Red Alert: From the Ashes is a Game Mod for the original Command & Conquer: Red Alert that was developed by modder Zaptagious. Set after the Soviet ending, the mod is a full-fledged fan campaign bridging the gap between Red Alert and Command & Conquer: Tiberian Dawn.
Stalin's dream of a continental Soviet Union has finally become a reality, although the communist leader only got to savor it for a short moment before his assassination. The role of Premier now falls to you at the behest of a man you have only ever known as Kane.
While Kane's true origins remains shrouded in mystery, you have devoutly followed him and his Brotherhood nonetheless, as a true believer to Nod's cause.
And now, at a crucial nexus point, together you will pave the way for the Brotherhood of Nod to take its rightful place in history, and rise from the ashes of a crumbling empire...
The mod, alongside the graphical "Immersion Mod", can be downloaded here
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This game provides examples of:
- Allohistorical Allusion: One Allied/UN mission involves a daring large-scale invasion of Normandy in a clear echo of D-Day.
- America Saves the Day: Implied. With Europe overrun, the bulk of the Allied/UN war effort is all but stated to be led by the United States.
- Book Ends: The game's plot, after a fashion, begins and ends Soviet-occupied London.
- Call-Forward:
- Kane's narration in the Soviet briefings include allusions to chronologically later entries in the Tiberium series, including vague talk of "ascension."
- Many of the Allied/UN mission briefings not only foreshadow the eventual rise of GDI, but even have a subtle nod to Act on Instinct.
"We are going to have to act, if we want to live in a different world."- The Mammoth Tanks seized and reversed-engineered by Special Operations Group Echo: Black Ops 9 become the basis for GDI's namesake line of heavy tanks.
- It's implied that the Soviets' experiments on Volkov help inspire Nod's own research into cyborgs which come to fruition by Tiberian Sun.
- Civil Warcraft: Some Soviet missions involve taking out hapless Soviet forces standing in your way. Justified, however, in that you're given command of Nod operatives and sleeper agents who happen to be embedded in the Soviet military. Moreover, with the Brotherhood withdrawing "aid", their erstwhile comrades are now deemed fully expendable.
- Continuity Nod: Volkov's predicament as a cyberized experiment suggests that the Soviet missions in he Counterstrike and Aftermath expansions, or at least some version of them, still happened.
- Defector from Decadence: Volkov is rescued by Nod operatives and immediately joins the Brotherhood's cause on the spot, exacting revenge on his Soviet handlers.
- Didn't See That Coming: Downplayed. While Kane had anticipated the USSR to muddle on through until the early 1990s, the Allied and UN forces manage to bring an end to Soviet rule earlier than expected. Though he cuts his losses and kills the Soviet Premier by the final mission, he's not particularly fazed by it, knowing what's to come.
- Early-Bird Cameo:
- The United Nations' Special Operations Group Echo: Black Ops 9, which becomes playable by the later missions, is the earliest incarnation of the organization later known as the Global Defense Initiative.
- The experimental "Light Refraction" tech being researched by the Soviets and subsequently extracted by Nod becomes the basis for its iconic Stealth Tank.
- Nikola Tesla's research on "Death Ray" technology which is stolen by Nod, is the precursor to their future laser technology, most notably the Obelisk of Light.
- The final cutscene is an intercepted Scrin transmission as the aliens receive the Tunguska Bomb's signal, setting the stage for the arrival of Tiberium.
- Fan Sequel: The mod serves as a bridge between the Soviet ending of Red Alert and Tiberian Dawn, while also attempting to explain why some of the technology seen in the former never really shows up in the Tiberium timeline.
- Foregone Conclusion: Given that the mod leads to the events of Tiberian Dawn, it's guaranteed that the Soviets will lose and Europe liberated, while Special Operations Group Echo: Black Ops 9 is destined to become GDI.
- He Knows Too Much: As the Soviets make their Last Stand in Britain, Kane personally shoots the Premier before going underground, removing the risk of him divulging Nod's existence or the coming of Tiberium to the world.
- Historical Domain Character: Among the scientists held captive alongside Einstein who are rescued by an Allied task force from Soviet-occupied Europe are Wernher von Braun and J. Robert Oppenheimer.
- Mood Whiplash: Downplayed. In contrast to the Soviet missions, the Allied/UN briefings generally have a more gung-ho tone more in line with Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2 and Command & Conquer: Renegade than the original game.
