Fictional AltHistory #9: Command & Conquer Red Alert Timeline Headcanon

So lately I've been on a Command & Conquer kick, partly thanks to the excellent work done by the OpenRA Team, who have taken the freeware files of the original Command & Conquer (1995), Red Alert (1996) and Dune 2000 (1998) and turned them into a fully functional, modern RTS for modern computers. If you want to relive an RTS classic, then go check them out!

Since I'm absolutely positive that EA will never make a good C&C again.

That said, I once did a fictional AltHistory scenario on the first C&C here, well over a year and a half ago, and I think it's time to revisit the grandfather of all RTS games, this time with it's slightly loopy and campy B-movie quality of it's brother, Red Alert 1.

So, Point of Divergence. Hmmm... This is actually harder than I thought, mostly because RA1 is an alternate history already, asking "what if Albert Einstein built a time machine and erased Hitler from history?" And, considering all the talk about Nazi's today, I'd rather not get into that right now...

Well, the games themselves feature the heroic Allies fighting the brutal Soviets for control of Europe, introducing new technologies and desperate tactics to try to change the tide of battle: attack dogs, flamethrowers, Tesla coils, double barreled Mammoth Tanks, nuclear weapons, invulnerability and teleportation devices... the list goes on. Oh, and Tanya.

But, there is one thing about Red Alert 1 that popped up, but then never came up again...

Who is that handsome guy in the back there? Zoom in!

... damn low resolutions. Find a better picture for this joke!

Ahah! You magnificent bald, goateed bastard Kane, you!

An aborted attempt to tie the Red Alert series to the original Command & Conquer, the Tiberium series.

Now, over the years, a myth, persay, has developed on how this tie together would work. But this scenario never struck me as likely, because it was that a Soviet Victory in the "Second World War" of this timeline was what would lead to the establishment of the Global Defense Initiative and the emergence of the Brotherhood of Nod. But it just doesn't feel right to me, that, the Soviet Union manages to conquer all of Europe but then allows a United Nations organization (which should never have been established in this alternate timeline) to then build a global military force. It just always struck me as wrong that the Soviet's would allow something like that to happen, or that the United Nations would be formed, and then in turn form GDI, after a collapse of the USSR.

No, my headcanon for tying RA1 and C&C1 together involves an Allied Victory.

"But wait!" the C&C fans would begin to bellow. "The Allied Victory is what leads to Red Alert 2, and then to Red Alert 3! So it can't be used for C&C1. How can that work?"

Ah, well here is where it gets weird: I say that Red Alert 1 and 2 are both in the timeline.

Not sure what he's confused about. Most likely why watermarks are hovering all over him.

Okay, let me explain.

So, we start with Einstein going back in time in the late 1940s, killing Hitler, and returning to his time, just to see the Soviets rise up, and try to take over Europe. With the United States still isolationist, it's all up to Europe (including a non-Nazi Germany) to unite and hold back the Soviets, forming the Allies, or, rather, the United Nations. It was only after the USSR tried to develop atomic bombs that the US joined the United Nations, sending men, weapons and supplies to help the beleaguered Allies, and invade Russia itself, and topple Stalin, and the USSR.

After this, the US and her European Allies begin to rebuild, and Michael Romanov is placed in charge of the much smaller Soviet Union. But in the 1970s, with the USSR rebuilt and gearing up for revenge, they launch a multi-pronged attack on the United States, which wasn't the great military power it was in OTL because it only helped at the very end of the previous World War, and then went back to a semi-isolationist stance, content that the damn Commies are contained. But now with the US the prime target of the USSR (with their mind control agents, attack squids, missile launching battleships and flying airships of death), and the Allies (which have dolphins, tanks that turn into trees, weather control superweapons and, of course, Tanya), perhaps because the US didn't come to their immediate aid or because they were afraid of the Soviet Union, wouldn't join until later, at which point the Allies manage to overcome the destruction, and bring down the USSR.

Up until now, this is based on the lore of the first two Red Alert games. Now is where the Wibbly Wobbly, Timey Wimey stuff comes into play.

That noise you hear is Daleks allying with the Brotherhood of Nod and the Soviets.

The expansion for Red Alert 2 featured a campaign by the psychic Yuri trying to take over the world. Now, in the Allied Campaign, at the last mission, there is a... thing that happens, where the screen gets all wobbly, and the "timelines merge" with the ending of Red Alert 2. And with the world now at peace, and the United Nations dominate, all the major powers agree to dismantle, or at least decommission their most advanced weapons, with many of the blueprints being destroyed or locked away. And, with all of Europe, North America and Russia now a war torn ruin, and with no "superpower" to easily fill in the slot, the United Nations forms several unified military commands. One of which, after some name changes (including the catchy Operations Group Echo: Black Ops Nine) becomes the Global Defense Initiative.

