“Targets at bearing 097 and 099, positive ID as the ones the Predators softened up.”

“Ammunition loaded up?”

“Affirmative.”

“Send the pain.” the mech commander ordered, smiling as twin railgun rounds tore through the two enemy walkers dead center. Tiberium stored in their reserve capacitors detonated from the force of the rounds ruining the control nodes and compounded the detonation, sending Scrin infantry and light armor flailing through the air, only to be picked off by GDI troops on the ground once they landed hard.

“Targets destroyed, two more rounds in their chambers.” the senior gunner announced over the intercom, getting a silent yet tired smile from the commander of this mechanized marvel. Shortly after they had reloaded and began searching for targets again, a beam of light pierced the sky and landed somewhere on the horizon, sending a shockwave through the whole line.

Today was the third day of pushing on all flanks. Ion cannons were working overtime and lancing out to meet alien redeployments across the globe, smiting them almost as quickly as their wormholes deposited them in red zones or even in the middle of Nod Civil War theaters. Ironsides had made it extremely clear, to Kane and to the troops in the field that any alien force was a fair target, and while Nod’s “messiah” wasn’t keen on ion strikes in his territory, more often than not the Scrin arriving in Nod’s back yard was backing up a sect loyal to Chrysalis.

Nuke silos were also being lit up like candles whenever GDI had an excuse. Anytime a silo was deemed lost to the Cult of Chrysalis, an Ion cannon would smite it, removing a threat to all sides given Chrysalis had already managed to launch a missile early in her rebellion. The only reason it didn’t level its target was because Kane, Luna, and Twilight had all the command codes to every missile in the Brotherhood’s arsenal and the moment that nuke was in the air, Kane himself deactivated the warhead.

That warhead was now thruster up in the dirt in the main courtyard of Temple Prime, and while many would consider removing a nuclear warhead that close to their capital building, the fact that Chrysalis managed to have a near constant guerilla front on Kane’s front doorstep kept either side from getting in and dismantling or reactivating the warhead.

As the Titan began advancing again, the signature crack of dual railguns going off caught the commander’s attention. Heavy armor had caught up with the main push, and he could recognize the Mammoth to his Titan’s direct right. On the side of the tank was an emblem of an apple carved to look like a skull, and a name stenciled on that reflected the commander’s former nickname before military service.

“All units this is Brigadier Macintosh, 2nd Heavy Armor is moving to supplement and I’m taking command of this front. Brigadier Hardcase and his XO have been evacuated and are in stable condition.” Big Mac said, getting a flood of affirmatives from the various unit commanders before he continued, “Updating engagement parameters as well. Scorpion tails are back on the menu if they so much as blink threateningly in our general direction.”

Again, the flag officer received affirmations that his orders, or more accurately Ironsides’ orders, had been acknowledged by those that were now under his command. As if in reply, many tanks and even some infantry let off a salvo or sustained burst of automatic fire into the retreating aliens. While working with Nod had been a much needed respite even if it took alien invaders to cause it, many in GDI still held close the wounds that the Brotherhood had inflicted upon them, some as early as the first days of the war.

“General, the aliens are cutting and running but we have contact on the other side of their staging area.” Big Mac’s XO stated from his spot at the modified Mammoth’s internal command center.

“Friendly?” Mac asked before looking down from the command couch and seeing for himself, “What the hell are GDI eagles doing mixed with Nod scorpions like that?”
_____________

His work never ceased, and even now the Overseer was waist deep in reports from across the planet. The indiginous species hadn’t known it, but while they were hitting the Rift Generator they managed to knock out the nearby Signal Transmitter and Relay Node that was still under construction. The only thing that kept the entire assault force from going cold and deactivating on the spot was the fact that he hadn’t transferred ichor dispersion responsibility from his flagship in orbit.

The foreman who put that many high value targets in close proximity to each other had already been shoved out an airlock by the Overseer personally.

And now he had been given orders to disengage on all fronts, seed as much ichor as possible, let Chrysalis capture Kane if viable, and then come home. Capture of the one known as Kane had failed but his Mastermind teams, as well as his own probing of the Changeling Queen’s mind, managed to get significant data on him, more data than was acquired during the campaign that saw the Overseer join the Scrin.

