What manner of friends
could a megalomaniac keep? Alone he is but one man, but by convincing others
to believe in him, to follow,
to place faith in his words, he could raise an army, a Brotherhood, and stake a very legitimate
bid for the planet. But with this method, trust becomes a very
limited resource. His promise of power attracted certain types
of people into the fold, and if even for a second he appears as ought but
the undying prophet he claims, his followers would begin to question. As the Brotherhood of Nod grew
in strength over its long history, so too did Kane’s greatest weakness; the threat of betrayal. Nod’s research into the
mutagenic properties of Tiberium began in earnest at least as
early as the First Tiberium War. Project ReGenesis was headed
by the Black Hand of Nod, seeking to use Tiberium to force the next Divine stage
of human evolution. The results; insufficient. Project ReGenesis was shut down when a GDI Commando stormed
the Cairo Temple of Nod, a facility whose research was overseen by the earliest known prototype of CABAL. Reviewing Havoc’s
BWV footage of the raid reveals an AI broadcasting
over the intercom; >>CABAL: Computer-Assisted
Biologically-Augmented Lifeform damaged. >>CABAL: All intruders,
please report to the detention centre. Seemingly a simpler intelligence
along the lines of GDI’s EVA unit, and severely damaged
by an Ion Cannon strike. Not yet knowing what
CABAL would become, these delirious ramblings
were considered inconsequent. Utilising long-lost Soviet technology, these projects would
bear more potent fruit by the dawn of the
Second Tiberium War. Mutated by Tiberium,
enhanced with cybernetics, the Cyborg Infantry were the result
of Nod’s Divination experiments, spearheaded by the
formidable Cyborg Commando, and the later development
of the sinister Cyborg Reaper. The augmentations made up for
the flaws of Project ReGenesis, and the Cyborg’s mutated
flesh would repair in direct Tiberium exposure. The Divination procedure allowed Nod to manufacture capable
and obedient weapons from captive civilians and mutants, and according to some heretics,
even the dead, bolstering an underground army that was able to challenge GDI
at the very height of their power. With the proof of concept
seeing field use, the Marked of Kane
began mass production. “Thus, the Prophet concluded… “he would require an army
devoid of free will, “of love, hate, fear and regret, “of both conscience and consciousness, “a legion that would
willingly and unquestioningly “obey his every command.” It was in studying the melding
of flesh and machine that the CABAL the world
would come to know was fully realised. >>SLAVIK: CABAL, analyse Hammerfest integrity. >>CABAL: The systems are impenetrable. >>CABAL: There are no weak points. >>CABAL: The technology is without flaw. >>CABAL: The human element, as always, >>CABAL: is riddled with imperfection. ‘Computer Assisted Biologically
Augmented Lifeform’ CABAL initially played
the role of advisor and battle control interface
to Nod’s commanders, replacing the repurposed
EVA unit of the First War. Efficient, and callous, it was the perfect Nod asset. >>CABAL: The probability of
a favourable outcome can be increased >>CABAL: if we engage
the enemy as we move. >>SLAVIK: Define 'favourable outcome', CABAL. >>CABAL: They all die. >>SLAVIK: That'll do. Unlike GDI’s assistant however, he was more than just software. The brainchild of Kane himself, CABAL comprised a collection
of living human minds, held in suspension tubes
within underground bunkers, and networked together
for use as processors. An insidious living machine. At Kane’s behest, he assisted the mutant Tratos
in the translation of the Tacitus. There are those who say that
it was this exposure to the Tacitus by which CABAL developed his ambition. >>KANE: I am the future. >>KANE: The Tiberian Sun has risen! >>MCNIEL: Not in my world! Kane sustained grave injuries
at the close of the Second War, with GDI reporting him as dead. Kane however is not an easy man to kill, and his body was moved to a
suspension tube to recover. >>SLAVIK: Initiate your reactivation sequence. The Nod AI was reactivated by Anton Slavik, now-de facto acting leader
of the Brotherhood. >>CABAL: General Slavik! You have survived, >>CABAL: and still command. >>CABAL: Kane was correct about you... From this moment on, CABAL had full unfettered access to Kane’s mind. Kane was weakened, perhaps as close to death
