The Dawn of the Tiberium Age

Political and economical events leading to and during the First Tiberium War

A New Organization

After the defeat of the Soviets at the end of Great World War II, the Allies reported to the United Nations about their gruesome battle against the Soviet Union. The UN then started a several years lasting review of all the information gathered from the war. When this review was eventually completed, the delegates of the UN would begin the formation of a Peace Corps capable of covertly dealing with anything from minor ethnic unrest and small terrorist factions to a situation involving a state of worldwide emergency as defined in the UN review of The Great World War II. Throughout the process, none of this was ever made known to the public in an attempt to prevent hostile infiltration of the Peace Corps as well as to circumvent certain UN declarations regarding restrictions in military affairs that were officially enforced at the time.

The UN continued to review many pages of documents, diaries, taped conversations and retrieved items from the Soviets in a bid to incorporate the gathered intelligence in the organizational structure of the new Peace Corps to further increase its military potential and overall efficiency. Eventually, this new and secretive peace keeping force became the best equipped and most efficient military organization on Earth, utilizing state-of-the-art high tech weaponry and equipment derived of both former Allied as well as Soviet designs.

Towards the end of the 1950'ies, the UN came to a solution on how to correctly finance the secret group. A proposal submitted to all the nations within the UN-pact stated the amount each country would invest into the Black Project and which military officials would be in charge. It also outlined the purpose of the secretly funded Peace Corps, and stated a number of other policies regarding its activities, which are still classified today. The Peace Corps became active under the designation of:

"Operations Group Echo, Black Ops 9"

Brigadier-General Mark Jamison Sheppard

Yet throughout the years, their involvements in matters such as civil wars, coups and other politically sensitive situations began to expose their existence, resulting in the mass media trying to find out who or what this secret organization could be. Some mediums would later on begin twisting O.G.E/B.O.9's actual existence and purpose by saying they were implicated with aliens, Unidentified Flying Objects and the like. Although the UN continued to deny the existence of the organization, hiding the truth with certain matters already leaked out was starting to become increasingly difficult. It would eventually be the ominous operation "Desert Storm" that would officially reveal the existence of Operations Group Echo, Black Ops 9 and their purpose as a specialized international peace enforcing unit.

When the international media discovered that the attempted assassination upon Sadam Hussein by O.G.E/B.O.9 (in a covert effort to prevent the outbreak of the Gulf War) was a complete failure with the resulting deaths of a large number of agents, O.G.E/B.O.9's first contact with the general public was a catastrophe. Nevertheless, it wouldn't be too soon before the UN would be in the press again. This time to officially announce the existence and purpose of the organization and to come together one more time to rewrite the proposal of the late 1950ies.

In accordance with the United Nations Global Defense Act (UNGDA), the "GDI" or fully the "Global Defense Initiative" was founded at the date of October 12th, 1995. The UN proposal stated the following:

"The Global Defense Initiative was founded to enforce the United Nations Global Defense Act and uphold the ideals as outlined in the United Nations Charter."

Their supreme commander became the American Brigadier-General Mark Jamison Sheppard.

By taking the organization out of the shadows and thus giving the public an insight into its activities and purpose, the speculations and rumors ended and the trust in the UN's peace keeping unit was largely restored.

Tiberian Dawn

The media can either be your friend... or your enemy."
 - Kane

A few years prior to the announcement of the newly formed "Global Defense Initiative" or commonly the GDI, a strange meteor impacted on Earth near the Tiber River in Italy. A scientist by the name of Dr. Moebius found the meteor and discovered that it was the carrier of an alien plant-like life form. Afterwards he took it back to his lab in the United States to have it undergo a series of tests. After several months of research Moebius and his team began to see the inherent danger that this alien plant represented.

Tiberium

They would study the plant as it mutated and evolved in the laboratory garden and videotaped what was occurring. Within 14 days of planting the seeds of the Tiberium specimens Moebius had recovered from Italy, it had literally taken over the entire garden.

