Date:1/2/2620AD
Location:GDS Fubuki
Status: On route to AO

“First Class commander Parker please report to the Command center immediately.” Said a synthetic voice repeating throughout the Spartan-like room. The only things present in the commander’s quarters are a desk with a built in computer, a door to a small shower room, a small container and a cryogenic pod which opens to reveal a 23 year old man with red hair, pale skin, blue eyes and dressed in a tight body suit with very thin layers of metal along the various areas of the suit.

After existing the pod the man did a few stretches and some movements to get the stiff out of his body.

“Ahh just another day...” Roger Parker muttered as he walked over to the container and after pressing a few buttons a hatch opened on the top to reveal a water bottle.

Taking the bottle Roger drink the liquid gold down his throat whilst the synthetic kept on repeating its first sentence.

“First Class-“

“ALRIGHT EVA I’ll be there soon!” Roger snapped as he finished his drink before putting the empty bottle back in its place and then after quickly checking his attire he walks out of his room and makes his way through the corridors of the assault carrier to the ship’s command centre.

The hallways themselves were utilitarian and simple with their dull steel colour adding to the feel.

There were a few of the ship’s personal walking about either doing their tasks or on their way to them, when Roger passes them however they were sure to salute him and he made sure to return the gesture as any good officer should.

Soon Roger enters the Command centre of the assault carrier, where the command crew mostly FNGs stood from their posts to salute their commanding officer with one of them saying, “Commander on deck!”

“At ease,” Said Roger as he walked to his chair at the centre of the room.

“Okay EVA I am here what did you want to discuss?” The commander said as the view screen ahead of him which occupies most of the wall comes to life as his EVA (Electronic Video Agent) began to correlate the necessary information from the ship’s available archives.

Roger knows EVA is gonna give him a lecture on the state of things before getting to the matter at hand and normally he’d intervene but given that most of his green command crew barely had time to study the mission details before being assigned he’ll let EVA this one time if only so he didn’t do it in a less effective manner.

As the screen butted up with a map of known space EVA began saying, “As you know Commander it has been six years since the Scrin have re-instated hostilities between humanity and two months since Sky Marshall Sheppard launched the Gia offensive with the best of the Offensive branch’s space forces. Since then HIGHCOM and OFCOM has begun to organise a retaliatory strike against what is believed to be the Scrin empire’s frontier territories, as evidenced by the fact that the most defended Scrin worlds are on the very edge of dark space.”

That last part was a surprise to the new command crew which to Parker makes sense, most of these folks just got out of the academy normally they wouldn’t be the first choice for a replacement command crew but with the casualties during the last six years and the aforementioned Gia offensive lots of personal were being switched around to different units and commands.

This included Parker’s old command crew and so now he had the a fresh and very inexperienced crew to work with, of course it’s not something he can’t work with he’d dealt with worse situations before.

After displaying a specific section of space on the screen with the Fubuki in the centre EVA continued,”There are however three obstacles that must be overcome before such a strike could be launched.”

“The first is to ensure that the routes of advance are not disturbed by Scrin gorilla action.” As EVA said this two coloured territories appeared over the map, blue and purple.

The purple territory indicated that it was Scrin space whilst the blue territories are under the authority of humanity and protected by the Galactic Defence Initiative the successor organisation to the Global Defence Initiative or GDI.

Then three blue arrows were shown in the centre alongside the Fubuki pointing towards Scrin space whilst dozens of smaller Purple arrows appeared behind them.

It was a sound threat to be sure, even though they have acquired the data on the location of the Scrin territories that data was old and it be impossible to tell if that territory has expanded or not. So scouting the area of space where the future offensive would have to cross is a major objective.

“The second is to establish a series of Forward Operating Bases on several worlds to facilitate the logistics of such an operation.” EVA then switched the small purple arrows with many small dots, most arrangements in dotted lines going from the blue territory to the arrows whilst other blue dots were scattered around them.

