Chapter 12

"Excerpt from INN Holobrief, May 28th, 2043. One of the more unusual chapters of the Second Tiberium War came to an explosive close yesterday as the GDI Corps of Engineers detonated what is believed to be the last remaining Cabal bunker - the tube-filled underground lairs from which the rogue Artificial Intelligence waged brief war upon humanity.

Contacted for comment, retired war hero and former head of the Bureau of Mutant Affairs, General Paul Cortez, lauded for his role in CABAL's defeat, dismissed his fallen foe as "...a second rate EVA with a goatee and Napoleon complex." Cortez also claimed to have refused a GDI invitation to attend the detonation ceremony, citing his opposition to the current leadership's controversial Tiberium containment policy and "weak kneed" approach to the Brotherhood of Nod.

Rumours that this particular bunker displayed evidence of human or humanoid life forms in suspension capsules were quickly dismissed by GDI spokesperson Arlene Shepherd." Intel Database: The Ghost in the Machine.

Cairo, Egypt

Y-5

August 7th, 2047

1555

The city of Cairo was a husk. A decaying ruin that served only as a monument to the death and destruction brought on by the Tiberium Wars. No one lived here, not even scavengers. Only Tiberium inhabited Cairo now. But it wasn't just the insatiable hunger of the green cancer that ruined this ancient city. Fifty years of fighting had done more than its share to leave Cairo, and much of Egypt, in ruin. Haunting memories of the desperate struggle to fight through Nod's elite forces, side by side with the mutant Forgotten, as they struggled to reach Kane before he could launch his super weapon flashed through John's mind. He had been on the front line during that battle, pushing hard for Nod's pyramid base. So much death and carnage.

Once, Cairo may have been a great capital, full of life. But now it was merely a tomb for warriors past and present. And today, John would add more bodies to that tomb; some of his men, but mostly of Nod soldiers. While the city proper was deserted, the Nod nuclear missile base was located just on the outskirts, defended by jagged cliffs and a wall of laser turrets, SAMs, and Obelisks. Further supplementing these defenses were bunkers, MG nests, and dug-in Ticks, forming a seemingly impenetrable wall of Nod defences.

Arrayed against this was an entire column of Predator and Mammoth tanks. With the amount of firepower they had, it would only be a matter of time before Nod's defenses would be smashed and the base penetrated. Unfortunately, time was not something GDI had which is why John was not on the bridge to witness his armored units engaging the Nod defenders. Instead, he was in the conference room with his senior staff, including Colonel Shen of the 11th MEU. Also present via video call was Lieutenant James, who had set the tone of the meeting with the grim news that Nod could fire another nuke literally any moment. And with GDI's satellite and orbital weapons network still down, they had no way of stopping it. Millions could die.

"We can't get an accurate prediction of when they could launch. This is why it is absolutely imperative you get into that facility, Commander." James was saying.

"Even with our Mammoth tanks and all the heavy fire power at our disposal, it will take hours to breach those defences. Not to mention the substantial losses we will suffer." Athena chimed in.

"Your losses would be nothing compared to millions of civilians lives, Colonel." James retorted venomously.

"There might be another way into the base." Shen quickly cut in. "My recon marines have found a hole in the enemy's AA defense grid. It seems there is a thin strip through the mountains not covered by their SAM launchers. We could sneak some infantry through that gap via air transport, then get into the launch control center through an entrance in the rear of the facility."

"Where's this entrance?" John asked.

Shen manipulated the controls for the video screen, minimizing James to a small box in the corner while enlarging an image of Nod's facility.

"The majority of the complex is located underground. InOps identified several entry points throughout the base, but my marines located this entrance, here: ventilation shafts that lead directly to the primary launch facility. We cut through, repel down, and take the command center." Shen said confidently.

"And how do we even get our people close to there?" Athena asked.

"Here, next to this small Tib' field. This seems to be how Nod keeps this facility supplied with raw material. We land next to the refinery, fight our way to the ventilation shafts, and get inside." Shen answered.

"Alright, good. Shen, get your recon marines to secure the landing point. Athena, get me a platoon to go with those marines inside."

"Understood, sir." Athena acknowledged.

"My boys will get it done, sir." Shen said.

"Good. Lieutenant James, keep me informed on any possible missile launch."

"Yes, sir. And sir? Leave nothing left. This will be payback for all the lives lost on the Philadelphia."

The meeting ended, and John's staff quickly left to carry out their orders while John hastily made his way back to the bridge to assume command of the ongoing battle. When John had become a Battle-Commander, he swore that he would not so casually throw away lives like his father or McNeil had. But unfortunately, war demanded harsh sacrifices. So John would not hesitate to do whatever it took to stop Nod.

