Battle of Gerlach Flats

The Battle of Gerlack Flats was a conflict that was fought between the Global Defense Initiative and the Brotherhood of Nod.

Prelude
At the time, GDI had discovered a fortified Brotherhood position that was defended by Obelisks of Light leading to an assault on the enemy position. However, a powerful dust storm engufled the region which led to a number of Orca's crash landing in the battlefield. The pilots were stranded and were trapped in a situation where they could either die by the sand storm or, it if abated, die at the hands of a Obelisk of Light which would gain a targeting sight on the pilot's position. As the battle raged, GDI commanders decided to field test their new AT-414 Refractor tanks.

Mirror Effect
Four of the prototype Refractor tanks were deployed onto the field and were laid out in an arrangement around the Orca crash site. This allowed GDI Engineers to be sent in as part of an extraction team to recover the pilots. The sand storm ultimately ended and allowed the Obelisk of Light to sight the recovery operation and it fired its laser beam. However, the energy weapon simply struck the frontal shield of the vehicle and the blast was redirected at its source. The damage sustained by its own attack led to the destruction of the Obelisk whereupon the Refractor led down their front shields and began to decimate the Nod base thus winning the conflict. The Orca pilots in turn were also rescued thus providing a further highlight to the success of the mission.

Aftermath
The battle proved to be a successful trial of the AT-414 Refractor tanks which were fully fielded within GDI's arsenal and were integrated into the Offense Class's combat strategies.

Source

 * GDI Refractor Profile