This shocked the scientists as they began to wonder about Tiberium's origins. But it would be the deaths of some of Dr. Moebius' colleagues that would truly begin to frighten him.

It seemed that Tiberium proved extremely hazardous to humans as it caused horrible health problems as well as causing the intoxicated person to undergo a change in behavior and appearance. It became clear that Tiberium was affecting every known species up to mankind at the genetic level ever since the day of its arrival.

Composed mostly of inorganic material, Tiberium is a non-carbon based substance. Tiberium is extremely toxic, and should not be handled by any carbon-based life form as it genetically alters DNA and mutates the life form it comes into contact with.

However, these extreme downsides can be put into perspective; we do know that the possibilities of Tiberium as a mineral resource are unprecedented. The only places where Tiberium couldn't seem to grow were places without minerals, such as the poles and desert regions.

In the words of Doctor Moebius:

Dr. Moebius on Science Talk

"Molecularly, it's a non-carbon based element. It appears to have strong ferrous qualities; with non-resonating reversible energy that has a tendency to disrupt carbon based molecular structures. It has unequal positrons orbiting on the 1st, 2nd, and 9th rings. The consequence of this structure is that the possibilities of Tiberium are limitless."

From the research of Dr. Moebius, the following facts were learned about Tiberium and suggests to what its actual derivation might be.

Tiberium Classes

Green Common Tiberium: Green Tiberium is the most common Tiberium. This substance is extremely hazardous to all known carbon based life forms.

Known compositional facts:
- Phosphor 42.50%
- Iron 32.50%
- Calcium 15.20%
- Copper 5.75%
- Silica 2.50%
- Unknown 1.50%

Blue Tiberium: Blue Tiberium was extremely rare during the first Tiberian War.
It manifests itself in large and often times gigantic crystaline structures.
Its toxic effects are extremely high to all known carbon based life, and when brought into contact with combusting materials it almost behaves as a physical form of anti-matter. This substance is extremely volatile and dangerous and should be handled with intense caution.

Known compositional facts:
- Methane 22%
- Sulfur 19%
- Naphthalene 12%
- Argon 10%
- Isobutene 6%
- Xylene 2%
- Unknown 29%

"The origins of Tiberium and its actual purpose still remain a mystery to the field of science."
 - Dr. Moebius

However, by the time Moebius and his team first realized the dangers of Tiberium, the plant was reported to have already spread slowly but steadily over most of the planet. They saw that it might already be too late to warn the world about the dangers of Tiberium. The shortage in time, however, wasn't Moebius' greatest problem in convincing the authorities to take immediate steps in halting Tiberium growth. Tiberium seemed to absorb all soil nutrition and ground minerals almost like a sponge. The end result of this unique leeching process was the formation of Tiberium crystals, which consisted mainly of a high number of enriched minerals and metals.

Shortly after Moebius made this discovery, an unknown organization suddenly revealed to the international press to have been doing research on Tiberium ever since its arrival and developed a technique of efficiently harvesting these Tiberium crystals with a minimum of mining expense.

Immediately realizing that these harvesting techniques could make the Tiberium crystals into a resource of tremendous economical value, governments and petrochemical companies worldwide attempted to buy off the harvesting techniques from the organization for astronomical prices. Eventually leasing its harvesting equipment to the highest bidders (mainly the G7 nations) on large scales, the organization made sure to maintain its position as a monopolist on the rapidly increasing Tiberium resources, gaining immense financial resources. Within a matter of months, refined Tiberium far outgrew the value of both gold and oil on the world trade markets. The organization that developed the harvesting technology and was therefore directly responsible for this Tiberium gold-fever was a group referring to itself as:

"The Brotherhood of Nod"

Nod was the world's only supplier of Tiberium Harvesting Technology.

