45° by 11

Case Grandi

Fourteen miles South of Bolonga, Italian Red Zone.

The Corandello' Garage, during the years before the formation of GDI and even before the start of the Second Great War, was a site of kind minded mechanics and food-makers who would fix someone's vehicle, from the smallest chrome coated car, to the largest truck for a single low price. The cars owner would have been able to purchase freshly made food, from pizza to stews and any drink they could imagine. A business made to stand the test of time, and from the look of the worn red bricks and tile flooring of the building and the faded wrench sign outside proved that the business had stood, even as tiberium ravaged the land it stood and still stood despite the loss of customers, and the loss of its owners.

Outside a massive dust-storm raged on the other side of the thick, dirt caked glass windows as the hurricane force winds dragged at the ruined buildings of the town, the gutted skeletons of the houses across the street barely visible whenever a strike of ion heavy lightning struck ground-ward.

After the recent skirmish and the advise of Filis, I'd put together a small crew, six riflemen, two engineers, a mechanic, and a very familiar medic with a fully restocked medical kit. It'd taken the better part of three hours to navigate the ruined roads and tiberium before we'd been forced to seek shelter from an approaching ion storm, the large six wheeled transport truck and my new Ranger barely fitting in the spacious work area of the garage as the storm finally hit, the force of it shaking the sign outside like a pine tree in the wind.

That had been two hours ago, the engineers, Simmons and Benedict had taken the better part of ten minutes to repair the stations generator and get the lights working while the medic, a kind woman by the name of Eillina, had taken to the small kitchen on the far side of the station with half the riflemen and Sergeant Mccain to try and make a meal out of some of the MRE's we'd brought. Based on the lack of shouting or anything I suppose it was going well.

The mechanic was probably in the garage with one of the riflemen, while the other two were chatting it up by the cashiers counter, their helmets lying flat on the granite as they laughed. Shaking my head I continued to watch the storm for a moment before pushing slowly off the decayed wall and headed for the kitchen, my quiet, quick gait lost to the groan of the wind outside as I caught a flash of brown through the small circular window of the swinging door as I slowed to a stop and pushed my way through.

The first thing to hit me was the pleasantly tasty smell in the dusty air. It was something between beef 'n beans, and southern style chillie with a hint of dust. Standing around a dull looking stain-less steel table in the center of the kitchen were the two engineers, both coyotes, and Mccain's dark grey form. The big man, and I use that in literal terms thanks to him standing two feet over myself, was sipping from a olive cloth covered canteen as he ate his Meal Ready to Eat, or MRE. Though, the other two seemed more interested in something at the side of the table rather than their meals.

following their gaze I resisted the overwhelming urge to sigh, sitting on her knee's taking inventory of her medical kit was the medic, or 'Doc' as she like being called. She wasn't wearing any armor this time due to the lack of bullets, or conflict, which left her in her fitted fatigue uniform with her tail flicking from side to side through a small button-up fly set into the rear of the pants, as she silently checked her kit. She didn't seem to notice the rather obvious stares, or if she did then she didn't show it.

'Maybe she enjoys the attention?' I pondered, none of us were really soldiers after all.. We were just people forced into a role. So.. Where do we go after we defeat Nod here.. What would we do? Its almost a guarantee that most of the people with us would want to try living normal lives, but with all the advantages they'd have now thanks to the mutations.. As well as the disadvantages. After all, who would want an eight foot tall talking canine as your neighbor? Moreso, what about the mutations themselves. Nod wouldn't want to have to go through this process every single time to make more soldiers, would they?

As I considered it, I couldn't help but let my gaze flow to her tail for a moment before I physically shook my head, banishing the thoughts for the moment. 'There's a time and a place to think about this..' I thought with a frown before a small smile grew as I walked to the table and picked up one of the extra MRE's and moved around the table, putting myself in the direct line of sight with 'Doc's uniformed rump, much to the disappointment of the two coyote's. Mccain however had a glint of laughter in his eyes despite his lack of outside reaction to my movement.

