The speed at which sound traveled was far slower than the flight of these heavy artillery shells. Their conical tips tore through the sky, while the sound piled up behind them into conical shockwaves that followed close at their tails, allowing the rain of destruction to descend without a sound.
When the shells struck the ground, the mechanisms within activated. Explosions and the sonic booms that followed filled the Orks' ears.
Boom! Boom!
The unlucky ones caught in the shells' blast were turned into scraps scattered across the sky without even making a sound. Some Orks watched fireballs erupt one after another amid the marching ranks. The sight and sound made them scream, but their cries were nowhere near enough to drown out the terrifying shrieks of the shells.
"Estimated casualties from the first barrage... 4,800 dead and wounded..." The Tech-Priests used cold logic to calculate how many more volleys would be needed to completely eradicate the enemy. Once the bombardment ended, the trembling conscripts gradually calmed down, their faces filled with admiration and yearning for the Imperium of Man's overwhelming firepower.
"It's truly an honor to fight alongside such a powerful army!"
"No matter what enemy it is, surely nothing would be left but ash after such terrifying magical strikes?"
"Good thing we're human. Otherwise, we'd be the ones facing such terrifying firepower..."
The conscripts chattered away with emotion until an officer barked at them to shut up, unless they wanted to receive lashes once the battle was over.
The conscripts fell silent and stood straight, their legs trembling from excessive excitement.
In the distance, the Ork army was deathly silent. No one knew what had attacked them. The surviving Orks, still shaken, searched among the heaps of corpses for anyone alive, while the centurions did their best to