Exterminatus

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#REDIRECT [[Battlefleet Gothic]]

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[[Image:Lance strike.jpg|thumb|300px|Here, the center of the Chaos corruption is obliterated by an orbital lance strike.]]

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[[Image:Ortillery.jpg|thumb|300px|Cyclonic Torpedoes are launched at the site, in order to wipe out anything tainted by Chaos.]]

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[[Image:Exterminatus.jpg|thumb|300px|Finally, a temple site is directly bombed from orbit, with enough firepower to crack the planet's crust.]]

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Within the fictional universe of ''[[Warhammer 40,000]]'', '''Exterminatus''' is the name of an order given by the [[Imperium (Warhammer 40,000)|Imperium]] to [[Planet killer|destroy a planetary biosphere]]. To the right are images depicting the planet ''[[Planets of Warhammer 40,000#Dolumar_IV|Dolumar IV]]'' undergoing an ''Exterminatus'' following a battle between the Imperium, [[Tau (Warhammer 40,000)|Tau]] and forces of [[Chaos (Warhammer)|Chaos]].

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==Overview==

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Exterminatus is typically only used as a last resort, when the price of holding or retaking the world is deemed too high, or the threat of [[mutation]] or [[heresy]] too great to contain by conventional means. Thus Exterminatus has very rarely been used on vital or valuable planets to the Imperium. Typically, the order may only be given by a high-ranking Imperial Warmaster, a member of the [[Inquisition (Warhammer 40,000)|Inquisition]] or a Space Marine Chapter.

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Exterminatus can be carried out in many different ways, as outlined below.

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==Methods==

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Note that with the exception of those listed under the section ''Other'', the rest of the entries are deployed from space.

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===Orbital Bombardment===

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'''[[Orbital bombardment]]''' is the simplest means of carrying out an Exterminatus, as it can be done solely through the conventional [[firepower]] of the [[Imperial Navy (Warhammer 40,000)|Imperial Navy]]. The power of an orbital strike can range from small precision strikes, not unlike that of modern Surface to Ground missiles, to thermonuclear blasts. Typically however, special weapons are used, designed to destroy all life on a planet's surface and potentially any entrenched in the planet's [[Crust (geology)|crust]].

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===Virus Bombs===

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'''Virus bombs''' release a special [[virus]] designed to quickly spread and destroy [[Cell (biology)|cell]] structures, reducing all planetary life into organic slime. This produces huge volumes of [[Combustion|flammable]] [[gas]]es as a [[by-product]], which is later ignited and turns the [[atmosphere]] into a [[firestorm]] that usually takes out whatever is left. Only those who may have escaped into especially-deep underground shelters can survive a Virus Bomb attack. The [[History of the Imperial Guard (Warhammer 40,000)#Tallarn Desert Raiders|Tallarn]]ian population managed to escape complete destruction this way, but the once-verdant world was forever transformed into a [[desert]]. Virus bombs are known for their extreme speed; in the fiction surrounding the [[Horus Heresy]], they completely wiped out [[Horus Heresy#Istvaan III|Istvaan III]]'s entire population of 16 billion in just minutes.

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===Cyclonic Torpedoes===

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'''Cyclonic torpedoes''' are much more immediate in action, having enough power to directly ignite a planet's atmosphere. As seen in the images to the right, the blast radius is large enough to be seen from [[outer space]].

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===Two-stage Torpedoes===

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'''Two-stage torpedoes''' are the most common of a special class of rare Exterminatus weapons, designed for use against atmosphereless or biologically-void worlds ([[Necron]] Tomb Worlds being the main example). These have two-stage [[warhead]]s: The first stage is a [[Weapons and Equipment of the Imperium (Warhammer 40,000)#Melta Weapons|melta charge]] that bores straight through a planet all the way down to its [[planetary core|core]]. The second stage is a modified cyclonic charge that destabilizes it, in most cases physically destroying the planet.

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===Other===

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During the 13th [[Black Crusades|Black Crusade]], Lord Castellan [[Ursarkar E. Creed]] ordered a massive [[nuclear reactor]] on the prison world of ''St. Josmane's Hope'' to be overloaded when it seemed that Chaos would finally take the world. Rather than a colossal [[nuclear meltdown|meltdown]], the reactor exploded and blew the entire planet apart.

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==References==

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Images taken from [[Warhammer 40,000: Fire Warrior]].