… … …

The troop bay of the Ox was quiet, save for the whirring of the engines. The men and women inside were silent as they readied to drop into combat. Some no doubt were keeping to themselves for personal reflection or to mentally prepare themselves for the firefight everyone knew was coming. But most were silent for fear that any noise they made would somehow attract the attention of Nod SAMs. It was completely irrational, especially because according to Command, the enemy already knew they were coming, though a flaw in the defences meant they would be safe from AA fire so it didn't matter. Of course, that didn't stop people from still worrying that they would get blown out of the sky.

Burke was more worried about the threat of Nod launching another nuke. Thoughts immediately turned to that of her home, of her wife, being washed away in nuclear fire. She tried to banish those thoughts from her mind, but with everyone so quiet, there was little else to distract herself with.

"T-minus two minutes." The pilot abruptly announced.

"Two minutes!" Lieutenant Hamilton repeated.

The soldiers in the troop bay quickly roused themselves from their thoughts and began to brace themselves for landing. With practiced ease, Burke turned her entire focus onto the mission itself, not allowing any of her earlier, troubled thoughts to distract her from what was about to occur next.

"Troops! Be advised! The LZ is not clear! I repeat: the LZ is not clear! We will be landing under fire!" Hamilton shouted again as Burke readied herself.

"Alright, you heard the man!" Burke immediately barked. "It's a hot LZ! As soon as we hit the ground, be ready to move your ass into cover!"

Even as her squad let out a round of acknowledgements, Burke felt the Ox begin to descend rapidly, and almost immediately, a loud pinging sound reverberated through the troop bay.

"Jesus!" Haley yelled startled. "They weren't kidding about the LZ being hot!"

"No shit!" Ramirez retorted, even as Burke heard the pilot cry out:

"Fuck! Taking small arms fire! Fucking marines can't clear an LZ for piss!"

"Pilot!" Hamilton yelled. "Are you going to be able to get us on the ground!?"

"Oh, don't you worry about that, LT!" the pilot hollered back. "That's going to happen, one way or another! Thirty seconds!"

"Thirty seconds!" Hamilton repeated.

The sounds of bullets hitting the side of the Ox continued to grow in pitch, even as Burke lifted her rifle to make sure she had a fully load magazine inserted and a round chambered; by the sounds of it, she was going to going to have come out fighting. Beside her, she could hear someone muttering something, and she glanced over to see West with literal buckets of sweat pouring down his face.

"Private West! You okay!?" she demanded to know.

Despite looking decidedly green around the gills, West still managed to give her a thumbs up.

"You're gonna be alright, West! As soon as we hit the ground, just stay on my ass, and you'll be okay!" Burke commanded, even as she heard the pilot roar, "Alright kids, touchdown in three… two… one… GO, GO, GO!"

"Squad, MOVE!" Hamilton screamed before hurtling himself down the rear ramp. Burke was close on his heels.

"LET'S GO GET THE BASTARDS!" Burke screamed at the top of her lungs as she charged out of the aircraft.

Almost immediately, Burke was assaulted by the roar of heavy incoming machine gun fire. Multicolored tracers flashed across her vision, temporary dazzling her, but fortunately most of the fire was directed towards the Ox itself, and not the troops that were pouring out from the rear. Almost on autopilot, Burke found herself dashing forward and diving for cover behind some sort of heavy-duty crate. Behind her, she could hear her squad following suit, and she glanced over her shoulder, only to see the Ox taking off once more, having already finished depositing its cargo onto the ground.

"Great!" Yusseif complained, drawing Burke's attention back to the fight at hand. "We're on the ground; now what?"

Glancing over the crate, Burke immediately spotted an entire fireteam of marines taking cover behind a nearby harvester, returning fire at Nod.

"We got to go reinforce those jarheads! Over there! ON ME!"

Without waiting for a response, Burke hurtled herself out of cover and ran full-tilt at the marines, sliding into cover behind the harvester.

"'Bout time you Army shits showed up. Nod is not happy we're here!" The marine corporal in charge stated before Burke even had a chance to catch her breath.

"Yeah, this is what happens when you send a bunch of crayon eaters to handle the Army's job!" Burke retorted. "What's the situation?"

"We got a fuckton of bad guys shooting at us. WHAT DO YOU THINK THE SITUATION IS!?"

Any further conversation was ended as a series of explosions went off nearby. Burke peered around the harvester and spotted an Attack Bike bombarding the LZ. Momentum was key for this operation, which meant they couldn't afford to get bogged down. Other marines and riflemen were already engaged with the Nod infantry, leaving Burke and her squad the closest to deal with the Bike. She noticed one of her newly acquired marines was armed with a DMR, and she quickly waved for his attention.

"We need to take out that Bike! We'll hit the foot mobiles, you take down the Bike!"

"Sounds good to me, Sergeant!" The marine marksman replied.

"Wait for my signal! Squad, covering fire – " Burke flicked the safety off her rifle – "NOW! COVERING FIRE!"

