Chapter 19
InOps FLASH Report
Effects of sonic weapons on the Invaders.
Dispatch from Dr. Elian Schwartzberg, Battlefield Medic, 21st Armored Division
"Needless to say, there is very little in the way of hope to be found in the ash covered, body strewn rubble of post-invasion Munich. Even so, as my team covertly made its way through the outskirts of that ruined city, searching for survivors, we stumbled across something that might just be that source of hope.
Crossing the wastelands under guard of night, we encountered the surviving members of a GDI combat platoon from the 76th Mechanized, apparently flush from a successful rearguard action that enabled the escape of some VIPs that are somehow key to the war effort. In conversation, it quickly became apparent that much of said success was due to the intervention from a particularly unexpected source - sonics.
To quote from a transcript recorded on my CommInt Unit:
'"We kept firin', but the metallic [expletive] just kept on coming right at us, crawling over their own dead like it weren't nothing. Then, right when I knew we was about to be killed, right when those [expletive] had us up against the wall, one of those smart [expletive] engineers figured out a way to get the old Munich Sonic Emitter grid back online and then, BAM!, the damn emitter towers just started chewing up those invading [expletive] like a Visceroid gone rabid. It was a thing of [expletive] beauty.."
Staff Sergeant Arnold P. Coddington, 3rd Platoon, Charlie Company, 76th Mechanized Infantry Division'
Yes, it appears that the Sonic Emitters we use to reclaim our land from Tiberium - and to control and regulate Tiberium growth throughout the reclaimed Blue Zones - are capable of inflicting great harm upon our newfound enemies. Further investigation is required before we can determine the why; are the aliens structurally similar to the crystal? Is that why they are here? For now, we can certainly make use of the what: Sonics hurt the aliens. Hurt them bad. We may stand a chance after all." Intel Database: Sonic Weapons and the Invaders.
Ayer's Rock, Australian Outback
Y-4
September 8th, 2047
1900
The black 2040 BMW pulled up the long ramp that led to the Brotherhood of Nod Ayer's Rock fortress. Rows upon rows of Shredder and laser turrets lined the only approach to the fortress. Obelisks of Light lined the higher cliff, and the entire mountain was covered with SAMs and AA guns. Numerous Centurion walkers had also been placed to guard the ramp, large shields raised and cannons at the ready. Any attacker would be forced up this ramp, which would quickly turn into a kill box that would slick the ramp with blood. Even simply driving up the ramp without all the defences trying to kill you was intimidating.
Below the mountain fort, a smaller base had been constructed. While it was less defended, it had become a necessary add-on due to the influx of personnel that now lived in the base. On the opposite side was the Tiberium fields the base relied on for power and raw material. The two additions had caused the small base to expand into a full-on city.
Finishing its climb up the ramp, the BMW now began the twisting journey through the main complex. Malich looked out the rear window and noted the Ion Disruptor Generators which defended the fort from GDI's orbital weapons. With the fall of Cairo and Sarajevo, Ayer's Rock was the most well defended Nod base in the world, even more heavily defended than Nod's tertiary capital in Hanoi. To take Ayer's Rock would require an entire Army Group, but Karsten Malich planned to do it with just ten men.
The BMW, after nearly twenty minutes, completed its long journey through the base, and reached its destination: the central command center of Ayer's Rock, Killian's castle. The imposing structure towered above Malich as he stepped out of the car, causing him to gulp nervously. Radec and two guards also got out of the vehicle, before it drove off towards an underground parking lot. The four men then walked inside, where they were joined by four guards of Killian's personal Spetznaz force. The Spetznaz guards led Malich and his entourage towards Killian's primary command room, where Malich was supposed to receive punishment for his insubordination in Sydney. Not only was Killian displeased he had used a nuke without authorization, she was more pissed off that he had broken the alliance Killian had been forced to degrade herself for. Malich knew he would likely be executed, but Kane and Ajay had hashed out a plan that would hopefully see Killian overthrown, and her reign as Caliph cut short.
"For the record, sir, I completely agree with your actions in Sydney. Those GDI pigs deserved it. But, orders are orders." One of the Spetznaz operators said.