The discovery of Tiberium was literally the dawn of a new era for the entire world. It provided a new source for economic gain and technological development as well as destroying life itself. It would later spread from continent to continent assimilating most organic plant life and sucking up natural resources at an extremely fast rate, moving about an acre every week to two weeks. But unsure about its actual principle and because of its potential, the world welcomed it as if it was diamond. Because Tiberium remained the number one source for economic affluence, the demand for it was always greater than for the concern that some may have on how it is affecting our planet. Moebius' objections to the whole affair of Tiberium harvesting were "taken under advisement" as he was ordered to continue his research on the unprecedented capabilities of Tiberium. In the light of Tiberium's boundless possibilities, the world turned blind to its dangers.

One subject that remained heavily debated nevertheless were the origins of Tiberium.

While the impact of the meteor that carried the first Tiberium specimens was officially deemed a natural occurrence, a number of people including respected scientists theorized that the arrival of Tiberium on Earth was a deliberate act of an intelligent alien species. Following up on this announcement, speculations and theories of all kinds began to go abroad. Some spoke of a hostile act in a bid to weaken our defenses. Others theorized that the aliens were unaware of our existence and sent the Tiberium to Tiberium-form the planet. Some claimed that the Tiberium might even be the alien itself.

Amongst the wild speculation, one group very familiar to the world suddenly reappeared in the media and proclaimed a very different view about the origins of Tiberium and its meaning. It was a sign from the heavens to begin a final and sacred war against the tyranny of the United Nations under the leadership of a living prophet, who was destined by God to lead humanity into a glorious Tiberian future.

This group was the Brotherhood of Nod.
Its prophet was a man called... Kane.

But was the Brotherhood telling the truth of the origins and meanings of Tiberium?

Kane himself claimed that it was the Brotherhood that first discovered Tiberium, and whether through foresight or shear stroke of luck, the evidence speak for itself; the Brotherhood had managed to harvest and process Tiberium, and provide the world with tools to do the same, while Moebius and his team were still beginning to understand the alien substance.

Contrary to popular belief, it wasn't Moebius that named Tiberium; it was Kane. And he didn't name it after the Tiber River near which the meteor had landed, but rather after Tiberius Drusus Caesar.

"Brotherhood, Unity, Peace"

"To truly shape the future you must first posses the past."
 - Seth

With the discovery of Tiberium, the world drastically changed in terms of economics, politics, technology and environment. Many began to perceive the Brotherhood of Nod and thus its strong man Kane as the direct reason for these cultural and technological advancements, even more so than the Tiberium itself. In the eyes of the people the Brotherhood of Nod turned Tiberium from a curse into a blessing, and Nod's popularity and public support worldwide had begun increasing rapidly over the years. However, while the Brotherhood of Nod was welcomed and appreciated by the general public as an upcoming and promising new religion suited to the needs of today's mankind, a number of international intelligence agencies such as Interpol made a disturbing discovery about Nod. Apparently, the Brotherhood of Nod seemed to have close affiliations to a high number of extremist and fundamentalist groups off all kinds around the world.

Because of this, Nod's activities had been closely monitored by the United Nations Security Council ever since they gained the Tiberium harvesting monopoly in the early 1990ies. The Security Council seemed to realize that the connections the Brotherhood had with such a high number of dangerous groups could mean that Nod essentially was trying to gain a strategic foothold in the countries where these organizations were most active or most strongly represented. However, this theory only being a worst case scenario and considering the fact that bringing Nod's dark connections to light would also mean exposing the involvement of American and European weapons manufacturers supplying the arms to these factions, the UN realized it had no choice but to leave Nod's dirty stones unturned. As time went by however, the Security Council monitoring Nod activities began to understand that the theory was slowly but surely becoming reality. It became clear that the Brotherhood's influence on most of the extremist and fundamentalist factions had become so substantial that in effect they were nothing more than Nod splinter groups. Nod slowly began to play a major role in the political and economical fields of most of the countries its splinter groups were active, with among the common people the number of conversions to Nod's religious views increasing day by day.

