Part 18: GDI 18: The Final Battle
GDI 18: The Final Battlehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qL1-j4Oy89I
The Final Battle
With Kane's back to the wall, there's nothing to stop him from releasing his deadly bio-weapons that threaten to change the face of the Earth. McNeil and his forces must destroy Kane's ICBM platforms before they can launch the Tbierium-fueled missiles. If that wasn't bad enough, McNeil must do so quickly, as NOD's forces have already begun preparations to launch the weapons of mass destruction.
Either its in the middle of nowhere, or closer to the Suez Canal in the south-west. I think I'll just go with that...
Location: Suez Canal, Egypt.
Objective: Prevent the launch of Kane's Tiberium-fueled ICBMs and eliminate all NOD forces in the area.
Briefing: Impulses scanned from signatures emanating from Cairo suggest Kane will launch his world-altering missile within hours. You must destroy the Pyramid Temple before he has a chance to launch. There are no other strategies.
Author's note: A fun opening, a challenging middle, and an end that would be improved with a ALL HUNT trigger. Regardless, this mission is great and varied enough to allow, or require, a player to use all the tools at their disposal.
Name: Commander Michael McNeil
Aliases: Mack
Affiliation: GDI
Occupation: GDI Commander
Voiced/Played by: Michael Biehn
Commander McNeil was personally requested for by General Solomon, and was briefed of Kane's return by the same. Initially skeptical of the return of Kane, he immediately set out to destroy NOD forces attacking Phoenix Base. Helped capture and secure an alien ship that had crash landed near Texas. He loves to win. Has little compassion for the Forgotten. Attempted to capture Vega alive, but his foiled by a nuclear weapon launched by Kane. His brother was murdered by Kane's forces. Knows how to throw a C4 party. ONLY PLAYS BY HIS RULES!
Name: 1st Lt. Chandra
Aliases: None
Affiliation: GDI
Occupation: Kodiak Co-pilot and 2IC
Voiced/Played by: Kris Iyer
Friend and second-in-command to Com. McNeil, he serves as the Kodiak's co-pilot. Helped McNeil capture Vega. Helps with comic relief for the Kodiak crew.
Name: Brink
Aliases: None
Affiliation: GDI
Occupation: Kodiak Pilot
Voiced/Played by: Athena Massey
The Kodiak's pilot. Why is this character lacking development? She has less progression than Lt. Com. Peter Tao!
Name: General Solomon
Aliases: None
Affiliation: GDI
Occupation: Supreme Commander of GDI
Voiced/Played by: James Earl Jones
The Supreme Commander of GDI, he oversees GDIs actions from the GDI Space Station Philadelphia. Gen. Solomon was taken aback by the return of Kane, but quickly called for one of his more promising commanders, Michael McNeil. Tasks Com. McNeil with destroying the NOD forces responsible for the attack on Phoenix Base. Believes the Brotherhood of NOD is attempting to steal GDI technology. Disapproves of McNeil's methods, despite
Name: Ghost Stalker
Aliases: Unknown
Affiliation: The Forgotten
Occupation: Alleged badass
Voiced/Played by: Gil Birmingham
Provides information on the current plans of the Brotherhood of NOD as well as the location that Umagon is being held captive.
ORCA Bomber
RANGE: Short
ARMOR: Light
WEAPON: Bombs
Heavier and better armoured than its fighter cousin, the Orca Bomber trades speed for firepower. Delivering a stream of high-explosive bombs in strafing runs, the Orca Bomber is ideal for softening up ground defences during the beginning of a base assault.
Author's Note: Strong offense, high cost, low defence and little ammo. In groups, these can decimate your opponent, but it requires a lot of money to invest in.
GDI Upgrade Center
ARMOR: Wood
COST: 1000
POWER USAGE: 150
PURPOSE: Provides access to superweapons
The Upgrade Centre is used to communicate with various units and structures on the battlefield. Upgrade Centres have two available upgrade pads and can accept the following upgrades: Ion Cannon control or Hunter-Seeker control.
Author's Note: Absolutely necessary to have before gaining access to the Ion Cannon, it only accepts two uplinks, and GDI power plant upgades can't be dumped on it.
Ion Cannon Uplink
ARMOR: Wood
COST: 1500
POWER USAGE: 100
PURPOSE: Provides access to the Ion Cannon
The Ion Cannon control is an upgrade to an Upgrade Centre that allows targeting control of GDI’s orbital Ion Cannon weapon. Without this control, the Ion Cannon cannot be used.
Author's Note: An additional 1500 credits AND 100 power? Ugh! At least the Ion Cannon is amazing in this game. Visually, it is perfect.
The End of the GDI Campaign
Spoiler warning for those who have not watched the video yet.
Commander McNeil arrives at the Temple of Nod, where Kane is holding Umagon hostage. Despite the on-going battle outside, the structure looks to be mostly intact. The green haze may be Tiberium, but receives no explanation in the cutscene itself. After a brief, but tense, back and forth, Kane emerges victorious, and gloats as he finally proceeds to unleash his Tiberium weapon, only for McNeil to cut him off and impale him with a metal beam. Kane slumps to the floor, presumed dead, and McNeil retrives the Tacitus and rescues Umagon.
It then cuts to a medical center, where Umagon undergoes testing for a drug which could potentially reverse the effects of Tiberium infection/poisoning. Sadly, nothing makes this immediately clear that she is fine. Cut to the Kodiak flying around Earth.
Personally, I would've scrapped the medical center scene. But I'll gripe more about cutscenes waaaaaay later.
Name: Commander Michael McNeil
Aliases: Mack
Affiliation: GDI
Occupation: GDI Commander
Voiced/Played by: Michael Biehn
In their final confrontation, Michael McNeil kills Kane by impaling him with a metal beam. Saves Umagon and recovers the Tacitus, and then awkwardly confesses his love for Umagon with the timeless catchphrase "I love to win!"
Name: Umagon
Aliases: Unknown
Affiliation: The Forgotten
Occupation: Unknown
Voiced/Played by: Christine Steel
Rescued by McNeil after watching him kill a man in cold blood, she subsequently undergoes painful medical trials in order to stop or reverse the effects of Tiberium infection/poisoning. Is not referring to the green haze when talking about blunts.
Name: Tratos
Aliases: Unknown
Affiliation: The Forgotten
Occupation: Leader of the Forgotten
Voiced/Played by: Christopher Winfield
Basically the only reason any of this happened; some jerk who willingly betrayed everyone on Earth because Kane asked him to translate the Tacitus for him. As punishment for his crimes, he doesn't even get a close-up in the final cutscene. Take that, jerk!
Name: Kane
Aliases: Caine, Jacob; al-Quayym, Amir
Affiliation: NOD
Occupation: God's Understudy
Voiced/Played by: Joseph David Kucan
It is unclear whether Kane looks the way he does because of the Ion Cannon incident in Command and Conquer Tiberium Dawn, if it is due to Tiberium Poisoning, if it is the result of lacking medical facilities post-building collapse and his recovery thereof, or simply due to a horrific accident suffered while on the set of "Will It Blend?" Regardless, his plans are foiled once more by the good guys and the world is given a reprieve from his antics once more.