Authors note: and as promised, now that Border is complete, it's back to messiah! I'll be trying to keep the updates regular for it, but we'll have to see. Now back to it we go, and back to politics. (Luckily it's not real world politics, or I'd kill myself.)
Act 2 – Chapter 3
Alliance
Lieutenant General Jack Granger sat contently in the back of the Pitbull as it drove down the length of the Tristanian countryside. Since the Kodiaks landing everything had been one mass of red tape after another, but finally after almost a week of waiting, he was now going to speak with the leaders of the four primary countries of Halkeginia.
Four countries. That fact still did not sit well with him. The fact that this land looked so much like Europe was bad enough, but the fact that he could easily name each of Halkeginia four countries as countries from Earth made it even harder not to make assumptions about them, or their people.
What made things worse was that, right after this meeting, McNeill had set up a meeting with the strange covert organization called Gilded Cage, and Jack had to go to it right after.
"He's trying to kill me I swear he is. . . I'm too old for this. I should have retired when I was given the option last year." Granger muttered with a sigh.
"If you had we'd be stuck with that rooky Anderson, sir. We're all thankful you've stuck with us." The driver of the Pitbull suddenly said, never taking his eyes off the rough rural roads before him.
"Thank you for that, and I apologize for complaining to you. I have disrespected your respect for me."
"Hardly, sir.. . . . . . . .I can see Tristania's capitol now sir, we'll be in the city momentarily.
"Thank you." Granger said as he turned and looked out the window, just as they slowed to a crawl and entered the city.
An honest to goodness medieval fantasy city, complete with magic, cobblestone streets, and a complete lack of modern hygiene. It made Granger shudder slightly. It wouldn't be so bad honestly, but every person on the streets stared at the Pitbull as it went down the street, and it was stupidly easy to tell who was who. Regular citizens, called plebeians by the nobles stared at them in awe while wearing rags and simple clothing, while any nobles on the streets grimaced at them, or shot glares of anger at them in their well sewn clothes and coats.
It made little sense really. He had spoken to the nobles once, but in that one time they seemed to have decided that he was out to get them somehow. Did they not realize that GDI hunting down NOD would be a good thing for them as well? Especially if NOD already had a presence here?
That was the only real problem Jack Granger had with this place and its royalty. Despite telling them exactly what GDI was here for, they would not divulge any information about the 'heretics war' that McNeil had found out about through other channels. The fact that NOD had a faction here, one that had caused such a significant chain of events, worried him greatly. But not nearly as greatly as to why they would keep such information.
It was clear that he was not trusted by them. It made sense, as his forces literally came out of nowhere and asked for assistance. But he had given them no reason not to trust him as well.
Politics was a bitch, it always was and everything would be so much simpler without it.
"We are here, sir." the driver said as he stopped the Pitbull and stepped out of it, taking a few second to walk around and open the door for Granger.
Stepping out Granger looked up at the castle and heaved a heavy sigh. "Let's get this over with."
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"Thank you all for coming. Our final guest will be here in a few minutes I would think." Queen Henrietta said with a smile to the three people before her, the leaders of the other countries of Halkeginia. The table they all stood around was a perfect square, allowing everyone room to stand, and making it so no one person felt superior over others.
On one side of the table was the Romalian Pope, who now looked older, but only so much so that it made him feel stronger. His eyes were hard, and he continually tapped his finger against the table impatiently, yet had said nothing since he had arrived. It was hard to tell if he was simply impatient, or angry, and the fact that he was a void mage made that fact all the more nerve racking. Everyone knew what void mages could do when pushed.
Across from him were the leaders of Germania and Gallia. In the past, before the Heretic's war, they had not gotten along, but since then their friendship had deepened, and the sight of trade goods flowing through Tristania to the other had become commonplace.
The Germanian king looked no different than he had during the war all those year ago, still a mountain of muscle with a fire in his eyes that none could quench.