"But wait! What about Red Alert 3?"

Simple: it's a branching timeline from the end of Red Alert 2, but it's not the "main" timeline of our history, perhaps  branching after Cherdenko (SPACE!) activates his time machine before Yuri's mind control starts? It's an alternate scenario of the events of Red Alert 2, and therefore not associated with the Tiberium Timeline.

"And Kane? And the Brotherhood of Nod?"

Ahh, well here is where they finally come in: they have always been an enigmatic, mysterious organization, and mentioned all the way back in the 1950s. If I remember correctly, there is even something at the end of the RA1 campaign where someone mentions they didn't find all of Stalin's advisors. It's quite simple to assume that Kane and the Brotherhood went into hiding for the events of RA2, and only emerged afterwards when Tiberium finally arrived on Earth.

This was really the Scrin's way of welcoming Humanity to the spacefaring community. A planet warming gift.

"Then why didn't the Allies/GDI just take the weapons from the previous war and use them?"

Well, what says they didn't? Well, some of the technology, at least. For example, Nod's Stealth tank? What if it's a refinement on the Mirage Tanks of Red Alert 2, just they don't turn into trees now. And the Apocalypse tank could have been used to build the first Mammoth Tanks for GDI. But other technology, like the Iron Curtain, Chronosphere, Weather Control Device, Prism Tanks and others would have degraded, or purposefully/accidently destroyed over the forty some years between the war in Red Alert 2, and the late 1990s/early 2000s that Tiberium Dawn takes place. Even if they had the blueprints, it would take time to rebuild it all, if it wasn't seen as not useful: after all, GDI isn't exactly running on a big budget, and even has its budget cut halfway through the campaign after Nod media manipulation. So I don't see GDI investing in trying to rebuild old technology, most of which may only have limited use on the modern battlefield, after years of rusting in bunkers and warehouses around the world.

So, this does take some leaps of faith and assumptions, but this is how I would tie the two branches of Command & Conquer together. Is it perfect? No: after all, why would the allies give up on, say, Prism tanks after showing their usefulness? Though, there have been efforts to restrict and eliminate certain types of weapon over time, so I could see that happening here as well. But, I think it provides a somewhat satisfactory explanation for the two timelines intersecting.

But what do you think? How do you think the timelines of Command and Conquer being tied together, or if they should at all? If you have a comment or a suggestion, leave a comment below, email me at tbguy1992@gmail.com or look for me on Twitter, @tbguy1992.

Fictional AltHistory #5: C&C: What if Tiberium Landed in Our World?

For those of you who know me very well (or have seen my avatar on Twitter), you will know I'm a huge fan of Command & Conquer. One of the first major franchises of the RTS genre, C&C had reached stellar heights, releasing hit game after game, until EA took over, released two pretty good games, canceled a few other promising ones, then absolutely bombed the franchise with *shudders* Command & Conquer 4 Tiberian Twilight and a free to play Generals that was ultimately canceled three years ago, and not a single word has been heard since.

But, at least there are three universes, eight great games, and a lot of expansions and mods to keep us all happy.

And yes, I said eight. C&C4 will never count.

Honestly, this picture was the only good that came out of C&C4

Eventually, over the next while, I want to go and try to make at least one AltHistory scenario with each of the major games of the series, similar to what I've done already with Fallout (Part 1 here). So, let's start with a simple one: what if Tiberium, instead of landing in a world as we see in the game, instead comes and lands on our current world?

So, first of all: no Brotherhood of Nod. We can go on all day about how Kane is an alien or a clone or the biblical Cane that is doomed to walk the earth forever, but since this is our world we are talking about, we can say that the Brotherhood does not exist.

I'm sorry Kane! It's not that I don't like you, with your bald head and menacing goatee and whole "come back from the dead thing," but... *shot*

The first meteorite with Tiberium lands in the Tiber River valley of Italy, hence the name, sometime in 1995. Scientists around the world are rather fascinated by the new discovery, but after people began to die after coming near or touching the crystals that began to form, it would take months of effort to eventually even get a sample to study. Over the next few years, more meteors hit the earth, spreading more Tiberium across the world. By 2000, there are dozens of impact sights, all having turned into large, green, crystallized expanses.

