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Chapter Four: Discovery

Johnson stared at the crystals in mute horror. Krystal then ran up to Johnson.

"Ghost, what's wrong?" she asked. Johnson than snapped out of the shock he was in.

"Get EVERYONE out of the area. NOW!" Johnson said, "EVA, level of contamination?"

"Analyzing...Area is within tolerance levels of a blue zone. Immediate deployment of sonic emitters is highly recommended," EVA stated with its monotone voice. 'Isn't that the understatement of the millennia,' Johnson thought.

"Ghost, what is wrong?! Explain what is happening?" Krystal said.

"I don't have time to explain! This area has been infected with Tiberium. Get everyone out of here!" Johnson said as he started to sweep the area closest to the Tiberium field that was now growing on yet another world. 'Where did this come from?' Johnson thought as he headed down towards the Tiberium field.

"Hey, Ghost! Wait up!" Krystal yelled as she ran after him. Johnson turned around.

"This is Master Sergeant Ghost to all Cornerian forces. Evacuate all civilians from the area around the cruiser. The area has been contaminated with a biohazard known as Tiberium. Evacuate all personnel from the area, whether they want to or not. Do not approach, fire at, or breathe in the Tiberium crystals. They are highly toxic. Anyone found to have the crystal in their body needs to be quarantined immediately," Johnson said over the radio as he looked straight at Krystal. "Listen, you are not properly equipped to go into that cruiser, I am. The only thing you'll do is make yourself die a slow and very painful death. Get out of here!" Johnson said as he stared straight into Krystal's eyes. Krystal blinked in surprise.

"What are you talking about?" she asked.

"Tiberium poisoning. One of the worst ways to die, from what I've been told," Johnson replied as he turned back around and activated his jump-pack. Johnson landed on top of the carrier where there was no sign of Tiberium contamination. He found an access hatch. He looked for some way of opening it, but couldn't find anything. He sighed in frustration.

"EVA, can you hack into the ships controls and open this door?" Johnson said his anger at the situation tinted his voice.

"Hacking...Accessing...Warning, opening nearby door is not advisable," EVA stated.

"Explain," Johnson said.

"Hatch is labeled as a torpedo tube, and is loaded with an armed torpedo," EVA stated. Johnson jumped back from the torpedo's exit. As Johnson fought to calm his wildly beating heart, he looked around to try and find another potential entrance.

"Eva, find me the quickest route in, and with the least amount of Tiberium exposure," Johnson said with an exasperated sigh.

"Analyzing...Analyzing...Plotting course...Course complete. Placing NAV markers now," EVA said. A green NAV marker appeared several meters to Johnson's right.

"Amount of Tiberium exposure?" Johnson asked.

"Within acceptable limits," EVA replied. Johnson sighed again. 'Great. This day keeps getting better and better, don't it?' Johnson thought as he activated his jump-pack to avoid a large patch of Tiberium infected metal. Johnson landed right on top of the NAV marker and the hatch below him opened suddenly.

"Ahh!" Johnson yelled as he fell twelve feet to the floor, when that suddenly gave out and he fell another twenty feet to the room below him. The Geiger counter in his armor automatically activated. It was going crazy, reading a high level of radioactivity, and a warning appeared on his HUD that read "Tiberium Exposure." Johnson quickly stood up and quickly looked for a way out of the mess of Tiberium he fell into. He checked the status on his jump-pack and saw that it was under ten percent charged. Johnson saw a door to his right. He ran through the contaminated room as fast as he could. 'Man, I'm going to need to get myself to a GDI field hospital soon,' Johnson thought as he ran through the door and into a hallway filled with Tiberium crystals. He quickly ducked into the door straight across from him. The room wasn't infected with Tiberium, and seemed to be the sickbay of the ship. Johnson walked as far away from the door as possible.

"EVA, status on Tiberium contamination in me," Johnson said.

