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 scrin were wiped out, the mop-up was proceeding according to plan and the world was… better?
The Scrin technology had been harvested by the Coalition, a means of allowing them to decode the advances of the Scrin and perhaps trying to create their own imitations for use in the exploration of space.
The problem, of course, being the ever present, presence of NOD that had declined to take any of the salvage, as if they already had an understanding of the Scrin technology… which given that they knew the name of the aliens in the first place was extremely likely.
It was frustrating for those of the Coalition to know that they were just playing second fiddle to NOD, but it was not as if there had been any change in the intervening years. NOD still dominated technologically, still dominated when it came to matters of state, guiding their efforts, and anything else that the word subterfuge might be linked to. NOD was playing them and it was for a goal that was somehow linked to his constant upgrade of technology they were going through.
"So what you are saying is that NOD is fucking with us?" Asked General MacManus.
"Yes, that's exactly what I am saying. NOD is fucking with us. That is clearly what I said." Said Professor Bach.
"You're fucking with me now."
"Yes."
"What the hell is the point that you are trying to make?"
"That this is still part of NOD's long term plans. That things have not just ended because we have defeated the Scrin, very clearly NOD has been preparing for them for a very long time. We can see this with what we can see from their weapons systems, systems designed to fight against the Scrin in the first place, or at least another invading alien species. Their weapons are far too devastating to be for any purpose on Earth, it is clearly related to the perception that there is a threat from space. That NOD is worrying about."
"Run that by me again but without the big words."
"Sighs loudly. NOD knows that there is some kind of enemy that is coming from space and they are preparing us for them."
"Should have said that in the first place Prof. Ok so NOD knows something is coming, what the hell are we expected to do about it?"
"We can do nothing but follow along with their plans for the human race. If this conflict has been any indication of their thoughts, we can safely assume that NOD is on our side."
"That's nice Prof. What about the tech, what is it?"
"The technology is fascinating general. It is at the same time some kind of organic component that is somehow melded with the metals and is also alive. Everything that the Scrin have used so far has been alive in some way, using an AI in the place of a living being to control and modify the behaviours of their units. It is actually fascinating if you consider the ramifications, we will be able to use this on our own technology once we have it reverse engineered, our soldiers will be able to wear suits of living armour that adapts to their will whenever necessary, or we can completely revolutionize our own production cycles and instead of needed to refine minerals, we can simply use Tiberium instead. It is able to modify the very structure of the atoms it comes into contact with to produce a crystal that when bombarded with specific audio frequencies can then force it to change into specific configurations, turn it into metal or even turn it into energy. Truly a versatile and amazing technology. Whoever invented it was a genius beyond their time, the application of it in our own technology is far beyond what I could have possibly imagined when I first started on…"
"Woah woah Prof. Hold up. So slow that down for me."
"The Scrin use living machines to do their bidding. They have a way to control Tiberium that allows them perfect control over it, allowing them to do whatever they want with the substance. It is highly advanced. Once we have cracked the method that they used, we will be able to create armies from nothing."
"Ok that's great and all Prof, but what can we do with it right now?"
"Ummm… nothing so far."
"Okay, that's us back to square one. What else you go for me doc?"
"I have nothing else as of right now general. We are still in the preliminary stages of understanding this technology."
"Ok, what about NOD. I hear they already know all this."
"Yes, that is what we have conjectured as well. Their weapons that they have allowed us to keep are all structurally identical, they heavily resemble the structure of the Scrin ships, the Scrin vehicles, and everything else that the Scrin used. The materials are uniform on an atomic level and are all extremely durable, made out of a material that we have not encountered before on this planet or the home world. It is many times harder than steel yet not brittle, it as a melting point that is far beyond that of what the Scrin we have fought demonstrate, it has the ability to become magnetic at the introduction of electricity, yet it can also serve to be completely inert without it. Very likely this is again an attempt by NOD to give us technology to reverse engineer, this and the Scrin ships themselves. It is a ridiculous piece of weaponry or even an item to be issued to all their soldiers, it demonstrates a callousness to weapons design and production that indicates that they have completely mastered this technology at some level that they are not demonstrating to…
"You want me to simplify it again don't you."
"Yup, you got me, prof."
"They have weapons that are only possible if they have mastered the refining of Tiberium."
