Phalanx - Origins and Role: Officially, the homeworld of the Imperial Fists is always listed as Terra, but in reality, the Phalanx serves as the Imperial Fists' true base of operations. Originally, the Phalanx was discovered adrift in space by the Imperial Fists' Primarch Rogal Dorn.The massive vessel was given as a gift to the Emperor of Mankind when Dorn was discovered near the Ice Hives of Inwit by his gene-father during the outset of the Great Crusade.The Emperor duly welcomed Dorn then returned the massive spacecraft to the primarch after he was appointed as the commander of the VIIth Legion. 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.The size of a small moon or large asteroid, its foredeck alone can dock a dozen Imperial Navy cruisers around its circumference.Its like had never been built before, and would never be built again. The secrets of its construction dated from before the foundation of the Imperium of Man, its immense golden form crafted by engineers dead long before the Emperor first united Terra.The hull of the starship was 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.Countless smaller spacecraft, repair craft and unmanned scouts orbited like supplicants jostling for attention, and the wake of the titanic engines seemed to churn the void itself with the force of their plasma fire.The fist symbol emblazoned on the prow was taller than the length of most Imperial spacecraft, proudly claiming that the starship belonged to the Imperial Fists Chapter, one of the most storied Space Marine Chapters in the history of the Imperium.The pale light of stars and the lesser glow of boiling nebulae played across thousands of battle-honours and campaign markings all over the beak-like prow.The ship had acted as the Imperial Fists' mobile fortress-monastery since the Horus Heresy, and its eagle-shaped shadow had fallen across a hundred worlds that had later shuddered under the weight of a massed Imperial Fists assault. Officially, the homeworld of the Imperial Fists is always listed as Terra, but in reality, the Phalanx serves as the Imperial Fists' true base of operations.Ancient records suggest that, during the era of the Great Crusade, the Emperor travelled often aboard the immense, Warp-capable battle station. Even then it was the flagship of the Imperial Fists, and remains their primary base of operations to this day.During the Horus Heresy that remarkable craft is believed to have hung above Terra, forming part of the world's defences. If this is so, then somehow it survived that cataclysmic conflict, and has endured the long millennia since.The Phalanx was often despatched on recruiting missions throughout the galaxy to find prospective neophytes to train as potential Space Marines. Had the Imperial Fists possessed a homeworld, like some Chapters, they could have culled the likely youth from among the population, a simple matter of expediency. But the Imperial Fists had no home except their fortress-monastery and the ships of their Chapter fleet.The Chapter followed the wishes of Primarch Rogal Dorn, who had famously said that he desired, "recruits, not vassals," and who had wanted nothing of the responsibilities that came with having a homeworld to maintain. Instead, the Imperial Fists recruited from any number of inhabited planetary systems, visiting them in turn every few generations.Bigger than any ship in the Imperial Navy, the Phalanx was a mobile battle station the size of a city that dwarfed any Space Marine Chapter's mightiest Battle Barge. It might have been the most powerful engine of destruction in the Imperium.It was a symbol of Mankind's very right to live amongst the stars. Its most potent weapon was the sheer awe that the golden Imperial eagle affixed to it inspired when it appeared in the night sky over a rebellious world.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 Imperial Fists Chapter as it moves throughout the galaxy.The capabilities of Phalanx are substantial. Entire portions of the vessel are used to emulate different combat environments for training purposes.The interior of Phalanx incorporates stone corridors, archways, and cathedral elements. As of the very beginning of the Horus Heresy, the starship featured a gallery that displayed the battle honors of the Imperial Fists during the Great Crusade, which stretched for kilometres.Of course, the ship continues to house The Imperial Fists Chapter's honours and relics. Among the most prized are the remains of Rogal Dorn and the battle honor Roma. The fortress-monastery itself is defended by the special security force known as the Auric Auxilia.Though its ranks were formally filled with those Imperial Fists aspirants that failed the Chapter's tests to become Space Marines, this changed once Gregor Dessian became the Imperial Fists' latest Chapter Master.In the wake of the Great Rift's creation in the Era Indomitus, Dessian ordered the Auxilia's ranks to increase and thousands of Cadians joined, in thanks for the Imperial Fists' aid during the escape from their homeworld after its fall to Abaddon the Despoiler during the 13th Black Crusade. The Auric Auxilia are currently commanded by Praetor-Colonel Talia Karsk, who once served in the Cadian Shock Troopers regiments of the Astra Militarum.