"Analyzing...Minimal contamination found...No sign of Tiberium poisoning," EVA stated. Johnson let out a sigh of relief. 'I guess the new armor works,' Johnson thought, 'What was it that that egghead said about this armor? Ahh, forget it. I got a job to do, and I'm not going to do it by sitting here thinking about some high geek techno-babble.' Johnson looked around the room. It was fairly standard for a sickbay, but everything was thrown around due to the crash.

"EVA hack into the system and get me all information relating to Tiberium, or whatever they call it," Johnson said as he walked over to a medical cabinet and started shifting through its contents. The medical supplies that occupied the cabinet were familiar to Johnson: morphine, nitrous dioxide canisters, gaze bandages, surgical thread, surgical needles, scalpels, and the like; things a person would normally find in an OR.

"Hacking...Accessing...Searching...Searching...Search complete...Analyzing documents...Analyzing...Analyzing complete. Documents containing any reference to Tiberium, one hundred and twenty three," EVA states.

"How many of them are related to Tiberium induced illnesses?" Johnson said as he moved to another cabinet and found more medical supplies.

"Sixty four," EVA said.

"What categories do the fifty nine remaining have to do with? General categories, if possible," Johnson asked.

"Researching Tiberium, and Weaponizing Tiberium," EVA said. Johnson paused what he was doing as that. 'Could these guys have already been able to weaponize liquid Tiberium?' he thought. Johnson then backed off from the medical cabinets and moved towards the door.

"EVA, how successful have they been in weaponizing Tiberium and place a NAV marker on the quickest way out of this place," Johnson said as he moved towards the door that lead back to the heavily Tiberium contaminated hallway.

"Current threat assessment: low. Current weapon design is the equivalent of a bow and arrow. Tiberium is placed into the device and shot out at an opponent. Not effective against an armored opponent, unless shot in mass. Placing NAV marker...Complete," EVA replied. A green marker appeared off to the left. Johnson opened the door and booked it down the hallway as his armor screamed at him. He dodged around outcroppings of Tiberium. He turned the corner and ran right into a large outcropping of Tiberium. He ran through it as fast as possible; even though he did that, he still felt the radiation burning along his legs. Eventually he ran into another door. He quickly opened the door and ran through it. The room he had entered was completely empty of Tiberium. Johnson let out a sigh of relief and scanned his surroundings. Several Apes that crewed the ship were laying in various stages of dismemberment. Some of them were lying on the bunks, obviously thrown there by the crash, and all of them were dead, very dead. Johnson felt a chill run up his spin, but he suppressed his emotions and moved toward one of the two other doors in the room. He pressed himself against the wall close to the door, and then opened it. He peeked in the room and saw no one in it. He aimed his weapon at the room and slowly creped in. The room was half collapsed and nothing survived the crash to be able to give Johnson any idea of what duty the room once preformed. For the moment, the room was free of Tiberium. Johnson scanned the room and proceeded to the only door available to him, which was straight ahead. Johnson slowly and carefully walked forward and opened the door, his rifle always at the ready.

He scanned the room and inched his way in; another hallway. 'Man, how many long, dark, and creepy hallways are there in this stinkin' cruiser?' Johnson thought as he cautiously advanced down the hallway. He scanned left and right. None of the doors seemed to have any power, although the rest of the ship seemed to.

"EVA states of the ships power grid?" Johnson asked.

"Analyzing...Primary power disabled...Emergency generators are active," EVA stated. 'Then why are these doors closed... or are they sealed off?' Johnson thought as he approached one door. He tried to open the door, but it refused to budge.

"EVA, divert some power to this door," Johnson said as he readied himself for whatever might be behind that door.