It was about this time that the first scientific studies of Tiberium are complete, and the results are released to the world. It has been found that the green crystal, while poisonous, radioactive, and has a habit of fusing to skin and mutating it's new host to create more Tiberium (leading to some horrifying animal and human mutations to those effected), is actually full of minerals that made it easily harvestable. Depending on where the Tiberium landed, it would absorb any and all minerals from the soil, sending roots deep into the Earth to extract and mutate into more Tiberium. It could, theoretically, be refined into whatever substance is required, while also providing a powerful energy source, many times more efficient and powerful than oil or nuclear power. However, more research would be needed before harvesting this new god-send material would take place.

During this time, efforts to contain or extract Tiberium begin, especially as it begins to encroach on major population centres. The entire city of Rome has to begin to evacuate, with the Italian government relocating to Naples, and the Papacy to France. Dynamite and fire are seen as the best way to slow the spread of Tiberium, but it only slows it. In many cases, within a week after a clearing operation has taken place, the Tiberium had already grown back, as the roots of the crystal were untouched. Efforts to literally dig Tiberium pods and root systems out are quickly seen as impractical and too expensive.

And honestly, who would want to get rid of these cute little green crystals?

By 2003, with most of the world's scientific community focused on unlocking the secrets of Tiberium, rudimentary extraction and refining techniques begin. Within months, Tiberium is made one of the major trading indexes in the world, rivalling gold and oil as the most valuable resource on earth. Eventually efforts to destroy or slow Tiberium growth changes to simply try to harvest as much of the crystal as possible.

But as more and more Tiberium is produced, and the infrastructure of the world begins to change, massive economic, social, and political shifts take place. With the massive infusion of wealth as the mineral is harvested and refined, subsaharan Africa experiences a major economic boom, as does areas like China, Eastern Europe, Latin America, and the deserts of Australia. New technologies, like Tiberium power plants and new production methods that makes Tiberium useful and, more importantly, non-leathal, are put into effect. But as Tiberium is easier to extract and refine than oil, and all over the world and growing larger and larger, soon nations like Saudi Arabia and Iran in the Middle East, Russia, Canada, and Venezuela that were dependent on exploiting their oil reserves are left with an overabundance in product, but fewer and fewer people to sell it to.

Unemployment in these countries reaches reach record highs, and only Canada, with help from their largest trading partner in the US and a more diverse economy, is able to avoid falling into chaos. Even Vladimir Putin (yes, he'll still be in power) wouldn't be able to reform Russia's economy before the government has to stop paying it's debts, and faces political and economic instability, that leads Putin into a series of dangerous geopolitical moves to try to shore up support at home. The invasion of Ukraine in 2013 is too much, and soon Putin is assassinated, and Russia falls to pieces. Hugo Chavez is thrown out of office by a coup in Venezuela, and Saudi Arabia, without oil money to support the regime (and the withdrawal of US support for a hardline, Islamist autocratic government) succumbs to warlordism and the rise of Islamic terrorist groups trying to carve their own section of the desert for themselves.

And for the hell of it: EVERYONE GETS DOUBLE BARELL TANKS!!

But even in nations like the US, the European Union and China that have large Tiberium deposits and can exploit it to their hearts content, the growth of Tiberium still presents huge problems. People have to be evacuated from areas quickly as Tiberium spreads unchecked. Most of the Midwest is turned into a alien, shimmering green wasteland, and masses of refugees are seen crossing the US for the first time since the Great Depression. The first recorded "Tiberium Storm" took place in North Texas in 2017, and soon the massive lightning storms that could knock out planes and electronics and spread even more tiberium were a common occurrence around the world.

Social unrest continues to grow as more and more people are forced from their homes and into refugee camps and into increasingly overcrowded cities, many of which are only expanding thanks to new construction techniques using Tiberium. The companies and nations that embraced (carefully, and in a specially designed hazmat suit) Tiberium early grow rich, while those that didn't have a meteorite land on their land suffer. Businesses that invested in Tiberium mining and extraction soon become massive monopolies, with such resources that even the US government, suffering from high unemployment, unrest, and social discord are unable to break up. By 2017, and the election of President Donald Trump, one of the early adopters of Tiberium extraction and on his way to being the first person to be worth $200 billion (and who most likely bought the election), Tiberium interests came to dominate the US, which was already on it's way to losing super power status due to the crisis at home.

And J.K. Simmons never became President. And he had such a great campaign...

