What happened to the Emperors flagship during / after the Horus Heresy?

[Wildcard]

So, i've been wondering about emperors flagships fate alot lately, but cannot seem to find any reference to it, nor what would have happened to it..

Only thing i know about it is that it darkened the sky when Emperor first set foot on mars to agree about the alliance between terra and mechanicum. This happened on Horus Heresy - series Mechanicum book, if i recall right..

Do you know / remember what happened to the greatest ship imperium has ever possessed?

[plawolf]

I do not recall there ever being much info about the Emperor's flagship, not even it's name.

But the greatest starship the IoM ever had was/is the Phalanx. Indeed, it was presented as a gift to the Emperor when Dorn first made contact, so that may well have served as the Emperor's flagship when he was still leading the great crusade.

After his retirement from the front lines, and the Imperial Fists were recalled to act as his personal guard (bit of a strange choice I always thought, since that was the job of the Custodian Guard), it would have only been logical that command of the Phalanx transfered back to Dorn and the Imperial Fists.

Another possibility is that the Vengeful Spirit was the Emperor's flagship, and that command of it transfered over to Horus along with the title of Warmaster.

It is also possible that the Emperor never bothered to actually have a flagship, and merely went from ship to ship has he moved between the different crusade fleets.

[MarneusCalgar]

That´s a good question, even in Lexicanum didn´t find an answer to this

[wittdooley]

The Fists weren't assigned as his personal guard; the Custodes remained in that aspect; the Emperor brought Dorn and the rest of his buzzed-cut brethern to Terra to fortify the city, a task he was best prepared to do.

Besides. I always envisioned the Emperor riding a Cosmic Stallion named Warpmane. Here is a picture of him:

http://depleted.files.wordpress.com/2010/02/1267346567678.jpg

[Wildcard]

Not a bad ride :)

Anyway;

- Vengeful Spirit: Always linked to the Luna Wolves and what they became.. I have not seen a single hint that it would have been anything else than their flagship, ever.. In other words, no records atleast to point in any other direction. Other thing that speaks against it being emperors ship is that it is described to have lots and lots of areas where maintanance has been poor or negleted altogether, rust and non-working areas etc... If it would have been Emperors ship it would nodoubtedly have been in pristine condition, and even with total neglect over the crusade for the before mentioned areas, i feel that they would still have been in better condition overall (If the point of decay started from the Emperors standards)

- Phalanx: There was two different possibilities; Either Dorn found it, or Dorn designed and built it himself.. in both scenarios it was Imperial Fists who were in charge of that construction, not the Emperor..

So, still it seems it shall remain a mystery.. for now atleast :(

[Wildeybeast]

You are right about the Emperor turning up on Mars in massive ship. I assume this happens right at the start of the crusade and so can't be the ship he got from Dorn. I don't know what happened to that ship, but it was massive even by Mechanicum standards and had some sort of insane tech that allowed it to descend in atmosphere without gravity smashing it into mars like a pimped up NASA rover. One would assume Horus would target it for destruction for both military and symbolic purposes. If it survived the Heresy, the losses suffered by the Mechanicum and the decline of levels of tech would lead to no one having a clue how to work or fix the thing. I like to think of it being landed somewhere on Earth and turned into part of the pilgrim trail.

[wittdooley]

You are right about the Emperor turning up on Mars in massive ship. I assume this happens right at the start of the crusade and so can't be the ship he got from Dorn. I don't know what happened to that ship, but it was massive even by Mechanicum standards and had some sort of insane tech that allowed it to descend in atmosphere without gravity smashing it into mars like a pimped up NASA rover. One would assume Horus would target it for destruction for both military and symbolic purposes. If it survived the Heresy, the losses suffered by the Mechanicum and the decline of levels of tech would lead to no one having a clue how to work or fix the thing. I like to think of it being landed somewhere on Earth and turned into part of the pilgrim trail.

Or maybe it's buried and is part of the Imperial Palace?

[Wildeybeast]

Could be. Whatever, I doubt it's still operational by now.

[Valkerie]

Maybe it's hiding in the Warp waiting for the Star Child so it can serve him. You've got to admit, that would be one hell of a birthday present.:)