Beside him stood Gallia's queen, Charlotte Hélène D'Orléans De Gallia. During the war Henrietta had met her briefly, and found her to be a calm, if silent young girl at that time. Now she was anything but. Nearly the same height as the King of Germania, Charlotte was a fine specimen of a woman with a lithe and slim shape to her body and a clear eye for details. Her voice was like smooth ice, calculating and calm, and her shot blue hair was cut in such a way that it did not impeding her vision. She held a staff that reached barely to her head, and behind her stood a young girl who always wore a simple blue dress, a girl who was supposedly her aide, and went everywhere she did.
In the past, the last spot of the table would be taken by the leader of Albion, but Albion did not exist anymore, and the scar from the war was still clearly visible off the coast, glowing ominously at night. Now the leader of the group from the strange ship, calling themselves GDI, would be holding that position at the table, and it made Henrietta shed a silent tear for all those that lost their lives to the pointless war.
A war that from what the GDI leader said could be resurfacing again.
"Rather rude of him not to be here already, honestly." Vittorio Serevare, Pope of Romalia said with click of his tongue. His voice was hard and full of anger, and it made Henrietta wince a little it, though she did her best to hide it.
"I am sure they are simply, held up. With all of us here in Tristania, the streets can be quiet hectic. It is not every day we all meet, especially for something as . . . . . potentially dangerous as this." The Germanian king said, sounding calm and almost jolly as he tried to calm the pope.
Unfortunately, Charlotte didn't seem to have the same idea. "We should have invited the Elven priestess and general here as well. They know more about the situation than we do in all likelihood."
"What? No absolutely not! This is a Halkeginian problem, not theirs!" Vittorio barked in anger, glaring daggers at Charlotte who seemed completely unfazed by his actions.
"It was a problem that affected them before, and if this, General of GDI is correct, then it may affect them again. We are walking into a meeting with someone who knows more than we do on the subject at hand. It is not intelligent. We will be at a disadvantage."
"We are at no such thing! This foreigner comes here and demands what from us?" Vittorio asked in a rage as he looked to Henrietta, but then continued without allowing her time to speak. "He needs to learn his place and realize that we already dealt with those cultist heretics. They are gone for good!"
For a moment no one spoke up, until the door to the chamber suddenly opened, and Jack Granger stepped inside, his bodyguard closing the door behind him as he walked in. His clothing surprised the pope and Germanian king, looking very similar, yet very different from the formal wear a general of their own armies would wear. He had no metals or badges on his clothing, and the only thing that wasn't clothing was a very large pistol of some sort holstered on his left side. Stopping a few feet short of the table he looked at the four leaders and bowed to them slightly as he spoke. "I apologize for my lateness, your roads are hardly easily travelled, and we had to slow our pace or risk damaging them."
"Ah, of course. It is no trouble. We haven't yet started." Henrietta quickly said, gesturing for Granger to come up to the table as she spoke. "Everyone, this is Lieutenant General Jack Granger, the leader of those who came in the metal sky ship that currently sits near Tristania's Magic Academy. And the leader the group that calls itself GDI."
"I thank you for coming to hear what I have to say. Henrietta believed it was dangerous enough to involve all of your countries, so again, I thank you." General Grander said with another slight bow, clearly uncomfortable doing so.
"Then what is the problem exactly?" Vittoria asked angrily. "Queen Henrietta was surprisingly sparse in what she told us, saying that there was a possibility of a new cultist uprising and that you were somehow involved. But such a thing is impossible as we dealt with them years ago, so why are you really here?"
Granger turned his gaze to Vittorio and within a second the pope began to sweat. Something about Granger's gaze was strange, like he could pierce steel with it, and his tone was equally dangerous, like a man who had more experience than he let on. "And why, is it as you say, impossible?"
"Because! I wouldn't expect you to know, but the Heretics war is long over! The heretical cultists are no more, as are the demons they tried to summon to destroy us all! So what exactly are you playing at?"
General Granger sighed as he pulled a small disk out of his pocket and dropped it onto the table; it immediately began showing numerous holographic images of various Scrin units above the table. "Tell me, are these the demons you speak of?"
"They are. They look identical." Charlotte said simply.
"B-but how did you-?" Henrietta began to ask as she looked toward the holographic images, confused as to how they were there and how they came to be.
"It doesn't matter what it is." General Granger said as he took the disk and slid it back into his pocket. "Those, demons as you call them are called the Scrin. They are aliens that GDI fought against roughly as many years ago as you did, though I can guarantee we dealt with far more of them!"