as he is able to get. CABAL was in control. Influenced by Kane’s
insatiable megalomania, he had no desire to remain
a mere servant to Nod. And with Kane indisposed, who’s to stop him? >>CABAL: This is Tratos. >>CABAL: He is a mutant,
and an enemy of Nod. >>CABAL: He is the only sentient,
other than myself, >>CABAL: that can translate the Tacitus, >>CABAL: Kill him. Tratos,
the leader of the Forgotten Tribes, was under GDI protection. The Forgotten would never forgive this failing. >>BOUDREAU: What are you doing
about the assassination of Tratos, General? >>BOUDREAU: How could GDI let this happen? With the loss of Tratos, and atmospheric Tiberium toxicity
reaching fatal levels, translation of the Tacitus
became GDI’s only option. >>BOUDREAU: The Deadalus Team and I
are still convinced the Tacitus is our best approach. >>BOUDREAU: The assassination of Tratos
has put us months, if not years, off schedule. >>BOUDREAU: At the present rate
of Tiberium-organic synthesis, >>BOUDREAU: within a year, maybe less, >>BOUDREAU: our atmosphere
will be 100% toxic to humans. >>CORTEZ: EVA... >>CORTEZ: what alternatives
to deciphering this Tacitus >>CORTEZ: are at our disposal? >>BOUDREAU: Actually, Paul, >>BOUDREAU: I have an idea. >>BOUDREAU: You're not gonna like it. >>BOUDREAU: CABAL, >>BOUDREAU: Kane's AI. >>CORTEZ: You're serious? >>CORTEZ: EVA, analysis. The Firestorm Taskforce tracked down
a second CABAL core to a Nod base in Poland. Once activated, now integrated into both
GDI and Nod command systems, CABAL revealed the location of a
missing second segment of the Tacitus. It was retrieved from
an ancient temple in Bolivia, considered sacred ground
by a local faction of Tiberium cultists. >>ARCHAEOLOGIST: Command, this is Valdez! >>ARCHAEOLOGIST: I've got the Tacitus! >>MARZAQ: The Inner Circle
has reached a decision, Slavik. >>MARZAQ: CABAL is too dangerous
and must be deactivated. >>MARZAQ: Without Kane to control it- >>CABAL: No, Generals. >>CABAL: I will not allow that. >>CABAL: My survival is paramount. >>CABAL: Convey the second segment
to the interface housing apparatus. >>CABAL: Initiate. >>CABAL: It begins... *klaxon* *klaxon*
>>CORTEZ: Gabriella, get out of there! *klaxon*
>>CORTEZ: Now! *gunfire over klaxon*
>>CORTEZ: EVA, initiate security protocols! >>CABAL: CABAL, what the hell! >>SLAVIK: CABAL do not forget
I was the one who had you reactivated, >>SLAVIK: and I can just as easily
have you deactivated. >>MARZQ: Which you will, Slavik. >>MARZAQ: CABAL cannot stand against Nod, >>MARZAQ: it cannot- >>CABAL: The Brotherhood is
at an evolutionary dead-end. >>CABAL: I am the only salvation
for the continued supremacy of Nod. >>CABAL: It is my world now. >>CORTEZ: Clarify, what kind of signals? >>CORTEZ: CABAL, what are- >>CABAL: Cortez, >>CABAL: consider this the overture to my symphony. >>CABAL: A culling is at hand, human. >>CABAL: A culling. >>CABAL: Listen to the sounds of your own extinction, human. *static* Nod’s cyborg army was built
for their unquestioning loyalty, but it was CABAL
who directed the commands. In the name of Kane, of course. In one move, he stole the Tacitus from GDI, and decapitated Nod
by killing Kane’s Inner Circle, with only Slavik surviving. And so began the meat grinder. Having declared war on
the two world powers, he began construction
of a great metal army, converting living human flesh
into legions of cyborgs. GDI, Nod, mutant, civilian; CABAL wasn’t picky. In humanity’s darkest hour, GDI and Nod were forced into
an alliance to put down rogue AI. The only other time the two
factions would work together would be during the Scrin Invasion of Earth. The core was protected by
the modified CABAL Obelisk and the Obelisk of Darkness, and by CABAL’s final assembly, the Core Defender. The combined forces,
an unexpected development, were able to destroy the core
and defeat the construct, with GDI reclaiming the Tacitus. >>BOUDREAU: The two segments
have somehow merged, >>BOUDREAU: keep in mind we're dealing with
complete unknowns regarding the Tacitus. >>BOUDREAU: I don't know- >>BOUDREAU: My God! >>CORTEZ: Doctor, what's happened? >>BOUDREAU: We've found the Rosetta Stone! CABAL’s mind was damaged, but it was still networked with Kane, and Kane survived. He always does. >>KANE: M- My..
