Introduction

This is a novel on two men in the Steel Talon (and later ZOCOM) Regiment. It is set in the middle of the Third Tiberium War (based on CNC3 and Kane's Wrath). Ignore the date. It is incorrect. Visit THX-43110's story at http://thx-43110.blogspot.com/. I have noticed a few getting confused about the layout. Please note that you start reading at the TOP. These posts are written by both THX-43110 and THX-43111. Please do not refrain from typing in comments on our posts. Just include your name and/or your email address (the one that you check frequently). Please vote on the poll too as it tells us what you feel about the novel.

Chapter 8

Kaasim shot right up from his dilapidated bunk in the barracks,waking up from a nightmare and still recovering from the shock that had just happened before his eyes no more than a few days past.He looked at the bunk beside him to find it empty,much to his regret.He scanned the bunk room in the barracks.The room was large and empty with nothing more than two long rows of double decked bunks with small cabinets for each militant and a weapons rack located at the far corner of the room.dozens of his comrades laid scattered across the cold metal floor,soundly asleep.

The deep clanking of steel boots echoed in the hallways.The black hand are coming this way.He promptly dove under his threadbare blanket and took the guise of a sleeping teenager.The black hand troopers marched into the bunk room,their three glowing red eyes scanning the entire room for any militants who were not asleep.Amidst the Black hand troopers,a Lieutenant enunciated clearly,"You two,tell Kane that his militants are on the way."The two Black hand troopers immediately marched off to the command bridge.The lieutenant raised his leg and within a moment,sent it crashing down on a nearby militants back.The man screamed in agony as he felt a sudden jolt of back along his spine.The other militants woke up to see the black hand trooper shout,"All of you dogs get moving now!Kane has orders for all of you!"

the people moved sluggishly,still dazed by the sudden turn of events.The black hand trooper grabbed his pistol from his holster and took a shot at the nearest militant,sending the man to the ground promptly.Blood spilled from the dead man's back,pooling around his dead body.The other militants immediately noted that it was business.Within moments,efficiency was doubled as the militants rushed to their respective weapon racks and passed down their weapons,all of them being outdated 20th century chain guns,Kaasim received an AK-47,a reliable but now outdated weapon.He put on his combat vest that was just hung on his bunk bed and wore his helmet.joining his squad,Kaasim followed the black hand troopers who herded them all to the assembly hall.

Kaasim walked into the assembly hall,remembering the previous time he entered not but a few days ago on a mission that would scar him for life and change his thoughts of nod.The militants all stood at attention as the screen began to show Kane's face to them.

Kane sat in his command chair deep within a bunker miles under and from Sarajevo,untouched by the Ion cannon strike or the Liquid tiberium bomb.He looked at his brother Natsumi who was in charge of the AV feed to the militants and looked back at the camera."Is the visual feed ready brother?"Kane spoke calmly.Natsumi looked at Kane with gentle eyes and nodded his head.An LED on the camera blinked,and he immediately greeted the militants.

"Good morning my brothers and sisters of Nod."

The crowd stood at attention.Kaasim looked ahead at the screen,but his mind wandered about,thinking about the events that had happened.

"I come before you in our finest hour!The visitors have arrived on Earth and have bestowed upon us a mighty gift!the gift of the future!Yes my brothers the visitors have given us the sight of the future,our tiberium future.First the Tacitus has given us the knowledge of their arrival and now they bless us yet again with these threshold towers which will lead us onto the path of ascension in which we shall walk and upon us the new age shall dawn!the age of tiberium.But to walk this path,we need to prepare.for we must earn our right of passage by destroying GDI and their blind attempts to rid the earth of this mighty gift.Brothers,listen to me and your place on the path will be reserved for you and we shall all evolve together into the new age as a species as we leave the disillusioned GDI in our wake.Follow me and the path shall open up to us.MY CHILDREN BROTHERS AND SISTERS ONE AND ALL

Prepare for Ascension!

PEACE THROUGH POWER


The militants went into a frenzy,all of them encouraged by Kane's charisma as a leader.The black hand lieutenant the shouted,"All right maggots get you asses moving to the reckoners!"The militants swarmed to the vehicle bays.The hall suddenly lurched.Kaasim looked around and wondered what and how it had happened."I thought this thing was a building?"Said a nearby militant.

"Maybe its some sort of aircraft"

"Who knows"

He stepped into the vehicle bay to see a group of priests blessing a long column of militants as they prepared to enter their respective vehicles.The priests injected divination fluid into them,the liquidized tiberium flowed through their veins and made them more energetic and aware of their surroundings.Kaasim got into his reckoner heavy APC and stared into blank space as the doors began to close.from inside the APC,Kaasim felt a sudden jerk,followed closely by the sound of the vehicle bay doors opening.the raider buggies swarmed out of the bay,followed closely by attack bikes.Kaasim's reckoner then drove forward,with the scorpion tanks in tow behind.He looked out of a porthole in the reckoner transport to see a gigantic black/red manta ray like Vehicle with its mouth agape and the scorpion tanks exiting from it.so that's what the building was.

The reckoners moved forward at a constant pace,the scorpion tanks just in front of them.the entire vehicle brigade moved in unison towards what was left of the blue zone city of Beijing to scour the city for items that could be scavenged.

Half an hour later

the reckoner came to an abrupt halt,causing Kaasim's head to jerk forward in a sudden painful motion.The door opened up,bathing the once dark cargo hold with a sickly green glow from tiberium,the very substance that they revered.Kaasim followed the rest of the militants out of the reckoner and into the city of Beijing.

"Group Alpha!you are to scour the northern streets.Group Beta into the south."


Kaasim followed closely with his team into the northern section of the city,looking for anything worth scavenging.the streets around the militants laid bare,the building torn and the road cracked.by the sides of the roads were bodies sporting burns and pooling blood.but what surprised them the most was the presence of almost man sized bugs that seemed like scrawny stick creatures with an elongated nose with a charred nozzle.On closer inspection,as they approached the giant creatures,the militants saw the sickly green tiberium fluid that filled them and the plasma reserves that stored the blue stuff that melted tanks into slag.

They walked for just over ten minutes when he heard a sudden clanking in the distance.All the militants hit the ground and acted professional,pulling up their rifles and aiming instead of cowering behind them.the sound became louder,causing a couple of militant recruits to shiver in fear while the more experienced ones stood firm.The mist before them clouded their vision,enshrouding whatever produced that sound from their sight.It moved even closer,the militants able to see a brief outline of it, a human with devices placed on its wrist while its hand carried a long spear like weapon followed lastly by a metallic housing unit.It led out a loud shrill scream,sending the militant recruits into a fright,compelling them to fire blankly at the shadows.Shocked,the militants watched as three recruits peppered the area that the being had been with bullets,only to travel through the smoke and hit nothing,while the being appeared a good ten meters away.


"FIRE!"

the militant platoon went into a frenzy,the lot of them mindlessly emptying their ammunition on the being which evaded the ongoing barrage of lead with fluid grace,before unveiling its own surprise.the fog cleared to reveal the creature,a seven to eight foot tall humanoid creature with tentacles at where its mouth should be and thousands upon thousands of tiny tiberium shards formed around it,forming an armored plate.Its skin could be seen at the joints,revealing a sickly dark green vine-like skin that seemed boneless.

The creature,or Foreman rather,Jumped three meters in the air,evading another onslaught of bullets before releasing a flurry of miniature plasma discs.the discs flew through the air and found their marks,the burst cutting down a full squad of militants.the foreman hit the ground and promptly dodged a stream of bullets while stabbing another militant with its Tiberium spear.Kaasim slammed a fresh clip of bullets into his rifle and began spraying at the Foreman,hoping to land a hit at it.But alas,none of the bullets found their mark.The foreman moved too fast for any of them to react in time.

sidestepping once more,the Foreman dodged yet another wave of bullets before releasing another flurry of plasma at the militants,downing another three,leaving a small group of six militants.Definitely outmatched,The militants broke into a run as they attempted to retreat from the massacre.The foreman got down on all fours and its skeletal frame morphed,that of a cat and sprang forth with unimaginable speeds,catching up with the militants quickly.the last militant turned around and promptly met his demise as a tiberium spear was plunged into his gut.the foreman got back on two legs,its form changing once more and continued the chase.Even on his two legs,the foreman ran faster than the lot of them,soon catching up with another two militants.the other two militants turned and while backtracking,They sprayed a full clip of lead at the Foreman,hoping to slow it down.the Foreman Continued forward,the bullets ricocheting of its Tiberium shard armor.It grabbed another spear from its containment device ad flung it forward,killing the first militant before grabbing the other militant,Flinging her about before launching her into the high rise building.

Kaasim and the other two militants ran to no end,while calling for help.One militant grabbing her communication gear and requested for scorpion tank backup.It was granted,but they needed to reach it a couple of blocks down the road.she looked behind to see the Foreman catching up with them,its tiberium spear in hand.

Just ahead was the scorpion tank.They waved at it,hoping that the driver would help them as soon as possible.She looked back once more.The foreman was only a few of its strides away from them and gaining fast.The scorpion tank registered the foreman as an Extra terrestrial.the driver drove forward with a smile of his lips."finally i get to kill some of these aliens."

the foreman was close to stabbing the nearest militant when it suddenly saw the scorpion tanks light AP shell flying for it.the foreman jumped into the air and dodged the explosive by a few meters,leaving the cannon operator in shock and awe.the driver accepted the challenge.he commanded the cannon operator to constantly feed the cannon with shells as he went wild with blood lust.Cannon shells were released at a constant pace,only to miss as the Foreman expertly evaded shot after shot.Kaasim watched as the scorpion tank missed time and time again against the invincible alien.

the driver got wiser and placed a single shot to send the foreman jumping to evade it.He then aimed the next shot at where it would land."You die now bastard"

The Foreman jumped to evade the first shot and was about to land when it realized that a second shot a been fired at it.It landed and tried to dodge but the shell was too close.the foreman closed its eyes and quickly the tiberium shard armor did its work.the thousands of shards began flipping and overlapping into a thick plate at the foreman's chest while another layer formed on its face,protecting its face.The shell collided with the armored plate and led to a huge explosion.the driver watched the spectacle and laughed as he watched the shell hit the foreman.the smoke covered the Foreman as the armored plate flipped back out and slid around its body to form its armor once more.It readied its spear as the smoke began to clear.It had found its next prey.

the scorpion tank driver watched the smoke clear to be fearful at what he saw.Not only had the Foreman not been killed but it was also moving towards him at an exponential rate with its spear already prepared.Frantically,he shot another shell at the foreman,only for it to dodge it and continue reaching for the tank.

