After Activation 1178 - Origin Universe
After Insertion 1139 - Cultivation Universe
Millennium 151-32M - 40k Universe
AD 2010 - C Red Alert/Generals - Rise of the Reds Universe
"Sirs! We have a contact out beyond Neptune!" Called out one of the officers manning the console.
The message had come from an observatory all the way out in the Himalayas, a mountain observatory built up as high as it could in order to avoid the waste emissions that the rest of the planet produced. Waste emissions that could seriously interfere with whatever it was they were trying to do up there. The actual existence of the facility had been called into question when it had first been proposed but when Catherine herself endorsed it, well people began to pay attention. There wasn't going to be any lollygagging as it was known when Catherine wanted something done.
NOD engineers had scaled the peak of Everest and despite the deaths, had built for themselves a landing pad, a self-contained facility, and one of the most powerful radar telescopes on the planet, all of it directed out, constantly searching for whatever it was... they didn't actually know. Just that Catherine had given them the coordinates herself.
There was no way for the Coalition commanders to naysay her, not when she had made it very clear that she expected things to be done her way. She very rarely made any sort of presence at all in official matters, the fact that she felt strongly enough about this radar facility had many inside the Coalition paying attention and throwing their weight behind the proposal. Whatever it was, they wanted Coalition observers to find it at the exact same time as those of NOD.
Catherine clearly knew something was going on and had elected not to tell them. If they wanted to find out, then they would be doing that by themselves, without her assistance. Not the best attitude given that she was meant to be an ally, but she was also NOD which explained most things actually. That and she was Catherine which explained yet more things.
And now the telescope had paid for itself. It had detected what it had been constructed to detect on a wavelength that Catherine had told them to search on in the first place.
It was a fleet of ships that were very clearly not human in origin, the fact that they came from outside of the solar system in the first place being the first indication of that.
The Coalition's leaders stood to their feet, the armies once again put on standby. If it was first contact then they were going to treat this as such, but the fact that Tiberium had come from outside of planet in the first place, borne in by multiple meteorites on a direct collision path to Earth, the fact that they had decided to come after the Liquid Tiberium explosion only cemented the idea that they were here for what was clearly nefarious purposes. It was no doubt an act by a race prepared to harvest them for materials.
There would be no mercy in the way that they treated these aliens, if this had been all orchestrated in some manner then there would be appropriate levels of retaliation.
The generals, the admirals and everyone else that might be able to do something had beem alerted, all being brought together into a single place, a single meeting room that was filled to overflowing but it would be necessary to prevent everyone from playing a game of telephone down the line.
The auditorium was full and a few of the Coalition higher ups involved were looking around the room rather suspiciously. There had been far too many times that NOD had used an auditorium as a way to group up their targets and wiped them out en-masse.
The older members of the audience considered their alliance with NOD to be a temporary thing one that would at any moment shatter as they went back to being jerked around them for whatever it was that NOD wanted of them. Bitter was only just one way to describe their feelings on the matter. Keeping their heads down under the threat of being killed if they did not, did nothing to engender good feelings towards NOD.
And so the room was tense for a multitude of reasons, the unknown contacts in space being one of those reasons, the second being the close proximity to so many NOD officers. Unlike the members of the Coalition, the NOD command staff were all certified to use the vast array of weaponry that they were carrying. It was not all for show either, when push came to push the NOD leadership would often leave their command posts to command the men directly. Leading through example or something of the like… often dying as they did so.
"Gentlemen, ladies. I will cut to the case. As of 0800 hours yesterday morning, central time, we have discovered what is a number of objects moving towards Earth, six in total. We believe these objects to be alien in origin due to their uniform nature, their steady acceleration and the way that each of their ships are ignoring the gravitational pulls of the planetoids around them. They are powered, they are manned in some manner and they are heading directly for us." The voice came from a series of speakers set around the room, the actual speaker not being visible.
"What does this mean exactly? It means that there is a possibility that we are going to war with an alien species. The fact that Tiberium is a product from outside this solar system and is an invasive product, one that strips rocks of their mineral value and that also responds to external stimuli is the first sign of possible hostility. When considering that they are also responding following the Tiberium explosion indicates that they have been waiting for this moment. It is with our recommendation that the aliens are classified as hostile until further notice and to prepare for a hostile reception when they make landing on the planet." The voice continued, the shocked room still getting over the idea that there was a new alien species and that they were hostile for some reason.
Did NOD do something?
"Does anyone have questions?" Asked the voice.
"How are we sure that they are hostile?" Asked a Coalition general.