Burke and her squad, added by the marine corporal, moved out from behind the harvester and simply opened up on the Nod infantry. The enemy was at a disadvantage as they had to fight uphill to reach the GDI LZ. Not only that, the enemy had also only responded with maybe a platoon's worth of infantry, clearly not expecting GDI to land troops inside their base. As a result, the Nod soldiers didn't stand a chance and even as they began to fall like leaves in the wind, Burke broke contact long enough to gesture violently at the marine marksman, who instantly began unloading on the Attack Bike's canopy.

As Burke swooped down to reload, she noticed cracks beginning to form in the Bike's window. The Bike attempted to move away, but three more shots from the marksman shattered the canopy and killed the driver, sending the Bike sliding back down the incline.

"GDI! Forward, advance!" Hamilton shouted.

The joint Army and Marine unit began to move down the incline, moving for the powerplants at the rear of the launch facility. Burke could see the imposing figure of the nuclear launch site looming in the distance, and it filled her with dread. She also could see the distant flashes of battle at the base's entrance, as the main force attempted to push into the base. But she couldn't think about her comrades right now, she needed to get inside the launch facility, and shut it down.

As the strike team entered the base proper, they could see the three ventilation shafts just ahead. There were no defences at all, which wasn't surprising as Nod clearly didn't predict such an attack. But as the team got closer, a Reckoner APC abruptly appeared from somewhere deeper in the base. The strike team broke off and moved to find cover, as Nod infantry quickly disembarked. Burke and her squad found themselves without any cover, forcing them to hug the pavement as best they could. Burke brought up her rifle and fired on a soldier attempting to set up an LMG, hitting him square in the forehead. Yusseif was beside her, keeping a team of rocket troopers suppressed behind the Reckoner's track. Meanwhile, West, Haley, and Ramirez were steadily taking down enemy combatants as they tried to take advantage of Burke and Yusseif's suppressing fire and push up. The other members of the strike team had already dealt with the remaining Nod troops, but now had to contend with a newly arrived Attack Buggy. It was time for a new plan.

"Ramirez, with me! Yusseif, provide covering fire with West and Haley!" Burke commanded.

"Copy!"

Burke and Ramirez and jogged towards the Reckoner, as the rest of the squad covered them. She ran with her rifle in a low-ready position, but didn't encounter any resistance. Reaching the Nod APC, and the two cautiously moved around to the back of the vehicle, only to run into three Nod soldiers, including two rocket troopers. Before they could react, Burke's rifle was up and she was spraying them down with automatic rifle fire. She felt the bolt on her rifle lock back just as the last Nod soldier fell to the ground, dead.

"CLEAR!" Burke bellowed at the top of her lungs as she reloaded. "Squad, reform on me! Ramirez, grab one of these launchers and take out that Buggy!"

"Got it! Watch out for the backblast." Ramirez warned. "Rocket!"

Burke had just enough time to jam her fingers into her ears before Ramirez fired, sending a rocket right through the cab of the Buggy, which exploded into a shower of scrap metal. Shoving Ramirez behind her, Burke lifted her rifle and poked her head around the Reckoner to cover her, only to find all resistance had ceased.

"Good shit, Pat," Haley complimented as he and the rest of the squad joined up with them.

"How do you like me now, bitch," Ramirez taunted as she tossed the empty launcher away.

Burke felt herself smirking, but before she could add anything to Ramirez's eloquent speech, Hamilton appeared out of nowhere.

"Enough of that guys," he ordered. "We gotta move. Marines! Get those vent grates open, pronto! Command, come in? Team Echo has reach Objective One and are proceeding to Objective Two. How copy, over?"

"Command copies all. Team Echo, you must reach the control room and abort the launch. Our main force will not be able to reinforce you. Godspeed." Commander Lancaster stated firmly.

"No pressure." Haley muttered beside Burke.

The marines finished cutting the grate, allowing it to fall to the bottom of the shafts. Both marines and riflemen connected their rappel lines and began the slow decent into the underground control bunker. As they descended, Burke found the euphoria of the firefight quickly fading away, only to be replaced by sheer anxiousness. She couldn't help it but feel like that nuke was going to fire at any second. Were they going to make it in time?

… … …

A Mammoth tank fired both of its barrels, destroying an enemy Obelisk. The victory was short lived though, as two Scorpion tanks fired on the Mammoth and destroyed it in turn. Even with the Obelisk's destruction, John's forces were still unable to press any further, and more Nod tanks were arriving from warfactories located within the base. His only hope now would be those infantry units that had just infiltrated the base.

"Warning! Missile launch detected." EVA warned.

The crew immediately whirled around and stared out the window in shock. John forced himself to remain stoic, to not let his own fear and panic show. But he felt his hands tremble as he watched the missile rise out from the silo and leap into the air, leaving a trail of smoke in its wake. They now had a definitive timeline to when millions of people would die, and no way to stop it. Save one.

"EVA, how long until that missile impacts!?"

