Phalanx

The Phalanx is the massive starship that serves as the mobile fortress-monastery of the Sky Reavers Legion and was constructed many millennia ago by unknown hands during the Dark Age of Technology long before the Age of the Imperium.

Phalanx itself is gigantic, the largest starship known to have been constructed by Human hands, and something of its magnitude has not been seen since the Age of Technology. The size of a small moon or large asteroid, its foredeck can dock a dozen Imperial Navy cruisers around its circumference.

The vessel is essentially a hive city in space, with its great spires reaching towards the stars, giving it the appearance of a giant mace-head. In many ways, Phalanx is the only vessel ever built by Mankind that comes close in size and complexity to that of the Aeldari's craftworlds.

Phalanx is so large that it reflects light like the stars themselves, and it served as a symbolic representation of the Emperor Himself during the time of the Great Crusade. The vast starship is completely mobile and capable of travel through the Warp and often follows the Sky Reavers as it moves throughout the galaxy. Due to the Phalanx's size and the preference for speed by the Reavers, it only makes appearances where the Legion knows its time of arrival will be worth it.

There are various descriptions of the general shape and exterior character of the great starship. These include a structure of "towering forests of spires interlaced with flying buttresses" or a structure that leads observers to believe Phalanx "might have been a planetoid or minor moon."

It is also described as a ship that is "many kilometres long, triangular in cross-section with its upper surface bristling with weapons and sensorium domes. Two wings swept back from the hull, trailing directional vanes like long gilded feathers. Every surface was clad in solid armour plating and every angle was covered by more torpedo tubes and lance batteries than any Imperial battleship could muster" and with "thousands of battle-honours and campaign markings all over the beak-like prow." Phalanx is essentially a mobile, pre-Imperial battle station that serves as both the Sky Reavers' homeworld and their foremost warship. In form and scale, it is nearer a planetoid than a conventional vessel; it is a mighty cathedral of war that dwarfs the largest Battle Barge, and wields the firepower of a formidable ﬂeet. In the days of the Great Crusade and the Five Ruins, its shadow fell across hundreds of worlds, the fury of the Sky Reavers following close behind.

Origins a nd Roles
Phalanx is gargantuan, the largest starship known to have been constructed by Human hands, and something of its magnitude has not been seen since the Dark Age of Technology.

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