Hi everyone, another chapter done and the war is starting to heat up. Those of you who know the game lore will know where things are headed but please don't spoil it for the others ;)

Chapter 14

"This is a total disaster, General Sheppard. You lost over two thousand men and you've only been fighting Nod for a month. At this rate we won't have any men left by the time this war is over." The US member of the UN security council growled at the GDI head as they went through the reports of the battles.

"The only reason we've lost so many people is our intel department isn't worth the money we're overpaying them. Six of the ten bases we've managed to clear out were decoys, and the other four were just small outposts. So far, we don't even have a single Nod corpse to show for it. Honestly, we could spend the next ten years fighting Nod and accomplish nothing. We need to hit them where they actually are, not where they expect us to fight them." Sheppard pointed out angrily.

"That's not an easy task. My agents are dropping like flies out there. I hate to admit it, but Nod has a much better covert ops program. We've also had reports of agents being killed by invisible attackers." The GDI InOps director complained.

"Do you have any insights to offer, Mr. Potter?" Sheppard asked the young wizard. Due to his age and valuable expertise, Potter was usually kept in highly secure GDI strongholds. It was only his unique skills as Kane that allowed him to continue his double life on both sides. Still, he already had plans in place to remove his Harry Potter identity by the end of the war, allowing him to put his full focus as Kane. Once phase three started, such duplicity would no longer be necessary.

"I believe so. Nod employs magic as well as technology in equal measure, a fact that you keep forgetting even though we keep reminding you. You have thousands of witches and wizards in your armies to advise you, but you barely ask them anything." Harry paused a bit to let that sink in a bit. And these were the people he expected to beat the Brotherhood. "When a magical builds a stronghold, he doesn't just build anywhere. If you want a defensible position, you build on a leyline convergence. Specifically, ones where three, seven or thirteen lines intersect."

Harry unrolled a large world map and waved his wand over it, causing thin glowing lines to appear on it. "Three line spots are very stable, but not very powerful. Seven line spots offer the ideal balance between power and stability, while thirteen line spots are extremely powerful but highly unstable. The only such spot on Earth is here, near Sarajevo. So far, no one has managed to actually use the spot, as the magic is extremely unstable and hard to control. If Nod actually managed such a feat, attacking it will be beyond hard. I'll mark all the spots under our control, and you can then focus your search on the rest. Just remember, any seven line point will be very hard to assault, so prepare accordingly."

Citing other obligations, Harry excused himself from the rest of the meeting and walked out of the building, grumbling inwardly about arrogant, self-absorbed assholes. He had spent almost a week being debriefed by various agencies, and not one of them had the basic common sense to ask him where to attack Nod. At times like this, he was almost tempted to turtle up with his followers, nuke the shit out of everyone, then come back up once things cleared up again. While delaying his plan even for a few centuries *was* possible, he was reluctant to do so, as the uncertainty of the outcome grew too much for his liking. It would simply take him far too long to rework everything, so unless things really grew out of hand, he was committed. He didn't have to like it though, and GDI was already becoming something he was starting to hate.

The idea was good, to create a unified force that didn't have to concern itself with issues of jurisdiction or conflicting authority, but in practice, the organization had already begun to suffer from power plays and other issues as member nations exerted pressure and demands. The bean counters didn't make things any easier on them, considering the terrifying cost the war on the Brotherhood of Nod was expected to take now that everyone realized the magnitude of the enemy.

"I really wish I didn't need them." Harry sighed and in the next step seemingly split in two, with the second one vanishing the moment the two were apart. 'See you tomorrow, Kane.'

"You have performed well, Slavik. Your strategies are an inspiration to all who seek the position of commander. Danzo especially spoke very highly of your last mission at our last meeting." Kane spoke softly as he and his young commander walked side by side in the gardens outside Temple Prime in Sarajevo.

"Faith in your vision brought me victory, Prophet." Slavik spoke humbly. When he was told the Prophet wished to meet him, he was so shocked it took him a minute to react and follow the troopers that came to escort him.

