander due to the amount of iron storms present I suggest sending a reconnaissance team to scout a parental base site.”
“A sound idea.” Parker thought, although the only unit in his which has the men available for such an op is the 205th infantry battalion which is mostly made of green soldiers aside from some surviving officers who got through the previous campaign.
Still it’s better then not sending anyone and so far there’s no Scrin activity despite the state of the planet.
[IST-5552E]
Unlike other ships Interstellar transports don’t have a separate room for Commanders to sleep in instead only having a office, whereas they sleep where the grunts sleep in the massive cryo-bays onboard the ISTs.
This particular office was home to the temporary commander of the 205th infantry battalion, Support commando Tom E Grey.
Being a Commando one would find it odd for one to be in charge of a battalion, however support commandos are a special case.
Unlike Defensive or offensive Commandos, supports focus on providing tactical and strategic aid to any unit they’re attached to such as generating a shield for a company of troops, identifying enemy and allied forces for a effective artillery strike, supporting other commandos and can lead men into battle if their own officers weren’t available due to combat or other duties.
Speaking of duties Grey was just checking the least report from his quartermaster on his computer detailing the status of their arms and armour when the ISTs EVA unit said “Commando Grey? Commander Parker is on the line.”
Storing the report away for a later review Grey tapped a few times on his computer before the face of his superior came on the screen.
“Sup comrade how can I help?” He said his Russian accent rough like his appearance, unlike Parker Grey was Twenty years his senior and had Slavic heritage visible on his rough and scared face, the scars being a reminder that whilst his job wasn’t as action packed as the other two commando types he was still a GDI commando, the best of the best.
Smiling a bit at his old friend Parker got to the point “ Well Grey I need you to assemble a scouting team to recon the planet below for a good LZ for the MCV”
Textbook but true.
In this day and age its commander operation 101, scout the AO on the surface of the planet be it charted or uncharted using whatever method is the most viable at the time and since the planet they are orbiting soon appears to be mostly Red zone, scanning isn’t likely to achieve much so a hands on approach is the best option.
That being said.
“ A team comrade? I’d figure you’d want at least a company down there with fire support. May I ask why?” Grey asked he has known Parker only for two years but in the military and especially in war that’s enough time to forge strong bond camaraderie.
That last comment must’ve soured the mood as Parker then said “You know why Eddie.”
His words were soft but firm and Grey knew why but mentally smacked himself for not realising it sooner. The aforementioned “Nasty campaign” wasn’t just a campaign that was hard, it was probably the most intense and bloody battle in all of human history up to that point.
Officially known as the Syphon Campaign it involved six whole army groups plus three army corps and took three months before it came to a conclusion but that wasn’t what had Parker in a foul mood. No because during that campaign he sent a company’s worth of men out on recon to investigate a Scrin base that might be near their location.
When the men returned they said that the enemy had evacuated the base and had left behind something that might interest InOps so Parker organised a recovery unit, it wasn’t until the crew had arrived that the truth was revealed.
As you might just now expect the base wasn’t abandoned but rather it was clocked with all sorts of terrifying war machines hiding in its shadow, once the crew realised what was happening it too late.
Simultaneously members of the recon company who weren’t with the recovery crew lowered their base’s automatic weapons platforms which allowed hidden Scrin units to launch a bold attack on the GDI troops.
If it wasn’t for Commander Parker realising the slight changes in behaviour in the recon troops and the quick arrival of allied reinforcements their story might’ve ended then and there.
But it wasn’t without cost and they weren’t the only victims of this sort of tactic.
Shaking his head out of memory Lane Grey said “I understand Park I’ll get started but before I do, might I recommend Doctor Masterson to be apart of the team?”
Within the screen Parker tilted his head before shaking it glade to have something else to think about.
“The one from InOps right?” He asked.
Doctor Alex Masterson is a doctor assigned to Parker’s command after Syphon and whilst Parker himself hadn’t had the chance to properly get to know the man, he did read his files the most interesting part being-.
“The one who knows how to operate a Heavy Zone Suit yes Comrade that Masterson” Grey interrupted.
HZSs are basically bulkier versions of modern Zone armours designed to be a fire-support unit for your average infantry platoon. Though the training required is both different and difficult as such Heavy Zone armour troopers are quite rare even amongst ZOCOM.
After thinking for just a few moments Parker nodded and then said,”Alright then Grey I’ll leave the selection to you but I want that team planetside as soon as possible understood?”
Standing up from his desk and saluting Grey replied, ”Yes sir!” Before his superior cut the connection and then got to work.
[Six minutes later]
“BETA Squad please report to the assembly bay. Repeat BETA Squad please report to the assembly bay. Repeat-“ EVA repeated over the intercom of one of the many barracks onboard the IST, to the annoyance of some of its occupants.
One of them was Rifleman Class 1 (The GDI equivalent to a Sargent or squad leader) Hawkins who was unfortunately the leader of BETA squad, a relatively green unit by ZOCOM standards.
After getting out of his Bunkpod (A nickname for cryopods) Hawkins walked to the left where the four members of his squad were bunked. After informing a nearby technician and getting the glass casings on the pods to open the Squad leader said.
”ON YOUR FEET ZONIES!!!”
After getting up from the sudden wake up call the four men formed a net line in front of Hawkins, he then got a good look at them.
All of them were at least twenty with the standard army haircuts and the same GDI body suit as commander Parker though slightly different.
“Permission to speak sir?!” Said the man on the far right.
“Denied! We are on the clock zonies! Double time to the AAB!” Shouted Hawk as his men complied.
After a few minutes of walking through the tight hallways of the IST the squad found themselves in the armour assembly bay, a place where Zone troopers darned their zone armours with the help of mechanical assembly stations organised into five lines of twenty capable of outfitting a whole company of ZTs at once.
As Hawkins steps into the station technicians check its condition before giving Hawk the thumbs up, then mechanical arms branch out from the station and start attaching the power armour to Hawks bodysuit.
Unlike the Zone armours of the third Tiberium War modern armours are more form-fitting and can be mixed and matched with different pieces of different suits, so if one ZT has a damaged chest piece and sees a undamaged one nearby he can replace his chest piece in the field.
After just a few moments of standing in a T-pose the arms have completed placing all the armour pieces together with the body suit with the helmet folding out from the chest seconds after the rest of the armour was completed.
After checking his HUD to make sure everything was in order Hawkins stepped out of the station and looked to his right to see the rest of his squad also finished with their fittings.
He then walked to his left towards a armoury where most of the weapons are kept, soon enough the quartermaster hands out the weapons to BETA.
Although humanity had perfected Railgun technology to the point it can be handheld, the rate of fire plus it’s cost during the third and fourth T-Wars made it unsuitable for wide spread usage. Even in the twenty-seventh Railgun technology hasn’t been able to advance to that point where it can be use widespread, this was mostly due to humanity’s focus on civilian technologies during much of their space age.
Although the return of the Scrin prompted the United Nations Space Alliance to give GDI funds for military research most of that research went into upgrading current chemical-propelled weapons of most ground troops.
