The many Tiberium Wars left pain and destruction in their wake. The conflicts saw the GDI and The Forgotten ally, the mighty CABAL rise, the assasination of Tratos, the brotherhood of Nod unifying and splintering under Kane, the countless transfers of control of the Tacitus and the biblical invasion of the relentless Martian forces of the Scrin mining colony. But these conflicts left something else, something that will make you wonder if everything you always assumed is actually valid. And wonder if Tiberium has a sense of coincidence. Found in the ashes of war were a set of manuscripts, giving insights into the very heart of the conflicts.
You see, the place where we first encountered our impending doom, the place where the Tiberium infused meteorite impacted, the place called Ground Zero in the Tiber river bed in Italy, is thought to have been an inspiration for Tiberium's name. At least, to GDI.
Probably not a coincidence this is Ground Zero, the first place Tiberium appeared on Earth....Source: Jack Granger
But this assumption is false. Behold the first of two manuscripts that were uncovered:
Or in plain text:
It was the perfect fit to what the artifact had __red; the potential of their Ichor, the path it would take, slowly encroaching on and inside Earth itself. How much like Tiberius himself, this substance woud first show itself to be of endless value and generosity, only to have its true nature later exposed. Tiberius was ultimately responsible for the rise of Delators, leaving an example in which beggars became wealthy, the insignificant, formidable; and brought ruin first on others, finally on themselves. Much like the insidious nature of Ichor; to bait the populace into consumption, bringing nutrients and much needed substances into easy reach, making even the poorest of lands into wealthy nations, turning and twisting social enocomic norms, first causing skirmishes and war and finally corruption of both the planet and Humanity.
I played my role. And just as with Tiberius' reign, foretelling the end of the Republic and the rise of the Empire, so was my goal - and so it is today - to give rise to something stronger, something fiercer in Humanity's history. So that they can withstand what is coming their way.
Instead of the Death of Humanity, Tiberium is becoming the means for Humanity's survival, evolution and eventual triumpf.
I play my role still. And thus I named it after Tiberius Caesar.
Clearly, this manuscript was jotted down by Nod's messiah Kane. This name origin is confirmed by what Kane says in Command & Conquer 1995:
...As a reaction to the GDI EVA, claiming Tiberium was named after the Tiber River...
Discovered by the Brotherhood, that is. And I named it after Tiberius Drusus Ceasar. Source: Kane
But what about this comparison between the Delators of Tiberius and the insiduous nature of Tiberium? Well in essence it's about how they corrupt.
Although the word delator itself, for "common informer," is confined to imperial times, the right of public accusation had long existed. When exercised from patriotic and disinterested motives, its effects were beneficial; but the moment the principle of reward was introduced, this was no longer the case. Source: Wikipedia
And that is exactly how it went wrong. As soon as rewards were introduced to (falsely) accusing others, be it for their own or others' gain, the system corrupted, reaching its height during the reign of Tiberius. Everyone could be a delator and the most targeted were the wealthy, the political powers and those who do not share the mindset of the empire. In short, people were paid to accuse other people who would otherwise be untouchable in order to remove their power and increase the payers' or people falsely accused wealthy people in hopes of receiving part of their wealth (25%) upon winning their case. So too was Tiberium regarded as a source of economy and resources at first, benefiting everyone, up until the moment it began to spread uncontrollably and started tainting the beautiful green lands into devastated red zones.
Everyone knows Kane, but does anyone really know him? Perhaps he was around during Tiberius' reign, thousands of years ago and witnessed everything first hand? Remember that the Nod are allegedly ancient too. And what about Humanity's survival? Surely if the Tiberium Asteroid never hit the Tiber river bed, there wouldn't be any need for survival right? Since the invaders only seek to mine planets infested with Tiberium.
Or was there another motive for Kane? Did he know that humanity would need to evolve which could only be catalyzed by the power of Tiberium? Perchance the Tacitus told him that the Tiberium meteor would inevatibly hit Earth and with it would come the alien race of the Scrin to mine and ultimately annihilate us. Would we even have stood a chance against the invaders, had we not harnessed the power of Tiberium? Tiberium is used in almost everything, from Tiberium Core missiles and the Catalyst Missile, to vapour bombs and power plant addons. Furthermore the insidious side demanded answers from the Global Defense Initiative which in turn created the sonic weaponry, effective against everything Tiberium-based.
Let's move on to the second parchment.
Or in plain text:
I named it after Tiberius Caesar.
Though most believe that Tiberium's name was derived from the proximity of that first cataclysmic meteor that hit Italy at the end of the 10th century to the Tiber River, the real meaning of the name is far deeper.
The Tacitus has been on Earth many years before those devils sent their seedlings to Earth. I have been studying it ever since. Of course, Tacitus is not its real name. That is only the name we've given it. He, my old friend - another victim of mine - Tratos, came up with it. The sheer history emanating from the artifact, it reminded him of the Annales - the historic writings of the ancient Roman Historian Cornelius Tacitus.
Tacitus wrote of the Emperor Tiberius Claudius Nero, of Drusus. He wrote of his reign, the two major periods; the first 'a time of reserve and crafty assumptions of virtue', while the second, and not unjustingly so, a time of paranoid politics and moral depravity 'plunging into every wickedness and disgrace'. The general picture Tacitus painted of Tiberius is of a man with inherent character flaws, which he hid as long as there were external reasons, with hypocritical acts of goodness and kindness. Eventually, though, as Tacitus also described, he cast off his pretences and "indulged his own inclination".
Oh, how openly he showed his true nature to all of us.
This second part tells of the Tacitus being on Earth many years before the seedlings (Scrin) decided to pay us a visit. How many years are many years? Are we talking thousands? And how did Kane study the Tacitus? During the campaign of Kane's Wrath we learn that the GDI/ZOCOM are using an entire facility to test the artifact, rendering it dangerously unstable and we also learn that LEGION was created to directly interface with the Tacitus. So how did Kane (and presumably later Tratos) learn to decipher it?
We also read that Kane and Tratos were old friends, yet Tratos was also his victim. Tratos was the original owner of the Tacitus and Kane tricked him into working together on creating the missing data matrix. Upon discovering that Kane would use the Tacitus for his evil plans - evil being subject to which side you support - Tratos became plagued with the thought that he had contributed to these plans. His health deteriorated and he was taken to a Nod Prison Medical Colony, presumably against his will. Alas, a victim he became. Of course Kane wouldn't let the man with the answers to the Tacitus go.
Lastly one would wonder about the Scrin referencing Tiberium as Ichor, the blood of Gods, as found in Greek mythology. Did the Scrin-To-English translator of the invaders have a sense of relevance? Or is Greek mythology not entirely based on myths and did the Greeks learn the word from extraterrestrial sources?
These parchments may have sparked more questions than actually giving us some light, so tell us what you think. Just lots of coincidences or is there more at play?
