Vanhoover
Captured GDI Territory
Somewhere in the Pacific
From high above a skyscraper that wasn't damaged during the attack, Andrew saw several GDI ships beginning to dock at the harbor, unloading troops and equipment for the war to come. The attack that followed on the city was a rousing success on GDI's part. The ponies were caught unprepared when the shield went down. Some tried to fight back, but were ultimately defeated when GDI landed every troop and vehicles onto the city. Luckily, no civilian casualties were confirmed when the attack began. He suspected that the ponies evacuated every civilian out of the city before the invasion. In less than a few hours, GDI had captured the city.
He had to admit, he ponies created an exact replica of Vancouver, with glass covered buildings and famous sites. Although it was a little small for his liking, he still couldn't believe that he was actually on an alien county. When he was younger, he had a dream of being an astronaut so he can soar among the stars. He'd seen many science fiction novels and movies that dated back before the Tiberium Incursion of Earth. The idea of discovering alien planets and meeting its people fascinates him. Perhaps it was a blessing in disgusted that this happened.
He was interrupted from his thoughts when a Condor transport flew over him and slowly landed next to him. The landing gears engaged when it landed. The ramp slowly opened to reveal one of his officers and a few of his soldiers coming off the ramp. "Sir,” The officer saluted to him. "General Granger is on the line. He wishes to speak to you."
"I'll be right there." He said. Taking one last look on the horizon, he walked towards the ramp while his soldiers escorted him, with the officer right behind him. Once Andrew was aboard, The Condor closed the ramp before lifting off again, its twin rotors on both wings cleared some of the dust off the roof.
Inside the Condor, Commander Andrew and his officer sat down on the left side while his soldiers sat on the right. The inside of the transport was no different than the others that he had rode on over the years, with the exception of some small metal boxes in the back.
The officer pulled out his portable pad, pressing a few buttons on the screen before passing it to him. "You should be coming to him live."
Andrew grabbed the pad from his hands. On the screen was the symbol of GDI, before it changed to the General's face. "Commander, congratulations are in order for your success. You've helped GDI establish a necessary base for future deployments. You may not know this, but you saved a lot of lives today."
"I was nothing, sir." Andrew smiled. "Was there something that you need, General?"
"Yes commander." He cleared his throat. "I'm afraid that time is not a luxury here. We have discovered something that could change the war."
Andrew's smile disappeared. "What could be so important?"
"At O-two hours, our satellites picked up immense radiation coming from the north." The screen now showed the area where the spike was located, before zooming in on the location. "At first, we thought our satellites were broken, until we found this." The area showed what looked like a large city town, only towns weren't made of crystals. A large tower-like structure stood in the center, glowing pink every two seconds. "From what we extracted from some prisoners, they captured a place called the 'Crystal Empire' and began using this structure to shield themselves from us."
Andrew's eyes widened. "You don't mean...."
"Yes. We believe we found the source of the Barrier."
He couldn't believe it. The one thing that separated them from Equestria at the beginning of the Third Tiberium War, the one that caused thousands of deaths on both sides, was there the entire time.
"There's more." Granger interrupted his thoughts. "For what they had said, they plan to power it up and create another shield. One that can be indestructible. Commander, if this shield is released, then they kick us out of Equestria and this war would have been all for nothing. I don't think another strike from the Ion Cannon would pierce it like last time."
Andrew soon had his serious face on. "What do I need to do?"
"We need you to fly down north and eliminate it. There is an expeditionary force that we sent to deal with this hours ago, but they haven't reported in. We assumed that they are experiencing difficulty due to the blizzard that's in the area. Nonetheless, you must destroy this structure before it releases this new Barrier upon the world. Good luck, Commander." With that, the screen returned to the normal setting.
This was a serious mission that he was assigned to. A mission that held the weight of the world on his shoulders. I wasn't the first time he had been given this assignment. He had handled harder missions in the past, like the one time he broke into a Nod base in Cairo in search of the WMD. It turns out that Nod was using the stolen WMD's to nuke some major GDI cities on the East Coast. It was heavily defended, with turrets guarding the place and a large Nod garrison. The battle that followed was hard, but they had managed to prevent the destruction of GDI command.
