Author's Note

Another chapter YAY!

Chapter Four: Galactic Defence Initiative

: Masterson’s Office : Medbay : Apple Base : Ponyvile : 7/2/2620AD :

After the quick introduction of Parker and Masterson they began to ask their guest (whose name is Twilight Sparkle) questions about her, history, culture, governments and nations, it wasn’t a lecture by any means as Twilight needed rest so the two GDI officers settled on the simple things.

Are or were there any other governments? Yes.

Has this world encountered Tiberium for long? No.

Do all natives of this world have wings and a crystal on their foreheads? No.

And these were just some examples, despite the short questions the amount of them made Parker and Masterson stay with Twilight for at least half an hour before they had to leave to process the information as well as work up a plan going forward. But Parker promised he would return to answer the Princess’s questions.

And yes she’s royalty apparently.

“…We’ll also need to keep an eye on the stockpiles once we begin to distribute them to the civilians, considering what Twilight said about some of these nobles, more specifically this ‘Blueblood’ character, they may try to acquire the relief supplies in such a way that they’ll horde it all for themselves.” Masterson said as he and Parker sat in his office in the Medbay, which just had its security uped due to the VIP status of one of its residents.

Leaning back on his chair looking irritated Parker said “If there’s one thing I hate more then the Scrin is people who think themselves better because of who their grandparents were.”

Masterson nodded in agreement completely.

Shifting his posture a bit Parker asks “Do you think we could supply them with what we’ve got on hand?”

Looking at his computer Masterson said “If we ration it right although they’d be eating MREs until we’d get word to High command.”

That got Parker thinking, the Iron Storm was still settling in so they’d got word of what they’ve found off world. The problem was how long until HighCom gets the message? The notion of a native species, even one that resembles humans, surviving a Tiberium infestation like this with the help of GDI would not only be a huge propaganda victory but it would also show the human race that they aren’t just cleaning up Tiberium, their also saving people who aren’t as fortunate as Humanity. So the thought that they will send humanitarian aid is a good possibility.

That being said however the details they’ve sent in the message weren’t much to go on other then they have at least 2 to 4 million people alive in one city and that was a rough estimate by the Princess since they were in such a rush to evacuate everyone. So the odds of them surviving before help can arrive are 50/50 which to HighCom isn’t that great, especially since diverting resources from a military operation such as the advance into Scrin space to a humanitarian mission isn’t that simple.

Though in their defence the job of a Strategic commander like those at HighCom and the Job Parker has are completely different from one another, so who knows? Right now Parker’s main focus is to get everything from his unit organised and plan their next more from there.

With that in mind Roger Parker got up from his chair and said “Keep me updated if anything about our guest or situation turns up.”

Masterson nodded understanding completely. “And you?” He said.

Stopping at the office door Parker said “I’d promise the Princess some answers so I’m gonna make good on that promise.”

: 7/2/2620 : Ponyvile : BETA Squad/ 3rd Platoon/ 5th Company/ 205th infantry battalion/ OFCOM ZOCOM Task Force Trident :

To say that the village is a ghost town was a complete understatement, rightfully so.

The only thing that was occupying the town was a patrol of thirty ZONE troopers doing a quick sweep of the area, during the six day build up of Apple Base patrols were limited to the immediate area of the base due to said base’s lack of organic defence systems. Once said systems were in place however the patrol patterns began to widen, which in turn meant that the soldiers of the 205th could have a higher chance of running into those Tiberium infested creatures. To which most of the soldiers of the battalion were glad for as they wanted some action, not BETA though as they’ve seen how deadly they can be.

Unfortunately for BETA they along with their platoon were among the first to take the first shifts.

“Echo Actual this is Echo 3-6 at Checkpoint Central Alpha, break all clear break here over.” Hawkins said as he and the rest of BETA stood watch in Ponyvile’s town square, the rest of their platoon had taken up positions leading to the square whilst they also took turns sweeping their immediate areas of operations.

“Echo 3-6 Echo Actual break there’s a large castle like structure in your area can you confirm?” Their captain whose callsign is Echo actual said over the Comms.