"We are not 100% sure but the possibility of them being friendly are very low if the actions we have observed so far are any indication. Further, we can judge that the chances of there being 2 alien species, both of which have different goals regarding us in this section of space are very slim to nonexistent in their probabilities. I'm afraid that the possibility is too low for us to regard them as friendly."
"What of their capabilities? Is there anything we know at all of what they can do?"
"I'm afraid we only have conjecture at this point general. We can postulate that since they seeded our world with Tiberium in the first place that they are able to control it so that it won't be dangerous to them. They likely have devices of some kind that is able to manipulate and harvest Tiberium without fear of contamination. As for their other capabilities, we are unsure as to their exact nature, but if they are able to freely use Tiberium, then it is likely their forces have better armour and weapons compared to that of our own."
"I had hoped that wasn't that case."
"I'm sorry we have so little if any good news General."
"What timetable are we looking at here?"
"They should at the current speed at which they are accelerating reach this planet within 3 months time."
"We need to wrap up the campaign in the rest of the world, bring it all under our control before they arrive. Or we are going to be possibly fighting a war on all possible fronts and I don't think any of us want that." Said the general sounding just the slightest bit frustrated.
"You said this world… we have apparently been the same as this universe before the divergence with the emergence of NOD… is there any possibility that we have the same aliens in our own universe?" Came, the question, a very… terrifying question in its implications.
"We are investigating that, a probe is being sent out to where we first detected these aliens in this universe. Since we have not been visited as of yet by Tiberium, I think that it is safe to say that the possibility is very low. However that is not to say it isn't possible, the aliens might just have gotten themselves lost and are a little late. The voice said, sounding just the slightest bit frustrated.
"Well, fuck."
"What do we have in terms of orbital defence?"
"We currently have the NOD weapons that they used to effect in the beginning of the Euro-Africa war, we are unaware of there being anything else at this point in time. We can possibly modify the Gauss weaponry that we have available but full testing on the equipment is unavailable. We also have the Soviet's missile systems, the European microwave and laser systems, and possibly the high altitude South American interceptors. It is unknown just how useful they would be against an enemy that is able to extract pure Tiberium and use it in armouring their vessels."
"NOD has upgraded the orbital defences of this world and have ensured that it will be able to combat the forces of the aliens." Came, a voice from the NOD side of the auditorium.
"What do you mean by upgraded the orbital defences?"
"NOD has upgraded our anti-orbital capabilities in response to orders by Catherine. Current systems are both orbital and ground based in nature. Gauss weaponry, missile systems, direct energy systems, and boarding craft."
"What of the Tiberium here already? Has it been brought under control?"
"Not as of yet General. We have been using Sonic systems to break apart the Tiberium, but that merely causes it to release energy, we cannot influence its growth, only to destroy it. It is good enough for our current operations but not in the long term. We have postulated that we can use the sonic systems as weapons against the aliens if they are so heavily reliant on Tiberium."
"And those are going to be enough to counter the aliens themselves?"
"Negative. Ground armies trained in the navigation of Tiberium and defending against weaponized Tiberium have been secured." Said the officer.
"Wait… you knew this was coming?"
"Yes."
"Why didn't you say anything?"
"Pointless."
"We could have prepared, we could have developed new weapons!"
"Insufficient. Current technological levels far too behind NOD to make time investment in convincing Coalition armies of threat worthwhile."
"Just that? That is all you're going to say!? We could be losing millions here, possibly even billions man!"
"Irrelevant. This world has rejected ascension, priority has been designated the home universe."
"Just because they don't want this 'ascension' of yours, doesn't mean that they are going to be… like… just not worth it you know. They are still people!"
"Technically. Their failure to comprehend ascension has negated their worth in the eyes of Catherine."
"I don't understand this ascension of yours. Does that mean I get left behind too?"
"You understand ascension, you are in the process of ascending. Catherine has made it so."
There was a moment of silence behind that. They had assumed that the ascension that NOD talked of was just some kind of metaphysical thing, but… if NOD was actively carrying it out on the populace, on them didn't that mean that something was very wrong with it all?
"What do you mean that I am already ascending. I never did anything."
"You do not have to do anything, you are ascending, it is a matter outside of physical control."
"What the hell do you mean by that?"
"That it is unable to be controlled by any except Catherine."
"I… I don't understand!"
"Irrelevant."
There was a growl of frustration that was only stopped by his colleagues physically restraining him.
"How soon can you get these systems in place?" Asked another general.