"Something wrong you two?" I asked, a growing grin on my muzzle as they simply dropped their gaze and continued eating. Shrugging I cast a glance at Mccain, who simply shrugged back. The sound of a metallic click and a quiet sigh signaled Eillina's movements as she walked past me, her case in hand as she headed towards the storage room door and stepped through.

Giving the door a quick look I opened the MRE, removing the packaged silverware and reactive slip for a moment before simply dropping the strip back in, my hand dropping to the small silver canteen on my belt as I unclipped it and started unscrewing the cap to reveal the sparkling water within. Tilting the canteen I let a thin trickle of water drop into the thick plastic of the bag before quickly closing it as the water reacted with the strip and began heating the meal inside.

Leaning against the table I took a sip from the canteen as Mccain put his spoon down on the worn stain-less steel tabletop. "So Commander.. Any idea where this base is?" I sighed, Mccain may be a good guy.. But he had that annoying habit of repeatedly asking the same question. Closing the canteen I put it off to the side and unbuttoned my right breast pocket, removing the map within and unfolded it, placing my index finger on the airport nine miles north of the station.

"The base should be set up here.." I said, tracing over the northern section of the airfield before tapping on it for emphasis. "We assume its here, but without any solid intel I have to estimate.. If its there, then we have a solid chance to actually gain intel on Nod, maybe even get one up on them." I said. "And we're doing all this based on a guess?" I remained silent. After all, the mission was a long shot with the shoddiest intel I'd ever heard. The base should be here, go find it and bring it online.

And yet.. "That's exactly right." I responded.

A short grunt from Mccain sounded his understanding. "I suppose we should get some rest then?" He mutters after a moments hesitation, stretching his arms over his head with an audible 'pop'ing sound. Nodding I lean forward on the table, looking over the map again. "I suppose so, storm seems like it'll be going for another few hours.. Maybe more." It was a half-truth, I have no idea how long the storm may last but with the sporadic nature of the Ion storms in Italy..

Mentally I shook my head, without the right equipment I'm left to guessing and gut instinct, and my gut told me that it would take some time for the storm to pass. "You three get some rest.. I'll take watch." Standing up I pushed the chair behind me off to the side against the table and refolded the map, holding it loosely in my right hand while taking the rest of my bagged MRE in my left as I walked back through the door to the front of the store, the door creaking behind me as it swung closed.

The two riflemen were still sitting around talking but had moved from the counter to a roadhouse style stall set next to one of the worn out windows, both of them watching through the thick, stained glass while idly talking about something. Ignoring the two I made my way to a stall set on the other side of the storefront, also set against a window and eased into the cracked red and white patterned bench, the old leather cracking in a few places from my weight. Surprisingly despite its appearance, the bench wasn't that uncomfortable, it definitely wasn't something one would really want to sleep on, but it was a decent seat at least.

Placing the map on the table I slowly unfolded it, smoothing out some of the creases that had formed from the way it was held while I set my food off to the side and went back to work. My warm amber gaze narrowing as I looked the chart over.


Groaning I rotated my jaw, soreness radiating from it as I sat up in the stall and rubbed my eyes with my right hand. Turning my head I could see that the storefront was still occupied by the two riflemen, both of whom were occupying the same stall as before. Both seemed to be asleep, their booted legs sticking out while the beige cloth of their sleeping bags hung over the edge of their benches.

Looking down I sighed quietly, wiping some saliva off the map in front of me. Glancing out the window it seemed as though the storm was finally over, or had at least calmed down somewhat. The grimness of the dark clouds above seeming all too familiar to me as I refolded the map and put it away, my eyes drifting to the used MRE bag on the table for a moment.

Shaking my head I pulled myself out of the stall, my legs shaking for a moment as blood flowed back to them. It was time to move. With this thought in my mind I made my way across the storefront to the two sleeping bags, clapping my hands together as I did. "Wake up you two, we're moving out.." I said, walking past them. The two wolven growling in irritation as I did, but from the sounds of movement I assumed they were indeed getting up.

