Act 1 – Part 3 – Convictions

Haunting water drops echoed in the outpost hallway, walls littered with cracks, missing concrete tiles and thick grime doing nothing to help relieve the atmosphere. The ion storm outside brought light every once in a while through the reinforced windows, along with many cracks of thunder both close and far away. Glowing terminals dotted all around the room were now receiving updates and transmissions from all around the GDI North-West Communication Network.

But Conroy didn't pay any attention to those. His mind was racing on and on, the guilt of leaving people behind leaving a bitter taste in his mouth. The pilot always knew that the Initiative wasn't that cut-and-dried as many other enlisted and officer preached. There was always that nagging feeling, something that always bothered him.

And now, looking at Elena, he couldn't help himself but frown. The instilled propaganda was cracking swiftly, with more and more questions piling up. Why were the Mutants the pariahs? Who decided these things? Why in the bloody hell did this happen in the first place?

Sighing, Conroy glanced back at the dull number written on the terminal: 22

Slowly but steadily he started to write on the on-screen keyboard, sifting through the various garbage logs, errors, personnel and supply lists, trying desperately to finds something. Anything.

Then as he was looking through the corrupted logs, he found it. An entry dating back to the late 2020s.

… Accessing Voice Entry Log #E-R/2-5/871-A-E…

… Time: 21:45/9:45 PM

… Date: 18/12/2020

… BOTCHED EVACUATION

… It's working? *sigh* I've uploaded all the remaining sensitive data to the GDI Communication Network to prevent its capture by whoever finds this place. Things went wrong so fast, I couldn't have possibly though that it was real. We were evacuating the remaining non-mutant civilians using whatever helicopters we had at our disposal. Those Russian junks worked pretty well considering their age. We were about to contact the local mutant leader in this area when one recon helo was shot down over the outskirts of the capital.

… I still don't know the full story, even now, but from what I've gathered, the mutants started firing at it. Then it all turned to custard. Armed mutants broke through the outer perimeter and started killing every single GDI personnel they could find.

… In the chaos, the helicopters left without us. Left here almost a full company of soldiers and technicians. We were ill-prepared to fight against them and we, me and Major Dumitru, hid ourselves in the armory until they left. He told me that we lost contact with the brigade headquarters and we need to get out of here as soon as possible.

… We scavenged whatever munitions and supplies we could find, and we're preparing to depart this accursed place. Dumitru is watching over the perimeter with a sniper rifle he found around the burning watch tower. He says that the mutants are still around the southern perimeter of the base, so we have a chance to escape towards north, to link up with the 2nd Recon Group, one of the surviving GDI and local militia formations that he got in contact with. They are beyond the former airports near the former Snagov Protected Natural Park.

… It may be just me, or my hazy memories… but I swear to God that the mutants who attacked this evacuation site had the old Szakolczay/Locust rocket launchers that the NOD attacked us with last month. I fear that NOD succeeded in turning the mutant population against us… Be it either by lies or by our own blunder in maintaining a friendly contact with them.

… *another voice comes through the log, albeit garbled* Jameson? We got to go, NOW! A NOD Buggy just stopped near the mutants to our South. I think they're preparing to sift through whatever is left around here. Stop whatever you're doing and come to the northern gate. I'll wait for you there.

… Yes, Dumitru! I'm coming! EVA! Ending Voice Log!.

… Technician Jameson B.

… VOICE ENTRY LOG ENDED

… Would you like to play the log again?

Shaky hands gripped the terminal. Was that it? That's the reason why GDI would stay away from the mutant areas and leave them for dead? Just some pesky NOD interference? If Colonel Havoc was in charge, he would probably just barge in, kill any and all NOD bastards he would encounter, all while saving every single mutant out there, probably get all the credit too.

Conroy's chest tightened, the bitter taste in his mouth getting more and more unbearable. This would not do. Even if he may disobey orders, and even marked guilty in the a court-martial, he couldn't leave things like this.

Opening the map, he saw the location of the outpost, and the two airports to the north of it. And a bit farther was the natural park, marked with another outpost icon: E-R/2-6.

"It's not that far… Some 26 clicks… I can be back in less than 10 hours if I leave now… Maybe I can bring in some more ammo and supplies…", Conroy whispered.

Moving away from the terminal, with the corner of his eye, the pilot noticed that the mutant was missing from the room. A brief panic washed over him, as he dashed towards the armory, but as soon as he saw her, Conroy stopped. The staff was propped against one of the lockers, while Elena was quietly snoring in one of the chairs inside the room.

An audible sigh escaped the pilot's lips. Just how long was he on that terminal searching for clues? As he prepared to turn away, the pilot couldn't help but notice that the mutant was shivering from the humid and cold air.

"Even they are affected by things like these…", he mumbled. "They're still human…Just like us...".

Walking to her, Conroy took off his jacket and gently covered the mutant. Noticing the cease of shivers, for the first time in what felt like forever, he smiled.

Yes, he couldn't leave things like this. Eyeing an old technician jacket in one of the opened lockers, he grabbed it and headed back towards the terminal. He typed in the coordinates for the second outpost on his wrist-mounted EVA, after which he opened the translator program on the main terminal. Conroy gently typed in a message for the sleeping mutant, for when Elena will surely wake up and he'll still be returning from his outside trip, she will surely panic.

Satisfied by the fast translation, he checked his pistol to see if it's in working order, then grabbed one of the backpacks from the armory. Elena was still snoring, but now he could see that she was hugging the warm jacket.

"Rest well, Elena… I'll get you out of here…", he quietly said.

END OF CONVICTIONS