Slavik stood before a large room packed wall to wall with Nod soldiers. He'd been in this position before. Standing on a platform, a massive screen behind him, he was about to make yet another momentous announcement to the Brotherhood.
"Brotherhood! Today I bring you news of the utmost
importance! We are transmitting to
every base and outpost under Nod control because today marks the single most
important day in history! Today Nod is
guaranteed victory over GDI!" He waited
for the enthused cheers to die down. "For too long now, we have been on the defensive-first against GDI, then
Cabal. Now that is all going to
change. At long last we have a weapon
that will give us the world, and finally bring about Kane's dream!"
Behind him, the screen went to a direct feed from the facility holding the Chronosphere. "The image you see is of our new weapon. With it, we can transport any of our forces anywhere in the world in seconds! From now on, there will be no more battles attempting to break past GDI defenses. We will simply appear within the very heart of all of their major bases and destroy them from within! At long last we will be victorious!" At this point, the mass of soldiers was practically mad with enthusiasm. They simply needed one more thing to assure their commitment to this endeavor. "In the name of Kane!" Slavik shouted.
"KANE LIVES IN DEATH!" The words echoed across the world, as if
their fallen leader himself were reaching across from the grave…
* * *
"Alexander…"
"Alex…"
Alex abruptly sat up on the
cot. He looked around at the empty,
blank room. The last several days came
back to him in a rush. They seemed to
be studying him, whoever "they" were. As far as he could tell, there was something about himself that they
weren't sure about. As if he could be
potentially dangerous to them. He
decided to try an experiment of his own. He glanced down at one of the cot's legs. He'd been trying to take it off, partially to pass time,
partially for a potential weapon. Now
he had other ideas.
He gripped the leg, and put all of his willpower into pulling it. It came free with ease. That started to confirm his suspicions. He threw himself against the nearest wall, and started hitting his legs with the cot leg. He concentrated on finding the hidden camera he knew had to be there, heard a small explosion, and continued his self-punishment.
As predicted, a guard came
charging in. Alex glared at him, trying
to send him a mental command. Things
apparently didn't go quite as planned since the guard dropped dead. Alex grabbed his gun and charged out of the
room. Instantly he knew he was on a
Battle Cruiser, but that didn't help him much. He needed an escape vehicle. Turning a corner, he ran into a small group of fully suited marines. Focusing his frustration caused them all to
be thrown against the walls with enough force that Alex heard their bones
crunching.
He ducked into a small room for
a moment to collect his thoughts. His
memory called up a floor plan of the average cruiser, searching for the
hangars. After a few moments, he
remembered the general direction, so headed off carefully. After a few more unpleasant encounters, Alex
found himself in a hangar full of Wraith fighters. To his dismay, there was also just shy of a full complement of
pilots. He tried to further his control
over his abilities, and attempted to confuse the pilots long enough to steal a
ship.
His control was minimal, and as
he concentrated on working the fighter, he saw the pilots scrambling for their
ships. He glared at one and essentially
ripped the piloting ability from his mind. He expertly blasted his way out of the hangar, barely seeing most of the
personnel being sucked into vacuum. He
took a moment to look at the planet they were orbiting before shooting off for
deep space. Was that Mar Sara? Couldn't be. Suddenly, he got warning of several other Wraiths on his tail. Here we go.
He pointed his nose relative
down and kicked the engines to maximum. After a few seconds, he kicked it in a clockwise one-eighty. At that point, the lead enemy was exactly
where he had been moments before. He
launched a pair of missiles that plowed straight through the target before
exploding. The flash of lasers passing
the cockpit drew his attention to an enemy coming "down" from relative up. The enemy just missed colliding with Alex's
engines. In response, Alex swapped end
for end and gave his new target a pair of laser blasts to contemplate. The skillful pilot dodged, then veered off,
trying to get the advantage again. Alex
stayed on his tail, firing bursts of energy when he thought he had a decent
shot.
The other pilot jumped about in
Alex's field of vision, successfully dodging all of his shots. Alex's concentration proved too focused when
a bad shot from behind nearly took his starboard wing off. Alex cut his engines, allowing the pursuer
to shoot ahead, and placing both enemies in good targeting positions. He rolled several degrees and let fly a pair
of missiles. Both projectiles hit dead
on, exploding brilliantly. Luckily not
many fighters got off, and he was left with only two more in his way. He started a head-to-head with the next
before activating his ship's cloaking device. The other pilot veered up, unsure of what to do. Before he made the inevitable decision to
activate his cloak as well, Alex settled in on his tail, and took out his
engines. Alex decloaked, oriented so
that the tops of the two fighters nearly touched. He cloaked again and rolled off just before the last fighter
opened fire on him. Thus, the shots hit
his comrade instead, destroying the front half of the ship.
