The Phalanx
The Phalanx is a massive space-borne
battle fortress that serves as the mobile
fortress-monastery of the [[Imperial
Fists]] Space Marine Chapter.
Dorn's Proud Daughter
Origins
Much like many things that predate
Imperial history, the origin of the
Phalanx is shrouded in legend and
myth. One source says that Rogal Dorn
himself built the battle fortress once he
became the over-all ruler of the ice world
of Inwit, while another states that it
was predates the Primarch's arrival on
that world, and was just added as part of
his inheritance once he ascended to the
position of planetary warlord. What is
important is by the time the Emperor
and his expedition finally reunited with
Dorn, the Phalanx was already under the
latter's command.
Since then the Phalanx had served as
the center of operations for Dorn and his
Legion (and later Chapter), the Imperial
Fists. And while the Fists count many
worlds as its recruiting grounds, with
Holy Terra itself listed as its
"official" home world, the Phalanx would
always be its home.
The Gathering Storm
Close to the end of the 41st millennium,
the fortress would again be subjected
to another daemonic invasion. This time
around only the 3rd Company led by
Brother Captain Tor Garadon and
half of the 1st Company's Terminators
were available to defend it. Leading the
incursion were Darnath Lysander's old
foe, the Iron Warriors Warsmith
Shon'tu and the Daemon Prince
Be'lakor, who sought to outdo
Abaddon by conquering the Phalanx
and dropping it on the Imperial Palace.
Garadon and his men fought hard, but
despite their determination they were
eventually pushed back to one final
redoubt. Prepared for what looked like a
last stand, it instead became a counter-
attack when the Legion of the Damned
appeared en-masse to push back the
daemons. Shon'tu was slain, and Be'lakor
banished, but the Phalanx was wounded by
the assault, as it was forced to purge ten
percent of its own superstructure to
prevent the spread of Chaos corruption.
As its fleet master urged Garadon to turn
the fortress to the Ring of Iron at
Mars for repairs, a desperate
transmission from Cadia was received.
It was then that Garadon knew where his
duty lay. After the most basic repairs
were made, the Phalanx translated into
the Warp, on course for the beleaguered
fortress-world.
Dorn's Mailed Fist
The arrival of the Phalanx caught the
Chaos fleet above Cadia [[Not As
Planned|by complete surprise]]. Taking
advantage of the confusion, the star fort
plowed through the traitor formations with
the aim of taking out the [[Blackstone
Fortress]]. It was an almost-suicidal
charge, and there was no guarantee that
the even the Phalanx's main guns could
hurt the Blackstone, but Garadon ordered
the Phalanx on anyway.
Then the shields on one part of the Will
of Eternity went down (thanks to
sabotage care of Wolf Lord Sven
Bloodhowl). Seizing the chance, the
Phalanx opened up with all of its
batteries. As the Blackstone Fortress
died, the Phalanx limped away, and
took a position above Cadia's equator to
lick its wounds, right about where the
Elysion Pylon Fields were. It would later
provide support there via orbital
bombardment once the Imperial forces moved
to defend the Pylons.
Shield of the Diaspora
When the secret boosters triggered to
plunge the remains of the [[Blackstone
Fortress]] into the planet, Garadon had
all of the Phalanx's guns open fire in a
bid to destroy the continent-sized mass
before it was captured in Cadia's gravity
well. It didn't work. The piece struck
Cadia, hard, and the planet burned.
Against all odds there were still
survivors, and as transports full of these
rose up desperately through daemon-
infested skies, it was to the Phalanx
they approached for protection. It waited
until the last moment, but when the final
transport left the doomed planet, the
Phalanx led the ragged flotilla of
ships toward the edge of the Cadian
system, where they could finally escape
into the Warp.
Wounded, But Unbowed
The Phalanx would finally return to
the Sol system, and would remain in orbit
between Terra and Luna undergoing repairs
when the Battle of Luna happened, as the
remnants of the Terran Crusade under
command of Roboute Guilliman burst out
from a hidden Webway gate, with the
daemonic forces of Magnus the Red in
pursuit. Although it would scramble
several Thunderhawk gunships to reinforce
the Imperial forces, it would not move
from orbit until all the repairs were
done.
In the current age, the Phalanx still keeps vigil
over the crown world, ordered to defend
Terra by the Lord Commander himself.
As a little aside, a contingent of
Custodes covertly
snuck in during the repairs of the
Phalanx, and are currently squatting there
(not that hard), ready to sabotage the
fortress if it gets used against Terra.
The Fortress Itself
The Phalanx is the size of a small
planetoid, dwarfing even the Ramilies Star
Forts that the Imperium uses to defend its
holdings. At its heyday, its docks could
service entire fleets worth of ships, and
even in the present day is enough to hold
the Imperial Fists ships with space to
spare.
Speaking of its docks, various sources
note that, due to its huge size, it had
developed its own unique ecosystem, with
flora and fauna that had evolved to live
there.
On top of this prime real estate, the
Phalanx boasts a ludicrous amount of
weaponry, point defenses, armor, and
shielding. Multiple fleets would be
hard-pressed to equal the sheer amount of
hurt the battle fortress can dish out, and
as the Battle of Cadia proved, even when
bloodied and battered it can give as good
as it got in return, and then some.
Just like any good scion of Dorn would.
That said, it's also been noted that the
Phalanx is a shadow of its old self,
and many of its areas lie empty and
neglected due to it being far too
large for the modern Imperial Fists to
use in full. Many of the technology that
went into its construction are also either
no longer understood, or can be easily
replicated or replaced by even the
Adeptus Mechanicus. Indeed its likely
that the systems damaged before and during
the Battle of Cadia are truly
irreplacable.
In Battlefleet Gothic=
The Phalanx was not statted out for
Battlefield Gothic, though given how a
Gloriana class battleship (the
Vengeful Spirit) was statted out
simply as the equivalent of a Battle
Barge, it's not hard to imagine the
Phalanx given the stats perhaps of a
souped-up Ramilies Starfort.
Realistically any kind of game stats for
the Phalanx have to be equal at least
to the "Activated" [[Blackstone
Fortress]].
In Battlefleet Gothic: Armada 2=
The Phalanx makes its appearance in
the tutorial section of the second game.
Much like its role during the [[Gathering
Storm]], the battle fortress makes its
surprise appearance in Cadia's orbit,
throwing a wrench in the Warmaster's plans as it proceeds to plow
its way through the Black Fleet and
actually destroy the [[Blackstone
Fortress]] Will of Eternity.
All this while under your control.
Unlike how it was described in The Fall of
Cadia book, the Phalanx in-game is
effectively untouchable by anything it
faces during its run toward the Blackstone
Fortress. Seriously, even the Blackstone's
Warp Beam does nothing to it.