"And what makes you so sure of that?" The Germanian king asked calmly.
"Because, they spread across our entire planet, and killed billions. Not thousands or even millions. Billions. We are still rebuilding from their invasion twenty years later, and some areas are simply uninhabitable now." General Granger said solemnly.
"And what does this have to do with your presence here? We killed them regardless!" Vittorio stated angrily, as if their accomplishments made them the better.
Granger glanced up to Vittorio as he pulled another hologram disk out of his pocket and dropped it on the table, showing a massive spiraling tower to everyone. "The Scrin attempted to create nineteen of these towers on our world, called threshold towers, in areas where Tiberium, what I've been made to understand you call death crystal, was in high supply. We destroyed all but one of these towers. Our scientist believed that they were to act as gateways, portals to another world, to their world. One month ago, GDI began an offensive to push Brotherhood of Nod forces away from the tower. At the end of the offensive, instead of retreating away from it, they retreated through it. We followed them to your lands. There is a single threshold tower on the western coast of this continent!"
The entire table was deathly silent. Henrietta looked worried, Vittorio horrified, and the Germanian king surprised. But the one to speak up after a few moments was Charlotte, who sounded completely unaffected by this information. "So demons could come through it In the future. It is something to worry about, but why should your enemy, this Brotherhood, be our problem? Can you not deal with them on your own?"
"We would." General Grander answered with a sigh." if we could. Unfortunately only a small portion of our offensive forces came through the threshold tower before it closed. Our command ship, the Kodiak, was damage in transit as well. We followed the Brotherhood as closely as we could, but their forces swung south of your lands, and our forces were exhausted and limited. We also know nothing of the landscape of your lands, or the sort of creatures and environments we would face."
"That still does not say why we should care about YOUR enemies!" Vittorio nearly screamed as he slammed his hands down onto the table.
General Granger gritted his teeth before he spoke up, barely able to hold in his anger. "It matters, because of what the Brotherhood of NOD is . . . . your enemy!" he stated as he dropped one last hologram disk onto the table and snatched up the previous one. As soon as he did, the new disk began showing images of Nod forces. Infantry, armour, and even buildings, and the expression that suddenly covered the pope's face was one of horror.
"I have discovered some sparse information about your, Heretics war, in these last days. The weapons and armour shown here should match some of what you saw then. There is also this." General Granger stated as he tapped the disk, causing one particular picture to show larger than the rest. The picture itself was slightly blurry, with an explosion covering most of it, but it clearly showed a young girl with pink hair in NOD armour. "I have been made to understand that the woman in this image bears a resemblance to the leader of your supposedly dead cultists, does she not?"
"H-how did you find out about-," Vittorio began to say in shock.
"Yes, she does look familiar, very much like the leader of the cult from the heretic's war. But she died at the end of the war." Henrietta suddenly said causing Vittorio to nearly growl at her.
"Be quiet, Queen Henrietta! We do not need to-"
"No, you be quiet, Pope!" The Germanian king suddenly called, "We have given this man no information and he has found it anyway, hiding things will get us nowhere. Where was this scene you are showing us?" He asked as he turned his attention back to Granger.
"Almost twenty one years ago on our world. She was responsible for destroying our most powerful weapon in that field of operations, and, we believe, was also responsible for many other actions as well, until she simply disappeared from our reports."
" . . . . Why are you telling us this? Are you saying the cult leader came from your world?" The Germanian king asked curiously.
"Yes, but I'm showing you this to make it easier to understand. Your cult leader was a member of the Brotherhood of NOD, the same group who we chased through the threshold into your lands. Even if that faction of them was destroyed here and their leader killed as you say, the Brotherhood forces that we have chased here to your lands could rally the remnants of the NOD forces you defeated!"
" . . . B-By the Founder." Vittorio muttered in horror as he leaned back a bit, overcome by the realization that another heretics war could happen at any moment.
"You are here to ask for assistance in finding and defeating them, are you not?" Charlotte asked inquisitively, a flash in her eyes the only thing showing that she had already sorted out all the information in her head and figured out what Grangers intent was.
