Phalanx

Summary
Located in the feral and mostly uninhabited Allarus Sub-Sector, Jayrus Sector of the Segmentum Pacificus, Phalanx VII is pne of the few colonized worlds, subjected to an ork invasion tearing up the human population in a sixty-two year long conflict.

The Past
Though classified as a hive-world, Phalanx was a mixture of hive and agri worlds, as the atmosphere when first settled back before the Horus Heresy was toxic, but terraformed by accident to make the climate more habitable after the great battle was over. Phalanx itself felt the brutal lash of Heresy when an Imperial Army regiment stationed there suddenly turned their guns on them, but the PDF that had been trained by those same troopers persevered with guerilla warfare and eventually wiped the soldiers out.

After that, Phalanx enjoyed an unprecedented time of peace. For the next ten-thousand years, nary a soul drifted into the Allarus Sub-Sector, even though the Jayrus Sector itself was subjected to the cleansing of the new Imperium for more heresy. However, just sixty years ago, a vicious ork WAAAGH! descended on the planet, practically raining down on Phalanx's surface. The subsequent ten-year fighting and orbital bombardment ran the WAAAGH! down, but at the cost of billions of the population, hundreds of thousands of Guardsmen and eighty percent of the planet in ruins. At this point, the Administratum declared that the fight was no longer a real war and began withdrawing troops, including Phalaxian regiments. Seeing as how they'd just beaten the orks, the PDF moved about for reconstruction, relieved that their nightmare was over. However, when the last shuttle containing off-world soldiers was gone, the orks struck again, having nursed their wounds and waited for the right time to strike, overwhelming the majority of the human-controlled installations in a matter of days and forcing the survivors into a corner with their backs to the ocean.

Warlord Tykrieg Sarahn took over at this point, being the highest ranking surviving PDF commander. Most others had died with the Planetary Governor when the capital Hive Omega fell to the orks' vicious blitz, and he immediately set about making a lockdown policy. He gathered all troopers he could find and shephered millions towards the coast of the continent Avalon, and it is there he is making his final stand.

The People
Phalanx is a soldier planet, and the mentality is that of survival of the fittest. Until you have proven yourself capable of being strong and surviving, you are a burden to the planet, and parents make sure their kids know that. As such, each child is eager to go into action and trains with their family constantly to prepare themselves to prove their worth. At sixteen, the child is drafted into the PDF for seven weeks of basic training, a mere handful of kilometres from the front.

Any civilians left have already served their first four year term, and are still eligible for draft should it be necessary. Sarahn knows his logistics train, miniscule as it is, cannot handle the legions of soldiers he'd prefer, so drafting is usually used only when recruitment quotas are not filled to replace losses. All civilians are required to wear jackets with special ID patches on their shoulders, each depicting with a unique symbol their speciality and a number of stars equal to the number of terms they have served in the PDF. If not the jackets, then a tag hanging from somewhere on their person, even though the belt is a popular choice.

The people are what some would describe as crude, uncouth and uncultured, but that's not true. They simply go about achieving the same things as other worlds in different ways. Most Phalaxians learn to read and write on their own, and those who cannot are viewed as weak, a fatal flaw in a warrior society. Phalaxians value strength and cunning above all else, and as such do not worry about looks or wealth, as both are worthless on the war-torn world.

Though they carry a deep-seated loathing for the Administratum after abandoning them fifty years ago, Phalaxians are devoted to the Emperor with no doubt in their minds. They understand that man himself can be flawed (albeit not as flawed as the xeno), but the Emperor is perfection, in their eyes. When all else fails, they turn to Him for protection.

The Soldiers
Though they are in constant conflict with the orks occupying their world, Phalanx is still an Imperial colony, and as such must give up a tithe. Every ten years, a troopship stops by for their share, and Phalanx gives them several thousand of their best soldiers for another regiment of the Imperial Guard. These troopers go through rigourous physical and psycological testing prior to the ten-year mark, and should they make the grade they will be inducted into the new regiment, ready to go and slay the Emperor's foes. All those who fail must wait until the next selection period before they can try again.