"Thank you, Brother." Malich replied neutrally.
"General Qatar should never have trusted you. The 'Legendary Insurgent', what a joke. Perhaps if you hadn't failed so miserably in D.C. we wouldn't be in this mess." Another Spetznaz said angrily.
Malich didn't reply as he and his entourage continued towards Killian's command room. The whole time Malich glanced around him, taking in Killian's base. While it lacked the grandiose and ornate aesthetic of Temple Prime, it did contain a brutal and utilitarian, yet elegant appearance. It was built for function over form, unlike most key Nod structures. While the halls lacked stain glass windows and alters or other religious icons, there were still black and red Nod banners draped along the wall. Pictures of the Brotherhood's greatest leaders placed in perfect locations, and vast pillars that actually served as defensive positions in the unlikely event an enemy made it this deep into the fort. Killian was smart for choosing this place for her throne.
"You deserve a traitor's death. To have your throat slit like that snake Hassan." The guard from earlier continued.
"Commander Malich did not betray us. He simply… well…" The other guard stammered.
"I never betrayed the Brotherhood. But I did disobey General Qatar, and I would happily do it again." Malich stated.
"She is the Supreme Leader of Nod. Her word is as Kane's!"
"Not to me."
The group continued the long walk, but Malich could tell they were nearing the end. They had now entered deep into the main complex, and were passing by various data centers and offices. Soon, Malich would come face to face with Killian. He hoped Kane's plan would work.
As if sensing his doubts, Kane's voice whispered in his ear through the hidden ear piece.
"Be calm, my son. Brother Ajay has complete control over the base systems. And my most trusted warriors are now in position. The moment draws near."
Ayer's Rock had no flaws, no weaknesses. It was impregnable: unless you were a high-ranking intelligence officer who had been given extra access by the Messiah himself, that is. Ajay had been sent to one of the auxiliary command posts in the base extension below. And now he had access to all of the base's systems. That, along with the four man squad of elite Black Hand soldiers, would see to Killian's downfall this day.
Malich was at last led into the central command room, where dozens of officers worked tirelessly. Killian stood in the center of the room, watching a large holographic projection of the globe, which marked the progress of the alien invasion. She turned upon hearing the group enter, and immediately marched towards Malich
"Commander, come with me. Now."
Malich was momentarily stunned. He had expected Killian to begin an angry tirade, or to give a smug speech. Instead, there was a wild look in her eyes as she waited for him to follow.
"Major, stay here. This won't take long." Malich said.
Killian quickly led Malich to her private office, leaving Radec and their two guards alone with Killian's Spetznaz. Malich was perplexed on why Killian would wish to speak with him in private. The plan had called for him to be tried and executed right there in the command room, or to be paraded outside as a traitor. He began to panic that the plan may not go off properly. But Malich pushed those worries aside as he entered the rather lavish office of Killian Qatar. The General pointed to a chair in front of the large desk, a perfect replica of Kane's own desk from Temple Prime. Malich took his seat, as Killian stood behind her own leather chair, gripping it with white knuckles.
"I know you are here to kill me." Killian said without preamble.
"I… how-"
"We don't have much time, so I need you to listen to me. Kane is not who he seems. I don't even know if he's human."
"Do you really expect me to listen to your lies? You are a traitor; you attacked Temple Prime!"
"Because I was ordered to!"
"By who? Your GDI masters?"
"By Kane."
Malich fell silent. He looked into Killian's eyes, her tired, scared eyes. He couldn't tell if she was lying, but she had to be. Why would Kane order his own men to attack him?
"Again, how do you expect me to believe you?" Malich asked.
"There is no way for me to prove it. Not now. But I just need you to listen."
Malich leaned back in the chair, taking on the air of the interrogator rather then the interrogated. He smiled devilishly at Killian.
"Very well, spew what lies you have."
"Kane is using us, using the Brotherhood. He has from the beginning; our entire faith built on a lie."
"How dare you!"
"I said listen! Kane is not some divine being, he isn't blessed by God. You know this, you aren't a fanatic like the others."