Kaasim watched as the Foreman ran to the tank and knew for a certain fact that it was doomed.He and the other two militants ran around the corner and hid,while peeping through a hole to watch the spectacle.Shocked,they watched as the foreman tore through the layer of armor encasing the scorpion tank,followed by numerous punctures in the Scorpion tanks armor as the tiberium spear jabbed through it and lastly the foreman jumping back out with the cannon operator and driver in either hand,before throwing them onto the ground and continuing on its way.Kaasim and the other militants then continued on their way,wary of making any noise so as to avoid another encounter with the Foreman.

chapter 7

September 20, 2047, Blue Zone City, Beijing, Asian GDI main ops base (under attack), 1315


'Where's that backup?'
'where's GDI when you need them?'
'Ahhh my arms' blown off!'
'oh God, save me!'
'**** this aliens!'
'MEDIC! We need a MEDIC!'
'We need help over at district 17b.'
'There's plasma all over the place!'
'Get the refugees outta there!'
'Sir the place is overrun!'
'Taste lead you alien bastards!'
'Come on men!'
'Retreat!'
'ARGH! My leg! ****!'


Petty officer Kirk heard all of those over the radio transmitter from all over Beijing. He furrowed his thick dark brow, his face tightening and showing its sharp curves to the men around him. He stood at an impressive 2 meters, towering over his fellow comrades. He stepped forward, his black military-grade boots completely coated with grime and scrin blood with his GD-2 by his side. Behind him trailed his platoon with ten battle-hardened riflemen, a machine gun crew, a missile crew and two grenadiers. The platoon of men propped themselves against the many pillars of the building that they hid in.

The grenadiers tossed grenades to the riflemen, who immediately clipped them onto the utility belts by their waists. The grenadiers knew full well that their officer would make sure that they sat the battle out. Kirk had never really liked grenadiers, often believing that they were redundant since riflemen already carried grenades and they could not possible draw out three out of every ten men to become grenadiers, and with their excessive loads, the grenadiers would serve as nothing more than riflemen that would slow them down. One grenadier took another grenade from the dispenser and checked the ammo count. His wrist displayed a large 23 on the screen. Running low already? He tossed the grenade over to Kirk who accepted it and clipped it onto his belt. He raised his hand in a simple gesture. The other riflemen immediately nodded and spread out, moving towards the many windows or openings in the building, using nearby debris to form makeshift enfilades.

'Sir, we have secured the area.'

'good,' Kirk replied, 'we better be ready when those bugs come get us.'

'Understood sir,' the corporal said and went on with his duties.

'Where's the machine gun crew captain?' Kirk asked, looking around to see the crew missing.

The riflemen gestured to the makeshift enfilade at a large hole in the building to the west. He nodded thanks and walked towards them. He found them lying down, their eyes fixed on the outside of the building. He squatted low and looked out of the hole to see an empty street. Assured that there was no alien presence incoming, he stood and walked away. Suddenly a voice screamed over the comm channel.

'WE'VE GOT BUGS!'

He wheeled around to see half of the riflemen firing from their locations at the street opposite their position. The machine gun then fired in unison, the cacophony echoing in the building, making Kirk's ears ring. He ran to the closest rifleman, who immediately shifted slightly to accommodate Kirk's firing space. He looked out the broken window to see a swarm of alien Disintigrators and Ravagers approaching them, some of them emanating shrill cries as they made their advance, only to be mowed down by the machine gun supported by the other GD-2s. He then ordered all the men to spray their bullets in the direction of the Disintigrators. Kirk aimed his GD-2 at their legs and sprayed a long sweeping stroke, firing all the thirty bullets at the aliens' legs. That, along with concentrated fire, effectively crippled ten Disintegrators and Ravages while killing most of them.

A sudden sound roared. Kirk looked beyond the horde to see a gigantic millipede-like creature approaching them, its multiple layers of layered skeletal plating striking one another as it swerved left and right, approaching them at a sluggish yet alarming pace. Kirk yelled over the comm channel, 'Tankbusters to the second level. Take out that big bug!'

The missile crew blinked their acknowledgment lights on Kirk's HUD display and immediately clambered up the stairs, lugging the rocket launcher and ammo. They positioned themselves at a window, which provided them with a vantage point that overlooked the entire battle just below them. They set up the rocket turrets, and the second man loaded the rocket and armed the missile. He rapped the rocket launcher's launch tube once, signaling that it was armed and primed, then dived for cover. The other man grabbed the rocket launcher's handles and took aim. He launched the explosive, releasing a huge plume of smoke in its wake. The explosive flew true and collided with the millipede-like creature, otherwise known as Mechapede.

Kirk heard the thunderous sound of the rocket firing as it continued to echo in the building. He then saw the plume of smoke billowing from the area of impact. He then took a closer look to assure himself that the Mechapede was pulverised, then recoiled when he realized that the Mechapede had thrown a forcefield around itself, rendering it nearly impregnable. He squinted his eyes to briefly make out a silvery screen that blanketed the Mechapede before it winked out of existence.

'Men, concentrate all fire on that damn bug! It better not live to reach the subway Station!'

Only half of the platoon answered, much to his bewilderment. He scanned the rest of the men's posts, only to find them smoking with green crystals creeping over the areas. He ran to his grenadiers. One of them were killed, the other dashing to a GD-2 lying on the ground. He grabbed the grenadier yelling, 'Now get over there and kick some ass!'

The grenadier nodded and grabbed the rifle, it feeling extremely light after having to carry the grenade pack all over the place. He slapped a fresh ammunition clip into the rifle and cocked it, firing a quick burst of bullets, immediately killing a small group of three Disintegrators, sending them crashing onto the asphalt. Kirk ran to the machine gun crew to see the gunner still shooting while the ammo feeder was wounded with a deep gash on the leg and a third degree burn, screaming at the top of his lungs as the blood caked up at the gaping wound.

The Mechapede crawled ever closer, firing plasma discs and Tiberium shards at the rest of Kirk's men, supported by Ravages and Disintigrators that were marching forward, seemingly indifferent to the battle.

He fed ammunition to the machine gun, then fired a long fresh clip of bullets at the alien Disintegrators from his own GD2, some missing to hit the Mechapede, only to ricochet off its shield barrier and hit the surrounding buildings. He slapped another clip into the assault rifle and cocked it. To his disgust, the feeder jammed and the GD-2 malfunctioned. He tossed it aside and withdrew his pistol, firing all the rounds at the oncoming Mechapede while his other hand reached down to grab another magazine. He flicked a switch and instantaneously, the magazine slid out of the chamber, only to be replaced by another fresh clip. Kirk fired again at the Mechapede to no apparent avail. He swore under his labored breathing and primed a grenade, tossing it over the enfilade and peered through the hole to see the alien infantry lines finally thinning followed by a resounding boom, flinging assorted aliens all over the place.

He looked out to see the field before them littered with hundreds of alien carcasses with a sickly green liquid pooling around the corpses. Ahead he saw the Mechapede dishing out many squirts of the exact same liquid from two points at different sections of its armor. The Disintegrators lying on the ground suddenly sprang to back life, its limbs suddenly repairing at an ultra fast rate. He saw limbs that had been shot off reforming at the stumps of the creature's legs. Fallen Ravagers also reformed and stood, except a few, so wounded they were unrecognisable. He stared in disbelief. The gunner fired yet again, this time, the Mechapede, seemingly agitated, had gone ahead of the horde and shielded them from the incoming fire. The grenadier primed grenade after grenade, lobbing them over the enfilade and out at the Mechapede, strangely penetrating the shield and landing against the side of the Mechapede. It exploded within the shield, concentrating all the pressure within the barrier. The Mechapede led out a shrill, ear-splitting screech as numerous sections of its armor was incinerated. The green black liquid suddenly poured out from the two points over the injured segments of the creature, it writhed from pain. It subsided and Kirk watched, flabbergasted as the segments that were rent open suddenly were sewn back together to form its original form,completely unscathed from what had just happened.

They continued to lay fire on the gigantic Mechapede,only to bounce off the invisible barrier that protected the creature.Small slits opened slightly from the sides of the Mechapede, showing off a long row of what seemed like gills.Heat ripple along the sides of the slits as they began to glow a distinct white hue.Not good.He ran away from the hole in the building,followed closely by the gunner and the survivors.He counted his men to see two riflemen,the grenadier,the gunner and one of the missile crew.He brought them to the furthest end of the building and ordered them to blow a hole in the wall for them to get out.As they set up the charges,Kirk felt a distinct change in the temperature.It seemed extremely hot all of a sudden.He looked at the far wall,the sweat that built up on his brow dripping down and entered his eyes,obscuring his vision.The wall seemed normal at first,but then he began to see small red spots appearing on the wall.The dots enlarged tremendously and as they continued,the wall seemed to soften up slightly.Kirk registered the sight and yelled,"hurry up on those charges!they're melting the entire damn building.

"sir the heat's fusing the wires!"replied the soldiers.

Kirk wheeled around at the soldiers and fired a shot at the bomb.The bomb exploded as the hot lead smashed into the explosive contents within the bomb.The other soldiers did not react in time but managed to evade most of the blast.a rifleman shook with fear as he realized that his leg was lodged under a large chunk of the wall,bending the limb in an obscure angle.He screamed in pain as the bones in his shattered leg began to tear his skin and from the intense heat that had suddenly accumulated around them.Kirk looked around to see the wall eroding away.He looked even closer to notice a white line appear.He aimed his rifle to realize that it was too late.the plasma disc flew to them and collided with the grenadiers backpack,igniting all the grenades.

"Ru..."Yelled Kirk,but it was too late.

The intense shock from the following explosions flung the squad around the room.Kirk could not breathe.He looked around him as if the world around him was alien to him.He gazed at the Mechapede's thick armored legs followed by the layered bio-metallic armor.His vision blurred as he prepared to pass onto the next life.The last thing that he could see was the Mechapede slowly moving like a snake towards its next location.the subway station.The Petty officer drifted off into a deep sleep as the Mechapede slithered its way towards its objective.one that he would not expect to wake up from............................

***

Conner led the other men to the entrance of the Subway station.They got out of the pitbull when Harding yelled at the top of his voice,"Conner!We've got some big company!"

Conner wheeled around and boosted the magnification on his helmet to x2.He saw the Mechapede slithering its way towards them at a fast pace.He quickly aimed his GD-7 and fired at the creature.The others followed suit shortly after.Harding set his hands on the machine gun once more and with a resounding click,he began releasing hundreds of bullets through the air to the Mechapede.It continued its motion to the subway,undeterred by their attempt to halt it.Conner,in unison with Pierce and the Specforce trooper,morphed their GD-7as into the 7B and began trailing the Mechapede,painting the front of the Mechapede with their laser designators.Their beams fired and raced to the Mechapede,only to stop dead in their tracks by the sheer power of the Mechapede's superior shield systems.Conner gave a yelp"This thing is too strong!We have to get outta here!"