Known as simply as ETC guns or electro-thermal-chemical guns which on short are similar to regular chemical-propelled weapons but where these guns use simply chemical igniter to fire their projectiles ETC guns use a plasma device as the main igniter, the small difference between ETCs and CPWs might be why ETCs were not developed as much as Railguns back then.
However with the Scrin gaining ground during the early years of the war GDI needed a upgrade that was better but at the same time cheaper to produce in large amounts, as such ETC technology was given the priority.
So by 2620 in the current day most ground troops have ETC weapons as their main firearms with Railguns only used either on vehicles and ships, used as special weapons or given to class 1 infantry.
In Hawkins case he’s a class 1 rifleman which means he’s authorised to carry a Railgun which was the GLS-95 Railgun, a basic and bulky Bolt-action rifle which was introduced in 2618, and has already won favour with much zone trooper veterans Hawkins included.
After inspecting the weapon Hawkins turned to his squad who was aiming their weapons towards a nearby bulkhead, testing to see if their targeting software was in good condition.
Unlike Hawke they were class 2 so they had to make do with the ETCM-30 Gauss rifle, a bulky weapon like the 95 but more like a standard kinetic weapon with a collapsable stock for QCB.
After a quick inspection via his HUD Hawkins noticed someone approaching them. There were two both males, one was wearing a officer’s version of the standard bodysuit they all wear and the second one had the standard bodysuit but it was coloured white instead of the trademark brown colours that adore the suit.
After a quick glance at the officer Hawkins shouted “Officer on deck!”
As one BETA snapped to a salute before their commanding officer of their company.
“At ease” Captain Michael said and BETA did exactly that then he went down to business.
“Alright I’ll get straight to the point BETA, the commanders selected you to perform a textbook recon mission on the planet’s surface to locate a suitable LZ for our new home for the foreseeable future.” He said as BETA paid very close attention.
“Permission to speak sir?” Said one of the squad members.
Michael nodded though he suspected what the question will be.
“Who’s the FNG?” “And there it is.” Michael thought as he glanced at his guest before saying.
“This is Doctor Josh Masterson and he will be accompanying you on your mission, now I know what your all thinking but no worries not only is the good Doc here from InOps but he knows his way around a HZS” He explains.
The squad nodded but only Hawkins seemed convinced, it was then that the good doctor introduced himself personally.
“Greetings BETA squad I do hope that we can get along for the foreseeable future.” He said.
The doctor had blonde hair and red eyes behind a pair of smart glasses, he was in his fithties despite his young appearance.
Stepping forward and shaking Masterson’s hand Hawkins said “Likewise doc, we’ll head on over to the drop bay while you get ready.”
As the squad existed the AAB Hawkins turned back just in time to see the technicians help Masterson into his HZT.
Unlike standard Zone armour HZTs are more bulky-like with a glass canopy over the pilot’s head whilst most of his body is in cased in the suit. Due to this it is much more durable but requires more time to assemble, it is also more costly both in materials and training.
As the Doc is finished getting ready Hawkins turned back to catch up with his Zonies.
[Two Minutes later]
The journey to the drop bay wasn’t long as it was close to the AAB for the purpose of rapid deployment.
Walking down the small hallway in single file BETA squad soon reached their assigned drop-pod with two technicians running final checks on the pod’s outer hull.
Waving to Hawk who was in front, one of the technicians said,”Sir! We got her ready and able she’ll get you down no problem, that is if the iron storms don’t intervene.”
Nodding Hawkins moved to the door of the pod and using his right pulled the hatch open to his left and watched his squad pile in.
“Any idea on the forecast this time?” Hawk said as his turned to face the mechanic whilst still holding the hatch open.
Holding a Data pad in his hand the technician said “EVA said they’ll be an opening for about six minutes after that she speculates that another one will appear about two hours from now for twelve minutes, so you got two hours to find a safe LZ and twelve minutes to get what we need down planetside okay Sargent?”
“Understood!” Hawkins confirmed as he watches the last of his men enter the pod before climbing in himself sealing the hatch behind him.
The interior of the pod was a hexagon shape with the five man squad occupying the seats built into the inner walls of the pod.
Soon after they were all seated in Hawkins got a notification on his HUD from Masterson saying he was ready and in his pod, soon there was a loud THUD and Hawk could feel himself straining against the seat as the pod spiralled downwards towards the planet below.
[Drop-pod E4437519X]
The atmosphere within the pod was tense mostly due to the fact that when dropping into any Tiberium infested area things can and have gone sour real quickly.
As BETA waited within their seats Hawkins knows that his men are much more tense then him, which was normal. Zonies was a term used to describe Zone troopers who haven’t seen combat yet and usually Zone troopers would see their first action in their first drop, so their tense nature was understandable to the C1 soldier since he too was tense and even a bit scared on his first drop though that faded away as time moved on.
Suddenly there was a large jolt that rocked the pod around for a moment before everyone could feel something in the pressure as if the pod wasn’t going straight down anymore.
“What the hell was that!?” BETA two Hawkins’s 2IC shouted clearly more tense then before.
Looking at his HUD Hawkins noticed that the Doctor is trying to contact them.
Opening the com the ZTs of BETA squad could only hear bits and pieces of the doctor’s words.
“THIS-(static)-HAWK-(static)-THE READIN-(static)-ING THAT-(more static)-RED ZONE!!” That last part caught the squad’s attention.
“Red zone!? I thought protocol was to land in a yellow zone if there was any!?” BETA five said this time and it was understandable. The scans that the Fubuki conducted showed that the planet was 60% Red zone, 30% yellow zone and 10% blue zone, standard protocol was that landing in a yellow zone was preferable and recommended to any ZT drop. If the planet was 100% Red zone then there was no choice and since the Fubuki’s scan was resent.
Hawkins felt a shiver as realised what was happening. “THAT BECAUSE THIS IS ABOUT TO BECOME A RED ZONE FIVE!” He shouted and as if on command the whole squad tightened was safety measures the pod had and braced for impact.
Soon enough there was an increase in pressure and before Hawk knew it his vision turned to darkness.
[Location: Planet G-A2289 / Red zone 347B]
The rough and almost barren landscape was disturbed by a thunderous BOOM! As a object came crashing down into the ground.
Said object was a GDI M23B Drop-pod deployed by the GDS Fubuki and soon enough the hatch on one side bursts out, flying out a couple of meters away.
Stepping out from the hole he had made in his pod Doctor Masterson took in the sights before him and it wasn’t what he was expecting.
Although the sky was still covered by the greenish iron storms there was a distinct lack of Tiberium near his location despite it being a red zone.
“Interesting” thought Masterson as he looked out over the landscape still bristling with vegetation but only barely.
“EVA can you pinpoint BETA squad’s drop pod?” He asked as he manoeuvred his HZT away from the crashed pod and out into the landscape.
“Locating.....confirmed” EVA said as a marker and a route appeared on Masterson’s HUD.
