Firestorm
takes place directly after the events in Tiberian Sun.
The Brotherhood of NOD, reeling from the loss of Kane, is
once again divided and struggling against the persistent attacks
of the Global Defense Initiative. CABAL, the artificial intelligence
entity that played a critical role in Kane's plans during the
second Tiberium War, is now offline, in effect creating a logistics
nightmare for the Brotherhood.

Power-hungry
generals are all vying for control of NOD, yet each has a markedly
different opinion on how to reclaim the Brotherhood's status as
a viable threat to the GDI. Kane's Cairo temple, like his dreams,
lies in ruins, swarmed by GDI scientists searching for clues that'll
help them stop the onslaught of a more insidious enemy: Tiberium
itself. Named after the Tiber River where it was first discovered,
Tiberium is now rapidly spreading across the planet like a virus,
destroying all ecosystems and life-forms that stand in its destructive
path. Tiberium was introduced to Earth by a meteorite and was
at one time seen as a miracle resource: limitless in its abundance
and harmless to others. Its disastrous effects quickly came to
light, however, and the toxic crystal has all but leeched the
planet's entire supply of naturally occurring metals and minerals.
Life-forms that aren't instantly killed by exposure to Tiberium
are affected on their genetic level and slowly mutate into hideous,
almost alien, creatures.
Even
the oceans have become infested with Tiberium, making sea voyages
not only difficult, but lethal as well. Desperate to find a way
to stem Tiberium's alarming rate of growth, the Global Defense
Initiative has raided the now-destroyed NOD temple in Cairo in
search of the Tacitus, an alien artifact that could explain the
origins of Tiberium. Kane had been using the Tacitus to mutate
his troops in bizarre Tiberium experiments and as a result was
able to successfully genetically engineer his cyborg units. The
GDI now hopes that the same artifact responsible for Tiberium's
destructive march across the planet will be able to stop the crystal's
spread and save humanity from extinction.
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