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{{OrksPortal}}
An '''Attack Moon''' was the [[Imperial]] designation for a class of massive [[Ork]] vessels encountered during the [[War of the Beast]].
==Overview==
The flagships of the [[Warboss]] known only as [[The Beast]], an Attack Moon was a hollowed out planetoid that traveled via transitioning into the [[Materium]] from a realm known as "subspace".{{Fn|1e}} Its arrival from subspace could take some time, and nearby planets were wracked with gravity and geological catastrophes.,{{Fn|1a}} Attack Moons were constructed through a complicated process of placing one gravitic nexus into orbit and another on the surface of a planet, which would send the contents of the doomed world into space to be reformed into a massive space vesselsometimes even torn apart.{{Fn|52a}}
Once in-system, the Attack Moon would "recharge" by shattering and consuming worlds via powerful tractor beams.{{Fn|1b}} The largest feature of the Ork Moon was an enormous snarling face, which could move and even speak in sync with the will of The Beast.{{Fn|1b}} In truth, the Attack Moon was neither a true sphere or an independently operating vessel. It was simply the end-point for the Ork subspace tunnel dubbed a "Waaagh! Gate" by the greenskins.{{Fn|1c}} This allowed it to employ endless waves of Orks warships and landing craft.{{Fn|1d}} The main weapon of the Attack Moon was a "gravitic whip", a massive gravity weapon that would decimate entire squadrons of [[Cruiser]]s and crush even [[Battleship]]s in a single volley.{{Fn|2a}}
Ominously for mankind, it appeared that the Orks operated several of these monstrosities{{Fn|2a}}, whose technological sophistication dumbfounded even the [[Adeptus Mechanicus]].{{Fn|2b}} Their powerful brute-shields shrugged off anything the Imperium could throw at them,{{Fn|1f}}{{Fn|2c}}{{Fn|7}} and caused any active Imperial shields and engines to detonate on contact, meaning only deactivated craft could only penetrate them.{{Fn|6a}} Each attack moon was different in design; some pitch-black, some covered in rusted iron, one rocky and painted with an enormous clan glyph, and some forming enormous mechanical Orkoid faces.{{Fn|2a}} However several weaknesses did become apparent during the battle for [[Port Sanctus]]. The Moon's [[Void Shield]]s dropped after repeated firing of the gravitic whip, allowing for a desperate charge of half of [[Segmentum Solar]]'s fleet to destroy the moon's gravitic drives with [[Attack Craft]]. With its reactors destroyed, an attack moon immediately explodes.{{Fn|3}} If the moon itself could not be destroyed, the Waaagh! gate could be disabled to prevent further Ork reinforcements.{{Fn|4}} Attack Moons were not purely machines of war, but rather simple experiments as the Orks sought to perfect their gravitic planetoid concept. The perfected method, the "Attack Planet" of [[Ullanor]], was intended to wipe out [[Terra]] while the Attack Moons acted as mere beacons for its travel.{{Fn|66b}}
==See Also==
*[[World Engine]]
*[[Port Maw]]
==Sources==
**{{Endn|1d}}: Chapter 27
**{{Endn|1e}}: Chapter 25
**{{Endn|1f}}: Chapter 34
*2: [[Predator, Prey (Novel)]] by [[Rob Sanders]]
**{{Endn|2a}}: Chapter 1
**{{Endn|2b}}: Chapter 9
**{{Endn|2c}}: Chapter 4
*{{Endn|3}}: [[The Emperor Expects (Novel)]] by [[Gav Thorpe]], Chapters 17-19
*{{Endn|4}}: [[Throneworld (Novel)]] by [[Guy Haley]], {{Cite This}}
*{{Endn|5}}: [[The Hunt for Vulkan (Novel)]], Chapter 9
*6: [[The Beast Must Die (Novel)]]**{{Endn|66a}}: Chapter 9**{{Endn|6b}}: Chapter 22*{{Endn|7}}: [[The Beast Must Die Last Son of Dorn (Novel)]], Chapter 2212
[[Category:Fleet (Orks)]]