Why the Overlord felt that more knowledge on a single sapient was more important than an entire conquered world eluded the Overseer, but it wasn’t his place to question the Overlord openly.

“How long until the seeding missiles are ready?” he asked, but his response was just a dozen foremen chittering away and more data flashing across his eyes. Had he his original mouth, he would have scowled. For now, exasperated growling before muting all of them would have to do. Once again, an operation was being halted and scrapped at the whims of the Overlord with no regard for the effort or material already put into it.

Lives were of little consequence to the Overseer but to have a blemish, even one ordered, sanctioned, and fully endorsed by the supreme ruler of the Scrin Empire was intolerable.

“Prepare ichor deposits for insertion into fully saturated biomes, ignore partially or fully cleansed territories.” he finally ordered once he reached the main viewport of the bridge. Looking down, he was once again hit with the urge to scowl. All the Overlord had to do was grant him access to a world cracker and he could end this wretch of a resistance once and for all. He could even seed the asteroid field that would emerge with ichor afterwards and they would have a stable mining operation set up for the next few centuries at minimum.

Instead, he watched as missiles with ichor lazily arced towards the planet, only to then watch many of them get intercepted by the equine’s damnable orbital defense grid. Not a total failure, as enough made it into red zones to cause fresh infestations, but not nearly the result that the Overseer wanted.

“Prepare another salvo… keep up regular launches until all of our forces are evacuated from the planet.” the Overseer glared at this miserable rock of a world with the hate of one denied their rightfully deserved glory. “And commence activation of the Hexapod.”
______________

While Big Mac and the 2nd Heavy Armor Division were busy pushing the western theater, and with Ion Command tasked to capacity with hitting Nod silos and shooting down any missiles the Scrin tried launching towards the planet, Sky Admiral Dash was sitting in a hospital bed. She wasn’t even awake for the first few months when they stabilized her and grafted her new wings on. Her hind legs were amputated shortly after, and she woke up a few days after her new ones were installed.

Still, she was bed-ridden despite her own protests of being perfectly capable of getting behind the joystick, or at the very least back on the bridge of a Kodiak to take the fight to Nod. The only saving grace was that her EVA was keeping her up to speed and that Spitfire was more than willing to cede her temporary position as head of the GDIAF the moment Dash was out of the hospital and back in the fight.

Therapy had been slow but entirely successful, and at this point she felt like she was being kept in her room just in case something happened to the Crystal Fury, not that anything short of an alien ambush could take it down. Still, her thoughts drifted to the blue sky outside, as well as the occasional sight of Orcas or Firehawks streaking past in her window that she was luckily enough to be sleeping next to, or the nurse levitating a dozen scalpels with her magic.

“Wait.” was all that Rainbow Dash could think before the nurse, now changing to her true form, flung the makeshift blades at the rebuilt pegasus and the two other ponies sharing the room with her. She reflexively pulled her wings around her, causing the medical instruments to bounce off, but her roommates hadn’t been as lucky with both of them clawing at their necks in a vain effort to stop the bleeding.

After the failed attempt, Dash felt the wind get knocked out of her as the assassin charged the bed-ridden flag officer, only for her target to return the favor as mechanical legs sent her through the opposite wall. The changeling didn’t get any respite as the mare who was begging for some action finally got her wish granted, and once again mechanical limbs found purchase and cracked the would-be assassin’s exoskeleton, causing her to scream.

Not wanting to deal with the sound anymore, Dash decked the wounded changeling and knocked her out cold, smiling for a moment before remembering that there were ponies bleeding to death behind her. Diving for the panic button on the nearest hospital bed, she did her best to figure out who looked worse and then got to work trying to stop the bleeding with what they had on hoof.

The fact that the doctors who arrived barely made mention of the unconscious changeling in the hallway was a small blessing as they got to work and Rainbow Dash was allowed to move away from the scene. She busied herself shortly after, keeping a hoof on the assassin’s neck until security could arrive to take her into custody.

“Are you harmed, ma’am?” one of the doctors finally asked as the other two were stabilized.

“I’m good, a little sore from, ya’know, kicking ass, but it was nice to stretch my new wings for once.”