- Mythology Gag:
- The Allied codename for the Tunguska Bomb is "Crazy Ivan". Additionally, the codename for the real-world equivalent of the Tunguska Bomb, "Tsar Bomba", was codenamed "Ivan". Coincidentally, the tone of the Allied/UN mission briefings are heavily reminiscent of General Carville's speech mannerisms.
- The last Soviet mission is a Nod raid on the same Philadelphia shipyard where Einstein had tested his Chronosphere tech in Red Alert's Allied campaign.
- No Plans, No Prototype, No Backup: Deliberately invoked by Kane when he orders a covert Nod force to raid a Philadelphia shipyard and destroy all traces of Einstein's Chronosphere research, thus explaining why such technology is unknown in the Tiberium timeline.
- Not in This for Your Revolution: The Soviet missions make it clear that Kane has zero interest in advancing Communism and views Nod's "aid" to the USSR as purely out of convenience. The moment the Brotherhood's covert support begins to be withdrawn, coincidentally, is when the tide turns against the Soviets.
- Not Quite Dead: Depending on your actions in the final Allied/UN mission, not only is it revealed that Einstein managed to barely survive his assassination, but was given a cyborg body of his own. As "Mecha-Einstein", he can join in the final push to crush the Soviets once and for all.
- Piggybacking on Hitler: As Nod withdraws its covert support to the USSR, Kane orders Brotherhood agents to retrieve as much Soviet Superscience as they could, and destroy what they couldn't.
- Previous Player-Character Cameo: The Allied commander is among the VIPs tasked by Special Operations Group Echo: Black Ops 9 to rescue from a Soviet gulag, alongside Von Esling and Stavros. Depending on whether the rescue team prioritizes the civilian captives first, he may not live to see another day.
- Puppet King: The Soviet Premier is little more than a servant of Kane, being Nod's main direct link with the USSR's resources.
- Pyrrhic Victory: The Soviets' conquest of Europe is revealed to be one, with various resistance movements popping. And without Nod's covert backing, the USSR increasingly finds Stalin's grand prize more trouble than its worth. The UN, however, seizes the opportunity to avenge the Allied defeat and liberate the continent.
- The Remnant: After the Allied forces seize Moscow, what's left of the USSR retreats to its European conquests to regroup, with Soviet-controlled London as the provisional capital.
- Roaring Rampage of Revenge: Volkov, after being rescued by (and joining) Nod, immediately proceeds to exact retribution on his former Soviet handlers for what was done to him. Likewise, Mecha-Einstein can avenge his own demise by joining the liberation of Britain.
- Spanner in the Works: Kane considers Einstein to be one, by virtue of his brilliance, and orders his assassination to prevent him from potentially derailing Nod's plans in the future.
- Stuff Blowing Up: The Tunguska Bomb devised by Kane and his Nod scientists is described as the most powerful nuclear device ever detonated up until that point. While the Allies believe it to be a show of force, in actuality it's meant to be a signal directed towards the Scrin, which would ultimately lead to the arrival of Tiberium in 1995.
- Unwitting Pawn: Many of the Soviet forces the Allied/UN troops (and later, Special Operations Group Echo: Black Ops 9) encounter are revealed to be completely in the dark regarding their role in helping Nod.
- The World Is Not Ready: Kane is careful about keeping Nod's existence a secret from the world for the time being, as revealing the Brotherhood too soon would risk unraveling his plans. He also believes that both Nikola Tesla's research and Einstein's Chronosphere tech are too advanced for the soon-to-be-victorious UN to get their hands on.
- Two Lines, No Waiting: There are two main plotlines in the campaign, namely Kane's preparations for the future in the Soviet missions, and the liberation of Europe in the Allied/UN ones. While they come close, at no point do the UN nor Special Operations Group Echo: Black Ops 9 figure out the Brotherhood's existence, setting the stage for the sudden arrival of Tiberium.
- You Have Failed Me: Subverted at first. After a few mishaps involving the UN stumbling a bit too close to discovering the Brotherhood's existence, Kane chides the Soviet Premier but still gives him a chance to redeem himself. Averted at the end however, when he's killed just as Nadia had been.
- You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Kane reveals to the Soviet Premier that he only ever intended for the USSR to hold onto Europe for as long as he needed to get the Tunguska Bomb ready. With that achieved, he has the Brotherhood quietly withdraw, leaving the Soviets (or what's left of their actual chain of command) to fight for themselves. In the final mission, Kane kills the Premier himself both for failing Nod one time too many and to remove a loose end.
