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Cyclonic Torpedoes are a category of Torpedo utilized by the Imperium for orbital bombardment of a planet once Exterminatus has been invoked. A wide variety of weapons fit the definition of cyclonic torpedoes, and employ varying means of scouring the world's surface, from nucleonic fire to raw plasma.[1] Whatever their method of destruction, the effect of cyclonic torpedoes is the same: the complete destruction of all life on the planet, its atmosphere burned away in a storm of fire and its oceans boiled to vapour, leaving it a barren rock.[2]
The only factions within the Imperium known to have these weapons are the Inquisition and Astartes, though the Inquisition is the only power with the authority to order an Exterimatus.[Needs Citation]
Two-stage torpedoes are a more exotic version of the cyclonic torpedo. Though the warhead is still the same, the delivery system is radically different. Instead of exploding on impact, this device will burrow though a planet's surface with a Melta charge, and detonate at the core. This will destabilize a planet, and will shatter that world in many cases. They are used against worlds that are devoid of atmosphere or biological life, such as Necron Tomb worlds.[Needs Citation]
Sources
- 1: Tactica Imperialis, pg. 66
- 1: Nightbringer (Novel) by Graham McNeill, Chapter Sixteen, pg. 280