"Estimated time until impact: fifteen minutes."

"Colonel Miles, is there any chance we can get more infantry up to support our men inside?" John asked.

"Negative, sir. Nod has deployed Venom patrols through the mountains. We simply don't have the air power to safely escort any more birds in." Athena replied, her voice cracking ever so slightly.

"Alright, then all we can do is hope Team Echo can stop that nuke. Otherwise, our only option is to push our attack even harder. Have our Mammoths pull back, they're taking too much damage. They can provide anti-tank support from the rear while our Predators and Titans try to focus down enemy strongpoints. Have all of our remaining auxiliary Predators and Hunters moved up now. Casualties will be high, but we will crush Nod under a wave of steel!"

John's decisive orders seemed to convince his crew that he had everything in hand, as their fears clearly abated and they hurriedly returned to work. Unfortunately, John's worries weren't so easily assuaged. He knew that this battle would doubtlessly go down as one of the bloodiest, though that would be overshadowed by the outcome. Either John would win and advert a nuclear disaster, or fail and be responsible for letting Nod destroy one of GDI's few precious uncontaminated cities. But if his father and McNeil could pull seemingly unwinnable victories, then so could he.

Although, if he did win this battle, it wouldn't be his doing that won it. It all rested on Team Echo to pull it off.

… … …

The ventilation shafts led down onto a communal area for Nod soldiers and workers. According to the map provided by EVA, that meant they had a long way to go to reach the main control room. But now they only had fifteen minutes to get there. Burke had tried to not let the news of the missile launch distract her, but it wasn't easy so what she tried to do instead was turn her gut dripping fear into anger.

"Alright platoon, listen up!"

Lieutenant Hamilton's voice cut through Burke's thoughts, and she turned her attention to him. On the surface, Hamilton looked calm and ready, however upon closer look, Burke could see beads of sweat dripping down his face and his jaw was trembling ever so slightly, letting Burke know he was just as badly affected by the news of the launch as Burke was. However, like Burke, he seemed determined to not allow the news distract him because when he spoke again, his voice remained firm and steady.

"We've got less than fifteen minutes to seize control of this facility so we can't afford to get bogged down. With that in mind, we're splitting up into three teams: Team One will consist of me and my squad. We're going to hit the security station and see if we can't pin down most of the Nod defenders. Meanwhile, Teams Two and Three will take alternative paths to the launch control room and with any luck, one of the teams will make in time to shut that nuke down. You, Gunnery Sergeant," he turned and pointed to the sergeant in charge of all the marines. "You're Team Two. Take your marines and see if you can't flank around through the south passage. Sergeant Burke, you're Team Three. Take your squad and whoever's left and take the north passage. Do whatever you have to, just get to that control room. Alright, let's move it out!"

Burke was already turning to her squad before Hamilton had even finished talking. Grabbing a hold of the fireteam of marines her squad had helped reinforce when they first arrived before they could go anywhere, she quickly pulled up a map of the entire facility in order to figure out the route they were going to have to take to get to the control room. Upon spotting the north passage, she immediately swore: the route consisted of tight corridors and sharp turns, with ample places for Nod to ambush them. This was not going to be easy.

"Okay guys, here's the deal," Burke quickly began. "Not going to lie, it looks like we drew the short straw today 'cause our route sucks. There's going to be a lot of places for Nod to ambush us –"

"It doesn't matter, Sergeant," West unexpectedly interrupted, without a hint of fear in voice. "Nuke in the air, millions of lives on the line? I'll dig through the goddamn walls with my hands if you need me to, as long as we get to that control room."

"Yeah, Sergeant," Yusseif chimed in. "There ain't no way we're gonna let Nod set off another nuke; over our dead bodies. So, whatever you need us to do, just tell us and we'll get it done."

Beside him, both Haley and Ramirez were nodding their heads in agreement and Burke couldn't help but take a moment to appreciate the complete and utter trust her troops had in her, before immediately turning her focus back to the task at hand.

"Alrighty then. In that case, our goal is to keep moving, no matter what. Hopefully the LT will be able to keep Nod distracted long enough for us to do our jobs, but in case we get ambushed, we gotta keep moving. Even if one of us gets hit, we keep moving." Burke took a moment to look at each one of her men in the eyes to convoy how serious she was being. "No matter what. There's too much at stake here for us to stop or even slow down. We. Keep. Moving. Understood?"

"Yes, Sergeant!" her troops bellowed.

"Good. LET'S MOVE!"

Burke led them team through a communal area, moving quickly but still conscious of potential ambush. The halls were designed in the typical Nod style; dark metal walls, faint red lights, and religious iconography everywhere. Passing through a large cafeteria, Burke could see Nod personnel had left in a hurry to respond to the attack, as food and still steaming cups of hot drinks were all over the place. Burke couldn't help but snarl in disgust as she noticed paintings of Kane hung all over the walls. If she ever managed to get a hold of him, she would make damn sure he stayed dead this time around.