Plasma discs flew at them in a volley and twice as relentless.the Spec force trooper was knocked back by two plasma discs to the chest.He looked at General pierce with whatever strength he could muster.General pierce looked back and gave a gruff grunt.The Spec force trooper died then and there,his GD-7 ruptured and melting by his side.

the Mechapede continued to advance towards them,undaunted by the resistance put up by the soldiers that stood in its path and the refugees.

Conner turned around and yelled,"Guys,seriously we have to get the hell outta here!"

General pierce first left with Avery guarding him,followed by Harding as plasma began to turn the pitbull into melting slag.Conner and James followed closely behind,both of them lagging behind to scavenge whatever remaining equipment and ammunition they could.Conner took aim for the last time and fired a beam of energy at the advancing Mechapede to no avail and ran back into the subway station.The Mechapede turned its long body frame to the entrance of the subway station.It began wriggling its way into the station,its side scraping against the many walls.A piercing screech echoed through the subway station,reaching the ears of the many riflemen and civilians alike,sending the lot of them running in a panic.

"ah!what'll we do?!"
"you brought us here to die!"
"We're doomed!"
"People!we are going to make it out of here!Trust these soldiers!"
"What good would it do!?The aliens are at our doorstep!"
"Help us!"

Conner stood above the other riflemen who attempted to quell the ensuing panic.He tapped into the other rifleman's helmets and began to broadcast

"People!Settle down.We'll all get out of this safely.Now can all able-bodied people please gather weapons and food from wherever in the station you can reach.We're getting out of here.Will the women and Children please head to that area over there and have someone take census?Everybody Calm down."

The crowd wouldn't listen and continued on their panic-stricken frenzy.The walls of the subway station shook yet again,causing the civilians to scream once more.General Pierce could not take anymore and stood on a platform and used Conner's helmet to transmit another message.

"People!will you all please listen to this officer?I understand that you all may have your differences and may not think that he is a capable officer to lead us but i want you all to know that he may well be the best we've got and he currently the only one who's willing to get us out of here.Can i have some cooperation?"

Upon hearing the General's words,the crowds began to calm themselves.Conner watched silently as the noise died down and he stood there,staring at the mass of more than six hundred civilians all with shock,fear and despair in their eyes.He then began the broadcast,"People!These creatures will swarm into this area sooner or later,now i want all able-bodied men to take up arms and the others to look for any useful supplies in this station.The stores in here should have something.Will the women and children please all gather at the corner and someone do a headcount?Quickly!I do not know how long this building will last.Soldiers come with me."

The crowd dispersed to their task,except a few who were plain stubborn.Conner walked up to them,staring at their faces to see definite defiance and unimpressed.The group of men walked up to Conner."What gives you the right to lead us around huh?Did we ask you to lead us?Why do you have to be such a busybody?!"Said the men.Conner heard other comments from the group of men,then spoke clearly,"there is a difference between you leading them and me leading them.If i did, I would get most of their cooperation,but if you led them,they would still be in trouble.you did not try to lead them just now,what makes you think that you will now?"

The men,taken aback by the sharp retort,cowed down and just followed his orders,leaving the last man facing Conner.Their eyes met,locking in on either person.The man glared at Conner,hatred and rage overflowing from his being.His glare softened slightly,in comparison to Conner's endlessly crossed face.He backed off and walked off to the other men,leaving Conner to himself.In Conner's imagination,he thought that he could see that the hatred and rage still lingered in the air that the man had been not too long ago.Conner shrugged it off and rejoined the rest of the riflemen guarding the entrance.

Chapter 6

September 20, 2047, Blue Zone City, Beijing, Asian GDI main ops base, 1257hrs...


Corporal Harrison ducked behind the wreckage of an office building which had collapsed along with the whole avenue. Portholes marked the area where GDI tank shells had impacted, in a brave attempt to halt the Scrin progress, and their success was unknown, most probably non-existent. The other civilians trailed behind him, with Sandra leading the rear. He peered over the side of the debris to see a Shard Walker with its bulbous head pointed at the sky. The Shard Walker seemed strange among the other creatures that he had seen. Instead of being either thin and scrawny or big and bulbous, it was rather a bit of both. The front of the Shard Walker was similar to a stick insect, it was completely thin and almost skeletal. The gun stuck out of the creature's head, just in front of the six legs which it moved on. Its back carried a large clump of Tiberium shards. It fired a shard of Tiberium into the sky. Harrison followed it and watched it impact against an Orca Gunship, puncturing an engine. Another three bolts flew into the air and pulverized the Orca Gunship completely, its smoldering shell crashing to the ground. Harrison looked around for an alternative weapon to battle the creature. His hopes rose as he saw an FGM 90 rocket launcher lying on the ground not too far away, lying in the hand of a dead GDI soldier., along with his/her squad mates.

He squatted low and placed his rifle on the ground. He sprinted forward, not noticing the Shard Walker had already caught drift of what was happening until he was right in the middle of the road. He ran for his life, narrowly avoiding shards of glittering Tiberium as they whizzed past him. He hit the ground and skidded across, dodging another deadly volley of Tiberium. Hefting the FGM, he loaded its only rocket, which was lying alongside the soldier, in and armed it. The trigger pulled back. A giant plume of smoke shrouded Harrison as the missile streaked forward, its tip headed straight for the alien creature. It hit the Shard Walker, puncturing its weak frame and exploding, the impact splitting the alien vehicle in two. As the smoke and dust cleared, he saw the mangled body of the Shard Walker, its thin skeletal front snapped in two with hints of Tiberium creeping out and the Tiberium on its back shattered. Green slime outlined the carcass. Harrison's stomach lurched slightly from the horrid sight, but it was quickly dismissed. Sandra walked up, her sub-machine gun in hand wary for any more enemies. They were not too far from the subway station. Harrison scouted ahead while Sandra stayed behind to look after the fourteen people that stood slightly stunned at the sight. Harrison crossed the street and went to the four-way junction. He peered over the side and looked to see the subway station heavily guarded by GDI units with their assorted weapons at the ready, the missile squads scattered across the place behind debris and other tanks with their rocket launchers primed and Zone troopers which all stood a head taller than the rest stood at the entrances, their single-shot railguns primed and ready to fire. Each one of them were covered in massive suits which protected them from the harmful effects of Tiberium, but in this case their helmet screens were collapsed as they were still in a Tiberium free zone and the need for greater visibility arose. Harrison stepped out and waved his hand. Three riflemen answered his signal with raised rifles. Harrison shouted across the street, "Fourteen refugees! We need backup!"

The riflemen nodded in acknowledgment and immediately sent in eight men to cover them. Harrison walked back with the eight men and headed towards the civilians. They extracted the refugees and began to head back to the subway station. Two led the way while the rest brought up the rear in case of unexpected surprises. The law of expectancy answered. Just beyond the next junction, a group of Ravagers appeared, backed up by the much bulkier Shock Troopers. They noted the small convoy of humans and opened fire, launching Tiberium shards and plasma discs at the fleeing group. Harrison turned around and sprayed multiple bursts of lead at them, but their attack did not waver. The other riflemen soon joined him, the four of them fired in turns, maintaining suppressive fire throughout. But their fire met a dead end. Buzzers appeared from the insectoid horde and created a barrier in front of the others, sacrificing themselves as shields. They lobbed a couple of grenades over, and took advantage of the situation, sending the group a few metres on. The resounding roar of the grenades were heard throughout, along with smoke. The smoke cleared, revealing a silvery metallic surface moving ever closer towards them. The soldiers panicked. They all fell back, and the refugees were went into the building. Harrison ran to the missile squads and relieved them of their weapon.He rushed back to see the wall moving even closer now.He did not bother to aim.He pulled the trigger and launched the rocket.The missile streaked through the enclosed air and smashed into the buzzer wall.It exploded and hundreds upon hundreds of fragments exploded and sent the buzzer knives flying around.Harrison stared as the wall began to repair itself as more buzzers came into view and filled up the places where the other buzzers left opened while others reinforced the wall.

Harrison grabbed another rocket and fired it yet again.The second one he aimed at the ground in front of them.It collided with the ground,sending fragments and debris into the air,hitting the buzzer wall.The wall was instantly torn apart from all the chunks of the road that were flung at them.Harrison had not time to celebrate.He suddenly felt a painful sensation in his leg.He looked down to see a buzzer knife embedded in his thigh,apparently puncturing his armor.He instantly remembered something that pierced him as badly as the knife did.There are Tiberium spewing critters right in front of you followed closely by bugs that you will never want to meet again.RUN!Harrison's subconsciousness forced him to ignore the knife,spin around and race for the Subway station.As he ran,he felt something warm trickld down his pant leg.He looked to see blood flowing out of his wound.He slowed his pace down.He passed the GDI defense line and joined the rest of the refugees.Among them was a GDI field medic.With whatever energy he could muster,he hobbled to the medic,keeping himself up with his GD-2.The medic saw it and processed it.She instantly set him down and injected a packet of morphine into him.Harrison felt a numbing pleasure as the opium began to take effect on his senses.The medic asked him"Are you feeling okay soldier?"He didn't reply,his mind drifting from the pleasure that he felt all of a sudden.The medic kicked him in the thigh,but he did not notice anything more than a tingling vibration in his body.She waited for a reply,but he gave none.

She took it that it worked and began to remove the blade from his thigh.she tugged at it,straining the whole time, but the blade mostly remained lodged in its position.She attempted again.The blade was yanked free from Harrison's thigh at last,without having to apply more morphine.The medic tossed the blade into a corner and began to pour the Beta serum onto the incision.She wrapped it up with a bandage and walked away,leaving Harrison in his dream-like state.As Harrison began to come back from his delirium,Sandra walked to him and sat by his side.

Outside the Subway station,the defense line began to waver.Missiles streaked across the open air along with the scattering bullets and the large white luminescent discs that destroyed everything that they came in contact with.One man,Kirovski,fired his GD-2 and effectively felled a couple of ravagers who had crawled over a zone trooper who did not dodge a hail of plasma in time.He ran straight at another advancing disintegrater and smashed the butt of his rifle at its plasma cutter.It let out a screech in pain and looked back at Kirovski to see him spray a burst of lead at it.It collapsed momentarily.Kirovski continued to blast more disintegraters when he saw two men rushing towards them followed closely by a Pitbull.He noticed that they were all strafing.Machine gun fire sprayed from the pitbull.Something is wrong.Very Very wrong.