With that in mind, he had confidence that he can do it. He unbuckled his waist and traveled to the cockpit, where the pilot was driving the vehicle. "Take me to my ship."
"Yes sir." The pilot responded. He felt the aircraft lurch for a second before it returned to its normal flight pattern.
As he traveled, the sun began setting down upon the mountain, indicating a day's end.
The Frozen North
Unknown Territory
'He was right. This storm is unbearable!' Andrew thought when he saw the blizzard from the bridge. After consolidating with his forces, he decided to bring the ship with him on the journey north. The rest of his force would stay behind to secure the front. The only ones that had gone with him are Lt. Anderson and his power armor.
After some minutes of traveling, they arrived at what the maps in the library called 'The Frozen North.' From what it had said, its home to a city called the Crystal Empire. They can't see anything for miles due to the blizzard active into the area. From what he had read in the public library, the one that wasn't damaged during the fighting, said that it was once home to a tyrant called King Sombra, who enslaved his own empire to his own desires. The Princesses, the ones that started this war, defeated him, but he used his magic to seal the empire for a thousand years. It also said that the empire returned a year ago. The ones that saved it were also the ones that he met before when they first introduced themselves.
"Sir, scanner can't pick anything in this weather." He was interrupted by one of his officers. "We can't even pick up any radio signals. Perhaps we should call off the search."
"Keep searching." Andrew said, more determined than ever. "The expeditionary force must be somewhere around here. We can't pack up and leave. The fate of the world is at stake here, people! We must try and find them. They can't have gotten-"
"Sir, I have a distress call on the channel. One of the officers interrupted him. "It's weak, but its traceable on our scanners."
"Patch it through." Andrew said. The officer nodded and pressed a few buttons. Static was the first thing that he heard, until a faint voice sounded barely over the static."
"....to anyone.........this is Cap........ under hea......eed support......."
"ATHENA,” He said to the ship. "Can you trace the signal?"
"Affirmative, Commander." The AI said. "Scanners indicate that the signal is originating from somewhere over in the southwest."
"Excellent." He said with satisfaction in his voice. "Take us there."
"Affirmative." From his view on the bridge, the ship turned around towards the distress signal and lurched forward. The window was still bombarded with snow and hail from all directions, but the ship still held its course.
After some time, Andrew saw some flashes in the distance, along with the occasional flash of blue, orange or yellow. Pressing a few buttons on his chair, the screen on top of him zoomed a little, which still revealed nothing. Pressing another button on his console, the screen changed from normal to thermal, where he could make out colorized silhouettes of both people and buildings. The four legged silhouettes he could make out as ponies. He counted maybe twenty-five ponies outside the base. What was strange was that all of them were unicorns shooting lasers out of their horns.
"Get on with the line with the captain."
One of the officers press a couple of buttons before turning to the commander. "We have them on line."
"Attention Expeditionary Force, this is Commander Andrew of the Steel Eagles. We've hear your distress signal and are intercepting the aliens. Do your read me?"
".....out damn time." The voice is coming in without interruption, his gruff voice sounded over the radio. "This is Captain Martian of the ZOCOM Special Forces Unit. We are pinned down by those damn alien ponies. Those lasers cut through our armor like it was nothing. They have us surrounded. We need your support now!"
"Roger. We'll get right on that." Commander Andrew started to address his crew. "Fire the cannons. Let’s send these basterds to hell!" Some of the officers scrabbled to their respectable positions as they prepared the weapons. The Kodiak is outfitted with the latest weaponry's when he first got it. It includes an air-to-air missile launcher, a miniaturized Ion Cannon and an Anti-Tiberium Terraforming Bomb.
"Sir, all weapons are ready." One of his officers shout out.
Andrew grinned. "Good. Let’s get this show started.
