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| Since the start of the Third Sphere Expansion, rumours of
| | #REDIRECT [[Battlesuit#XV104_Riptide_Battlesuit]] |
| a new, heavy class of battlesuit had spread throughout the
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| ranks of the Fire caste. There was initially no appearance of
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| this long-awaited latest prototype, but that changed during
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| the expansion's first big showdown with the Imperium of
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| Mankind on the Imperial planet of Agrellan. The human
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| armies had amassed and dug in to protect their hive world,
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| a situation that normally called for the Tau to concentrate
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| on other, less fortified worlds. However, as the gateway
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| planet to the whole of the coveted Dovar system, Agrellan
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| was a keystone no invader could afford to bypass - its orbit
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| blocked the best route through the largely impassable
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| Damocles Gulf, and so it had to be taken.
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| The Imperial defensive positions surrounding each hive were
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| fonnidable - heavy walls topped at regular intervals with
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| ferroconcrete bunkers overlooked the open wastelands. These
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| killing fields were strewn with impenetrable tank traps and
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| gravity-mines. Should the Tau force their way through these
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| perimeters, or simply airdrop within the fortified rings, they
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| would find themselves within the clausu·ophobic and twisting
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| streets of the great hive itself. There, specially prepared
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| blockades and defensive citadels awaited the unwary, with
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| infantry and armour garrisoned within to launch counterattacks.
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| It was a planet entirely given over to defending itself, its
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| whole population geared either for war, or for war production.
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| R I PT I D E S
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| To crack this formidable planet and open up the more
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| vulnerable systems beyond, Shadowsun herself planned
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| and launched the assault. Twenty Hunter Cadres would
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| simultaneously strike key hive nodes, and at the vanguard
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| of each strode the cutting edge of Earth caste weapons
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| technology, and the pinnacle of their battlesuit development
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| - the XV1 04 Riptide. At long last, the largest battlesuit
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| prototype yet created by the Earth caste was unleashed.
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| The ground assaults began, perfectly coinciding with entire
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| shoals of Sun Shark Bombers streaking overhead and
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| numerous distracting attacks launched by forward-positioned
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| Stealth and Pathfinder Teams. As the massed Hammerheads
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| and skyborne Mantas rained fire on the enemy line, the
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| Riptides at the fore came under attack. Enemy shells
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| exploded harmlessly off their armoured shells as each
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| Riptide brought its arsenal to bear upon the defenders.
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| The heavy burst cannon, the Riptide's standard main
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| armament, raked the walls, stitching patterns of death that
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| cut Guardsmen in two. Missiles, from the Riptide's secondary
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| weapon systems and from its accompanying Shielded Missile
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| Drones, blazed outwards, leaving contrails as they streaked
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| into the enemy's ranks. To the rear, those Riptides outfitted
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| with the ion accelerator showed off the range and hittingpower
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| of their prototype weapons - destroying battle tanks
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| and blowing chunks out of the reinforced bunkers.
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| Amidst the rain of incoming ordnance and the blossoming
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| of explosions, the distinctive thrumming sound of Riptides
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| overcharging their nova reactors could be heard. The very
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| air crackled with electrical pulses due to the sheer energy
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| generated by tho e indomitable power-packs. The massed
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| guns of the Imperial Guard targeted the giant battlesuits,
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| but to little avail. Near the gates of the Prime hive, a
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| battery of incoming Deaths trike missiles momentarily lit
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| the battlefield as they crashed into the Tau lines. For a long
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| moment it eemed as if both sides paused; only an XV104
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| Riptide, protected by its nova shield, emerged from the
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| flamin crater, black scorch marks marring its armour all it
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| had to how for its brush with destruction.
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| Cpon reaching the walls, the Riptides either engaged their
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| jet pac · to hurdle the impediment, or stepped through
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| the breaches made by repeated blasts from their ion
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| accelerators . With Fire Warriors advancing at their feet, the
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| tree of eyery hive on Agrellan soon ran red with blood.
