Omega Cannon

The Death Star is a joke! I am the real deal!

383 (Elite)

511 (Heroic)

1148 (Heroic)

## Introduction

The **Omega Cannon** is the US Laser General Townes' super unit in Command & Conquer Generals Zero Hour: Contra. The Omega Cannon is a mobile particle cannon that can shoot either a plasma beam (deals more damage but loses in range) or a plasma blast (longer range but less damage). It is very effective against ground targets.

## Overview

The Omega Cannon is a heavy tank with composite armor and armed with a modified particle cannon blaster that is light enough to be fitted on it. Its weapon can fire a burst of charged particle energy projectiles that can reach a very far target every few seconds with area damage or a continuous particle beam that burns anything else on a single target from an even longer distance. The tank has advanced digital targeting micro-cameras to quickly aim at a target from a giant superweapon structure to a small infantryman. However, like Townes' units, the tank is radio-controlled from the base (although the driver might act as an engineer to check the tank's condition). Should the main base's power go offline, the tank will be "disabled", therefore it is not controllable until the power is restored.

The Omega Cannon fills a role similar to General Bao's Zhu Rong: a super siege unit, the Omega Cannon's durability is very impressive and can absorb considerable amounts of punishment. Its powerful particle cannon and long firing range can also quickly and accurately eliminate ground targets before they can even get into firing range to attack the Omega Cannon.

Compared to the Zhu Rong, the Omega Cannon is less vulnerable to rush attacks, thanks to its secondary beam firing mode, which drastically increased the cannon's damage per second at the cost of firing range. This, combined with the Omega Cannon's outstanding durability, makes it possible to use it as both a breakthrough tank and a siege unit.

However, the Omega Cannon has several weaknesses that are shared with its diabolic Chinese counterpart.

Firstly, both the Zhu Rong and the Omega Cannon are heavily armored giant siege engines, meaning that no engine in the world can make them come remotely close to the term "fast". While the Zhu Rong can be made less sluggish with the Nuclear Tanks upgrade, the Omega Cannon can do nothing about it.

Secondly, neither the Zhu Rong nor the Omega Cannon can deal with enemy aircraft at stock, the former requiring the Vortex Cannon upgrade while the latter require the Stinger Drone upgrade. Compared to the Vortex Cannon add-on, the Stinger Drone is less expensive, but can only target airborne units and can be shot down by AA fire. Even so, neither of the two are fast & powerful enough to deal with enemy attack jets. Therefore, when dealing with enemies that possess air power, it's strongly recommended to escort the Omega Cannon with Avengers, as they can not only cut down enemy aircraft with their pinpoint accurate laser cannons but also shoot down enemy rockets fired at the Omega Cannon, increasing its survivability even further.

Last, but not least is a weakness unique to itself, the Omega Cannon's primary weapon is a LOT more power-hungry than Zhu Rong's thermobaric siege mortar, it's so power-hungry that it needs to tap into General Townes' base power network just to remain active. At stock, the Omega consumes 6 points of power, but with the Solar Panel upgrades it can be reduced to 3. But being the only super unit in Contra that consumes power, the Omega Cannon is very vulnerable to infiltration. Should a GLA Saboteur manage to sneak into one of General Townes' power plants and deactivate the power grid, the Omega Cannon will be powered down and left defenseless.

## Assessment

Pros:

* Fairly durable.
* Reasonably fast.
* Particle cannon is extremely powerful.
* Has a very long firing range, even for a super unit.
* Can easily obliterate any ground targets in seconds.
* Can equip itself with drones to increase combat effectiveness.
* The Plasma Beam firing mode allows it to fend off attackers quite easily, unlike most other artillery units.
* Unusually cheap (5500$).
* Being a super unit, it cannot be depiloted or hijacked.

Cons:

* Long creation time.
* Power-hungry (6pts).
* Will be deactivated if the player controlling it suffers from low power.
* Helpless against aircraft without the Stinger Drone, therefore it needs to be escorted by AA units such as Avengers when taking on enemies with air power.

## Quotes

### When Selected

* Mobile particle cannon.
* Send me on a mission.
* Where is their hideout?
* All systems operational.
* It's a whole new age of warfare.
* I have enough... capacitors.
* This power is... mesmerizing, isn't it?
* Point me anywhere you want.
* Ready to begin.
* Lasers charged to extreme.
* Laser technology... is supreme.
* I am the real Goldeneye!
* The Death Star is a joke, I am the real deal!

### When Ordered to Move

* Relocating.
* Let's get it done.
* A good path to follow.
* Acknowledged.
* This is the way, I see...
* Whoever gets in the way... will be erased!
* Today is our day!
* Destination accepted.
* Understood, General.
* No disintegration, they say? \*laughs\* Screw you, Darth Vader!

### When Switching Firing Modes

* Switching to Plasma Beam.
* Switching to Plasma Blast.

### When Ordered to Attack

* I have them in my sights.
* Precision attack commencing.
* Like a hot knife through butter.
* I will turn their armor into... vapor!
* Weapons are hot.
* Unleashing laser power.
* Let us show them what real energy is!
* Look at the light. Don't be afraid!
* Target is painted.
* Tagged for annihilation.
* Look, they became nothing!
* Like they never existed...
* You are pinpointed!
* Do you like my big cannon?
* Go back to Stone Age!

## Trivia

* Omega (Ω) is the last letter of the Greek alphabet.
* "Go back to Stone Age!" is a double reference to both the game *Age of Empires 2* and the movie *James Bond: Goldeneye*.
* Omega Cannon makes a few references to *Star Wars* in its quotes.
* Originally, the Omega Cannon was known as the Annihilator instead and had a notably different design.

## See Also

* **Annihilator**—Stationary base defence version of the Omega Cannon.

## Gallery

The Omega Cannon's predecessor, the Annihilator.