"Analyzing...Working...Complete," Eva stated. The door activated and slide open. Johnson's training kicked in as his weapon, which had lowered as he tried to open the door, snapped up and he let loose with four bursts. Then he rolled to the right and took cover. 'A Devourer!' Johnson thought, as he peeked back around the corner. The Invader vehicle didn't react to his presence or his weapon's fire. Johnson cautiously crept into the room. He then noticed that the Devourer was disabled. However, there was Tiberium growth around the vehicle, and there seemed to be some major damage to the rear of the vehicle. 'So this is where the Tiberium infection began... Those stupid Apes... They have no idea what it is that they have done!' Johnson thought as he backed out of the room and sealed it like before.

"EVA gather all information related to the Invaders and store it. If there is anything of significant importance, notify me and flag it for Intel," Johnson said.

"Hacking...Accessing...Analyzing...Analyzing...Storing...Analyzing...Analyzation complete. Invader's name identified, reason for coming to Earth Identified," EVA stated.

"What is the Invaders actual name?" Johnson asked.

"The Scrim," EVA stated.

"Reason for coming to Earth?" Johnson asked.

"To harvest the Tiberium found there, reason for that unknown," EVA stated.

"EVA, show me the quickest way out of here," Johnson said as he scanned the hallway one more time.

"Analyzing...Plotting course...Plotting...Plotting course complete...Placing NAV marker on HUD," EVA stated. A green marker appeared on his HUD. He followed the route and came to an emergency escape hatch. He popped open the hatch and climbed out; right into a thick Tiberium field. Johnson looked around quickly and found a safe LZ. He then activated his jump-pack and flew over to it. He landed and then started running towards the place that people were being evacuated from.

"This is Ghost, to all Cornerian forces. The Remnant has made contact with a hostile force and has brought its poison to this world. Everyone needs to stay away from the cruiser and the contaminated area. As soon as the equipment to halt the spread of this contamination has been developed, lethal force to keep people away from the contaminated area is authorized. We don't need infected people, or mutants, running around contaminating more areas," Johnson said over the radio, "Someone contact General Hare and let him know that I need to talk to him. This situation just went from bad to worse."

"Ghost!" a voice yelled out as he approached the extraction point. A transport landed and several soldiers got off of it and several civilians then ran on board. Johnson turned to face the voice and found Krystal standing there.

"Yes?" Johnson said.

"What did you find that you needed to make that kind of call?" she asked.

"The Invaders from my home are here. That is how the Remnant got their hands on Tiberium. They either found damaged and abandoned Scrim equipment or captured them. If they have Scrim personnel then they know more about them then we do. The GDI has never been able to capture any Scrim equipment intact. We know nothing about them; however the Remnant does. EVA was able to hack into that cruisers computer and downloaded several files on Tiberium and the Scrim. I know a bit about both, but my job is mainly how to fight them. Other than that, I'm just another soldier. These files know more than I do. I need to get them to the General ASAP," Johnson replied. Krystal gasped at the part of the Scrim being near Corneria. Krystal attentively listened to Johnson as he explained the situation. She then nodded and motioned for Johnson to follow her.

"I'll take you there now," she said as she boarded an interesting craft, in Johnson's opinion. Johnson followed her and got on board the craft. He looked around and sat in a seat in the back. Krystal looked back and patted a seat beside her in the cockpit.

"I don't bite," she said, "You can sit here." Johnson shook his head, stood up and walked over to her. He then took off his jump-pack and set it next to the seat along with his rifle.

Johnson then sat in the seat and said, "I think I should get a medical checkup before I do anything. I ran into and through a lot of Tiberium in that cruiser. I had EVA give a quick check with my armor's medical systems, but that isn't one hundred percent fool-proof."

"We can have a medic check you over while to give the information to the General," Krystal replied as she started the ship and took off. Johnson was surprised by the fact that he could barley feel any acceleration. He chalked that up to advanced technology and kept his mouth shut.

"Your medic's aren't trained to recognize the symptoms of Tiberium poisoning. I don't think they will be able to tell if I have it or not," Johnson replied.

"Can you tell them what to look for?" she asked.

