Cultists (Firestorm)

At the time of the Firestorm Conflict, a cult of Tiberium worshippers was located near the Temple of the Tacitus, an ancient temple in proximity of La Paz, Bolivia. Led by Mortimer, the group hated the mutants - who ironically were touched by Tiberium more than any of the cultists.
The cult was encountered during the mission Dogma Day Afternoon, in which a small commando team including Ghost Stalker was tasked with finding and retrieving a missing segment of the Tacitus.
==Beliefs==
Similarly to Nod, the cultists believed that Tiberium was a great gift, but went further than Nod, to the point of worshipping the Tiberium creatures and Tiberium plants themselves. Ironically, however, they have a particular hatred for mutants, describing them as "heretics", "abominations" and "defiling sacred ground". This apparent contradiction may have been explained by the fact that the Tiberium had 'marked' the mutants in some way - while Tiberium does not appear to have harmed the cultists in any way, to the point where they could remain in proximity of blue Tiberium without being mutated or injured. Exactly how this was done is unknown.Westwood Studios, Command & Conquer: Tiberian Sun: Firestorm. GDI mission 5: "GDI 05: Dogma Day Afternoon".
While the cult despises mutants and would immediately become hostile upon seeing Ghost Stalker, they do not appear to hate all intruders at first - if the player sends their non-mutant units in first, they may expect a more welcoming response from the cult initially.
Mysterious forces seem to be at work in the region controlled by the cult. The leader Mortimer is seen to "teleport" from one place to another, and two of the three ancient temples seem connected to unexplained phenomena. One temple is marked "Temple of Time", and when the archaeologist enters, daylight changes as if several hours have elapsed in a few moments; another temple is marked "Temple of Thunder", and a sudden lightning storm occurs when the archaeologist enters.
==Castes==
Cultists were divided into three castes:
* Believers: The lowest rank, fanatical and borderline-suicidal worshippers with no armor and just pistols.
* Cult guard: Guardians of important areas armed with heavy armor and pulse rifles scavenged from ruined bases. They were also very strong-for example it took three shots from Ghoststalker's railgun to kill one Cult guard. Two were more than a match for Ghostalker himself.
* Priest: Cult leaders who oversaw worship and were armed only with an automatic rifle. They had medium armor, and could take a full hit from a Railgun.
==Fate==
As Ghost Stalker and his team retrieve the Tacitus segment from the cult's territory, they killed many of the cultists including Mortimer in the process. After the death of Mortimer, cultists can be seen committing suicide in despair at the death of their leader. It seems a fair assumption that the cult is no more.
==References==
Category:Tiberium universe factions
Category:Cultists