AT-414 Refractor

 was an Assault Tank used by the Global Defense Initiative by the time of the Fourth Tiberium War.

History
Unlike certain other GDI designs, the Refractor possessed no ancestral vehicle and was actually a completely new design that came into development after the Third Tiberium War. This came after a desire to combat one common element on the battlefield; the presence of beam weapons that the Brotherhood of Nod had gradually improved upon since the First Tiberium War. With the introduction of the Crawler on the field, GDI Central Command sought to produce a vehicle that would complement the mobile construction platforms. Thus, they began attempts at making a potent escort for the Crawler which gradually developed into the Refractor by the year 2073. These vehicles were designed to aid Crawler operations by providing a fast movable platforms capable of fighting against enemy beam weaponry whilst at the same time, not being burdened by heavy armor.

However, the design was not tested when it was fielded in the aftermath of the Battle of Gerlach Flats. At the time, a group of Orcas were brought down by a dust storm after assault a Brotherhood base. Stranded, the pilots were trapped in the sands and nearly by an Obelisk of Light that was aiming for their position. At that point, the AT-414 Refractor came onto the battlefield where the prototypes were being field tested and the vehicles were placed around the half buried Orca's thus serving as a shield from the Obelisk. This allowed Engineers to be deployed and extract the stranded pilots. As the sand storm died down, the GDI position was seen by the Obelisks whilst the extraction process was occuring. At this point, the Obelisk fired its feared laser beam but it simply bounced back as a result of the Refractor's shield and destroyed the Obelisk platform. With the emplacement destroyed, the AT-414 continued its advantage and dropped its front shields and attacked with its heavy ion cannon thus decimating the Nod base. Not only was it a victory against the Brotherhood but the actions of the Refractor saved a group of GDI pilots as well.

Since its successful first operation, the Refractor had become the premier vehicle to assault fortified Brotherhood positions and was often seen alongside Mammoth Tanks as well as Mastodon's. In addition to serving in an assault element, they continued their intended purpose of protecting GDI Crawlers. GDI engineers had attempted to replicate the shield process of the Refractor onto smaller vehicles but the weight of the fron shields were incapable of being fielded onto a smaller platform due to the added weight. This has led to the AT-414 serving a special place within the Global Defense Initiative's arsenal.

Background
The Refractor was a tracked vehicle that served in GDI's Offense Class and was a heavy tank that role was anti-heavy operations. Due to the unique requirement of its operation, the AT-414 was built on the chasis of a Mammoth Tank in order to support its movement. Its primary and only armament was a heavy ion cannon with a high yield that was capable of destroying large targets. This allowed the weapon platform to deal with non-reinforced enemy structures as well as enemy Crawlers. As such, the vehicle was suited for assault operations though this was not its primary purpose.

Instead, the aim of the AT-414 was more defensive minded with the use of a forward placed reflective shield. These weapons that were a product of GDI engineering consisted of layers of different materials. The first layer was a crystal-lattice which was formed by an electromagnetic field which allowed solid projectiles to pass through it without damaging the shield. As a result, this allowed solid weapons to pass through the crystalline layer which was reformed by the electromagnetic energy field. The second layer was a honey-combed alloy of heavy armor that was built to withstand kinetic force as well as heat based weapons. This partof the shield meant that kinetic weaponry simply bounced harmless off the heavy layer of armor. The third and final part of the forward shield was a plate of 18-inch thick metal composite which absorbed any remaining fire that the first two layers did not handle.

Whilst the front shield was up, the Refractor was unable to fire its heavy ion cannon. However, after it redirected energy attacks back at their source, the shield was capable of lowered and allowing the tank to make use of its primary armament to finish off the wounded enemy vehicle. GDI engineers were also able to upgrade the shield plate and outfit it with a Mirror Coating. This made use of a layer of plasma which worked in conjunction with the electromagnetic field to redirect energy weapon fire at multiple targets. However, the cost of the coasting required additional capacitators as well as a great deal of energy to be effective.