Malich dropped his smile, feeling slightly ashamed at the truth of her words. Malich believed in the cause, no one could doubt that, but he wasn't exactly religious.
"I don't know what or who Kane really is. But he betrayed me, and he will betray you. The Brotherhood, GDI, the Tiberium Wars, even the visitors; all of us are just pawns for his sick game."
"And what game is that? What is his endgame in all of this?"
"I don't know."
Killian began pacing the room, looking like a caged lioness, and perhaps just as deadly.
"What goal could a man, or thing, that plays with aliens possibly be? Maybe he really is some godlike being?" Killian continued.
"And why are you telling me all this?"
"Because together we can stop him. We could finally get the answers we deserve."
"You honestly think I would betray Kane? Betray the Brotherhood!?"
"I am trying to save the Brotherhood! Kane will lead us all to ruin! Kane did not save me from the ghettos of Toronto, a Confessor did. Kane did not protect me as I rose through the ranks of Nod, I did that on my own. Tell me, was Kane there for you as you struggled in the slums of Rio? Did he help you ignite the Insurrection? No, you did all that yourself. Kane has done nothing but bring the Brotherhood to defeat twice, and now has invited these aliens to bring death and carnage to our world."
Malich again was silent, as he didn't know how to respond. Doubt exploded through his mind, his soul. Kane was their Messiah, he who had predicted the arrival of Tiberium, taught the Brotherhood how to harness its power. Kane promised divination through Tiberium, and ascension through faith. But he failed to unify the world during the First War, failed to bring about divination during the Second War. And now? With Nod cowering here in Ayer's Rock, with aliens ravaging the world, would he fail again? And how did he know about Tiberium? About the aliens? How did he survive death, time and time again?
"And do you think he would answer your questions? If you even caught him. Do you think he would tell the truth?" Malich asked.
"I…I don't know. But we must try, and I can only do it with your help." Killian said pleadingly.
"So, if I am to believe a word you say, you expect me to join you so we can apprehend Kane and force him to give us answers. Because you say he is some kind of entity that has been playing us all for fools? And that you and you alone will save Nod? I can't believe I even listened to this ludicrousness." Malich scoffed.
"Then kill me, here and now. I know about your plan, it's the only conceivable way to even penetrate the fortress. Besides, you didn't think I wouldn't keep an eye on you and Ajay?"
"If you knew, then why let us-"
"Because I needed your help! I am telling you the truth, Karsten. Kane is not someone to trust."
The lights went off in the office, only to flick back on a second later. Malich was standing with a pistol raised, but cursed as Killian was as well. Outside, both could hear the sound of shouting and muted gunfire. The plan was proceeding, and Malich was trapped alone with Killian.
"Kane is on his way now, I presume? Hoping to gloat over my dead body?"
"We are here to bring you to justice, and place the Brotherhood back on the right path."
"No, you are here to place it on the path to ruin."
The two held their pistols pointed at the other, neither moving. All the while, the commotion outside continued, with more gunfire being added.
"Kane has led us for fifty years, perhaps longer if the rumors are true. Why would he lead us to damnation now?" Malich questioned, though more to himself than Killian.
"Perhaps he is Lucifer himself."
The sounds outside abruptly cut off, and both Malich and Killian knew that one side had emerged victorious. Though which side remained in question, neither dared remove their eye from the other. But when the door finally opened, Malich could see from Killian's eyes that Kane had arrived. Malich turned to face the Messiah as he walked into the office with Ajay and Radec in toe. All three seemed shocked that Malich had yet to kill Killian.
"Power shifts quickly in the Brotherhood. I believed that to be a lesson I need not repeat." Kane said through clenched teeth.
"I am no traitor. I did as you ordered! I was loyal, and yet my loyalty has been rewarded with treachery." Killian spat.
"Indeed? Your ambition has always been your undoing, Killian. I trusted you, I gave you armies to lead, a place in my Inner Circle. I gave you a future you couldn't even imagine. And yet you abused my trust."
"I will not stand for your lies anymore. Tell them. Tell them you ordered me to attack Temple Prime! Tell them it was all so you could call down those vile aliens!"