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| Their defence and spirit broken, Guardsmen fled their posts
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| in a complete rout. Only the lenient surrender terms offered
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| b,- the Water caste saved an all-out massacre. Before the
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| n et, except for a few desperate pockets that would soon
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| be \\iped out, the planet belonged to the Tau , who would
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| rename the planet Mu'gulath Bay. Later, it would serve as
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| the foundation of a new sept.
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| o began the auspicious debut of the highly anticipated
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| X\'1 04 Riptide. A wonder of Earth caste engineering, it
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| tands twice as tall as the XV8 Crisis suit, but its movements
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| are more like those of its smaller cousins than the
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| mechanical stiffness displayed by Imperial walkers with their
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| crude servo-motors. While the Riptide is huge and bears a
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| number of weapon and support systems, it is still a battlesuit
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| - worn and controlled by a lone warrior.
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| Production of the Riptide has proven slow - the materials
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| for the dense nanocrystaline alloy armour are difficult to
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| obtain and the sheer volume required ensures that the
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| XV1 04 is a rare commodity. The honour of wearing such
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| a mighty battlesuit is only given to those who have nobly
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| served their Commanders as Crisis Battlesuit Bodyguards. To
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| assist its wearer, the Riptide bears a sophisticated AI system,
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| complete with a multi-tracker and numerous comm-links
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| to keep the pilot patched in to the cadre's Commander.
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| The Riptide is often supported by a pair of Shielded Missile
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| Drones, a new drone configuration, each equipped with a
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| missile pod and shield generator.
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| C O NTI N UAL DEVELO PM ENT
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| The heavy battlesuit development initiative can be traced
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| back to the massive Ork invasion of Vior'la. The Fire caste
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| had long issued requests for a heavier class of battlesuit, one
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| more capable of standing up to the increasingly powerful
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| weaponry they were facing. Although crudely designed
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| and built, the Tau could not help but be impressed with
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| the amount of firepower that the primitive Ork Stompas
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| and mountainous Gargants could produce. During the
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| battles in the Damocles Gulf, the Fire caste faced the fully
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| deployed might of the Imperium of Mankind, pitting their
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| own weaponry against super-heavy tanks and Imperial Titans
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| for the first time. For a race used to holding technical
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| superiority, the sheer power of these aliens was eye-opening.
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| The Tau way of war stresses mobility over mass attacks
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| and hit-and-run tactics over entrenched positions. A wise
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| Commander is not daunted by foes that outnumber his own
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| troops many times over, nor is he dismayed by the sheer
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| size of the crude war machines their foes might deploy.
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| Coordinated tactics, tight discipline and a well enacted
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| battle plan can overcome such minor advantages. However,
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| even Commander Puretide, the ultimate master of the
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| balanced attack, freely admitted that the creation of a
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| heavier class of battlesuits, with upgraded size and armour,
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| would better enable cadres to withstand the prodigious
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| firepower that was regularly directed at them.
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| Yet despite such worthy requests, all Earth caste attempts
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| resulted in failure. Earlier prototypes were ponderous
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| machines, not fit to enact the tactics of the Code of Fire,
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| or they subjected their wearer (or the planet on which he
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| stood) to risks beyond measure. What finally made the
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| XV1 04 possible was the nova reactor, an experimental
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| power-pack that fuses dark matter, producing energy on
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| scales closer to small stars than conventional engines.
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| Such devices have been used to empower the mighty fleets
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| of the Air caste, but until recently, could not be reduced
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| to a suitable size. Although still in the prototype stage,
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| the nova reactor has proven largely stable, despite some
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| problems in safely releasing the vast energies it produces.
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| The Riptide's higher functions can draw upon this almost
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| unlimited source of power, but not without some risk. While
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| attempting to utilise its shield, boost its jet pack or charge
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| any of its weapons, the XV1 04 Riptide can suffer dangerous
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| power vents capable of wounding or even killing its pilot.
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