Continuing on through the kitchen door, I made my way toward the back and stepped into the garage where I found all seven of the others, the three riflemen and Mccain were sitting in the back of the cargo truck playing cards while the mechanic was propped up against a crate on his sleeping bag, snoring loudly. The two engineers were both awake and looking over some machinery in the corner of the garage. Nodding I rested my hands on my hips, looking over the group when a thought crossed my mind. 'Hang on.. Wheres Eillina?' Turning my gaze on the sergeant I called out. "Mccain, where's the Doc?"

Much to my surprise the Non-Com shrugged in response. "Haven't seen her since dinner." Okay, thats odd.. Shaking my head I turned back to the door, calling out over my shoulder. "Get the trucks ready to move, i'll go find her." With a number of affirmatives and other signs of acknowledgement I stepped through, my eyes shifting to the storage room door. 'Only other place she could be.' I thought, walking over to it with my hands swaying by my sides, my right one rising up and gripping the handle as I reached it.

Pushing the door open I found said hand reaching for the Viper handgun holstered at my waist. The room was full of old boxes resting on metal grate shelves, mold and other such things having infested them long ago, but resting in the center of the room was what had my attention, there was a large circle of bed sheets, obviously old and stained from the passage of time and resting on them were two beings, one was Eillina in her blue fatigues, while the other.. wasn't.

The thing Eillina was resting against was easily the size of herself and had distinctly canine features in its bodily shape, it was a quadruped with thick black fur, a long muzzle and a short black tail, but what set it apart from a normal dog was its size and two other noticeable things, the first and most obvious was the mass of glowing red tiberium emerging from its back giving it a clearly menacing look while the second was the two large tusks emerging from the right and left sides of its head, just below its ears and angled upwards just below its jaws.

Behind me the door slowly closed with a click and a pair of deep crimson eyes slide open, watching me as the Fiend's head slowly rose over Eillina, the movement stirring her and drawing the beasts attention. As it looked down at her I drew my Viper and brought it on target as the fiends head suddenly dropped down in front of the doctor, blocking her from view.. It almost seemed as if it was doing so protectively.

Narrowing my eyes I pulled the trigger.. And immediately felt bad about it. The supressed cough of the weapon echo'd in the room while the round flew true and struck the fiend in the side of the neck, only to clatter to the ground as it flattened against the mutants skin, skin I quickly remembered is capable of taking shots from light tanks and heavy weapons fire before being penetrated. Behind the fiend Eillina's sleep heavy voice called out. "Wha- wait, stop!" and much to my surprise, I saw a pair of arms cross over the neck of the fiend, which was glaring at me with an almost irritated look in its eyes.

Seeing little option, I kept my handgun pointed at target. "Eillina.. Get away from that thing." I growled, only to receive a growl in return from the large mutant which quickly stopped at the sound of Eillina's voice in its ear, her face coming up next to it and causing its angered expression to fade to something more akin to caution. Rising up from behind the beast, she glared at me. "Its alright.. Coal wont hurt me." Her words caused my hands to lower toward the ground, less in understanding but from confusion.

It was then I noticed one detail about the fiend that hadn't stuck out too much, resting around its neck was an old chain that seemed to be infused with the tiberium on its back, thin lines of the crimson mineral sponge running along the chains surface in places while a small steel plate hung from its neck. It was too far for me to see.. But from Eillina's words, I had a good idea of what was on it.

"Eillina.. This is a fiend.. Not a stray dog." Much to my surprise the fiend's glare lightened and it pressed itself back, its head resting against Eillina's waist.. Dare I say it, it was acting like a lost pet, and doing a good job of it despite the facts.

Slowly I lowered the pistol as Eillina brought herself down to level with the fiend's head, scratching it behind its ears like one would do to a domestic dog, and much to my surprise it pushed its head forward, careful enough to not accidentally impale her with its tusks, and nuzzled her. All the while she stared at me with an odd look, her eyes wide and pleading.