Nodding Masterson followed the marked path whilst trying to understand the unusual circumstances of this Red zone.
[Twelve minutes later]
After walking for a long while Doctor Masterson could finally see the shape of BETA’s drop pod. It was relatively intact despite it apparently landed on a small patch of Green Tiberium.
After quickly checking the status of the pod Masterson is relieved that not only is the pod not compromised but there was also life signs inside.
Putting his HZTs hand on the hull Masterson used his HUDs interface to manually activate the release programs that will allow BETA to exist the pod. As the men got reoriented after that nasty drop BETA three pulled his right hand to his helmet in a attempt to communicate.
“GDS Fubuki this is BETA we’ve landed but were thrown off course requesting-,” before three got far however.
“Don’t bother Zonie we won’t get any comms until the next opening and even then it probably won’t be clear but...” Hawkins said as he took in the scenery around him.
Aside from their pod’s landing site the rest of the known landscape seems to be void of any Tiberium deposits whatsoever which was strange in of itself.
Noticing Masterson’s HZT near a large Tiberium crystal further out from the deposit, Hawkins mentioned for his squad to get ready to move whilst he had a chat with the InOps doctor.
“It just doesn’t make sense!” Hawkins heard the doctor say as he watched the HZT’s left arm ,playing host to a scanning device, moving up and down along the giant crystal’s structure.
“What doesn’t make sense doc?” He asked standing beside the HZT operator.
“Two things Sargent, the first is that Tiberium spreads by absorbing the nutrients from the ground but according to my scans these crystals barely have nutrients from this specific area! The only thing that these crystals DO contain is a form of energy that I’m unfamiliar with currently.” Masterson explained.
That set off alarm bells in Hawkins mind, it was no secret that Tiberium fields feed of the nutrients of the ground making even the most fertile soil unfit for farming but if the Tiberium is only getting this odd energy to feed on..
“And the second?” The squad leader asked dreading the answer.
Turning his HZT to Hawkins after a quick double check Masterson said “Second if my readings are correct this Tiberium, this specific chunk has only been around for at least two months. Normally that in of itself wouldn’t seem unusual but considering this patch is the only Tiberium I’ve seen so far...there’s definitely more to this planet then we first thought.”
Nodding his head in understanding Hawkins replied “If it makes you feel better Doc I’ll have EVA bring a laboratory down in the first drop.”
After that the team moved out from the small patch of Tiberium heading in the direction of the next nearest Tiberium deposit.
[Seventy minutes later]
After over an hour of walking the team could see signs of civilisation or what was left of it.
It was a small town near a clearly infected forest, with the town itself being covered by Tiberium in most places. From their position and distance the team could make out the style of the town which was somewhere in the Middle Ages architecture or something like that.
None of the guys were artists okay.
“Well things are getting more confusing by the minute.” Said Masterson, to which Hawk couldn’t help but nod in agreement. The fact that they found civilisation at all was a 1 in a million chance but one that resembles human culture? That’s not something that can be attributed to chance, not in a trillion years.
“To think we’d find evidence of a civilisation here on our first drop.” BETA two said as he and the rest of the squad looked over the town and its surrounding landscape, it’d looked like this town was a agricultural centre or at the very least had good farming infrastructure.
Checking the time Hawkins frowned a bit, they had about fithty minutes until the next opening and the journey to the town would probably take thirty or so.
Shaking his head Hawkins said “Well unless anyone else has a better suggestion on where to find a good LZ, we’re moving in on the town ASAP!”
“YES SIR!” Came the universal reply.
[Thirty minutes later]
The team was just now entering the town and now that they got closer look they could see that the buildings do resemble medieval architecture.
BETA was on point in a triangle formation with Hawkins in front, his 2IC was on his left and BETA three on his right. The doctor was a few feet behind the squad using what equipment his HZT has to do some on the fly research.
“I don’t like this.” BETA four said as he scanned the rooftops.
“Yeah from the looks of it this place was abandoned very recently, but then where are they?” BETA two chimed in.
“Let’s just focus on finding that landing zone people otherwise we’d be-“ Before Hawkins could finish he and the rest of the scout team could hear a faint humming noise that was slowly getting louder.
Moving quickly the team made it into the town square when they saw what was making that noise.
“Well I’ll be dammed.” Hawkins said as he took in the sight.
It was a zeppelin of sorts kinda like what the soviets used during the Second World War but it didn’t look like it could carry bombs like the soviet ones, this zeppelin was probably a transport of sorts.
As the large airship made its way to the other side of town however Hawkins could hear another noise this time it wasn’t as harmless.
Taking cover behind some left over carts the GDI personnel could see a herd of Tiberium infested creatures stampeding past towards the Zeppelin.
Readying his GLS-95 Railgun Hawkins said over the com “Prepare to engage.”
At this BETA readied their Gauss rifles and Masterson readied the weapons on his HZT which included a Gatling gun and two shoulder mounted missile launchers.
As soon as his men gave the green light Hawkins shouted “ENGAGE AT WILL!” And fired a Railgun shot square in the lead creature’s head, causing it to trample over and causing a mass halt to the horde’s advance.
Soon a massive firefight was underway with the GDI soldiers using their superior range and firepower to swat away dozens of hostiles before they could get close.
However as the battle continued the squad was forced into a semi circle with Doctor Masterson in the centre as the infected creatures were able to surround them using superior numbers.
As Hawkins put another round into a hostile that almost had the drop on BETA two, BETA three shouted “HOSTILES TO THE NORTH!”
Looking at said direction Hawkins could see at least thirty more enemies approaching but he also noticed something else.
“At least we’re buying whoever some time!” Masterson commented as he unloaded another volley of missiles into the horde which apparently finally made them rethink their chances and soon enough they retreated with some of them trying to carry their dead with them.
As the air quietened the squad to stock of what happened.
“Did you see that?” BETA two asked “They had wood for skin!”
“Yeah” BETA three replied “And they look sorta like wolves too.”
Checking his timer Hawkins called out “Alright people let’s more we got five minutes until the next opening!”
“Where to sir?” BETA four asked.
Turning to where that Zeppelin landed Hawkins replied “To where that airship landed if nothing else we might find clues as to whom we are dealing with and how we can help.”
[Four minutes later]
They approached what appeared to be a farm with a focus on tree fruits if the amount of mutated trees is to go by.
Passing by a sign above him Hawkins said “Apple Family orchard huh?”
As the squad entered the premises BETA two shouted “Over there!”
Sure enough they spotted a person in a hazmat suit leaning against the wall of a destroyed barn but that wasn’t all.
One of the Infected creatures was about to pounce on them.
“Not on me watch” Hawkins thought as he put a round through the beast.
Rushing over Masterson check their or her vitals in that they were close, Hawkins also noticed she had wings which were covered in Tiberium.
“Well doc?” Hawkins asked.
“We can save her if we get her to a medbay ASAP!” Masterson replied.
Nodding Hawkins took out a signal beacon but before he could throw it.
“Umm sir isn’t this technically private property?” BETA two asked.
