Port Maw - History: Port Maw was discovered orbiting the world of Aestellica during the Great Crusade by captains of the 60th Expeditionary Fleet under the overall command of Lord Marshal Ireton MaSade, whose family would go on to rule over the Hive World of Agathon and its Agathean Domain.Port Maw was not formed naturally but is an entirely artificial planetoid of ancient provenance, built in times immemorial that Imperial historians believe to even predate the rise of the Aeldari Empire.Since the dire events in the Vidar System of 926.M41, several voices have been raised speculating that Port Maw may well have been an earlier spoiled or sabotaged attempt by the race known as the Necrons to create a World Engine, although no physical evidence currently supports these theories.However, given the presence of other artefacts of pre-Imperial technology maybe dating back to the War in Heaven across the segmentum -- most tellingly the Blackstone Fortresses and the Cadian Pylons -- unknowingly repurposed by the Imperium, this theory could still prove true.Port Maw owes its name to a five-hundred-kilometre-wide aperture in its planetary crust that roughly resembles a fanged maw ready to bite, an apt name given the planetoid's peculiar appearance.This means that the interior of the planetoid is entirely hollow, thus offering an unsurpassable level of protection for sensitive industries such as ship-forges or munition manufactoria. This potential was quickly realised by the Armada Imperialis officials who accompanied the 60th Expeditionary Fleet and rapidly defended their claim.Port Maw's existence as an Armada Imperialis Port Majoris began in 001.M31 when construction on the hollow inside of the planetoid was begun. At that time, the Great Crusade was still heading for the galactic north, fully expecting to press on in that direction before encountering the intergalactic void that would form a natural border for the Imperium.Other Armada Imperialis facilities, most tellingly the Fleet Anchorage Point at Lascal in the Grail Abyss, designed for resupply and logistical support, also entered the construction phase.As the Great Crusade reached the proverbial dead-end in the Grail Abyss, work on the Port Maw facilities nearly stopped but was soon continued as new threats behind the lines of the Great Crusade emerged. In particular, Orks still periodically plagued the region, although they had been driven away from the Grail Abyss.The nature of the Imperium slowly changed, as the Great Crusade had nearly accomplished what it set out to do -- conquer the galaxy for Mankind -- but now other needs arose.The vast new domains of the Imperium had to be policed and protected; the Coronid Deeps had to be secured. This would be Port Maw's new purpose.In each of the Segmenta Majoris outside the Segmentum Solar, a Port Majoris would be erected: a home base for permanently detached Battlegroups and where Expeditionary Fleets or other Imperial expeditions could resupply and repair.In parallel, whole armies of Imperialis Auxilia would also be stationed at these key systems as the armadas would serve as both rapid-reaction forces and deep-range space patrols to respond to sudden threats such as civil unrest, rebellion or outside attack.Soon the outer planetoid and indeed the entire star system were given over to other space-faring installations: battle stations, trans-orbital dock yards, and provender belts.Although far from completed, Port Maw began operation as a logistical way-station, supply base and mustering point. It also boasted its own battlefleet, the Port Maw Armada under the command of Grand Admiral Ospeus LaBray.The Port Maw Armada would first and foremost be defence-orientated, designed to dominate "small wars" and keep the Emperor's Peace. On paper they easily outgunned and outmatched any given expeditionary fleet, even the vaunted 63rd Expeditionary Fleet led by the Warmaster Horus himself, but the ships of the Port Maw Armada were often scattered over considerable distances of space performing their duties.As such, this armada was mainly constituted of ships-of-the-line, cruisers and assault vessels for patrol duties and escorts like frigates and destroyers for voidship escort duties, pirate-hunting or the tracking of lone enemy vessels.By nature, the Port Maw Armada fielded fewer capital-class ships than an expeditionary fleet. That did not mean, however, that these Segmentum Armadas fielded no such vessels.To the contrary, most of the capital ships they possessed were still front line-worthy but had been relegated to second-line duties because of the emergence of better designs or the commission of those classes which needed less maintenance time. Both factors, however, did not hinder the Segmentum Armadas, as they were designed to operate from a base rather than endlessly roam the galaxy like an expeditionary fleet would.As a result, the Port Maw Armada could field several of the powerful if support-intensive Goliath and Legatus-class Battleships, which depended more readily on supply lines and manufacturing capabilities than the Gloriana and Victory-classes that now constituted the fleets of most Space Marine Legions.Grand Admiral Ospeus LaBray's flagship, for instance, was the Triumph of Reason, a huge fleet control vessel that had been reforged from the hulls of two crippled Legatus-class Battleships, a starship that could rival the best-known vessels of the Great Crusade.The Triumph of Reason was a mobile command post, a warship capable of coordinating the actions of an entire Segmentum Fleet and that would prove its mettle in more than one battle.In total the Port Maw Armada fielded some one hundred and seventy capital ships or ships-of-the-line with nearly a thousand lesser warships and Escorts at its disposition. By all accounts this was a sizable force for the time.