Seconds ticked by as I thought it over, a tiberian fiend was a well known danger in most portions of the world, but they could and have been domesticated.. '..and they're immensely loyal to their owners.' If thought, remembering an old saying from a mutant soldier i'd met as a teen. He'd always talked about the fiends in a kind way, much like an Indian of America would speak of a wolf back in the old times.

Sighing I shook my head, my left hand leaving the pistols grip while the right holstered it. "Your sure he wont hurt us.. Right?" Her response was swift. "I'm certain." As if in reinforcement of her words, the fiend.. Coal, barked loudly. Though it came out more as a deep menacing and rough noise, the intent was there. Pulling away from Eillina it rose to its pawed feet, watching me as she got to her own, resting a hand on the top of its head while her free hand retrieved her medical kit.

Staring back at it I hesitated, It was a simple touch, but it was enough as the fiend's body seemed to relax, its gaze rising back up to meet Eillina's. Giving off something between a purr and a growl he leaned against her and let his tongue hang out.

Taking the moment to step back I holstered my Viper, as if it would do much good, and gave Eillina a short glance. I didn't like it, but with fiends, there isn't much of a choice involved. "I'll tell the rest of the team.. We're moving out now." Pushing open the door I made my way back to the garage and arrived just in time to see the mechanic load a set of tools into the ranger, the rest of the team standing around near the cargo truck. At my entrance they almost all turned towards me. "Alright.. We've got a new addition guys, and try not to freak out too much about him." The eight men and women looked at each other, then back to me as the door opened behind me and the sound of six feet walked in.

The shock on everyone's faces was clearly displayed and a few of them were looking at me as if I were crazy. "Its alright.. Coal wont hurt us, i've been assured of that." I turned my head to face Eillina at that while she simply dipped her head in acknowledgment. "He wont." she replied, Turning back to the group I clapped my hands together. "Come on, we're going now. Someone open up the door!" I yelled as I made my way up to the Ranger, the mechanic quickly opening the door via a chain next to it.

Sliding into the passengers seat of the jeep I felt the weight shift as Eillina hopped in the back, her fiend joining her quickly after while the mechanic took the passengers seat. Leaning out I looked back at the truck behind us and received a thumbs up from Mccain in the drivers seat. With that, I turned back and started up the engine, easing the Ranger out onto the cracked asphalt followed quickly by the cargo truck, all that was left was the dead city of Bolonga, long abandoned by human life and infested by Tiberium.

With a roar the vehicles turned onto the road and made their way toward the north, following the main road toward the old highway. It offered the best, and fastest chance of reaching the city center. All along the way I kept my eyes peeled for any sort of trickery, the hills on either side of the valley we were situated in would be perfect perches for snipers or armored vehicles while behind, I was so focused on them that I hardly noticed the fiend shifting behind me until it had lept from the Ranger, much to the surprise of myself and Eillina as it hit the ground, and began to trot alongside the speeding vehicles.

Sighing I turned my focus back to navigating the damaged roads, the vehicles tires carrying it easily over the ruined terrain. A few minutes later the small convoy made it to the highway, or what was left of it. The lack of human hands to care for the parkway had left it in a state of disrepair, potholes and deep cracks shook the four-by-four while the more noticeable spires of tiberium loomed above. Thankfully, either through design or sheer luck.. Or some mix of the two, the thick asphalt had held against the encroaching fields and spires for the most part, though we were still forced to slow to pass around the rim of some large craters, craters laced with strains of tiberium in hues of blue, red, and shockingly enough, purple.

The sight was strange to say the least, from what little I knew of tiberium, they usually came in three varieties. Green, which was the most stable and basic form, and Blue, which tended to explode violently from time to time, but also held much larger amounts of resources when compared to the more stable green. But purple was an oddity. It was known, don't get me wrong. But normally the conditions required for its creation are never met long enough for large field to form. Purple, after all, is the product of a field of Blue and Green tiberium interacting and merging to create a more stable, but still resource rich field.

The issue though, was that this process usually ended in the destruction of the blue tiberium and its newly produced field at the hands of an ion storm, or even a gas pocket. So to see not just one, but several of these purple fields stretching along the sides of the ruined highway. As well as towering spires of the same color was if not surprising, pleasant in a way.

