The storm had begun.

The Tiberium refinery had turned into a raging inferno of toxic flames. It would take fire and rescue teams hours to put out the blaze. In the rugged field between the refinery and the main base Nod tanks had been reduced to scrap and torn up bodies littered the field and soaked the water starved earth with blood. The battle was over before it really began but the Hammerhead gunships and Hurricane attack craft remained on scene, hovering above the wreckage.

Commander Greyson breathed a content sigh. Nod had made their move and suffered for it, a sound defeat for the enemy and proof the Steel Talons could wipe out any meager threat the remnants of Nod posed. Major Bao was in the process of ordering firetrucks and sonic Disruptor tanks to the refinery to put out the blaze and stop any Tiberium spread. Greyson felt comfortable with their victory and made to leave for his private office to compile a report when Captain Kruger came up clutching a tablet close to his chest.

"Sorry to bother you, sir, but Dr. de Groot was very insistent on speaking with you." Kruger said as he handed Greyson the tablet.

"Damned Civs. Very good, Captain." Greyson took the tablet and walked back to his position by the window, looking over at the civilian research building. After a moment of letting the doctor stew in his undoubted anger, he answered the video call.

"Commander, I've been informed this nuisance has been dealt with. So why is the security lock down still in effect!?" Doctor James de Groot demanded.

"One of the refineries is currently in an uncontrolled blaze. Until the fire has been dealt with or at least contained, the lock down remains active." Greyson explained calmly.

"What does that matter? I'm loosing valuable productivity here!"

"Doctor, I assure you-"

The video cut out the same time the power went out. Before he could even think to ask what happened, the entire building shook. Greyson stared out the window, looking to see if the refinery had completely exploded. But all he saw was a faint trail of black smoke rising into the sky from the direction of the refinery. Terror chilled his blood as he realized what happened and turned from facing the refineries in the west to the facility's exterior power plants to the south-east. His worst fears had been made manifest as the power plants that powered both the military facility and the civilian lab was now engulfed in flames. The automated defences were now useless and Greyson realised the attack on the refinery was simply a diversion. As if to solidify his thoughts, two Nod SAPCs burst from the ground directly in front of the main gate. Confused guards either ran from the emergent vehicles or otherwise fired their weapons uselessly. The APCs opened to let out more enemy infantry who quickly swarmed the gate now that the defences were down. A wall of dust suddenly appeared in the distance, approaching the base quickly. No doubt it was the same force that destroyed the power plants coming to reinforce the attack.

"Get the back up power on now! And get our men out there! We've got Nod troops in the wire! Damn it, people, move!" Greyson roared.

Officers ran to fulfill his orders but Bao came to stand by his side, his face impassive as he watched the enemy storm into the base.

"How did they get so close to us without us knowing?" Greyson demanded.

"We need to evacuate the civilians, sir." Bao said instead.

Greyson glanced over at the civilian lab, the whole reason the Steel Talons were here. A lab dedicated to researching Tiberium in various forms, solid, vapor, liquid. And then it dawned on him,

They were standing atop a powder keg ready to blow.

… … … … …

Chapter 3

China, Y-21

September 17th, 2035

00:45

The night sky was clear, letting the distant stars shine clearly. The moon lit the craggy mountains in pale light, allowing the GDI recon squad to move without fear of falling, but now added the fear of being seen by enemy scouts. Greyson stared at the stars, wondering if there were worlds out there that were free of Tiberium, or if the entire universe was infested with the stuff. He normally didn't think of such things, not even really concerning himself with space, it just wasn't something that interested him. But tonight he couldn't help but think about it, wondering if there was anywhere safe from Tiberium.

The recon squad had been climbing the mountains for hours, slowly making their way to the Nod staging ground discovered near the Nod/GDI border in Y-21. They had decided to take a small break to catch their breaths on a ledge barely large enough to hold all five. Not too mention directly below was a small blue Tiberium field, likely giving rise to Greyson's thoughts of the cosmos.