By the time the United Nations realized what kind of situation the Brotherhood of Nod was setting up it was already too late. UN politicians were shocked to see Kane revealing himself as an absolute political and strategic genius with an ability to sway masses in a way the world had never before seen. Kane began to hold the capitalistic democracy of the UN directly responsible for all of mankind's existing misery, accusing it and its policies from halting the coming of the new Tiberium era to satisfy the corrupt needs of the few regardless the suffering of the many. Particularly in Third World nations but effectively on a global scale as well, Kane's followers started to increase exponentially with people of all nationalities and social standings beginning to worship him as a living messiah destined to lead mankind into a Tiberium future.

As the situation progressed and Kane's abnormal intelligence and charisma became undeniable to the world, high-educated citizens and even political officials began sharing the public feelings and started perceiving Kane as an actual prophet, joining him while offering the Brotherhood all of their personal and professional support.

Realizing that the situation was becoming very serious, UN officials tried anything they could think of to break Kane's immense popularity through trying to involve him in scandals and spreading misinformation about the Brotherhood to the media. When these attempts failed Kane's response to his enemies was unprecedented terror.

Several high-ranking UN officials turned out to be among Kane's followers, keeping him aware of the entire timetable of the UN's anti-Nod propaganda and sending highly classified information regarding military matters and records about the personal lives of UN politicians. Kane periodically released this sensitive information to the media. As soon as one scandal was beginning to be digested by the public, the next one was released.

The consequences for the UN were devastating as they lost credibility and public support everywhere, within certain countries the situation becoming so critical that only the support of the local army was keeping the government in control. Many high placed politicians and military officers were forced to step down, while others began to get involved in car accidents and gas explosions at their homes or were downright assassinated by their own bodyguards or house personnel who were apparently part of Kane's movement as well.

Backed by vast amounts of financial as well as human resources, the Brotherhood of Nod equipped itself into a huge religious army that began to take over the governments of every country where it had enough supporters and annexed them under Kane's single rule.

In a matter of months the Brotherhood had total control of a number of countries on every continent on the world. And when rumors broke out that several Chinese politicians were preparing an alliance with Kane in order to destabilize the strongest western countries, the UN finally decided that the Brotherhood of Nod was to be wiped out immediately.

With Kane no longer being able to hide his own imperialistic tendencies, the UN took immediate advantage of that situation by creating doubt about Kane's true long-term goals among the public of the western nations. Then, on a live worldwide broadcast, the UN declared the man known only as "Kane" to be the greatest danger the free world has ever lived to see, and officially ordered the Global Defense Initiative to liberate the countries Kane annexed by any means necessary.

The First Tiberium War

As the showdown between the Global Defense Initiative and the Brotherhood of Nod was set into motion, those involved were very aware that should GDI turn out to be unable to halt Nod, nothing will stop Kane from fulfilling his own prophecy.

The dawn of an era and civilization the likes the world has never before known.

The First Tiberian War had begun, and although it didn't rival the materialistic destruction caused by the Great World War II, it ended in a human slaughtering beyond all imagining, turning by far into the most brutal and dirty armed conflict in human history. Looking back on that very history, one thing became very clear. Although Kane did not have the military power at his disposal that Stalin had, Stalin was never nearly the danger Kane was. Where Stalin was a military aggressor bent on conquering land, Kane was a manipulative genius bent on conquering the human spirit.

Kane did not annex countries; he annexed the people in it into his fold. Possessing an abnormal intelligence, he turned the peoples of whole nations against their own democratic rulers, destabilized the military and political systems through their own corruption, through infiltration down to the highest level and sometimes through pure terror. But above all, he proved capable of manipulating the mass media of the world in any way he so desired.

The First Tiberium War had begun, and soon all hell broke loose in Europe and Africa.

The Brotherhood of Nod turned out to be a heavily armed military faction utilizing well-trained and highly fanatical soldiers of all nationalities. Although funded by the G7 nations and thus equipped with high quantities of state-of-the-art weaponry, it soon became clear that GDI was having much more difficulty in controlling the Brotherhood than the UN anticipated. It became obvious that Nod had done advanced research on Tiberium and as the war progressed, they began to retaliate to GDI with never before seen weapons, tactics, and advanced forms of espionage. But although Kane's military power was literally growing by the day, it didn't turn out to be his most powerful weapon.