The Red tiberium though.

That was something that I hadn't thought existed until mere days ago. Shaking my head, I watched as a distant line of buildings passed on my right. The deep crimson glow of the distant crystals giving them a haunted look, even from this distance. 'That, should be the industrial area.' Removing the map from my breast pocket, I spared a few seconds to check.. It was marked as Zona Industriale.

'Definitely the industrial area.. Wait, why are we slowing down?' Glancing up, I could see that we were nearing a complete stop. Ahead of the Ranger, the overpass had collapsed, the road itself was still intact. But with the overpass down, we'd have to go around somehow. The overpass itself looked relatively intact despite having fallen, and it didn't look that steep. Maybe..

A hard tap on my shoulder shook me from my thoughts, glancing at the source I found the mechanic that had opened the garage staring right back. "..You hear me boss?" I blinked, I actually hadn't heard him at all. "Sorry.. Guess I wasn't listening."

"Well, I asked what were gunna do about this'ere roadblock." He waved to the fallen slab of concrete with a gloved hand. I felt my brow furrow, it definitely looked unstable, but maybe it would hold under the weight of our trucks? Or at the least, under the weight of the cargo truck. The Ranger could probably make it up the bank lining the side of the highway.

Shifting in my seat, I glanced back at the truck, where Mccain was sitting with his head out the window, waiting. He didn't have to wait long, all it took was a few shouts and a lot of hand signals for him to get the message, and when he did, he put that truck into first gear and took it right up the improvised ramp, which. surprisingly held the weight without issue.

The Ranger followed suite with a roar, and the convoy was once again back on track. The detour did have the added issue of taking us right past one of the large fields of red tiberium, we'd stopped for a minute to equip ourselves in case there were hostile lifeforms hidden in the field, Fiends and Raptors especially, as they seemed to frequently bury themselves in fields, waiting for unsuspecting victims to wander by.

But as we passed the field, not a single lifeform made a show. It was completely empty of life, Tiberian or otherwise. Come to think of it, there hadn't been many creatures on the way to the city to begin with, maybe a few fiends, a distant raptor, and even a few Tumbler Worms. But the number of them was so low when compared to the Yellow Zones of Western Europe.


It took almost another half hour of maneuvering around the fields and collapsed factories before the convoy pulled through the ruined gates of the airport, the gutted remains of military aircraft and a few civilian airliners lining the taxiway while the desolate terminal building sat abandoned, on the other side of the runway however was a second taxiway where a number of ruined concrete buildings stood, some of them sharing designs with the buildings that made up the base back at the bunker while others looked larger and blockier with the exception of one that looked more like an oversized black chair with faded blue markings set across its center.

Pulling across the runway and stopping in front of the odd black and blue structure, I shut off the engine and dismounted as Coal stopped next to the jeep, panting loudly but showing no signs of tiring. With a hiss of hydraulics the cargo truck came to a halt on the side of the Ranger and the team inside quickly filed out the riflemen looking to me for a few seconds until I motioned to the large chair-like building. "Check this one, i'm sure its what we're here for." I said and quickly the team unshouldered their rifles and fanned out on the way to the buildings main doors, both of which were jammed open.

Pausing for a moment I turned my head to Mccain and the engineering team. "Benedict, your with us. Mccain, you take the rest and get one of those power plants online.. I get the feeling we'll need the juice!" I yelled before following after the riflemen, the sound of one other pair of booted feet following me into the darkness. Inside the attached lights of the riflemen illuminated the main hall as they moved while I unclipped and turned on a handheld flashlight, the short beam illuminating the area as I followed the men deeper into the facility.

We barely made it sixty feet before splitting into two teams at a 'T' section hallway, one group following the hallway with me in the lead, while the other took a flight of stairs downward. I couldn't help but feel a little thrown off by the building, it was dark and worn from the passage of time, but there didn't seem to be much damage or even signs of use. 'They probably never even were able to use this place.' I thought as the lights suddenly flickered to life, some of the light tubes blowing out from power surges while others hummed to life, illuminating a closed metal door ahead.

