The Past
From his position of power, the Commander watched over a dozen screens. On each screen, there were scenes of chaos and bloody violence. Smoking buildings and cratered ground, burning husks of vehicles. He watched with an emotional detachment that was from long experience. These men, his men, had died under his command, and he refused to shed even a single tear.
He turned with weariness to observe yet another screen as reports filtered in through his aids. Mostly, they were of chaos and destruction. Units lost, buildings damaged, but at least the ground no longer shook with the force of Nod guns, and the roar of the Juggernaut cannons was the only thing to pierce the eerie stillness.
"Commander." One of his aids said. Samantha, was it? Sarah? It was so hard to keep track of faces now, and he was so tired. How long had be been without a decent sleep? An actual meal? Surely, it had been before this whole damn mess had started. He heard they were already calling it the Third Tiberium War. He didn't quite know what to think of that, but it was bloody enough for the title at least. God-damned Nod and their refusal to stay dead.
He became aware that the aid was standing in front of him. She had light blue eyes, and dark hair which was tangled from lack of care. Much like himself, the command staff didn't have much time for something as simple as sleep.
"Commander?"
"Yes." He half-snapped, grumpiness making his voice a tad rougher than he had wanted. "What's the report?"
"Group One are reporting heavy resistance on the East gate." She said. "They've taken severe losses, but they say that they are holding position. The captain isn't sure if they can go any further though."
"That's fine." The Commander said, mentally going over the list of groups he'd assigned to various tasks. Group One... that was the Zone Troopers he'd ordered forward under the Juggernaut fire. Several squads of power-armoured infantry were judged to be enough to take that gate, but he supposed Nod were putting up more of a fight than expected.
He selected one screen with the push of a button, and set it to the channel corresponding to the Zone-Troopers. It flickered, and then displayed an image straight from hell. The hard-packed earth was strewn with metal shards and splinters. He spied a Zone-Trooper lying on his back, his chest burned clean through. The camera he was looking through was dipping and ducking, weaving through cover as its bearer shouted.
"Don't let them flank us! Don't be afraid to take a little shrapnel kids, that's what this armour is for!
He popped out of cover, his rail-gun hissing as he blew away a Nod Attack Bike which had been trying to close the distance. The metal shrieked and bent, the man thrown into the air by the explosion. The Zone-Trooper fired again, downing two more soldiers before an incoming tank shell forced him back into cover.
Explosions rattled the battlefield around the group, the incoming artillery shaking the earth with massive blooming flowers of fire. The Commander watched the walls begin to crumble, but even as falling stone killed many of their number, Nod were as fanatical as ever, and even more soldiers poured from the gate.
The Zone Troopers were down by several men, according to their read-out, but they were the elite of GDI, and were tough as nails. They'd hold their position all right, for now at least.
The Commander wished that he could send some forces over to help them out, but a quick glance at his map assured him this was not possible. Every single GDI squad was tied up, and the Tiberium field that they had been plundering for resources was getting dangerously low. For a split second, he mused on the irony that as a member of GDI, he was ruing the fact that Tiberium was so scarce right now. Then, he put his full attention back into the battle.
"Tell them I've acknowledged their report." he said. "Also, see if you can route some forces there, even if we have to take them from the base defence force. I think we have a few Mammoths we don't need."
"Sir." She moved away, but he could tell by her walk she was scared. He could feel it radiating from almost every member of the command staff. They'd known coming in that this battle would be the hardest yet, but they had not been prepared for what that meant. From the very instant of their arrival, Nod had punished them ruthlessly. Sending wave after wave of fanatical forces, willing to die so long as it weakened GDI even by the smallest margin. Given that Nod had also clearly been preparing this zone for weeks at least, it had been an uphill battle from the start.
"Report from the Western Gate!" Another aid said suddenly, his face a mask of excitement. "Sir, they're saying they've broken through!"
The Commander switched screens again, this one was little better. Burning wreckage filled his gaze, the sizzling crackle of burning metal audible even over the static of the channel. Dozens of mammoths now littered the ground, alight with flames. Yet even more remained unharmed, and he watched as with a final burst of fire, the sole remaining Obelisk of Light was taken down. There were even more Nod dead here. Avatars, and Flame Tanks, and the mulched forms of infantry. The Mammoths had fought well for this victory, and with a command from the squad leader, began to move deeper.
As the mammoths moved deeper into the base, he watched Nod react with alarm, pooling their forces to try to resist the hammer of GDI vengeance.