Conner urged James to stop the Pitbull,which he did and in turn sent the Pitbull skidding across the road and the momentum sending it smashing into the postbox.Letters flew in random directions as the post box erupted from the sudden crash which left it mangled at the roadside.Conner jumped out of the Pitbull with his GD-7 already raised and primed in its GD-7b state.He aimed it at a nearby Scrin vehicle;A seeker.The seeker,alerted of their presence turned around,revealing its slender body to Conner.The seeker floated two feet off the ground on what seemed to be gravity projectors and looked no different from the average computer mouse except that it was huge and the back of it did not slope down but curved to a point at the back and mounted near the end,was the plasma disc launcher that floated on a smaller projector.Heat waves rippled around the seeker as the alien vehicle prepared to fire a deadly barrage of plasma at the poor Steel talon infantry.The other soldiers did not take any time to hesitate.Harding Wheeled the machine gun to bear at the vehicle and peppered its sides with long sprays of machine gun fire,the machine guns three barrels spinning wildly with the rhythm.Avery stood up and rested himself on the pitbulls frame,bracing himself for the imminent recoil.He pumped all the rounds from his shotgun hastily,the recoil practically throwing him out of the Pitbull.

Conner aimed the laser targeting scope at the seeker and fired.A Long thin blue beam lanced forward at the seeker.It touched the seeker.The seekers armor rippled slightly and shimmered silver.The silver shielding covered the entire seeker for a moment before converging on the beams target point.The small circle then started to flicker and falter.It wavered from the intense shock and flickered off.The beam pierced through the seeker with ease,sending the seeker collapsing onto the ground.The carcass of the seeker then erupted in flames.Smoke billowed from the seeker and rose high into the sky.Conner looked up to see many of such pillars of smoke rising,all forming an enormous cloud of blackness above Beijing itself.

Conner looked at the radar screen on the Pitbull.The subway station was no more than a couple of blocks away from away.They sped off,driving towards the subway station,wary for anymore Scrin creatures.They made a sharp 90 degree turn into another junction to see three cars turned over with men taking cover and firing from open spaces while disintegraters worked hard to slice through the car plates.James floored the accelerator and sent the pitbull rushing forward.Harding slammed the trigger and sent the bullets racing towards the aliens.It tore through the aliens without remorse,rupturing their frail exoskeletons.The Pitbull halted in front of the overturned pseudo-barricade.Conner got out,his GD-7 by his side.He looked at the main hole where he found another GD-7 pointed directly at him.He stepped around the side of the barricade and looked in to see A specforce trooper looking back at him,his GD-7 at the ready.general Pierce stood right behind him clad in specforce armor as well.

"What happened to the other specforce trooper?"Conner asked,bewildered

"cut down by plasma to the head."

Conner 's stomach lurched on the mental image of the specforce trooper's head being blasted off.He shrugged and dismissed it."We have to get you to safety sir."

"Well i have no complaints.Lead the way trooper."

"Sir,yes sir."

Conner walked back out with General Pierce and the other Specforce trooper.He looked back at the pitbull to find James away from the driver's seat and kicking over a shock trooper's shell.He then retrieved a GD-5 from the ground and looked further ahead to see a mangled body of a sniper and his spotter.James stepped toward the sniper and policed his ammunition and walked back to the Pitbull.General pierce got into the pitbull and positioned himself in a manner where he could fire out properly,his legs almost sticking out of the pitbull itself.Conner and the other specforce trooper went ahead as scouts,moving gingerly and swiftly amongst the wreckage and debris.

Conner continued and observed the tactical map on his helmet HUD.They were almost there.He looked at the subway station that was not too far ahead of them.He saw the defense line crumbling with the shock troopers slaughtering GDI riflemen and the Zone troopers putting up a futile effort to hold back the assault with their already dwindling numbers.Conner then twitched.He heard this one sound which urged him on impulse to turn around and look at the producer of the sound.He turned and looked at a group of shard walkers approaching him,their long spike-like noses jabbing at the air above them.James jammed the pitbull forward while Harding fired a long stream of bullets at the pursuing creatures.A shard walker collapsed on the ground,half its legs hewed off by the onslaught of lead.It landed on the asphalt with a loud thud,the shards on its rear cracking and shattering,hundreds of shards flying off in random directions and piercing through surfaces.

Conner spun around,followed shortly by the spec force trooper.They released an onslaught of railgun shots at the incoming attackers.another two collapsed from the constant fire,dark green blood pooling from the holes that covered them.Conner ran ahead,the pitbull and the specforce trooper slowly gaining on him.He looked from the top of a slope and saw the subway station just dead ahead.He observed the surroundings to see a defense line that comprised of no more than twenty police officers and riflemen,a handful of zone troopers and a squad of missile troopers with one man suddenly running to them with an FGM 90 with him.Then he saw the Scrin units attacking the defense line around it.He watched as his comrades collapsed before his eyes.he switched to his GD-7c.He shouldered the sniper rifle and took aim at the scrin invaders.The targeting scope zoomed in but he could not get a clear shot.frankly the zone troopers were blocking them.He jumped as he suddenly felt heat rushing over his shoulder,only to realise that a bolt of plasma had just fown past his ear.

He wheeled around and took aim with the sniper rifle.Not wasting any time,he fired the slug at the shard walker and sent it to the asphalt.He tapped the 7a and continued down the road.The others followed suit and went down the slope.But what they did not note was the horde of Shard walkers still behind them that were gaining.Conner turned around and fired a burst of railgun shots at the first shard walker he saw,turning around once in awhile to keep his footing.A shard walker screeched in pain but then returned to normal and began spouting volleys of tiberium at the retreating soldiers.the specforce trooper followed suit and released a hail of railgun slugs at the enemy walkers as they continued their pursuit.

Conner and the spec force trooper began strafing and continued to fire at the walkers with the pitbull following not too far away.

Sandra rushed up the stairs to the entrance of the subway station to see the garrison in tatters.a dozen mangled bodies lay on the ground,ripped,gutted or completely disintegrated.zone troopers were what took the bulk of the survivors,there being no more than six survivors and half of them being zone troopers with ruptured armor.They stumbled into the entrance,injured from the brawl outside.Sandra pressed herself uncomfortably against the side of the door.she looked out of the door to see one last man crawling towards the entrance,oblivious to the rest of the scrin insectoids that were preparing to jump him.She could not bear it.A ravager approached him with deadly silence.Its legs lowered as it prepared to leap on its prey.She jumped out of the shadows and killed the ravager,its mangled body ripped to shreds from the attack.The man,dumbstruck by what had just transpired,scurried with his GD-2 in hand and entered the entrance, tossing Sandra his rifle and ammo clips while she passed him her Gd-3.She cocked the rifle once,removed the magazine and slammed a fresh clip in.the cocked the weapon one last time and with a resounding clank! she released a spray of bullets at the insects.two disintegrators were immediately downed by the onslaught followed by another,the bullets sweeping low and crippling its limbs.She slammed another clip in an fired with wild abandon.More and more scrin insectoids collapsed.Suddenly,a shard walker approached the entrance and fired a volley of tiberium shards at sandra.She ducked as she watched the shards go through the space that she had occupied not too long ago.

Chapter 5

September 20, 2047, Blue Zone City, Beijing, Asian GDI main ops base, 1349 hours......

Sandra walked to the soldier, pulling off her helmet at the same time. As it came off, she felt the warm sensational Asian sun on her skin. Her blond hair swayed in the mild breeze, glittering in the light of the sun which was now high above them, gazing down on the half-intact city. She held her helmet under her arm, with the GD-3 in her other hand.

'What are you doing here? You can't possibly be the backup I asked for?'

'Well ... sorry to disappoint you. I got orders from HQ, but it came too late. Hey, I am surprised to see you here. I thought you are supposed to be with a Predator crew in west Beijing?'

'We,' she gestured at the two other civilians, 'ran into some trouble. And no, I am disappointed only because one came, and he is not really something. What happened to the rest of your platoon, Harry? Got them all killed again?'

He ignored her mild verbal abuse but caught the second last sentence, something he had heard countless times. Anger surged in Harrison's body. The tragic past occurrence which eclipsed all his achievements in a cloak of shame came to mind again. He clenched his fist, pouring all of his anger and hatred into it. He stopped in his tracks as the memory flashed before his eyes...

April 4th 2047, Yellow zone Y1, Temple Prime, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, 1456 hrs....

Dull rapid thumps sounded as Juggernauts released their ammunition on the Nod base surrounding Temple Prime. GDI units rolled into the base through various entrances. In retaliation, swarms of Nod militants, tanks and other assorted units charged towards the GDI battalions. GDI had the tactical advantage of higher ground. Their infantry were at the entrance, with tanks fast approaching the entrances which sloped into the base. They targeted the Nod militants and unleashed hell on them, which was the way all Nod soldiers were going. Thousands of bullets and projectiles zipped through the sky, some at GDI troops, as hundreds of Riflemen and Rocket Squads fired their weapons at the defending Nod army. Lieutenant Harrison, positoned at the central entrance of the base, raised the Sniper division on his comm channel.

'Eagles, go in for the kill.'

'Affirmative, sir. Be there in five minutes.'

Bullets raced through the air and cut through hordes of incoming soldiers. The retaliating militia suddenly halted and began to retreat slowly. GDI troops pressed on, closely followed by the 3rd's tank division.

Black Hand troopers and Confessor Cabals led a charge, rallying the substandard militia against the enemy. The militia began to push forward again, with heavy losses sustained on both sides.

One Black Hand trooper stood a head taller than the others. His armor was painted crimson, silver and black, his cape red with the Black Hand insignia imprinted on it. Evidently, he was someone of high rank. He stood on a rock and yelled, 'For Nod, for the Messiah, for Tiberium!'

The GDI soldiers were repulsed by this, but the militants reacted with renewed vigor, charging mindlessly at the definitely elite GDI riflemen battalion positioned at the top of the slope. The Black Hand trooper leaped down, ran to the front lines, raised his flamethrower high, which showed the picture of a scorpion at its nozzle. He jabbed the weapon forward, sending the horde charging at the riflemen. They charged, only to get mowed down by the hail of bullets that ripped through the weak bulletproof vest that they wore. The Confessors curged the Militants to fire, which they responded by raising their 20th century chain guns at the riflemen and firing insanely. A dozen more riflemen dropped to the ground, dead, adding to the number of fallen. Suddenly a crackle sounded, followed by the clang of heavy metal on rock. The Confessors turned around to find their Black Hand leader dead with a sniper round in the head. The very same crackle was heard many times more, dropping Confessors and Black Hand troopers. Suddenly the Nod militia was encompassed in plumes of yellow smoke.