From an outsider’s perspective, the ship shook for a blue light started to lit up underneath. The miniature Ions blasts doing the work as it sliced and diced against the ponies. Some of them are starting to project shields to protect themselves, while others started to fire on the ship. One ion blast broke any shield made by them and turned the rest into ash. One unicorn tried to muster as much adnominal as possible and fired at the ship. But it did little more than gazed it. The unicorn was surprised but soon was replaced with fear as the ion blasted at him. Two unicorns combined both their horns together, creating a blue-yellow shield. The ship fired an ion blast, but the shield held on. The ship fired two more ion blasts before the shield went down with unexpected results. The two unicorns were throbbing on the ground, screaming as they covered their heads with their hooves.
The rest of the ponies soon broke off running with some of their injured. The ZOCOM troopers cheered in their power armor as the Kodiak cleared the snowy field of hostiles. The ship hovered for a second before it descended to the ground inside the base. It already had a makeshift airfield, so it was easier to land the ship without any trouble. Some of the snow blew away as the ship descended. Once the ship was already landed, the ramp opened to reveal a group of soldiers with equipment and vehicles, including two Mammoth Tanks. The Commander went out last.
Andrew looked around at his surroundings, assessing the situation. It had the distinct looks of every ZOCOM forces. Two barracks were located on the right side of the base, along with a tech center and an Orbital Deployment Center to communicate with the GDI space forces. An armory for the ZOCOM troopers located at the right side of the base. A makeshift airfield for reinforcements or fighters coming back from missions.
A Zone Trooper in a red armor with white outlines approached him. "Helluva time for you to shows up. Captain Martian, leader of the ZOCOM 5th Regiment. Thanks for the save there, son. We owe you."
"You can give me a round once this is over." Andrew joked. "But not right now. General Granger sent me here to recuse you. Tell me what happen."
"Command sent us on a mission to sabotage the shield generator in the city. But the ponies somehow knew we were coming and prepared an ambush. We only have a few wounded, but they shredded our armor like it was paper. I didn't think they would find us this quickly."
"How many are you are there?"
"One hundred and twenty strong, minis the ones we have wounded. The rest are coming out of Asia to assist us. They'll be here within the hour."
"Good." Andrew was glad that they will be receiving reinforcements. "No doubt the ponies will be expecting us. I'll contact my men and see if we'll assist you."
"We need all the help we can get." Captain Martian said. He pointed his armored hand to the northeast. "We flew by a city of sorts when we got here, but we never got the chance to do reconnaissance. We don't know how many there are. Can you send one of your men out there."
"Sure." Andrew nodded. He turned around and went back to his ship, everyone around doing whatever they can to keep this place running. The Mammoth Tanks were parked in a now constructed War Factory. ZOCOM Troopers were loading up on the extra ammo they brought. A couple of medics from his ship helped the wounded in the tents by sterilizing the burns. Several Engineers rushed to help repair some of the turrets that were damaged during the engagement.
He went inside the ship as several of his own Zone Troopers marched out of his ship. He went up several floors using the stairs, searching for the one person who could succeed in a simple recon mission.
He arrived at the crew's holdings, where every crew lived in. It didn't take long for him to find what he was looking for as he arrived at a door marked '42'. He knocked on the door a couple of times. "Anderson, you there?"
"Yeah, Commander?"
"I need you at the Command Post as soon as you’re ready. I have a mission for you."
"I'll be there, sir."
Satisfied with that, he turned around and went back the way he came.
After some time, he arrived at the ZOCOM Command Post. The inside was a fury of activity as both the members of ZOCOM and his officers ran to and fro to their stations. The screen showed the place they were camped at, along with the big city in the distance. The other screens show the outside of the ZOCOM base. The blizzard was starting to pick up intensely, which means that they would have to wait until the storm dies down. On one of the screen is the Earth, and its current condition base on the colors. The yellow zones represent Tiberium that has affected the place, but considered habitable by the ones that can't afford to live in the Blue Zones. It is suspected that Nod recruit’s members from the Yellow Zones, as well as operate from there. The Red Zones represent areas that have vast amounts of Tiberium and considered uninhabitable. It covered 30% of the world, including the Middle East and in the middle of America. The blue areas represent the GDI controlled zones and cities unaffected by Tiberium. Greenland is considered to be the largest zone, and the only country that is unaffected by Tiberium during its time on Earth. The East Coast is the main operating center of GDI.