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==See also==

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*[[Planets of Warhammer 40,000#Stalinvast|Stalinvast]]

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[[Category:Imperium (Warhammer 40,000)]]

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[[It:Exterminatus]]

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[[ru:Экстерминатус]]

Changes: Exterminatus

Revision as of 23:56, 15 December 2007

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
+#REDIRECT [[Battlefleet Gothic]]
-[[Image:Lance strike.jpg|thumb|300px|Here, the center of the Chaos corruption is obliterated by an orbital lance strike.]]
-[[Image:Ortillery.jpg|thumb|300px|Cyclonic Torpedoes are launched at the site, in order to wipe out anything tainted by Chaos.]]
-[[Image:Exterminatus.jpg|thumb|300px|Finally, a temple site is directly bombed from orbit, with enough firepower to crack the planet's crust.]]
-Within the fictional universe of ''[[Warhammer 40,000]]'', '''Exterminatus''' is the name of an order given by the [[Imperium (Warhammer 40,000)|Imperium]] to [[Planet killer|destroy a planetary biosphere]]. To the right are images depicting the planet ''[[Planets of Warhammer 40,000#Dolumar_IV|Dolumar IV]]'' undergoing an ''Exterminatus'' following a battle between the Imperium, [[Tau (Warhammer 40,000)|Tau]] and forces of [[Chaos (Warhammer)|Chaos]].
-==Overview==
-Exterminatus is typically only used as a last resort, when the price of holding or retaking the world is deemed too high, or the threat of [[mutation]] or [[heresy]] too great to contain by conventional means. Thus Exterminatus has very rarely been used on vital or valuable planets to the Imperium. Typically, the order may only be given by a high-ranking Imperial Warmaster, a member of the [[Inquisition (Warhammer 40,000)|Inquisition]] or a Space Marine Chapter.
-Exterminatus can be carried out in many different ways, as outlined below.
-==Methods==
-Note that with the exception of those listed under the section ''Other'', the rest of the entries are deployed from space.
-===Orbital Bombardment===
-'''[[Orbital bombardment]]''' is the simplest means of carrying out an Exterminatus, as it can be done solely through the conventional [[firepower]] of the [[Imperial Navy (Warhammer 40,000)|Imperial Navy]]. The power of an orbital strike can range from small precision strikes, not unlike that of modern Surface to Ground missiles, to thermonuclear blasts. Typically however, special weapons are used, designed to destroy all life on a planet's surface and potentially any entrenched in the planet's [[Crust (geology)|crust]].
-===Virus Bombs===
-'''Virus bombs''' release a special [[virus]] designed to quickly spread and destroy [[Cell (biology)|cell]] structures, reducing all planetary life into organic slime. This produces huge volumes of [[Combustion|flammable]] [[gas]]es as a [[by-product]], which is later ignited and turns the [[atmosphere]] into a [[firestorm]] that usually takes out whatever is left. Only those who may have escaped into especially-deep underground shelters can survive a Virus Bomb attack. The [[History of the Imperial Guard (Warhammer 40,000)#Tallarn Desert Raiders|Tallarn]]ian population managed to escape complete destruction this way, but the once-verdant world was forever transformed into a [[desert]]. Virus bombs are known for their extreme speed; in the fiction surrounding the [[Horus Heresy]], they completely wiped out [[Horus Heresy#Istvaan III|Istvaan III]]'s entire population of 16 billion in just minutes.
-===Cyclonic Torpedoes===
-'''Cyclonic torpedoes''' are much more immediate in action, having enough power to directly ignite a planet's atmosphere. As seen in the images to the right, the blast radius is large enough to be seen from [[outer space]].
-===Two-stage Torpedoes===
-'''Two-stage torpedoes''' are the most common of a special class of rare Exterminatus weapons, designed for use against atmosphereless or biologically-void worlds ([[Necron]] Tomb Worlds being the main example). These have two-stage [[warhead]]s: The first stage is a [[Weapons and Equipment of the Imperium (Warhammer 40,000)#Melta Weapons|melta charge]] that bores straight through a planet all the way down to its [[planetary core|core]]. The second stage is a modified cyclonic charge that destabilizes it, in most cases physically destroying the planet.
-===Other===
-During the 13th [[Black Crusades|Black Crusade]], Lord Castellan [[Ursarkar E. Creed]] ordered a massive [[nuclear reactor]] on the prison world of ''St. Josmane's Hope'' to be overloaded when it seemed that Chaos would finally take the world. Rather than a colossal [[nuclear meltdown|meltdown]], the reactor exploded and blew the entire planet apart.
-==References==
-Images taken from [[Warhammer 40,000: Fire Warrior]].
-==See also==
-*[[Planets of Warhammer 40,000#Stalinvast|Stalinvast]]
-[[Category:Imperium (Warhammer 40,000)]]
-[[It:Exterminatus]]
-[[ru:Экстерминатус]]