'''Stronghold Class Commerce Vessels''' belong to the [[Demiurg]] and are extremely well-powered, large, and technologically advanced. They are factories or ore-processing vessels and are often bases which are moved between [[system]]s and asteroid belts. They are also bases for a fleet of inter-system asteroid mining pods, haulage flyers and prospector probes. Strongholds are often seen in uninhabited systems with fleets of small ships moving resources to and from the vessel and a planet or asteroid, with the prow facing the star. Most of the time the vessel will disengage if challenged but some will attack with a dangerous ferocity.{{Fn|1}} They are slow but well-defended, especially at close quarters, and have a good capacity for launching retrofitted mining vessels as attack craft. The ship also uses an array of complex electro-magnetic fields around which are accelerated towards the rear of the hull in order to give some form of fast increase in speed. This process is not understood by the [[Adeptus Mechanicus]] and they are eager to get their hands on an intact vessel in order to analyse it.{{Fn|1}}

*{{Endn|1}}: Online Tau Fleet List[[Battlefleet Gothic Armada]], pg. 110{{add'l cite}}