"Well, fuck. That isn't what I wanted to hear. Ok. What about…"
Knock Knock
The president sat up abruptly on his chair, taking off his two hand-puppets, hand-knitted for him by Catherine herself and shoving them into a drawer under his table, his body going ramrod straight in his chair, his hand going down to the lever that would return the back to an upright position.
"Yes!" He called out. "Come in!"
His chief aide stepped into the room, face carefully neutral. The president also had a very carefully neutral face. Both of them knew what it was that the president got to in the confines of his office when he had free time, but they carefully played the game where both sides pretended that the other didn't know what was going on.
It was after all, a means for him to relax slightly, to get his thoughts in order, to make sure that he understood the material on the briefings that he had attended throughout the day. They were a pain in the ass but a necessary one, especially if he wanted to keep in touch with the world, something that was getting to be increasingly annoying.
Maybe he should retire and go to being annoying or whatever it was that retired presidents did with their time. It was not as if they were worth very much, most of them were dead now after all.
"What is it?" He asked his aide.
"Urgent communication from the Coalition sir." His aide said, the gravitas in his tone chasing away any annoyance that the president might have felt. Things were never good when it was an urgent communication. The last time it had happened was when the aliens had been sighted, the one before that when the US had decided to invade in the other world and a massive explosion that devastated an entire region had occurred, the one before that being when NOD had declared war on an entire world.
In short, nothing good ever came from these and he would be damned if he pretended that he looked forward to it.
"Well then, lead on then… then… fuck it." He stood up, breathing out a sigh and following his aide to the secure communications room down the hall of his suite in the presidential palace.
As he stepped into the room, he was greeted by the faces of the representatives of those power blocs around the world as well, as… well, it looked as if there was somebody else here. An actual professor from the looks of it. Ah. That was the name.
Percival. The one that had told them of the portal when it had first opened all those years ago.
"We are all here. Good. Please secure your rooms." Said the Russian Premier, locking down his own room as he spoke. There would be nobody else in these rooms but them when they spoke, Doctor Percival was probably with the US president in his room. Perhaps there was another portal to another world they were going to need to conquer?
"Well then. The good doctor has some news to share with us does he not?" Asked the Russian Premier.
"Yes. I have just returned from my lab and bear grave news. The portal that links our world to that of the Tiberium world is fraying at the edges. At the most, I give it 5 years before it disintegrates completely and we will once again be cut off from the Tiberium universe. We have 5 years before we are once again alone." Doctor Percival said, his face looking serious. His spectacles were sagging which kind of killed that impression but his eyes were deadly serious.
As for the President, he sat back in his chair and looked at the screens in front of him, one face in each. Each of them looked suitably thoughtful about the news that had just been dropped on their heads.
This… was not the worst news that they had ever heard truth be told.
"So we can finally pull our troops back and leave those fucking peasants to live in the filth like they want to?" Asked the African President, his face bared in a grin. He had not liked the Tiberium Universe and had called for them to just leave many times since he had assumed office. A perspective that many of them shared if they were being honest. The Tiberium Universe was much more trouble than it was worth, they didn't accept the helping hand offered and had instead tried to attack them, tried to use terrorist tactics on them. All in a bid to drive them from their world.
If they wanted to be independent so badly, then they could do so. It would be no skin off the backs of the NTU. They had already profited greatly from the Tiberium Universe, the discovery of Tiberium, the Scrin's technology and more at their fingertips.
It would be a simple matter to just leave now, nothing was holding them there. Except for whatever it was that NOD wanted from then in the first place.
"We should at least leave our forces in where we are, pull back from the United States and possibly help those in the European areas. There is the possibility of a retaliatory alien invasion after all." Said the European leader, looking rather somber at the thought of abandoning a world to face the alien threat.
"Yes, that is a problem is it not? Perhaps we can leave behind technological manuals to assist them in developing on their own? It would not be particularly difficult and they can then develop weapons to defend themselves." Asked the South East Asian Alliance President.
"Yes, that makes the most sense naturally. We do not need to sacrifice any more lives to pacify more areas. Simply fall back to what we have, consolidate it, give them technology then leave. If they want their freedom so much they can have it, the freedom to make a mess of everything is something they seem to crave after all." Said the American President, shaking his head at their foolishness.
"Then it is decided. We pull out gradually, leave behind a gift of technology then we wash our hands of their world."