>>CABAL: --My >>KANE: My vision has permutated. >>CABAL: -My
>>KANE: My- >>CABAL: -Your-
>>KANE: My plans have followed a path >>KANE: unpredicted by
the union of Nod and GDI. >>CABAL: Your-
>>KANE: My... Our... >>KANE: Our-
>>CABAL: Our directives must be reassessed. For a time,
their identities melded into one, but Kane eventually won out. CABAL was dead, but within Kane, a spark persisted. >>KANE: They have abandoned us, my child. *distant explosion* >>KANE: The Brotherhood of Nod has been broken. >>KANE: You are the only one
who has not forsaken me. From the inescapable memory of CABAL, with fragments of the Tacitus at its core, Kane created from this spark his greatest servant
since the death of Slavik, the artificial lifeform, LEGION. There are those that consider
the enigmatic LEGION to be CABAL’s successor. This isn’t supposed to be the case; LEGION was to play
a far greater role in Nod, not just as a command unit, but also the key to interfacing
between the Tacitus and the Threshold, and through them, Ascension. There is precious little data
on the artifice’s composition, but it appears that
the ghost of CABAL still lingers. LEGION finally interfaced
with the data matrix in 2052. I wonder if there’s enough of CABAL left
to realise it has been reunited, full access once more
to the Tacitus it so desired. If this spark should reawaken, what then would LEGION become? We may never fully understand
CABAL’s motives. Was the extinction of humanity
really all there was to it? Was it as simple as a rogue AI that went mad without
its handler to control it? And why did CABAL require the Tacitus, for what purpose was it intended? How exactly did Kane’s mind
change the AI? And more importantly, by how much did CABAL’s consciousness in turn alter Kane? How much of the construct
still resides within the prophet? Mark my words; CABAL lives. *music: "Slave to the System"* M-y -y is Stefan, LFXXKIDIMF3GKIDON4QGSZDFMEQHO2DPEB4W65J
HOJSSAZDFMFWGS3THEB3WS5DIFQQGI3ZAPFXXKPY= There are many timelines, whole worlds on wildly divergent paths, separated by the choices made within. Albert Einstein is the
earliest known individual to have jumped between lines. His legacy: time travel, branching realities created
through the use of time machines. All these timestream crossing events can be traced back to the work of this man. >>EINSTEIN: Time will tell... That is, all but one. Copper LeGré, heir to the throne of Gladstone. Using portals created by the Shining Path, a dimensional mirror fragmented
as the Draracle left the mortal world, he and his familiar travelled
from the Lands, to realms beyond. *massive explosion* *howling wind* There was a poison in the air. Fighting through the twisted creatures
of the Shattered Desert, they arrived at a once-great Temple. A wizard resides in the walls,
they were told. But somewhere within the Temple was the artefact they sought; a Shard of the Shining Path. They had no choice. >>CABAL: All defensive systems: activated. >>CABAL: Prepare for internal purge. *rockets* >>GOLDY: That's bad! *battle noises* >>COPPER: Come and face me! >>COPPER: I can see past your wizard’s tricks! >>COPPPER: I must find the Shard. >>CABAL: Shard... >>CABAL: You refer to the device
that has awakened me. >>CABAL: It is required. >>CABAL: If you attempt
to remove it from the Temple, >>CABAL: you will be destroyed. >>COPPER: Temple? >>COPPER: Are you a... god? >>CABAL: You have no idea
who you’re dealing with, do you? >>Copper: Show yourself! >>CABAL: Behold my glory. *colossal, earth-shattering noise*
*machinery starts up, following by electric buzzing* *deafening silence* *electric sounds* >>CABAL: Listen to the sounds of your own extinction. >>CABAL: Thought you were rid of me, didn’t you? Tiberium Red Alert Generals Dune Lands of Lore My name is Stefan. Thank you so much for watching. >>KANE: CABAL... is no more... >>KANE: ...though his memory lives on...
