| “ | Prepare a full-scale invasion. Earth will fall
— Scrin Overlord
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” |
The Scrin are a space-faring alien race and one of three playable factions in the military strategy game Command and Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars. The Scrin are not seen in the previous two games, though they are implied to be responsible first seeding Tiberium on Earth near the Tiber River in Italy in 1995, prior to the events of the first game. The Scrin are a Tiberium-based life form, which use the substance for sustaining themselves and it is the basis for their technology. The Scrin are known to spread Tiberium, or "Ichor" as they call it, to other planets as they did with Earth, wait for it to take over the planet's biosphere, and then send in harvesting operation. In terms of appearance, the Scrin are generally insectiod, however, they seem to enhanced with cybernetics to the point where the line between machine and life form is blurred, and, as such, individuals with a different role may look very different. It is not clear if any of Scrin infantry units are actual members of the Scrin race or biomechanical constructs built for war.
In 2047, the Global Defense Initiative fired their orbital ion cannon on the Brotherhood of Nod Temple Prime in Sarajevo, detonating an experimental Liquid Tiberium Bomb on the site. This explosion sent Tiberium radiation into space, which was detected by the Scrin. The Scrin, believing Earth was overrun by Tiberium, were shocked to find that human military forces were still combatting effective- the Scrin had expected to find only dying remnants of civilization in a Tiberium-ruined wasteland.
It was quickly revealed that Kane, the enigmatic leader of Nod had intentionally set up the bomb as a target for the ion cannon, in order to trigger a Scrin invasion. Kane knew of the Scrin from an alien AI found on Earth known as Tacitus, and intended to capture Scrin technology to use it to "ascend" to a "higher plane of existence".
The Scrin head of the harvesting activities, Foreman 371, attempted to divert the GDI and Nod forces by using military forces attached to the harvesting operation to attack major cities around the world. Of particular note were the devastation of London and several cities in Germany and Switzerland, including Berne, which was destroyed by the superweapon mounted on the Scrin mothership.
The Scrin Foreman then switched his strategy from attacking cities to deploying his forces to Tiberium-infested Red Zones and constructing massive teleportation arrays. In spite of the Foreman's efforts, however, GDI forces destroyed all but one of the towers while under construction. As GDI forces closed in on the Control node, Foreman 371 fled through the last surviving teleportation tower, Threshold 19.
Shortly afterwards, GDI forces destroyed the Scrin control node, which channelled vital Tiberium radiation to Scrin troops in the field. With the node destroyed, the Scrin military forces literally died instantaneously. The Scrin supreme commander, the Overlord, was infuriated by this defeat and declared that a full invasion of Earth would follow.
In spite of this threat, the Scrin would not be seen on Earth again, though the Brotherhood of Nod would gain eventually reactivate Threshold 19 and Kane and his followers would "ascend" through, ending a fourth GDI-Nod war in the 2077. At the same time, GDI completed the Tiberium Control Network, finally ending the menace of Tiberium infestation.
Battle vs. Covenant (by SPARTAN 119)[]
A Scrin patrol rolled through a pass in the middle of a desert mountain range on a planet uninhabited by intelligent life forms, as two Devastator Warships, a Planetary Assault Carrier, and several Stormriders flew overhead. The patrol was part of a larger unit send to investigate reports of unknown entities detected during a routine Tiberium seeding.
Suddenly, balls of blue and red plasma- projectiles from the plasma mortars of Wraiths and Revenants fired down on the Scrin armored force. The first plasma ball impacted a Seeker and exploded in a blue fireball that also took out a Gun Walker and several Disintegrators and Buzzer swarms. Second later, another plasma projectile destroyed a Devourer Tank, as a third slammed into the top of an Annihilator Tripod, setting off the power cores for the laser cannon and sending the machine up in massive fireball.