One of the marines peered around the corner, and indicated for the rest of the team to move up. They officially left the communal section and entered the base proper. As soon as they began working their way towards the stairs they needed to descend, Black Hand soldiers unexpectedly appeared from behind stacked crates, guns blazing.

"CONTACT FRONT!" Burke screamed as she dove for cover as bright lances of red light seared the air around her.

Hitting the ground, she snapped her rifle up and drew a bead on the first Nod soldier she saw, barely noticing as one of her marines took a laser bolt to the face which immediately burned through his skull, instantly killing him. With the acrid smell of burnt flesh filling her nostrils, she pulled the trigger and sent a stream of return fire downrange, only to violently start swearing as she realized the Black Hand's bulky frames and heavy armour was allowing them soak up most of her bullets without issue. "Motherfuckers!"

"Sergeant!" she head Yusseif yelling in the background. "These guys' armour is too thick; none of our bullets are penetrating! We're gonna need some more firepower if we wanna take these guys on!"

"Thanks for the head's up 'cause I hadn't fucking noticed!" Burke snidely yelled back.

If Yusseif replied, she didn't hear it as she was too busy emptying the rest of her magazine into another Black Hand, letting out a small mental cheer as she spotted a squirt of blood spraying out from the man's neck. Said cheer immediately turned into a curse when, instead of collapsing to the ground like she thought he would, the Nod soldier merely jammed a finger into the wound to slow the bleeding, while at the same time, he continued to fire his rifle one-handed in her direction. "Bitch! Son of a bitch!"

"Sergeant!" she heard Ramirez yell. "These guys are between us and that control room! We gotta find a way around them before it's too late!"

"I know- SHIT!"

Burke was forced to duck back into cover as a ruby laser passed by her face with mere millimeters to spare. Pressing her back against her cover and ignoring the sound of multiple laser hitting the other side, she quickly reloaded as she took stock of the situation. Aside from laying down copious amounts of fire, the Black Hand hadn't really done much else, and it was obvious to Burke why: all they were trying to do was delay the GDI forces long enough for the missile to hit. She needed to find a way to get through these guys quick.

Briefly wishing she still had the Nod rocket launcher from the surface, Burke racked the bolt on her rifle instead.

"Squad! We need to combine our fire! Take 'em down one at a time!" Burke shouted. "Focus on the right one! Near me! On my mark! NOW!"

Burke whirled around her cover and, without even taking the time to aim, just started unloading on the Black Hand in question. The roar of a dozen other rifles joined her own as her squad and their accompanying marines followed suit. Under such heavy, concentrated fire, the Black Hand's armour simply couldn't hold up, and he was swiftly turned into Swiss cheese. Burke immediately ducked down to reload.

"Marking next target! Follow my tracers!"

Burke stood back up to target the next enemy soldier. He immediately spotted her and moved to bring his heavy laser weapon to bear on her, but Burke was faster and was able to shoot first. Her very first bullet slammed into the Black Hand's rifle, causing it to explode in a shower of sparks, but before the Nod soldier could take cover, a dozen rifles tore through him, and another Black Hand elite went down. Burke and her men were slowly but surely taking control of the battlefield once more.

But while the GDI troops had to concentrate their fire, the Black Hand continued to fill the room with red light, and Burke heard someone let out a sort of half-scream that immediately turned into an incomprehensible gurgle. She couldn't afford to look to see who got hit, as she was too busy emptying the last of her magazine into another Nod soldier, but when she squatted down to reload, she took a quick glance over her shoulder.

Another one of the marines was laying on the ground on his back. It almost looked like he had simply laid down to sleep, had his head not been blasted off and his neck turned into a smoking stump. Burke, despite her years of training and experience, couldn't help but stare in total shock at his corpse.

"Burke! Behind you!" Haley warned.

Burke whirled around just in time to see a Black Hand soldier emerging from behind her cover. He must have been trying to outflank them, but fortunately Haley had spotted him moving into position.

The Black Hand quickly lifted his rifle to fire, but Burke managed to knock the barrel to the side, causing the first round to go into a nearby wall instead. Before the Nod soldier could fire again, Burke grabbed him by his collar and jammed the barrel of her rifle into the creases of his chest plate where she knew the armour was weakest.

"FUCK YOU!" Burke roared as she held down on the trigger.

The Black Hand soldier began spazzing and the area behind him was quickly painted in red as Burke eviscerated him at point blank range. She didn't let up until she felt the bolt on her rifle lock back, at which point, she released the body of the formerly elite soldier, who toppled over backwards like a chopped tree.

Fishing out another magazine and hurriedly reloading, Burke leapt up to engage the remaining Black Hand soldiers, but fortunately her squad already had the situation under control and she had the pleasure of watching the final Nod bastard die in a hailstorm of bullets. With his death, the room became silent, and Burke finally noticed the putrid smell of burnt flesh. Perhaps it was the fear of vomiting, or the oppressive presence of the countdown, but Burke knee they had no time to mourn their fallen.