Gunfire was heard by the GDI riflemen, but none of the fire was directed at them. They watched as the Nod militants entered a frenzy from confusion and fear which the hallucinogenic grenades, courtesy of the Confessor Cabals who activated them in a last ditched attempt to disrupt GDI's ranks, induced, and began killing one another. What the Nod militants saw was vague shapes of both GDI and Nod infantry surrounding them. As the yellowish smoke cleared, what they saw were piles upon piles of dead militants, with a touch Confessor Cabals that tried to quell the riot. GDI armor had finally arrived and pushed through the Scorpion and Flame Tank brigade at the second entrance and the Juggernauts continued to pound the third entrance's militant defense line. They were behind schedule. Harrison led his men into the compound alongside APCs and Pitbulls as the rest of GDI's troops continued to press against the Nod infantry and tank line, wary of any enemy units. They turned the corner of a Nod Tiberium Refinery, leaving it for heavier firepower, skipping past a shimmering shape of a stealth Nod Harvester and the Tiberium crystals on the ground and in doing so bumped into a group of Confessors. Harrison pumped three rounds from his shotgun while one of his men sprayed a clip of sub machine gun fire. The soldiers collapsed, whittled by bullets. Overkill. From above, he heard the sound of Firehawk engines. They were coming down from the stratosphere. He ordered everyone to get down and take cover. They followed his orders as the Firehawks swooped down and released their surprises to the Nod base. Explosions took place all around the base, enough to shake Harrison and his platoon off their feet. They reoriented themselves as SAM sites released tiberium shatter missiles at the new arrivals and prepared for company. Harrison's helmet comm system beeped. He saw that he had been issued new orders. He was to go into this building which they identified as the Ministry of Science building. It was not too far from their position, but was heavily guarded. He was also ordered to discard his old mission, which was to destroy an Ion Disruption Field generator. He acknowledged and forwarded the message to his platoon and within moments, they were all headed to the GDI Forward Operations post deployed there by a Surveyor earlier on to gather their special equipment which had been airlifted to it. Quite ironically, it was behind their current position.

Half and hour later...

They made their way to the Ministry of Science building, slaughtering another three patrols of militants along the way. Harrison jabbed his shotgun forward and released a round, the recoil sending his arm back. The rounds were pumped into three militants, sending them all backwards with multiple holes in their bodies. The bodies collapsed onto the ground, freeing up the pathway straight to the building. A soldier by the name of Sergeant Sanderson brought up the rear with his GD-2 armed and ready. They passed a couple of Power Plants, which were upgraded with Tiberium cores. Harrison thought of the other five members of the platoon who had been killed by the Obelisks of Light which had in turn been destroyed by Mammoth 27s. The encounter was due to a careless maneuver by Harrison, who thought a short cut would be better than the designated route.

Harrison was about to burst into the main steel door of the designated structure when something made him hesitate. Doing extra in a war is the first step to a promotion. He gritted his teeth. He will get one.

'No, go to the closest Ion disruption Field generator.' He moved first, and was stopped by a very brave soldier.

'Sir, that is not our duty. We were even ordered to discard it. We shouldn't go.'

'Are you pulling my rank, soldier? I'm the CO here, so now listen and obey my orders! Insubordination is not something I would stand for.'

He went on alone, and to his immense relief his men followed, however reluctantly.

'This is for your good,' he added as an afterthought. Together they ran to the new designated building, putting down any Nod resistance. To his dismay, he saw that the Ion disruptor structure was heavily guarded by an assortment of Nod units, such as (as usual) militants, Fanatics, Nod Death Trucks and Beam Cannons. One Beam Cannon, a tiny four-wheeled vehicle with a slightly teardrop-shaped laser emitter that could turn 360 degrees, spotted them (along with the others) and charged a beam, the energy swirling above it and ripples of heat forming along the sides of the cannon itself. It then released it right in the middle of the squad, which dove for cover. Too late. Two men were vaporized instantly. Other units moved in their general direction. A Stealth Tank shimmered into visibility and launched two missiles that trailed green smoke and threw three of his comrades off their feet.

'Pull back!'

'Sir, I told you this was a bad idea-' one started.

'Shut up!'

Harrison used his helmet computer to plant a.

Seconds later, three Juggernaut shells impacted the Nod small army. A single burst really wasn't enough and only managed to kill six Nod soldiers, pulverise a Beam Cannon and smash the Stealth Tank to bits, but the shock knocked the Death Truck onto its side and it blew apart, increasing the damage dealt. The blast was felt even ten meters away where Harrison was standing.

The second truck exploded, bringing up two balls of orange fire that erupted within seconds and blazed, and a hell lot of shrapnel. The men slowly got up, and went over to the devastated area. Fire was still burning, and green tinges were everywhere. Harrison took out the five grenades that he had, save three, just in case.

'Give me your grenades.'

His men did so, and he chucked them at a wall, all unprimed save one, in a pile, and ran for cover. They detonated, tearing the half the wall off. His men fired bullets and slugs into the gaping hole, blind through the smoke. Another three Juggernaut shells whizzed forward, each eager to be first. The victor was rather undecided as they smashed into the exposed area of the structure. One evidently did something big, as a massive green-tinged explosion ripped apart half of what remained of the building. One of the Rifleman was sliced into two by a rather large piece of shrapnel, while another got hit by a Tiberium backwash. The liquid green substance instantly ate began eating away his armour. He collapsed in a pool of green slime, rapidly engulfed in liquid tiberium. Harrison and his men looked uncertainly at the mess.

'Sir, this is-'

'I know! Shut up,' he suggested. He was frustrated at his failed attempts to be deserving of a promotion. Still, it was not too late to complete his self-designated job.

Harrison ordered his men forward, at the same time utilising EVA to figure out what happened. Apparently, a liquid Tiberium core was detonated by a shell that punctured its casing. Its immense power was used to power the anti-ion field, but leaving it extremely volatile to direct hits from heavy weaponry. Then again, barely anything could withstand direct Juggernaut hits.

He rang the BC (Battle Commander). 'Sir, I have destroyed the central Ion Disruption field Generator.'

The reply came almost immediately. 'Ah, lieutenant Pearson - Harrison? Moron, I told you to go to the Ministry of Science building, and you, ignoring my orders, went to the IDFG. Didn't I tell you to discard that mission?' the BC sighed. 'Harrison, when the Ion cannon levels this base, be prepared for demotions and lots of profanity. Get back to your job.'

'Sir-' but the BC cut the link. His plan had backfired. Most of his men were dead, only due to recklessness. HIS recklessness! He deserved the demotions. He signalled at his men to follow him, not trusting his voice.

An hour later...


Harrison burst through the steel door he saw a couple of hours ago with the help of a grenade. His men fired in, and all Nod resistance was nullified. His men went in further, quelling any resistance. This place is massive, sergeant Sanderson thought.

'OK team, listen up,' Harrison spoke while gunning down a careless Nod soldier. 'We go to the main Nod science lab. There, gather everything without Tiberium, including info drives. Two guard the rest.'

Half the roof fell. His men ducked instinctively. A wall then collapsed, revealing a Mammoth Tank rolling over the debris.

'BC's orders,' the Mammoth Tank's PA system yelled. 'Relax. Get on with your job.'

Relieved, Harrison led his men down another corridor, smashing open doors to find any hiding Nod cowards. One particular door was what made all the difference, along with Harrison's carelessness. He riddled the lock with his shotgun, smashing it beyond repair and recognition.

None noticed the sign on the door: KEEP OUT MUTANT TEST IN PROGRESS, until Harrison's shoulder impacted the door.

'Sir! the sign!'

But it was too late. and They looked at the shadow to reveal an over-sized man clad in thick armor with spikes sticking out of his back. The being entered the hallway, revealing a man of Brobdingnagian proportions clad in black and crimson steel with Tiberium infused spikes on his back. The creature towered over them and stared at the half sized people below with blank and innocent eyes.He raised up his hand to their level and released a stream of fire from a small point in his armor.

Harrison and his men opened fire but the man remained unfazed. He raised his hand and fired a stream of flames at them,coating two men in fire,sending them running about in a frenzy.He grabbed the fallen soldier's rifle and fired with both of them.The lumbering giant then opened a hatch from his forearm, revealing a Tiberium shard launcher. Harrison knew that it would be trouble and instinctively fired twin burst of steel at the weapon,but the bullets merely caused a dent in the apparently harder metal.He noticed a small nook in the creatures armor.Just enough for a nice little grenade.Another three soldiers fell from the Tiberium shards. They were now left with three men. The situation was grave. Just where they were headed. Sergeant Sanderson saw the opening and made a dash towards the giant. He jumped up and unpinned a grenade, shoving it into the snug little nook in his shoulder plate. The creature growled as he prepared to release his volley of Tiberium at Sanderson when an explosion occurred at his left shoulder. The impact blew him at the right wall, knocking him out effectively.

Harrison tugged of the creature's helmet and fired a shotgun slug at point-blank range. The creature shuddered from the impact. They proceeded on mission,their numbers dwindling and rather shaken. Headquarters ordered to pull them back and get in a commando, but Harrison refused to comply and continued along the pathway, knowing full well that he would be punished for insubordination afterward, but he decided it was worth the risk.

After traveling through endlessly winding pathways of the hall, sloping upwards slowly but surely. They halted at a room labeled the mainframe core. They prepared themselves at either sides of the door while Harrison kicked the door open and lobbed his only grenade in. The grenade exploded. They heard screams of agony as the incendiary grenade burned through everything except computer units.The second grenade-a pressurized liquid nitrogen bomb-exploded in a high pressure burst,stopping the flames.They crept in with their weapons at the ready.All the bodies were lying on the ground,their skin sporting fresh third degree burns.The soldiers winced at the sight of the NOD soldiers that had been burnt that badly.At the side were two dead militants and a rocket trooper.Obviously their escort.The solders fanned out,walking to separate computer interfaces,taking out tiny bottles of liquid and pouring them on the flash frozen liquid nitrogen surfaces.The liquids began eating away the surfaces,leaving the surfaces untouched and ready for use.They each took out small devices,plugging them into the computer interfaces and immediately collecting information on NOD.

Sanderson out of curiosity opened a strange-looking file.It first showed nothing more than a file about GDI.he brushed it aside.the next one looked interesting,regarding a manta-ray like fighter.After skimming through the basic schematics and specifics,he placed it in the device.Then,he opened a third file and the screen became blank.He staggered and regained his footing.He looked again and a pale silvery face appeared before him.the entity spoke,its voice cold and emotionless,"What is your designation?Who authorized your opening of this file?"Sanderson stared in disbelief.The face disappeared and the screen turned black again.The face reappeared and spoke plainly"Awakened program initializing"Suddenly,the plating of the computer interface opened up and wires shot out and grabbed the two chain guns and the rocket launcher.Harrison beckoned the other riflemen out of the room.Sanderson stood in shock as the entity began manifesting itself in the many other computer interfaces to form a single body and fusing the chain guns and the rocket launcher to fashion a weapon.Sanderson came to his senses and ripped out the device,running straight out with his rifle still dangling by his side.