With the Brotherhood's vast sources of income and followers, they quickly gained support for their cause by advertising factual and non-factual information about the Global Defense Initiative through the press. As he did before with the UN itself, Kane slowly began to ruin GDI's image. Eventually, GDI activities began to be heavily criticized by the masses. Along with his media frenzy, Kane's speeches would enthrall the audiences that he spoke to. He would openly discuss the purpose of Nod and why the Brotherhood was at war with GDI. Kane almost literally controlled the public opinion. To their own horror, the United Nations were forced to realize that they were not capable of standing against the genius of this single mysterious man, as it became very clear that GDI was losing all control over the situation.

Then an event occurred somewhere in eastern Europe that would later reveal itself to be the greatest turn point in the First Tiberium War.

Greg Burdette

While European GDI forces were trying to halt the Brotherhood from penetrating into the mid part of Europe through Poland, a number of Nod reinforcements were working their way up north to take control of a town called Beoulistock, which was built on a location of great tactical importance. Realizing that the town would soon turn into a combat zone, GDI managed to arrive first and began evacuating the civilians. A well-known and popular international news reporter by the name of Greg Burdette accompanied them and made a report of the evacuation procedures, with the UN hoping to restore some of the damage Kane caused to GDI's reputation.

When the report was broadcasted several days later, the UN was stunned to find out that Greg Burdette was in fact a member of the Brotherhood, as he stated on live international television that GDI troops had completely slaughtered the population of Beoulistock on the grounds that they suspected the people to be Tiberium smugglers.

The results were disastrous. The public criticism on GDI escalated to street riots and the UN was forced to stop funding the organization and begin a public investigation into its activities and affairs. As the names of GDI officers were made known, so that their actions could be reviewed by the Security Council, many were promptly assassinated by Nod hit men and suicide commandos. As GDI's funding was cut, Kane immediately began launching major offensives all over the world, particularly in Africa. GDI suffered heavy casualties and loss of equipment, while the public inquiries of the Security Council continued undiminished.

What Kane was unaware of however, was that the UN had deliberately faked their withdrawal of GDI support in an attempt to circumvent his watchful eye. This plot worked, as Nod began to stretch their forces thin in order to attack GDI strongholds on a global scale. Because of their over confidence, Nod commanders were completely surprised to find the GDI bases fully operational and heavily fortified.

Most of the Nod attacks were repelled or even completely halted. GDI High Command had been able to outsmart Kane for the first time, and with Nod troops scattered all over the involved regions, GDI struck with full force and new military technology of their own at every poorly defended Nod region in the world. The tactic worked and Nod's war efforts were severely cut back. Then, after two years of harsh fighting which decimated region after region, GDI finally got the break it had been waiting for. Surveillance photos pinpointed Kane's exact whereabouts in a Tiberium research facility in the vicinity of Yugoslavia. Although the reports were not specific, there were rumors that Kane had begun human experiments involving Tiberium, injecting it into human guinea pigs of all ages in an attempt to enhance human DNA and create a next generation of superior soldiers.

The problem was that GDI was short in manpower and equipment for this important mission as their prime directive was to retake all ethnic regions Nod invaded. Therefore, it was decided to send a strike force consisting of elite troops under the command of GDI's finest field commander; an Afro-American officer called James Solomon.

Ion Cannon

During this mission, GDI's most advanced weapon was utilized for actual combat for the first time; an orbital weapons platform described as the Ion Cannon. Although this Ion Cannon had a great drawback of requiring a long charging period, it was nevertheless an awesome weapon of great destructive capabilities and impossible to counter or defend against. Through a number of Ionic charges of the satellite-like Ion Cannon, Solomon's task force managed to penetrate the heavily fortified perimeter of the research facility.

