Outback (mission)

"GDI is moving nuclear warheads from one of their bases on the edge of the Australian Red Zone. If we can intercept the convoy, destroy the escorts, and capture the warheads, then we can make the Brotherhood of Nod into a nuclear power once again. You need to recover at least one transport but more is better. Once you've secured the warheads, the Brotherhood will dispatch a Carryall evacuation team. Be aware that the warheads are highly volatile and may explode if fired upon. Tread carefully!"

- Mission briefing

Outback is the first mission of Act IV of the Nod campaign in Tiberium Wars.

Background
After Kane's apparent death at Temple Prime, Kilian Qatar took control of the Brotherhood and ordered the plans for Ascension to be suspended. In order to level the playing field with GDI, she ordered the Nod Commander to steal their nuclear warheads, since most of Nod's nuclear arsenal was destroyed when GDI raided their Cairo launch facility.

Plot
Acting on information extracted from a captured GDI nuclear technician, a strike team led by the Nod Commander moved to intercept a GDI convoy transporting nuclear warheads from a silo in Broken Hill to their base in Sydney.

The mission went smoothly at first: Nod forces destroyed the GDI units escorting the nuclear transports, forcing them to surrender. However, Ajay soon alerted the Commander to a completely unexpected development: every GDI ion cannon in the Southern Hemisphere was activated and began firing at something in space, causing alien objects to crash into Red zones all across the world - including the Australian Red zone.

Soon, an army of aliens arrived on the field and began attacking GDI and Nod alike. Despite taking heavy fire from the aliens, the Nod Commander managed to successfully evacuate at least one nuclear warhead.

Walkthrough
(Note: This walkthrough assumes Hard difficulty.)

At the start of the mission, immediately order the Stealth tanks to destroy the Tiberium tower in the east. This will prevent the convoy from escaping and give you ample time to intercept them. Move the rest of your forces to the southern edge of the screen and move them to the Tiberium field just east of the GDI base.

After the Tiberium tower is down, move your stealth tanks to the Tiberium field as well (the Sonic emitters on the way are not a problem), and order them to destroy the Watchtower near the research lab, then capture it with a Saboteur to complete the bonus objective and unlock an Intelligence Database entry (Australia-New Zealand Theatre Assessment).

You can capture the GDI refinery to the north with the other Saboteur to make the next part of the mission easier, though this is not mandatory. Simply destroy the Watchtower with your stealth tanks and wait for the harvester to dock. Beware of its machine gun, which can quickly kill the Saboteur.

Quickly destroy the two convoys guarded by Predator tanks and APCs. Once again, your stealth tanks should be able to do so without suffering casualties. Leave the one with Mammoth tanks alone.

After the cutscene play, DO NOT order your forces to the Nod outpost, since the bulk of the alien forces will be there, and it will be quickly overwhelmed. Order all your forces to the mutant hovel and set the rally point for your war factory to it as well. Spend all of your remaining credits on building stealth tanks.

The Mammoth tank convoy will eventually be destroyed by Scrin forces. After which, a 2:30 countdown will start. Simply hold position near the hovel and protect the transports. You do NOT need to move the transports back to the outpost when the Carryalls arrive, since the mission will end after the countdown reaches zero.