"For all your brilliance, you simply couldn't grasp my grander plans."
Killian's head snapped back in a spray of blood, in the same instant the boom of a pistol went off. Radec sneered as he lowered his still smoking gun. Malich stared at Killian's body, as it lay there in a growing pool of her own blood. General Killian Qatar was no more. Malich turned to Mael Radec, his right-hand man and confidant, and shot him in between the eyes. Ajay snapped up his own weapon and aimed at Malich, his hands shaking in confusion. But Kane… Kane merely smiled.
"What poison did Killian feed you? What lies did she whisper in your ear?" Kane asked calmly.
"That is what I intend to find out. For you will answer my questions."
"What the fuck is going on!?" Ajay blurted.
Kane placed a hand on Ajay's gun, lowering it slowly.
"Go wait outside, I can handle this." Kane said soothingly.
"No, he can stay. He deserves to hear the truth as well." Malich said.
"I have only ever told you the truth, my son." Kane started saying, like a comforting father.
"Bullshit! I don't know if I can kill you, but I'll still put a bullet through your skull." Malich growled.
Kane's smile faded, replaced by a hard edge. His dark eyes began to gleam with anger, and Malich began to wonder if he had just made a terrible mistake.
"You wish to know the truth? About me? Your primitive little mind can not handle such a truth." Kane whispered angrily.
"You'd be surprised at what my 'primitive little mind' can handle. I know you aren't human; I think I've known that for awhile. But I also know you aren't God."
"No, but I am a close second." Kane replied, his smile returning.
Kane moved towards Killian's desk, walking in front of a very confused looking Ajay. Malich kept his gun trained on Kane, even as he took a seat in Killian's chair, barely even a foot from her cooling corpse. He motioned for Malich and Ajay to take a seat, which they both did. Kane then took a glass of some kind of alcohol off Killian's desk. He inspected it for a moment before downing the whole thing in one gulp.
"Ah, Killian did always have good taste in whiskey. Personally? I've always enjoyed wine; a pity that Italy no longer produces any, they always did make the best."
"I'm not here to talk about booze."
"No? Art perhaps? I had quite the collection once upon a time. Before some troublesome GDI commando destroyed it all."
"Stop wasting time! What the hell are you!?"
"What am I? I am human, just like you."
"No, you are not."
Kane sighed deeply, and for the first time ever, Malich could see he was tired. But it went far beyond simple physical exhaustion, there was a deep, spiritual tiredness, as if his soul had grown weary.
"I am so close to finally escaping. Of freeing myself from this wretched prison. At every turn, when it seems I am at last free of this torment, I am pushed back down. And now, that the final stages of my escape are in place, you try to stop me. If I tell you the truth, will you help me? Will you help see an end to this torture?" Kane asked.
"I suppose that depends on what you tell me." Malich replied.
Kane poured himself another glass of whiskey, which he again downed in a single gulp. He looked at Malich, and began speaking the truth.
"I have spent thousands of years trapped here, working towards this. I found you people living in mud huts… you were living in caves! I raised you to triumph, I guided you every step of the way, and now we're almost there. Once the visitors complete construction of their Threshold towers, then I will be able to ascend, and you can have your planet back."
"What… what are you?" Ajay timidly questioned.
"What I am is not important, nor is it relevant. I simply need your help."
"And what are these Thresholds you speak of?" Malich inquired.
"They are portals. Gateways to worlds far beyond your imagination, and a chance for me to… to leave this planet."
Malich thought he heard the slightest bit of sadness in Kane's voice. But it was quickly replaced by a hard edge.
"The Thresholds are the final piece of a millennia long plan. These towers are the crux of the ascension prophecies: everything the Brotherhood has been built around. We must secure one before GDI destroys them." Kane finished.
Malich and Ajay sat stunned, trying to process everything that had been revealed. Kane seemed equally unsure of how to proceed, with his darkest secrets now laid bare.
"If what you have just told us is true… if this whole insane story is true… then why would I help you? You built the Brotherhood upon a lie. Killed millions for a lie! And you plan even now to abandon us! Why should we help you!?" Malich all but roared with a sudden surge of anger.
