Awakened

"Souls of steel."
 * Awakened squad

An Awakened is a heavily armed and armoured cyborg created to fulfill Kane's will. The Awakened are of a more advanced design than the Second Tiberium War Cyborg, and serve as the basic infantry of the Marked of Kane.

While speculated to be the remnant of CABAL's forces, it has been confirmed that they are the result of a secret project conducted by Nod scientists in Central Asia, using human corpses as a base for heavy cybernetic enhancement. The Awakened lack any emotions, and are unquestioningly loyal to Kane. Originally meant to be used during the Second Tiberium War, their activation was delayed until 2052.

Awakened are armed with an EMP cannon implanted in their right arm, a heavy machine gun grafted onto their left, a rebreather unit and numerous other augmentations. Their armour, while its composition remains unknown, is the toughest used by any basic infantry force. For better control, their enhanced cyber-neurological impacts are linked to a world-wide control network. These units can use their EMPs to disrupt enemy vehicles or structures for a short time. Awakened primarily use these to temporarily halt an armoured advance, while letting units better suited to anti-vehicle operations to destroy the immobilised vehicles. Meanwhile, their cyborg Enlightened brethren, possessing more powerful EMPs, together with their powerful particle beams can wreak havok on an armoured column by themselves.

While stronger than regular infantry, the Awakened are more costly and slower, making them poor scouts. Also, they lack any further upgrades from the subfaction, though in rare instances when the Marked of Kane and the Black Hand operate jointly, the Awakened can be upgraded by Black Hand charged particle beams. Deployed in three cyborg squads, the Awakened are more susceptible to sniping and crushing than infantry deployed in larger formations.

Awakened, unlike previous Nod cyborgs, are not immune to Tiberium. This makes them less useful as guards against anti-harvesting operations. However, they aren't effected by Electromagnetic pulse weaponry, making them less vulnerable than their predecessors in that regard.

Regular Brotherhood forces do not produce these cyborgs. However, the Redemption ability allows them to resurrect deceased militants into the Awakened. The Black Hand do not wish to have anything to do with these 'soulless machines' and hence do not use the Redemption power.

Intel sources

 * Intel on years 2030-2046
 * Nod intelligence
 * Intel Dossier on the Awakened and Enlightened