Chapter 3

Richard was at the Nod Broadcasting Center. He was about to make a speech that everyone around the world was about to see. He received the cue. "Ladies and gentlemen," he began, "The Brotherhood of Nod signed a peace treaty with the Global Defensive Initiative and the Forgotten three years ago. We have abided by that treaty. However, now, renegade mutant forces have declared war on us. They fired a multi-projectile chemical warhead at us, which nearly took out the Tiberium storage facilities at our labs. Those labs are the places where we have been developing treatments and studying Tiberium. We also have a hospital facility here, and there we treat Tiberium poisoned patients. It was only because of the heavy armor that our silos have that prevented an explosion that would have destroyed that area and killed hundreds of our scientists, soldiers, and patients. However, the renegade mutants not only used a missile on us, they used a chemical weapon. That is a weapon of mass destruction, and since they used it, we will respond in kind. We have no kind of problem with GDI or the Forgotten, but we will not tolerate an attack on our facilities." He signed off and went back to base. He needed to see Carol with his own eyes to assure himself that she was okay.

McNeil was not happy. The renegade mutants had used chemical weapons on Nod. The new Nod was something he was beginning to like. They had even made progress in repaying for all the crimes they had perpetrated. GDI would also not tolerate the use of such a weapon. They would support Nod in this one for sure.

Luklas, the new leader of the Forgotten, was in a similar mood. Nod had been actually helping the Forgotten with several cases of extreme Tiberium poisoning and actually saving several lives. However, the extremists had gone to far. To use a chemical missile was simply unacceptable. If they expected that the rest of the Forgotten would support them, they were sadly mistaken.

Richard sat next to the bed. He knew enough about medical stuff that he understood what the monitors were. So far, everything was stable and several things were improving. They had confirmed that she no longer had any Tiberium in her system through a series of tests. Also, the baby was fine as well. That was what he needed to know. However, he had to get back to work. There was work to be done. He had a war to conduct.

The three Nod soldiers were eating dinner. They were in a base in Siberia. "Why the hell are we here?" one complained. "This is a ballistic missile site," another said, "We have to make sure no one tries to mess with it." "Who the hell is going to mess with us?" said the third. Then, the broadcast from Israel came through. That shut up the first and third officers. "Shit," said the second officer, "Those bastards." "Attacking a medical and science facility?" said the first, "I might understand a military installation, but the research facilities at Jerusalem? The people there are trying to help those mutants!" "Someone is going to pay for this," said the third. Just then, they heard the alarms for all personnel to clear the launch area. "What in the world? They're actually going to launch!" said the first. "They are so dead," said the third.

Richard watched as the missiles approached the mutant base. A satellite was overhead and they were watching the activity in the mutant base. They must have been oblivious to what was about to happen. They even saw two large convoys enter the base and start unloading. It was quite obvious they were weapons. There was even three Tick Tanks on tank transporters. Two minutes until the missiles impacted. The mutants finally reacted. Their radar system must have finally detected them. However, it was too late. The ballistic missiles had the power of nuclear weapons without the radiation fallout. There was no way they would survive. Missiles took off from SAM sites, but the jamming systems ensured that they were unable to track the missiles. When the missiles landed, a massive explosion ripped the entire area apart. It was five minutes later that everything cleared and they were able to see the area. There was almost nothing left. Even the Tiberium in the sector had been destroyed. It was a radius of two and a half miles with nothing but a desolate desert where a lush grassland and forest had been. "Send in troops to sweep the area," Richard ordered, "Anyone still alive, kill them unless they aren't mutants or are children or mothers with children." "Yes sir," said the major. Richard then received a call from the doctor treating Carol. "Is everything all right?" he asked anxiously. "Well, we're not sure," said the doctor, "It seems that the baby was slightly affected. Nothing extreme or anything. We think it just changed the hair and eye color. However, your child might exhibit strange abilities or such." "But there is nothing harmful?" he asked. "No," doctor reassured him, "That is the only thing we think will happen." "Good," said Richard, "As long as nothing unhealthy happens." Richard hanged up.

Carol woke in a hospital room. Her memory was a little fuzzy but she recalled what had happened. She remembered hearing voices during her time unconscious, but couldn't really make out what they said. Just then, a nurse came in. "You're awake," she said, "Doctor! Dr. Ross is awake!" A doctor hurried in. "Everything okay?" he asked. Carol nodded. "What about the other people?" "We're treating all of them," said the doctor, "They were exposed only for a short period of time, so we were able to save them all." "That's good," she said. "They have you to thank," said the doctor, "Some of the treatments we used were developed by you." Carol smiled at the comment. It was true. The doctor sent a message, probably to Richard since he ran in a few minutes later. "You okay?" he asked. Carol smiled and nodded. "That's good." The doctor and nurse had left. "Why didn't you tell me?" asked Richard. "About what?" "You're pregnant," he said. Carol gasped. It seemed even she hadn't known. Richard smiled. "It's a girl," he said. "But the chemicals!" she said. "The doctors say that there might be a hair and eye color difference, and that would be about it." Carol sighed in relief. "Everything's going to be okay," said Richard. He kissed her and got up. "I have to get back to work, but I'll come later," he said. Carol nodded. She knew what he meant. Nod was at war again, this time against the mutants. She just hoped they would win quickly.