The PDF is the main focus of Phalanx. Without it, the orks would overrun what is left of humanity on the world. Everyone serves in it at one point or another, regardless of gender or background. Each child must present themselves for conscription at age sixteen, and they are driven to the training camps which are usually set up only a few kilometres from the front lines. This is to get the new recruits used to hearing the sounds of battle constantly, and the camps are able to be rapidly taken down and moved in the case of an ork breakthrough. The drill officers are vicious, not hesitant to use blows and fire live ammunition over the recruits' heads. This is all to weed out those who are weak, but instead of sending them back the drill officers push harder until either the recruit shapes up or dies from the effort.

The first battle is always the most important to a Phalaxian. Everyone remembers their first conflict, for it is then that they prove their worth. Those who survive are finally called soldiers and allowed to take a small trophy from any ork in that battle (a popular choice is to take one of the ork's fangs). Every Phalaxian therefore carries one of these around. If you forget your first battle or lose your trophy, you have brought ultimate shame upon yourself.

The Phalanxian Planetary Defense Force's special forces personnel are combined into their airborne trooper corps in the form of the Airborne Rangers. While most of these soldiers are those who have gone through proper training needed to reach this high level, many more are those convicted to serve time, for Phalanx has no prisons. Instead, they must drop behind enemy lines, fight while drastically outnumbered (even more than usual on Phalanx) and battle overwhelming odds for a period of one year to earn their freedom. The Rangers have an extremely low life expectancy, and each soldier swears to fight until the end.

The PDF is quite strapped for equipment that would be standard issue to other worlds. For example, they have lost most of their ability to produce energy weapons as basic as lasguns, and their most advanced arsenal is given only to the Guard regiments, due to the low frequency that these weapons can be made. By the same token, they have substituted with several innovative weapons and vehicles, most of them older designs that have been remodeled to be more effective against the orks. These cheap but reliable pieces of equipment have proven themselves time and time again on the field of battle. Though they keep the better pieces tucked away, Phalanx does have some pieces of Imperial standard weapons, such as Earthshaker artillery guns and Thunderbolt fighters. These are, however, in extreme short supply, and the PDF takes all precautions to keep them safe.

Imperial Guard Phalaxians are strict to discipline, drilling their troopers everyday. Those who slack off on duty are severely punished, and floggings and beatings are regular forms of discipline for minor infractions. This makes the Phalaxians tough, professional soldiers on par with some of the best Guardsmen in the Imperium, despite there being so few of them and so little is known about them. Phalaxian Guard regiments are skilled ork hunters, and they use the knowledge gained on their homeworld well when battling the green tide. Their devotion to the Emperor makes them steadfast foes against all other enemies as well, so care must be taken not to underestimate them.

Phalaxian tactics rely on shock and awe, not expendable waves. A slam in the face with heavy assault units like tanks followed by lighter vehicles and infantry. As such, they find themselves on the outs with other regiments from other planets who are used to attrition warfare, especially when High Command orders an all-out attack.



The Planet
Even before the orks came, Phalanx was a dangerous world. A toxic place before the terraforming, the wildlife that survived evolved quickly, and what's left can best be described as vicious. Mostly, the environment is the same as any other boreal world with a cool climate, but on Phalanx the animal life is all deadly to an extent. Many of these beasts are captured and put to work for the orks as either beasts of labor or war creatures alongside squigs. Fortunately, the Phalaxians know how to put these creatures down just as easily as they do orks.