"Madam Umbridge has raised you well. You're a credit to her teachings. Those with your purity of faith are rare." Kane gave him a smile as he paused briefly before a hedge sculpture shaped like an Obelisk of Light. The structure was already taking high significance as a symbol to the Brotherhood.

"They shouldn't be. The path of Nod is clear. Your vision will lead us to salvation for all." Slavik spoke firmly, even a little angrily.

"Yes, the path is clear for those who have the strength to see it. Do not begrudge them their weakness. It is simply human nature." Kane sighed. "It is human to have doubts. Isn't it?"

"I have no doubts. I am completely committed to Nod." Slavik protested. If it was anyone but the Prophet saying those words, he would have shot them on sight.

"Of that I am certain. Yet I see doubt in you about the war, yes?" Kane gave him a sharp look, making Slavik nod slightly.

"Why are we holding back so much? GDI is already getting better at attacking us. Unless we commit more forces, at the present rate we'll lose within three years at best." Slavik argued.

"Lose?" Kane chuckled. "Do you really think anything that has been happening so far hasn't been according to my designs? That the outcome of this war isn't what *I* planned for?"

"Forgive me, your Eminence. I misspoke." Slavik knelt down before him, head bowed low.

"Your passion and care for our Brotherhood drive you, and that is why you felt as you did. I find no fault in that. But, I did not call you here for this. You have shown more potential than any of us expected so far. At least anyone except for Dolores, who has been practically beaming at your successes." Kane chuckled a bit before he continued with a serious tone. "What I'm about to tell you is considered top secret at the moment."

"Danzo's health has took a sudden turn for the worse. He is slowly growing unable to keep up with the burden of his position. He has requested a final mission which I have granted. To allow a warrior of his caliber to die in bed would be the gravest insult. In three weeks, he and three Shimura clansmen who volunteered to die with him will attack a very secure top secret GDI base working on a project I need delayed. The rest of the Inner Circle has agreed with me to appoint you in his place." Kane's words completely shocked Slavik. Hearing that Danzo was so near death saddened him greatly, as every member looked up at the old man, but the thought that Kane and the Inner Circle actually thought he was to be his replacement blew him away.

"I'm not worthy of such an honor, your Eminence." Slavik finally managed to stammer out.

"That is for me to decide. I am certain that you will not give me reason to regret this decision." Kane spoke calmly but something in his voice still made him shiver. Remembering the stories in the Book of Nod about Set the Betrayer and his fate at Kane's hands was enough to remind Slavik what happened to those that failed the Prophet and faced Kane's wrath. "Now, starting today, you will report to Danzo so he can fully brief you and prepare you for your new duties. Good luck, Slavik. You'll need it."

Feeling much better after the meeting with his young commander, Kane sat in his private office to gather his thoughts. The contrast between GDI and Nod couldn't be more apparent. While Nod didn't have the sheer financial or industrial power of GDI, they also didn't have the political and bureaucratic issues plaguing the organization. Unlike pretty much every other government in the world, Nod was a competitive meritocracy, which meant that only the best and most competent members rose to the top. While rivalries could get quite heated, it was rare indeed that blood was spilled. This system also eliminated nepotism and cronyism as being found unfit for your position reflected poorly not only on you but your sponsor as well.

His thoughts also turned to Danzo as well. Yes, the man was old and injured, but he was still a shinobi. Everyone expected him to live another thirty years at least. That he would suddenly fall ill was very unexpected and troubling. Slavik was capable enough to take over, but he lacked the decades of experience Danzo had under his belt. Still, Kane could forgive the boy some faults as he intended to lose anyway. His followers wouldn't be happy with his chosen method to end the war, but such a step was necessary to really sell it to GDI.

He wondered yet again if revealing more of his plans to his followers might be wise, but as usual, he dismissed such thoughts. The plan was far too complicated and relied on things even Kane was unsure were true, so he had no choice but to keep things close to the vest. Even CABAL didn't know the full extent of his plans, even if he had shared the broad strokes with the AI.