The United Nations has been trying almost since Tiberium came to Earth to try to establish something to try to combat it, and won a success in 2009 when the first United Nations Agency for Tiberium Containment and Mitigation (UNATCM) was established to pool the scientific knowledge to try to stop the spread of Tiberium, and keep statistics of the world's descent. By 2020, over 40% of the world's surface had some form of Tiberium on it, and of the estimated 6 billion people on earth in 2000, over one billion people had died in 20 years from Tiberium poisoning, failing healthcare, war, famine, and civil unrest. Half a billion other people were forced to flee their homes. But it was guessed that about 75 million people around the world had not been killed by Tiberium, but mutated by it, and were still able to live in Tiberium infested areas, or even thriving. These people called themselves the Tiberittes (or more often, The Forgotten), but more derogatory terms emerged: Shiners, Crystalhuggers, Mutants. They were forced into areas of the world with dangerous levels of Tiberium to eke out a living, but the hardy Tiberittes managed to make a living.

Entire nations, like Italy, the former Yugoslavia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Central Asia, and half of Brazil are totally depopulated and exist in name only, or as small refugee colonies in other nations. Tensions between the refugees and those hosting them boil over many times. Riots in Germany and France by Italian and Spanish refugees, rampant shootings in the US between the "Tiberplaced," the locals, and the federal and state governments, and the "Shoot first" policy of China to keep out the displaced leads to infighting, war between weakened nations, and terrorism reaching a scale that even the Global War on Terror that President George Bush started in 2001 after September 11 couldn't stop. (By the way: the War on Terror ended in 2005 when Congress ordered the military home from Iraq and Afghanistan to help with Tiberium containment and evacuation). The succession of a new Coalition of American States in the US South in 2027, sponsored by Tiberium barons in the area, was uncontested by the US. Soon after, the US broke into other nations, and soon war broke out as refugees and land disputes between heavily armed former American nations went back and forth.

The European Union on the other hand finally went the other way, with a new, centralized union being Established, with London as the capital. The lack of Tiberium in the UK made the nation a beacon of hope in the world. Japan was also lucky, as was some of the islands of Indonesia, Madagascar, and Newfoundland. Tiberium was also found to not be able to grow in cold areas, so northern Canada, Scandinavia, Russia, and Antartica became major refugee locations, with new cities using new technologies to try to house, clothe and feed the masses. Massive floating cities were also built, though the sinking of New Paris in 2025 with 29,000 deaths put a damper on that project. Eventually, even though it was ill-advised, many refugees began to settle in areas with dangerous Tiberium infestation, if just because there was no where else to go. A more successful attempt to save humanity was the creation of off world colonies, namely on the Moon and Mars, as well as space stations that could hold thousands of people. But only a few chosen select were allowed to go here.

So... can we say that Tiberium is basically the new Roman Empire?

By 2030, it was finally discovered that sonic energy at a certain level could halt the growth of Tiberium, but not push it back. The wealthy and prosperous "Blue Zones" in northern latitudes and island nations, and they began to refuse refugees, turning into massive gated communities, with advanced technology and powerful armed forces, with 20% of the worlds population in 20% of the world's land. By this point, huge areas of the world are devastated by Tiberium, and divided into Yellow Zones (War torn areas with a lot of Tiberium, but over 80% of the world's population in only 50% of the world's land) and Red zones (areas only Tiberittes could live in, totalling over 30% of the planets surface), . Since the report in 2020, UNATCM believed that another billion people had died, with a full billion people displaced. Most nations that existed in 2000 were gone: Russia, the US, China, Germany, Australia (fully abandoned to Tiberium and Tiberittes) and many others, replaced with smaller countries that were fighting amongst each other. The UN itself was disbanded in 2033, though UNATCM continued to monitor the world situation until it was forced to close in 2045.

However, by 2060, even the Blue Zones was having tiberium encroaching on it: the sonic barriers was only enough to slow the growth of Tiberium, but not enough to stop it, and soon Tiberium was able to adapt enough to get around the sonic fences, and even growing over water. By 2100, the only humans alive were those that mutated to survive the hostile conditions, or those that lived off world. All of Earth was Tiberium.

And then the Scrin came...

Want to know how you'll have a bad day? These guys showing up.

And on that downer note... I think that's enough depressing cycle of video game Alternate History for today. And maybe the next Alt History will be less depressing! Maybe....

But what do you think? What would a world be like that is given an alien substance that could kill you or make you rich? Or if you have a topic or idea you would like me to talk about, please leave comments below, email me at tbguy1992@gmail.com, or tell me on Twitter @tbguy1992.