“And the third?” Parker asked just for the sake of it.

“The third is to uphold GDI’s mandate of clearing the FOB planets of Tiberium to ensure the Scrin cannot counterattack easily.” EVA concluded.

With that out of the way, “So what’d you need me for EVA? We’ve arrived?” Parker asked.

“Affirmative our fleet which consists of the Assault carrier Fubuki, Assault cruisers Valiant and Resolute, Fourteen escort vessels and four Interstellar Troop Carriers which are carrying only 50% of their total capacity, have arrived at G-A2289 and are standing by for instructions Commander.” As EVA said this the screen changed again this time to the target planet they’ll be staying for the foreseeable future.

Parker nodded the reason why those transports aren’t full is because Parker’s regiment had just come out of nasty campaign to retake one of the few worlds that were still held by the Scrin after the Gia offensive. So instead of a full regiment which is five battalions he instead had three, one of which is just a logistical battalion and another is mostly green like his command crew, the only experienced unit Parker had in case of trouble is an armoured battalion and they weren’t at 100% either lacking most of their heavy vehicles.

Turning to his console on the left side of his chair Parker said,”Well then lets get to work people, Comms inform the captain to bring us into orbit of the target world and have the escorts perform a system wide sweep for Scrin ships, Tactical I want full readiness of all combat units for deployment planetside, Techs I want all pre-fabs ready to deploy at anytime understood?”

“YES SIR!” Came the universal reply.

After his crew went to do their tasks EVA then spoke again, “Commander due to the amount of iron storms present I suggest sending a reconnaissance team to scout a parental base site.”

“A sound idea.” Parker thought, although the only unit in his which has the men available for such an op is the 205th infantry battalion which is mostly made of green soldiers aside from some surviving officers who got through the previous campaign.

Still it’s better then not sending anyone and so far there’s no Scrin activity despite the state of the planet.

[IST-5552E]

Unlike other ships Interstellar transports don’t have a separate room for Commanders to sleep in instead only having a office, whereas they sleep where the grunts sleep in the massive cryo-bays onboard the ISTs.

This particular office was home to the temporary commander of the 205th infantry battalion, Support commando Tom E Grey.

Being a Commando one would find it odd for one to be in charge of a battalion, however support commandos are a special case.

Unlike Defensive or offensive Commandos, supports focus on providing tactical and strategic aid to any unit they’re attached to such as generating a shield for a company of troops, identifying enemy and allied forces for a effective artillery strike, supporting other commandos and can lead men into battle if their own officers weren’t available due to combat or other duties.

Speaking of duties Grey was just checking the least report from his quartermaster on his computer detailing the status of their arms and armour when the ISTs EVA unit said “Commando Grey? Commander Parker is on the line.”

Storing the report away for a later review Grey tapped a few times on his computer before the face of his superior came on the screen.

“Sup comrade how can I help?” He said his Russian accent rough like his appearance, unlike Parker Grey was Twenty years his senior and had Slavic heritage visible on his rough and scared face, the scars being a reminder that whilst his job wasn’t as action packed as the other two commando types he was still a GDI commando, the best of the best.

Smiling a bit at his old friend Parker got to the point “ Well Grey I need you to assemble a scouting team to recon the planet below for a good LZ for the MCV”

Textbook but true.

In this day and age its commander operation 101, scout the AO on the surface of the planet be it charted or uncharted using whatever method is the most viable at the time and since the planet they are orbiting soon appears to be mostly Red zone, scanning isn’t likely to achieve much so a hands on approach is the best option.

That being said.

“ A team comrade? I’d figure you’d want at least a company down there with fire support. May I ask why?” Grey asked he has known Parker only for two years but in the military and especially in war that’s enough time to forge strong bond camaraderie.

That last comment must’ve soured the mood as Parker then said “You know why Eddie.”