He knew that now that the initial probing and skirmishing was over, GDI would learn from the initial battles and launch a major push against Nod. Of course, and somewhat regrettably, it wouldn't be the Brotherhood that would bear the brunt of GDI's wrath, but the many aspirants in the countries tied to Nod. Since the sole advantage Nod had was their knowledge and technology, access to Nod assets was allowed only to proven members, meaning those that had undergone Divination. This led to the formation of a large number of national militias, who were armed only with conventional weaponry, with the sole support of a few Nod wizards to ensure protection from magical attacks. While GDI seemed focused on the Brotherhood at first, it wouldn't be long before they decided to limit Nod support and attack other locations. When that happened, Kane knew that thousands would die, and thousands more would suffer as collateral damage. He could already see the massive refugee camps that would form in the aftermath. The saddest part was, GDI wouldn't actually hamper Nod by these actions, as the Brotherhood's industry shifted nearly completely to Tiberium, making GDI's attacks a completely pointless waste of lives. That this would probably not deter them made Kane all the more sad at the unfortunate necessity of the organization.

His final thought was on Danzo's upcoming mission. Their target, one Dr. Wong Hu Chan worked in a highly secure GDI research facility that was formed recently as a think tank to figure out ways to gain an advantage over Nod. Dr. Wong's project was the Ion Cannon, a rather unique precision strategic weapon. It was still in its initial phase, and GDI did not give it much attention, considering the system was plagued with problems the research team was unable to overcome, at least not without magic. Replacing several components with enchanted ones could easily get the system working. The reason for Danzo's mission was actually twofold. Killing Dr. Wong would delay the project for a year or two at least, as he was the only man that understood the device in full, and it would draw attention to it from GDI, who would spare no expense to complete it seeing how Nod sacrificed a high ranking member just to stop the project.

The facility where Dr. Wong was working in was truly state of the art, and its security was equally great. Both magical and mundane defenses were scattered all over the buildings, with motion sensors, infrared cameras and detection charms hopefully also ensuring no stealth attacks could take place.

"They've learned, but not well enough." Danzo commented as he pulled his knife from the back of a guard's head, dropping the corpse slowly on the ground. "Five minutes before the next check in."

The team was using enchanted subvocal mics and earpieces to allow the stealthed Shadows to talk to each other without releasing radio waves.

"Two cameras and eight sensors in the hallway ahead. Five motion, three infrared. Marking blindspots and optimal movement path." The team's tech specialist shared the information with his team, and lines appeared on the inside of the masks they wore. The Shadow armor was a technological marvel, employing devices a decade ahead of anything available elsewhere. The cost of even a single one was astronomical, and without Tiberium it would have been unthinkable to manufacture them on the scale they had.

If anyone could see the Shadows, he would have been frozen in awe as the four men moved down the long corridor in a display of acrobatics that seemed completely inhuman, ensuring that GDI's detection systems were blind to their presence. Their good fortune didn't last however as the alarms sounded just as they were nearing Dr. Wong's office.

"Disperse and distract. I will take out the target." Danzo ordered and rushed ahead. The scientists working inside the lab had only begun to turn towards the now open door when Danzo appeared out of thin air and leveled his pistol at the now shaking doctor. While he preferred blades, the high caliber automatic pistol issued to all Shadows was much better to ensure his target was dead.

"For Kane." He growled as he squeezed the trigger, sending over a dozen bullets towards his target before the man could even think to evade. The enchanted bullets nearly shredded the man, and Danzo managed to take out two more scientists before his men alerted him to incoming guards.

Even with their skill and equipment, the Shadows were at a disadvantage in the crowded and narrow corridors in the base, and their suits were designed to provide stealth and mobility, not protection. True the suits were bullet resistant, but that had limits. Still, it wasn't until the guards managed to put down one of the Shadows that the asset denial system in the suit activated, namely the shrunken hundred pounds of a special incendiary potion that burned ten times hotter than thermite. Watching your target and anyone close to it suddenly go up in a blazing ball of fire that melted concrete was a very sobering sight.

In the end, only Danzo remained, cornered in a dead-end room by over two dozen nervous guards. Even with a single arm, this man had killed more guards than the other three combined.

