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From Warhammer 40k - Lexicanum
m
→Prelude to War
*{{Main|Manachean War}}
====Prelude to War====
In the early stages of the [[Horus Heresy]], Port Maw along with the rest of Coronid Deeps would be one of the earliest prepared regions of Imperial space for the coming of war. Following news of the [[Battle of Isstvan III|attrocity at Isstvan]] and [[The_Flight_of_the_Eisenstein_(Novel)#Part_Three:_Unbroken|word of Horus' betrayal reaching Terra itself]], Port Maw itself was used as a layover and resupply station for the fleets which would be deployed to the ill-fated punitive mission to [[Isstvan V]]. When word of the its [[Dropsite Massacre|disastrous outcome]] reached the leaders of the Coronid deeps , they at first scoffed and suppressed such reports in disbelief. Only when the first battered ships of the loyalist survivors began to trickle trickled in did the weight of what was to come dawn upon them all. Messages calling for reinforcement and aid to Terra were lost to warp storms and static, and so as with the rest of the worlds of the Coronid Deeps Port Maw could only prepare for the coming onslaught of Horus.{{Fn|3b}}
The great construction works project surrounding Port Maw was far from complete by the start of and Lupercal's war on the Imperium. Nevertheless, Port Maw was already operational in some limited capacity as a naval supply base and muster station, even as the very first drops of blood were being shed at Isstvan. Hundreds of millions of workers as well as planet-side administration and support staff were already firmly established on the habitable planet of Æstellica which Port Maw orbited around.{{Fn|3a}} Most importantly, it alongside the rest of the Coronid deeps could call upon regiments kept to the standards of the [[Solar Auxilia]] pattern, thanks to the high technological and industrial basis of the Manachean Commonwealth allowing for such troops to be supplied and maintained.{{Fn|3b}}