His words were soft but firm and Grey knew why but mentally smacked himself for not realising it sooner. The aforementioned “Nasty campaign” wasn’t just a campaign that was hard, it was probably the most intense and bloody battle in all of human history up to that point.

Officially known as the Syphon Campaign it involved six whole army groups plus three army corps and took three months before it came to a conclusion but that wasn’t what had Parker in a foul mood. No because during that campaign he sent a company’s worth of men out on recon to investigate a Scrin base that might be near their location.

When the men returned they said that the enemy had evacuated the base and had left behind something that might interest InOps so Parker organised a recovery unit, it wasn’t until the crew had arrived that the truth was revealed.

As you might just now expect the base wasn’t abandoned but rather it was clocked with all sorts of terrifying war machines hiding in its shadow, once the crew realised what was happening it too late.

Simultaneously members of the recon company who weren’t with the recovery crew lowered their base’s automatic weapons platforms which allowed hidden Scrin units to launch a bold attack on the GDI troops.

If it wasn’t for Commander Parker realising the slight changes in behaviour in the recon troops and the quick arrival of allied reinforcements their story might’ve ended then and there.

But it wasn’t without cost and they weren’t the only victims of this sort of tactic.

Shaking his head out of memory Lane Grey said “I understand Park I’ll get started but before I do, might I recommend Doctor Masterson to be apart of the team?”

Within the screen Parker tilted his head before shaking it glade to have something else to think about.

“The one from InOps right?” He asked.

Doctor Alex Masterson is a doctor assigned to Parker’s command after Syphon and whilst Parker himself hadn’t had the chance to properly get to know the man, he did read his files the most interesting part being-.

“The one who knows how to operate a Heavy Zone Suit yes Comrade that Masterson” Grey interrupted.

HZSs are basically bulkier versions of modern Zone armours designed to be a fire-support unit for your average infantry platoon. Though the training required is both different and difficult as such Heavy Zone armour troopers are quite rare even amongst ZOCOM.

After thinking for just a few moments Parker nodded and then said,”Alright then Grey I’ll leave the selection to you but I want that team planetside as soon as possible understood?”

Standing up from his desk and saluting Grey replied, ”Yes sir!” Before his superior cut the connection and then got to work.

[Six minutes later]

“BETA Squad please report to the assembly bay. Repeat BETA Squad please report to the assembly bay. Repeat-“ EVA repeated over the intercom of one of the many barracks onboard the IST, to the annoyance of some of its occupants.

One of them was Rifleman Class 1 (The GDI equivalent to a Sargent or squad leader) Hawkins who was unfortunately the leader of BETA squad, a relatively green unit by ZOCOM standards.

After getting out of his Bunkpod (A nickname for cryopods) Hawkins walked to the left where the four members of his squad were bunked. After informing a nearby technician and getting the glass casings on the pods to open the Squad leader said.

”ON YOUR FEET ZONIES!!!”

After getting up from the sudden wake up call the four men formed a net line in front of Hawkins, he then got a good look at them.

All of them were at least twenty with the standard army haircuts and the same GDI body suit as commander Parker though slightly different.

“Permission to speak sir?!” Said the man on the far right.

“Denied! We are on the clock zonies! Double time to the AAB!” Shouted Hawk as his men complied.

After a few minutes of walking through the tight hallways of the IST the squad found themselves in the armour assembly bay, a place where Zone troopers darned their zone armours with the help of mechanical assembly stations organised into five lines of twenty capable of outfitting a whole company of ZTs at once.

As Hawkins steps into the station technicians check its condition before giving Hawk the thumbs up, then mechanical arms branch out from the station and start attaching the power armour to Hawks bodysuit.

Unlike the Zone armours of the third Tiberium War modern armours are more form-fitting and can be mixed and matched with different pieces of different suits, so if one ZT has a damaged chest piece and sees a undamaged one nearby he can replace his chest piece in the field.

After just a few moments of standing in a T-pose the arms have completed placing all the armour pieces together with the body suit with the helmet folding out from the chest seconds after the rest of the armour was completed.