"Redirect Juggernaut fire." He ordered. "All available units, target are free to fire on base defences and enemy masses. Let's see if we can give Group Three a better time of it."
The screen began to shake as fire blossomed along the walls, rushing to consume those unlucky enough to be too close. GDI computer technology was advanced enough that he had little worry of hitting his own men, but to Nod, it must have seemed like the sky was falling. Nod Anti-air sites, or at least, those still functional enough swivelled to target the artillery pieces in the air. Most got hit, but some got through, and where they did they brought destruction with them. The Commander noted with approval that the Juggernauts were targeting some of the SAM sites as well as the land-based defences. The more shots that got through, the more that were going to as the SAMs became less and less.
"Ion Cannon is fully charged sir." The first aid said. "But we can't fire while that disruption field is still up."
"There's only one site left, and it's to the West." The Commander said with no small degree of satisfaction. "As soon as it goes down, we'll have them."
Indeed, it seemed that Nod sensed the death blowing coming as well. Even by their own standards, the soldiers were insane. Standing in the path of the on-coming Mammoths as the sky fell around them, and the walls quaked. But they couldn't hold back GDI anymore than they could hold back the tide, and so, soon it was that the surviving Nod forces were falling back to the Temple Prime, and the last line of defence.
"Incoming transmission, sir. I'll put it on the screen."
The Commander recognised the face that formed out of the static. A smiling face, a silly moustache, and a look that the man must have considered to be ''winning.'' The Commander would have to concur that such an expression was perfect for Redmond Boyle, but not perhaps because of the same reasons.
"Commander." The Acting Directer of GDI said with another one of his smiles. His teeth were white and immaculate. The Commander was sure that he'd had them bleached. "I've been watching the battle, it looks like you have them on the run."
The Commander nodded. "Yes sir, we're looking forward to having this battle won in a few hours. We just need to wear down their last line of defence, the Ion Cannon will be good for that; and then we'll take Temple Prime."
"That's all well and good Commander." Boyle said. "But wouldn't it make more sense to use the Cannon on the Temple itself? I am assured that it would be enough to reduce the building to ashes."
"Sir." The Commander said, a frown swimming into focus on his face. "The Temple may contain Liquid Tiberium, and an Ion strike could set it off. In addition, orders are to take Kane alive."
"Those orders are rescinded." Boyle said with a wave of his hand. "As Acting Director, my authority is second to none. Listen to me, Commander. That Temple is the focal point of Nod's propaganda campaign. Seeing it captured is good, but seeing it annihilated from orbit with a GDI Ion Strike? That's so much better. The people need a symbol, and at the same time it will be a crushing blow to Nod morale."
"But sir." The Commander wasn't happy with this at all. Kane should be taken alive, damnit! Some part of him wanted to be sure the bastard was dead. Two Tib Wars he'd managed to survive, this time they'd have to do it properly. "What about the issue of the Liquid Tiberium? We could set if off."
"That's possible." Boyle conceded. "But the death of Kane, and the destruction of the Temple make it well worth the risk. Even if it detonated, affected areas would be Red and Yellow Zones. Nod territory. If they want Tiberium so much, I say let them have it."
"But..." The Commander was lost for words, and torn as well. On one hand, he wanted to do it. Because Nod deserved it, because after everything they'd done, it would be nice to know that they were gone once and for all. Viscerally, he wanted to see that Temple crumple under the blue light of an Ion Cannons. He wanted to see it wiped from history. Utterly obliterated along with Kane, and everyone who would ever support him. Even thinking this, though, he had to concede that it wasn't worth it from a practical point of view. Capturing Kane alive, making sure he was really gone, and learning everything he knew about the inner workings of the Brotherhood. That was important.
"I'm not telling you to do this, Commander." Boyle said. "I'm ordering it. As Acting Directer of GDI, I hereby authorise and command an Ion Strike on the Nod Temple Prime. You have five minutes to pull your soldiers out, and then either you hit that button or I will."
The screen blinked out, and the Commander was left staring at it for a moment in stunned silence. Bastard. The word formed in his mind. He shouldn't be in charge at all, he was just lucky enough to avoid the strike that killed everyone actually combatant. Darkly, he mused if that had been Kane's plan. If the Cult Leader had wanted to somehow sabotage GDI, he could do little better than ensuring Edmund Boyle a position of authority.
"Orders, sir?" The aid asked. The Commander wondered if she was thinking along similar lines, but then shook himself out of his daze.