He turned his starward gaze to the squad, the same one he had accompanied to Relay 707. Sergeant West and Corporal Duncan were sitting near the ledge's edge, staring out and discussing something amongst themselves. Zielińska and Kerby were closer to the cliff face, likewise deep in their own conversation. Greyson remained apart, left to his own thoughts. Typically a lieutenant had no place on a mission like this, instead letting the squad operate on its own while he should be back with the rest of the Platoon. However Bao had ordered he accompany the squad personally, same as on the relay mission. It was undoubtedly intended as a sort of punishment for personal hatreds, but General Mitchell thought it was a great idea, to let Greyson prove he was still important to the Talons. Greyson didn't want to be here though, with this squad, in Y-21, in the Talons. Hell, at the moment he was wishing he was out there amongst the stars, hopefully on some world free of Tiberium and free of people.

"Hey LT, caffeine stim?"

Greyson looked up with a start as Zielińska held out a small pill. It was a common caffeine stimulant pill, extremely popular in the Army and civilian sectors, a general replacement for coffee since farm land was a very precious commodity. Typically it was placed in water to make synthetic coffee, but some people ate them straight, as a means of boosting their alertness.

"Thanks, Private." Greyson said as he took and ate the pill, feeling the jolt of energy. Zielińska smiled before turning back to Kerby. Private Zielińska had so far been the only one to try and include Greyson, while the others remained detached. He was grateful to her, but he worried her attempts to be nice to the Pariah would alienate her from her friends. With an internal sigh, Greyson got up and crouch walked over to West. Upon seeing him West motioned for Duncan to move and Greyson took his spot.

"Ready to move, Sergeant?"

"Just about. I was discussing with the Corporal the best route to take." West said staring out into the night rather than look at Greyson.

"Shouldn't I have been included in that conversation?"

"You are now." West said with a shrug.

"Right. Well, what is the best route?"

"GPS says we should keep going around this mountain. But if we head down and cut through the river bed, it would probably be faster."

"The mountain provides a height advantage."

"According to intel, the staging ground is in a canyon that's still far below us. So we'd still be above them from the river bed."

"Alright, what if the enemy is patrolling it?"

"No guarantee they aren't patrolling the mountain either. Only problem is it is a bit more exposed."

Greyson pondered West's suggestion. It would be nice to stop climbing and just walk over flat ground, but it raised the risk of being caught. Moving faster would also be nice, get the mission done faster and get them home quicker. However, as Greyson weighed the pros and cons he realized that West had likely already made the decision with Duncan, not even considering his input. The realization angered Greyson, he was still in charge despite everything. He felt a brief urge to deny West and keep them on the mountain, but that was stupid so he simply agreed to West's plan.

"Good idea, Sergeant. Let's get moving down."

West merely nodded as he stood up and motioned to the others. He relayed the plan and the squad started making their way down to the river bed. After a painful half an hour they made it off the mountain and to the river bed. Greyson was no specialist in such things, but it seemed this river had once been very wide and very deep before Tiberium had dried it up. Now it was just a rocky mess occasionally broken up by Tiberian veins.

They followed the river bed to their objective, moving in silence. Even the night seemed unusually still, there was no insects chirping or creatures moving. Not even the wind made a sound. Greyson felt a growing sense of unease forming, like the feeling of something being nearby but not being able to see it. The others seemed to feel the same as they cast nervous glances around them. Greyson glanced at his tacpad and noticed it was time to report in to Richter, but he felt scared to call, like the noise would be too loud, like whatever was out there would hear them.

Giving into the strange feeling, he simply typed a report, indicating it was too risky for a verbal call. After a moment Richter replied with a simple acknowledgement and the squad kept walking. The rocky bottom of the river began to flatten out for a few meters before it became a tangled mess of Tib-veins. The squad climbed over the gnarled orange-ish veins and soon found it nearly impossible to find purchase on solid ground. Duncan tripped and let a string of curses before West silenced him, and Greyson had to help Zielińska get her foot free when she accidently stepped into a twisted hole in the veins.

After several gruelling minutes of navigating the veins the squad could at last see the veins begin to thin out and return to the rock strewn river bed. However, just as Greyson stepped over a particularly large vein, he noticed it was marred by scratch marks. He stopped to peer closer and he quickly realized why he felt as though they were being watched.

"Sergeant." Greyson whispered tersely.