McNeil was watching am experiment with the new Chronosphere that GDI had built. A platoon of Titans disappeared and reappeared at another base exactly where they were supposed to be. It seemed that the Chronosphere worked. GDI scientists were checking for any disturbances in the timeline or if any chrono vortexes appeared. So far, everything was fine. If they could perfect the technology, they would have a powerful weapon to use against the Scrin. Just then, a lieutenant came into the observation deck. He handed McNeil a message. "Shit," he said. Nod had just taken out a renegade mutant base, the one they thought was the main one. The renegades had already lost an important part of their assets. GDI had already said they would support Nod in this one, as had the Forgotten. Now, they needed to see the reaction of the renegades.

A large mutant army had been discovered. Forgotten Command had confirmed that it was a renegade force. Nod moved in to destroy the enemy army. They sent in their new Banshee bombers, which took out a large portion of the armored forces. Then, Banshee fighters moved in and swept the area. After that, Nod forces moved in. Rocket soldiers attacked the remaining Tick Tanks supported by their own Tick Tanks. Other armored forces moved in against the light armor. Attack Buggies attacked the infantry while Nod infantry mopped up. Suddenly, five Cyborg Commandos appeared and started blasting the Nod forces apart. Cyborg Reapers moved in on the infantry with Cyborgs using their guns to mow them down as they were trapped by the substance the Reapers sprayed. Several Buggies saw this and moved in to assist. They were destroyed by the Reaper's missiles. Then, something even worse happened. Two Core Defender robots, the same ones that Nod and GDI had faced during the final assault on Cabal's core, appeared. They stood up, dirt and rocks falling off their backs. The two Defenders opened fire and took out over half of the Nod armored forces in a few minutes. The Nod commander called a retreat. They were taking far too many casualties.

Richard was not happy. There were only to effective ways to take out Core Defenders, and both required GDI technology. The first was using Disrupter Tanks to destroy them. The other was to use a Firestorm shield trap to destroy them. Nod was at a disadvantage here. They would have to start producing the Disrupter tanks en mass. Nod had captured enough Disrupter Tanks to know how to build them. Their prototypes had worked the way they should. Now, they would need to mass-produce them. Also, infantry divisions were being equipped with armor that was coated with a substance that neutralized the things that Cyborg Reapers sprayed. They also now were equipped with railguns. That would help level the playing field. The Mammoth Mark II tanks that Nod had were now being deployed. Now the only thing Nod had to do was figure out how the mutants had gotten cyborgs.

Carol had been released from the hospital and went straight back to work. She still needed to help with the projects that were being run. Also, one of the scientists had a hypothesis to why Tiberium mutated things. "It isn't just the radiation that causes the mutations," he said, "Tiberium gives off its spores continuously after it has fully developed. When soldiers breathe in the spores, the spores basically start the mutations in order for them to survive. Now, for most people, the mutations happen too quickly and it kills them. For others, they mutate more slowly and they become the mutants we have now." "So we basically have Tiberium growing inside the people who have been infected?" she asked. "Something like that," said the doctor, "Tiberium can't develop into the form we know it has out here in our bodies, so it changes into another form, that of a symbiote. It basically starts changing the body into a Tiberium based life form." "So how do we stop this?" asked Carol. "Attack the Tiberium inside the patient's body," answered the doctor, "That's what we did with you. We figured out this idea and used it. It was a bit tricky to actually develop a treatment, but it worked. Also, we know what Tiberium spores look like and that helped." "Well, I guess I owe the life of my daughter and myself to you." "Partly. There are other people who helped come up with this idea and develop a treatment."

The research team for the Tiberium vein came back two weeks later. They had actually dissected one of the dead vein creatures GDI had killed. They brought back the organs and some things they weren't too sure about. "So this may be another evolutionary form of Tiberium," said Carol, "It also has a stomach, but it takes in organic substances as well. However, this time, it uses the organic substances to produce the veins. It has a second stomach that creates the Tiberium waste gas as a second defensive measure. The veins are hell on anything bigger than a Wolverine, so they are weight and pressure sensitive. The Tiberium waste produced in the second stomach is then combined with the products of the first stomach to create the veins that can spread throughout a large area unless the mouth is killed." "We aren't sure about several organs," said one of the scientists, "We have what we think is its heart, since there are what we believe to be blood vessels and such connected to it. However, it has no muscles. It seems to depend upon something else to actually push the blood, or whatever it is, around the organism." "We also have what might constitute as a brain," said another scientist, "There are nerves connected to it and impulses are sent from it. It is very similar to the brain of the Visceroid, but is a bit more advanced." "Once we've gathered everything we need, we should advise GDI to kill them," said Carol, "These things might evolve as well." "Yes ma'am," said another scientist.

The new defensive measures for the silos had been installed. Every one of them was moved underground into a well-armored bunker. Nod was not taking any chances that the silos might explode. That would be disastrous.