Checking his area again Hawk saw the structure in question, it’d look like the castle was built into a crystal tree of some kind and has no defensive works what so ever.

“Affirmative actual 3-6 has eyes on, over” Hawk replied.

“3-6 Command wants you to take lead on investigating the structure for anything that might be of value to the natives, they’ve left in a hurry so the commander wants to take this opportunity to gain favour with their government when contact is made, confirm?”

“Confirmed.”

: Twilight’s Castle : Five minutes later :

The castle unlike the outside was not as contaminated due to some strange Crystal like liquid filing in the gaps of the walls, making the whole interior pressurised somewhat. Still the inside of the castle had a green hue to its over wise colourful environment, never mind that the furniture along with most else have been contaminated.

BOOM!

At the front door a sudden explosion forces the large object back a few ways, immediately after BETA squad files in.

“Clear!” BETA two said taking point in the breach, followed by the rest of BETA. As Hawkins has a look around he notices that they appear to be in a hallway leading to a inner chamber of some kind.

Advancing at the head of their triangle formation BETA two kept his rifle trained on the door ahead of him, sacking up on the door BETA two then received the go ahead from Hawkins to open the door allowing the rest of BETA to pile in.

What awaited them was a rather large chamber with a large six chaired table in the centre, a meeting room perhaps?

“What the-!?” BETA three said as the “table” suddenly glowed and then a holographic projection of a large area showed up, on closer inspection Hawkins realised that it was a map of some kind, an accurate one at that.

“Well-” BETA two said.

“-That’s unexpected.”

Nodding to him Hawkins called it in, “Echo Actual this is 3-6 we have encountered break what appears to be an accurate holographic projection of our current AO advise over.”

A minute or two passes as the captain relays the information to Apple Base, meanwhile BETA took stock of the room for any more “surprises”.

“Echo 3-6? Echo actual here break continue sweep, will investigate at a later date over.”

With that Hawkins replied “Roger that Actual 3-6 proceeding inwards over.”

: Three minutes later :

“What’s this?” BETA five asks as they stood before a large door in the basement.

After securing the upper floors in record time BETA squad quickly made their way down towards the lower levels where they discovered a large door which was more secure then the rest of the castle.

“Something that we need to secure, TOMMY!” Hawkins said as BETA four comes up to the door and proceeds to place C4 on the door.

“You sure about this sir? What if we indirectly damage what’s behind this door?” BETA two asked.

Before Hawkins could reply BETA four said “CLEAR!” To which all of BETA scrambled to find cover. Two seconds later the C4 exploded-

And nothing happened.

“What the fuck!?” BETA four said as he and the rest of the squad go t out from their cover. Looking at the damage (Which was almost nonexistent) Hawkins put his right hand to his helmet which activated his com link and said.

“Echo 3-6 to Echo Actual, we found a door of some kind that’s protected by something don’t know if we can secure it without help over.”

Soon there was a reply “Roger 3-6 will inform command of the situation sit tight and await further orders Echo Actual out.”

:Medbay : Apple Base : Ponyvile:
Earlier

Whilst Parker was still in Masterson’s office with the doctor himself, Twilight was resting comfortably in the bed GDI provided. Currently she was reading some stuff about their culture off a device called a “Datapad” which is quite a marvel and testament to the technological difference between those of Aurora and GDI.

“If I had known something like this existed I probably wouldn’t have asked Mr Parker if he’d answer my questions.” Twilight thought as she read though an article about the concept of Faster Then Light travel.

After she had answered some of the questions Parker and Doctor Masterson asked, Twilight wondered if she’d be given the same cutesy. That was of course before she knew about the Datapad but despite this Parker seemed to be willing to answer her questions personally, though that didn’t stop Twilight from feeling bad about the whole thing.

“Here you go” Said the nurse as she placed a cup of water next to Twilight’s bedside table, she aside from the two guards were the only ones in the room with the Princess of friendship.

Thanking the nurse Twilight set the Datapad down on her lap and took the cup to drink it, as she finished it the door to her room opens revealing Parker. As the guards salute him he returned the favour whilst walking in and then took a seat next to Twilight to her left.