West stepped over to him and instantly saw the claw marks, his scowl turned to a deep frown.

"What the hell made marks that big?" West asked.

"Yaoguai; a Tiberian mutant native to Y-21. Extremely deadly." Greyson answered as a cold sweat dripped off his brow.

The word caused the entire squad to stop in its tracks. They scanned the darkness around them for any hint of the mutant, slowly inching closer together. Greyson felt Kirby's back touch his own as the squad formed a close clump. They were silent, trying to breath as quietly as possible so as to hear the slightest noise. Yaoguai were reptilian like mutants, four feet in length with six spindly legs that ended with sharp claws, and a tail that could whip someone with enough force to break bones. The real danger the Yaoguai posed, however, aside from it's lighting quick movements was it's mouth; with razor sharp teeth and a corrosive Tiberium breath. A single bite was lethal.

"What'd we do, Sarge?" Duncan whispered.

"LT seems to know about these things. What should we do. Sir?" West deferred to Greyson.

Greyson raked his brain for all he knew about the mutants before answering, "Stay close. The thing will try to pick us off one by one. We stay close together so it can't hit us."

"Just stand here and wait? Great plan, LT." Duncan remarked sarcastically.

"We do have a mission to complete." West added.

"Can't do a mission if we're all dead. LT says to stay so we stay." Zielińska snapped.

"I don't remember asking your opinion, Private." West started to snarl before the sound of something moving nearby caused them all to go silent. Just above them on the lip of the river bank, directly in front of Greyson, the Yaoguai stared down at them with baleful green eyes. Tiberium protrusions covered all six legs, but the rest of the creature's thick scales were unblemished. A forked tongue darted out through jagged teeth as it tasted the air and Greyson knew he was staring his death in the eye.

"David…" West started to say.

The Yaoguai leaped with astonishing speed and aimed directly for Greyson. He was paralyzed with fear and didn't even attempt to bring up his gun as claws and teeth bared down on him. But Greyson was abruptly shoved out of the way just as the beast smashed into the ground. Before it could catch its balance three rifles opened fire point blank and on full auto. Greyson felt the back of his neck get splattered with thick blood as the Yaoguai let out a tortured scream. Three rifles clicked empty and Greyson was roughly hauled to his feet. A very frightened looking Zielińska, Kerby, and Duncan slowly reloaded their rifles as they stared at the dead creature. West walked away from Greyson and kicked the Yaoguai in the head, insuring it was truly dead.

"If Nod didn't hear that, then we are dammed lucky." West growled.

"You okay, LT?" Zielińska asked.

"Damned fool was nearly mutant food." Duncan snipped before Greyson could reply.

"We should…uh…we should keep moving." Greyson stammered out.

"You heard the man. Move it!" West barked.

"What's the odds there are more nearby?" Kerby asked.

"Umm…usually they hunt alone. But if there are any nearby, then they'll smell the blood and come looking." Greyson replied as his heart tried to beat out of his chest.

"All the more reason to move." Duncan said.

The squad moved away from the dead mutant and continued down the river bed. Everyone remained silent, even their breathing stayed quite as they feared the attack of more Yaoguai. Greyson found it hard to pay attention to his surroundings as he struggled with what happened. He was so sure he was about to die but West had saved him just in time, and he felt…angry? Why did he feel angry at West for saving him? Greyson feared the answer so he busied himself by typing a report to Richter. The Platoon Sergeant replied asking if they should sent support but Greyson denied him and tried to focus on scanning for new dangers.

They trekked on for another half an hour and encountered no further threats. Slowly the others seemed to relax from the ordeal with the Yaoguai but Greyson continued his mental battle with himself. Despite his best efforts to keep them suppressed, memories of Australia flooded his mind, more specifically what happened after that tragic event. Dark nights spent alone in his quarters shut off from everyone. Angry looks and shouts of hatred and disgust anytime he did leave to walk amongst his men. Former friends turning against him. The metallic tang of a gun barrel as he pressed it to the roof of his mouth.

The silence of the night was shattered by the abrupt roar of gunfire in the distance. Greyson snapped out of his melancholy and fell to one knee along with the others as they brought up their rifles. Random bursts of gunfire could be heard getting closer to them from up ahead, and slowly the sounds of frantic shouts and screams could be heard amongst the roar of weapons fire.