"Yes," General Granger said with a nod of his head. "I would like to formally ask for Halkeginia's assistance in finding, and eradicating, the Nod presence in these lands, for both of our sides. GDI is preparing to offer recompense as well if the need arises."
"What sort of recompense?" The Germanian king asked, sounding disinterested as he continued to stare at the picture of the woman they knew as the Prophetess. Someone who while long dead, had nearly destroyed Halkeginia.
"Technology primarily. GDI has access to high technology, including technology that can destroy Tiberium!"
Everyone's eyes shot to General Granger in surprise. Even Charlotte looked surprised, and had a small smile on her lips. "You can destroy the death crystal?" she asked hopefully, recalling the mass that was once the Gallian castle. It had been destroyed when the Prophetess had killed her uncle, but over the years small shards of the crystal seemed to grow out of the mound, making rebuilding the castle in the same place impossible. No one even got close to that place now, as doing so often meant sickness that could last for weeks, and often led to painful death.
"Yes. We have technology that can destroy Tiberium, though the process is slow. Your world has not had large amounts of it anywhere except for that island offshore, yes?"
"Correct, that island used to be the country of Albion, but no longer. No one goes near it now." Henrietta explained with a hint of sadness to her tone.
"I see. After some time, Tiberium can begin to corrupt and change the environment, so it's best to stop it from spreading sooner rather than later." General Granger explained, though he didn't need to. Over the years every country had found out just how terrible the crystal was. Anyone that touched it became sick. If it cut them they would begin turning into more of it, and it was well known that no animals were ever seen near the remains of Albion.
"If we agreed to assist you in this matter, what exactly would you require?" Charlotte suddenly asked.
"GDI would require three things primarily." General Granger said as he raised up three fingers." Information, such as full disclosure of all the prior events and information you can give, as well as updates related to current events, a place for us to operate from, and food and water reserves."
"information is easy. There is no real reason to not share it now." Charlotte stated, earning an angry glare from the pope as she spoke. "How much room would you need to operate?"
"We would need roughly five square kilometers of area, primarily for our strike craft to be maintained. One of my techs has informed me however, that there is a space on the ruined landmass of Albion that would be sufficient for us to build our base. If we did so there, we could utilize the Tiberium while we remove it."
"What? Why would you willingly go near death crystal?" Henrietta asked in surprise.
"Tiberium naturally absorbs other matter from the environment around it. What this means is it absorbs metal as well. We have a process that can safely turn it into metal, and the process will remove the Tiberium from the environment as well." General Granger replied.
"And the food?" The Germanian king asked with a raised brow.
"While we can fabricate the majority of our mechanical need from the Tiberium we get of that island, we cannot fabricate our own food or water from it, and our own reserves of food and water will only last so long."
"We . . . will need to work out some kinks with this, to decide upon what information cannot be given and such before we agree to helping you." Vittorio said as calmly as he could, avoiding eye contact with Granger as he spoke.
"No, we will not. Tristania agrees to help your organization in this matter, for the protection of Halkeginia." Henrietta stated proudly.
"As does Germania!"
"Gallia agrees as well!"
Vittorio gasped as he looked to the others at the table and scowled. "Very well. Romalia will . . . . agree."
"Then its decided. I shall contact our elven allies. They will want to know what has occurred here, and likely will be interested in meeting you, General." Henrietta said to Granger with a smile.
"I thank you for that, Queen Henrietta. Does GDI have Halkeginia's permission to base ourselves on Albion?"
"It is not Albion, not anymore." Vittorio scowled as he looked away from Granger.
"Yes, that would be best for everyone. How long will what food you have last?" the Germanian king asked.
"A few days, a week at most." Granger replied honestly.
"Then I shall stay here in Tristania for a few days to help coordinate efforts to transport food and water to your people. If you return in a few days we should be able to figure it out, I would think?"
"I believe so." Henrietta agreed instantly.
"Good. I thank you for your understandings in this matter. If there is nothing else that must be discussed now, I shall take my leave, as I shall need to be present to mobilize and organize our forces to the island." General Granger stated, earning a quick nod from Henrietta." Then until next we meet."
