Captain Nick "Havoc" Parker
Who'd have thought a rag-tag townie with a loud mouth and a chip the size of an Orca on his shoulder would come to play a starring role in saving the world? Captain Nick "Havoc" Parker still laughs at the idea to this day.
Parker was that kid... The only child of two exceedingly normal parents (mom was homemaker and full-fledged PTA member; dad a gruff, Allentown steelworker), the young Parker earned his nickname early on.
Branded as "troubled" by school counselors and a "problem child" by neighbors who were worried about the Parker's proficiency at building small explosive devices, he was nonetheless, or rather because of his mischief, revered by the town kids for bringing a little bang - literally - to the dying burg of Allentown.
Parker's youth in Pennsylvania was a gritty collage of fist fights, explosions, after-school detentions, and wry one-liners as a way of coping with it all. Worrisome moms and other community do-gooders often said the "fool boy" would come to a bad end. They would have been right... If the Marine Corps hadn't snatched him up first.
It was in the USMC that Havoc quickly learned to turn his "bad" qualities to his advantage; his gruff attitude and penchant for no-bull action seemed to work in his favor. Most publicly, he wound up heading a Special Forces unit in Operation Desert Storm as part of the USMC's recon team - though that did mean flirting with dishonorable discharge on several occasions. Indeed, Havoc's unconventional methods, while effective enough, often proved a public relations nightmare for the Marine Corps.
The USMC was more than happy to pass him off to the newly formed Global Defense Initiative, where at least the organization's secrecy might work to Havoc's benefit. There, Havoc led the commando squad that would later gel into legend as the Dead-6, officially "killed" to make their covert ops run that much more smoothly.
But not as smoothly as Havoc, or GDI, would have liked. The drawn-out anti-Nod campaign in northern Egypt would eventually result in Havoc's dismissal from the Dead-6. Though no longer officially part of the elite group, Havoc is still a team member in spirit; his brash attitude and rough-handed, but effective, methods are credentials no one can take away.
The Dead Six
The Dead-6 Elite Commando Unit
One died in a raid on a terrorist bomb-making lab in southern Chile. Another fell during a bloody conflict while gathering intel on rival Nigerian warlords. Another was assassinated by thugs in the Balkans. Another died in Turkey; another in Australia; another in Jordan.
They're the Dead-6, but they're anything but dead.
Being "officially" killed off, however, was in the best interests of the GDI, which wanted these elite operatives for beyond-covert missions that would hardly benefit from public exposure. Hand-picked after the dissolution of UN peace keeping forces, the Dead-6 were subsumed under the auspices of the GDI, locked in a high-stakes - if not high-profile - war against Nod.
It's hardly a social club; back-pats and high-fives are as rare as mission snafus among this bunch. The Dead-6 is comprised of battle-hardened veterans whose skill in the theater of war seems to compensate for a trouble coping with real life.
Dariel "Deadeye" MacInnis, for instance, is a foul-mouthed Scot who spent many bitter years with the Special Air Service. Today, the expert marksman takes shots for the GDI. Nigel "Gunner" Grant is a rocket soldier who paid his dues in Southeast Asia hot spots - and as a young punk on the streets of South London. Meanwhile, Shai Aviv, nicknamed "Hotwire" for her expertise with electronics hardware, grew up on even meaner streets - those of Jerusalem, where witnessing daily acts of terror inspired a tight-lipped commitment to the GDI cause. Before joining GDI, Eric "Patch" Wulfe perfected his aim as a grenadier while a member of the renowned German counter-terrorist organization GSG9. He finds that explosions seem to be the he international language among this group.
Rounding out the Dead-6 are Havoc, and the slinky, stealthy Sakura Obata, the former Dead-6 member who once shared trench time with Havoc and now works for Nod as the personal bodyguard of Kane's second-in-command, General Gideon Raveshaw. While many Dead-6ers scorn the former Yakuza enforcer as a weak-willed traitor, Havoc can't help but wonder whether he can, in fact, bring Sakura back around to see things his way.
Doctor Ignatio Moebius
Dr. Moebius has the rare of distinction of having risked his life more times than the average GDI commando... And not because the German-born scientist ever set foot on the front lines. Rather, it's because the physicist, geneticist, and chemist is so preoccupied with the far-reaching scientific ramifications of his research that the good Dr. Moebius often forgets that he's dealing with lethal elements. And Tiberium - the most lethal of them all - might be considered Moebius' latest flame.
Fascinated by the mysterious space-born element that can end life or enhance it, Moebius believes that Tiberium will change the world.