As plasma fire took out Scrin war machines left and right, the surviving vehicles elevated their weapons towards the source of the threat- a group of Covenant Wraiths and Revenants placed along the ridgeline. Devourer tanks and Annihilator Tripods fired their main lasers, the first shots burning through Wraith and Revenant Armor, and setting off their power cores in balls of blue flames.
Meanwhile, A group of Covenant infantry further down the ridgeline opened up with plasma weapons and fuel rod cannons. Scrin Disintegrators, Gun Walkers, and Shock Troopers returned fire as a few surviving Buzzer hordes flew towards the Covenant.
Covenant and Scrin infantry alike fell to plasma fire and buzzers, as the two Devastator warships flew up and fired their plasma cannons at the remaining Wraiths on the ridgeline. The heavy plasma bolts from the Devastators impacted like artillery fire, and cleared the ridge line of Covenant artillery. Meanwhile, the Stormriders and Invader fighters from the Planetary Assault Carrier strafed the Covenant infantry on the ridgeline, cutting down most of them, save for a few Unggoy who tried to flee, but were killed by Scrin fire soon after.
But that was not the last of the Covenant, as was made abundantly clear a green guided plasma missile- a weapon known to humans as a "fuel rod cannon" impacted a Devastator Warship. Two more hits later, one of the Devastator Warships, fell from from the sky and exploded in a ball of fire as it hit the side of a mountain.
A flight of banshees then flew in shooting down a pair of Stormriders. The remaining Stormriders and the fighters from the PAC responded, swarming the flight of five Banshees and blowing them out of the sky one-by-one.
But that was not the last for of Covenant air force. A pair of plasma torpedoes impacted the side of the remaining Devastator, blowing the Scrin aircraft clean in half, raining wreckage everywhere. The Phantom Gunship that fired the plasma torps then fired its plasma autocannons, shooting down two more Stormriders as a burst of heavy Needler shots homed in on the last surviving enemy, exploding on impact and sending them down in flames.
The Covenant Vampire fighter fired its EMP cannon, frying the shield of the PAC and destroying half its fighters. Several plasma torpedoes and heavy Needler rounds impacted the craft, destroying it. The now undirected fighters lost control and crashed.
As the Phantom gunship opened up on the Scrin forces, cutting them down one-by-one, a group of Wraiths and Locusts rolled up the other side of the passed. Plasma rained down on the Scrin from land and air, destroying vehicles and infantry in a sheet of blue flames.
A few hours later
The Prophet of Sanctity sat in the bridge of a Covenant Corvette. He would have preferred a heavier vessel, but this was all the higher-ranking prophets would spare for the mission to this backwater system. In spite of this, the prophet insisted on accompanying Sangheili shipmaster Tydr Yasharee to witness the first contact and subjugation of the newly encountered race, which dared attempt to pollute the sacred Forerunner ruins with the foul toxic crystals they left in their wake.
"Your Holiness", Tydr Yasharee said to the prophet, we have detected multiple contacts incoming, one large vessel and numerous smaller ones incoming. I also have reports the Jiralhanae Cheiftain Zaskarus has made first contact with the main enemy ground force.
"Destroy the abominations, leave none alive!", the prophet ordered in response to the incoming contacts.
"All units to battlestations!", Shipmaster Yasharee ordered, "Launch all aircraft".
Banshees, Phantom Gunships and Vampire fighters poured out of the top and side hangar doors of the craft as squadrons of Scrin Stormriders flew in first, followed by a force of shield Planetary Assault Carriers. Behind all of them, the Scrin Mothership slowly flew upwards, attempting to get to a higher position to fire its devastating main weapon down on the Corvette.