Vittorio glared at General Granger until he left the room with his guard, then turned his angry gaze to Henrietta, "Just what in the Founder's Name do you think you are trying to pull? He could be lying through his teeth with that strange magic of his!"
"I believe that working with them will be the best thing we can do. At the very least if they can get rid of those death crystals it will give all of our lands some peace of mind." Henrietta responded.
"I agree, and I sensed no ill will from that man. I believe we can trust him." the Germanian king said with surety.
"Lies. They are nothing but lies! They are simply using the Heretics war for their own ends and-"
"Are you not simply worried about the truth from the war getting out." Charlotte interrupted Vittorio, causing him to stare at her in shock.
"No, you wouldn't."
"it is hardly a secret if you look into it deeply enough. Nearly every person that joined the cult during the war were plebeians from low areas of Halkeginia. Yet it was a fact that many used magic during the war." Charlotte began causing Vittorio to look uneasy." These past years there have been reports of Romalians altering the history of how the war went in history books and schools. Are you not simply trying to hide what happened?"
"You dare?! I am acting in the best interest of the Founder! The only truth our people need is the Founder's truth, and the lies of that war could cause people to lose faith. I am simply rewriting the events to suit the Founder's will!"
Heaving a heavy sigh the Germanian king walked around the table and stopped beside Vittorio, glaring down at him while looking imposing as possible. "I do not care what you try to do with the church, but Halkeginia should always come first, and protecting our people from those crystals will protect Halkeginia!"
Vittorio took a nervous step away from the Germanian and scowled. "Halkeginia is worth protecting and our people's belief in the Founder is what will protect them! How long do you think you can get away with so blatantly denying the words of the church!?"
"Your words, or the churches' words? While you may be the pope, you are not Brimir, and your words do not automatically mean they are the churches." The Germanian king said grimly down at Vittorio.
"Y-you think I will stand for such insults, you Germanian berserker!?" Vittorio called out as he turned and began heading for the door. "Do what you like with you're new little heretics. You'll realize you're mistakes soon enough!
"Well, that could have gone better." Henrietta said with a sigh as Vittorio left the room, the door slamming behind him.
"No, it couldn't have. Ever since the Heretics war Romalia has been stepping up their religious actions. I get reports of extremely overzealous missionaries in Germanian towns almost every other week, and most of them are not taking no for an answer. If anyone ignores them they begin yelling and calling people unbelievers as the nicest thing." The Germanian king stated with a sigh.
"He's becoming paranoid." Charlotte said simply. "It appears to get worse as time goes on. Just as many Crystalists were from Romalia as the rest of our countries I believe, so it worried him. Now it controls his actions."
"That is sad, but there's little we can do about it for him." Henrietta admitted sadly, before looking back up. "We should prepare though, we do have another meeting to get to soon after all."
"Yes, and I will be very interested in asking Mister Colbert just how much he told Mister Granger's people!"
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Michel McNeil walked down a dirt road of the Tristanian countryside with a calm smile on his face. He was wearing casual clothing, a pair of jeans, a simple brown shirt, a tan leather jacket, and only had his trusty sidearm on his person, but he didn't think he'd really need it. His new clothing would look odd to most of the natives of the lands, but he hoped he wouldn't look to strange or dangerous dressed as he was.
Having walked around the capitol of Tristania twice already when meeting with the Gilded Cage people, he had gotten a decent feeling for the culture and technology level of the land, or lack thereof. The culture was similar to medieval, maybe renaissance Europe and most of their culture was directly related to their church, and magic as they called it. He had trouble believing magic could exist, but if the Scrin could build gateways that reached the stratosphere in a matter of weeks from their arrival, anything was possible really.
The other thing he realized about this land was that while their technology didn't even have basic sanitation like a working toilet, the air itself, outside and even in the city, was much different than on Earth. Even in the blue zones the air always smelt Smokey, dirty, arid, and polluted from decades of industry and then the chain of wars with NOD and the Scrin. GDI had built dozens of recyclers across the world to try to purify the air, especially in yellow zones, but it was a slow, tedious process. Here in Halkeginia though, the air was clear, warm, smelled like the season, and filled McNeil with an energy he hadn't felt in years.
It was amazing what clean air could do for the body and mind.