Turning to him Hawkins replied “We’ll leave that to the brass right now we need a LZ now more then ever!”
With that he tossed the beacon over to where there was flat ground and then got on the comms.
“Fubuki Actual this is BETA leader LZ secured. Be advised we got a VIP in need of medical, requesting Medbay and laboratory be the first ones down over.”
After a few seconds EVA replied “Affirmative BETA, reinforcements inbound. Requesting identification of new Base site.”
Turning to the sign Hawkins simply replied “Apple base”.
It has been six days and news about the fourth Avatar’s fate traveled fast and should’ve caused great sorrow.
But fortunately or unfortunately depending on how one sees it most people were more focused on their own problems rather than mourn for one of their leaders.
Except for five certain friends who are at one of the only bars not converted into housing by the current crisis. Though saying that the bar nowadays can only house a certain amount of people depending on their condition, currently five certain friends have rented out the place for a special but sad occasion.
“Dammit” Muttered Rainbow as she sat at the counter with the others.
The bar itself was quite bare with all the tables moved elsewhere leaving the counter as the only furniture in the establishment.
Turning to her left she saw the rest of the gang either drinking what little the bartender had to offer or just starring at nothing in particular.
“What can we do now AJ?” Rainbow asked the farmer who was sitting next to her.
“A’ll be honest? Surviving is all we can do nowadays..and it’s what she’d do as well RD.” Applejack replied.
Rainbow didn’t respond and AJ can understand that, ever since that day the rainbow haired angel was the one blaming herself for the whole thing. Mostly because she was appointed as lookout during the Ponyvile evacuation but during that evacuation she left her post to personally get Scotalu and bring her to the ship, by the time they got back there the infected Timberwolves almost overwhelmed the guard and would have if they hadn’t suddenly turned tail and run.
Even so. It was her fault that they were in such a bad spot and probably why Twilight got that wound on her hazmat suit, at least that’s what she believes anyway.
“Is there even a future worth surviving?” A soft voice asked.
“We won’t know if we don’t try Fluttershy.” AJ said to the other angel on the far side of their little gathering.
Standing up from her seat and clapping her hands together Rarity said “Your quite right darling, even if it seems pointless in the end the best we can do is keep this last beacon of ours alive for who knows how long.”
Popping out of nowhere a certain pink-haired party girl said “Well of course we’re gonna get through this! Otherwise what’s point of this story!? Plus! He’s just a novice!! And! He isn’t good with that kind of character building!”
Goddamit Pinky Pie!
Ignoring the odd comment by their energetic friend, the gang noticed the bartender washing another glass as he said “ Will you be going then?”
Taking a look at her glass that she had yet to drink, Rainbow shrugged then gulped it down in one go then said with determination. ”Might as well, I’ve mourned for long enough.”
With that the group made ready to leave to return to their current emergency posts but before they could leave.
“Hey! Idea!!!” Pinky said Jumping up and down around the group as she went.
After coming down from her bouncing Pinky said “How about we PINKY PROMISE ON THAT!?”
Raising an eyebrow at her Applejack said “A promise on what?”
Gasping Pinky replied “A PROMISE TO TWILIGHT THAT WE WONT GIVE UP DUH!”
As the group stared at each other for a few seconds Rainbow looked outside through the window and saw what Twilight’s old home had become, and knew that at the very least saving it’s people could put Twilight’s soul to rest.
“I’m gain if everyone else is, I mean no reason we shouldn’t right?” Rainbow said getting the others attention.
With that they go through the familiar motions of a pinky promise and then went about their new normal days unaware that Equestria’s luck will change for the better.
Apple Base : Ponyvile : 7/2/2620AD
“Apple air control this is Big Bird three, got another load of MREs and other shit for this last run over.”
“Copy that Big Bird you’re clear to land be advised you’ll be grounded for awhile, Class five Iron storm is forming so all inbounds are to stick to low atmo flights for the foreseeable future copy?”
“Copy” The pilot of the GDI transport responded as he manoeuvred his craft towards his new home for now.
It’s been six days since ZOCOM landed on this planet and they’ve been running massive supply runs nonstop at every opening the iron storms give them but with a class five it’ll be much longer before another opening will reveal itself.
For the time being ZOCOM will have to make do with what they got, Apple base.
The base itself is situated on the grounds next to the abandoned barn in the area where the infected trees were, now that area housed GDI’s first and only strong point on the planet. It’s perimeter is a square shaped wall with sentry guns on the corners to provide the maximum amount of coverage. Within the centre of the base was the command center, to the left of the CC was the base’s comms centre, refinery and garage for much of the regiment’s heavy vehicles. To the right of the command centre was the barracks, medbay and armoury along with a lab and storage bay for non-building materials.
[GDI : Apple Base : Command Centre : Main command room ]
The main command room was the heart of the command centre and where field commanders can direct their missions.
“Commander air control here Big bird three has just landed, he’s being prepped for low-atmo flights now.”
“Understood air control, organise supply and QRF flights out of the transports and make sure Grizzly squadron is settled in.” Commander Parker said as he stands in the centre of the main command room.
Since most of the ground facilities were prioritised things like the airfield weren’t able to get down in time before the class five iron storm rolled in, as such most of the aircraft had to be parked in the open field next to the base which was the best place given the atmospheric conditions.
“Roger air control out.” With that Parker took a seat on his command chair and took a sigh of relief.
Ever since they’ve arrived on this planet Parker and his command team had to run around like dogs to make sure things run smoothly and whilst that came with almost every operation this one was more pressure intensive.
Considering that this planet was unique in its Tiberium cycle one can agree that Parker HAD to be sure everything was done correctly, such as a supply run running on time or the correct amount of weapons gets down on time.
Whilst nothing had happened during these past six days Parker wasn’t a commander for being laxed.
Sitting up into a proper position Parker had a look around.
The Command centre was the last building that was being built when he decided to transfer planetside and as such certain consoles and computers are still being put together with tools, wires and other parts scattered all along the floor.
Whilst not the most safe workplace Parker and his men had preformed under worse circumstances.
Standing back up and having a wonder enjoying the rare moment of peace and quiet, EVA contacted him.
“Commander? Doctor Masterson requests your presence in the Medbay.”
Looking up at the ceiling Parker replies “On my way EVA.”
Walking through the command centre Parker came across a hatch which lead to a steer case, which itself lead to a tunnel network under the base.
Said network is created so as to avoid the need to create travel tubes above ground which could affect the limited road system in the small base that is established in the red zones.
As Parker walked through the pressurised tunnel towards the medbay he could feel the rumbling of armoured vehicles passing over him.
He then arrived at another hatch that leads to the the medbay, passing through it Parker enters the bright lit walls of a GDI medbay.
The Medbay is the name for the field hospital in any GDI base complete with surgery rooms, care centres etc, it was the live line in many combat zones and this will be no exception when the fighting does come.