He had read upon the history of GDI during his time at West Point. GDI wasn't as large today as it was in the past. It was founded in accordance to the United Nations Global Defense Act that was pasted after World War II. It is original a covert multinational special forces group that operated by the name of Operations Group Echo: Black Ops 9 before 1996. They kept the peace by carrying out secret, peacekeeping missions outside of U.N. jurisdictions. GDI was equipped with both the military and political means to carry out its missions, ranging from ethnic unrest to regionalized armed conflicts around the world. Over the years that O.G.E: B.O.9. operated around the world, rumors about their existence began to spread through the mainstream. It was force to revel itself after the failed assassination of Saddam Hussein resulted in the death of a large number of agents.
That was also the day Tiberium fell.
Tiberium entered the earth and began to spread rapidly. It was controlled after some time, but it resulted in the Earth being covered with 70% of Tiberium. As thing seemed to be calming down, the Brotherhood of Nod rose up and started attacking the remaining cities that weren't under Tiberium. The U.N. couldn't handle the pressure of both controlling Tiberium and the ever increasing attacks by Nod. This caused the Security Council to expand and revise the mandate, as well as the purpose of the shadow unit. The organization was reconstructed and brought out of the shadow. Thus, GDI was born out of the chaos to combat Nod and Tiberium.
He was interrupted by the door sliding opening and closing, as well as heavy footsteps. He turned around and saw Anderson dressed in his new power armor with the mini gun-like rifle in his hands, along with his helmet. He was able to see Anderson without the helmet on. His face was grizzled with a sharp jaw line and a smooth texture. His eyes were bluish-green, with a short scar coming straight down his left eye. He stood at attention and saluted to him. "Sir, reporting for duty."
"At ease." He dismissed. The commando returned to his normal stance. "Lieutenant Anderson, I have a mission for you."
"I'm ready for anything, sir." He stated. The commando was more than willing to bring the fight to those ponies.
"I can see that." He said. "What I need for you to do is to scout out the city,” He pointed to the screen next to him, which showed the aerial view of the large crystal-like city. "and report back every detail you can tell me."
The Commando raised an eyebrow. "Sir?"
"I know, it’s not what you’re expecting." He stated. "But we can't send a group out in this weather. ZOCOM is busy hunkering down and waiting for reinforcements and were trying to help them out. I need one man to do this alone, and I can't think of a finer man for the job than you."
The commando closed his eyes for a second as he developed a thinking expression, possible weighting his options. He opened them back up and proceeded to put his helmet on. "I'll do it, sir. You can count on me."
Andrew smiled. "That is great to hear. Remember that this is a recon mission and nothing more. We need to gather intelligence on the city if we are going to attack."
He saluted. "Will do." With that, he turned around and readied his gun before he went out into the cold air, the snow almost piling in when he opened the door. Andrew watched as he closed the door before going back to the holographic map.
The blizzard continued, with snow falling to and fro from different places. For Lt. Anderson, he was just fine with that.
After he was debriefed on the situation, he went on his way to his destination. He didn't like it one bit, but soon learned that he would still get those ponies after they found out what they are dealing with. He rockets jumped from rock to rock as the snow blew into his helmet. Although it has died down considerably with the snow a little clear, it would still take some time before the blizzard stopped. The rocket on his back melted some of the snow when he landed, but was soon consumed by more snow. He did enjoy the snow as much as anyone else. Growing up in the mountains, he was used to the cold air that the snow brought. Even though his power armor kept him warm or cold in certain conditions, he could still feel the cold air.
He didn't know how long he has going; hours might have passed. Just as he was jumped to a large rock, he saw something shining in the distance. With a few boosts, he was standing on a glacier that over looked the shining thing he saw earlier, which turned out to be the city. Kneeling down, he used his helmet to scan the area.