What was found inside the facility was never disclosed, but there are a number of reports regarding psychological trauma suffered by the first soldiers who investigated the interior of the facility and found the civilians who were experimented on. Kane was nowhere to be found.

With GDI chasing the remaining Nod occupation forces out of most East-European countries, the war entered its final stage. GDI surveillance agents discovered a huge and curiously designed structure in Sarajevo, which the Nod followers called "The Temple of Nod". This Nod nerve center was soon after confirmed to be Kane's base of operations. But the most terrifying news was that this structure was not only a command center Kane used to coordinate the Brotherhood's global war efforts, but also a facility designed for mass production of NBC weapons (Nuclear, Biological, Chemical).

Although possessing the resources and the technology to use next-generation weapons of mass-destruction ever since the beginning of the war, Kane could not possible have afforded to use them without giving up his most efficient tool: the media. GDI was very aware that now that Kane was losing the battle, he would use this weaponry as soon as it became available while GDI had no intelligence whatsoever regarding their possible targets.

Quick response time became of the utmost importance, so Solomon's strike force was sent to the nearby Sarajevo base to destroy the heart and mind of the Brotherhood of Nod.

The area was completely locked down by Nod troops, resulting in a clash between Solomon's forces and Kane's private guard that would last almost 72 hours. Then the moment arrived: Kane's last defenses were finally crippled and Solomon ordered to fire the Ion Cannon directly at the Temple of Nod.

Through a hidden camera installed inside by GDI infiltrates, all present in Solomon's command center saw Kane welcoming the blast as he opened up his arms. Fear was not noticed as Kane was seen being vaporized in front of the camera seconds before the temple exploded.

The First Tiberium War was finally over as without Kane's leadership the remaining Brotherhood forces broke in no time. But the haunting image of Kane willingly disappearing inside the Ion beam would loom behind Solomon's mind as he reviewed the tape over and over.

The Aftermath

As the world learned about the events that took place in Sarajevo, the reactions were very mixed. It soon became clear that several international politicians did not expect that Kane would be stopped and a number of them were conspiring with the Brotherhood to ensure their own place in the new era and civilization Kane was on the verge of creating. However, political leaders and indeed all others who had first hand witnessed or experienced Nod's extreme aggression and violence knew all too well the value of GDI's hard-fought victory, with one of them calling the GDI commanders and troops:

"Heroes to Human History"

When GDI forces began to search through the rubble of the Temple of Nod, they were confused of their findings in a lot of the structural designs as well as not finding any remnants of Kane. Because the Brotherhood used a unique form of architecture in the construction of their bases and temples, the remaining artifacts and schematics were placed in museums across the world. Later massive searches were set up to find any and all remaining soldiers loyal to Kane.

As they continued to search for evidence that could lead to confirmation of Kane's death, GDI military scientists would experiment with new technologies as well as expand on the ones they had. GDI felt that they needed to be prepared the next time they went into war, whether it be Nod or any other hostile force.

Experimental Battle Walker

After the war ended, Nod began to divide into smaller factions until the Brotherhood, as a whole was no more. The remaining Nod soldiers and officers went underground and disappeared from sight. Those Nod officials who had been captured were brought before international courts, where they were judged and executed for committing the most profound war crimes on mass-scales or sentenced to life-long imprisonment in mental institutions for proven signs of psychopathic behavior. Although Nod had been defeated, GDI continued to do research with new technologies under the orders of the UN, as to ensure that the Global Defense Initiative is never again caught off guard as it was by Kane.

However, soon other ailments would be in GDI's mind besides Nod and technological achievements. As much as most GDI commanders wanted to focus their attention on assuring the full elimination of the Brotherhood, it became clear that the very thing that provided them with the funds and technology to overcome Kane had now become the world's greatest danger; Tiberium.

With Tiberium beginning to assimilate large portions of Earth's ecosystems, GDI was officially ordered by the UN to begin research and efforts on halting Tiberium growth and evacuating civilians from the most heavily affected regions.

"The possibilities of Tiberium... are limitless..."
 - Dr. Moebius on Science Talk