Parker doesn’t like to sugar coat things and he knows that once the big push starts the Scrin will eventually find out about GDI’s little base network in the no-man’s land region of space and launch assaults repeatedly to destroy them. Which means a lot of casualties no matter how one looks at it so a good hospital network was a must, still Parker was hoping that his unit and those who’d come later would be in the rear areas of the network but war is unpredictable so anything goes.
After passing by some staff members who were either still setting up equipment or checking with the guards Parker arrived at Doctor Masterson’s office.
“You wanted to see me doc?” The commander asked as he sat on a chair in front of the doctor’s desk.
Looking up from his computer Masterson turned to Parker and said “Yes it’s about this.”
Turning his computer around Parker could see what appeared to be readouts of their new guest. From her physical condition to her biology in general.
“From what my team was able to gather during the procedure she actually has traces of THREE different species or at least sub-types of the same race.” The good doctor explained.
“And that means?” Parker asked.
Turning his computer back around Masterson said “Well my team and I have plenty of theories, mine is that this relates to their governmental or cultural hierarchy with this hybrid race standing above the rest and-“
AHHHHHHHH!!!
Turning their attention to their guest’s room they could see three guards already storming into the room. Letting out a sigh and unholstering his pistol Parker said “Looks like your theories won’t remain theories for long doc let’s go.”
Twilight POV: Moments earlier.
When Twilight first closed her eyes that day she didn’t know what to expect, it’s not like people have come back from the dead to share their experiences with anyone, so it didn’t at first feel odd that she could feel at all or have a sense of self in the afterlife.
But as more of her senses came back to her, including her hearing, she began to wonder if she had died at all.
“But I have to be dead, it’s not like that all was a dream Luna would’ve said something.” Twilight thought as she struggled to open her eyes, they felt heavy like the rest of her body.
However something was also off about her body as well, she could feel something sticking into her left arm and she could feel what might be bandages wrapped around her body.
Panic suddenly started to creep over Twilight not at the unusual situation she found herself in or the sensations she was feeling.
It was what she did not feel.
She could feel her arms along with the weight of bandages and she could feel her legs as stiff as they were.
But her wings...
“Th-There-” Twilight thought and before she could gain control of herself.
She screamed.
And was a powerful scream too which was interrupted by the entry of three armoured persons with weapons that resemble crossbows.
The persons ,whom Twilight guessed were soldiers of some kind, had a silverlike colour to their armour and their crossbows (for lack of a better term) were black in colour and were wielded like a soldier of equestria would use a crossbow.
“CLEAR!” One of them shouted in perfect Auroran before the other two replied in the same manner.
“Status soldiers?” Said another voice behind the soldiers, promoting the lead one to turn around and say.
“Doesn’t look like she was attacked-“
“OF COURSE NOT SHE JUST WOKE UP!-” Said a third voice.
“Alright doc settle down you might keep scaring her and we need her calm in order to help” the second voice replied as the two newcomers came into Twilight’s view.
The first was a man about Twilight’s age, a 23 year old man with red hair, pale skin and blue eyes. He was dressed in clothing the likes of which Twilight had not seen before. The second person wore the same outfit but had blonde hair and red eyes plus a lab coat.
Seeing Twilight stare at them the red haired man said “Greetings madam I’m Commander Parker of the Galactic Defence Initiative and this is my chief medical officer Doctor Masterson.” The aforementioned Masterson then nodded after being mentioned.
Knowing that she won’t get anywhere otherwise Twilight said in a weak voice “H-Hello my name is Twilight S-Sparkle.”
: Masterson’s Office : Medbay : Apple Base : Ponyvile : 7/2/2620AD :
After the quick introduction of Parker and Masterson they began to ask their guest (whose name is Twilight Sparkle) questions about her, history, culture, governments and nations, it wasn’t a lecture by any means as Twilight needed rest so the two GDI officers settled on the simple things.
Are or were there any other governments? Yes.
Has this world encountered Tiberium for long? No.
Do all natives of this world have wings and a crystal on their foreheads? No.
And these were just some examples, despite the short questions the amount of them made Parker and Masterson stay with Twilight for at least half an hour before they had to leave to process the information as well as work up a plan going forward. But Parker promised he would return to answer the Princess’s questions.
And yes she’s royalty apparently.
“…We’ll also need to keep an eye on the stockpiles once we begin to distribute them to the civilians, considering what Twilight said about some of these nobles, more specifically this ‘Blueblood’ character, they may try to acquire the relief supplies in such a way that they’ll horde it all for themselves.” Masterson said as he and Parker sat in his office in the Medbay, which just had its security uped due to the VIP status of one of its residents.
Leaning back on his chair looking irritated Parker said “If there’s one thing I hate more then the Scrin is people who think themselves better because of who their grandparents were.”
Masterson nodded in agreement completely.
Shifting his posture a bit Parker asks “Do you think we could supply them with what we’ve got on hand?”
Looking at his computer Masterson said “If we ration it right although they’d be eating MREs until we’d get word to High command.”
That got Parker thinking, the Iron Storm was still settling in so they’d got word of what they’ve found off world. The problem was how long until HighCom gets the message? The notion of a native species, even one that resembles humans, surviving a Tiberium infestation like this with the help of GDI would not only be a huge propaganda victory but it would also show the human race that they aren’t just cleaning up Tiberium, their also saving people who aren’t as fortunate as Humanity. So the thought that they will send humanitarian aid is a good possibility.
That being said however the details they’ve sent in the message weren’t much to go on other then they have at least 2 to 4 million people alive in one city and that was a rough estimate by the Princess since they were in such a rush to evacuate everyone. So the odds of them surviving before help can arrive are 50/50 which to HighCom isn’t that great, especially since diverting resources from a military operation such as the advance into Scrin space to a humanitarian mission isn’t that simple.
Though in their defence the job of a Strategic commander like those at HighCom and the Job Parker has are completely different from one another, so who knows? Right now Parker’s main focus is to get everything from his unit organised and plan their next more from there.
With that in mind Roger Parker got up from his chair and said “Keep me updated if anything about our guest or situation turns up.”
Masterson nodded understanding completely. “And you?” He said.
Stopping at the office door Parker said “I’d promise the Princess some answers so I’m gonna make good on that promise.”
To say that the village is a ghost town was a complete understatement, rightfully so.
The only thing that was occupying the town was a patrol of thirty ZONE troopers doing a quick sweep of the area, during the six day build up of Apple Base patrols were limited to the immediate area of the base due to said base’s lack of organic defence systems. Once said systems were in place however the patrol patterns began to widen, which in turn meant that the soldiers of the 205th could have a higher chance of running into those Tiberium infested creatures. To which most of the soldiers of the battalion were glad for as they wanted some action, not BETA though as they’ve seen how deadly they can be.
Unfortunately for BETA they along with their platoon were among the first to take the first shifts.
“Echo Actual this is Echo 3-6 at Checkpoint Central Alpha, break all clear break here over.” Hawkins said as he and the rest of BETA stood watch in Ponyvile’s town square, the rest of their platoon had taken up positions leading to the square whilst they also took turns sweeping their immediate areas of operations.
