//------------------------------// // Chapter 6: Victory Through Sacrifice // Story: The True Land Of Nod. (C&C) // by TheMossiah //------------------------------// Princess Celestia tilted her head in confusion, so did the other ponies. Daniels didn't understand why untill he thought back to what parker said "Bluezone Equestria". "What is a "Bluezone" General?" Parker lifted his hand off Daniels shoulder. He turned to Princess Celestia. "Well a bluezone is-" Daniels stood up and cut off Parker. "A bluezone is a location where there is minimal Tiberium infection or no infection at all. Its like this. Bluezones like I said, yellowzones which have medium infection and are just barely habitable and finally redzones. Redzones have almost maximum infection and are uninhabitable." Daniels sighed. Parker motioned the Princess away and the other ponies to give him some space. "I- is everything alright?" Rainbow Dash was concerned. He had the look of major depression. "Everything is just going fan-fucking-tastic. First I have to deal with the guilt of losing my squad members and now I know my grandfather was practically Nod..." Daniels slammed the ground with his fist leaving a deep imprint. He needed something to do. He walked up to Parker who was now trying to get rid of an annoying pink pony he believes is named Pinkie Pie. "Not now, a time like this does not deserve a party." The pony was determined. "Awwww comon please? There will be lots of cupcakes and balloons!" She tried to pull off the puppy eyes. "No and thats my final answer- Oh! Daniels, your up and about again. What do you need?" Daniels leaned against a nearby pole. "Do you have anything to do? I need to get my mind off all of this." Parker stroked his chin and looked around. He saw the unfinished barricade next to the east side of town close to the forest. "Yes it looks like the barricade is unfinished, think you could get into a juggernaut and do some heavy moving?" Daniels nodded and moved towards the juggernaut. "Hey... Rainbow Dash is it? Come over here!" She gladly trotted over "What is it Daniels?" He began to climb the ladder on the juggernaut. "Wanna see how this baby works?" Rainbow Dash flew into the air and started to look the behemoth over. "Sure!" Daniels gave a nod and entered the machine. He switched it on and made it stand at its full height. "This is the MK III Juggernaut. It has three 200mm cannons capable of tearing anything it shoots at to shreds. It is equipped with a medium strength armor to give it extra speed and more flexibility." He extended a crane that picked up a massive clump of sandbags and moved it into position. "Its major weakness is the legs, they are very vulnerable to damage." As he moved the walker towards to next pile of sandbags he saw something in the forest. It seemed Rainbow Dash saw it too. "Whats that Daniels?" She pointed a hoof towards the forest. He squinted his eyes trying to get a better look on it. Oh no... It was the same light an Avatar emitted. "Get back to Parker! Its an Avatar! Go quickly!" He spun the walker to face the Avatar. "Hey! You look a little chilly!" He loaded a HEAT round into each of the cannons. "Let me help you with that!" He didn't have time to deploy the leg flaps so to control the recoil he began to run forward. "Take that you Nod bastard!" He fired off one round, It blew the avatar back but it held its ground charging its beam cannon. He shot the second round blowing off the avatars cannon arm. He was too close by now, another shot would do damage to him as well... He knew what he had to do. He lowered the cannons downward and as it impacted the avatar he pulled the cannons back up send the avatar flying to the ground. The avatar began to charge his last cannon. Daniels quickly aimed the unfired cannon to the avatars chest. Rainbow Dash had gotten Parker and with him followed 5 rocket soldiers ready to end the avatar. She turned the corner and watched as the guns pointed at the massive black machine. He had still had his 2 way intercom on with Rainbow Dash. She watched in horror as she heard Daniels yell. "Eat this!" He fired the round and braced for impact. The round exploded in the avatars chest effectively blowing it to pieces. Time slowed down. It was like he could see the sonic boom move towards him. The shockwave hit the juggernaut and it sent it flying. He saw as the glass warped then shattered like a slow motion movie. Finally it hit him... It felt like a car slammed into his chest and head. To add to that, glass flew around him and some sliced into his face. Everything started to go dark... -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- John was enjoying his relaxing time in his MCV. He had just eaten a meal fit for a king. He was in the middle of drinking a glass of water as a changeling dressed in Nod attire walked in. "Oh glorious general! Kane wishes to speak with you right away! He also wanted me to give you this." The changeling handed him his gauss rifle. Oh this cannot be good... John nodded and handed the changeling some of his bread. "Good job, return to the barracks." The changeling seemed to cherish the bread like it was a newborn baby and left the tent. John put the rifle on to the magnetic holster on his back and lightly jogged towards Kane's MCV. He entered to find the infrared lights on. "Ah good you're here. I have grave news general. It seems GDI is here. Earlier a stealth tank was able to get live video feed of the GDI camp. I sent out an avatar to confirm it but I lost contact with it here." He pointed at a place called Ponyville. It seemed to be just outside the forest. "GDI? How did they get here? We have the portal!" John couldn't believe