The city was long and huge, maybe even bigger than New York. The houses in the distance looked like it was melted in Tiberium and came out like crystals. A large castle stood in the distance, right behind the large structure that the commander said the ponies were using to power up the shield. The structure looked like the Eiffel Tower in France, all covered in blue Tiberium. A banner hung from the structure which showed the two alien ponies he met before in No Man's Land, circling the sun and the moon. The streets were empty and void of life, except for the ponies in golden armor that were patrolling the streets. Like many before, they were armed with nothing but spears and sword. He could also see a few galting guns, some cannons that dated back to World War I and some new guns that some of the ponies were carrying. It looked like a mix between a spear and a musket, with a long barrel and a flintlock at the end with a blade coming from the end. However, it was the same color as the Tiberium-like structures and had a glowing crystal at the inside of the gun. He also saw some kind of tank that had a slit where the gun would be. A large purple shield, similar to the Barrier that almost engulfed the world, surrounded the city. He could see that some snow had pile around the shield.
'This must be the place.' He thought to himself as he saw the large city. Pressing a button on the side of his helmet, he started to call his commander. "Commander, I have located the city."
"Copy that. What do you see?"
"Thing is as big as a state, sir." He described the things that he saw. "It also looks like its covered by some Tiberium-like structures. The big damn thing in the center is glowing so brightly I think you can see it from miles away. The ponies seemed to have some old tech that they have. They also have some.... weapon that looks like a musket, but its covered in Tiberium and it glows, sir."
"Anything else?"
"Yeah. They have these strange tanks just sitting next to the shield structure. I don't see any guns on them, but they have this horizontal slit coming across it."
"Roger that. Our reinforcements are here and were...........as.......do........we....
The line was all fizzy and he could barely hear what he is saying. "Come in, Commander. I can't hear you. Your breaking up." All that he heard was static. "Damn." He murmured. Before he could try again, something was happening on the outside of the shield. He zoomed in with his helmet and saw what was happening. A hatched was open right outside the shield. Two pony guards, one with a horn and another with wings, were coming out from the hatch that was buried in the snow, concealing it. It looked like they were talking to each other.
'This should be interesting' He though with a grin. He knows the Commander told him to just scout out the area, but he didn't tell him to never investigate anything.......strange.
He backed up a couple of feet, getting ready to jump. Once he was a good distance away, he got into a reading position. He then ran, with his power armor helping him thanks to its lightweight material. Once he was at the edge, he jumped off and activated his jetpack, flying him over a great distance towards the hatch's.
The pony guards must have heard something, because they turned around and saw him coming down. But it didn't matter to him. As soon as he touched down, he opened fired on the guards. The first shots struck the unicorn, his front legs and most of his head was blown completely off. The pegasus was shocked to do anything, which gave him time to fire shots at him. It torn through his armor like it was made of plastic. He heard voices shouting in the distance, which means that they heard the gun shots.
Wasting no time, he jumped into the hatch. It was a problem for him to get through, since the hatch was too small for him. A little bit of C4 came a long way.
Turning on his light on his helmet, he looked all around him. The inside of the tunnel he was in is very big, enough for him to actually stand up. Like all the other structures, it had the same Tiberium-like crystals sculptured inside the tunnels. Behind him was a dead end. To the front of him, the tunnel seemed to go on forever. With no choice, he continued on, the clanking of his armor echoed in the tunnels. His flashlight helped him see in the long darkness.
After some time, he saw a light at the end of the tunnel, voices coming out of it. He ran towards the light and the voices. He got closer and closer to the light until he went through it.
The light faded in his eyes to revealed another room. It was a large room that was similar to a GDI prison. The entire room is the same as any structure inside the city, with stairs sculptured into the blue and white crystals. Rows of cells lined up on the wall, revealing to be ponies that glittered with the same Tiberium-like crystals. Some of them had their wings bound to their bodies and little rings on the horns. The guards in the golden armor were patrolling the upper floors, with the same weapons as the ones outside.