“Good, we’ll do a final physical and then call for an armed escort, Ironsides will want to know that you’re fit for duty again.”
_____________

The scene at the hospital was being acted out again and again all throughout Brotherhood and GDI territory, though with GDI medical facilities the assassination attempts seemed to be restricted to high-ranking officers or anyone else with a lot of pull in GDI. Nod hospital massacres were less calculated and much more messy, with some changelings taking the “easy” route of simply planting explosives or incendiary devices throughout them and setting them off from a safe distance.

Others sacrificed themselves for the glory of their new Scrin masters, usually at the direct order from the Overseer. The effect was immediate, with GDI pushing harder and Nod having to direct more forces to defend interior sectors once thought safe. And while this transpired the Overseer was able to pull his assets off the planet with limited resistance, at least until the ion cannons intervened again.

All the while, as the world witnessed the war being pushed completely out of the blue zones and into the yellow zones, Kane was fuming. It was the first time that Luna had seen him express anything other than smug confidence or calm authority. Even before when he was merely Professor Crystal Theory, he never got heated, and rarely got excited. To see him like this was new, if not intriguing for the Night Queen.

“I want every missile site we have left locked down and ready to fire, I don’t care if we have to detonate them inside the damn silos when GDI or that traitorous insect rolls over them, they are now asset denial weapons!” he barked, sending the various holograms representing what was left of his command staff scrambling. The table where they all had been “sitting” changed back into a representation of the globe, showing nothing but unit icons pulling back, with the majority of them heading straight towards Temple Prime.

“With any luck, Chrysalis will try and claim more of our nuclear arsenal and bring GDI’s wrath upon her… if only Twilight could have gotten the ion disruptors out of prototype, we wouldn’t be in this position.” Luna added, causing the earth pony to glance back at her and nod silently.

“It was that or the Redeemer.” Kane replied, “Which also means we can’t deploy it out of the protective perimeter of Temple Prime without Ironsides and his damnable satellites picking it off from orbit… EVA, updates on the traitors in the immediate area.”

“Troop strength still estimated at a single battalion, but local forces have not been able to pinpoint their command post. Garrison commander hypothesizes that they are receiving orders directly from the Scrin commander in orbit.” the AI stated emotionlessly, “All forces capable of converging on Temple Prime are doing so, and are expected to wipe out traitor forces in the immediate area before digging in for the inevitable GDI strike.”

“They wouldn’t dare.” Luna interjected, “Even with Chrysalis playing right into their hands, GDI doesn’t have the forces to take Temple Prime without their ion cannons to back up a strike force.”

“Troop estimates before GDI intervention in the Nod Civil War saw roughly one third of all Nod troops following Chrysalis. Defections are not restricted to changelings, though non-changeling defections are rare.” the AI continued, “GDI intervention is indiscriminate, one half of all Brotherhood pre-treason forces are facing GDI’s full strength and alien-backed traitor forces. Likelihood of a GDI offensive on Temple Prime is absolute.”

Luna’s confidence shattered as the numbers streamed across the table while Kane’s EVA continued on. In one fell swoop, Chrysalis had undone all of the lunar queen’s work. It was possible to hold to a stalemate, maybe buy some time with negotiations, but after Canterlot…

“We hold them here, or we lose everything.” Luna murmured.

“We will lose the current iteration of the Brotherhood, yes, but those that survive and stay faithful will lead us to a new dawn.” Kane retorted, that strange aura that Luna had felt after Canterlot making itself known again to her, “It might be years, even decades, but so long as the sacred crystal is on our world, the Brotherhood will never die… I will never die.”
_________________

Railguns lit up a ridge line along the Macintosh Hills, sending Brotherhood and Traitor forces alike flying in one direction while their limbs went another. Stalwart Shield noted the carnage with impersonal professionalism for all of three seconds before another salvo, this time from the Titans, lit up the armor that had been supporting the opposing sides. Something about burning Scorpion tanks always made her smile.

What she didn’t expect was the cascade of explosions that lit up the survivors as they began to retreat, each one giving off the tell-tale signs of being a remote explosive rather than launched ordinance.

“Evenin‘ General, mind if we join this dance? Nod has some VIPs in that convoy that Ironsides wants us to get confirmed kills on.” came a distinct Trottingham-accented voice over her command frequency.

“I wasn’t expecting the Dead Six to be joining us. Update your markers and we’ll hold back as much fire as we can while you work.”