“Echo 3-6 Echo Actual break there’s a large castle like structure in your area can you confirm?” Their captain whose callsign is Echo actual said over the Comms.
Checking his area again Hawk saw the structure in question, it’d look like the castle was built into a crystal tree of some kind and has no defensive works what so ever.
“Affirmative actual 3-6 has eyes on, over” Hawk replied.
“3-6 Command wants you to take lead on investigating the structure for anything that might be of value to the natives, they’ve left in a hurry so the commander wants to take this opportunity to gain favour with their government when contact is made, confirm?”
“Confirmed.”
: Twilight’s Castle : Five minutes later :
The castle unlike the outside was not as contaminated due to some strange Crystal like liquid filing in the gaps of the walls, making the whole interior pressurised somewhat. Still the inside of the castle had a green hue to its over wise colourful environment, never mind that the furniture along with most else have been contaminated.
BOOM!
At the front door a sudden explosion forces the large object back a few ways, immediately after BETA squad files in.
“Clear!” BETA two said taking point in the breach, followed by the rest of BETA. As Hawkins has a look around he notices that they appear to be in a hallway leading to a inner chamber of some kind.
Advancing at the head of their triangle formation BETA two kept his rifle trained on the door ahead of him, sacking up on the door BETA two then received the go ahead from Hawkins to open the door allowing the rest of BETA to pile in.
What awaited them was a rather large chamber with a large six chaired table in the centre, a meeting room perhaps?
“What the-!?” BETA three said as the “table” suddenly glowed and then a holographic projection of a large area showed up, on closer inspection Hawkins realised that it was a map of some kind, an accurate one at that.
“Well-” BETA two said.
“-That’s unexpected.”
Nodding to him Hawkins called it in, “Echo Actual this is 3-6 we have encountered break what appears to be an accurate holographic projection of our current AO advise over.”
A minute or two passes as the captain relays the information to Apple Base, meanwhile BETA took stock of the room for any more “surprises”.
“Echo 3-6? Echo actual here break continue sweep, will investigate at a later date over.”
With that Hawkins replied “Roger that Actual 3-6 proceeding inwards over.”
: Three minutes later :
“What’s this?” BETA five asks as they stood before a large door in the basement.
After securing the upper floors in record time BETA squad quickly made their way down towards the lower levels where they discovered a large door which was more secure then the rest of the castle.
“Something that we need to secure, TOMMY!” Hawkins said as BETA four comes up to the door and proceeds to place C4 on the door.
“You sure about this sir? What if we indirectly damage what’s behind this door?” BETA two asked.
Before Hawkins could reply BETA four said “CLEAR!” To which all of BETA scrambled to find cover. Two seconds later the C4 exploded-
And nothing happened.
“What the fuck!?” BETA four said as he and the rest of the squad go t out from their cover. Looking at the damage (Which was almost nonexistent) Hawkins put his right hand to his helmet which activated his com link and said.
“Echo 3-6 to Echo Actual, we found a door of some kind that’s protected by something don’t know if we can secure it without help over.”
Soon there was a reply “Roger 3-6 will inform command of the situation sit tight and await further orders Echo Actual out.”
:Medbay : Apple Base : Ponyvile: Earlier
Whilst Parker was still in Masterson’s office with the doctor himself, Twilight was resting comfortably in the bed GDI provided. Currently she was reading some stuff about their culture off a device called a “Datapad” which is quite a marvel and testament to the technological difference between those of Aurora and GDI.
“If I had known something like this existed I probably wouldn’t have asked Mr Parker if he’d answer my questions.” Twilight thought as she read though an article about the concept of Faster Then Light travel.
After she had answered some of the questions Parker and Doctor Masterson asked, Twilight wondered if she’d be given the same cutesy. That was of course before she knew about the Datapad but despite this Parker seemed to be willing to answer her questions personally, though that didn’t stop Twilight from feeling bad about the whole thing.
“Here you go” Said the nurse as she placed a cup of water next to Twilight’s bedside table, she aside from the two guards were the only ones in the room with the Princess of friendship.
Thanking the nurse Twilight set the Datapad down on her lap and took the cup to drink it, as she finished it the door to her room opens revealing Parker. As the guards salute him he returned the favour whilst walking in and then took a seat next to Twilight to her left.
“Greetings Princess, I’m here to answer some of the questions you have after you helped us with ours.” Parker said.
To that Twilight said “It’s no problem commander, if anything this is just a waste of time with this Datapad thing. Had I’d known-“
“I’m sure you would but there are some things that you need to know that are redacted either on the Datapad or the internet in general so this isn’t a waste of time promise.” Parker said interrupting the Princess train of thought.
“So where to begin?” He asked.
“Well how about what is this ‘GDI’ you people work for?”
“Heh sure, GDI is actually an acronym for Galactic Defence Initiative, six hundred years ago it was originally the Global Defence Initiative but since we’ve taken to the stars a mandatory reorganisation was needed which included a name change. Our mission includes keeping human space safe from outlaws such as pirates, providing disaster relief for colonies and contain the rapid spread of Tiberium.”
Nodding Twilight continued to listen to Parker’s answers to her questions.
: Later just after BETA discovered the door in the castle of friendship :
After a while of answering questions both Twilight and Commander Parker decided to take a break.
Whilst Parker was drinking some water beside a table next to the wall the nurse asked concerned.
“Your not gonna tell her about the Scrin?”
“Her people already have enough to worry about, plus for all we knew the Scrin might not come here in the near future provided they don’t have sleeper ships in the system already.” Parker replied.
The nurse nodded understanding how information about the Scrin might do more harm then good, still it’d seem unfair to her that the Princess doesn’t get to know the full truth about Tiberium.
After finishing his cup Parker makes his way back to Twilight when suddenly..
“Uh sir Control is on the comm, says that it’s important.” One of the guards says as he has one of his hands to his helmet.
Stepping over to a console next to the door Parker pressed some buttons to activate the comm and then said “Parker here status.”
Meanwhile Twilight was busy reading more on the Datapad, more specifically about synthetics.
“Interesting so even if they are not originally biological they are still considered humans by the UNSA due to this “Law of equivalent freedom Act” and the writings of professor Donovich Slavocoth. The fact they are able to create living creatures says alot about their technology, I’m glad their here to help.” The Princess thought as she continued reading.
After a couple of minutes however…
”WHAT!?”
The Nurse’s sudden loud outburst caused Twilight to look over to her left near the door, she could see the nurse with a shocked look staring at Parker as he keeps a cool posture.
“What’s wrong?” Twilight asks.
Turning to her Parker says “Well one of our patrols went to investigate your castle Princess and whilst there they found a door in the lower levels, after failing to gain entry we thought we’d try you.”
“BY BRINGING HER OUT THERE!?” The nurse again argued.
Straighting out a bit Twilight said “Wait it was underground? That’s gota be my personal lab! It’s where I conducted some experiments on my free time, Princess Celestia said that some of my research notes may benefit Equestria in the future so I tried to gather them when we had to evacuate but the Timberwolves changed that.”