After checking his HUD to make sure everything was in order Hawkins stepped out of the station and looked to his right to see the rest of his squad also finished with their fittings.

He then walked to his left towards a armoury where most of the weapons are kept, soon enough the quartermaster hands out the weapons to BETA.

Although humanity had perfected Railgun technology to the point it can be handheld, the rate of fire plus it’s cost during the third and fourth T-Wars made it unsuitable for wide spread usage. Even in the twenty-seventh Railgun technology hasn’t been able to advance to that point where it can be use widespread, this was mostly due to humanity’s focus on civilian technologies during much of their space age.

Although the return of the Scrin prompted the United Nations Space Alliance to give GDI funds for military research most of that research went into upgrading current chemical-propelled weapons of most ground troops.

Known as simply as ETC guns or electro-thermal-chemical guns which on short are similar to regular chemical-propelled weapons but where these guns use simply chemical igniter to fire their projectiles ETC guns use a plasma device as the main igniter, the small difference between ETCs and CPWs might be why ETCs were not developed as much as Railguns back then.

However with the Scrin gaining ground during the early years of the war GDI needed a upgrade that was better but at the same time cheaper to produce in large amounts, as such ETC technology was given the priority.

So by 2620 in the current day most ground troops have ETC weapons as their main firearms with Railguns only used either on vehicles and ships, used as special weapons or given to class 1 infantry.

In Hawkins case he’s a class 1 rifleman which means he’s authorised to carry a Railgun which was the GLS-95 Railgun, a basic and bulky Bolt-action rifle which was introduced in 2618, and has already won favour with much zone trooper veterans Hawkins included.

After inspecting the weapon Hawkins turned to his squad who was aiming their weapons towards a nearby bulkhead, testing to see if their targeting software was in good condition.

Unlike Hawke they were class 2 so they had to make do with the ETCM-30 Gauss rifle, a bulky weapon like the 95 but more like a standard kinetic weapon with a collapsable stock for QCB.

After a quick inspection via his HUD Hawkins noticed someone approaching them. There were two both males, one was wearing a officer’s version of the standard bodysuit they all wear and the second one had the standard bodysuit but it was coloured white instead of the trademark brown colours that adore the suit.

After a quick glance at the officer Hawkins shouted “Officer on deck!”

As one BETA snapped to a salute before their commanding officer of their company.

“At ease” Captain Michael said and BETA did exactly that then he went down to business.

“Alright I’ll get straight to the point BETA, the commanders selected you to perform a textbook recon mission on the planet’s surface to locate a suitable LZ for our new home for the foreseeable future.” He said as BETA paid very close attention.

“Permission to speak sir?” Said one of the squad members.

Michael nodded though he suspected what the question will be.

“Who’s the FNG?” “And there it is.” Michael thought as he glanced at his guest before saying.

“This is Doctor Josh Masterson and he will be accompanying you on your mission, now I know what your all thinking but no worries not only is the good Doc here from InOps but he knows his way around a HZS” He explains.

The squad nodded but only Hawkins seemed convinced, it was then that the good doctor introduced himself personally.

“Greetings BETA squad I do hope that we can get along for the foreseeable future.” He said.

The doctor had blonde hair and red eyes behind a pair of smart glasses, he was in his fithties despite his young appearance.

Stepping forward and shaking Masterson’s hand Hawkins said “Likewise doc, we’ll head on over to the drop bay while you get ready.”

As the squad existed the AAB Hawkins turned back just in time to see the technicians help Masterson into his HZT.

Unlike standard Zone armour HZTs are more bulky-like with a glass canopy over the pilot’s head whilst most of his body is in cased in the suit. Due to this it is much more durable but requires more time to assemble, it is also more costly both in materials and training.

As the Doc is finished getting ready Hawkins turned back to catch up with his Zonies.