“Greetings Princess, I’m here to answer some of the questions you have after you helped us with ours.” Parker said.

To that Twilight said “It’s no problem commander, if anything this is just a waste of time with this Datapad thing. Had I’d known-“

“I’m sure you would but there are some things that you need to know that are redacted either on the Datapad or the internet in general so this isn’t a waste of time promise.” Parker said interrupting the Princess train of thought.

“So where to begin?” He asked.

“Well how about what is this ‘GDI’ you people work for?”

“Heh sure, GDI is actually an acronym for Galactic Defence Initiative, six hundred years ago it was originally the Global Defence Initiative but since we’ve taken to the stars a mandatory reorganisation was needed which included a name change. Our mission includes keeping human space safe from outlaws such as pirates, providing disaster relief for colonies and contain the rapid spread of Tiberium.”

Nodding Twilight continued to listen to Parker’s answers to her questions.

: Later just after BETA discovered the door in the castle of friendship :

After a while of answering questions both Twilight and Commander Parker decided to take a break.

Whilst Parker was drinking some water beside a table next to the wall the nurse asked concerned.

“Your not gonna tell her about the Scrin?”

“Her people already have enough to worry about, plus for all we knew the Scrin might not come here in the near future provided they don’t have sleeper ships in the system already.” Parker replied.

The nurse nodded understanding how information about the Scrin might do more harm then good, still it’d seem unfair to her that the Princess doesn’t get to know the full truth about Tiberium.

After finishing his cup Parker makes his way back to Twilight when suddenly..

“Uh sir Control is on the comm, says that it’s important.” One of the guards says as he has one of his hands to his helmet.

Stepping over to a console next to the door Parker pressed some buttons to activate the comm and then said “Parker here status.”

Meanwhile Twilight was busy reading more on the Datapad, more specifically about synthetics.

“Interesting so even if they are not originally biological they are still considered humans by the UNSA due to this “Law of equivalent freedom Act” and the writings of professor Donovich Slavocoth. The fact they are able to create living creatures says alot about their technology, I’m glad their here to help.” The Princess thought as she continued reading.

After a couple of minutes however…

”WHAT!?”

The Nurse’s sudden loud outburst caused Twilight to look over to her left near the door, she could see the nurse with a shocked look staring at Parker as he keeps a cool posture.

“What’s wrong?” Twilight asks.

Turning to her Parker says “Well one of our patrols went to investigate your castle Princess and whilst there they found a door in the lower levels, after failing to gain entry we thought we’d try you.”

“BY BRINGING HER OUT THERE!?” The nurse again argued.

Straighting out a bit Twilight said “Wait it was underground? That’s gota be my personal lab! It’s where I conducted some experiments on my free time, Princess Celestia said that some of my research notes may benefit Equestria in the future so I tried to gather them when we had to evacuate but the Timberwolves changed that.”

Putting his hand to his chin Parker asks “Is there any way to get in remotely or do you absolutely have to make contact with the door? I agree with the nurse that sending you out there is dangerous so if you-“

Shaking her head Twilight said “Unfortunately I casted a strong spell with the help of Celestia which can protect the room from almost anything, only by casting a deactivation spell via direct contact can it be opened. Besides I don’t mind going now as I’m already feeling better, an Avatar is more durable than most humans and have natural healing to match.”

Staring at Twilight for a moment before turning to the nurse he asked “Well Nurse Val?”

Still feeling disgusted at having a patient go out so soon Nurse Val looked at Twilight, seeing that she was confident in her biology Val still had doubts so she said “If what the Princess said is true then allow it on TWO conditions.”

“Name em.” Parker replied.

“First is that she get a GDI power armour for protection, even if she can’t fight a PA would better protect her then a standard Rad suit would especially with those “Timberwolves” out there, plus we don’t know if we have enough spare Rad suits to begin with given the logistical hassle we’re in right now. Second is that she get a personal guard squad assigned to her in order for her to be protected further, other then that if she promises to take it slow for at least a few days then I’ll let her go for this ONE mission after that she comes back here. That alright Commander?”