it. There was no way GDI forces were in this world. "I know that but somehow they must have acquired another portal. I don't know! The ion cannon is still cooling down and the nuclear warheads are out of the question." Kane retorted. John slammed his fist on a desk. "Why can't we use our nukes? They worked perfectly fine on the Griffon capitol! Kane shook his head. "I am fully aware of the power of the nukes. That is why they are out of the question. We are inside the blast radius of the warheads. If we fire them we risk getting consumed in the fallout." John eased up. "What is the plan then?" Kane started to bring up maps on a hologram He pointed to the edge of the forest. "I want you to mobilize about half our men to the forest edge. Once the battle begins I will launch 20 or so armageddon bombers and flatten their capitol of Canterlot. Once the city has been flattened 10 more bombers will fly over and drop some newly harvested Tiberium." John was shocked at the plan Kane had come up with. John simply nodded. "So when do we move out?" Kane switched the intercom on. "Now." The he placed the intercom down. Almost immediately John heard movement outside the MCV. He looked out the window. He saw hundreds of changelings and humans alike scrambling to get equipment. Kane stepped onto the MCV's balcony. "Brothers! Today we destroy GDI! Down with the oppressors! Down with GDI!!!" The crowd stopped and turned to Kane. They began to jump and cheer chanting "Down with the oppressors! Down with GDI!" over and over and continued to secure their equipment. By now all changelings had been equipped with the new weapons. Kane turned to John. "Also I have a present. To spearhead the attack you have access 3 Nod acquired MARV's to destroy their defensive front. Do not fail me General." Kane nodded and inside was giddy with excitement. The MARV's get to come out to play. "I will not fail you Kane. GDI will fall." John loaded a clip into his rifle and gave a salute to Kane as he left the MCV. Soon GDI will fall... -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Daniels eyes flew open. He scanned his surroundings. He seemed to be in one of the Pony's hospitals. He ripped the hospital blanket off himself and removed the IV and stood up. He looked in the nearest mirror. He looked like a monster. Scars covered his face, two of which were very distinct. One scar ranged from his forehead down through his right eye and ended at his chin. The other went from this right ear across his right cheek into the chin as well. He could hear sobbing and the door to his room opened. "Daniels?" It was Rainbow Dash. She stopped her crying. "Daniels!!!" She jumped on him and knocked him to the floor. "You're alright!" She started to rub her head in his chest. Then she looked in his eyes. Her smile faded. "How could you do that! You almost got yourself killed!" She started to pull at his shirt but let go. "Whats wrong? How long have I been out?" She started to lightly sob again. "Only for two hours..." Two hours? He had felt like he had been in that state for months. "You were worried about me being unconscious for two hours?" She wiped her tears with her hoof. "They said while you seemed to defy logic and came out of that wreck with no fractures, something in your brain lost the fight. They said you were brain dead!" So that's why he had felt like he was out for so long. But it still didn't explain why she was so worried. "I don't get it though... Why are YOU so worried about ME?" She once again sucked back a tear. "Didn't you get the hints? I like you... I didn't want you to die." Daniels eyes went wide. A sudden wave of emotion hit him. He didn't know what to say. He crouched next to her and wiped off her tears with his sleeve. "I'm so sorry... I just... I didn't know you had feelings for someone like me." She put her hooves on his shoulders and looked into his eyes. "Don't do anything like that again! I just don't want to see you go..." He looked at the ground. He couldn't comprehend the situation. "I promi-" He was cut off by a GDI soldier entering the room and throwing down an officer combat uniform and placed a rifle next to it. "Commander! Parker needs you immediately! Get your uniform and weapon and meet him in his tent." The soldier quickly spun around and ran out of the room. Daniels grabbed his uniform and changed into it. He then holstered his rifle on his back. "Lets go!" Rainbow Dash nodded and followed him out of the hospital. Rainbow Dash and Daniels entered the command tent. Princess Celestia and Luna were standing across from Parker. They were all looking at a 3D hologram of the town. In the forest about 10 minutes away showed a lot of movement. The trees shook and wobbled. "Daniels your up. Good to see you but we have more important matters to attend to. As you can see on the map the trees are being disturbed and it looks like some smoke is rising from the treeline. It also seems there is 3 large anomalies moving in the forest toppling trees with ease. We have to expect this is Nod." The Princesses nodded and Daniels nodded in agreement as well. "What did you get out of the prisoner?" Parker turned to Daniels. "Well all I could get out of him was that Nod had teamed up with a large army of "Changelings" and they have modernized them to fight along side the humans." Daniels was shocked. Nod had managed to get help from another speices and worst... Weaponized them? "How much time do we have until they arrive?" Parker began to do some measurements on the hologram. "I estimate we have 13 minutes until their force arrives." Daniels nodded. "Then lets get to the front lines. Princesses, keep your subjects safe." Celestia and Luna nodded