"Let's move!" She shouted.

The others didn't hesitate, even though Burke did notice one or two marines sadly looking back at their fallen comrades and Burke felt slightly guilty for the sheer relief she felt at the realizing that all of her men had made it out alive from that firefight. For better or worse though, she wasn't given any time to dwell on that fact as they immediately encountered a staircase that would lead them down to the final floor of the complex.

Fortunately, they didn't run into any more resistance and Burke hurriedly glanced at her HUD: according to her map, they had to move through a large storage area, before passing reaching the control room.

"Team Three, status." Lieutenant Hamilton suddenly called out.

"Team Three is nearing the control room. We've encountered heavy resistance." Burke breathlessly reported as she ran.

"Copy that. Break. Team Two, status."

"Nod has locked us out. We're trying to cut our way through, but it's slow going."

"We're taking heavy fire down here at the security station: Nod is putting up one hell of a fight. We could use some reinforcements. Post some shooters at the door and bring the rest of your team up here to help us out. Team Three, proceed to the control room. Once we will take the security station, we'll open the doors and then you and whatever is left of Team Two will take that control room by force, copy?"

"Copy that Team One, we're on our way."

"This is Team Three: wilco!"

Burke took a deep breath before continuing through the Nod base. They came upon a large area with branching rooms that was filled with crates and barrels of various supplies. Burke held up her hand to indicate the team to stop as, despite not seeing any signs of one, she just knew the enemy had another ambush in place.

"What's up, Sergeant?"

Burke glanced over her shoulder to see the marine squad leader walking up to her, looking concerned.

"If I was Nod, this would be a perfect place to set up another ambush," she whispered. "I know we're in a rush, but at the same time, I don't want to immediately lose my head either."

"Yeah, I hear ya. How do you want to do this then, Sergeant?"

Burke grimaced. "I think we gotta go in with grenades first, then hit them head on. Split the room; take your marines left, we'll go right. Blast through these bastards and meet back up at the end. Hopefully in the confusion, Nod will think we're a much larger forces than we actually are, break cover and fall back."

The marine sighed "Well, I suppose that's the best we can do. Ready when you are?"

Burke nodded as she took out two grenades and handed one to the marine Sergeant. Pulling the pins, they nodded at each other before, together, they threw them into the adjacent rooms they were about to storm. All Burke heard were the grenades landing on the hard floor, and for a split second, she wondered if she had been wrong about that Nod ambush when someone abruptly screamed:

"GRENADE!"

As soon as the grenades exploded, the GDI team rushed into the hall and into the conjoined storage area. While the main hall had been a cluttered mess of crates and pallets, the storage areas were an actual maze, giving both sides ample cover as they tried to shoot each other.

"Ramirez, cover! Haley, West, move up!" Burke barked.

"Come on, kid, move!" Haley shouted as he darted forward, moving from crate to crate.

Burke and Ramirez attempted to keep the enemy in cover as the boys moved forward. The Nod troops understood what Burke and her squad were attempting, and one soldier ran forward to try and stop Haley. Burke's initially burst missed the enemy as he body checked Haley into the wall. Haley quickly shoved the man off him and tried to bring his rifle to bear, but so did the Nod soldier. Before either could fire off a round, the man's chest exploded outwards as he was shredded by wild spray of bullets from West. The Nod soldier collapsed in a bloody heap, while West fumbled to reload his rifle.

"Fuck me. Thanks, West." Haley said as he retrieved his fallen weapon.

"Keep moving!" Burke roared.

Haley and West whirled around to continuing their advance on the Nod troops while Burke and Ramirez moved up to cover them. Judging by the roar of gunfire, Burke guessed the marines were moving at a steady pace. That meant Burke had to get her squad moving faster. Not because of some petty inter-service rivalry, but because that nuke was still in the air.

"Guy behind that barrel!" Ramirez called out.

"Got him!" Haley said, just before shooting the Nod combatant dead.

"Another two! Behind that forklift!" West warned.

Burke spotted the two soldiers in question, and while she knew she couldn't shoot through the forklift, she could pinned them down. She put a burst through the open space of the driver's cabin, keeping them pinned as Haley and West flanked them. Two bursts later, and the room fell silent.

"Let's move! Go! Go! Go!" Burke shouted.

She and her squad ran back into the main hall, rejoining the marines and proceeding down towards a large set of heavy blast doors. There was no more resistance, at least on this side of the door.

"One come in? This is Three. We are at the blast doors but we need them open." Burke called through the radio.

"Copy that. Wait one." Lieutenant Hamilton replied.

"How much longer, Sergeant?" West asked nervously.

Burke glanced at her tacpad, noting the countdown timer was at nine minutes.