Hailed as a child prodigy, Moebius entered college at the ripe age of 11 and received a gentleman's education in Vienna and Paris before developing a love for "hard sciences" such as physics, chemistry and genetics. One of the key directors of the Human Genome Project, Moebius left the HGP amid controversy in the early 1990ies to pursue research into the gene-altering powers of Tiberium. The decision led to widespread condemnation by the world scientific community and the stripping of his Nobel prize; but worst of all, it drew the attention of terrorist groups - among them, Nod - who saw Moebius as a valuable asset for their Tiberium research.
In order to avoid public scrutiny, Moebius was forced to conduct his research underground, funded by private donors - and protected by his main employer, the GDI. Although he's been officially censured by groups such as the influential Global Science Consortium, Moebius is nonetheless regarded in many circles as something of a renegade, even a sort of folk hero. Of course, it could matter less to Moebius, whose fascination with Tiberium - and the controllable mutations it causes - consumes his waking hours.
Sakura Obata
Lithe as a lynx and as inscrutable as a Zen riddle, Sakura Obata is a woman with complex motives, extensive skills and with a shady past to rival Kane's. Her latest job - that of personal bodyguard to General Gideon Raveshaw - might come as a surprise to those familiar with Sakura's prior stint for GDI's elite Dead-6 squad.
If you were to ask Sakura herself, the martial artist, acrobat and assassin would likely cross her arms and fix you with an intense stare as if you were the one who had some explaining to do.
As with Kane, rumors must fill in where fact is lacking, and the most widespread one about Sakura concerns her upbringing in the strict, male-dominated environment of the Yakuza, where she learned the deadly trades that make her one of the world's most sought-after assassins. It was also there she learned to sell her loyalty to the highest bidder; and the highest bidder that finally lured her to the United States was the CIA, which was working with the GDI on a covert assignment that would have her sharing trench time with Havoc and the other Dead-6 operatives. The mission: an ill-fated infiltration into a Nod Tiberium processing lab in Siwah, Egypt. It was only after planting the C-4 and watching the lab blossom into a orange ball of flame that Havoc and Sakura got some intel they should have had going in: a high-ranking Libyan official had been visiting the lab, and his death in the explosion sent already-sensitive Egypt-Libya relations reeling with accusations and counter-accusations of assassination plots and conspiracies. Havoc and Sakura were immediately relieved of their duties.
Months later, the GDI officials were left puzzling as Sakura re-emerged as a high-priced Nod bodyguard and assassin. Had her loyalty been bought by the Brotherhood of Nod, or had they owned it from the very beginning? Indeed, some say Sakura's apparent treason wasn't treason at all; some say that Sakura, in Nod's employ all along, had planned the Siwah fiasco in hopes of permanently decommissioning the Brotherhood's biggest threat: Havoc.
General Gideon Raveshaw and the Black Hand of Nod
General Gideon Raveshaw heads The Black Hand of Nod
Every religion has its priesthood, and every military branch its elite. Consider Nod's Black Hand a blend of the two, where battle-bred initiates are inculcated into the religious mysteries that form the core of the Brotherhood's belief system. If this cult-inside-a-cult has its prophet, his name is General Gideon Raveshaw.
Cold, brooding, and speaking in religious maxims when he chooses to speak at all; Raveshaw is in many ways the opposite of Kane. Whereas Kane relishes the opportunity for public speaking and seems to actively seek evidence of faith in Nod members, Raveshaw is an unlikely leader. However, there's a charisma, a method to his coldness, and his savagely brilliant mind make his inner circle the most fanatically loyal of all to the Brotherhood of Nod and Kane.
Originally a mercenary strategist based in Africa, where he would sell his intelligence-gathering services to the highest-bidder, Raveshaw was recruited by Kane to head Nod's specialist branch of spies and saboteurs in order to establish a hub of operations in Tunisia. Given a handful of Nod's best and brightest, Raveshaw undertook a campaign - a mix of terrorist bombings, planted evidence and inflammatory propaganda against the ruling regime - that resulted in a "people's revolution," i.e., the successful installation of a Nod puppet government.
Like Tiberium itself, Raveshaw exuded some unexpected side effects: he was quickly becoming a cult figure on his own terms. He was soon the unofficial head of the Nod's elite group, where his own style of Brotherhood gospel added yet another dimension to Nod's religious dogma. The official title of Black Hand was derived from a phrase attributed to Kane:
"When we are crushing the black hearts of our oppressors, we will find our hands blackened. We cannot cultivate our garden without digging in the dirt."
Thus the forces that make up the Black Hand of Nod specialize in Nod's dirty work: assassinations, kidnappings, terrorist acts and other forms of sabotage.
In the Black Hand, the code of behavior is rigid and unforgiving, and discipline is brutal; but every Brotherhood soldier dreams of being initiated into its ranks - where Nod's most pure-hearted are more than happy to get their hands dirty.
No comments:
Post a Comment