Obelisk of Light (Tiberian Dawn)

"Tall, ominous towers of doom. Does wonders for morale"

- Anonymous GDI soldier, describing the structure

The Obelisk of Light is a shining example of military applications of LASER technology, appearing in all Tiberium Universe games.

Overview
Born out of the need for a powerful defensive mechanism for Brotherhood military bases, the Obelisk is quite possibly the most powerful laser weapon in recorded history, result of Project Obelisk WDTA2411 5. It's mode of operation remained basically the same throughout the wars - massive capacitors underneath the structure amass power, which is then used to create a powerful laser beam, directed against enemies via a system of advanced optical and focusing systems. Obviously, it requires massive amounts of power to function. During this period, the Obelisk of light was a sloped back obelisk that ended in a large focusing crystal that projected the laser. It was under complete computer control, with humans only needed to oversee that it worked properly.

An interesting offshot of Nod research was the development of portable Obelisk modules, codenamed Firefly and Tarantula respectively, which utilized a similiar technology, though much less powerful. These weapons never made it outside limited field testing and did not have a major effect on the resolution of the conflict.

Deployments
Obelisks were always a prominent part of Nod bases, especially around important Nod structures. For example, the bases defending Sarajavo featured nearly a half dozen of these powerful base defenses, including one that was specifically assigned to defend the Temple of Nod itself.

After the war, the Forgotten seem to have acquired a single Obelisk of this type and used it to defend their main headquarters in the Second Tiberium War.

In-game
This powerful emplacement suffers from a severe lack of armour plating, making delicate internal mechanisms vulnerable to damage and outright destruction. Its not a major drawback, however, since very few enemies are able to fire at it from outside its effective range.

The laser beam is powerful enough to reduce a human target or light vehicle, such as a Humvee, to ash instantly, and do serious damage to heavier vehicles. Furthermore, its long range allows it to engage enemy targets before they can retaliate; an Obelisk of Light has longer range than any GDI unit.