[Two Minutes later]

The journey to the drop bay wasn’t long as it was close to the AAB for the purpose of rapid deployment.

Walking down the small hallway in single file BETA squad soon reached their assigned drop-pod with two technicians running final checks on the pod’s outer hull.

Waving to Hawk who was in front, one of the technicians said,”Sir! We got her ready and able she’ll get you down no problem, that is if the iron storms don’t intervene.”

Nodding Hawkins moved to the door of the pod and using his right pulled the hatch open to his left and watched his squad pile in.

“Any idea on the forecast this time?” Hawk said as his turned to face the mechanic whilst still holding the hatch open.

Holding a Data pad in his hand the technician said “EVA said they’ll be an opening for about six minutes after that she speculates that another one will appear about two hours from now for twelve minutes, so you got two hours to find a safe LZ and twelve minutes to get what we need down planetside okay Sargent?”

“Understood!” Hawkins confirmed as he watches the last of his men enter the pod before climbing in himself sealing the hatch behind him.

The interior of the pod was a hexagon shape with the five man squad occupying the seats built into the inner walls of the pod.

Soon after they were all seated in Hawkins got a notification on his HUD from Masterson saying he was ready and in his pod, soon there was a loud THUD and Hawk could feel himself straining against the seat as the pod spiralled downwards towards the planet below.

[Drop-pod E4437519X]

The atmosphere within the pod was tense mostly due to the fact that when dropping into any Tiberium infested area things can and have gone sour real quickly.

As BETA waited within their seats Hawkins knows that his men are much more tense then him, which was normal. Zonies was a term used to describe Zone troopers who haven’t seen combat yet and usually Zone troopers would see their first action in their first drop, so their tense nature was understandable to the C1 soldier since he too was tense and even a bit scared on his first drop though that faded away as time moved on.

Suddenly there was a large jolt that rocked the pod around for a moment before everyone could feel something in the pressure as if the pod wasn’t going straight down anymore.

“What the hell was that!?” BETA two Hawkins’s 2IC shouted clearly more tense then before.

Looking at his HUD Hawkins noticed that the Doctor is trying to contact them.

Opening the com the ZTs of BETA squad could only hear bits and pieces of the doctor’s words.

“THIS-(static)-HAWK-(static)-THE READIN-(static)-ING THAT-(more static)-RED ZONE!!” That last part caught the squad’s attention.

“Red zone!? I thought protocol was to land in a yellow zone if there was any!?” BETA five said this time and it was understandable. The scans that the Fubuki conducted showed that the planet was 60% Red zone, 30% yellow zone and 10% blue zone, standard protocol was that landing in a yellow zone was preferable and recommended to any ZT drop. If the planet was 100% Red zone then there was no choice and since the Fubuki’s scan was resent.

Hawkins felt a shiver as realised what was happening. “THAT BECAUSE THIS IS ABOUT TO BECOME A RED ZONE FIVE!” He shouted and as if on command the whole squad tightened was safety measures the pod had and braced for impact.

Soon enough there was an increase in pressure and before Hawk knew it his vision turned to darkness.

[Location: Planet G-A2289 / Red zone 347B]

The rough and almost barren landscape was disturbed by a thunderous BOOM! As a object came crashing down into the ground.

Said object was a GDI M23B Drop-pod deployed by the GDS Fubuki and soon enough the hatch on one side bursts out, flying out a couple of meters away.

Stepping out from the hole he had made in his pod Doctor Masterson took in the sights before him and it wasn’t what he was expecting.

Although the sky was still covered by the greenish iron storms there was a distinct lack of Tiberium near his location despite it being a red zone.

“Interesting” thought Masterson as he looked out over the landscape still bristling with vegetation but only barely.

“EVA can you pinpoint BETA squad’s drop pod?” He asked as he manoeuvred his HZT away from the crashed pod and out into the landscape.

“Locating.....confirmed” EVA said as a marker and a route appeared on Masterson’s HUD.