"Agreed." Was the chorus.
As the President unlocked the room, he considered maybe purchasing a new hand-puppet, one that was a presidential one or at least one in a suit.
After Activation 1180 - Origin Universe
After Insertion 1141 - Cultivation Universe
Millennium 153-32M - 40k Universe
AD 2012 - C Red Alert/Generals - Rise of the Reds Universe
In the 2 years that had passed since the Portal closing warning had been given, the world had not changed very much at all. If anything it was almost the same as it had been when it had started, only people were marginally older and the idiots in the Tiberium Universe were still trying to fight them. Did they not understand the concept of useless force meets immovable object?
One was going to give and it was not going to be the object.
It had been rather sad actually, seeing them just keep trying despite the complete and utter failure.
That main concern however, was not that of the insurgents but the project that had just seen itself completed.
The worry that the Scrin existed in this universe had seen the world develop their technology in a way that… was far too obvious for them to have not missed it in hindsight. The way that they had been expected to develop their technologies in a specific manner, all down a slightly different path, all of them somehow them coming out the other side to demonstrate what looked to be a truly ridiculous amount of technology and power that all meshed together as if they had been designed that way. As if their entire development had been planned from the beginning despite how much they thought they had been doing it themselves.
In hindsight, you had 20/20 vision, but to not see it while it was happening? Well, that was something else entirely.
That damned NOD had given them exactly what it was they needed and wanted to do something like… building a spaceship. A giant fucking spaceship.
This threat that NOD was building them up for was turning out to be a very clear one, one that had little cues all over it pointing them in the right direction, one that requiring all their efforts to not roll their eyes at.
Aliens, NOD had been doing all of it, the killing, the dying, the leaving behind of technology so that they could fight aliens. How they had known the aliens were coming in the first place was a matter of debate, but it was very clear that since the year of 1965 they had known and they had been preparing for it.
The population of the world itself only knew that this ship (and the others like it) were being slated for the "exploration of the solar system" instead of being packed with the most powerful sensory arrays that they had available in order to scan the universe for the Scrin. It would begin at Neptune where they first spotted them, then onto Pluto and then further out. 6 ships, 6 directions of movement, there wasn't going to be anything that they were missing here.
The public knew of course of the aliens that had been killed and crushed under the might of the Coalition, but that knowledge was limited in that it assumed that there was only aliens in the Tiberium universe, thinking that the lack of Tiberium meant that there weren't any aliens in their universe.
While hopefully, this would prove to be true, the fact that NOD was pushing so hard for them to arm themselves with increasingly powerful weapons told the leadership of the world that it was only a pipe dream.
No, it was best if they prepared themselves accordingly, their weapons, their armour, their ships, all to fight the Scrin. But if it was just fighting the Scrin, then they didn't need all of this, their weapons were more than adequate to engage and destroy any Scrin probes or forces. They just needed more of them.
Rather, if they were developing their technology like this, then it was very clear indeed that they were being guided somewhere else entirely.
The 'ascension' that NOD spoke of was not a spiritual one, it was very clearly a physical one, for them to advance into the stars and crush the aliens that were there already. NOD wanting them to become a space faring race in and of themselves.
It was a rather heady feeling to know that actually, that they had been destined for this from the start. Even if the thought was a little arrogant, it was enough for them to feel better about themselves.
After all the other thought was that NOD was merely preparing for them to face against the might of the Scrin and to put up as good a defence as they could before being wiped out.
As for the ships they were prepared and they would be launching very soon, the plan being to drop off near Jupiter and use the moons around it to gather fuel before heading out, swinging in and around it in a temporary orbit to scoop up the gases that would fuel their ships for the long and extended journey out into the universe. Of course, they wouldn't be using Jupiter for fuel directly, that was crazy talk, but rather many moons some of which were made up of liquid fuel.
The ships would be doing multiple duties on their journeys out, they would be a testing ground for the idea of social interaction of a group of peoples confined together for a prolonged period of time, a way for the people of home to see the universe through glorious rendered graphics and images, a way to scan for the Scrin themselves, a way to test whether or not it was possible for humans as they were not to live on ships for extended periods of time without going insane, and so forth.
It was a new endeavour and the threat of the Scrin ensured that it meant that they couldn't just do something like do multiple different tests in different stages to work out the best results, the Scrin could be coming and they had to be sure before something happened, before they were attacked.