The entity stood up, the pistons in the metallic body pushing. It towered at two meters tall, its curving but thin frame partially exposed. Its 'head' hunched, the being walked out of the room to see the soldiers running through the hallway.

Harrison ran through the hallway,followed closely behind by Sanderson and the two remaining soldiers.They heard an awkward whirring sound,followed by the staccato of gunfire.Sanderson heard a grunt,and on impulse,turned around to see a man collapse with a bullet through his abdomen.The man grimaced in pain as blood began pouring from the hole in his back.the man then turned around to face the robotic being and fired his entire clip from the GD-2. The being having timed the bullets impact to the picoseconds,formed a layered shield around him by sliding the plates to converge on the area of impact. The bullets streaked and slammed into the shield before pinging off and ricocheting in different directions. The man dropped to the ground, motionless.

Harrison did not give a second glance,continuing down the gently sloping hallway.Sanderson turned around,his arms carrying the device still and looked at the robotic being.He thrust the device into his pack and withdrew his rifle.He sprayed a full burst at the robotic being.It shrugged it off as if the bullets were paper.It fired another burst from its twin chain guns.They ran around a corner in time to dodge the onslaught of lead.The soldiers quickened their pace in desperation.The entrance was merely a hundred meters away.two men stood at the entrance,their guns prepared to handle any problem.Sanderson realized something.those were Nod soldiers standing at the doorway waiting to ambush GDI soldiers who had unwittingly entered the building.Sanderson fired two successive bursts from his GD-2 and immediately sent the two soldiers to the ground.

Behind them,they heard the alarming sound of mechanical pistons pounding on the ground in a far quicker pace.The robotic being was running after them if running seemed possible.They turned around to see the shadow of the awakened charging at them.It gained distance on them.It fired a burst of bullets at them.They panicked slightly.Harrison and Sanderson got out the door.The last man hobbled behind,with a bullet wound in his leg.He panted as he strained himself to get out of the door and into GDI's safety.He felt a cold shiver crawl down his spine,only his time it felt too real.The cold shiver became a cold sliver,followed by a sudden jerk.He was lifted into the air.The man swung his arms in protest and hit a hard metallic surface.He looked at the screen.The pale silvery face stared at him and uttered,"Nod shall rise again.Prepare for ascension."The soldier heard the sound of gunshots and felt a numbing sensation.His eyes became cloudy and dark.He closed his eyes.

Sanderson ducked behind the bulk of a Mammoth tank that halted outside the building while Harrison in ran and hid in a corner.The Awakened robot stepped out of the door,its armor gleaming in the small rays of light that penetrated the thick clouds of smoke that lingered over the war torn base.Sanderson crouched behind the thick armor of the mammoth tank which had yet to register the incoming threat.He felt the heat of the mammoth tank radiating to him.He could not take it much longer.He turned around and shot right up,catching the attention of the robotic being. It stared at him with a blank cold stare.Sanderson spent a full clip in vain,firing all the ammunition at the being only for it to bounce off its converging shield.Sanderson resorted to the shredder rounds.He resorted to shredder rounds.The shredder rounds were slammed home and immediately the sound of a gun cocking was heard,followed momentarily by the sound of Sanderson's rifle firing while the metal plated improvised shield collapsed from the splitting rounds that penetrated it like water on paper.The robotic being struggled to keep its armor intact.plates began sliding back in an ill-fated attempt to protects its inner circuits.The partially ripped metal plates slid across hundreds of wires,but unbeknown to it,the sliced edges of the metal plates began to cut the wires of its slender frame.The being raised a metallic arm and fired a shot at Sanderson's position.

Sanderson was greeted with a slight sense of epiphany watching the seemingly indestructible robotic being finally fall,but as it raised an arm,Sanderson snapped back and prepared to finish it off.It fired a shot and sent a bullet racing through the air.Sanderson flt a moment of sudden pain and looked at his right shoulder to find the armor plate missing and a deep gash and broken bone located there.His senses caught up with him and sent him screaming in pain.The last thing he heard was the Awakened utter in its monotonous voice,"Awakened battlemech program deactivating,self destruct sequence initiated."He blacked blacked out from the excruciating pain the bullets had caused him.Harrison stared in disbelief as his last member of his platoon had nearly died just because of his own desire for glory.He called for a V-35 ox transport to retrieve the wounded soldier and walked back to the corpse of the other fallen soldier.He stared at the fallen body of his comrade,reflecting on whether he could have done something differently to have saved them all.He crouched down and collected the memory device from his pack and placed it in Sanderson's hand,dragging him off the road and to the main entrance of the building.Moments later,he heard the thunderous noise of the Ox's engines as they touched the ground.a team of paramedics rushed out and unfolded a stretcher,and placed him on it while checking his pulse and vital signs simultaneously.Harrison boarded the Ox transport and sat beside Sanderson,looking at the comrade that he might never see again.A scanner was placed over Sanderson and gave readouts on his status and designation.Harrison in the midst of it all approached one paramedic and asked,"Where will he be going afterward?"

"He will be sent back to Australia,sir"

"Carry on"

The paramedic began to grab tools and quickly removed the bullet shards that remained lodged in Sanderson's body.Harrison sat in solemn contemplation as they continued their operation.........

Chapter 4

September 20, 2047, Blue Zone City, Beijing, Asian GDI main ops base, 0934hrs...


The other riflemen snapped to attention around him as Conner approached the wolverine. He glanced at them, gave them a salute before heading to the pilot, whose chute had deployed and had landed not too far away. He took the combat knife from one of the riflemen, stepped toward the pilots seat and ripped the parachute open. The pilot lay sprawled in his chair, unconscious. He checked the pilots vital signs. All clear, just knocked out. The group of vehicles came to a halt. A platoon of riflemen came out from the guardian APCs, guns at the ready and took aim. Behind them, two Pitbulls pulled up with their machine guns loaded and pointed at them. Conner beckoned for the men to put down their weapons. Harding put down his GD-2, Avery lowered his GD-4 at an angle where he could snap it back up in case. The other men and women followed suit. A predator tank appeared behind the APCs and halted, its 90mm main battle cannon aimed at the Wolverine. The hatch opened, and a man dressed in official uniform stepped out. His hair graying and neatly trimmed, with his hat straight. On his shoulder they saw two stars and the faint outline of the GDI Steel Talons symbol. General Pierce. He walked up to them, flanked by his personal bodyguards who were seasoned special forces units and excellent snipers, all armed with the experimental GD-7s as well. He raised his hand, signaling for the riflemen to stand down. Slowly the riflemen lowered their weapons, with just the slightest hint of hesitation. General Pierce walked to the wolverine,and spoke clearly, 'Who is the CO of this platoon?'

His voice commanded much respect. Harding approached him and replied, 'Sir, sergeant Conner Hunter is our CO, he's over there.'

As soon as Private Harding had mentioned Conner's name, general Pierce's eyes dilated. He walked briskly to Conner, leaving the Special Forces troopers behind. They stared at the survivors while general Pierce spoke to Conner until one of them leaned forward and asked Harding, 'Is this all that escaped the base since the ION storm?'

Harding replied briefly, 'I'm not sure, why?'

The Specforce trooper stepped back. He whispered to Harding, 'Tell ya later.'

Harding wondered what was it, but shook it off. Conner turned around from the pilots chair, and saw the soldiers point their rifles at the survivors, who had also pointed their firearms back at them. Next he saw a Predator Tank crawl forth and a man flanked by Steel Talons Specforce Troopers walked to them. He knew who the person was. The man walked to him. He stepped carefully not to trip over the parachute. He immediately snapped to attention and saluted the general. He returned the salute. The general said,with his voice clear, 'Well I'll be darned. You of all the soldiers in that damn base made it out alive.' ‘Sir, yes, sir...' Conner replied,with an obvious hint of confusion.

'What happened to everyone at the base? You guys are the only ones who got here after the ION storm?'

'Sir... the entire base and its personnel was destroyed by ... aliens sir.'

The seasoned general arched an eyebrow. Aliens? Could they really be invading west Y1? He knew aliens would attack the Yellows, but they did that only to gain foothold and harass GDI forces or increase tiberium level. Aliens invading this area should clear out soon, but then why approach a major city? They should be entering R4 next, but the Steel Talon base was in-between R4 and the city. It did not make sense. The eyebrow settled back down and the general's features became static once again. 'We'll discuss it in the APC.'

Conner nodded and walked with general Pierce to the APC, flanked by 2 Specforce Troopers, James, Harding and Avery. The survivors were also escorted by the Specforce troopers to other APCs and some to Pitbulls. James, Avery and Harding both walked with Conner to the APC. Within the APC, they all sat uneasily as the general spoke to Conner and the Specforce troopers stared at them, their GD-7s ready. Conner took off his helmet and showed general Pierce the automatic recording from his helmet cam. It showed the Shock Troopers and the Disintegrators that he killed when he rescued Harding and Avery. The general watched the video in shock when he saw the alien creatures and was even more impressed with Conner's daring and ability. He watched the clip of Conner jumping off the Dropship, an apparently insane suicidal move, grabbing onto the Stormrider and destroying it by himself. He switched off the video feed, commenting, 'Those were some moves that I don't even think my guys would do. You got guts I'll give you that. The idea about getting out of that Steel Talon base was quite good too, although we practically lost everyone else, and this recording of the aliens, we'll have to keep them in check.'

Conner gave a small grin, having gained the general's favor. Private Harding inched closer to the Specforce Trooper who asked him the strange question and whispered to him, 'Why'd you ask that question?'

The trooper turned his gaze to Harding and answered silently, 'My best friend was there. I did not want to leave him there. I had to follow orders and go with the first convoy. I did not see him among the second convoy. So this means ... he's dead.'

The soldier held in his feelings, not wanting anyone to know his sadness. The convoy crawled through the empty streets and into an underpass, heading to the GDI in-city base.

September 20, 2047, Blue Zone City, Beijing, North Asian GDI main ops base, 1146hrs...

Captain Wong stood in front of the screen. On it, he saw nothing wrong along the city. The police probes that were scattered around the city in place of security cameras showed no signs of problems. He walked out of his office and crossed the multiple corridors, through the gym, looking at GDI police corps troopers training themselves, some on punching bags, some on weights and some were sparring on the wrestling ring. He crossed another hallway and entered a gallery. He walked to the window. From there he looked down at the dozens of new recruits training underground at the gallery, some shooting targets, others taking fitness tests and some cleaning their GD-1 As. all of them getting shouted at by drill instructors. He watched as the recruits started their firing exercises. Soon, the entire room was echoing the sounds of gunshots as the rubber bullets tore through the paper printed bulls eye targets. He launched a probe and controlled it to zoom in on the targets. Among them, one had succeeded in landing full head shots on her entire clip. He thought to himself, 'We could use an officer like her.'

