Sam shook his head at Sin's question. This wasn't the first time he'd had someone forget to pay attention. No, scratch that. Sin HAD been paying attention - just to Maja, rather than the entire mission briefing.
"We're headin' out to the Scrin tower. Gotta make sure Gideon doesn't activate its portal, or else..." Sam paused for a bit, partly to let his message sink in, but mostly because of the memories that came flooding back. "Or else the Scrin come back, and it's the second half of Tib War III all over again." As Sam continued walking, Seamus sighed.
"I see he's still haunted over Bern. Can't really say I blame him." Bern, the former capitol of what had once been called Switzerland, had been one of several cities completely blasted off the face of the Earth by the Scrin - joining the ranks of Munich, Sydney, and Val'Raveran. "Though he's certainly handling it better then most people would."
"You know Sam." Vanara added, making sure her own sonic grenade launcher was fully loaded. "Not the kind to let his feelings interfere with a mission. He probably hates the Scrin even more than Carl there hates Nod. Can't say I blame him. Not after what they did to his brother." Some of the soldiers exchanged worried looks, before one turned to Vanara.
"I just have to ask, Captain." the private, this one a young human male, began. "What could the Scrin have done that was worse than usual?" Now it was Vanara's turn to sigh. The green-haired Drowolath woman faced the human soldier, the look in her eyes as icy as the void between galaxies.
"It was just after Bern had been destroyed. Our old unit, the 597th Mechanized Infantry, was going through the ruins looking for survivors. Unfortunately, we found some. Turns out, one of the Scrin cults, Traveler-59, had just been there. Everyone who still lived had been implanted with their cranial parasites, but the aliens had had to leave before the process could be finished, meaning that the process of turning them into Cultists hadn't been completed. Most of them just sat, staring off into nothing and babbling nonsense. Maybe their original selves were struggling against the Cultist personalities. Anyway, we'd found all the survivors..."
"And my brother, Daniel..." Sam began, finishing the story. "Was one of them." Sam paused, before speaking again. "The Scrin noticed that he was a mutant like me, and thought that the presence of Tiberium in his body would make the implantation process easier. Unfortunately, they were only half-right. While the parasite had attached itself to him, the Tiberium in his brain cells made his mental blocks tougher to crack. So, he still remained cognizant of his surroundings. When we finally got to him, it only took me a split-second to realize who he was. And he saw me. He starts walking towards me, unsteady. When he finally reached me, he collapsed, crying." Sam sighed. "So, Danny just looks at me, still crying. He pulls me down, and whispers just two words into my ear. He says 'I'm sorry'. Then he reaches for my gun holster, and grabs one of my laser pistols. Before I can do anything, he sticks it in his mouth... and fires."
"And... and that's why you hate the Scrin so much?" the private asked.
"Just one of many reasons, solder." Sam said. "Just one of many."