"Nine mikes." Yusseif answered for Burke.

"Fuck, can't the LT get these doors opened faster!?" Ramirez complained.

"You could try pulling them open." Haley remarked.

"Fuck you." Ramirez bit back.

Burke was about to yell at them to shut up, when the doors slowly began to open. They all snapped their rifles up, as the gap inched wider. Bullets immediately began to fly through the opening, and the GDI team retaliated in kind. Nod soldiers had scrambled to erect barricades, but apparently did not have enough time, as many were caught by the GDI salvos. However, Burke spotted another Black Hand elite, this time armed with a flamethrower. She channeled her anger towards the toting figure and emptied her magazine. It did little more than stagger the Black Hand, but it was enough for Ramirez to put three rounds through the fuel tank on the back of the Black Hand, causing it to begin leaking. Seeing an opportunity, Burke hurriedly dumped her magazine and popped an incendiary round directly into the chamber. Taking careful aim, she fired, igniting the gas and with it, the Black Hand operator.

"Burn in hell, bastard." Burke spat as she walked into the now cleared room.

"One, this is Three. We are in position to breach the control room. Over?"

"Copy that Three. Two, report in!"

"We're in position and awaiting your call, One!"

"We have five minutes left. Do it!"

"Copy that LT. Breacher up!"

One of the marines hurried forward and placed a breaching charge on the door that led into the control room. The others stacked up, ready to rush inside. In situations like these, Burke was used to the sensation of time slowing down, seemingly giving her heightened clarity. But this was not one of those times, as seemingly the opposite happened. The charge exploded, and before Burke could blink, she was inside the control room, rifle blazing as the two teams of joint GDI troops stormed in. Nod soldiers and officers were shot dead where they stood, and console sparked as bullets tore through them. In the span of a heartbeat, the firefight was over, and GDI had captured the control room.

"One, this Three: control room secured," Burke reported as she hurriedly ran over to the central station and callously shoved the body of the Nod officer sitting there to the ground. "Plugging EVA in now!"

Extracting a cord from her pocket, she plugged her tacpad into the computer. Immediately EVA downloaded herself into Nod's systems, and began working on detonating the missile. She glanced up, only to see all eyes on her.

"Hey! Spread the fuck out! Watch the damn doors and make sure no one tries to sneak up on us! We don't know who else is in this base!" she snapped, more out of a need to keep herself distracted rather than any actual concern of danger. "Start securing these bodies and check them for intel. Once this nuke is down, we're blowing this crack den!"

Her troops leapt to their feet to execute her orders and Burke found her eyes drifting to the countdown timer. It took her a few moments to realize she was anxiously tapping her foot against the ground as the timer continued to tick down towards zero.

The timer had just reached two minutes until impact when -

"Missile successfully detonated at safe distance in Earth's atmosphere." EVA reported in an emotionless tone.

A few people gave a short but heartfelt cheer, and Burke just breathed a sigh of relief. Finding her radio, she tapped the talk button.

"One, this is Three: mission accomplished. Nuke has been neutralized, I say again, the nuke has been neutralized."

Over the radio, she could hear Hamilton letting out a huge sigh of relief and when he spoke, there was no masking the exhilaration in his voice.

"Copy that, Three. Bravo Zulu, break. Command, this is Echo Team: be advised, missile has been aborted. I say again, missile aborted!"

"Outstanding Echo Team! We read you loud and clear!Now hold your position. We are coming in to get you." Lancaster replied, equally thrilled.

Burke smiled with her squad, the battle wasn't over, but they had just averted a disaster.

… … …

"Sky Sentryis seeing a lot of debris falling into the Atlantic. Well done, Commander." James praised.

"Thank you, Lieutenant. But this fight isn't over yet." John replied.

"Of course, sir."

John paid no attention as the video call ended. Instead, he focused on the numerous objectives still laid out before him. Primarily, he needed to take control of the base's command center, so he could retrieve Echo Team. Secondly, he needed to take the magistrate palace overlooking the base on a small cliff. It was passed time GDI ended Nod's dominion over Egypt. But he still had yet to breach the base. And while his forces had done considerable damage to the defences, it in turn had taken a heavy toll on his men. Unfortunately, John saw no other option than to continue throwing tanks and infantry at the wall as there was simply no other way to flank Nod's defenses, nor was Echo Team in any position to help out. It made him sick to his stomach, to have to continue throwing away good men and women like this, but he had no other choice: he could not let this base remain, nor did he intend to abandon Echo Team. Not if he could help it.

While the Predator and Mammoths pounded away at the crumbling defences, John moved several groups of Pitbulls to the base of the wall. The Pitbulls were outfitted with mortars, and they began to lob shells into the base. But it still wasn't enough, so John needed to do something that would finally break the enemy.

"Berserker Team, deploy to grid Romeo Golf. Target enemy armor." John ordered smoothly.

