Function: Littoral and River Warfare Transformation: Motor Torpedo Gunboat
Profile: Autobot outposts along the rivers and coasts of various worlds aren’t safe when Riptide is on patrol. These environments are this stealthy Decepticon’s specialty, and she carries out her duties silently and to the fullest extent to her abilities. Her favorite and most effective tactic is to cruise silently as close to her target as she can, unleash the full onslaught of her arsenal, and then speed away before a counterattack can be mounted. These hit and run tactics often serve to unsettle the defenders, even if they don’t cause a great deal of damage, making it easier for the main force to overrun the position. For Riptide, attacking targets in or near shallow water is easy – it’s deep water she has problems with. She’s has an innate fear of deep water and will rarely enter any body where she can’t see the bottom. She’ll only enter such areas when she has no other choice, and even then it’s at full throttle. Despite a battery of tests, diagnostics, and research into her history, no one’s been able to determine the cause of this phobia. This fear only seems to abate when she’s paired up with a Decepticon who specializes in deep water operations, but only slightly. In fact, in such cases, her nervousness seems to refocus on the question of whether or not her partner will abandon her – not an unreasonable fear, give the less than altruistic motives of the average Decepticon. The only Decepticon who she seems to trust implicitly – or at least more than most – is her teammate Sea Wolf, who is also one of the few she gets along with outside of a combat setting, despite his perceived habits.
Abilities: In boat mode, Riptide is one of the fastest Transformers on the water, capable of reaching speeds of up to 40 knots in a straight path. Highly maneuverable, she can make extremely tight turns at high speed, making her a difficult and unpredictable opponent. Her hull draws less than three feet, allowing her to move in closer to shore and further up rivers that her comrades with larger water-going modes. The hull is also constructed out of a material that absorbs most sensor transmissions, reducing her return signature significantly. Her engines are equipped with special mufflers that reduce their ambient noise level when idle, helping her mask her position and listen for any enemies that might be nearby. For her size, she’s one of the most heavily armed Decepticons out there, making her just as capable of attack as she is at evasion. She’s equipped with a pair of dirge cannons on the bow of her hull in ship mode and on her back in robot mode that can blow a hole in the hull of a medium sized dreadnaught. The sides of her boat cabin and arms of her robot mode are outfitted with disruptor rifles that can punch through thin armor like it was paper and scramble the internal electronics of an opponent. She can carry up to four mini-torpedoes, two under each of the stabilizer fins on her hull, specially designed to operate in shallow water and against shallow hulled vessels. She can also deploy a payload of underwater mines in her wake; these mines are triggered when an unfamiliar spark signature passes them. In robot mode, she can operate at depths of up to 1500 meters and is surprisingly agile in this environment.
Weakness: Riptide’s fear of deep water is so entrenched that there is often very little anyone can do to coax her out of the shallows. Having Sea Wolf or another submariner around can help, but even then she’ll want to get back to element as fast as possible. She carries very little armor on her superstructure, especially along her hull. This is a weight saving measure that allows her to achieve her incredible speed, but it makes her vulnerable to even medium arms fire. She also has to be careful about turning while at high speed; if she turns too fast and too tightly she can capsize, exposing the unprotected underside of her hull. She can offset this vulnerability by deploying a set of stabilizing fins, but too much stress can cause even these to break.
Riptide's recent battles
MISSION HISTORY
Riptide does not currently have any mission logs available.
ARENA HISTORY
Riptide does not currently have any arena logs available.
[ Incoming message. Source unknown. ]
[ Click to attempt signal recovery... ]
> COMM LINK: ONLINE
> SIGNAL SOURCE: MOON BASE ONE (DARK SIDE)
> ENCRYPTION: AUTOBOT CYBER-LEVEL 4
> TRANSMISSION TYPE: AUDIO-VISUAL
> STATUS: STABLE ☑
> PLAYBACK BEGINNING...
> DECRYPTION KEY: 5 ROBOT POINTS
> MESSAGE: "IT'S THE END OF THE WORLD AS WE KNOW IT..."
> RESPONSE: "...AND I FEEL FINE."
[ Click to attempt signal recovery... ]