Walking down the dirt road McNeil found what appeared to be a broken wagon sitting at the side of the road beside a patch of trees. A man sat on the edge of the wagon, looking like he could care less about anything going on around him. And it reminded McNeil of what he was actually supposed to be doing out here on his own.
Attending a meeting.
"Hey, you doing okay there?" McNeill asked in a friendly tone as he walked over to the man and his wagon, both hands in his jean pockets.
The man looked up at McNeil and smiled slightly. "I'm fine. The Brimir damned wheel on my cart broke off is all. I sent my son back to our village with our horse to grab new one. He should be back pretty soon."
"That's good." McNeil said as he gazed up at the tree's behind the wagon, seeming to loom over it in the shade. "At least you're nicely in the shade, though the trees are kind of like a cage."
The man smiled larger. "I suppose so. What kind of cage though? A cage of wood? That wouldn't hold anyone at all."
"Nah, gilded iron, I think. You can see through it. To an extent at least."
The man smiled even larger. "Excellent. Swing around the trees. My wagons blocking a thin path to the building, just head in and down the stairs."
"Thank you kindly." McNeil said with a nod as he began walking around the wagon. Just as the man, apparently a guard, had said, a thin, overgrown path was hidden behind the wagon between the trees. The path was choked with growth, but McNeil didn't have to move anything aside and found the walk rather calming as he found a small house in a clearing. The house itself was unassuming, but covered in moss and foliage, but inside he could see light, probably from a lamp or torch within. It made him happy that he had a flashlight on his pocket.
Taking out the flashlight, and his sidearm, a GDI Nighthawk pistol he got ready to enter the house. Throwing open the door and using his flashlight to glance around with his pistol at the ready McNeill found the entire house abandoned, the walls broken down, and a single lamp sitting on a table beside a flight of wooden stairs. Wooden stairs that went down into the earth.
"Ugh, why is everything always underground." McNeill muttered as he very carefully began walking down the stairs, finding that being quiet while doing so was virtually impossible due to how much noise they made with every step. The fact he was wearing combat boots probably didn't help the matter though.
The stairs went down much further than McNeill figured they would, and at the bottom he found a room that did not match anything he had seen previously in getting here. The room itself was about thirty foot square with stone walls, a tile floor and lamps hanging from the roof. In the middle was a large wooden table, and around it, where a number of people. The Tristanian, Germanian and Gallian sovereigns, the headmaster of the magic academy the Kodiak was currently still parked beside, and his boss, General Granger. There was also a red headed, and stupidly endowed woman with brown skin who stuck close to the headmaster, his wife or lover if he recalled, he wasn't sure which though.
"So, it seems I'm the one who's late for once. That's a surprise." McNeil said sarcastically.
"No, you're the one who is always late unless the situation is a Scrin invasion or NOD Temple!" General Granger said with a sigh, either not picking up on or not caring about McNeil's sarcasm.
"Yeah, yeah, sure. So, how'd your meeting go?" McNeil said as he walked fully into the room, found a chair against the wall and quickly sat in it, not caring that he was in front of royalty in the least.
"It went,.. better than expected." Granger admitted, causing Charlotte to step forward.
"We have agreed to assist GDI officially with information and foodstuffs."
"So I won't have to train medieval knights how to survive a carpet bombing then? Good!" McNeil said with a sigh as he looked back at Granger. "Where are we setting up base then?"
"On the island off the coast. We'll use the Tiberium there to repair and rearm, and doing so will allow us to remove it, and see if it has mutated on this world."
"Hope not, when it mutates it always comes with a snag."
"Wait, death crystal can mutate?" Henrietta asked in surprise to this information.
"Yes, but if it had already, you would have noticed at this point." McNeil said as he looked at the sovereigns, realizing that he had only met the one before this time. "Captain Michel McNeil, GDI Special Forces and ground commander." He introduced himself.
Granger sighed as the sovereigns introduced themselves again. This was going to be a long meeting, but at least it would give them most, if not all the information they needed to operate successfully in this strange land.
He just hoped it wouldn't take too long to set up their base, every minute they were held back was a minute Kane was likely using to his advantage.
And that was what worried him the most.