"What the-” He was interrupted by a laser shot from above. Looking up he saw a pony guard shooting at him with the same crystal musket he saw.
"INTRUDER!! WE HAVE AN INTRUDER!!!!" The pony yelled at his comrades from above. Anderson wasted no time and fired his gun at the pony, his flesh torn until he was bloody mist. He heard the other guards coming down the stairs, their hooves echoed across the room. He saw some of the guards approaching his position. He fired at the nearest group that was almost down at the stairs, tearing them to shreds. He saw some body parts being blown off. He rushes towards the stairs and up some levels, firing at any pony that got in his way. The other group of ponies were standing in the last position the other pony who yelled for his comrades was at. Anderson started shooting the ponies left and right. The crystal structures did little to block his bullets as they were destroyed or obliterated. The crystal-like ponies in the cells started taking cover behind whatever they could find, some even getting under the bed. The guards fired back with the same musket weapons that they have. However, the shot merely bounced off of his power armor. A pegasus pony jumped off the edge and used his wings to glide. He cared the same serum that turned people into ponies. Anderson saw this coming and aimed his gun at the pony. The pegasi knew this and turned left as he avoided the shots. Anderson kept shooting as the pony kept zigzagging, trying to avoid the shots. Some of the missed shots hit some guards’ ponies. Some of the shots collapsed a crystal stairwell with some ponies on it, injury some while the others had stray bullets hit in vital area.
Anderson decided that enough was enough, so he stopped shooting and got a flash grenade out of one of his satchels. The pony though that he was out of ammo and decided to dive-bomb towards him, the potion hanging from his mouth. Once the pony was almost close to him, he threw the grenade and covered his eyes. The pony stared wide eyed at the grenade before it exploded. The white flash blinded everyone in the room as they covered their giant eyes. He used this chance to shot the pegasus down. The shots hit the wings, tearing them out of its socket. The stallion screamed at the loss of its wings as he started to fall. Anderson heard a 'splat' as the pegasus it the ground. He soon started shooting the remaining guards as they were still disoriented. He stared strafing left and right as he started shooting above. The crystals did little to get in the way. He heard the screams of the guards as they were shot down.
After what felt like an eternity, he heard the gun clicked as it ran out of ammo. Pressing a button on the side of his gun, the large ammo box twice the size of a box drops to the ground with a loud 'thud'. He reloaded another ammo box and stuffed it right in the chamber.
He heard one pair of hooves thumping on the ground. Then another. Then another. Then he heard thumping all around him. He saw the ponies in the cells smiling and cheering at him, stomping their hooves on the group as a sort of approval. He blinked at the weird scene before him. The ponies were just cheering at him for killing other ponies.
'Did I miss something?' “Oh thank goodness!" One of the ponies said from behind him. Whipping around at the voice, he saw a stallion in one of the cells. He had a ruby red glittering coat with a yellow mane and tail. "I never thought we would be free!"
"Eeerr...yeah...." He said awkwardly. It was awkward. A bunch of ponies, which were humanity's enemies, were cheering at him for killing other ponies, which were his enemies. "What is going on around here? How come your all in here?"
He frowned. "We don't know. Everything fine in the Crystal Empire until those Equestrian's showed up and locked everyone up here." He spat at one of the bodies that was closed to him, glaring at him. "Good riddance to them, I say." He looked back at him. "As for how this happened, I think Prince Shining Armor and Princess Candace would know what had happened. They are locked up on the lower levels filled with anti-magic traps."
The commando smirked. "Well, son. It's lucky I'm not magical." He looked around and saw another entrance at the bottom level down below. Before he could do that, he aimed his gun at the cell, the pony behind it gave a yelp before ducking down. He opened fired on the cell. The crystals that were holding the pony were destroyed. Now, there was a hole where the bars used to be.
With that done, he jumped off the catwalk and landed on the ground, the power armor protecting him from impact. He went on his way.
