Ultramarines - War of Beasts: It was a powerful prophetic vision that saw Marneus Calgar lead a force of Ultramarines to the world of Vigilus. The planet lay at the mouth of the Nachmund Gauntlet, a rare stable channel through the fury of the Great Rift between the Imperium Sanctus and the Imperium Nihilus.Chief Librarian Varro Tigurius of the Ultramarines had foreseen that, should this Fortress World fall, the repercussions of its loss could be terrible indeed for those who defended the Emperor's realm. When the Chapter's greatest psyker spoke prophecy, the wise listened.Calgar was already en route to the world of Vanantis IX when Tigurius' astrally-projected form came to him with its dire warning. So alerted, Calgar immediately gathered a substantial Ultramarines strike force and changed his course for Vigilus. It was through the combined psychic guidance of the Ultramarines Librarius that this journey would be achieved, an incredible leap through the dark turmoil of the Imperium Nihilus that cost the Ultramarines psykers dear and saw several slain outright. Yet it proved successful, and the Ultramarines arrived upon Vigilus in time to take command of the planet's defence from the compromised and self-interested ruling Aquilarian Council.Vigilus was a world beset. A great Ork Speedwaaagh! had descended upon its arid dust-oceans and assailed its hivesprawls. Their arrival, in turn, had triggered the uprising of the Cult of the Pauper Princes, an infestation of Genestealer Cultists that spread through every strata of Vigilus' population. It was a vast and sprawling war fought across hundreds of individual fronts, and until the arrival of Marneus Calgar it had been a fight so fragmented by politicking and incompetence that the forces of the Imperium teetered upon the brink of defeat.Calgar swiftly purged the world's ruling council, retaining only those members he deemed trustworthy to aid his newly installed senate. He sent Vanguard Marine forces to each of the neighbouring worlds to gather intelligence and secure vital assets. Meanwhile, the Ultramarines he had led to Vigilus rallied the planet's defenders and led the fight back. They arrived not a solar day too soon, for worse threats still were moving upon that vital world.Unsettling phenomena were reported across Vigilus. Bat-winged figures were seen haunting the tallest spires of the hivesprawls, rumours grew of abductions amongst the upper echelons of society, and in the skies above, the Great Rift appeared to blacken around its edges. Readings of the Emperor's Tarot produced the same results over and over -- the Daemonblade, crossed with the Herald of Darkness and the Knight of the Abyss. All signs pointed to an imminent Chaos invasion.That invasion ultimately came in the form of the Black Legion and its terrible master, the Chaos Lord Abaddon the Despoiler. The Despoiler was determined to seize Vigilus and eliminate the innate properties that allowed it to hold open the Nachmund Gauntlet with the aid of the altered blackstone deposits located in its crust and that of its counterpart on the other side of the gauntlet, the world of Sangua Terra.Yet the forces of the Imperium held firm despite these challenges, and ultimately maintained the Emperor's grip on the planet. Though various xenos and Chaos factions remained among Vigilus' myriad hivesprawls, the locus of conflict between the Imperium and the Archenemy moved elsewhere in the galaxy.Though Vigilus suffered appalling destruction and loss of life, in the wake of the so-called "War of Beasts" it took its first step on the long road to recovery. It remained a key route of resupply and communication with the Imperial forces fighting to take back the Imperium Nihilus.