"What the hell is going on?" Zielińska asked.

"A Nod patrol must have found something." West answered before turning to Greyson. "What's the call, LT?"

"That gunfire is coming from directly ahead of us. Unless you know of another way around, we need to walk right past them."

"Getting out of the river would expose us too much. There's a chance we might walk right past them and whatever they're shooting at."

"A slim chance."

"We could wait here, but we've already lost a lot of time."

"Then we move forward and hope whatever it is they're shooting at deals with them for us."

West nodded in agreement and the five of them continued, this time with weapons at the ready. Zielińska and Kerby covered their six while Duncan took point with West and Greyson in the center. The closer they drew to the firefight the more they could hear the Nod soldiers screaming in fear and pain. Just as it seemed all the hellish noise would consume them, a stark silence washed over the squad like a wave. They stopped in their tracks and strained to hear anything, but the all consuming silence once again pervaded the night.

Seconds turned to minutes as they all stood perfectly still, afraid to move in case whatever killed the Nod troops heard them. Then, without warning, a large object fell into the river bed with a wet thud. Greyson leapt back involuntarily and had to clasp his own mouth to prevent himself for letting out a yelp of panic. West and Kerby rushed over to investigate but Kerby leached back when he reached the object before turning to vomit. Greyson hesitantly walked over and saw the reason for Kerby's reaction: a Nod soldier had fallen into the dried river, leaving behind his entrails in a trail like a grizzly streamer. His entire lower body below the stomach was gone, as was his right arm, leaving a mutilated torso. The man's head was completely covered in blood and gore and Greyson could barely see the man's horrified eyes as he stared at West and Greyson pleadingly.

"Qîng…bāngmáng!"

West aimed his rifle at the Nod soldier's head, ready to put him out of his misery. The soldier gave a barely perceptible nod of approval, but before West could pull the trigger a Yaoguai leapt down atop the Nod soldier, killing him, which let out a sickening crunch of bone. Since West was already in the process of pulling his trigger he simply held it down and emptied his magazine with a loud roar. The Yaoguai spasmed as bullets tore through its scales and ripped apart its innards.

Before the Yaoguai could even hit the ground a second one leapt down into the river bed. Kerby and Duncan immediately opened fire but the creature darted out of the way and lunged for West. He threw himself out of the way, avoiding the Yaoguai's talons but was still knocked away by the force of its powerful tail. The Yaoguai ignored West's limp form and turned to find new pray, setting its gaze onto Zielińska. She aimed her rifle but was too slow as the Yaoguai swatted her weapon away. She fell onto her back and tried to crawl away, but the creature pinned her down and made ready to bite her throat.

Without even fully realizing what he was doing, Greyson rushed forward and jammed the barrel of his rifle into the Yaoguai's face. The creature bit down on the metal, holding it firmly in its jaw. Greyson held on with all his strength and held down on the trigger, sending a stream of bullets down its throat. The Yaoguai let out a gurgled whimper before he slumped to the ground, thick blood quickly pooling around it.

Zielińska scrambled to her feet and grabbed her discarded weapon, firing a trio of shots into the beast's head to make sure of was dead. Greyson hardly noticed as he panted from the exertion and sheer fear. Kerby and Duncan soon joined them, along with a badly bruised West and together they all stared at the dead mutant.

"Fuck this man. Fucking mutants." Duncan spat.

"Everyone alright?" West asked.

"Yeah. Yeah I'm good. Thanks LT." Zielińska said patting Greyson on the arm.

"Have to admit, that was a ballsy move." Kerby added.

"Yeah." Greyson replied lamely.

"We need to move. Nod troops will be here anymore moment to check on that patrol." West warned.

Without further comment the battered squad walked away from the carnage. Greyson was sore and exhausted and wanted nothing more than to go home and fall into bed. The fact they were all still alive seemed incredibly lucky and he didn't want to push that luck. He felt terribly tempted to order them to abort the mission, to turn around and walk home. Let Bao come out here and deal with the mutants.

"How much farther?" Duncan asked.