The entrance he went through came up to other rooms similar to the ones he was in. Rows of cells filled with crystal ponies wanting to get out. The guards tried to stop Anderson from advancing, but his power armor was indeed strong. He mowed them all down and released one of the crystal ponies to free the others. He didn't have time to be a hero right now.
He went into the next tunnel, which he ran into some guards. They probably heard the gun fire in the next room and went to investigate. Luckily, they were in a narrowed tunnel, which means that they can't move or grab their weapons. Anderson revved up his gun and shot them all down. The screams echoed through the corridor. After all the ponies were dead, he continued down the long hall, stepping away from the bodies. He came upon the same room as before. Like before, he killed the guards, freed one of the ponies, and continued on his way.
Eventually, he reached a large room with several different hallways. Each one was a different color, with one hallway being red and another being blue. On the top of each hallway, there were signs that told where they go to. Anderson saw the one marked 'SPECIAL PRISONERS' on a red crystal hallway and down the hallway. The hallway itself seemed to stretch out forever as time went on, until he came to the end of the hall. There was a large stair case that seemed to go down underground. Know it might be the place the stallion said their leaders were held, he went down the steps and into the darkness below.
After a couple of minutes, the stairway ended on the ground floor, his boots touched the ground itself. He turned on the light in his helmet to help him see into the darkness. As his light turned on, it immediately illuminated the hallway he was in, an eerie glow coming out of the crystals.
The room was huge, enough to fit in a couple of Mastodons. The room glowed an eerie red, with some crystal spires coming out of the ceiling. At the end of the hallway was a large metal door that glowed with the same pink shield as the one outside. A whole battalion of ponies, armed with the same musket-like weapon, stood in the way between him and the door. They were behind some sandbags and some tables they huddled together. The unicorns cast some shields on some of the troopers. One of the ponies, a unicorn stallion with a green mane, tail and a ridicules mustache, came up from behind them. "Hm. I dare say that you are surrounded by the best human hunter in Equestria." He said in a posh accent. "I knew your kind would not resist the shield our glorious Princess created. Once it is fully operation, your kind will be doomed. If you surrender now, then we would convert you into one of us. It's currently better than being dead."
The Commando smirked under his helmet. "Sorry, pal. But I ain't dying today." He started shooting the huge, crystal icicles hang right above the big crowd of ponies. As soon as his shots made contact, the large crystals and the small icicles that were stuck around it started breaking apart from the ceiling before beginning to drop on the ponies.
He heard the ponies screamed as it came crashing down, crushing or impaling some of them. Anderson has to cover his eyes as the dust began to blow everywhere in the room.
After a few minutes, the dust finally settled. He opened his eyes and watched as the dust cleared, seeing the damaged he done. The unicorn stallion that was boasting jumped out of the way, just as several small spikes came crashing down. He was currently pinned down by a crystal. One Pegasus mare had been pinned by her wings by a few small crystals, before another one impaled her in the head. A regular stallion was crushed by the larger crystal. A unicorn mare looked like she was trying to save someone, from position she was in, before a spike impaled her in the stomach and then the head. Some of the ponies that weren't in the center of the crystal still received injures from shrapnel, moaning and wailing over something like a broken leg or a concussion.
'I am the definition of awesome.' He though as he smiled at his handy work. He saw that the shield that had been surrounding the door had disappeared at some point. He walked towards the large door. Out of the corner of his vision, he saw one of the ponies trying reach for his musket spear, but Anderson lifted his gun and fired a couple rounds at the pony, killing it. A mare with a shattered horn tried to take him from behind with a sword, but he heard the mare coming. As the mare jumped, he twisted around and smack her with his gauntlet. The mare flew and hit a wall by her back, hearing some bones snapping. He shot another pony with his gun as the pony was trying to get his musket.
Once he was at the door, he started to think on how he could break in. It wasn't moments later that he slapped himself in the head and realized that he had C-4 with him. Placing the C-4 on the large door, he back away and got to cover behind a giant crystal that came down. Once he was behind cover, he pressed the button on his left wrist. A 'boom' echoed among the room as the floor shook and pieces of crystal flew everywhere. Looking up from his position, he saw the giant hole that he made on the large door. Grinning to himself under his helmet, he went inside the large room.