Suddenly the intercom blared, ‘Captain Wong, you are are needed at the control room.’ Class 5 emergency,' Captain Wong's eyes widened. Class 5 emergency? What could be that serious? He rushed past many officers, all of them stopping to salute him. For a man pushing sixty years, he was running like a man still in his prime. He burst into the control room still panting. The woman at the screen turned around and told him what happened. Captain Wong stared at the screen. On it he saw three small but growing energy anomalies. He immediately moved to the radio transmitter. He spoke over the microphone, 'All available units, get armed and loaded, get onto your patrol cycles and head to the following locations. The destinations will be programmed onto your cycle screens now.'

As he spoke, the woman typed furiously, sending the locations to selected patrol cycles.

Around the city, Patrol cycles answered the call and the sleek, two person motorcycles sped to their destinations, one man sitting down on the lowered padded cycle seat controlling the patrol cycle, a tough job as that position causes frequent muscle cramps, while the other behind him sits in a lightweight circular pod that acts as both a turret and a defensive barrier that covers the him to his mid torso. He would sit on a small rotating platform that gave him a full 360 degree firing area. The patrol cycles zoomed to their respective locations, expertly maneuvering out of traffic without slowing. The officers approached the first location.

A dozen of them surrounded a rundown warehouse. They entered it from many locations. Four entered from the roof, walking across a steel bar that was all that was left of the skeleton of the roof section to the walkway just across, three knocked down a back door and the last five just blowing a hole in the wall and entering. The officers stared in amazement and shock at a purple sphere easily half the height of the warehouse ceiling, which was three stories high. Another two entered, hiding behind opened crates. A wise move. They aimed their GD-1As at the sphere as though it were a living creature. It began to pulsate and increase in size. Energy crackled and escaped, arcing in many directions, disintegrating whatever was within proximity. Those on the roof climbed down hastily by a fire escape conveniently placed at the end of the walkway. The last group went in from the main entrance which was left unopened. They cautiously joined the others, and at the same time, all the officers took out their GD-1As and began loading stun rounds. The first officer moved closer to the entity. Energy crackled loudly as he stepped closer, though not because of his presence. It moved near him but did not touch him. He walked cautiously to the purple entity as though in a daze. He was now only an arms length from the orb. He moved his hand forward and went ahead to touch the orb, ignoring his comrade's advice that he get away immediately. Just before his hand touched the orb, a wave of energy burst from the orb, sending him flying backwards. The other officers took cover, only to get knocked back as well. From the orb, A giant leg appeared, followed by another three more. Shock Troopers. They scanned the area for any human presence, but was quite unnecessary as some were already screaming, running away from the aliens. The other officers quickly took cover behind the crates in the shadows and fired their weapons, unleashing a barrage of stun rounds. But the rounds merely bounced off their hard exoskeletons. They retaliated, sending a wave of deadly plasma at group. The crates melted under the onslaught and the officers followed. One Shock Trooper suddenly collapsed from the stun rounds after getting hit in the unarmoured section that went from front to back in between the armoured exoskeletal plates one too many times. Without much hesitation, they switched to live rounds. Still hidden by the crates, they began to fire, bringing down another two shock troopers. The aliens fired again, sending plasma discs in every direction, melting crates and killing two other officers. The survivors retreated, sprinting the the nearest exit and to their patrol cycles.

Within their patrol cycles were compartments with GD-2s with stun rounds and live ammunition. Four men made it out before a Shock Trooper 'appeared' in front of the entrance, blocking two officers, who brought it down with three shots in the narrow vulnerable opening through which the plasma discs were expelled, and they suddenly fell, crushed under the weight of the large alien creature who teleported over them.

The sphere grew even larger. A Corrupter stepped out of it and began spraying the building with acidic black-green slime, melting the warehouse away. The officers on the walkway above the Corrupter ran for their lives, only to get sprayed by the liquid that the Corrupter shot upwards. One officer dropped to the floor of the walkway, apparently mutating. The liquid seeped into his body, transforming him. His arms fused together to form a third limb. His legs grew larger and tore through the layer of skin. He screamed in pain as his raw flesh touched the burning liquid. He got down on his three legs. His head shrank and fused to his body, leaving his eyes attached onto his body. Inside, his skeletal structure transformed into that of a three-legged invertebrate. He,or it walked towards the shocked and disoriented officers. It hit the first one with extraordinary strength, sending him down off the walkway through the wall, leaving a man sized hole in the warehouse building.

The others did not want to know what it was going to do to them. They slid down the ladder, ignoring the impact from landing on the ground. They jumped onto their patrol cycles and drove off to get to the other officers. Only half the initial group was left and all of them were still in danger. Officer Kirovski, a Russian police officer whose home in Russia was destroyed by tiberium and war, ordered the officers to tip over the patrol cycles of the fallen officers in his low Russian voice. They did as they were told. Quite suddenly, the alien Shock Troopers appeared right behind the barricade of motorcycles. It appeared and let loose a volley of plasma. The other officers whipped out their GD-2 assault rifles from the patrol cycle compartment, firing all their bullets to try and stop the aliens. Among the bulky shock troopers which towered over the poor officers running backwards, still firing, smaller man sized four-legged creatures scurried about, ready to jump out and strike with tiberium launchers as mouths. The Shock Troopers suddenly closed the space between them, overlapping their hardened shells. Behind the seemingly impenetrable shield, the tiny 'Ravagers' jumped out, releasing streams of tiberium shards at the unsuspecting police officers. Another three more officers went down,whittled by tiberium shards. Kirovski grabbed the last officer by the collar and pulled him to the patrol cycle. He jammed the accelerator while the other officer wielded both GD-2s with his arms akimbo and sprayed full clips at the aliens. Kirovski yelled over the Police radio

'We need help. Alien creatures here!'

Captain Wong overheard the cries from Kirovski. And many others from around the city. He took off his spectacles, trying to digest what had just happened. He called on the GDI command center and explained the problem to the commanders, much to their amazement. Captain Wong continued, until he heard more cries from the other officers. He paused the transmission and yelled over the comm channel, 'All officers, scramble, we've got company. All officers pull out from the energy anomalies.'

But before the message were registered by the officers, they were all dropped.

Immediately, more than two hundred patrol cycles exited their respective vehicle bays, followed closely by heavy-duty MFVs (Multipurpose fighting vehicles).

* * *

Conner and a Specforce trooper sat at a corner of the APC, talking to each other about the GD-7 and its abilities. The Specforce trooper sat in shock upon hearing about the GD-7d and told Conner a trick on the GD-7b. In the midst of their discussion, they heard two dull thuds from the outside of the APC. The APC jerked to a halt and the door swung open. There was a yell then the soft, creepy hiss of melting metal. Private Harding stepped out of the back entrance followed closely by Avery and then the general followed by the rest of the occupants. They looked ahead to see Shock Troopers on the roof of the APC. Avery immediately jumped back and sent two rounds at the Shock Troopers. The first one collapsed under the sudden shock of the shotgun slugs. The second one prepared to fire, at the retreating group, its vertical slit widened slightly, heat waves fluctuating around it. It almost killed Harding and Avery, had Conner not blown a hole through it with his GD7 railgun burst.

Even further he saw a dozen more Shock Troopers and other alien insectoids destroying the rest of the convoy. He got back out and the general was hustled away by his guards.

'Meet us at the Subway station!' Conner yelled. The general nodded and went off with his GD-1 in hand. The SpecForce troopers followed closely behind, activating their GD-7a assault rifles and followed him, cutting down a squad of alien Disintigrators along the way. The remaining soldiers moved ten paces away from the APC when it blew up, a massive ball of orange flame that threw them onto the ground. As the smoke rose from the wreckage, Conner and James got up and aimed their rifles at the incoming aliens. Conner fired, hearing screeches of pain as the railgun rounds sliced through a Shock Troopers armor. They ran backwards, unleashing bursts of bullets through the smoke and hitting the aliens who were returning fire. The ground just in front of them was cut by a blazing blue beam that had passed over them. A nearby vehicle was sprayed with Corrupter slime, then blew up just after. The road was stabbed by flying tiberium shards that were coughed out be a Shard Walker. They did not turn, fearing that spotting their foes may decrease their moral and slow them down. They ran and suddenly found a working Pitbull around a corner. All around them, civilians ran away from the oncoming onslaught. They got into the vehicle. Harding and Avery took the passenger seats while James took the driver seat and Conner took the gunner seat. He replaced the GD2 attached to the gun and replaced it with the GD7. James activated the Pitbull and revved it. It sped through the smoke of the alien weapons that seemed to be everywhere, leaving tire marks on the road. Conner sprayed the machine gun bullets at the shock troopers, cutting them down easily. They made a full 90 degree turn right into the next street, only to meet a Corrupter not too far away. Conner swiveled forward so he was now facing the front of the Pitbull, a laser sight appearing on the skin of the walker, which was spewing its corrosive acid on the buildings and the innocent civilians that were running from it. He pulled the trigger. The bullet immediately surged forward, stabbing a hole in the the Corrupter. It gave out a shrill scream before collapsing and lying motionless.

They continued down the street with Conner turning back and jamming down the machine gun, chewing up the Scrin Disintegrators which he saw behind them as they went along. Aluminum bullet jackets hit the ground as the Pitbull sped away. James suddenly stopped the Pitbull. Conner asked, 'What gives? We're in the middle of the damn street with alien bugs coming at us in all directions!'

James retorted, 'That's the idea. Cut them down! We have to save the civilians,' Conner understood his plan immediately.

He wheeled the machine gun around to see Disintegrators, Shock Troopers and Buzzers racing to them. Conner did not hesitate. He jammed the firing buttons at the incoming horde who were too far away to be of any immediate threat. Bullets raced across the air, landing in the alien creatures, killing them instantly. The aliens collapsed to the ground, writhing in pain, green alien blood of different shades pooled around the dead bodies. The aliens stopped advancing. But the hordes were too large for him to cope with. Harding and Avery fired from their passenger seats.

The alien creatures recoiled by the sudden force of bullets and slugs that attacked them. The Buzzers adapted. Twenty Buzzer swarms moved forward and dispersed. Hundreds of razor sharp knives filled the width of the street. It then compacted to form a Buzzer wall, layers overlapping one another. The machine gun fire continued to rain down on them, but the bullets merely pinged off the wall of alien engineering. Conner noticed the four walls and could see them moving closer to their position. He released the machine gun belt and pressed a button on the machine gun. The barrel instantly split into two, flipped open and closed back together, forming a larger barrel. He squatted down and grabbed the second belt that was on the ground. He picked it up. Conner then slid of the cover of the ammo feeder. It revealed a larger entrance point. He slammed the belt home and sprayed the bullets at the walls.

