Chapter 1
"The brotherhood fought another valiant campaign against the sinister armies of GDI. The soldiers fought with bravery unknown to the GDI soldiers. For every initiate taken by GDI, they took ten with them; more news as follows." Jermaine Angus reached over, and hit the power switch for the video screen. It went black with a slight flash, and he returned to eating his breakfast. He brushed his rusty red hair out of his eyes, and picked up another piece of toast. He sat at the small wooden table deep in thought. Why was Nod depicting how brave their soldiers were? Anyone with common sense could tell that they had just simply died. However, anyone with common sense to know that would have enough common sense not to say anything about it. Living deep within Nod controlled territory; they were subject to propaganda and different schooling. They were also subject to execution if they simply looked at a guard wrong. Living here, you had to be very careful on what you said and what you did. The wrong move got you killed, or worse, got your family killed.
Jermy finished his toast, and threw the crust into the garbage. His mother gave him a frown. "You're too skinny to be throwing away good food like that. You know we don't have all the money in the world." His mother was gray with age, but stood tall and firm in her beliefs. She completely believed in Nod and their ways, which is why Jermy said nothing to her about his opinions on what was happening to Nod. One word would get him sent to the nearest guard and shot, it didn't matter that he was her only child; she would not support a 'heretic' as she often called them. Jermy just gave a wide smile which seemed like an ocean of white against his darkly tanned skin. His light blue T-shirt set him apart from everyone else at the school, along with dark blue standard jeans that had rips in the knees from multiple things such as fighting, playing, and simply being clumsy.
"No worries, all I need is a brain in my head and I'm set."
"Then you better go get one." She replied with a quirky smile on her face. No one could tell she was really a Nod fanatic.
Jermy just smiled, and made his way to his backpack by the worn metal counter. He picked it up, and set it on the counter, and prepped his lunch. It consisted of the usual: A ham sandwich, a can of pop, and a tube of vitamin supplements. Jermy's mother claimed it was simply to keep him in tip top shape, but what she really wanted was to one day see her boy in a Nod uniform. He severely hoped that didn't happen. He was a thinker, a planner, not a soldier. He tossed them in a bag, and shoved them into his backpack. He smiled and waved on his way out, and made his way to his car.
Outside, it rank of pollutants and tiberium. Their city was on the very verge of a tiberium field, which was harvested daily by Nod harvesters. It was the main reason there was a heavy presence of Nod soldiers. Even from his door, he saw a squad of five marching their way down the street. The city itself was in a downward spiral. Most of the buildings were decrepit and in need of dire repair, yet none came. They had to make do with makeshift repairs, and went on with their lives. Jermy was thankful that he had the brains to keep things going until they had broken down completely. He had learned the ways of avoiding rust, keeping out infestation, and a many other things that made his life a little more bearable. He sighed, and looked out into the sky. It was dark, and had a slight greenish tinge to it due to the high amounts of tiberium now on growing on the world. The propaganda supported this green crystal, but Jermy knew enough that he should never get near that stuff; the slightest cut, the smallest drop of poison that got into your blood stream and you near immediately started turning into a mutant. He should know, he saw them every day. While they were near immune to it now, they only had a few years to live. He made his way to the beat up car that he called transportation. It used to be a dark blue before years of use, dirt, and tiberium flakes made it slightly brown with a greenish glow at night. Many people would have freaked to know that their car was infected with tiberium, but Jermy knew that the flakes contained too little poison to even turn his little finger green. Just another advantage of being smart. As he entered the car, he tossed his backpack on the ratty seats in the back, and started the car up. It took a couple of tries, but it finally kicked into life. There was still another stop he had to make before getting to school.
As he drove through the broken down city, he could see the mutants that had been kicked out onto the streets, forced to live on the streets due to the fear of being in contact with the green crystal. He kept driving, witnessing the same thing every day, every week, of every year. He felt sorry for them, but at the same time, hated them. He reached into his glove compartment, and shuffled around a couple of papers before grabbing his black shades. He slipped them over his eyes, and closed the compartment. He was not the 'Cool Guy' at school by any standards, but he was well enough known that getting by was not that hard.