Inside the room, was a number of metal cages that looked medieval, including some torture devices. In the left corner of the room was a series of chains that glowed in different colors. A stretcher was in the middle of the room that had some blood on it. In the middle of the room was a large pink shield that surrounded a large cage that was big enough for several people. In the middle of said cage were two ponies. One had a pink coat with a mane and tail that had a combination of violet, rose and gold. She had a lithe figure unlike the rest of the ponies he seen and a tad bit taller. She also had a horn on her head and wings on her back, just like the Princesses that came to No Man's Land. She had a mark on her flank that depicted a Tiberium-like heart. Another one next to her is a stallion that had a white coat with a blue mane and tail. His mark had a shield with a purple star as its coat of arms. Both of their legs were clamped in chains while their horns had these little, black rings on them. From the look of the bruises, they were interrogating recently. They lay asleep, wrapped in each other’s hooves despite the chains.
'This has to be it' He knocked on the pink shield to wake them up. "HEY!!!! RISE AND SHINE, CUTIEPUFFS!!! WAKE UP!!" He yelled at the top of his lungs.
Just then, a blast of laser interrupted his thought train. Unlike the last ones, this one apparently pushed him back some feet. From out of the new hole in the door, he saw the unicorn who was boasting earlier had lifted the large crystal off of him and currently in a battle-ready position, his hooves spread out while his horn glowed. He was covered in some small cuts and a piece of shrapnel coming out of his left hind leg. "YOU THINK YOU COULD JUST KILL ME!!! YOU ARE WRONG, YOU FILTHY, DIRTY A-” He didn't finish his sentence when gun shot was hearing and a hole was formed in his head. His eyes widened in terror as he slummed down, blood coming out from the hole.
Anderson, holding a custom made Model 454SS8M in his hands, its barrel was smoking hot. "I am awesome." He finally said.
Withdrawing his revolver, he looked over at the large cage, which now started to shimmer for a little bit before it disappeared completely. The two ponies started to wake up.
"Mmm....aaa...what?" The pink pony, which is a mare judging by the voice, started to stir her eyes open, along with the other pony. When she rubbed her eyes with her hooves, only to have them widened at the site of a dead pony and a strange bipedal creature standing next to the body of said pony. She nudges the other pony next to her. "Honey. Honey! Wake up!"
The other pony started to stir. "Mmmmashahhawaht?" His eyes suddenly widened at the site of the disaster the same as the mare. "W-what's going on here!?!?!"
"I'll tell you what." The GDI Commando started to say. "This is a break-out. So I suggest you get going before more guards arrive."
"Wait, how are you and how did you know where to find us." The stallion who woke up gave him a hard stare. "Furthermore, why should we trust you?"
"Son, I just saved your ass from those other ponies. Now, I don't know what's going on between the ponies, but we could try to stop them." He put a hand on his chest. As for who I am, my name is Lieutenant Anderson, part of GDI and the 5th Division. We came here because we heard the ponies were creating some new form of shield that's supposed to be indestructible. I came across your ponies saying that your here." He hoisted his gun. "Let's be honest, I just saved you two. I could have just left you here to rot. But I didn't." He forgot to mention that he wanted to jump into the action after the reconnaissance, even though he was ordered not to.
The two ponies looked at each other and then looked back at him, before looking at each other again. From the look on their faces, they were trying to decide whether or not to follow him. They probably didn't expect anyone to rescue them or they're people.
After a while, they both nodded to each other and looked back at the commando. The pink one spoke first. "I am Princess Candace, ruler of the Crystal Empire. And this,” She unflared her left wing and pointed it at the white stallion. "is my husband, Shining Armor. We'll help you however we can." She withdrew her wing. "But first we must find our guards. I suspect that they are somewhere in here."
The commando nodded. "I understand. Go to your ponies." He cocked his gun back. "I'll free your guards." With that notion, Anderson went out the newly-made hole and into the unknown.