Phalanx is mostly ocean, with what landmass it has separated into two super-continents. The larger northern one is called Avalon, while the southern is referred to as Excalibur. Avalon has a cold climate, with the old planetary capital of Hive Omega located directly on top of the ice sheet at the north pole. The rest of Avalon is mostly cool to temperate. Thanks to the two seasons (Winter and Summer with brief periods between known as Interims) the planet's weather wildly shifts, but inhabitants all bear it stoically, whether they be human or animal. Excalibur is far warmer, possessing savannahs, grasslands and even a desert nestled in its hot middle. The only other remnants of land other than these are dozens of small island chains, known to hold small tribes of people wishing for seclusion and quiet in nature's embrace, the only part of Phalanx left unmolested by the green tide.

What's left of the planet that isn't covered in civilization or craters from mass bombings is covered in boreal forests. The trees stretch high above, and there are several freshwater lakes that provide fish and drinking water to the cities. The climate is cool, mostly around seventy degrees on average in Summer Interim and Winter Interim. In the Summer, it rises to eighty or ninety (usually where it peaks for a few weeks), while in Winter it can easily drop down below zero. Snow covers the northern pole constantly, and everywhere else on the planet save the equator is subject to the same treatment.

The equator has several dry areas, mostly grasslands and flat plains. The ones on Avalon are concentrated around Ratchet, Illium and Madrigal. These dry areas are usually subjected to the worst heat on Phalanx, bumping up to more than a hundred degrees at times in the Summer. Thanks to this, most wildlife found on Phalanx avoids these areas, as they are built to fight the cold, not the heat. The equatorial dry zones are therefore mostly empty of animal life save for reptiles, birds and mammals that have thin fur coats. Madrigal also has the courtesy of sitting on a water basin, allowing many kilometres of swamp to grow around it. While this helps the defenders by slowing the orks, it also gives the greenskins places to hide and regroup.

There are some creatures on Phalanx that aren't vicious. Mostly, these are birds, fish or herd animals, introduced when Phalanx was colonised. Over the past twenty-thousand years they've worked their way into the ecosystem comfortably, and exist alongside the creatures native to this place.

The Places
Phalanx is covered in the ruins of ork-blitzed hives. Nearly all of them are in the greenskins' hands, but a handful still belong to humanity. There are large overland highways connecting the hives together, and anti-air positions every few kilometres to watch for ork bandits.

Avalon Continent

Ratchet: Ratchet is a hive city built after the Horus Heresy, with just as many upper tiers as lower ones. It was an industrial place before the war, with its main claim to fame being the shipyards it maintained. Now, it is the new planetary capital since Hive Omega fell fifty years earlier, and the one place that human boats can be built to maintain their control of the seas. Ratchet's underhive was long ago cut off from the Underhive Transit System (UTS) and is only accessible from the surface now.

Kholo Hive: no longer considered 'at the front lines', Kholo has turned into a supply and dispersal point. All warehouses are used to store valuable munitions there, and after that are shipped out to Arcadia, Torex or Alpha Base. Kholo is also the hive that is the most connected to the rest of the human held areas. With a nearly intact highway, one could go fromt Kholo to Ratchet, Torex or Arcadia with no problems at all save for the occaisonal bombing from ork fighta-bommas. Every now and then, the orks will break through and head to Kholo, but the large garrison there is usually able to fight them off easily.

Arcadia Hive: originally constructed and run mostly by nobles, Arcadia still keeps its appearance of grenaduer and beauty, despite being the place where most of the orks break through the front lines and charge towards. Arcadia is more the front line as anywhere else, for the Phalaxians have been forced to cut back and reform part of the line to include Arcadia. Even now, the hive is the hottest place of conflict, an area where assault is constant. Even if the Phalaxians win the war, the hive will probably never get its wealth restored to it.

Madrigal Hive: the most seperated hive from Ratchet, Madrigal is in the best position to halt ork flanking attacks, and is well supplied by secret roads through the Whisperwind Peaks. Madrigal therefore is quite battered, but its defenders are still standing strong. Cut off from all other lanes of supply, Madrigal is one of the quieter places to be assigned, and is used to rotate PDF soldiers who need a break out with those who are ready to get stuck in again.