"They are already in place. Merely awaiting an activation code."
"So you did this all without us knowing?"
"Correct."
"Why?"
"It is more efficient."
"But we could have helped, we could have assisted in developing all of it.
"You do not understand the technology too difficult to explain."
And so it continued, the meeting concluding with something being done, just not the way everyone thought it would.
After Activation 1178 - Origin Universe
After Insertion 1139 - Cultivation Universe
Millennium 151-32M - 40k Universe
AD 2010 - C Red Alert/Generals - Rise of the Reds Universe
The first of the alien ships were as of the time of viewing reaching Mars, they were only half a month away from Earth itself.
It was with this in mind that the Coalition and NOD got to work, getting themselves ready for what would be coming next. They were much more well equipped than their equivalents in the GDI and the now destroyed Tiberium NOD if it had arrived when they were still around. A concern that if one extrapolated their technological innovation over time, would have seen them seriously pressed back at the very least, possibly even destroyed.
As for the Coalition and NOD, well they were handling the situation much better than the GDI or NOD could have, what with them being unified and much less likely to continue attempting to fight against each other while an alien invasion was underway, or to try and use it for ulterior purposes as Kane very likely would have done, the stories emerging about him confirming that fact at least partially.
The ships were at such a distance that the long range visual telescopes were able to get an accurate picture of what an alien craft looked like. It was a melding of what appeared to be technological and biological elements, the craft looking as if they were grown somewhere but instead of using flesh entirely, it was as if it was technology laced with flesh.
The NOD scientists who were leading in Tiberium research put forth the conjecture that it was not that they were added on after, but rather the material was grown alongside them. After all, if they had control of Tiberium, then it could be assumed that they would be able to use the Tiberium or at least force it to change shapes and forms as necessary, a series of impulses creating different patterns to be used. After that, the Tiberium would be turned into minerals which would be in the perfect shapes without any more machining necessary.
It was an explanation to help explain why their ships looked like they were giant insects which was at face value very disconcerting in all the wrong ways. Each one looking as if it was here to devour whatever it faced before it. If one could work it, then legs were much more effective to pick through a field of Tiberium than tracks or tires were.
There was the distinct possibility that they did not know of the people that had taken up residence on the planet that they had sent their little rock to. Something that no doubt meant that they didn't quite understand that there was going to be some resistance. The possibility that this was a harvesting force as opposed to a combat force made clear from the formation of the fleet and the manner in which it was advancing. A straight line to the planet instead of trying to do something like using asteroids as cover in front of them or something of the like.
It spoke of arrogance, or it spoke of ignorance.
Hopefully, it would be the latter because if it was arrogance and they knew that the humans were on this world, then it was going to be a problem when they tried to destroy them and nothing worked the way they wanted it to. It was hoped after all that the enormous Gauss Cannons, both Coil and otherwise would work as they had been planned to. If not then there was a very big problem.
NOD at the very least was very confident in the effectiveness of their weapons, why exactly they weren't sure but it had something to do with the sudden leap in Tiberium Research pace that NOD was displaying the Coalition was sure.
There had to be a way to find out exactly what it was that NOD was getting their information from… but getting information from the ones who had been responsible for stealing all of their data in the first place was going to prove at the very least to be impossible. They were good. They were not that good. They had learnt everything from NOD and NOD hadn't given them all the tool as of yet.
And so it was that the world waited, the public had been warned of the imminent alien landings a while ago, but the ramifications had not set in yet the Coalition could see. Evacuation of the city centers would be necessary soon, a problem that the rapidly expanding Tiberium Fields were exacerbating. NOD's scientists had not yet worked out a way to corral the Tiberium expansion, or what was more likely was that they had and weren't telling anyone, using it for their own purposes. The Coalition forced to destroy the Tiberium with Sonic Emitters, wasting a valuable resource as they did so.
They had after all, demonstrated an utter disregard for anything that came to this universe's people, they were not worth the effort or something of the life. A very callous way to view the people and one the Coalition couldn't accept. Even if it was they who had subjugated their own populations in the first place.
The Coalition therefore, did what it could for the people while preparing their forces for what was about to come.
And so the invasion drew closer, ever closer.
The aliens were a week out, having reached the moon and were not approaching the world, each one of their craft able to be spotted in the night sky, outlined against the moon when it swung around.
The public understood now the threat, it only took an appearance of what appeared to be a truly gigantic fleet to push them into accepting the idea that things might not be as altruistic as they had thought it would be. These aliens certainly did not look like the benevolent kind, the ones that were going to be helping uplift them or whatever it was that aliens did in their spare time. These looked like they were very willing to end them in a torrent of bio-acid, each looking far too organic to be anything but weird.