His drive took him slightly out of town, past the Nod tiberium refinery, and entered a haven for trailer homes. He drove his way around until he got to a decent trailer with shades over the two windows out front, and scraped white paint. He idled in front of the building for a second, and then slammed the horn. A few seconds later, a well built teenager came bolting out of the trailer, a frying pan in close pursuit. It clanged harmlessly on the ground just a few inches from his feet. Yelling was heard from inside, and then the door closed. Reynold Lewin simply shrugged his shoulders, and walked over to the car. He opened the door, and threw his pack into the back seat with Jermy's. He sat in the car, and closed the door. Jermy looked at him with a wry smile. "Yet another misunderstanding about how the microwave exploded on its own?"
Rey was not a small guy, but neither was he overly big. Living on the outskirts of town had made him muscular, but not to the point of being imposing. His black skin stood out among crowds, and his flashy smile was all that was needed to start a conversation. His bald head often got a few choice jokes from the jocks at the school, but he was quick, and made snappy comebacks that even the jocks couldn't come back from. Eventually, they stopped trying. His black muscle shirt and blue jean shorts with small chains hanging from the pocket gave him that overall 'cool' look. He gave a small smile. "Just because I set it on high for four hours does not mean it was my fault. Besides, this time it was because I ate her supper for tonight. Come on, we don't want to be late for the third time this week."
"No worries Rey, we'll get there." Jermy said as he shifted gears and started heading off. Rey got a mischievous look in his eyes.
"Maybe if you went over the speed limit, we might actually get there early for a change." Rey looked over at Jermy, downright challenging him to do it. One thing he knew about Jermy, he never backed down from a challenge. Jermy shifted gears yet again, and floored it. Rey was suddenly pushed back into his seat as the car sped off at 160 km/h. It was open road for about two minutes before they hit the first turn. This wasn't Jermy's first try at this; he slowed down slightly, and reached beside his seat. There he grabbed the handbrake, and pulled while spinning the wheel to the right. The car drifted, nearly sliding onto the sidewalk on the other side of the street, before pulling out and speeding off again.
The entire time, Rey was cheering and yelling for Jermy to go faster, but he knew his limits. They only had a couple more blocks to go before they got to school. Jermy hit the handbrake again, and spun his wheel to the left. His eyes went wide as he saw a squad of five Nod soldiers crossing the street. He instinctively slammed on the brakes, and swerved to avoid the soldiers, who simply looked at him as he drifted only feet from them. His back end slid, until he finally got control. He drove slowly into the school parking lot, and parked the car in his designated spot. After turning off the car, he realized his breathing was heavy, and he looked over at Rey who was laughing his ass off. "I swear Jermy; you shit your pants back there!" Jermy just shook his head, and stepped out of the vehicle.
After finally reaching the front door, they stepped inside to find that they were early for a change. The first bell had not gone, and the lounge was filled with people. The lounge itself was huge, able to hold at least half of the school population in it at one time. Off to the side was a wall with prayers to Kane that the Nod soldiers had put up there when they first had taken over the place. There was a small concession straight ahead of them where they could get small snacks and drinks. Off to his left were the doors to the gym, and some wooden benches which were currently occupied by some of the so-called jocks of the school. They were currently busy making fun of a kid in grade nine who was busy doing his math homework before first period. "Hey listen Jermy, I got to get some stuff from my locker, and I'll see you first period, alright?"
"Yeah, see you then. I think we have a test first period English." Jermy just slapped his head.
"Shit, I completely forgot about that. I better look those things up once more. See ya later." Jermy waved to his friend as he took the stairs to his right to the second level where there were a few classes and lockers streamed each side of the hallway. Jermy walked forward, and sat himself down at the table in the middle of the lounge. He dropped his bag off to the side of him, and looked around. He was not used to being early, and it felt sort of awkward to be here. He looked over at the corner to see the jocks now looking at him, or apparently at him. Their gaze seemed to pass over him, and he realized what it must be, for he heard someone sit right across from him.