and left the tent. Parker threw on a combat vest with General-like decals on it. He slapped a fresh clip inside his rifle and ran to the hastily constructed trenches. From there they waited... They waited for what seemed like hours. Finally they heard a bush rustle in the distance. They all spoke in faint whispers. "Hey did you hear that?" Daniels trained his rifle on the bush. "Yeah I heard it let me bring up my thermals." Parker removed a scope and slipped it onto his rifle. "Here we go." Parker began to scan the horizon. "What do you see?" Daniels hoped it was just an animal and it wasn't Nod troops. "It- It looks like a pony! It also looks like its hurt. I can't see any Nod out there, lets call the pony to us." Daniels nodded and sucked in a large breath. "Hey! Are you hurt come over here!" They could hear a twig snap and out came the dark green pony. It had some cuts and bruises. It began to limp over to the barricade. Pinkie Pie had noticed the pony... "A new pony!" She ran out to meet him. Princess Celestia trained her eyes on the mysterious pony. Her face filled with dread. The pony's eyes flashed green... "Parker get her out of there!" Parker nodded and jumped the barricade. dropping his gun and moving at full speed. "Pinkie Pie NO!" He grabbed the pink pony turned and started to run. It was no use, the pony morphed into its normal form which was covered in explosives. "Down with GDI!" It hissed and slammed a hoof on a switch. Parker threw the pony behind the barricade. "Fuuuuccckkk-" The changeling exploded sending Parker flying into the barricade. Daniels quickly jumped the barricade and dragged Parker behind the wall. "Don't die on me damn it!" Parker coughed spewing blood. He turned and looked at Daniels. Daniels could see Parker's eyes almost devoid of life. "V- victory th- through sacrifice... G- good luck gen- general..." Parker's head fell back against the grass. Daniels shut his eyelids and removed his dog tags. "Damn it Parker! I will make them pay!" Daniels turned to the soldiers standing next to him. "What is our orders sir? You're next in command." Daniels was filled with anger. "Your orders? Your orders are to kill every fucking last one of them!!!" Daniels took aim at the forest, now teaming with Nod soldiers. "Kill them all!" Daniels opened fire on the troops killing multiple soldiers. To his left 3 avatars started to move up to a juggernaut. It attempted to do what Daniels did but the 3 avatars grabbed it and held it down. 1 Of them smashed its claw into the pilots seat and ripped out the man inside. Daniels turned away to avoid witnessing what happens next. "Bring the mammoth tanks to the front lines and pound these mother fuckers!" The soldiers saluted and sprinted for the tanks. After about 3 minutes of continuous fire the tanks arrived with some predators as well. They all opened fire. The forest was getting ripped apart. Missiles and HE rounds detonated in the trees ripping them to shreds. Not only were the Nod forces taking heavy casualties but so did GDI forces as well. Then Daniels saw it. "What the hell are those???" Three MARV's plowed through the trees. They were in line formation and the middle MARV had a familiar person sticking out of the hatch. "Haha! Die you GDI dogs! Taste the power of the black hand!" On que blank hand soldiers piled out of the MARV's and fired their flamethrowers into the fray. Daniels saw 4 soldiers completely engulfed in the flames. He pushed it out of his mind and tried to put down the leader, Nightscar... From behind him 3 more juggernauts joined the battle and they focused fire on the far left MARV. After 2 payloads the MARV's cannon exploded and the ammo rack detonated sending shrapnel flying in all directions. This gave GDI a morale boost seeing the large monster of a tank explode. The juggernauts began to focus fire on the right MARV now. After they fired their first payload the middle MARV, housing the infamous general opened fire on the juggernauts. 2 of the juggernauts fell under the massive tanks fire power. "My job is done here! Fall back!" The massive MARV's began to reverse back into the woods. The surviving nod forces fled for the treeline as well. Daniels thought to himself. "My job is done here" What? What was he planning to do-. He watched as about 30 bombers flew at them. No wait, they harmlessly passed by why would they-. "They're flying towards Canterlot!" Twilight said as she ran towards Daniels. "You have to stop them!" Daniels nodded and quickly climbed in a firehawk. "All firehawks! Destroy the bombers! Go go go!" Daniels lifted off. Rainbow Dash indiscreetly followed him... Daniels quickly brought the firehawk to full speed, once again causing the strange sonic "dark"boom Rainbow Dash liked to call it. He brought his missiles online but it was too late. The first 20 bombers began to level the city. Buildings and shops exploded. Daniels managed to shoot down 4 of the bombers but the damage was done. He now noticed the 10 other bombers fly towards the city. "Haven't they done enough?" Daniels was surprised when he got an answer. "We gotta stop them!" It was Rainbow Dash. She still had the intercom he gave her, and it seemed at the hospital she slipped it back in his ear too. "You shouldn't of come here! You could have been killed by their aircraft!" Daniels now saw the bombers start dropping large metal tubes to the ground. At first he thought they were nukes but as the first one hit the ground it shattered. Hundreds of small green crystals spreed out across the ground. Daniels cursed under his breath. "Get in we have to get out of here." Rainbow Dash nodded and entered the cockpit. They flew back to Ponyville at full speed.