"Because I have not lied. Not about ascension, not about my promise. Those who choose to, can follow me through the Threshold, follow me to ascension. Those who do not shall inherit this Earth, with Tiberium bent to their will. But either way, we need the Thresholds, and in order to control them, we will need the Tacitus."
Malich stood up to pace the room, trying to calm his roiling his thoughts. Kane watched him like a lion sizing up a rival alpha male, while Ajay merely placed his head into his hands, also trying to come to grips with everything that had been revealed. Aliens, ancient schemes, and interdimensional portals?
"And what happens if I just kill you here and now?" Malich asked after a long pause.
"I can't die, Karsten. If you tried to kill me, if you tried to deny me my final victory, then you would condemn this world to ceaseless war." Kane replied.
Malich fell silent again, resuming his pacing. But the silence didn't last long as Ajay finally looked up.
"What about Killian?" Ajay asked with a trembling voice, staring at her corpse.
"She could have been with us now, had she not seen to try and overthrow me. She knew about the plan; about how close we were to Ascension. But she decided she would rather see to her own plans. So yes, Ajay, I ordered her to attack Temple Prime, to goad GDI into using their Ion Canon. But it was her hubris that led us…here."
Malich regarded the two corpses, which reminded him of the world beyond the office. He grabbed his radio and gave an angry bark, "I need a SITREP, now!"
"The base is secured, sir. Any dissenters have been executed and Ayer's Rock is under control of those loyal to the Messiah."
"Good. Round up anyone else who may still be loyal to General Qatar. Keep the HQ secured."
"Of course, sir!"
Malich placed the radio back, satisfied the plan had worked without a hitch. But doubt quickly set it, as now he wondered if this wasn't all part of Kane's insane master plan. He turned to face Kane, his dark eyes staring back. Malich still was unsure if he could trust him, or even if he could trust anyone at all.
"You said that these alien towers, the Thresholds, will allow you to leave this planet?" Malich reaffirmed.
"That is correct."
"If I help you, I want you to promise to never to return. To leave Earth, and our Brotherhood, in peace."
"Trust me, Karsten, I have no intentions of ever returning to this cursed rock."
Malich took a deep breath to calm himself. His entire life had been dedicated to the Brotherhood of Nod. To protecting it, to securing its place in the world as a global power and a symbol for the oppressed peoples. Kane had always been their idol, their martyr. But perhaps that's all he was to Nod: nothing more than an icon to rally behind. If Malich could help Kane leave, then perhaps there was a chance for Nod to grow and prosper. Kane would remain as a figurehead, but one that the future leaders of Nod could control, so that they would no longer be slaves to grandiose cosmic schemes. Malich turned to Kane, his mind made up.
"I shall help you."
Kane actually sagged with relief, a genuine smile in his face.
"Thank you, my son."
"This is all so crazy. But if the boss man is in, then so am I." Ajay added.
"So, what's next?" Malich asked.
"We must retake the Tacitus. But GDI has kept it hidden from me for the past decade. Fortunately, I have someone who can help us locate it." Kane said as he placed a spherical device on Killian's desk. The device glowed softly before creating a holographic projection of a blue, disembodied head. A sneering face stared down at Malich and Ajay, who both stepped back in shock and fear.
"Greetings, Commander. We have much work to do." Greeted CABAL.
… … …
Author's note: This was obviously a pretty huge departure from events seen in game. This chapter features no combat, a choice I decided on for a few reasons, but a choice I hope readers enjoy.
The main reason was for the reveal of Kane's ultimate plan, I didn't want an action sequence to take away from the revelation.
The second reason was almost every single chapter, going all the way back to Part one: Dawn, has been an endless deluge of action and big battles. This chapter provides a bit of a break from the hectic fighting, and allows me to build up for the finale. (Remember, this story serves as my vision of the Tiberium Universe's grand conclusion)
So I hope people enjoy this change of pace, and won't be mad at not seeing some sort of massive Nod on Nod battle.
That's all for now.
Until next time.