As for NOD, they were readying themselves. This was the moment that they had been waiting for after all, each and every one of them ready and willing to engage the ships as they descended from orbit. From moon orbit that was.
They were not going to be entering this planet peacefully, if they wanted to throw Tiberium around the galaxy without checking if the planet was occupied or not, or if they had done it despite the world being occupied, then they were going to be met with everything that they deserved.
One did not bring in their ships so slowly, so deliberately and so obviously if they didn't want to make a statement of some kind, that being that the inhabitants of the planet below them were all helpless and they were going to suffer.
That was an outcome that NOD found unacceptable, while it was not their planet and they did not care of the people, they did care about the fact that they had conquered it and it was their world to do with as they wished. Not as some kind of giant bug dictated that they do.
And so it was that the Mega Cannons were unveiled. All over the world, vast hexagonal tubes were erected. Whether it be a city, an island or even in the middle of the ocean, the tubes were all identical. Each one connected to an enormous generator, a series of boxes, some of which were as large as the tubes themselves were before being lifted onto an articulating arm. Each was in essence, a turret designed to engage things in a thirty degree arc around it, the Gauss cannons that had been promised, the gauss cannons had been delivered.
The ground based defences numbered in the tens of thousands, the work of NOD for the last several years, the home universe having even more of them. That was not all however, they were after all designed for local defences, to take out things in the atmosphere or things that were descending into the atmosphere. For those still in space, NOD's own stealthed space stations were being brought online. Over 500 of them, all crewed with the most loyal of the Black Hand, each one housing an even larger Gauss Cannon, this one being the center point of the entire station itself. A large tube that ran for over 50 meters in length. At the rear were several engines set in such a way that they would counter the recoil of firing something so large and at the speeds at which it was going. 5% the speed of light for a projectile that weight 50 kilograms, diminutive but NOD hadn't yet figured out a way to make them bigger without having a projectile that simple went through the projected targets.
Having a fragment that went cleanly through was part of the reason why the 7.62mm round was phased out of existence. While it was undeniably an effective round, it had the problem of simply going through people, through flesh and bone. A 5.56 on the other hand, would tumble into the body and inflict wounds, being much more useful to cause massive internal damage inside of a target than to simply go in and out with only a minor burn ring to mark that it was there… that and the hole inside of the person in question.
As such it was clear that scaling up the Gauss Cannons were not going to have the effect that they had thought it would, best to keep it small for now, that way it could at least do tremendous damage to the ships being used against them by the Scrin.
The aliens had been given a name by NOD scientists, the "scrin" why this was was unknown but the name had spread out and now infected popular culture, making it impossible for the Coalition leadership to change the name.
A calculated and very… evil move one might consider.
The Cannons were being readied, the second line of defence against the Scrin, the first was in the skies, ready to protect without ever being seen.
As for those on the ground, or rather inside of the atmosphere, things were working slightly differently. They were ready for what was coming, the NOD forces at least knew that the aliens were hostile, their readiness reflecting this fact. Ammunition was stockpiled and their most effective ammunition types were being used as well as their most effective weapons. They were not going to be sandbagging for this one.
The Gauss Rifles were being pulled from their specially built armouries, the laser weapons, the experimental plasma weapons, the exoskeletons being pressed into widespread use, the infantry as well as that of the vehicles, were all being readied. The main guns of the tanks were being switched out for the Gauss equivalents at the least, the subatomic munition types if they were being used in more of a support role.
The refits of the entire NOD force had taken them nearly 2 months, only possible because of the way that they had known it was coming and had planned it out, as a result, the infrastructure already in place, the crews ready and knowing their duty in it all.
The Coalition on the other hand, had seen NOD arm themselves with weapons that they had not seen before and had become very worried. This in turn, prompted them to begin pulling their units across to the Tiberium Universe. The fear being that NOD would annex this world and then have a staging ground to launch an invasion of the home universe. A foolish fear, but one that helped drive the mobilization.
That and the very real fear that NOD once again knew something that they didn't and were preparing for a threat that the Coalition should be preparing for as well. It was not a pleasant feeling being second once again and at the mercy of NOD, but it looked like that was happening this time as well.
Both armies were spread around the world, aircraft, carriers, cargo-planes, all of them were on standby, ready to deploy the second that orders came down to meet any possible attacks, either by NOD or the aliens.
It didn't look like it mattered much at this point.