Putting his hand to his chin Parker asks “Is there any way to get in remotely or do you absolutely have to make contact with the door? I agree with the nurse that sending you out there is dangerous so if you-“
Shaking her head Twilight said “Unfortunately I casted a strong spell with the help of Celestia which can protect the room from almost anything, only by casting a deactivation spell via direct contact can it be opened. Besides I don’t mind going now as I’m already feeling better, an Avatar is more durable than most humans and have natural healing to match.”
Staring at Twilight for a moment before turning to the nurse he asked “Well Nurse Val?”
Still feeling disgusted at having a patient go out so soon Nurse Val looked at Twilight, seeing that she was confident in her biology Val still had doubts so she said “If what the Princess said is true then allow it on TWO conditions.”
“Name em.” Parker replied.
“First is that she get a GDI power armour for protection, even if she can’t fight a PA would better protect her then a standard Rad suit would especially with those “Timberwolves” out there, plus we don’t know if we have enough spare Rad suits to begin with given the logistical hassle we’re in right now. Second is that she get a personal guard squad assigned to her in order for her to be protected further, other then that if she promises to take it slow for at least a few days then I’ll let her go for this ONE mission after that she comes back here. That alright Commander?”
Sparing Twilight a look before turning back to Val Parker said “No problem Mis Val.”
: Apple base : Garage : Four minutes later :
The “Garage” was the place where much of the maintenance on both the vehicles and Power armour were kept along with most of the engineering gear and staff. It only houses a repair&work shop but also a Power Armour Assembly bay or AAB for short.
As the men and women of engineers work on the maintenance for the day the Chief Engineer, Chief officer Marcus saw the door to the AAB open revealing Commander Parker and Twilight Sparkle.
“Well well well if it isn’t our favourite OFCOM Commander! Haha! What brings you here sir?” Chief Marcus asked.
Smiling at his chief mechanic before turning to Twilight Parker said “Take a look around while I get things sorted out but please be careful, this isn’t technically a place for civilians.”
“I’ll be careful.” She replied.
With that the two went their separate ways for now.
Walking amongst the vast Armour assembly bays Twilight couldn’t help but marvel at the amount of armours being displayed, the amount of resources for just one of these “Power Armours” was far beyond anything that Equestria or any other nation of Aurora could make and GDI is able to build thousands at the minimal.
That’s not taking into account the technology needed for such a project, technology that GDI has long perfected if the Datapad was anything to go by.
From what the Princess could see the entire AAB had stations for 150 people to get equipped simultaneously, from what Commander Parker said during their walk here that equals to a full company which is twice the size of a equestrian military company.
“But why the massive military? I guess their definition of “Massive” might not apply but…I can’t help but feel like Parker isn’t telling me something that I SHOULD know, (sigh) if only AJ were here.” Twilight thought as she explored further.
As she passed by another rack of power armour Twilight noticed that this one held a completely different set to the rest in the room.
Unlike the rest of the PA this one seemed to be more form fitting and advanced with a white-orange colour scheme as opposed to the brown of the standard PA she’s seen, it had two large shoulder guards and what appears to be two jutboxes between the main body and-
“A-Are those wings!?” As if GDI hadn’t surprised her enough.
The thought of her wings though, it reminded Twilight about that day. Causing her to rub her back where her wings would normally be.
“The Valkyrie MK 6, a modern upgrade to a reliable design and is the symbol of ZOCOM.” A female voice suddenly said.
Turning to her right she sees a woman in her thirties in the same attire as Parker with long black hair, pale skin and blood red eyes.
Holding out her hand to the Princess the woman said “Captain Haley Smith 305th infantry battalion DEFCOM ZOCOM, commander of zeta or Z squad.”
Taking Smith’s hand and shaking it Twilight said “Princess Twilight Sparkle, are you with Commander Parker?”
Letting go of her hand and shaking her head Captain Smith told Twilight “Not quite me and my team were stuck here after a nasty operation, we were still being reorganised when we had orders to come here. No my commander is-“
“Someone I’d rather not hear about right now Haley, no offence.” Parker said as he and Chief Marcus came up to the two.
Turning his gaze to Twilight he said “As for you Princess my Chief engineer and I talked about your personal PA and now all we need is to-“
“If I may?” Twilight interjected.
Nodding Parker would hear her out.
“Would it be alright if I used this one?” She said pointing to the Valkyrie beside them.
“Wait what!?” Marcus shouted.
“Look missy I don’t know what kind of rules you have on your planet but this isn’t something you can just wear like a piece of clothing!”
“I-well” Twilight said rubbing her back again.
Looking at her Parker couldn’t help but think “Phantom pain”
“It’s okay Chief I’ll allow it and if Ash has a problem with someone using GDI equipment he can come to me alright?”
Looking from the Princess to his commander Marcus took a moment before sighing and says “Okay fine I’ll get this baby ready, it’s your court marshal though got it!?”
“Got it”
As the Chief Mechanic went to work Parker asked Smith “Since this suit is supposed to be for your replacement Haley I want you and Z squad to be her official bodyguards until she’s back with her people understood?”
“Yes sir!” Captain Smith said, she then about turned and went to get ready herself.
“Thank you”
Turning back to his guest Parker replied “No problem ma’am, now let’s get you suited up”.
Whilst GDI was preparing their base, nearby in the cliffs of the Everfree a pack of Four Timberwolves was observing them. Like their brethren these Timberwolves had been mutated in the same way the trees have, with the added addition of a Tiberium spike on their backs.
As they continued to observe a figure approached them from behind though the wolves made no attempt to turn and face the figure, said figure simply stared at the base below him before his head suddenly jerked up and around back towards the forest.
Signalling the Wolves with a hand motion the figure proceeded back to forest without anyone being the wiser.
Back inside the base the garage blastdoors open revealing Zeta squad and their charge Princess Twilight Sparkle.
As they pass the rising blastdoors of the massive airlock Twilight took a moment to take in her surroundings, the base wasn’t what she was expecting when she first met GDI.
She’d thought their architecture would be very polished and elegant so as to show how advanced they are and at first that appeared to be true when she first woke up in the Medbay but now after seeing the outside of the base as well as the inside of the garage, well never judge a book by its cover certainly applies here.
As they continue through the base to the east gate which faces Ponyvile Twilight took a look at her armour, before she put the armour on the chief mechanic with the help from some other doctors implanted a implant in the Princess neck.
They say it’s to help with controlling the wings which at first gave Twilight hope that she might get her ability to fly again even out of the suit but then she realised that it wouldn’t be the same as with her organic wings and that such surgery requires resources that GDI will need elsewhere, the CM also said that unless flying is something she can have difficulty without such surgery will be a waste of time.
“You okay ma’am?” Captain Smith asked
Turning to right Twilight said “Just thinking about how I could’ve got my wings back.”
Smiling from underneath her helmet Haley replied “Well considering that you’ve grown up without them I’d say you’ll be fine.”
