GDI Platoon Commander: A "GDI Edition" side-quest (non-canon)

You spend most of the rest of the calendar year "riding shotgun" with a harvester operating in YZ-15, specifically out in what was formerly Spain. The history of Tiberium harvesting is a pretty fascinating subject - initially they started out with claws, moved on to a combine/roller type of system, then went back to claws. The back of the harvester used to be a detachable container of some sort where unprocessed Tiberium crystals were stored, but nowadays the harvester does some pre-grinding of its own, allowing it to store much more of the alien crystal (in powdery form) in a considerably smaller space. This allows each individual harvester to reduce its size compared to previous versions, while being faster and more maneuverable.

Each harvester crew has their own preferred sweep pattern, which, in your observation, leads to some minor inefficiency as they occasionally overlap with other harvesters' routes and have to wait for each other; or drive over areas that have already been cleared off. Meanwhile, others occasionally replace their stock machine gun mounts with extra storage containers ("look, if a Nod mech comes at us looking for a fight, this dinky little thing is just going to piss him off. As for infantry, we can just squish 'em."). While you don't necessarily agree with the latter reasoning - Nod infantry come equipped with heavy weapons occasionally, which will cause major damage to a harvester, and they're also not stupid so they'll get out of the way of the ponderous vehicle usually - it doesn't seem like a terrible idea in general. If a substantial Nod force comes after a harvester, that MG really isn't going to make much of a difference.

You resolve to pay more careful attention to what your harvester crews are doing - with your EVA's route planning capabilities you can reduce the time it takes them to fill up their storage, meaning that you can get them cycling in and out of the field a little quicker. Field modifications are another idea you kick around, but the ability to repel smaller groups of Nod raiders without having to have dedicated military units following your harvesters is still pretty appealing, so you're not sure about that.

---

The next week and a half after that is spent shaking your new crew down and running them through some training exercises. Keeping your original "core" APC platoon intact, you form a second platoon, with two tanks, a Pitbull and a transported engineer squad to keep those guys running.

One of your APC crews has shown some exceptional skill at identifying rocket-equipped units (especially buggies and infantry where it's not always so obvious) and directing suppressing fire. You make a note to keep an eye on them.

Then, you're called into the Captain's office.

---

January 3, 2059

"Happy New Year, Lieutenant, and congratulations on the promotion. Welcome to southwest Africa. Pretty sure this was either Ghana, Togo, Benin or Nigeria back in the day." the Captain says with a smile. "Now let's get to work. Have a seat."

"Yes, sir." You reply, sitting down, the two other butterbars you've never met before taking your cue as well.

The Captain points to a projected map on the wall with the laser pointer. Three ominous looking red circles pulse infrequently near the coastline. "Last night, Nod Shadow Teams hit three of our bases here simultaneously. They went right for the jugular, nailed the construction yards and comms facilities, blew up most of the harvesters and basically eliminated the command staff of 4th company. Only here at Gamma, they screwed up a little and had to para-glide the hell out since our troops on guard duty were actually awake to an extent. So they didn't get to blow up the command post, which is, well, thank God for small favors."

He shakes his head. "Oh, and the bastards completely messed up the housing in those bases, hooked up tiberium mist dispensers to the ventilation systems. Unbelievable. Our forces were able to repel follow-up attacks, but they won't be able to repel any more - stationary defenses and mobile units both took beatings."

He looks at you.

"I need you to take one of these two here, give 'em one of your squads and take command at two of these facilities. Alpha base was set up so we could prevent Nod troops from hitting the port at Accra here, where the navy has some of their hydrofoils in for repairs. We need to hurry up and get some troops over there to prevent the Nod base from sending any thing else south, and also clean up whatever they've already got past us already. The good news is that there are actually two harvesters here - the bad news is that one of them got lost across the river. But if you can find it, it's likely full of blue Tib."

"Beta was set up to receive civilians being evacuated from a village getting overrun by Tiberium. Underground outbreak or something, not exactly sure how." the Captain cuts off what you're about to ask. "I'll need someone to keep the brotherhood away from it and run the convoys to the nearby naval base. The navy's got good fortifications and a couple of hydrofoils, landing craft and marines, but what they don't have is the ground transport capacity. They also aren't under your authority, so if you can convince them to help, great, but don't count on it."