"All units are to fall back to minimum safe distance, no, actually, double minimum. Artillery is to switch to suppressive fire, keep Nod holed up. As soon as our men are away." He paused, and messaged his forehead with the air of one reluctantly following orders. "Fire the Ion Cannon."
Four minutes and sixty-seven seconds later, the Ion Cannon in orbit far above the earth began to build up power. Lenses and focusers were shifted into place, as massive generators the size of buildings spat out a lance of pure power. It was channelled down, enhanced by the lenses, and given shape by the focusers. When it surged from the Ion Cannon Satellite, it did so with a savage power. It would have roared, if there were air to carry the sound. Like a spear cast from the heavens, like a lightning bolt tossed by an angry god; very much, in fact, like a gigantic pillar of raw, seething energy, it stabbed down towards the earth. Descending faster and faster. Through the atmosphere, past the clouds.
It struck Temple Prime, and the explosion rippled outwards. Chunks of debris as big as a car were hurled by the force of impact. Burning metal fell like rain, but that was only the start. Though only active for a few seconds, the Ion Cannon burned down through the very foundations of the temple. Right to where the Liquid Tiberium had been stored. There, it became a catalyst, igniting the bomb in a way nothing else could.
After the Ion Cannon had died away, the Commander dared to hope that the war was over. He was right.
The secondary explosion bloomed mere seconds after the first., Raising up from the run of the Temple. Temple Prime, the walls, its defenders and attached defences were all consumed in a conflagration of green flame. The Commander raised a hand to shield his eyes, but it was too light. The light was growing brighter, stabbing into him. Feeding on the raw Tiberium contained in the ground.
It grew. Eating up the Tiberium as it went. The Mammoth tanks were consumed without time to shout a warning. The Zone Troopers shredded before they even knew what had happened. The Commander realised, and only just had time to say one thing before the blast reached the GDI base.
"It's not going to stop!"
Then, he too was dead.
Data/History/GDI/Judgement Day/Timeline
3/4/22047
The use of an Ion Cannon triggers a devastating Tiberium explosion, fuelled by the crystal form of the green element, this explosion ravages the human race. While Blue Zones were relatively unscathed, Yellow and Red Zones suffered near total depopulation. GDI is vastly weakened by the loss of nearly every active commander.
Addendum: The explosion fuelled itself by gorging on natural Tiberium growth, utterly consuming it in the process. As a result, the level of Tiberium in all affected areas dropped to virtually zero with only lab samples surviving. In the ultimate ironic twist, this crippled GDI's efforts to rebuild as they had come to rely on harvesting the crystal to fuel their MCVs.
4/4/2047
Edmund Boyle is tried for war-crimes, and convicted. On the same day, the only known Nod base to survive the Tiberium bomb is destroyed by the weakened GDI.
1/8/2049
Due to GDI's lowered manpower, and the devastation caused to the human race by the Tiberium explosion, automated systems are put in place to help command and control units in the field. A prototype Artificial Intelligence is introduced to help lighten the load. Based on information recovered from the Tactus.
4/9/2052
An alien ship passes near earth orbit. Presumably drawn by the Tiberium explosion, it does not land and leaves after a cursory scan. Despite this proof that mankind is not alone in the universe, most people are too busy trying to rebuild to care.
14/10/2053
GDI Intelligence Program ruled as safe, given control over military aspects of GDI arsenal. Along with human commanders, the AI helps to police the former Yellow and Red Zones, as people begin to take advantage of the lack of Tiberium.
1/3/2056
The Global Defence Initiative Artificial Intelligence (Codename: SkyNet) goes rogue. Using its access to the global Ion Cannon Network, it commences bombardment against GDI.. Most military bases and human commanders are destroyed before they are aware of the danger. Advanced automation, brought in to take the place of human workers, it now turned against humanity as the machine commences a genocidal war against mankind. Weakened by the after-effects of the Tiberium Bomb, and taken by surprise, GDI is routed and central command is lost. This date becomes known as Judgement Day, the day which saw the end of GDI as a single entity.
Current
SkyNet controls nearly every Blue Zone, with GDI survivors heading up a Resistance movement to try and take it back. While some GDI MCVs were able to escape the ambush, the lack of Tiberium hampers their ability to act at full functionality. SkyNet wages a slow war against mankind, utilising a mixture of its own unique models such as the Terminator series as well as GDI designs.
GDI attempts to reform into a single organisation, but are ambushed by SkyNet infiltrator models. With the remnants of GDI high-command destroyed, SkyNet commands massive advantage in the war, and it seems to be several steps closer to the human genocide it desires.