Nodding Masterson followed the marked path whilst trying to understand the unusual circumstances of this Red zone.

[Twelve minutes later]

After walking for a long while Doctor Masterson could finally see the shape of BETA’s drop pod. It was relatively intact despite it apparently landed on a small patch of Green Tiberium.

After quickly checking the status of the pod Masterson is relieved that not only is the pod not compromised but there was also life signs inside.

Putting his HZTs hand on the hull Masterson used his HUDs interface to manually activate the release programs that will allow BETA to exist the pod. As the men got reoriented after that nasty drop BETA three pulled his right hand to his helmet in a attempt to communicate.

“GDS Fubuki this is BETA we’ve landed but were thrown off course requesting-,” before three got far however.

“Don’t bother Zonie we won’t get any comms until the next opening and even then it probably won’t be clear but...” Hawkins said as he took in the scenery around him.

Aside from their pod’s landing site the rest of the known landscape seems to be void of any Tiberium deposits whatsoever which was strange in of itself.

Noticing Masterson’s HZT near a large Tiberium crystal further out from the deposit, Hawkins mentioned for his squad to get ready to move whilst he had a chat with the InOps doctor.

“It just doesn’t make sense!” Hawkins heard the doctor say as he watched the HZT’s left arm ,playing host to a scanning device, moving up and down along the giant crystal’s structure.

“What doesn’t make sense doc?” He asked standing beside the HZT operator.

“Two things Sargent, the first is that Tiberium spreads by absorbing the nutrients from the ground but according to my scans these crystals barely have nutrients from this specific area! The only thing that these crystals DO contain is a form of energy that I’m unfamiliar with currently.” Masterson explained.

That set off alarm bells in Hawkins mind, it was no secret that Tiberium fields feed of the nutrients of the ground making even the most fertile soil unfit for farming but if the Tiberium is only getting this odd energy to feed on..

“And the second?” The squad leader asked dreading the answer.

Turning his HZT to Hawkins after a quick double check Masterson said “Second if my readings are correct this Tiberium, this specific chunk has only been around for at least two months. Normally that in of itself wouldn’t seem unusual but considering this patch is the only Tiberium I’ve seen so far...there’s definitely more to this planet then we first thought.”

Nodding his head in understanding Hawkins replied “If it makes you feel better Doc I’ll have EVA bring a laboratory down in the first drop.”

After that the team moved out from the small patch of Tiberium heading in the direction of the next nearest Tiberium deposit.

[Seventy minutes later]

After over an hour of walking the team could see signs of civilisation or what was left of it.

It was a small town near a clearly infected forest, with the town itself being covered by Tiberium in most places. From their position and distance the team could make out the style of the town which was somewhere in the Middle Ages architecture or something like that.

None of the guys were artists okay.

“Well things are getting more confusing by the minute.” Said Masterson, to which Hawk couldn’t help but nod in agreement. The fact that they found civilisation at all was a 1 in a million chance but one that resembles human culture? That’s not something that can be attributed to chance, not in a trillion years.

“To think we’d find evidence of a civilisation here on our first drop.” BETA two said as he and the rest of the squad looked over the town and its surrounding landscape, it’d looked like this town was a agricultural centre or at the very least had good farming infrastructure.

Checking the time Hawkins frowned a bit, they had about fithty minutes until the next opening and the journey to the town would probably take thirty or so.

Shaking his head Hawkins said “Well unless anyone else has a better suggestion on where to find a good LZ, we’re moving in on the town ASAP!”

“YES SIR!” Came the universal reply.

[Thirty minutes later]

The team was just now entering the town and now that they got closer look they could see that the buildings do resemble medieval architecture.

BETA was on point in a triangle formation with Hawkins in front, his 2IC was on his left and BETA three on his right. The doctor was a few feet behind the squad using what equipment his HZT has to do some on the fly research.

“I don’t like this.” BETA four said as he scanned the rooftops.