Sparing Twilight a look before turning back to Val Parker said “No problem Mis Val.”

: Apple base : Garage : Four minutes later :

The “Garage” was the place where much of the maintenance on both the vehicles and Power armour were kept along with most of the engineering gear and staff. It only houses a repair&work shop but also a Power Armour Assembly bay or AAB for short.

As the men and women of engineers work on the maintenance for the day the Chief Engineer, Chief officer Marcus saw the door to the AAB open revealing Commander Parker and Twilight Sparkle.

“Well well well if it isn’t our favourite OFCOM Commander! Haha! What brings you here sir?” Chief Marcus asked.

Smiling at his chief mechanic before turning to Twilight Parker said “Take a look around while I get things sorted out but please be careful, this isn’t technically a place for civilians.”

“I’ll be careful.” She replied.

With that the two went their separate ways for now.

Walking amongst the vast Armour assembly bays Twilight couldn’t help but marvel at the amount of armours being displayed, the amount of resources for just one of these “Power Armours” was far beyond anything that Equestria or any other nation of Aurora could make and GDI is able to build thousands at the minimal.

That’s not taking into account the technology needed for such a project, technology that GDI has long perfected if the Datapad was anything to go by.

From what the Princess could see the entire AAB had stations for 150 people to get equipped simultaneously, from what Commander Parker said during their walk here that equals to a full company which is twice the size of a equestrian military company.

“But why the massive military? I guess their definition of “Massive” might not apply but…I can’t help but feel like Parker isn’t telling me something that I SHOULD know, (sigh) if only AJ were here.” Twilight thought as she explored further.

As she passed by another rack of power armour Twilight noticed that this one held a completely different set to the rest in the room.

Unlike the rest of the PA this one seemed to be more form fitting and advanced with a white-orange colour scheme as opposed to the brown of the standard PA she’s seen, it had two large shoulder guards and what appears to be two jutboxes between the main body and-

“A-Are those wings!?” As if GDI hadn’t surprised her enough.

The thought of her wings though, it reminded Twilight about that day. Causing her to rub her back where her wings would normally be.

“The Valkyrie MK 6, a modern upgrade to a reliable design and is the symbol of ZOCOM.” A female voice suddenly said.

Turning to her right she sees a woman in her thirties in the same attire as Parker with long black hair, pale skin and blood red eyes.

Holding out her hand to the Princess the woman said “Captain Haley Smith 305th infantry battalion DEFCOM ZOCOM, commander of zeta or Z squad.”

Taking Smith’s hand and shaking it Twilight said “Princess Twilight Sparkle, are you with Commander Parker?”

Letting go of her hand and shaking her head Captain Smith told Twilight “Not quite me and my team were stuck here after a nasty operation, we were still being reorganised when we had orders to come here. No my commander is-“

“Someone I’d rather not hear about right now Haley, no offence.” Parker said as he and Chief Marcus came up to the two.

Turning his gaze to Twilight he said “As for you Princess my Chief engineer and I talked about your personal PA and now all we need is to-“

“If I may?” Twilight interjected.

Nodding Parker would hear her out.

“Would it be alright if I used this one?” She said pointing to the Valkyrie beside them.

“Wait what!?” Marcus shouted.

“Look missy I don’t know what kind of rules you have on your planet but this isn’t something you can just wear like a piece of clothing!”

“I-well” Twilight said rubbing her back again.

Looking at her Parker couldn’t help but think “Phantom pain”

“It’s okay Chief I’ll allow it and if Ash has a problem with someone using GDI equipment he can come to me alright?”

Looking from the Princess to his commander Marcus took a moment before sighing and says “Okay fine I’ll get this baby ready, it’s your court marshal though got it!?”

“Got it”

As the Chief Mechanic went to work Parker asked Smith “Since this suit is supposed to be for your replacement Haley I want you and Z squad to be her official bodyguards until she’s back with her people understood?”

“Yes sir!” Captain Smith said, she then about turned and went to get ready herself.

“Thank you”

Turning back to his guest Parker replied “No problem ma’am, now let’s get you suited up”.