Alex was about to take out the final enemy when a
massive ship appeared between them. It
was unlike anything he'd ever seen. Whatever it was, one thing about the mammoth ship was obvious-no Terran
ever made it. Somehow, he caught a bit
of some sort of transmission from the aliens, identifying themselves as
"Protoss". Other Protoss ships began to
appear. Just as suddenly, an entire
fleet of battlecruisers arrived to defend the colony. After a brief period of tension, the aliens began to pull
away. Completely confused, but drawn,
Alex shot towards the nearest departing ship, searching for a place to set his
craft. Several alien fighters had been
deployed and were now returning home. Still cloaked, he settled in behind them, hoping there would be enough
room that they wouldn't notice the unwanted guest immediately.
* * *
The time that passed could have
been weeks or months, Slavik wasn't sure. Nod's top scientists had created several slightly smaller versions
of the Chronosphere, to be placed in various bases around the world. The time necessary to prepare and charge the
weapon made it impractical to have only one for the assault he had planned. At that moment, in several locations
globally, the largest army Nod had ever mustered at one time stood ready. A great amount of attack cycles and buggies,
as well as tick tanks, artillery, and flame tanks were preparing to be
transported to key GDI bases. In
addition, the researchers had discovered a way to shield infantry from the
otherwise fatal effects of the chronoshift. Hoards of Nod soldiers had been outfitted with specially armored
uniforms so as to be able to assist the vehicles in their attack.
Also, Slavik intended to send a
group of operatives from the Black Hand of Nod on the most vital mission of
all. They were to chronoshift into the
heart of the orbital station Philadelphia and disable its defenses. Then several squadrons of Banshee fighters
would launch to destroy the station. At
long last, Nod's ultimate moment of glory was at hand. All it awaited was a single word. On the console in front of him, Slavik
pressed a small button. Patched through
to all of the staging areas, he smiled as he uttered a mere syllable.
"Go."
Thousands of miles away, a team
of Nod troops appeared in a GDI base in the Antarctic. The light infantry transported to the
interior of the construction yard eliminated their GDI counterparts and began
setting explosives. Simultaneously,
cycles and tanks blasted their way out of the war factory and tech center. A pair of deployed artillery rained death
upon the perimeter defenses as flame tanks wiped out the confused
infantry.
From an underground bunker came
a test model of the Mammoth Mk. II. The
decimated GDI forces rallied behind it and several Titan mechs. The Mammoth's twin rail guns obliterated the
stationary artillery, while the Titans attempted to fend off the attacking
cycles. A pair of smaller Wolverine-class
mechs fell prey to the team that had destroyed the construction yard. From the distance, a trio of Orca
fighters-the remnants of a squadron that came under immediate attack-harried
the Tick Tanks before a squad of rocket troopers appeared on the scene. The troops' rockets ate through the Orcas in
moments. The Mammoth managed to lumber
its way through much o the attacking force-at the expense of it's Titan defenders-until
finally, Nod transported in a carefully reprogrammed Cyborg Commando. The Commando's incredibly powerful arm gun
made short work of the weakened Mammoth. In little time, the base was flaming rubble.
The scenario was repeated almost
exactly in every one of GDI's major bases. The Initiative had no idea as to how Nod had managed the feat. Finally, Slavik decided to strike the final
blow. From the original Chronosphere in
his own base, a hand picked contingent of Black Hand troops was transported up
to the Philadelphia. Immediately, the Nod commander opened a line to the helipad area. "All Banshee fighters on alert. Be prepared for Operation Omega at my
signal." He set up a link with the
nearest satellite so he could watch the destruction when it occurred.
Transported straight to the
heart of the station, the infiltrators had little to do. They rapidly silenced all nearby infantry,
making sure that none raised an alarm. They went to work on the power and defense systems. Implanting viruses that would completely
shut down all target systems after a set period of time, they gathered to
defend their position. The leader sent
the signal and they waited for the inevitable.
At the signal, Slavik ordered
all Banshees to launch. The sleek, disk
shaped craft lifted from their stations and soared off on their mission.
Slavik sent a message to General
Solomon. "What do you want, Slavik?"
"Only what Nod has always
wanted. I am fulfilling Kane's dream."
"You're a madman."
"Perhaps. But in moments, you'll be a dead man. Which is better?"
"We'll see about that." Solomon ordered his men to activate the
station defenses. At that moment, the
Black Hand's viruses kicked in.
"Sir," said one officer, "Our
defenses are down. Nod has uploaded a
virus into the system. We can't stop
it!"
The radar officer then spoke
up. "Sir, we have several dozen Nod
Banshees on attack vector!"
"What?!"
Slavik laughed. "Didn't I tell you, General? We've won. GDI is finished. The world
belongs to us, and the future belongs to the tiberium age. Goodbye General."
"Slavik!!!"
The smiling, victorious
commander watched as his fighters opened fire on the Philadelphia. The green-hued blasts of energy impacted on
all sides, transforming into blossoming explosions. Finally, his Black Hand operatives carried out their last order. He watched as the bottommost area of the
station was obliterated in one massive explosion. As the Banshees finished their work, several missiles from the
surface vaporized the hollow shell that was left in their wake.
"In the name of Kane…"
My
apologies to GDI fans. It had to be
done for the sake of the story. But
fear not, GDI is still around. Think of
this as the two sides switching places. Where GDI was dominant and Nod was the upstart, now the opposite is
true. Besides, GDI still has a role to
play…
-SykoBeevr