“Yeah from the looks of it this place was abandoned very recently, but then where are they?” BETA two chimed in.

“Let’s just focus on finding that landing zone people otherwise we’d be-“ Before Hawkins could finish he and the rest of the scout team could hear a faint humming noise that was slowly getting louder.

Moving quickly the team made it into the town square when they saw what was making that noise.

“Well I’ll be dammed.” Hawkins said as he took in the sight.

It was a zeppelin of sorts kinda like what the soviets used during the Second World War but it didn’t look like it could carry bombs like the soviet ones, this zeppelin was probably a transport of sorts.

As the large airship made its way to the other side of town however Hawkins could hear another noise this time it wasn’t as harmless.

Taking cover behind some left over carts the GDI personnel could see a herd of Tiberium infested creatures stampeding past towards the Zeppelin.

Readying his GLS-95 Railgun Hawkins said over the com “Prepare to engage.”

At this BETA readied their Gauss rifles and Masterson readied the weapons on his HZT which included a Gatling gun and two shoulder mounted missile launchers.

As soon as his men gave the green light Hawkins shouted “ENGAGE AT WILL!” And fired a Railgun shot square in the lead creature’s head, causing it to trample over and causing a mass halt to the horde’s advance.

Soon a massive firefight was underway with the GDI soldiers using their superior range and firepower to swat away dozens of hostiles before they could get close.

However as the battle continued the squad was forced into a semi circle with Doctor Masterson in the centre as the infected creatures were able to surround them using superior numbers.

As Hawkins put another round into a hostile that almost had the drop on BETA two, BETA three shouted “HOSTILES TO THE NORTH!”

Looking at said direction Hawkins could see at least thirty more enemies approaching but he also noticed something else.

“At least we’re buying whoever some time!” Masterson commented as he unloaded another volley of missiles into the horde which apparently finally made them rethink their chances and soon enough they retreated with some of them trying to carry their dead with them.

As the air quietened the squad to stock of what happened.

“Did you see that?” BETA two asked “They had wood for skin!”

“Yeah” BETA three replied “And they look sorta like wolves too.”

Checking his timer Hawkins called out “Alright people let’s more we got five minutes until the next opening!”

“Where to sir?” BETA four asked.

Turning to where that Zeppelin landed Hawkins replied “To where that airship landed if nothing else we might find clues as to whom we are dealing with and how we can help.”

[Four minutes later]

They approached what appeared to be a farm with a focus on tree fruits if the amount of mutated trees is to go by.

Passing by a sign above him Hawkins said “Apple Family orchard huh?”

As the squad entered the premises BETA two shouted “Over there!”

Sure enough they spotted a person in a hazmat suit leaning against the wall of a destroyed barn but that wasn’t all.

One of the Infected creatures was about to pounce on them.

“Not on me watch” Hawkins thought as he put a round through the beast.

Rushing over Masterson check their or her vitals in that they were close, Hawkins also noticed she had wings which were covered in Tiberium.

“Well doc?” Hawkins asked.

“We can save her if we get her to a medbay ASAP!” Masterson replied.

Nodding Hawkins took out a signal beacon but before he could throw it.

“Umm sir isn’t this technically private property?” BETA two asked.

Turning to him Hawkins replied “We’ll leave that to the brass right now we need a LZ now more then ever!”

With that he tossed the beacon over to where there was flat ground and then got on the comms.

“Fubuki Actual this is BETA leader LZ secured. Be advised we got a VIP in need of medical, requesting Medbay and laboratory be the first ones down over.”

After a few seconds EVA replied “Affirmative BETA, reinforcements inbound. Requesting identification of new Base site.”

Turning to the sign Hawkins simply replied “Apple base”.

Author's Note

And another chapter done!

Hope you guys like it and...okay I’m kinda in need of ideas because it feels like I could’ve done a lot better then I actually did. So if you guys have any ideas I would love to hear them!