XV104 Riptide Battlesuit - Armament: XV104 Riptide Battlesuits strike a perfect balance between offensive capability, armoured protection, manoeuvrability, and utility. They are towering in size; easily many times the size of the Fire Warrior who wears it. To many T'au, they are the epitome of Earth Caste engineering, ingenuity and technology. XV104s go into battle heavily armed with potent weapon systems and combat support systems that allow them to fight more effectively.However, no matter the battlesuit configuration or weapons load-out, all XV104 Riptide Battlesuits share some common features. These include the advanced sensors built into the primary sensor cluster that serves as the battlesuit's "head." These sensors, which consist of a number of variable spectrum passive sensors and active scanners, allow the Battlesuit to detect hidden enemy units and their movement; this tactical data can then be transmitted back to T'au command units.All XV104 Riptide Battlesuits are also equipped with a Blacksun Filter, which is an advanced optical system that enhances and magnifies a warrior's low-light vision whilst simultaneously filtering bright flares of light that could blind him in battle, and a Multi-Tracker; a sophisticated fire control system that is mounted in a sensor node that assists Battlesuit pilots in engaging enemy threats by using multiple armaments at once, making them formidable opponents in a wide variety of battle conditions.As with all T'au Battlesuits, XV104s are protected by a very thick, dense nano-crystalline alloy armour named Fio'tak in the T'au Lexicon. This advanced alloy has an impact and energy resistant structure that is also sealed against assaults by toxins and corrosives, making it extremely resilient in the face of combat damage. Even the armour's shape helps deflect solid projectiles, while a reflective liquid metal coating is effective at reflecting medium-grade laser fire.Due to the Riptide's large size and significant potential as a target, additional nano-layers were also added during its development to upgrade the armour's thickness. When it comes to deflecting and withstanding damage, the XV104's armour is comparable to the Tactical Dreadnought Armour used by the Imperium's Terminator Space Marines. The material is also lightweight, which keeps the Battlesuit’s own weight down and reinforces its ground-based manoeuvrability. This reduced weight allows the XV104 to operate effectively using the T'au Jetpack that juts out of its shoulderblades, to provide enhanced mobility.By firing off the jets to slow a descent, an XV104 Crisis Battlesuit can even drop into combat zones from transport aircraft like the Manta. The Jetpack, which is another common feature of most T'au Battlesuits, combines anti-gravitic and repulsor aero-jet technology to make the Battlesuit extremely agile for its size. Its powerful thrusters allow an XV104 to vault battlefield obstacles and to make bounding leaps to gain advantageous firing positions, or to avoid incoming shots.All XV104 Riptide Battlesuits also greatly augment the natural physical strength of its pilot, and grant the warrior within the Battlesuit the ability to crush even heavily armoured vehicles in close combat, if necessary. XV104 Battlesuits also feature retractable fingers built into their forearms for use in more delicate -- and often non-combat -- tasks. The Riptide is outfitted with a sophisticated Artificial Intelligence (AI) system, complete with advanced combat systems and numerous comm-links to keep the pilot patched in to its Cadre's T'au Commander.All XV104 Riptide Battlesuits feature a single arm-mounted primary weapon system, a sleek Riptide Shield Generator on its other arm, and a secondary weapon system. All T'au Battlesuit weapon systems are fully integrated and supplied by continuous, high yield power relays and ammunition hoppers. XV104 Riptide Battlesuits are also designed with advanced recoil absorption technology, meaning that they can fire their weapons at maximum capacity and with maximum accuracy, even when on the move.XV104 Riptide Battlesuits can also be equipped with up to two different T'au Battlesuit Support systems, which are listed below. The XV104 primary weapon can be either of the following:Heavy Burst Cannon – A Heavy Burst Cannon makes use of Burst Weapon technology that finds use across the T'au military, though it is more often found mounted on T'au Battlesuits and vehicles. Utilising a similar plasma induction technology as that found in T'au Pulse Weapons, Heavy Burst Cannons are immense, 6-barrelled weapons that are far larger than a normal Burst Cannon. They are able to sustain devastatingly higher rates of fire than their smaller cousins with more power per shot, and can be nova-charged to further increase the rate of fire and give the weapon a variable armour penetration effect.Ion Accelerator – Ion Accelerators fire high-energy streams of charged particles that react destructively with their target, vaporising flesh and metal with equal ease. As with all T'au Ion Weapons, Ion Accelerators can be overcharged to generate a more devastating blast that affects a wide area, by allowing its Mor'tonium power source to be exposed to the air. However, doing so makes the weapon run the risk of overheating its primary power cells. An Ion Accelerator can also be nova-charged by the Riptide’s Nova Reactor to produce an even more devastatingly wide blast that can destroy virtually anything but the most heavily armoured of vehicles and bunkers.All XV104 Riptide Battlesuits have one of the following secondary weapon systems, which can be mounted either underneath a Heavy Burst Cannon, on top of the Battlesuit’s shoulder blades, or on the sides of the Battlesuit’s forearms:Twin-linked Smart Missile Systems – Smart Missile Systems are weapon systems that fire off barrages of guided missiles at any target within sensor range, including those targets in cover or hidden out of sight. They are most effective when used against stubborn enemy infantry hunkered down in cover.Twin-linked Fusion Blasters – Fusion Blasters are anti-tank Melta Weapons that can reduce the reinforced armour of heavily armoured vehicles and bunkers to molten slag in a blink of an eye.Twin-linked Plasma Rifles – Plasma Weapons technology is used by many xenos races. Despite its highly unstable nature, the T'au favour a form of plasma technology in their Plasma Rifles that forgoes stopping power for an increased level of safety for the operator. Plasma Rifles are weapons best employed against heavily armoured infantry and light vehicles.Riptide Shield Generators are part of the standard armament of all XV104 Riptides, and are specifically designed to protect such large constructs. Within a Riptide's ablative armour is housed a small energy field projector capable of generating cohesive gravitic energy fields around the Battlesuit that can deflect weapons fire and melee blows that would otherwise severely damage the Battlesuit, whether they be shots from heavy ordnance or anti-tank weapons fire. The shield’s potency can be further boosted by diverting power from the XV104’s Nova Reactor.The experimental Dark Matter Nova Reactor prototype itself is an essential component of the XV104 Riptide's design. Once the XV104 pilot deems it necessary, the reactor can be activated to supply near limitless amounts of energy.The resulting energies unleashed can be harnessed to either nova-charge the Riptide's primary weapon system so it becomes truly devastating, boost the Riptide's Jetpack so that it can propel itself over large distances with immense thrust power, ripple fire its secondary weapon systems at a rate of fire roughly double what would otherwise be possible, or nova-charge the Riptide Shield Generator to make it an all but impenetrable energy field that deflects virtually all incoming fire.When viewed from the front, an XV104 Riptide's Nova Reactor can be seen as the larger box on the left side of the torso, whilst the standard and more reliable fusion reactor normally used by the battlesuit is on the right.Due to the experimental nature of the XV104 Riptide Battlesuit, it is often supported by a pair of prototype Shielded Missile Drones, which are a new T'au Drone configuration equipped with a Missile Pod and Shield Generator.These drones will often provide additional heavy fire support, and use their cohesive energy fields to absorb incoming shots, allowing the Riptide to acquire and destroy enemy targets with less fear of enemy fire.