I barely managed to click off my light when the radio kicked on. "Commander.. We've got something down here." Reaching up I clicked the radio. "What've you got?" I asked as the rest of the team moved up to the door and opened it, two taking position while the rest stepped inside. "Its some sort of missile.. Looks like theres a massive silo down here with manufacturing equipment, no sign of a control room." He replied as one of the three that walked into the room came back out. "Sir!" I paused and sighed over the radio. "Dont worry, I think we found it." I said and continued on to the door, stepping past the riflemen to examine the room. It was big.. Very big. At least three layers of computer monitors sat idle in a semi-circle with a large screen at the front of the room, some burned out from power surges while most stood in standby, the now familiar spread falcon of the Allied Nations sitting on their screens, awaiting their long dead technicians.

Grinning triumphantly I gave the riflemen a nod. "Clear the building and get a patrol running.. Benedict." I stated over my shoulder. "Get me comms." A grinning black wolf walked past me, carrying a yellow hardcase with his matching yellow hardhat resting snugly on his head. "I'll do you one better sir.. Just sit back, i'll do the rest." He stated, sliding into a nearby terminal and pausing only long enough to blow clear the layer of dust covering the machine.

Crossing my arms I walked up next to him, observing as he opened up a code box and began typing in several series of code to it, his fingers moving fluidly across the keyboard before the black background of the screen changed to a calm navy blue, the spread falcon resting in the center of the screen before a second box appeared.

-Insert Access Code-

Hardly taking note of the box, Benedict quickly typed in a series of numbers and letters, all of them appearing as a concealed star in the box until it finally disappeared, the screen shifting as it changed to a black background, the words 'Accessing Network: Standby. .' dominating the screen until suddenly a flash of static appeared, dissolving into the familiar face of Filis, her command center visible in the background as her staff, probably recently introduced to the positions, went about their duties. "Commander, its good to hear from you.. I assume your mission was successful?" She asked while Benedict vacated his seat and took up control of another terminal while I took his seat.

"We've located the base and have control.. But we're likely going to need reinforcements to hold this position down." I said, sitting back in the old office chair. "I see.. Have you picked up any signs of hostiles in the area?" She replied, typing something in off screen. "Thats a negative ma'am.. No sign of Nod forces, and our contact with local mutants has been.. Minimal." I said with a moments hesitation. "Commander.." Came Filis' response. "We.. Have a new addition to our team, he hasn't proven to be hostile to anyone, yet.." I added only for my eyes to widen. "Then I'll be looking forward to meeting him, reinforcements will arrive in one hour and thirty minutes." She stated before the screen went blank, the main screen up front suddenly lighting up, showing a 2D map of the surrounding area.

With a glance at Benedict I sat forward, bringing up the map on my monitor, my hand finding its way to my chin. Unaware that someone else had been listening to the impromptu transmission.


Two-hundred-twenty-eight miles above the Equator.

Electronic Warfare Suite Seven

GDSS Philadelphia

The GDSS Philadelphia, the orbiting command station of the Global Defense Initiative and nerve center for most operations on the planet, one of the most secure military facilities constructed by mankind and home to the vaunted Drop Trooper Corps. It had been constructed following the end of the first Tiberium War and stood as a beacon for GDI's progress in the name of preserving humankind by any means necessary.

Behind the scene's were the various warfare suites housed aboard the station, Electronic warfare, Information warfare and everything up to and including the use of the devastating Ion Cannon array in orbit. It was inside one of these suites that a lone technician had picked up on a hack in progress, the target being an old Second Great War era GPS satellite from a facility in Red Zone One. After checking to make sure it wasn't a simple glitch, he'd called up his superior and instead, General Soloman himself came through the door of his suite and a watched as the transmission took place, a look of pure disbelief plastered on the faces of both him and the techie at the sight of the two beings.

