Tratos mysteriously hands in his research on the artifact known as the Tacitus to the GDI Daedalus team, and while the artifact's extraction was underway, the Kodiak, the airship that was carrying it at the time, is shot down by an intense ion storm which also cuts off GDI's link to the Philadelphia space station. As the Southern Cross base assumes command and attempts to retrieve the Tacitus, Nod is found licking its wounds from the previous conflict and trying to repair and restore their main AI, CABAL. However, once that is done, it turns on its masters and tries to claim the Tacitus for its own needs.