"Wilco, Command."

On the holographic display, three squads of Zone Troopers used their jet packs to leap over the base walls. They landed in the midst of the Nod defenders, their railguns chewing through tanks or disintegrating infantry. Already the enemy tried to swarm the Troopers, and John knew there was a good chance he had just ordered those men to death. But the assault worked, and Nod's defense quickly began to crumble, allowing his armour to begin breaking through.

Things immediately grew even more chaotic as his men moved to take key objectives. Reports and calls for assistance washed over the radio, and John tried to pick out priorities, but his focus was on getting to Echo Team.

"Colonel Shen, have your marines secure the command center. Get our boys and girls out of there."

"Aye, Commander."

"Colonel Miles, deploy Tank Group Tiger to destroy the enemy air towers. Then have Rubicon Company disable enemy SAMs. I want to be able to deploy additional units via air."

"Yes, sir!"

"Berserker Team, report."

"We've taken several casualties, sir. I have a recovery unit picking them up now."

"Proceed with Actium Company and destroy enemy armor depots."

"Affirmative, we're oscar mike."

John nodded as his orders were carried out. But the Nod commander was not done fighting yet. Infantry and heavy armor moved to counter his forces, and a second line of defences stood in between GDI and the magistrate palace. John ordered what few Titans he had left to assault the enemy Hands of Nod, hoping to help stem the flux of Nod infantry.

"Commander, we have an incoming transmission. Unknown source." Athena suddenly called out.

A pit formed in John's stomach, as he wondered if Kane was attempting to contact him to taunt. It was apparently a favorite tactic of Kane's. After steeling himself, John nodded to Athena, and the video call connected, but it wasn't Kane.

"Are you the GDI commander?"

The man on screen was dressed in fine robes, hinting that he was the local magistrate and not the base commander. The man was covered in sweat and dust, and looked utterly miserable, and John couldn't help the smile that crept over his face.

"Yes, I am Commander John Lancaster. Who the hell are you?"

"I am the Magistrate of Cairo. I hereby surrender myself and my forces to you. Please, cease your attack."

John glanced over at Athena, who quietly indicated that Nod forces had stopped their attack. The Battle of Cairo was over, and John was more than happy to end it with the enemy's unconditional surrender.

"An excellent choice, Magistrate. Order your forces to throw down their weapons, and disable the base defences. My men can escort you up here, where we will discuss conditions."

The Magistrate nodded feebly, before ending the call. Reports immediately came in about Nod forces laying down weapons or abandoning vehicles. John knew they would need to be careful, as Nod was notorious for its fanatics who would not stop fighting until death. But for all it was worth, the fighting was over. The 7th Infantry Division had taken a heavy beating during this campaign. And they would need to be pushed harder after Cairo, because John knew that their next target would be Sarajevo. But with this major victory, perhaps it was a sign that Nod was already beaten, that Kane would once again fail. John didn't want to seem naïve, but this war was in track to end much the same way the last one did, with just a few short and brutal months of fighting.

John felt himself hope that the end of the war was in sight.

… … …

John stood in the cavernous transport bay, where Ox and Orca transports would be stored. But all of them were in use right now, so it left John alone in the vast chamber. It had been nearly twelve hours since the Nod forces had surrendered, and GDI had secured the nuclear launch facility. They had discovered three more nukes, and had hastily disarmed them. But there were no World Altering Missiles, no Tiberium weapons of any kind. Whatever Kane's ultimate goal was, John was convinced that it wasn't here. That perhaps General Granger was right, and this was all leading to something else. But what?

Given that the bay was so empty, John easily heard a door open, and footsteps reverberate through the cavernous space. He turned to see Athena walking towards him. John immediately began to walk towards her, knowing his brief moment of solitude was over.

"Colonel, what's going on?"

"Transmission for you, sir. From Lieutenant Telfair. You are to return to D.C." Athena reported.

"They want me to return home? Why?"

"I don't know. But the order came from Boyle." Athena said with a hint of venom.

"Ah, I see. What about the Division?"

"We are to remain here until you return. Brigadier-General Adamek and his Steel Talons are moving up to relieve us here."

"Thank you, Colonel."

Athena nodded and walked away. John waited for her to go before he left the transport bay. He wasn't sure why he had been called back, but if he knew Boyle, it was to parade him around in front of some cameras. So long as he would be ordered to storm Sarajevo, and end this war, he would be Boyle's dancing monkey. Whatever it took to finally kill Kane.

… … …

Author's note: Sorry this took so long. Had a lot of trouble with this chapter.

My editor, IanOtter, really helped out a lot with this chapter, so full credit goes to him. So a big thank you to him, and another reminder to my readers to check out his stories! Look for Battle: Actium in the Halo FF section or in my favorite stories section.

This ends Act 2. Next will be Act 3, and the final chapter before the Battle of Sarajevo.

Until next time.