Editing Plasma (section)

=== Ar'Ka Cannon ===
[[File:Ar'Ka_cannon.jpg|200px|right|thumb|Ar'Ka Cannon]]

So far only featured in ''Soulstorm''. The largest known Tau weapon built on a planetary surface. The Ar'Ka Cannon was the one-of-a-kind brainchild of [[Commander Or'es'Ka|Shas'O Or'es'Ka]], and the centrepiece of his WMD-based combat doctrine used in the [[Kaurava System]].

It was built in Orridune, one of Kaurava II's moons, at the heart of the stronghold of Nan Yanoi ("Sword Moon" in blueberry moonspeak, as they intended to rename the entire moon in honour of the cannon). From there, it could strike at any inhabitable place in the system.

It worked by firing a high-density ion beam that was tuned to only melt the brains of advanced lifeforms, leaving its target's infrastructure and plantlife intact, and free for the taking. That would be good enough for systemwide defence and for risk-free looting of more advanced Xenos' stuff, but there's more than that. The Ar'Ka Cannon acted as the heart of the Ar'Ka System, a satellite array of smaller versions of the weapon that could quickly slaughter any sieging force from orbit.

Nan Yanoi should've been unassailable. Unfortunately, it had a few issues that proved lethal:

1.: The base was unfinished. Despite the Earth Caste's best efforts, Nan Yanoi had serious gaps in its defences, which were hastily plugged in with Tau infantry, Kroot and drone squads. If they couldn't hold the line, there was nothing that could stop enemies from pouring into the stronghold itself.

2. ''[[Derp|The entirety of the Ar'Ka System could be hijacked]]'' if the control terminal in front of the Ar'Ka Cannon was captured by non-Tau, and it's so user-friendly that [[Fail|even an Ork could turn their]] "unassailable" defences [[EPIC FAIL|against their creators]]. This perfectly shows Or'es'Ka's infamous hubris, as he never imagined that enemies could reach the cannon and placed little to no defences around its immediate area (a couple of barracks, Fire Warrior teams and a squad of XV88s won't be enough to hold such an important location against a tide of enemy forces. They will hurt a lot before they go down, though).

3. The Ethereal Aun'Ro'Yr was inspecting the base around the time it was attacked. His death left the Tau so demoralized they promptly retreated from the system, [[FAIL|leaving the cannon and what remained of its array behind.]]

4. They built Nan Yanoi above [[Gorgutz 'Ead 'Unter]]'s stronghold, [[RAGE|pissing off the Warboss]] (If you play as him, [[Lulz|you can reach Nan Yanoi in only 2 turns]]). No base, no matter how well-built or prepared, will be able to resist [[Rape|the full brunt of an angered WAAGH!]], much less so an incomplete one like Nan Yanoi.

As canonically Gorgutz won the Kaurava conflict and abandoned the system afterwards, the Cannon was either looted by the Orks for his WAAGH! or lies abandoned in Nan Yanoi's ruins, surrounded by the star-bleached bones of Aun'Ro'Yr and his escorts and the Ethereal's skull adorning the Warboss' armor. And if it's the first case, the cannon will probably [[Awesome|fire much faster now]] due to Ork beliefs and its red colors.