“Dead Four now, actually, but thank you. We won’t be long, just need an eye from each of them.” Gunner interjected, his tone much more morose compared to Pip’s unbridled optimism.

“Copy that, where’s Havoc?”

“Prepping for Ironsides to put all his cards on the table. Can’t say more than that.”
_________________

Bordering the transition between a red zone and a yellow zone and thus subject to ion storms and acid rain that was standard for red zones, Mareajevo was inhospitable to most GDI troops on the best days with the best weather. Today was not one of those days, but Flash “Havoc” Sentry wasn’t most GDI troops. Ever since the Titan Deployment Order he had started his own operation against Brotherhood interests in the region. Stealth tech was still Nod’s forte but GDI R&D hadn’t been resting on its laurels during the war or the truce, and he was wearing a captured Shadow uniform.

It had a few extra toys added in of course, courtesy of whatever Dr. Dancer was able to get working from alien and Brotherhood technology, but that came with a degree of limited functionality. He had ditched the artificial magic crystal that was supposed to let him use limited telekinesis within a day of hitting dirt. Now it was the power source for the mother of all remote detonators sitting in his saddlebags, and he knew just where he was going to plant it.

His primary target, Temple Prime, was a hot zone while Traitor forces continued to engage the garrison, especially with a nuclear missile sitting in the middle of it all. If Dr. Dancer was to be believed, his crystal power source mixed with an ion strike would be more than enough to not only level the entire area with an output close to nuclear devastation, but clean up the residual radiation within minutes of the explosion.

Havoc didn’t give a damn either way, and was more than happy to turn Temple Prime into an irradiated ruin that no one dare try to use after the war was over.

The pegasus couldn’t dwell on those thoughts for long, though, as his EVA picked up movement to his direct rear. He was still invisible to all but the most powerful sensors, but he stilled moved out of their projected path before taking a moment to identify who was stumbling upon him.

Three Black Hand, sweeping through in search of traitors to Kane for the second time that day. Flash couldn’t tell if they were picking him up or if it was a coincidence that his approach to Temple Prime was mirroring their patrol path. Given he had passed a group of corpses in Nod garb with the scorpion tail painted over with a changeling horn, his bits were on this trio, a gryphon and two ponies, hoping to get lucky a second time in catching a guerilla group in the open.

“Not so easy to win when you have to face your own stealth tech, is it you big dumb bastards?” Havoc thought, smirking as the gryphon stumbled over a grouping of roots and almost fell flat on his beak. However, as soon as he righted himself, the ground beneath them exploded.

The GDI commando covered his eyes before rolling behind a nearby dead tree, hoping to avoid getting any shrapnel in his armor and compromising the stealth panelling. Almost as soon as he found cover, he noticed more flickers of air moving towards the blast zone. Their cloaks deactivated and he noticed the tell-tale marking of Chrysalis’ faction. They moved towards the crippled Black Hand troopers with an almost arrogant air about them, something they quickly learned to regret, though they didn’t have much time to regret it.

The Black Hand were known as fanatics for a reason, and these changelings wouldn’t live to remember that. Each loyal member of Pinkie Pie’s “elite branch” primed and detonated every grenade they had, as well as the power packs for their laser rifles. The explosion was so fierce that Havoc felt the heat from behind the tree he’d managed to hide behind, only for the trickle of “green rain” that started afterwards to startle him to the point of jumping.

Three Black Hand, nearly a dozen changelings, all Nod in Havoc’s eyes and luckily, all dead.

“EVA, mark this location, I want to avoid it on the way out. Chances of both sides investigating is going to skyrocket now that there’s a crater full of bodies and armor.” he said, only realizing that he was justifying himself to an AI after he had finished talking.

Ironsides had even warned him of the threats posed by going on such a deep range mission alone, but he mostly ignored them, as well as all of the military shrinks who tried to tell him he was handling the dismantling of his team poorly. He had told them all exactly where to put their medical opinions and got back to work winning a war against the bastards that nuked his home.