This time, the wall could not compete against the power of the 50 calibers. The first wall of Buzzers thinned, the many knives being shot and flung far of, losing connection and falling to the ground. Others were too damaged to receive the signal that the orbs were broadcasting, dropping to the ground by the dozens. Conner aimed the GD-7b simultaneously and fired, sending the beam flying and creating a hole in the buzzer wall. The Buzzers attempted to patch the numerous holes up, only to be blasted away. The Buzzers dispersed and disintegrated, their cores overloaded from the constant stream of orders to hold the wall, patch the wall and move forward. The knives shattered, leaving the creatures vulnerable. Conner made short work of them, aiming at the other walls shortly after. They were getting too close for comfort. Harding lobbed a grenade over.As it neared the wall,the wall suddenly sprouted a beam of knives at the grenade. It caught the grenade in mid air, unaware of its deadly potential. It reformed with the wall, thinking that the slower projectile could be used to patch the wall. The alien wall suddenly shattered.

The wall exploded and knives flew all over the place, disintegrating afterward. The Buzzer wall was in tatters. What remained quickly attempted to patch up the hole and create a smaller wall when their cores suddenly exploded, punctured by 50 caliber bullets. Remaining aliens charged, releasing plasma discs and beams, chewing up the pavement and James was forced to execute evasive maneouvers. Harding sprayed a burst of bullets at a Shock Trooper's legs, sweeping low and in a line. The legs of many of the creatures got shot off and were instantly crippled as they released whatever they could. Conner destroyed the third wall, slaughtering the remaining aliens. James jammed the accelerator, sending the Pitbull flying towards the last Buzzer wall.

Conner registered the sight and jammed on the trigger. Bullets spammed and cut swathes in the wall. Avery stood up, his stomach rested on the metal grille that covered the a part of the roof of the Pitbull's passenger area. He gave them a warm welcome, blasting shotgun pellets and slugs at the wall. Dozens of shards hit the ground,lifeless.The Buzzer wall twitched as one and shattered, the cores overloading from the multiple orders (it would seem that these Buzzers are not too bright are they?) James smashed into a Shock Trooper who was readying another disc launch, cracking the outer shell and pushing it aside. It screeched in pain. James sped back and move forward, crushing two Disintegrators with ease. Conner whittled the remaining creatures with the machine gun, breaking through their exoskeletons. Conner turned around to look at the carnage that they had caused. A little more than a hundred mangled bodies lay there unmoving, some were unfortunate civilians. They sped off to look for something that they could do to help.

* * *

A Reaper Tripod swept its energy beam low, its tentacles charged with plasma energy. A tentacle turned, slicing a Predator Tank in two. The GDI force stationed there had been brought into the fight. The gunner got out of the hole which only moments before was her equipment. She ran with her GD-3 in hand to behind the GDI soldiers combating the aliens, hoping they would not to run into any more company. Moments later, the Predator Tank was sliced again, as well as the pilot who got out too late. She made a turn at the street corner, just dodging a large chunk of the road that was sliced up by the tripodal being jutting out from the ground. She dropped behind it, to see a little girl hiding underneath, with two fingers in the mouth and a small teddy bear clutched in her hand. The soldier could not do anything but pity the girl. She took her by the arm and carried her to a nearby relatively undestroyed shopping center to find a woman and two other children. She was surprised that they were not sent to the closest station out of here.

'Protect the children. I'll take you all to the closest subway station. They will be evacuating the civilians from there.' Sandra then heard the clicking sound of the alien creatures. She hefted a piece of road debris, ready to use it as a distraction. Her GD-3 sub-machine gun ammo counter read a healthy green 50. Perfect, full ammo capacity. She pushed the group into an empty shop behind the counter and hid behind the information desk.

A Shock Trooper materialized at the entrance, its bulbous body too wide for the door. It had noticed Sandra entering this structure. It launched a disc at the door which had kindly parted to let it past, the impact flinging a good half of the twin doors away, still melting, while the rest of the plasma just dented a hole on the floor and expanded it by melting away the tiles. The massive alien creature flickered like a 20th century TV, vanished, and reappeared inside the building, its width taking up a bulk contradictory of the many slim mannequins there. Sandra quivered in fear behind the two-foot thick piece of concrete and decorative ceramic. She did not belong out in the field and spent most of her time safe behind the foot-thick composite armour of Predator tanks. The Shock Trooper crawled forward, its four claws smashing the tiles. She plucked up her courage and hurled the rock at a glass window of a clothes shop. It missed and hit a white figure standing very still in an odd pose with branded clothes. The rock impacted it on the head and knocked it down. The Shock Trooper, startled, launched two discs at a shop, effectively destroying the window that was her earlier target, the racks closest to the entrance, pulverising the cloth and the raised sensors to indicate if a person had paid for the set of clothes she was walking out with. The shop alarm was raised, wailing uselessly. Sandra crept forward, signaling to the group of frightened people in a sport shop to stay put. Using a shard of a broken mirror, she peered into the hallway to see the Shock Trooper not too far away. She grabbed the door frame to help build up momentum.She pulled against the door,sending her moving forward and out into the hallway.She chucked the rock across the hallway,distracting the alerted shock trooper.It smacked the bug in the flesh in between the shells,causing the creature to writhe from the alarming pain.She let loose a full barrage of bullets at the creature,ripping it apart.She turned back into the room to see the three children huddled in a corner with the woman's arms wrapped around them. 'Come on, its safe now.' The children stepped cautiously to her, the woman following them closely.

They exited the building only to see the the tripod's leg step just in front of them, its other leg crushing the slab of the road that the girl was previously hiding behind. It did not notice them, its attention apparently focused on something that was approaching. She led them away from the entrance, away from incoming aliens, and into an alley. They hid behind a dumpster. Sandra slapped a fresh clip into her GD-3. The ammo counter flashed green again and Sandra took no time to aim it back up in case. She heard the staccato of a Pitbull's machine gun fire. The Reaper Tripod returned fire, its tentacles swinging wildly, releasing the plasma beams in random arcs, one almost going through the alley itself. Bullets flew all over the place, punting holes in the concrete and shattering still-intact glass. A sudden blue beam of energy appeared in the narrow view that she observed from. She had to amp her polarizing viewscreen to be able to see it without blinding herself. The tripod screeched as it absorbed the full blow and collapsed with black/green slime and smoke trailing from its body. She moved toward the alleys entrance. She stepped out to see the Pitbull already speeding off, leaving one fully armed and ready soldier. The man turned, his GD-2 assault rifle at the poised and ready.

* * *

James zipped through street after street, mowing down Scrin infantry when they had the chance. Along the way, they found a rifleman squad on the ground, with most limbs severed, along with corpses of many alien disintegrators. Following that, they spotted a lone rifleman who was stupidly standing guard. He flagged them. The stranger's left chest plate was stencilled: Harrison. Upon explained that his entire squad was killed and he was called to go somewhere in central Beijing, he hopped into the Pitbull. Harding began to sweep the area with his rifle, wary for any more aliens. . As they drove on, he stared in amazement at the Steel talon infantry at road blocks. Each and every one of them were ready with their weapons loaded and none of them flinching. Fully trained Steel Talon infantry were always the tough ones that made everyone else except ZOCOM look like sissies. He looked away from the soldiers who were ready for anything. Almost.

They made a left turn through a damaged street and past a Predator Tank that had been sliced in two. Soldiers littered the streets, looking barely different from the Predator Tank. They continued forward, only to turn left and jerk to a halt. Before them stood a Reaper Tripod with its three legs spread wide and its three tentacles ready. One small problem: their in our direction. James jammed the accelerator and expertly sped the vehicle toward the tripod's legs. Hopefully, they would make it there. Conner aimed the GD7 up and peppered the underside of the Tripod with bullet holes as a blue flash emerged from the alien behemoth and dissapated across the road, which could not be seen through the already black colored armor of the creature. A blackish green slime came dripping out, but the creature remained undeterred. Its tentacles flailed about,trying to arc the beams to slice swathes in the road, hopefully hitting the Pitbull which was now out from under the creature as well. James made the Pitbull swerve as it dodged the plasma beams that danced randomly across the roads, leaving a trail of fire and destruction behind. Flames licked the sides of the Pitbull only to be dispelled by the ceramic armor coating on the Pitbull's bulletproof armor plating, which unfortunately was not plasma-beam proof. A plasma beam pulverized a car, which was now a hundred separate flaming metal and glass pieces. Conner removed the cover of his rifle that concealed the GD-7d. Why was it concealed was still what his brain had been processing for the past one hour. He jumped off the Pitbull, expertly righting himself while the vehicle because of dropping this stupidly brave passenger, narrowly missed a beam that arced a tad too close. Harding found his way to the gunner seat by climbing unceremoniously, almost falling off his feet. He attached the machine gun currently on the floor, spun it round, and pockmarked the creature's back (front actually, as the tripod turned around) with bullets. The Pitbull suddenly jerked, sending a hail of bullets slamming into a nearby glass wall. Being that fragile, it shattered into pieces not unlike that of the car mentioned previously. Conner's GD7 morphed just in time. The alien fired three beams at the soldier, and he ran for cover. Conner, upon finding that a) no cover was to be found, b) the GD7d was now operational and c) The Pitbull had now stopped moving, as if offering him the unique opportunity to face death alone, gritted his teeth and steeled himself. He aimed the rifle right. The weapon charged up, gaining energy. He chucked a grenade it at the tripod to draw its attention. The light flashed green. He aimed it at the eye of the creature and fired. Heat rippled along the cannon nozzle. A large ion cannon blue beam surged forward, burning a hole in the tripod, sending it plummeting to the ground from the intense shock and force. It collapsed, with black/green slime collecting around the bullet ridden carcass of what was the tripod and blue electricity danced around the surface. Alien units are mechanically similar to humans'? Conner banished the thought. He waved the Pitbull over. The rifleman, Harrison, could not take it anymore. He just felt embarrassed that just that team of men in a Pitbull could take on a tripod while the predator tank that they saw earlier was dissected before it could do anything to the alien walker. He grabbed his rifle and jumped out of the Pitbull with the excuse of needing to go somewhere nearby, his embarrassment concealed beneath his helmet viewscreen. Conner got onto the Pitbull, wondering why the other soldier alighted. Upon hearing his story, they quickly sped off. The lone rifleman unlocked the safety on his rifle and prepared for combat when he saw half a helmet peek out of a nearby alleyway. Or maybe it was an alien. He raised his rifle, alerted and slowly stepped towards the alleyway.