Gaiaterra: Elysea's Conflict/Riptide ACV

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The Riptide ACV is the of the Andoran Republic. Planned to be voiced by.

History
"CALM DOWN OR WE WILL CALM YOU DOWN!"

-Non-regulation graffiti found on a Riptide operating in Saudi Arabia

When the first Riptide ACVs barrelled full-speed out the warehouse doors of Kaario Hovercraft Company, nobody knew what to make of the strange machines. Part general purpose vehicle, part APC, part light combat platform, the ground effects vehicles glided effortlessly over ground and water, their turbine engines purring contently as they outraced the competition to replace the aging Retriever APC. Faster, sleeker, more flexible, and altogether more representative of the new age of the Andoran forces, the Riptide is an instantly recognizable vehicle that has come to sum up the Andoran war effort; swift, sophisticated, and more than a little strange.

Invented by Finnish scientist Toivo J. Kaario in 1931, the early hovercraft would have amounted to nothing had its unveiling not been witnessed by a German military officer, and later famed WW2 hero Erwin Rommel. When the militant Restoration Party took power in Germany in 1933, Rommel wrote a letter to Chancellor Hess espousing the values of the hovercraft and its potential as a locomotive engine for military machines, and he humbly requested a grant be made to fund Kaario's work. Eagerly hoping to circumvent treaty restrictions preventing the development of such machines, the German government gave a massive grant to Kaario, which allowed him to fund his work, creating the world's first effective military hovercraft, the Kaario Omni-Lander, for Allied service in 1946. When Finland was overrun by Russian forces, they captured the Lander design and duplicated it, and after the war ended Kaario landers and their knock-offs were the most common amphibious vehicles in existence.

Kaario's company continued after his untimely death, and the Riptide was built as a police vehicle based on his exacting standards in 1963. It was almost immediately taken up by the Andoran forces due to its sheer usefulness and is now widely deployed in Andoranforces. "It has become", wrote journalist James Reston in 1968, "the new Ranger. It is only a matter of time before the Riptide hovercraft hits the public market."

Entering the war immediately, thousands of Riptides were deployed and variants of the design have seen almost every role that can be imagined. The primary variation, the D-Class Combat Riptides, carried squads of soldiers in an armored compartment while supporting them with a heavy machine gun, though compared to similar APCs their passenger capacity is smaller, rivaling the Coalitions Astarte transport.

The D1s were rushed into combat and were typically armed with Browning .50 caliber heavy machine guns taken from decommissioned Retriever APCs, while the D2s were equipped with British manufactured "Brushclearer" 20mm miniguns, which were faster firing but lacked the stopping power of the D1. In addition, a special launcher on the D2 allowed torpedoes to be launched into combat while over water, allowing Riptides to clear obstructions while moving in for an amphibious assault. This hidden weapon proved surprisingly deadly, leading to ad hoc formations of D2 Riptides being refitted with dedicated naval torpedoes and used to surprising effectiveness as aquatic raiders. While the new D3 Riptide models have been equipped with MX-19 .50 cal gatling guns and tear gas grenade launchers that slow and disorient enemy infantry, which do a far better job of keeping the heads of the enemy down while troops are disembarking than the previous designs.

On land, Riptides proved themselves worth successors to both the Retriever APC and the Ranger Scout Car, engaging Voshkod infantry and the hated Sickle patrols in hundreds of skirmishes while carrying the Andoran divisions into the heart of combat. Their armor and bulletproof cushions provided more than enough protection, the Riptide would lead the charge, and (unsurprisingly) proved to be effective over all terrain. At Normandy they led the amphibious assault on Fortress Europe, speeding onto the shores ahead of the Assault Destroyers and Landers and bouncing Voshkod defenders from their clifftop bunkers. In Paris they glided effortlessly down narrow streets chasing the fleeing Voshkod forces, and in Berlin they engaged the Voshkods in vicious street-to-street fighting, forcing back Sickles and Scythes to deposit infantry behind enemy positions.