"Hey Jermy, I was wondering if you could tell me what homework we had yesterday?" Jermy looked back to see one of the most popular girls in the school sitting across from him. Vicky Almira. Her hair was naturally red and long enough that it reached to her shoulders in a curly fashion. Her bangs were just over her eyes, and her face had a sharp beauty to it; one that said 'I'm nice until you piss with me." She wore a black Nod T-shirt that was a size too small that it would be tight; such was the image that she was supposed to uphold, along with blue jeans that were also a size too small. She looked at him with innocent eyes. She had always been nice to him, even before he was accepted by everyone. Jermy still had no idea why, he had never done anything for her before except the small things. He looked her in the eyes, and felt his face go red, he quickly looked down into his backpack and pulled out a binder.
"As far as I know, for math we had questions one to nine in section four point three. Other than that I don't think we had any other homework for a change." He kept his gaze to his book, pretending to look for any other homework.
"Thanks Jermy, see you in first period." Her voice was cheerful and kind, the only one out of the entire population of the 'popular' girls. Unless you were a jock, they really didn't pay attention to you. He let out a breath he didn't know he had been holding. He looked behind him to see them smiling menacingly at him. He knew he was going to be the butt end of some joke, but he could get through that. Vicky went and sat with them, and started a conversation. They stopped staring at him to talk to Vicky. Then the bell rang. It was time for first class.
The inside of classroom was not overly huge, but was able to hold thirty kids no problem. On the walls were quotes from books and art projects done from classes before them. At the back of the class was Ms. Paget at her wooden desk. She was not overly old, but enough to be classified as old. She was not the most liked teacher, but she got her point across and kept everyone's grades high. Even those who refused to cooperate by forcing them to work with the grade nines if they refused. That was a humiliation worse than death in this school; a grade twelve working with grade nines. At the front were two whiteboards where Ms. Paget did most of her teaching.
Jermy sat in the middle in the third row of five from the left wall. Beside him sat his faithful friend Rey and a couple desks ahead of him sat Vicky. To his right sat his most hated classmate, Devin Peers. This guy was the very definition of arrogance, and was also one of the 'in' group. So he had plenty of backup if it ever came to fists. He looked over at Jermy, and gave a wicked smile. His brown hair was shaped into a crew cut, and he wore a black T-shirt with the Nod symbol as most of the other kids did now. He wore silky red shorts with black stripes, and had several scars on his face from a variety of sports. With his muscles, he was able to take down anyone in this school. Ms. Paget strode to the front of the class.
"Attention class, today we have a test, so I want a pencil and eraser out. Everything else goes on the floor. I have to get more copies, so I will be right back." She strode out of the room, and as soon as she did, the whole room broke into loud conversations. Jermy turned to talk to Rey, but felt a hand on his shoulder.
"So nerd, you going to get another ninety just to prove you got all brains and no balls?"
Jermy had picked up a few things from Rey, and he knew what to say here. "At least I have one." A confused look came over Devin's face, and then it turned to anger.
"So, you think your some hot shit huh? You are pathetic; you couldn't hold your own against a little doggy the size of your dick!"
"Then that would be a really big dog."
Devin shoved, forcing Jermy out of his seat, but he was up before Devin could get over the seat. The whole room had gone quiet, watching to see what would happen. There was a slight stand still as both of them stared at each other, hatred and anger filling in their eyes. Then Devin laughed. "You don't have enough muscle on you to hurt my pinky, you're a waste of time, but I like time well wasted." Without warning, he came rushing at Jermy, who stepped to the side to avoid the first blow, only to be hit by a backhand from the other hand. The force drilled him to the ground, and Devin was on him in an instant. Just as he was about to land the first punch, a black hand grabbed his arm, and threw him off of Jermy. Rey pulled Jermy to his feet, and they both looked Devin, who had called a few of his buddies to help him.