Illium Hive:a city overrun two years ago by a deadly ork flanking maneuver, Illium's defenders were caught offguard, and the hive was set to fall within hours. Abruptly, all soldiers were ordered to fall back and abandon the hive, which most did. Detonating an atomic bomb in the underhive, Warlord Sarahn not only managed to stop the greenskins' attack, but also make it seem like he had done nothing while saving the majority of his soldiers. The explosion was attributed to an ork tellyporta malfunctioning, and nearly the entire civilian population of the hive was killed. This atrocity has served the Phalaxian propaganda machine well. "Remember Illium'" the posters say alongside all the other places and things to remember.

Hive Torex: Torex is the northernmost of the five major cities still in human hands. While the hive itself is populated by humans, it comes under ork air attack constantly. The PDF are pushing hard out into the underhive transit system leading into Torex, but the orks have somehow been able to come from other areas that were once thought secure. Alot of commandos get dropped here by deffkoptas and fightabommas, so the battle is not one of numbers but a rare one of skill.

Alpha Base: up in the northern part of the continent, Alpha Base is the last true military installation under human control, and only stays that way thanks to the mountains around it. With limited approaches, the orks run into the concentrated Phalanx defenses, and the numerous flak guns keep air assault at bay. The base is supplied by the underhive transit system buried several stories underground, connected to Torex. This vital connection is the only way to maintain a position in the mountains to keep the orks from taking the range.

Anchor 9: the last intact orbital facility over Phalanx, Anchor 9 maintains the orbital satellite weapons with their basic knowledge of machines, keeping them operational but just barely. They also coordinate weapon firing on requested coordinates and watch ork aircraft on the planet’s surface. Anchor 9 is also the only way for someone to disembark from a ship to the planet. It is a large station, with many levels and a sizeable shuttle bay. It is capable of docking ships as large as destroyers.

Hive Omega: formerly the capital of Phalanx, Omega is the largest hive on the planet, and the most fortified. Having fallen to the orks only after the WAAAGH! was run down fifty years ago, Hammafist’s horde slammed against the drained and battered PDF, now deprived of offworld reinforcements. Though the troopers put up a strong defense, it was to no avail, and the hive fell mere hours later. Nearly the entire population was butchered, including the planetary governor, killed by a mortar shell when trying to escape to his private Aquila. Now, Hammafist has taken up residence in the hive, and command from here. Some kind of crude refractor shield also guards the place, an ork device that can withstand bombardment from aircraft, artillery and even the satellite weapons.

Outlook Point: a fallen PDF supply depot, the orks have turned Outlook Point into a staging ground for their Deffkoptas and other vehicles. From here, they launch air assaults on Hive Arcadia, and overland attacks towards Madrigal. Outlook Point is a very heavily defended area, and the PDF Earthshakers hidden in the mountains of the Whisperwinds have not been able to make very substantial damage, due mostly in part to the fact that the original buildings are built to withstand bombardment. Outlook Point also has an automated rail line connecting it to Hive Omega, and the orks alternate between using it to ship supplies or blasting at it for target practice.

 Excaliber Continent 

The Lancelot Sands: an oddity on the mostly arboreal world, the Sands are Phalanx's only desert, stretching in the shade of the Morgana Mountains. Classified as a rainshadow desert, it exists purely because the Morganas block all rain from getting to the area, as well as winds, leaving the place a still, barren stretch of soil. Hardly any life can be found here, and temperatures drop to well below freezing even in Summer, though it almost never snows.

Morgana Mountains: stretching around the eastern side of Excalibur, the Morganas are cruel and treachorous. Home to unkwown numbers of savage, man-eating creatures, the Morganas are also dastardly cold and sheer, making travel through the area unsavoury and dangerous. No one hikes into the Morganas simply because there is nothing to see, and flying is almost impossible at low levels thanks to the unpredictable winds that fly through the uneven peaks.

After the Liberation of Phalanx
COMING SOON!