Imperial Basilica takes Shape

Aquila lander on the roof the Basilica.
Containers around the edges.

 About six months ago, I drew up a plan for a large building for Adeptus Titanicus.  Initially, I wanted something cathedral like, but that does not fit with the idea of the Great Crusade's Imperial Truth and the 500 of Worlds of Ultramar.  I needed something that invoked both the scale and grandeur of a cathedral, but with an entirely secular purpose - enter the Basilica, in the Roman tradition.

"The Great Crusade-era (M31) Imperial Basilica serves as a hub of post-compliance activity.  It houses multiple Imperial offices to further integrate a world into the overall Imperium of Man.  It also serves as a hub for mercantile activity, providing a safe, neutral environment for off-world traders to interact with local nobility, merchants, or industrialist.  The offices of the Basilica include local language to/from Low- and High-Gothic translators, money exchangers, local and Imperial legal scholars, and other pertinent services to enable integration of the world's region into the broader context of the Imperium."

Importantly, the Basilica is not an Imperial Governor's Palace.  The Basilica and its services would evolve to be the Adeptus Administratum.  On worlds that became more regressive in the wake of the Horus Heresy, the individual Basilica would transform into cathedral fortresses, their often neighboring Forum turned to landing pads for Valkyries and Vultures.  Only in some sectors of the Imperium, like Ultramar, would they retain a semblance of their original purpose.

Under Construction

Original plans for the Basilica