"Just another klick." West replied through gritted teeth.

"Maybe we should rest? You seemed pretty banged up, Sergeant." Zielińska suggested.

"And let more of those mutants find us? Yeah no thanks." Duncan retorted.

"I'll be fine, Private." West said more reassuringly.

"I believe Private Zielińska has the right of it. A small break is a good idea." Greyson added.

West abruptly stopped and whirled on Greyson, "We keep moving." He growled.

"I'm in charge here, Sergeant. In case you've forgotten." Greyson stated with an authority he had no confidence in.

"I haven't forgotten, Lieutenant. There's a lot of things I haven't forgotten, like the names of everyone you left behind that day. Do you remember their names?"

"West-" Duncan tired to interject.

"Of course I remember their names!" Greyson shouted. "I remember every bloody detail of that day! Don't you dare think I don't."

"Guys-"

"You should have been locked away. But instead they let you free and pretended like nothing happened!" West screamed, raw emotions burning to the surface.

"You think they try to forget what happened? I'm reminded every day of my failures! Being here isn't my choice!" Greyson felt himself on the verge of tears.

"GUYS!"

"What!?" Both West and Greyson shouted at Duncan. Before the Corporal could say anything the squad was blinded by a light and the hot air wash of jet engines threatened to nock them over. Greyson raised his arm to cover his eyes so he could see, and was greeted with a sight just as terrifying as the Yaoguai.

"Venom!"

"Get to cover!"

They all scattered for cover just as the Nod Venom opened fire with its chin mounted chain gun. The ground exploded into a shower of dirt and shards of rock as the Venom raked its gun across the river bed. Greyson scrambled into a bowl in the dirt carved out by a fallen tree. He got as low as he could to avoid the Venom's gaze, but he kept his head up so he could see what happened to the others. West and Zielińska had found cover behind a series of boulders that were quickly being chipped away by the Venom's gun. Greyson couldn't see Kerby or Duncan and feared for the worst. Another pass of the Venom drove Greyson face first into the dirt as debris rained down on him. He pulled up his arm to yell into the radio.

"Richter! We are under fire by enemy gunship! We need support!"

"Lieutenant? I can barely hear you. What's your situation?"

"Damn it, Richter! We need help! Enemy Venom! Now!"

"Understood! Just hang on!"

More debris hit Greyson in the face as the Venom continued to blast apart the river bed. He occasionally heard a brief bark of a rifle as someone tried to fire back before being driven into cover. It was only a matter of time before the Venom pilot would finally zero in on them and they would be nothing more than red stains in the dirt.

The roar of the Venom's gun was soon overpowered by a new sound. Greyson risked looking up to see what it was and involuntarily let out a terrified yelp. A Cobra gunship had appeared behind the Venom, its massive anti-vehicle weapon could obliterate the entire squad in a single blast. However, the Cobra lowered itself and a side door opened, allowing a squad of Nod soldiers to leap out. After disgorging its occupants, the Cobra lifted off and flew away, but the terror Greyson felt didn't leave with it. Now as the Venom continued unleashing torrents of lead, Nod soldiers steadily marched towards them, armed with shotguns and flamethrowers.

Just as Greyson reflected about how he would die hiding in a small hole, he noticed something flying towards the Venom. It looked no bigger than a bird but it flew in a straight line towards the enemy aircraft. He realized it was a reconnaissance drone a split second before it flew into one of the Venom's engine pods. The pod exploded with a loud bang and an eruption of black smoke. Immediately the roar of the gun stopped as the Venom was sent into a violent spin and crashed into the nearby rocky mountain. The advancing Nod squad halted as they had abruptly lost their air support.

"Get up! Get up and fire!" West yelled from somewhere nearby.

Before Greyson could even get to his feet a chorus of rifles opened fire, but not from West and his men. The enemy squad was torn apart in an instant as Richter and the rest of the platoon arrived, taking position on the lip of the river. In mere seconds the firefight was over, and Steel Talon troops made their way down to the river bed, illuminated by the now burning wreck of the Venom.