Once it was finished the two shared a look and the general motioned for him to follow. Nearly ten minutes later the technician found himself in a conference room, sitting in a plush chair while a cup of warm coffee stood on a coaster in front of him, the liquid being held in an unstained white cup. However the chair may as well have been a solid rock bench and the drink could have been a glass of tib infected water.

Taking up three of the twenty other chairs in the room were the military and scientific leaders of the Global Defense Initiative. sitting directly across from him was Doctor Ignatio Mobius, the rather absent minded scientist seemingly reading over a report on Tiberium research, or something relating to it. Two chairs to his right sat a gruff looking Caucasian man in pure white armor with the emblem of the Global Defense Initiative stamped onto the right shoulder plate and parker stenciled on the breastplate, his helmet resting on the table and seemingly of a more advanced design then the standard suits in use by GDI infantrymen. He was Colonel Nick Parker, commander of all Commando units and special operations in use by GDI.

On the left of the scientist, one seat over from him was and elderly gentleman in a recently ironed officers uniform, his officers cap resting on the table in front of him was Major General Mark Sheppard. The former military leader of the UNGDI during the First Tiberium War had taken an increase in rank to act as an advisor to his former protege General Solomon and help with the bane of any military leader in modern history.. Paperwork. Solomon himself was pacing in front of a screen, displaying the image that had called these men to this room, the two beings. both clearly not human and bearing clearly canine-like features and both wearing blue uniforms.

"We dont know anything about these things.." Solomon began only to earn a short laugh from the doctor. "Ah General, we do know something about them.. For example." He'd trail off, tapping on the tablet he'd been 'reading' and adjusting the image on the screen. "These two beings are clearly of differentiating genders, the one on the left.." He'd zoom in on the vulpine-esq one. "Appears to contain additional muscle mass in the upper body, variations in hair color and skeletal structure would constitute a subspecies.. Similar to a vulpine of some sort. Observe." He'd state, once again zooming in, this time on the female.

"The one appears to mimic a form of Canis latrans lestes, most commonly referred to as a Coyote." He paused for a moment, looking around at the assembled officers blank expressions before sighing, mumbling something about 'basic zoology.' "Ehm, this female carries the variations generally seen with a sexually dimorphic species. For instance this one appears to be thinner, lighter muscle mass and more noticeable breasts.. However this may just be a coincidence.. The tones of their voices do support my theory on top of this." He finished, zooming out. For a few seconds, silence reigned. "So we don't know anything useful about them" He stated again, a line of frustration growing visible as the seconds of silence churned on. "Well.. There is this." The camera zoomed in on the males face while a similar close-up of the females appeared next to it, focusing specifically on the thin lines of glowing emerald running across both of them, if not in similar patterns. "Both of these beings appear to naturally contain trace amounts of Tiberium, this could indicate a resistance to Tiberium exposure, possibly even total immunity." At that, he brought his hands together with a faint smack. "..Its very intriguing."

Silence echo'd in the room as all eyes fell on the Doctor. General Solomon braced himself against the table, his hands resting on the wooden edge. "Your certain of this?" The question only earned a shrug from the good doctor. "Unless I can get a usable sample of one.. I cant be certain, but I feel it may be highly likely." He replied, readjusting his glasses. Shifting in his seat the Major General stood up, moving over to the screen. "I'm curious.. The uniforms and markings they use, it reminds me of the old Allied Nations, back before the formation of the Initiative." As he looked the spread eagle patches over he crossed his arms. "Just who are these people.." His murmer barely audible to his fellows.

Standing up straighter, Solomon turned his attention to the only armored person in the room. "Colonel.. I want a team of your men to scout out the location this transmission was sent from, we need to know more about them. Above all else, be cautious." He says, the armored commando's only actions being a smile as he picks his helmet up off the table and walks to the door, placing it on as he walks through, the door closing with a soft thud.

With the orders given and events rolling, Solomon pulled himself to his feet and filed out followed closely by Shepherd after a moments pause to shut of the screen, Mobius. Leaving a very confused and uncertain Tech Sergeant James T. Murphey in the room before he too, finally left and returned to his station.

(4/10/2017- Grammatical corrections and the such.)