Shaking her head and facing forwards the Princess said “It’s not just about that it’s about…well I was GIVEN the ability to fly by someone who became like a second mother to me because she knew I was ready for the responsibility of being not just a avatar but also a Princess to lead my people.”
As they got within view of the gate Twilight continued “The thought of losing something like that, even if I can live without them what will Celestia-“
“If I may your majesty?” Haley interrupted.
“If this ‘Celestia’ has become like a second mother to you then the reverse is also true and that when you two reunite I’m sure she’ll be glad you’re alive regardless of if you have your wings or not. As a mother myself I would be crying tears of joy if my daughter were to come back to me after hearing she died.”
At the mention of Smith having a daughter the wingless Princess asked ”Is your daughter?..”
Shaking her head Captain Smith quickly replied “N-No Ma’am she perfectly fine I was just drawing comparisons between myself and this “Celestia” of yours.”
Before they could have any further conversation the group arrived at the gate where they see a engineer in a radiation suit talking with a person in a Commander variant of the Tiberium field suit.
“And make sure those IFVs are primed for combat at a moment’s notice!” The one in the field suit who is a woman said to the man in the rad-suit.
The man then nods before rushing away somewhere, the woman in the field suit then spots Zeta squad and says “Well well well if it isn’t the stars of Task force books!” Which causes some of the personal nearby to chuckle or outright laugh.
Not getting the joke that was made Twilight said “What’s wrong with having books?”
Noticing the Princess the woman in the TFS said “Well that’s what we call Task force Beta because-“
“Our Commander is always doing things by the book most of the time.” Interjected Haley.
Noticing the Zone raider captain the TFS woman says “Hey Smith, this your new recruit?”
Shaking her head Haley said “No just a VIP my squad and I have to guard whilst we escort her to a vault only she can open, apparently.”
After getting a “Ah” of acknowledgment Haley turned to Twilight and said “Your majesty meet Class 2 Commander Smamtha Traynor, the commanding officer of our armoured battalion.”
“Well it ain’t as much as a “armoured” battalion anymore since most of our tanks are OFA, leaving us with just the IFVs, APCs, light attack vehicles and only a single tank platoon.” The tank commander said.
“OFA?” Twilight asked.
“Out oF Action.” Captain Haley answered for the Princess.
Just then the gate in front of the commotion began to open revealing the wasteland outside the walls of Apple Base.
Seeing this Haley said to Traynor “Well that’s our queue see you around ma’am.”
To that Traynor gave a nod before she and Zeta went their separate ways.
Once they were a few meters away from the walls the women of Zeta began to check their suits. This gave Twilight some confusion before all the sudden her HUD lit up and she began walking towards Haley without her even doing anything.
“Slave mode” The Captain began to explain.
“It’s a feature that allows a squad leader to take control of one of their subordinates power armour if they themselves are unable to more them or in your case your majesty if they don’t yet know how to operate them.”
“So your gonna…control me until we get to the castle?” Twilight asked sounding unsure, a reasonable reaction on her part.
Smiling under her helmet Haley placed a power armoured hand on Twilight’s shoulder and said “It’ll only be temporary and I promise to be careful alright?”
Taking a few breaths to calm herself down Twilight nodded to Haley before she turned to the rest of her squad.
“EVERYONE READY!?” She shouted.
“YES MA’AM!” Came the reply.
Nodding Haley then got into a stance with Twilight’s PA mimicking the movement , the rest of the squad following mere moments after.
Then the order came “ON THE BOUNCE!”
Haley and Twilight then started running followed by the rest of Zeta before their wings on their PAs ignited and the group began leapfrogging towards the castle of friendship.
“You called EVA?” Parker said as he strolled back into the command center at the request of EVA.
“Commander motion sensors set up by the forest are detecting mass amounts of movement, I have yet to deduce if they intend to assault this however from the readings it seems to be a possibility.” EVA said as Commander Parker sat in his command chair.
“Even if the possibility is there that doesn’t mean it will happen….still” Parker thought as he considered their next course of action.
“Have the current units on patrol by the river set up some observation zones so if these guys DO make any hostile action we have a blueprint to set up a defence line and get me our armoured battalion so they can be on standby.”
“YES SIR!” The command crew replied and went to carry out their orders.
Two minutes later
From their place outside the castle of friendship BETA squad could see the rapidly growing forms of humans approaching as they use the ZOCOM version of leapfrogging.
The first to land was Haley followed by Twilight whose armour was released from its slave mode mere moments later as the rest of Zeta landed.
Walking up to Captain smith with a smile underneath his helmet Hawkins said “I should’ve thought we’d see you girls around here soon eventually.”
Shaking his hand Haley replied “Fate works in mysterious ways that’s for sure Class One”
Giving off a confused look beneath her helmet Twilight asked “You two know each other?”
Turning to the Princess Haley said “This is Rifleman Class One Hawkins leader of BETA squad of ZOCOM’s 205th infantry battalion, we’ve known each other for as long as our commanders have known each other when they first meet on active duty.”
Nodding in understanding Twilight took a bow towards Hawkins and said “A pleasure to meet you Class one”
Rubbing his hand behind his helmet Hawkins said “Well technically your majesty we already met considering my squad and I were the ones to save you from that..Timberwolf? Yeah Timberwolf, so you could say this introduction isn’t needed.”
With a look of surprise on Twilight’s face Captain Haley said “Shall we see what mystery awaits?”
Nodding to his superior the Rifleman led the group inside the castle.
As they venture inside the castle Twilight couldn’t help but get lost in the memories such a place made.
From the first steps she and her friends took inside its halls to the discovery of the crystal map. Indeed despite the short time they’ve spend here the Element Six have made just as many fond memories of the castle as they would their own homes.
As they enter the map chamber Hawkins said “Say Princess do you know anything about this odd map?”
Looking at it Twilight replied “Well for starters this whole castle was actually made about a thousand years ago back before discord, a being of chaos, took over equestria. It was made by an order of knights to serve as their headquarters and this map was made to help them monitor the whole country.”
As the reach the other side of the chamber BETA two said ”Huh who’d a thunk?”
As they ventured down to the basement Hawkins asked “So care to tell us exactly what we are securing madam?”
Seeing the door to her lab Twilight took a moment before replying “Just some magic research I’ve been doing, new spells, new applications and even some theories about Tiberium though I think those might be outdated now.”
Putting her hand on the door Twilight closed her eyes before the crystal on her forehead glowed and seemingly shined through the armour before several runes on the glow the same colour, after a few moments the doors began to open.
As soon as the doors were open enough BETA rushed in whilst doing a sweep, turning to the Princess Hawkins asked “So what should we look fo-“
“I say take anything that isn’t nailed down!” BETA Two said as he grabbed some books before placing them in a bag brought in by other members of BETA’s parent company.
“Is that alright?” Hawkins questioned to Twilight who said
“If you believe it’s important then by all means, though I’d like pack myself seeing as your people have little knowledge on magic.”
With that the group began carefully place certain items from the vault in contamination bags to be transported back to Apple Base.