Greyson slowly stumbled forward as the platoon medics rushed over to West and the others. He was relieved to see all four were alive, though Zielińska's face was completely covered in blood and mud. He turned back to see Richter coming up to him, followed by the other squad leaders.

"You alright, Lieutenant?" Richter asked.

"Yes I'm fine. Thanks for the rescue." Greyson managed to reply with surprising calm. "Smart thinking with the drone."

"That was Sergeant Feng's idea."

Greyson nodded to the stocky man before saying, "Nod knows we're here now."

"Command still needs us to recon the base. I've informed them of our situation and they are sending reinforcements." Richter reported.

"Its not far to the navpoint. We can get there before reinforcements do."

"Right, I'll get 2nd squad to take up the job. Sergeant Wërnman, you're recon now."

"Understood." The burly German man said.

"I'll go with them." Greyson said.

"Sir? You just went through hell, you should sit down." Richter stated firmly.

"I need to see this through. Call for an evac, and see that West's squad is taken care of."

Greyson walked off before Richter could say anything further. He joined with Wërnman and his men and continued down the river bed, passing over the dead Nod soldiers. After the encounters with the Yaoguai and the Nod Venom, the walk to the objective was downright peaceful. Greyson felt far too exhausted to worry about any further mutant or Nod attacks. He had desperately wanted to take Richter up on his word and simply sit down, but he felt obligated to finish this mission.

The river came to a sharp end where it once would have cascaded into the valley below in a great waterfall. Now it served as a sheer cliff face, and an excellent vantage point to observe the Nod base. Wërnman's men took up positions to watch for danger, as Greyson and Wërnman pulled out binoculars. Greyson glanced down into the valley, where the Nod staging ground was supposed to be located, and saw…nothing.

"This is the right spot, isn't it?" Wërnman asked.

"Unless intel fucked up really bad, this should be it." Greyson responded.

He scanned the valley floor desperately, hoping this hell of a night hadn't been for nothing. But he saw no trace of a Nod base, no vehicles, no infantry, not a single thing to indicate Nod had even been here. He began looking more frantically and had a string of curses on the tip of his tongue when he spotted something. He took a deep breath to calm himself and looked closer.

"Bingo!" Greyson exclaimed excitedly.

"What is it?" Wërnman asked.

"Stealth generator. They're hiding something here." Greyson answered. He pulled up his radio to call command, and to his shock and annoyance, was connected directly to Bao.

"Report."

"Confirmed Nod presence. They've hidden the base with a stealth generator. We can't determine the size of the base while its up."

"Irrelevant. GDI PACCOM has detected a large Nod fleet off the shore of Y-21. The Steel Talons are being called in to assist Army units."

"What about this base?"

"The General has authorized an Ion Canon strike. We have the coordinates of the stealth generator now. Evac your men and return to base. You and your men did well…Lieutenant."

Bao ended the call, not that Greyson had anything further to say. Wërnman was starting to lead his men back to the others, where an Orca Transport was already landing. Greyson made to follow when the dark night was instantly washed away in blinding light. He turned just as the entire area was consumed in an intense warmth and drowned out in a high pitched wailing, like the sound of angels screaming. And then… the darkness returned just as quickly as it had been banished away. Only now down in the valley, instead of the forests of calcified blossom trees and mutant flora, the entire area was a blackened field of glass. The faint outlines of buildings could be seen now the stealth field was gone. It looked like there had been a large base there, but now the buildings had crumbled and many burned.

Greyson spat off the side in contempt of the enemy, then he turned to walk towards the waiting transport. He was surprised to find West waiting for him, even after the rest of the platoon had loaded up.

"Sergeant, are you alright?" Greyson asked.

"We were damned lucky no one died today." West said somberly.

"I know. You're guys did an incredible job today-"

"We were lucky your incompetence didn't kill us all."

"My incompetence? It was your decision to lead us into the river bed. I wanted to stay to the mountain!"

"I made that call because you couldn't make the decision yourself. You're always too busy feeling sorry for yourself." West growled, baring his teeth in an effort to stop himself from screaming.

"We can discuss this later, Sergeant."

"Next time you might find yourself fragged."

"Is that a threat against a superior officer?"

"No." West turned and stalked up the ramp, only to stop and turn back. "It's a promise."