Exorcist launcher
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This article is about the Adepta Sororitas weapon. For other uses of Exorcist, see Exorcist (disambiguation). |
The Exorcist launcher is the main weapon of the Exorcist tank; it is a large multitube artillery piece firing in salvos of up to six missiles.[4] It is used by the Orders Militant of the Adepta Sororitas.[2b]
Contents
Overview
The system dates back at least to the Age of Apostasy. The weapon is barely understood by the Techpriests servicing it and needs constant maintenance as a result.[2b] It has therefore acquired a temperamental reputation[2b]
This temperamental reputation can refer to being able to shoot a single missile instead of an entire volley, or to refuse to fire altogether. For the sisters operating them, this is a sign of the their holy nature, as they interpret these malfunctions as the Machine Spirits being infused by the Emperor's power and experiencing rapturous delight.[2b]
The weapon's primary loadout is armour-piercing ammunition, for destroying enemy emplacements and armoured vehicles, although the system is able to fire high-explosive or incendiary projectiles suck as Conflagration Rockets, and even be a threat to aircraft.[3a],[3b],[3c] Some versions of the Exorcist resemble more conventional weapon systems, others feature complex arrangements of gilded baroque pipes.[2b]
Known patterns
The Prioris pattern launcher originally built on Mars is the most prized model,[2b] duplicating a pipe-organ with its vertical-launch missile tubes, and using a console made of several several keyboards to input targeting solutions and impact coordinates.[2b] Other patterns also exist like the Dominica pattern[2c] and Sanctorum pattern[2b]. Known versions of the Dominica pattern include patterns I to IV and specifically the Mark IId Dominica pattern whose Forge World of origin is Ophelia VII.[2c] The Ecclesiarchy does not consider non-Prioris pattern examples of the system as potent a symbol of the Emperor's power as the earlier Prioris pattern.[2b]
Due to the looks and operation of the Prioris-pattern, the gunner is called an organist as well as an artillerist; firing procedures also follow the musical lexicon, with terms such as adagio, movement, recital and refrain.[2a],[3d],[3e]
Sources
- 1: Codex: Witch Hunters (3rd Edition), pg. 36
- 2: Imperial Armour Volume Two - Second Edition: War Machines of the Adeptus Astartes:
- 3: Codex: Adepta Sororitas (8th Edition):
- 4: Codex: Sisters of Battle (5th Edition) (second part), White Dwarf 380 (US), pg. 95
- 5: Forgeworld - Sisters of Battle (Archived) (saved archive page, dated Feb 2003, last accessed 29 January 2021)
Uncited
- Chapter Approved 2001 pgs. 6, 15
