Athena cannon

"Athena Cannon how may I assist you?"

- Athena Cannon

Named after Athena, the Greek Goddess of Wisdom, the Athena cannon is the main artillery unit in the Allied arsenal in Red Alert 3.

Background
As the Soviet Union poured its armored divisions into Western Europe, the Allies were no match to counter the onslaught early in the war. In most cases the Soviet tanks were supported by the long range V4 Rocket Launchers that would take out most of the Allies' armored divisions with just one rocket and destroy their defense emplacements from afar before the Soviets finished off the survivors. Due to Premier Cherdenko's changing of the space time continuum, the Allies' long-range Prism tank was now non-existent and, with no other land-based artillery unit, they were forced to retreat.

However as the tide turned for the Allies after they repelled the Soviet invasion of Great Britain at Brighton Beach, Allied High Command commissioned the development of a fast artillery unit to counter the V4s and cause a great deal of damage to base defences, notably against Tesla Coils. Allied R&D with assistance from Futuretech came up with the idea of using satellites that will pinpoint the target and solar power as its doomsday laser weapon, since the Allies were in short supply of armor-piercing shells. The end result was the Athena Cannon which also had the extra ability to temporarily shield friendly units in a small radius from harm, particularly from V4 attacks.

Instead of a traditional large-caliber gun, the Athena Cannon is equipped with a satellite communication array/laser designator. The laser designator pinpoints the target and the communications array activates an orbiting solar cannon, which then decimates or damages the target. The Solar cannon does splash damage on infantry. It is weakly armored, however it can also have the solar cannon fire on itself, and use its energy to erect a shield that is impossible for the enemy to shoot through for short period of time as it dwindles slowly smaller and smaller. Enemy units however, can go into the shield and eliminate anything inside.

Assessment
=Pros=
 * Very powerful beam (2 Athenas can destroy an Apocalypse Tank in one sequence)
 * Aegis Shield can protect Athena and all friendly units within from all sorts of attacks
 * Pinpoint accuracy
 * Splash damage
 * Cheaper than Wave-force artillery

=Cons=
 * Available at tier 3 only
 * When the shield integrity falls, so does the size of the shield.
 * Can't use shields and spacecannon simultaneously
 * Enemy units can still go thorough the shield
 * Has hard time targeting moving units since laser beam focuses on one target only
 * Costlier that V4 Rocket launcher

Game unit
First use of the Athena Cannon was granted to the Allied Commander after his base was decimated by the Imperial Psionic Decimator in Tokyo, during the attempt to take the Empire out of the war for good. Two were chrono-teleported in after the Allied commander successfully executed a flanking maneuver by chronoshifting his MCV and setting up a base to the rear of the Imperial forces. The Athena Cannon was used in all subsequent missions thereafter.

Notes from the Field
The Athena Cannon is a versatile artillery-type vehicle that utilizes Allied satellites to bombard its target. They have the Aegis Shield ability which protects nearby friendly units for up to 2,000 damage. The longer the shield is active, the smaller the area of protection gets. The shield is useful for defense from air attacks, but the unit cannot fire during the time the shield is active. Athena Cannons can target through walls, making them a ruthless weapon for destroying power plants, or other base defenses protected behind walls.

Depending on the distance between the Athena and the target, it only takes mere seconds to lock on the target and destroy it. The Athena will also do its best to hit moving targets, but will only do small amounts of damage to moving targets...as the beam is stationary as it fires. One trick is to make the Athena fire on a spot on the ground that an expected group of enemy units will be occupying when the satellite beam fires. This takes good timing, but the beam causes "splash" damage and can take valuable health off of groups of units that would otherwise be harmful for your units or base defenses.

In groups of 5+, Athena Cannons can destroy any building, super weapon, or powerful unit in one strike before the opposition has a chance to react. Very useful tactic when attempting to make a quick run at an enemy Construction Yard, or superweapons.

Trivia
The Athena Cannon's proton beam appears similar to the original Ion Cannon from Command and Conquer: Tiberium Dawn and from the Particle Cannon from Command & Conquer: Generals, for they both have the "giant laser from orbit" visual effect. The vehicle itself may be designed after the Swedish BV-206.

The Athena Cannon's quotes are very similar to a telephone operator's, saying things such as "Your call is very important to us."

The Athena Cannon's method of attack is suspiciously similar to that of C&C Tiberium Twilight's Zone Captain, who also spots (with a similar targeting method) for a space-based laser. The weapon also deals blast damage, ideal for destroying buildings.

It is said that Athenas can have the orbital laser fire on itself to generate the Aegis Shield. However, if two Athenas get to fight one another, no shield would be generated. This is probably because the laser is not fired on the Athena's back, where the shield generator is.