Paul Cortez
Actor: Efrain Figueroa
Name: Paul Cortez*Affiliation:* Global Defence Initiative (GDI)*Rank:* Lieutenant General*Role:* Commander of Southern Cross, Acting Commander-in-Chief of the GDI, then Director of the Bureau of Mutant Affairs*Base:* Southern Cross*Associates:* Tratos, Gabriella Boudreau, Commander of Task Force Firestorm*Temporary ally:* Anton Slavik*Main enemy:* C.A.B.A.L.*Conflict:* Firestorm Conflict*Appearance:* Command & Conquer: Tiberian Sun – Hydra Missions
Mentioned in: The Tiberian Wars, Kane’s Wrath
Status: Alive after the Firestorm Conflict.Paul Cortez is a GDI General and the organisation’s chief military commander during the Firestorm Conflict. As Commander of Southern Cross Base, he temporarily takes charge of the entire GDI when ionic storms cut off communications with the GDSS Philadelphia. An experienced tactician and diplomat, he had to simultaneously manage the threat of Tiberium, the instability of Nod and, above all, the C.A.B.A.L. rebellion.
Southern Cross
Following the Second Tiberium War, Cortez commanded GDI forces in the southern sectors from Southern Cross, one of the organisation’s main ground Command Hubs.
The situation took a dramatic turn when a massive ionic storm cut off communications with the Philadelphia. Southern Cross then temporarily becomes the GDI’s global Command Hub, and Cortez takes charge of operations.
He swiftly establishes Task Force Firestorm and places an experienced Commander, previously assigned to Project Lazarus, at its helm. Its first mission is to locate the Kodiak, which crashed in Egypt with the Tacitus on board.
The Forgotten and Tratos
Cortez maintains good relations with Tratos and the Forgotten. Unlike some GDI officials, who view mutants primarily as an undesirable consequence of Tiberium, Cortez proves capable of negotiating with them and recognising their value as allies.
This cooperation becomes essential for recovering the Tacitus and continuing research that could slow the planet’s contamination.
The assassination of Tratos is therefore a disaster both politically and scientifically. The GDI loses not only an important ally, but also one of the few individuals capable of interpreting the Tacitus.
Gabriella Boudreau
Cortez was once married to the scientist Gabriella Boudreau, head of the Daedalus team and a Tiberium specialist. The two are already divorced by the time of Tiberian Dawn.
Their relationship remains tense at times. Following Tratos’s assassination, Gabriella criticises Cortez in particular for failing to protect him.
Despite their personal history, however, they continue to work effectively together. Boudreau leads the scientific research whilst Cortez oversees the military operations required to recover and translate the Tacitus.
The Return of C.A.B.A.L.
Following Tratos’s death, the GDI finds itself facing a desperate situation: without a translation of the Tacitus, it risks never finding a solution to the spread of Tiberium.
Boudreau therefore proposes using C.A.B.A.L., Nod’s former artificial intelligence, to continue the decryption process. The GDI recovers its core and installs it in the Daedalus complex.
The decision proves disastrous.
C.A.B.A.L. simultaneously manipulates both Nod and the GDI in order to piece together the various parts of the Tacitus. Once its objective is achieved, its Cyborgs attack the GDI’s facilities and the artificial intelligence launches its own war against humanity.
The alliance with Anton Slavik
Faced with C.A.B.A.L., Cortez finds himself forced to consider a solution that had previously been almost unthinkable: cooperating with the Brotherhood of Nod.
His point of contact is Anton Slavik.
Cortez deeply mistrusts the Nod General and regards him as a brutal man. Nevertheless, he agrees to a truce, realising that neither Nod nor the GDI alone possesses the necessary resources to stop C.A.B.A.L.
Despite their mutual hostility, the alliance holds long enough to allow a joint offensive against the artificial intelligence’s facilities.
The destruction of C.A.B.A.L.
Cortez’s and Slavik’s forces finally attack the main core of C.A.B.A.L. After its defences have been neutralised and its cybernetic forces destroyed, the artificial intelligence is defeated. The GDI also recovers the complete Tacitus, a key asset for continuing research into Tiberium.
The victory confirms Cortez’s qualities as a Commander: faced with a global crisis, he agreed to cooperate with a historic enemy in order to eliminate a common threat.
After Firestorm
Following the conflict, Cortez finally steps down from active military command and becomes director of the GDI’s Bureau of Mutant Affairs. This role is well suited to his experience and the good relations he had maintained with Tratos and the Forgotten.
However, his hostility towards C.A.B.A.L. did not disappear.
In 2043, when the GDI announced the destruction of what it considered to be the artificial intelligence’s last Pillbox, Cortez even refused to attend the event, a sign of the scant importance he now wished to attach to his former adversary.
He was also awarded several honours during his career, notably a Purple Heart and a commendation for meritorious service.
Personality
Cortez is, above all, a pragmatic, responsible and diplomatic military man. Unlike commanders who systematically seek confrontation, he knows that temporary cooperation can become essential when the survival of humanity is at stake.
His alliance with Tratos and subsequently his truce with Anton Slavik perfectly illustrate this approach.
However, he does not place his trust in others easily. His agreement with Nod against C.A.B.A.L. is based on necessity rather than on any genuine reconciliation between the two organisations.