'How I wish I could have seen Kane's plan succeed, but I have no regrets. I had a good run, and I went out as I lived, in a blaze of glory covered in the blood of my enemies.' Danzo chuckled as he spat out a wad of blood from his mouth.

"When you get to hell, tell them Shimura Danzo sent you. You'll have lots of company." Danzo had loaded his suit with ten times the potion, and when he activated it, the whole room burst into fire, incinerating him and everyone present in a second. His mission was a success, and GDI was both enraged and embarrassed that one of their most secure facilities was penetrated so easily.

In the wake of this attack, GDI dispersed their R&D department to ensure greater security and redundancy and also, put greater attention to Dr. Wong's Ion Cannon project.

"Four people managed to get into one of our most secure sites, and the only reason we even knew they were there was a guard coming to his post a minute early. They then proceeded to kill the scientists in three labs and over half the guards. Over a hundred men taken out by four." Sheppard growled. "I know you said Danzo was dangerous, but this is fucking unbelievable."

"Well, I see why Nod put so much effort in trying to stop this project. The use of ionized particles in such a manner would in theory be capable of penetrating even the strongest magical wards." Harry commented as he and several other prominent figures had met to discuss the attack.

"What do you mean, Mr. Potter?" General Sheppard asked, hoping they finally had an advantage over Nod.

"Well, according to my calculations, a ward powered by a seven line convergence can withstand even a tactical warhead strike, but while a nuke disperses its energy, this Ion Cannon focuses all its power in a single point, and if we use a proton beam, it will cause additional disruption to the protective magical fields. I believe that such a weapon could punch through or at least severely damage any ward in existence." Harry explained.

"How quickly can you build this device?" Sheppard asked eagerly.

"Hard to say. Without Dr. Wong, we're looking at least two years. Plus from what we managed to get from his assistants and notes, they were facing a lot of issues in the weapon itself. I have some ideas about that, but I'll have to experiment a lot before I can give you any concrete solution. One last thing, for optimal use, this weapon will have to be placed on an orbital platform." Harry told him.

"And considering the ban on orbital weaponry, that will be hard to push through. I'll work on things on that end, Mr. Potter. You just get me a working prototype." Sheppard sighed.

The next year unfolded just as Kane had predicted. While his advice to strike magically strong locations had a measure of success for GDI, the difficulty of attacking these sites and the required manpower to do so brought a decision from the GDI top brass for alternate strategies in their war against Nod, striking and occupying Nod aligned territories in order to deny the Brotherhood industrial, logistic and public support.

While this strategy seemed to have an effect as Nod pulled back on several fronts, it also tied down a big chunk of GDI assets in occupying these territories, providing security, refugee support and counter-insurgency operations. The local populace were hardly welcoming considering that in some of the poorer countries Nod had practically quadrupled the living standard and provided the basic amenities to them at no cost.

The fact that GDI marched in, killed their soldiers, bombed their roads and factories and in many cases their homes made the locals very hostile to them, and resistance groups popped like weeds all over the world, with Nod providing supplies, coordination and intel to them. This created a vicious cycle as GDI was forced to employ increasingly harsher methods to keep the people of these occupied territories under control, and the people resisted even harder in response.

This finally came to a head when GDI marched to secure Nod controlled areas in Poland, with the city of Bialystok serving as the capitol of this area. At the time GDI rolled in, there were almost a hundred thousand people living in the city, and just as they arrived, Nod executed their plan. Falsified orders, fake reports, friendly fire incidents and assassinations of key personnel all led to a perfect storm of confusion that left over half the city in ruins and tens of thousands dead.

Nod was quick to put their own spin on the incident, with the report of anti-GDI reporter Greg Burdette taking the world by storm as the world was shown the aftermath of GDI's attack on the city. Faced with massive public backlash, the UN was forced to suspend all GDI operations until the incident could be fully reviewed. Of course, what the world didn't know was that Nod had evacuated a lot of the civilian populace of the city and replaced them with either Imperiused POW or volunteers who accepted the risk of death.

With GDI seemingly rendered impotent with the removal of all their funding and political support, Nod began a renewed offensive to reclaim what they had lost and then resume the push against GDI.