"Yeah... However I think that they have more important issues to worry about, like the civilians that were exposed to Tiberium. I'm a soldier, so they take higher priority than me," Johnson replied, "EVA do a medical scan, specifically for any sign of Tiberium poisoning."

"Scanning...Scanning...Scan complete. No sign of Tiberium poisoning or signs of injuries caused by Tiberium," EVA stated.

"Alright, I'll...Wait; I know I should have sustained at least minor burns from the Tiberium that I ran through. I should have at least first degree burns on my legs... I'll have to check myself later. Get us to the General ASAP," Johnson said, "EVA prepare the files to be transferred to the Cornerian High Command. Keep a copy for GDI's use, however."

"Copying...Complete," EVA states. The ride to Cornerian HQ went on in relative silence. Johnson reached into one of his pockets and pulled out the crystal that started this whole mess. He took the time to examine it more closely. It was a little larger than a fifty cent piece, back from the days of the USA and the UN, and had a see-through quality to it, although it was cloudy. The clouds inside of was milky white. The crystal had a little weight to it, but was still very light. It did have two more jagged sides to it, and the rest were smooth like polished stone. 'For some reason, I... I don't know why, but I feel that this has something to do with Tiberium. Why do I feel that? Why do I feel that this stone is the key to our salvation?' Johnson thought. He sat lost in thought as Krystal flew her ship towards the HQ. All of the sudden he felt someone tap him on the shoulder. Training kicked in and Johnson grabbed what tapped him, twisted it, and was about to palm strike the hyper-extended elbow but he realized whose are he had just twisted. Johnson let go immediately.

"I-I'm sorry Krystal, you startled me. You really need to be careful when doing that to combat hardened commandos such as myself. We, unfortunately, have a 'kill first, think later' reaction to situations that startle us. Be carefully when doing something like that to a combat hardened veteran. Are you ok?" Johnson asked.

"Yeah I'm fine. You just scared me, that's all. Anyways I wanted to tell you that we are almost there," Krystal said. Johnson looked out the cockpit window. He saw a military base with a large building in the middle of it several blocks away from a building that they were heading towards. The craft they were in slowed to a halt and Johnson's adrenaline spiked as Johnson's training prepared him for combat. The craft slowly lowered and Johnson jumped out of his seat and ran towards the exit of the craft. The moment the craft touched down Johnson opened the exit to the craft and dove out of the craft. A Cornerian Marine was running towards the craft when Johnson jumped out. The Marine almost brought his weapon up, but checked the motion.

"You Master Sergeant Ghost?" the Marine yelled as whatever power the craft behind Johnson slowly shut down.

"Yeah. Where is the General? Johnson yelled back.

"He is in one of the meeting rooms here at the 'port. I'll take you to him," The Marine said as he turned around and stated walking towards the door.

"Double time it Marine. I have information that just might make the difference between Corneria still being able to support life in the next decade," Johnson said as he pushed the Marine from behind into a run. They both started running to the door. When they reached the door, it slide open, and beyond it, was what would be considered by civilians to be, organized chaos. The Marine lead Johnson through the crowds of runners and soldiers towards a door that was labeled 'Command Post.' The door was flanked by two Marines in full body armor and looked like they were carrying NOD's laser chain gun. The Marine leading Johnson flashed an ID to the Marines and they let Johnson pass. Johnson looked at the room filled with screens and animals yelling out status reports. Johnson saw an old hare in what he assumed to be a high ranking officer uniform yelling out orders as loud as the old hare can. Johnson ran up to him and saluted.

"Master Sergeant Ghost, are you General Hare?" Johnson asked.

"Yes, so you are the GDI Commando," the old hare said as he looked up and down Johnson taking in what he saw.

"Yes, sir. I need to talk to you immediately about the situation. The information I have just changed it, sir," Johnson said in all seriousness.

"Really? How much?" the General asked.

"On a scale of one to ten, it just went from an eight to an eleven," Johnson stated.

"Alright, this way," the old hare said as he walked towards a door in the back of the CP.