"Gamma was set up to support a sympathetic Forgotten village; apparently there are two of those in the area to the south of Gamma, but they hate each other's guts for some reason. We've got word that Nod is going to stir up some controversy between the two, so we'll need to make sure to keep Nod out of there *and* shuttle the diplomatic corps guy around to make sure he doesn't get his clock cleaned. Good news here is that the command post is still intact."

"In all three situations, you'll need to crank out an MCV locally. I also want any Nod bases in the area located and eliminated." the Captain leans back a little. "Whew, I need a drink after all that." he comments with a smirk.

"What about opposition, and do we have access to anything else to deal with it?" You ask.

The Captain bobs his head a few times. "You want the good news first or the bad news?"

You smirk and tilt your head to the side a little. "Good news, sir."

"Good news is that command considers the conflict 'escalated'." the Captain embellishes with air quotes. "So we've been cleared to construct armories and requisition sniper teams. I assume you know what a sniper team does?"

You nod, mouthing 'nice'.

"We've also been authorized to deploy those new long-range sensor packages on our APCs and Pitbulls. Drops the firepower since it goes on the weapon hardpoint, but you can detect incoming vehicles a lot further out, give us a little more heads up."

"What's the bad news?" You ask.

"Well... " the Captain says, sighing. "First of all, SAM sites in the area are preventing air support and airborne reinforcement. Anything you requisition is going to have to come in through the ground entry point until you take those out. Also, flamethrower-equipped units have been sighted in the area."

"Great." you say, pursing your lips.

Your secondary force will be under the command of one of these guys:
[] 2LT Mahmut Katirci - armor specialization
[] 2LT Lyudmila Shwetz - engineering specialization

Pick one of these to handle yourself, and a second one to assign to one of the butterbars. As a sub-item, assign your secondary force to the officer you chose. They'll do their best to take care of their assignment, but will report back regularly, possible requiring advice, orders or reinforcements.

[] Alpha
Northwest entry point, base located center. High Tiberium concentration. Sweep and clear sector to the south; prevent further incursions to the south. Command platoon will cover the currently-undefended port to the south if necessary.
[] Beta
West entry point, base located east. Medium Tiberium concentration. Run APC convoys from village to naval base south of yours. Naval base has some local defenders, but will not be under your control.
[] Gamma
East entry point, base located north. High Tiberium concentration, command post intact. Keep the peace between two Forgotten villages and prevent Nod from screwing it up. Some existing forces are currently keeping the two apart.

Captain Violet Hawthorne-Smythe
Age: 25
Height: 1.54 meters
Weight: 54 kg
Hair: Dark Brown
Eyes: Blue

Awards and Commendations:
6x West African Campaign Ribbon
2x Arctic Campaign Ribbon
2x East Siberian Campaign Ribbon
Battle of Murmansk Ribbon
2x Diplomatic Corps Collaboration Commendation
5x InOps Collaboration Commendation
Navy Collaboration Commendation
5x Purple Heart
1x Search and Rescue Commendation
1x Escape and Evasion Commendation
1x Bronze Eagle

Specializations:
Mechanized Infantry: +5 to all combat and initiative rolls involving infantry and APCs; 10% reduction in requisition costs for new infantry units
Tiberium Harvesting Practicum: Each Tiberium harvester load generates +100 credits (+200 for blue)
Zone Trooper Operations: May attach to and requisition Zone Armor squads
Fixed Defense Doctrine: All fixed defenses cost 10% less, use 10% less power and get +5 on all rolls
Air Force Liaison: Off-board aircraft show up at optimal point to get to designated battle, rather than at random side/coordinate

Independent Decision Making Traits (affects decision making when not part of prior plan):
Protector - will tend to make decisions that prioritize preserving troops over inflicting damage
Excessive Empathy - increased stress with each combat that occurs outside of your direct location; especially if casualties occur
Inquisitive - you want to know what's going on, and it bugs you when you don't
Impulsive - increased odds of trying to satisfy one of the other traits
Earnest - pursues mission completion with dedication

Confirmed Kill Board:
1x Carryall with APC Rocket
1.5x Scorpion Tank (laser, dozer blades) with APC Rocket
.16x Scorpion Tank with Grenade
1x Flame Tank with APC Rocket
1x Buggy with APC Rocket
2x Laser Buggy with APC Rocket
1x Venom with APC Rocket
1x Bike with APC Rocket
.5x Centurion with APC Rocket (shared kill credit)
1x Saboteur with personal weapons
5x Militant (individual) with Zone Captain command suit/LMG
1x Titan (APC Rocket)
1x Avenger (APC Rocket - shared kill)
.5x Afanc-class Gana (individual) with personal weapons

"Right." The Captain tells you. "Get down to that base, figure out what's going on, restore comms, get facilities back up and running, and get those damn civilians out of there."