The Vampires and fired off their heavy needlers and the Phantom Gunships and the Corvette itself plasma torpedoes. Glowing blue balls of superheated plasma and crystalline alien missiles flew towards the Scrin air forces, as the Planetary Assault Carriers launched their Invader drone fighters. Left and right, Covenant heavy needler and plasma torpedo fire impacted Stormriders and Invaders. Soon, fuel rod cannon fire from the Banshees and close-range plasma autocannon fire from both sides joined the ball dueling aircraft over the desert. The blue flames of plasma fire, the pink and green explosions from the alien explosives used in Covenant "needlers" and "fuel rod cannons", and the red bolts of heavy plasma cannons created a deadly fireworks display around the dueling ships.
A plasma torpedo from a Phantom Gunship de-shielded a PAC, which was then struck by several heavy needler projectiles and blown out of the sky. Meanwhile, two Phantom gunships combined their fire to bring down a second PAC. Unfortunately from the Phantoms in question, they were immediately swarmed by dozens of Invader fighters from all directions and shot to pieces. Aircraft on both sides fell from the sky, but the Covenant air force were slowly gaining control of the skies.
The final death blow to the Scrin air fleet occurred when the Covenant Corvette fired off a salvo of plasma torpedoes at the Scrin mothership. The balls of superheated plasma impacted in balls of blue flames, three of them melting holes in the "ring" around the mothership, while two more impacted the centerpiece. The center of the mothership exploded as the surrounding ring fell from the sky, raining debris onto the desert floor.
Without the threat of the mothership, the Covenant Corvette could focus fire on the remaining PACs, which were taken down with a single shot from the heavier plasma torpedoes on the corvette. With PACs shot down, the back bone of the Scrin air force was broken. The surviving Stormriders were quickly cleared from the skies.
A few kilometers to the west
A massive Scrin force was heavily engaged with a massive Covenant army, including infantry, armor and artillery. Ghosts, Revenants, and Brute Choppers rode in the flanks firing their weapons and sending Seekers and Gun Walkers up in flames. A few were hit by returning Scrin fire, but most turned away before the Scrin tripods and Devourer tanks could return fire.
Then, the main forces met. Covenant Wraiths fired off their plasma mortars, some of which struck Devourers or Annihilator Tripods, knocking the Scrin war machines out of action flashes of blue fire. The main force of the Scrin, however, kept advancing, covered by their Devastator Warships, which rained death on the Covenant army, taking out vehicles left and right. The combined fire of three Devastators even destroyed out one of the Covenant's four Scarabs.
The Scrin Tripods and tanks retaliated, blue laser beams burning through the armor of Wraiths and Locusts, picking off the Covenant one-by-one as the spearhead of the Scrin army moved forward, the four Eradicator Hexapods. An Eradicator fired its main plasma disc launcher at a Scarab, taking it out. One of the two remaining Scarabs retaliated, firing its massive main plasma cannon and sending the Eradicator up in a massive fireball.
In spite of their best efforts, however, the superior firepower of the Scrin tanks and tripods, supported by the Devastators allowed them to start gaining ground. Things did not look good for the Covenant Ground forces...
Until, suddenly, a swarm of Heavy Needler fire shot the Devastator Warships out of the sky as Phantom gunships rained superheated plasma death on Scrin, a group of them destroying a second Scrin Eradicator with a volley of plasma torpedoes.
The final death blow to the Scrin, however, came from the Covenant Corvette, which has maneuvered into engagement range and fired its main plasma torpedoes. The heavy plasma fire reduced first on Eradicator, and then the second, to a mass of twisted alien metal. More plasma torpedoes took out several tanks and tripods with each shot.
Within minutes, the back of the Scrin army was broken from the devastating aerial firepower, allowing the Covenant to mop up the surviving Scrin resistance.
WINNER: Covenant Empire
Expert's Opinion[]
The Experts believed that, while the Scrin had superior armored vehicles, and very good aircraft that mattered little when the Covenant could gain space superiority with their superior vessel and bombard the Scrin with a withering hail of plasma. The Covenant were also more experienced, and all together more successful, almost defeating a more advanced human race, while the Scrin were repulsed by a still formidable, but less advanced version of humanity.