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“I’ve never seen anything like it. One minute they were here, and the next, they were 20 klicks away, burning through areas our Humvees couldn’t even begin to navigate.”—anonymous GDI soldier, describing Nod’s DPVs.
The Brotherhood’s doctrine during the First Tiberium War was an interesting amalgam of guerilla tactics, sophisticated special forces, and above all, high-mobility in every respect. Nowhere was this better demonstrated than with the Desert Patrol Vehicle, colloquially known as the Nod Buggy.
Designed by Chenowth Racing Products, the DPV was originally meant for service with Western special forces groups, such as the U.S. Navy SEALs and Black Ops 9. Limited usage ultimately spelled the doom of the vehicle, which was deemed “too specialized.” The remaining models were shelved, and the company which built them eventually sold the designs to an Australian firm.
That company, as it turned out, was merely a front for the Brotherhood’s arms manufacturing wing. After some modifications to the chassis, nearly 120 of the vehicles were rolled out of production within a month. Initially, UN peacekeepers had no idea what the things were, and their affiliation with Nod was revealed only when the war was well underway.
The Brotherhood’s modifications to the DPV are purely functional in design. Additional armor, made of a carbon-fiber/Kevlar composite, has been added to the engine block. A similar plate was added to the gunner’s position, offering better protection against shrapnel. There has been speculation that the engine itself has been upgraded, though this is most likely born of superstition surrounding their hit-and-run abilities.
Accurate intelligence shows that the vehicle is armed with a .50 caliber machine gun as its main armament, though some reports indicate additional weapons such as squad automatic weapons or AT4 missile launchers. The vehicle’s speed allows it to outrun any ground vehicle in GDI’s arsenal, and makes it an excellent platform for reconnaissance. There have been reports of DPVs penetrating upwards of 80 kilometers into secure territory, then vanishing without a trace. Even in the forests of Europe they perform exceedingly well.
Each DPV has a crew of three: a driver, gunner, and navigator. The crews have been known to decorate their vehicles with arcane symbols and various religious texts. There has been only one recorded interview with these men, who liken themselves to the cavalry of the great conquerors of long past. As one proclaimed, “We are the horsemen of the apocalypse. We are the heralds of a great change, one which will not be denied.”
[Editor’s note: the Buggy is presented without its crew in this update. The final in-game version will include them. It was modeled and textured by Ric.]
-General Aurum
Public Relations
Tiberian Dawn
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