He points to Katirci, a big Turk with a moustache. "Lieutenant, you're assigned to Alpha.", then to Shwetz, a tall blonde, very 'russian amazon'. Of course, to you, everyone looks big and tall, you think with a smirk. "You've got Gamma. Details are with your EVA. We don't know how long until Nod can hit those bases again, so let's go. Dismissed."

You stand, throwing a salute, and are already out the door. You assign your newly-formed armor platoon to Lt. Katirci and wish him luck. He nods, returning the sentiment.

---

January 5, 2059
Sector A4, Beta Base Operation Zone

"So, warrant." You turn to the warrant officer in charge of the engineering squad as your APC trundles along. "I've been hearing pretty good things about the software override that you've been setting people up with to increase turret rotation speed."

"Thanks, ma'am." the warrant replies, his face impassive. You suddenly get the feeling he's had this conversation before, but your curiosity and desire for your troops to have an edge in combat get the better of you.

"How come we can't just do that all the time?"

"Regulations, ma'am."

You roll your eyes and spread your hands. "Come on, warrant, give me a break."

He sighs. "Well, you know how, when they ship a Guardian or a Predator out to us, it's considered 'stock'?"

"Yeah..."

"Well, it's got a software lock. Now, I've got a key to override the software lock." the warrant continues, with the look of a man whose patience is being sorely tested. "... but every time I've done it on a 'stock' unit, I get a comm call from some nice lady or gentleman at InOps and maybe several hours of conversation in an interrogation room." he just out his jaw and inserts a 'dumb' note into his voice. "Why did you modify the read-only software on vehicle X? Are you a secret Nod agent? Do you have a Tiberium crystal up your..." he relaxes. "Well, you get the idea."

"Even if you're ordered to?" you ask, incredulous.

"Yep, every time." he says. "But... for some reason, if the unit has been 'broken in' and taken battle damage, not a peep from anybody. I think it's considered a 'field expedient modification'." he shrugs "So yeah, after the third time, I swore to myself that I'd never do the software override on a stock unit again." He raises a finger. "... and keep in mind, that it's pretty rough on the lubricant we use, so I've got it set up to revert after a couple of minutes of actual use, so it's not some kind of magical cure-all for shitty gunnery. Your guys still have to not suck." He adds.

You nod. "Fair enough, warrant."

---

"Communications jamming detected. RADAR inoperative. External communications inoperative. Unable to establish contact with Beta base. Unable to establish contact with ..." you mute the EVA and mouth some unflattering expressions to yourself. With no comms, you have no way of contacting the base you're supposed to reinforce, the naval base, or the village you're supposed to evacuate. Not to mention you're cut off from your superiors and the butterbar you're supposed to supervise. Great start.

You do know roughly where those things are - Beta base is just a days' drive to the east, through a medium-sized Tiberium field and over a bridge. So one of your options is to bee-line for the base and see what's happening there. This will let you at least have some visibility on how much force you'll be able to project throughout the area. Likely you will have to get an MCV built, which will mean "hanging in there" until your harvester comes back with enough Tiberium to do that and/or going out to find that "missing" harvester. The problem with this approach is that it leaves the evacuation operation "unstarted" and you have no idea of what's going on down there - your mind comes up with a bunch of unpleasant scenarios involving people hunkered down in their homes, slowly running out of food and water and air filters, or getting run down by Nod vehicles.

The village itself is just an hour drive to the south of your current position, while your map indicates that your APCs will have to navigate one of two possible routes between the village in the naval base. So your second option is to head south and just start the evacuation. This approach neglects Beta base, which is not great if Nod decides to launch a follow-up attack to wipe it out completely. You also have your doubts that you'll be able to re-establish comms until you reach the naval base, which will be about two days. At least you hope they have comms.

You could also do a combined approach - detach one or two of your APCs to head south and start the evacuation process while sending the other half to the east. The main problem with this is that it splits your force in two, and you won't have any comms with the group that you detach from yourself until you re-establish them.

You've got your four elite APCs and three infantry squads, in addition to the engineering squad, with all the foot troopers being veteran.

[] Move your entire force east to Beta
[] Move your entire force south to begin evac operations
[] Split the force
-[] Write-in what you send south
-[] Write-in what you send east
-[] Write-in which direction you yourself go