“Confirmed, Captain Sentry.” the EVA replied, only for Sentry to glower at his radar. More contacts on the way, no doubt to investigate the explosion. Taking lessons learned from fighting Shadows, he melted back into the landscape, moving quickly and carefully through the yellow zone that Kane called home.
_________________

Miles away from where Havoc prepared to wage a one-pony-war against the Brotherhood and its High Command, a wormhole of unprecedented size began to form at the center of a yellow zone. Had any GDI instruments been able to pick it up, they would have registered that it was easily double, if not quadruple the size of the wormholes that Planetary Assault Carriers tended to transport themselves through. If any soldier from either side of the conflict had been nearby, the reverberating noise that this wormhole emitted would have ruptured their eardrums at best, and shattered their bones through armor and liquified their organs at worst. The screeching didn’t stop as a single, massive leg found its way out of the tear in space and time, only to be followed by six more.

Standing at over 50 feet in height at the tip of its horns, and letting out another bone-shattering screech, the Scrin’s ultimate ground weapon began treading through the landscape at what seemed to be impossibly fast speeds for a being that size. Each step of its spindly legs left a crater that soon filled with Tiberium, and even though it had warped in miles from the nearest indigenous frontline, it managed to reach one within minutes.

Nod and GDI troops opened fire immediately, temporarily putting aside their differences to engage the gigantic death machine running towards them. However, many panicked outright at the mere sight of such a monstrosity. Lasers and railguns were aimed and discharged at the massive walker, but none of their primitive weapons scored a hit. By the time the projectiles had crossed the distance, the Hexapod had simply disappeared in a flash of light like a hologram switching off.

Only to appear behind their lines right in front of the panicking troops that had chosen to run.

The monstrosity rose up on its hind legs as tendrils began protruding from its vaguely skull-shaped face, and along with them, some sort of energy field began making itself apparent. Ponies, gryphons, dragons, armor, infantry, none of it mattered to the Mastermind that was merged with the Hexapod’s brain as everything in the vicinity was deconstructed at the molecular level and consumed by the behemoth these inferior lifeforms had been unfortunate enough to encounter. Their pitiful escape attempts were but in vain. Any aircraft that attempted to intervene were carved to pieces as the walker hurled hundreds of tiberium shards at them, shredding their airframes and sending them plummeting to the ground in flames.

Any armor that tried to fight back found discs of plasma the size of a scorpion tank being hurled in their direction, bisecting or decapitating the sturdy vehicles as if they were butter in front of a heated blade.

Within minutes, four battalions in total from both sides of the Tiberium War had been broken down to their most basic components and turned into fuel for the six-legged nightmare the Overseer had released upon the world.

With its tanks now full, and its bloodlust slaked for the time being, the Eradicator scanned its immediate surroundings, getting its bearing before honing in on it’s primary target. One being was responsible for the Overlord calling this campaign short, and the Overseer was curious as to whether or not this Kane could make the same claims of immortality as his human counterpart.

With another roar, the Eradicator Hexapod began its journey, spreading ichor ever further with every step it took towards Kane’s most holy of sites.
_________________

Another double crack of railguns sent tremors through Big Mac’s Mammoth despite the inertia dampeners working overtime to compensate. Mac didn’t mind though, the fact that he could feel the results of his tank doing Celestia’s work made him ecstatic.

The fact that he was getting some well deserved payback on the aliens while he mopped up Nod forces was just the icing on a wonderful Welcome Back cake.

“General, we have Nod trenches up ahead.” his tank’s commander announced, “Looks like they’re Brotherhood, not Chrysalis.”

“Are they mingling with those GDI contacts we picked up on long-range?”

“No sir.”

“Then roll over’em. Infantry can mop up the puddles.” Big Mac replied, getting a morbid chuckle from the rest of the tank crew as he put his eyes back to the scopes.

Standard rules of engagement for GDI was to shoot first, identify the remains later. It was a policy that had saved many lives when dealing with the Brotherhood and even more when the aliens got involved. But now, for the first time since pushing his Mammoth to meet up with the flank pushing west, Big Mac had to restrain his troops from engaging a Nod unit. Up ahead, at least as far as he could tell, GDI troops were fighting with Nod troops to put down a retreating alien force. What caught his eye however, was when the Noddies he was chasing tried to link up with them, the Nod troops helped the GDI troops gun down or capture the lot of them.

“This is Mac to all units… somepony confirm that I’m seein’ what I think I’m seein’.” he broadcast on an open channel, though the response was far from what he was expecting.

“This is Brigadier General Hyperion Shield, formerly Brotherhood Strike Force Everfree, on station and ready to assist.”