"I knew you would have your black-ass friend help you out. You're a skinny piece of shit that couldn't hold up a glass of water, let along take me down." Jermy shrugged, and kicked at the nearest desk in front of him. The desk went sliding, and hit Devin in the thigh with enough force to double him over.
"I don't know why you're complaining Devin; after all, you have nothing left anyways." He reeled back up, and he and his friends charged them. Right before the first blow could connect, someone yelled.
"Enough!" It was so demanding of authority, that it even forced Devin and his friends to stop. Everyone turned around to see five Nod soldiers at the door; able to stand there unnoticed through all the confusion. "You both are pathetic! Neither one of you would be able to stand a day against GDI. Everyone sit!" There were no questions as the desks were straightened out and everyone sat down. Jermy brought his hand to his face to find that his nose was bleeding slightly, but he guessed now was a bad time to go check it out. The man who had yelled strode to the front of the class; donned in the standard Nod light infantry armor except for his helmet. Just from his facial expression, you could tell what sort of person this man was. His bald head radiated experience in the field, his eyes projected hatred, anger, ferocity, and determination. His mouth spoke authority and charisma. The other four Nod soldiers took their stance beside him. Two on either side with their pulse rifles held across their chests. The man took a quick look around the room, and his face switched to disgust. "This is all you have? This is worthless! None the less, orders are orders. My name Sergeant Burke and you all had better remember that! I don't have time to baby sit a bunch of spoiled brats. You are, as of this moment, conscripted into Kane's army."
A couple of gasps and shocked expressions mixed with happy faces and ecstatic yells were enough to make the sergeant pause for a second. Jermy didn't know what to think, he had never thought he would find himself fighting in this war; neither did he really want to. Suddenly a girl stood up, one of the popular spoiled girls by the name of Ashley. She was an outspoken person in the class, but she was built like a stick with curves. There was no way she could hold her own in a fight. "Well what about girls, we don't have to fight do we?"
Sergeant Burke gave her an angry glare. "Are you saying you do not want to fight in the name of Kane!?"
She was about to reply, but the glare from Burke kept her silent. Then Ms. Paget came back to the room. "Alright class, everyone be…" She stood shocked at the door, and dropped her papers. Her mouth went to move, but nothing came out. Burke made a pointing finger out the door, and she complied without saying anything; striding away from the class in a shocked stupor.
He made one more scan around the room, stopping to look at Rey, then Jermy, and finally Devin. Jermy didn't know what to make of it, and by Rey's shocked expressoion, he didn't know what to make of it either. "Alright, as of now, you are in training, everyone outside!" A few people looked at each, but a shot of a pulse rifle by one of the soldiers got everyone moving.
Once outside, he had everyone lined up, and a couple of subterranean APC's came drilling out of the ground just in front of the school; grinding up the ground as if it were water. Jermy looked around and could tell people wanted to ask questions, to tell the soldiers off, but no one was brave enough to. The sergeant started barking out names for each APC, and Jermy found himself with Rey, Vicky, and Devin. They made their way over, and patiently made their way in. Then the door closed, and a dim light came on. He looked around. These weren't just kids from his grade, there was kids from grade nine, ten and eleven here as well. They had just conscripted the whole school. He looked over at Vicky, who would have appeared to not have been unfazed by this if her hands had not been shaking uncontrollably. Devin tried to comfort her, but she quickly shrugged him off. She cast a quick glance at Jermy, and then returned to staring ahead. Devin caught the glance, and looked at Jermy, his mouth shaped into a sneer. Jermy looked away quickly.
"You have any idea where we're going?" Rey asked him.
"Most likely a training camp just outside city limits, at least, I think that's where we're going. These things aren't meant for long travel underground."
"Well shit, how the hell are we going to get out of this one?"
"Simple Rey, we do what we're told, and hopefully we don't get shot."