The Phalanx

Shiny and Deadly

The Phalanx is a massive space-borne battle fortress that serves as the mobile fortress-monastery of the Imperial Fists Space Marine Chapter.

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.