(AN: I grew up on the Command and Conquer series, beginning with Tiberian Sun and Red Alert 1, so I consider myself well-entrenched in the CnC universe. However, the world of Tiberian Dawn has always fascinated me, since it is the hardest of the games [I've only just won the Allies campaign of RA1], and yet there is so much interesting lore to be learned therein.)
(Which brings us here. A while ago, I had the idea for this story and began mental work on it with each installment of the Tiberium series, though I stopped once CnCIV came out [that just stream-lined the story far too much]. I've also gone back to the world of Tiberian Dawn to tell the back-story of our character. This is his story, told from beginning to end.)
Brotherhood
Yugoslavia: 1996
Pyotr was one of the many young men packed almost inhumanely into the black APC. They did not know where they were going, only that what they were doing made sense when they signed up for it. The man in black and red who had stood in the streets of Zagreb and preached of Kane and his vision had moved them with his words. They each, to a man and woman, left their lives behind in the bombed-out streets of Zagreb and joined this new movement the man said would change history and the world.
Hours passed and suddenly the APC came to a lurching halt. The man in black and red walked toward the door and opened it, spilling light upon them and himself. He was clad in black and red kevlar, with a black cloak tied to his shoulders with a chain: upon the cloth was a red triangle with flattened points and the tail of a scorpion within the symbol.
"Out," he said to those in the APC. "Make your way down and gather in a group around the APC."
One by one, moving like cattle into narrow stalls, Pyotr and the others made their way out of the APC and formed a loose group just out front of the mouth of the armored vehicle. The cloaked man stood up on the roof of the APC and picked up a bull-horn, into which he spoke to them all.
"Welcome to Outpost Scorpion," the man began. "My name is Urim, and I will be your Confessor. You have been brought here because you have chosen to join the Brotherhood of Nod. A commitment to the Brotherhood is life-long and cannot be revoked or recanted. Nevertheless, you have been brought here because your minds are open to the vision of Kane: a future where all of the problems of our world are ended by the gift of Tiberium. Our purpose is to bring this vision to life with the tools that the mind of our great visionary have brought to life: the technology of peace.
"You leave who you were behind you when you passed through these gates," Urim continued. "Look to the man or woman standing beside you: they are your brothers. You will live and die at their side, knowing that you will live on through your brothers and sisters, and, by living on through them, inherit the blessing of Divination that Kane shall bestow to all loyal followers of Nod! Repeat after me: Brotherhood! Unity! Peace!"
One by one, the people chanted this mantra over and over, and Pyotr along with them. For him, this was his one chance. Life in Zagreb had been hell, and the promise of a better tomorrow was more than enough for him to join this new coalition, which seemed to have all the answers in a cruel, ever-changing world.
The Brotherhood of Nod.
(AN: I know that might not be much to go on, but I will definitely go into greater detail in the next chapter. In fact, I plan on going into more detail, both on the story and the Tiberium universe in the next chapter.)