Phobos

Phobos
Astrographical
Star, position:	Sol, Mars
Physical
Diameter:	12.4 kilometers
Length of day:	7 hours, 39.2 mins (synchronous)
Societal
Population:	Cabal, Taken

There is more information available on this subject at Phobos on the English Wikipedia.

"The signal from Phobos is incredibly powerful. It might be a distress call. But then, we've never heard the Cabal send out a distress call before. Approach the base with caution, Guardian."

— Zavala^[1]

Phobos is one of two asteroid moons orbiting Mars. The Cabal used Phobos as a beachhead for their invasion and occupation of Mars when they arrived in the Sol System. Later, they somehow altered the asteroid moon's orbit for unknown reasons, bringing it significantly closer to the planet. A common belief among Warlocks is that Phobos was moved to its current orbit and is being held in place by the Ice Reapers and their Psion Flayers, who are only an order away from unleashing it as a weapon.^[2]

Overview

The City Vanguard believed Phobos to potentially be the command center and staging ground of the Cabal Skyburners, who were commanded by Primus Ta'aun and his lieutenants. Presumably the Skyburners were marshaling a "second fleet" with the intent of launching a full assault on the inner system.^[3] This is confirmed when The Guardian investigates a major Cabal evacuation of Fleetbase Korus at the start of the Taken War in the mission The Coming War. The Asteroid appears to have already been settled with a Cabal base, with Cabal Plows clearing out more area.

With the arrival of Oryx in the Sol System, the Taken have swarmed Phobos, overwhelming the Cabal and forcing them to evacuate a major base.^[4]^[5]

After the deaths of the Ice Reapers Psion Flayers, Phobos has noticeably begun to recede back to its natural orbit away from Mars. With Mars vanishing by the Pyramids years after, Phobos would remain orbiting derelict.

Activities

Story missions

Crucible

Black Shield

Locations

Fleetbase Korus
Firebase Thuria
- Black Shield (Crucible map)

Gallery

A real-life image of Phobos taken by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft
Phobos' close proximity to Mars
A crashed Cabal carrier in the background of Fleetbase Korus along with a Cabal warship. Note its collapsed state
Concept art of Cabal transport ships landed on Phobos. In the background there is an Imperial Land Tank. Note how small the Cabal warship is on the bottom-right.
Concept art of an alternate carrier design
Concept art of a second alternate carrier design; the ships are oriented vertically instead of horizontally
Concept art of Cabal base on Phobos.
Concept art of Imperial Land Tanks on Phobos.
Concept art of Imperial Land Tanks in formation
Concept art of Cabal deployable base on Phobos.
A section of a base. There is a Harvester at rest in the top-right corner. Note the Sand Eaters symbol marked on the buildings.
Concept art of a Cabal base covered in tarpaulins, possibly to shield their presence.
Concept art of Cabal base on Phobos after the attack of Oryx.
Concept art of a Guardian surveying the aftermath of Oryx's attack. Certain parts of the base, Harvester, and Centurion armor is colored orange, indicating the Blind Legion either has a presence here or shares a base with the Sand Eaters.
View of Mars from Phobos.
Cabal base on Phobos, under attack