"Report, Commander?" Kane didn't sound too happy.

"Ummm…the GDI has taken three of our perimeter outposts. Shall I send my team of Rockets to handle it? Or perhaps…?"

"Stop whining, and start doing. You have 8 hours to bring the GDI in the region to their collective knees. Understood?" With that, he was gone.

The commander looked at his watch and started sweating. "Lieutenant, start pulling Cyborg Division 3 and Rocket Division 2 out of Austin and into our main base area. Belay that…desperate times call for desperate measures. Any word on the Incenerators in stock?"

The Lieutenant shook his head.

"Oh, well. We'll have to skip the field-testing. Bring the Incenerators to our main base. From there, we will destroy whatever meager foothold the terrorists have on our land…"

***

"Haha!" An idiotic grin split Chandra's face. "We're killin' them! 3 of their outposts have been destroyed, another is about to fall, and more troops are on the way!"

"Don't get too puffed up yet, soldier-Kane is no idiot, and neither are his commanders. They'll find a way." Mac said cautiously.

"If you say so…wait, we are getting a message from EVA. Patching it through now…"

A feminine mechanical voice filled the intercom channel. "Several NOD subterranean tanks have surfaced approximately 20 kilometers away from our main attack force. Also, a squad of Cyborgs has been located patrolling the area around Dallas-Fort Worth. Suggested course of action?"

"Let's not overreact here. Hmm…maybe a dozen Titans for the subterranean tanks…a couple jump-jets for the Cyborgs…"

"Why don't we send an entire division of each? It'd be a cool battle!"

Sigh. "We don't even know if it's a real attack, Chandra. It'd be stupid to send that much of our force to one place at this time!"

"Oh."

"Proceed with the plan, EVA. Update our progress every couple of minutes."

"Proceeding…"

***

Oxxana stepped gingerly out of her subterranean tank. "We need to do this quickly. The GDI has already detected us and is probably sending a scouting force. Hopefully, our new "fireflies" will take them down."

"Yes, sir. CABAAL, unload the T-160 Incenerators, authorization code 321498A."

"As you wish."

They didn't look like much-they were only about 4 meters tall, 3 meters wide, and 3 meters deep. But they were good. Very good.

"Let's review T-160C's progress. T-160C, move 3 meters to the right." she barked.

It complied. A smile turned up the corner of Oxxana's lips.

"Activate sensors and scan for GDI troops and vehicles. Report!"

"Six GDI Titans spotted in grid 168. Nominal danger, arming high-yield seeker explosives." Its voice was a replica of CABAAL's.

The T-160C moved up to the slope above our tank. Oxxana could barely make out the shape of the titans, even with binoculars.

"T-160C, destroy all enemies in the area."

"Complying…"

She watched as it extended its right 'arm' and saw 6 2-foot-long missile-like objects load into its 'wrist'.

"Missiles programmed. Firing."

6 shapes streaked out in the same direction. The commander's eyebrows knotted. It isn't working! He was just about to give up when the cluster of missiles separated, each one heading for a titan. Within seconds, the 6 titans were merely heaps of burning garbage.

"Well," he said excitedly, "they work!"

"Yes, they do." Oxxana replied coolly. "We should report this to Kane."

The commander wiped sweat off his brow. Now Kane won't try to kill me!

They proceeded to walk back to the subterranean tank. "CABAAL, contact Kane for me. Tell him…tell him that things are going very well."

"As you wish."

***

Mac almost dropped his cigar. "What do you mean, EVA? What could possibly wipe out those titans in the space of 3 subterranean tanks? We had them upgraded with the best armor and weaponry in the world!"

"Or so you thought." Chandra was trying to make a joke.

Mac gave him a withering stare. "Very funny, Chandra. You know how you've been complaining about your job? Well, there is one at the garbage management center…"

"All right, all right." With that, he was gone.

"All the information that we can obtain from the wreckage is that they were destroyed by high-energy impact shells. What could fire on them at that range without them seeing…that still remains a mystery.

"On a lighter note, the Cyborgs have been eliminated. I have pulled out all GDI troops from the attack until we can determine what destroyed our titans."

"EVA, do you think that they could mask a vehicle with some sort of electromagnetic stealth technology?"

"That would be impossible. Our titans are equipped with long-range EM sensors; it would have registered. Scanning battle site anyway…there appears to be some residual EM readings, but they are very faint and are approximately 3 meters off the ground."