It was unlikely but it was a concern nonetheless.
The further investigation of Tiberium showed that once it reached a certain density, it naturally turned into Liquid Tiberium that in sufficient quantities in the same area would cause an explosion. No doubt the Scrin were waiting for the planet itself to have become so saturated with Tiberium that the explosions would have called them in. It had not turned out the way they had expected and now the mining force was dead.
Tragic that their first contact with a new species would be like that, but it was better than being turned into Tiberium and used for whatever it was that the Scrin used Tiberium for besides making ships and bodies out of it.
The current plan when it came to dealing with the Scrin was very basic, to be refined at a later date. They would be trying to detect whether or not the Scrin were in this universe and if there was a fleet approaching earth, specifically looking for the same kind of signatures that the first 6 ships had given off when they were approaching Earth.
At the same time, there would be a very large effort to get themselves on Mars and the moon, a way to construct and build the variety of bases and structures that they needed to sustain a large space borne fleet with which to take the fight to the Scrin. It would be done under the premise that they were exploring the galaxy, expanding the frontiers of humanity and so forth, the weaponization of their ships being "just in case" there were hostile aliens out there.
Whether or not the ships would be necessary was another concern but it was better to be safe than to be sorry.
At the same time that this was going on their ground armies would be modernizing themselves with the weapons provided by NOD, using them as a base by which to improve their technology further. Their forces could not afford to suffer the same problems as they had when the Scrin had initially made their way down, their carriers being able to hold off all the weapons that were thrown at them except for the missiles used by NOD towards the end.
An analysis of the Scrin technology, their vehicles, their weapons and the like was going ahead at full speed. Being able to discover whatever it was that they used as weaponry, how they were able to manipulate Tiberium in the way that they had, any weaknesses that the Scrin might have that would prove to be useful to know, and possibly just how they were able to call in the number of units that they had in the first place.
If the answer was wormholes, it meant that they would be able to use a technology that was going to change everything in regards to how the world worked.The Coalition was being tentatively hopeful that the technology would be unlocked, a way for them to circumvent the problems that came with the space of space itself, a way that they could explore outwardly without losing contact with their colonies and having to face civil riots or insurrections of their own.
All of this would be bearing fruit in the next few years as the exploratory spaceships made their way out from the space stations that were currently hosting them. The need for fuel expensive cold launches from the ground having been done away with long ago using the initial advances in cracking Scrin technology to develop the materials needed to build the Space Elevators that would allow humanity to explore the galaxy without the need to be worried about minor matters such as the weight of the launch craft.
Indeed each Space Elevator was used as a tourist attraction to begin the induction of the human race into the space faring races, no doubt an idea suggested by a NOD operative to get their ascension plan started early.
The preparatory work to allow the Coalition to pull out of the Tiberium Universe in the first place was pulling ahead, allowing for them to pull all of their forces through with a mere hour of notice. Their men and women were not going to be left behind in what was likely going to be a very hostile and ugly world when they were finally gone. The people of the Tiberium Universe were so very primitive when it came down to it, unable to comprehend a superior society when it stared them in the face.
Many a head had been shaken at that, the disappointment that they had felt about the failure of this particular branch of the human race being presented to them in such vivid detail had seen the support for humanitarian measures to deal with them decline as the years passed.
Did they not understand a good thing when they saw it?
Still, good thing or not, they were going to be providing for the people of the Tiberium Universe for another 3 years before things changed enough that they would be forced to leave it. It was a small amount of consolation for those still deployed in the Tiberium Universe, but orders were orders and it was not as if they could do anything by shooting all of them. Or rather they could shoot them all and it would feel good, but not change anything on a societal level where the problems were being experienced.
It didn't help that the US itself was being left independent, which was rather… funny. Their military had been crushed, what was left of it spread out all over the country. Their president, all of their leaders and more were dead, wiped out when Washington had been destroyed.
All of it had been held together by the Coalition, but when they had left, the entire country fell into a state of civil war as the problems that had been building up exploded all over the country. The lack of critical key goods, the massive unemployment, the loss of civil liberties, the lack of funding for most issues, all of it being diverted to the military, and more.
All the problems building up and without anything to control them, exploded out into the real world. Something that amused those in the Coalition greatly, they had rejected what was so much better, and now they were seeing the consequences for it.