Scientific Laboratory

328 (Elite)

438 (Heroic)

Nuclear Tanks

## Introduction

The **Scientific Laboratory** is General Huang Lin Bao's superweapon. It is a seemingly innocent makeshift smelting factory which is connected to a satellite weapon that uses the power of the sun to burn enemies down. The weapon is known as the Atmospheric Lens.

## Overview

Once, Bao went to an annual military exercise between the USA and China. He was very impressed by the fact that the USA had a very precise Particle Cannon to take down high value targets with precision guided strikes without causing mass collateral damage like Chinese Nuclear Missiles. Hence, he decided to create a superweapon similar to the USA counterpart but with his own twist and without blindly copying the Particle Cannon. During his days researching about past weapon concepts conceived by Germany during the Third Reich, the one weapon that fascinated him the most is the sonnengewehr (Sun Gun), the ability to weaponize the largest source of fire in his world—the Sun, which never came to fruition due to technological limitations. Thanks to recent advancements in Chinese satellite tech, General Bao decided to develop it and make the super weapon a reality.

The Scientific Laboratory is a building shaped like a smelting factory. But in fact, it is a hybrid flammable chemicals laboratory and satellite weapon relay. The satellite connected to the building is a giant telescope-shaped and hollow satellite like the Hubble Telescope with two convex lenses to focus the sunlight into an area. When not in use, the "iris" is closed. When it is ready to use, the "iris" will open and allow sunlight to enter through it and focus a beam of hot sunlight towards a target. The satellite works closely with the building's radar to automatically pursuit any remaining enemy victims when the first unit is destroyed.

The laboratory produces a classified thermobaric mixture to increase the damage of all flame-based shells and missiles. It also upgrades vehicles with nuclear-powered engines to increase their speed.

The Superweapon is best described as China's 100% Original Particle Cannon/Orbital Weapons Platform directly from a satellite. It has slightly more area of effect and significantly longer lasting than the USA counterpart and can move into targets automatically. Hence, the general can just sit back and watch the sun ray doing its job without having to control its path. However, keep in mind that since this superweapon uses the heat ray from the sun which means a lot of heat energy is lost as the ray moves from the sun to the satellite and to the target, its firepower is half of the Particle Cannon's. The path cannot be adjusted manually so it might not be as successful in opening a hole on the enemy base's defense lines.

## General Tips and Strategies

* Super weapons in general are quite power hungry and expensive to build. In some circumstances (such as limited funds) it may be more beneficial to spend credits on other buildings or units. Thus, one should also build a superweapon only when it is safe to do so. Building one in the wrong circumstances (such as insufficient funds or low power) can be costly.
* Unlike the Particle Uplink Cannon, the Atmospheric Lens' targeting is completely automated. Therefore the only target it's guaranteed to hit is the first target. After that was destroyed, it will move on to the next VISIBLE enemy target, thus stealth plays a notable advantage against this super weapon.
* The Atmospheric Lens' damage per second may be notably lower than the Particle Uplink Cannon's, but it makes up for that with its exceptionally long duration. It's one of the few super weapons in *Contra* that can destroy another super weapon with a single strike.
* If the Atmospheric Lens is targeting a large, durable structure, send a worker to repair it. It will likely not prevent the destruction of the building, but can delay the process and cause the Lens to waste some of its charged up energy, thus making it inflict less damage to your base.
* All players will be notified of the construction and activation of a superweapon via Lin Zhong's announcement, and every player can see the countdown of a superweapon and exactly where the superweapon is located.
* Place superweapons preferably at the back of the base, so enemy units will have to fight through your defenses and units to reach it.
* It's advised to guard a super weapon with units, security systems, mines and stealth detectors. Especially against certain GLA generals who can send in Saboteurs and reset the timer or use Sneak Attack to send units directly into your base and destroy the super weapon.
* The best way to counter a superweapon is to simply prevent your opponent from building one in the first place:
	+ Disrupt the enemy's economy.
	+ Destroy the enemy's technology access building (Strategy Center, Propaganda Center, Palace).
	+ Manage your units and structures properly, prevent your enemy from gaining too much experience and rank up by destroying your assets.
* If you are unable to destroy a super weapon in time, the best you can do is to delay its firing. Either use Saboteurs to reset the countdown, or destroy as many power plants as you can to shut down the entire enemy base (this will also provide you with an opening for attack).
* When playing against the A.I., the super weapon will usually target your highest value targets, such as important structures or clustered units. The best one can do as any faction is to order all units away, averting extreme loss.

## Upgrades

**Thermobaric Mixtures**: +25% damage to all incendiary shells and missiles.

**Nuclear Tanks**: Increases the speed of tanks by 25%.

## Assessment

Pros:

* Effective against everything on the ground.
* Moves to the next enemy targets by itself.
* Leaves a trail of fire which will damage anything crossing it.
* Lasts far longer than the Particle Cannon.
* Highly destructive, can destroy a Command Center or another super weapon in one strike.
* Thermobaric Mixtures and Nuclear Tanks upgrades benefit most units.

Cons:

* Very expensive ($5,000).
* Power hungry (10 points).
* Long reload time.
* Low damage per second.
* The player has no control over its targeting. Thus it can be lured away from the enemy base with a mobile unit.
* Slow ray movement.

## Trivia

* This superweapon is based on the Sun Gun project proposed by German scientist to the Wehrmacht's Artillery Corps during World War II which also has the same working principle as in *Contra*, but was eventually scrapped upon Germany's defeat.
* The Scientific Lab is considered to be a Particle Cannon by the A.I. This is reflected in Challenge mode by the opponent general's reaction when it is built.