"Some sort of seeker drone, maybe?"

"Again, that would be very unlikely. A drone capable of locking on to a titan and receiving commands would have to have a remarkable internal processor. That processor would have to be at least a couple of cubic feet in volume, but the signals are too faint to indicate such a device."

"Keep on scanning and drawing conclusions. I'll be doing some research myself."

"Acknowledged."

***

Kane's voice sounded pleased over the 'testing' of the new T-160s. "Very good, CABAAL. I expect that the GDI will be like putty in our hands once this new terror is installed in our arsenal."

"I would hope so." That was as close as CABAAL got to sounding amused.

"I haven't really reviewed the specifics of the machine though, CABAAL; tell me, what exactly sets it apart from the other NOD weapons?" Oxxana asked CABAAL after the transmission ended.

"The hull and computer core is comprised of several elements-titanium, nickel, and iron."

"Why iron?" Oxxana asked incredulously.

"To prevent capture of the unit by GDI forces. The T-160's circuitry is coated with liquid nitrogen, which will rust the core to the point of no repair."

"Then how does it operate?" She asked, slightly annoyed.

"An electromagnetic field keeps the liquid oxygen separate from the iron."

"I see. Anything else unusual?"

"It's 51 THz central processor, capable of doing 51 trillion operations per second, is a considerable step over the GDI Titan's processor; a mere 4.6 THz. To accomplish this, we developed a .05-micron microarchitecture instead of the standard .15. Only one plant in the continental U.S. can produce that type of processor."

"You lost me with the specifications, CABAAL. Anyway, why all the extra speed? These things cost 22,000 units of tiberium to make…each!"

"The speed is necessary to perform the function that makes it so effective. The creators, namely myself and NOD's leading scientists, gave the T-160 programming that enables it to identify the unit type, hull composition, rate of movement, and many more things about the enemy. Subsequently it takes all the variables into consideration and selects the weapon type that would be most effective. In the final stage, it programs the trajectory of the weapon and can control, in most cases, its speed and altitude from a distance of over 2 miles."

"No wonder it costs that much. What exactly-"

"I can answer no more questions at this time; Kane has need of me." With that, his image disappeared off of her view screen.

A little more than puzzled, Oxxana set the tank to the coordinates of the main GDI base.

***

Bleary-eyed, Mac activated EVA. "Have you found anything yet?"

"I believe so. A forensic radio-band scan showed a high-frequency signal following the Titans' destroyers."

"So they are being controlled by a master-vehicle?"

"That is my hypothesis. Apparently, NOD has acquired the technology to employ seeker devices on high-yield explosives."

"One more thing, EVA…a metallurgical scan of the ground where the EM signals originated showed traces of iron, titanium, and nickel on the ground. That must be what our new 'destroyer's' hull composition."

"Agreed. It is in my opinion that we cannot be useful here any longer. My suggestion would be to gather all forces around the main base area, and wait for the attacker to arrive."

"Will do." Flashing a grin at the computer screen, he started bellowing orders to Chandra and his other subordinates.

***

The first thing that General Solomon did when he heard about the 'destroyer' was to contact Kane.

"What have you been up to, Kane?"

"Me, up to something?" His innocent smile turned into a grimace of hatred. "You have disturbed us for the last time. If my new toy passes its field testing, I might not have to infest the world with tiberium to eliminate you all."

"That's what they all say, Kane. And you know what…they always fail."

A mirthless grin appeared on his face. "Not this time, Solomon. This one will top anything you've ever seen…wait, it seems you won't have to wait too long!" He flipped a switch on his side of the communication.

Immediately, his viewscreen was centered along the main Titan production facility in northern Texas. "Why are you showing me this, Kane?" he asked irritably.

"Believe me, Solomon…I'm not wasting your time."

As if in response, 2 lone machines came into view. The Titans guarding the facility started moving to intercept.

"And now…" Kane's voice triumphantly trailed off.

All of a sudden, a flurry of missiles exploded out of the 2 machines. General Solomon could only watch as his Titans were blown apart in an Armageddon-type fashion.

"Turn it off." Solomon was shaking with rage. "You'll pay for this Kane. I'll see to it."

"This time, the angry landlord visits your house…to deliver an eviction notice!" Kane's maniacal laughter filled the intercom until Solomon turned it off.

"Find a way to destroy it!"