Legio Praesagius - Notable Campaigns: Battle of Calth -- Battle for Ithraca (007.M31) - Ordered to assemble on the landing fields outside the Calthian city of Ithraca for subsequent deployment, the Legio Praesagius began embarkation alongside their kin from the Legio Infernus. Half of the Legio, the Legio's princeps maximus amongst them, were already on board their massive conveyor transport, the Aratran, when the Traitors revealed their hand. One of the first shots of the battle hit the Aratran, the mighty landing-ship falling from the skies and crashing in the centre of Ithraca. The transport however failed to explode upon impact, thus leaving its precious cargo intact. Meanwhile the surviving True Messengers -- after having suffered initial casualties -- rallied around the almost unscathed Battlegroup Argentus commanded by Princeps Senioris Mikal. The Fire Masters had superior advantage as they possessed almost three times the True Messengers' number and held the high-ground. The True Messengers princeps senioris ordered his Titans to withdraw into the city proper, where the high buildings would provide them some cover. The Battle for Ithraca, as it would be known afterwards, would quickly turn into a race between the two rival Titan Legions for the wrecked Aratran, both sides having learned that the Titans on board the landing-ship were still operational. With battle engaged nearly across the entire city and the Ultramarines otherwise occupied, it would fall to the Legio Praesagius to defend the crash site so that recuperation teams could open the cavernous holds of the Aratran and release its precious cargo. Mikal succeeded both in establishing a security-cordon around the downed ship and preventing the Traitors from destroying it. As the gathered might of the Legio Suturvora was a mere four kilometres away, the doors of the Aratran finally opened and released the Legio Praesagius' most powerful Titans and its most experienced fighters, amongst them the mighty Warmonger-class Titan Immortalis Domitor commanded by their princeps maximus. Thanks to these fresh reinforcements and after a gruesome struggle, the Legio would ultimately free Ithraca and force the Word Bearers and their allies to retreat.Crusade of Iron (ca. 008-010.M31) - Tetaros Kast, master-princeps of Battlegroup Avalon of the Legio Oberon, was one of the few princeps to fight on Calth and return alive. He brought word to the Forge World of Gantz, homeworld of the Legio Praesagius, of the fate of their fellow Titans and the betrayal that had occurred on Calth. The Traitor Legions were at large among the Five Hundred Worlds of Ultramar, and their very survival was at stake. Princeps Dae Vergos, master-princeps of the Legio Praesagius Warlord-class Titan Pride of Konor, assumed the mantle of the Legio's commanding princeps ultima and swore vengeance upon the Legio Infernus. She vowed to purge the Five Hundred Worlds of the Traitors' god-engines. Already astropathic cries for aid were reaching Gantz, as the Word Bearers and World Eaters Space Marine Legions, alongside the Legio Infernus, Legio Audax and Legio Mordaxis, spread out from Calth, bringing ruin and despair to the Five Hundred Worlds. Heeding the call of Gantz, Mechanicum fleets gathered, Battle Titans in their holds. Vergos sent emissaries to gather the Legio Oberon and summon the Legio Lysanda back from the Eastern Fringe, while missives were sent to dozens of Knight houses throughout the Five Hundred Worlds, calling in debts of honour. Multiple houses heeded the summons, including House Orhlacc, House Vornherr and House Vyronii. In spite of the betrayal brought to the Five Hundred Worlds, the Legio Praesagius gathered its allies and convened its councils of war; the horrors that the Loyalist Titans had faced at Ithraca on Calth would not go unanswered. Princeps Ultima Vergos promised her allies and her fellow princeps that the Fire Masters of the Legio Infernus would face the fury of those still loyal to the Imperium, and wherever the Traitor Titans set foot upon a world, they would find only death. Other Imperial forces soon flocked to their banner and the Legio Praesagius and their allies repeatedly clashed with Horus' forces. This "Crusade of Iron" would leave worlds burned by its battles and hideous and terrifying weapons were unleashed, such as the Psi-Titans of the Ordo Sinister. While it raged, the Loyalists fought to preserve the Ultramarian way of life, while the Traitors desired only to leave ruin in their wake.Doom at Bormina (ca. 008.M31)Defence of Tyros (ca. 008.M31) - During the Defence of Tyros, a new and terrible ally of the Legio Praesagius entered the fray. Unheralded, black armoured Psi-Titans of the Ordo Sinister appeared on the battlefield. Like a giant apparition of death, the Warlord-Sinister-class Titan Occedentalis-Eurytus spread dismay and ruin among the Titans of the Legio Mordaxis and the Knights of House Ærthegn. Supported by only a handful of Loyalist Knights and Titans, the Warlord-Sinister infected Knight Nobles and Titan princeps with visions of despair and defeat. Their vox-net crippled, and their commanders imprisoned by their own doubts, the Traitor forces become easy prey for the Loyalists, who drove them from the cities of Tyros and hunted them across the world's vast Alkaline Badlands.Ambush on Espandor - War for the Agri-Sprawl (ca. 008-009.M31) - In the wake of the conflict on Ulixis, the Loyalists sought to press the advantage, working to divide the Traitors in order to more efficiently dismantle their strength. When word reached the Legio Praesagius of a gathering invasion intended to seize the Agri-world of Espandor in Ultramar, the Loyalists laid plans to intercept the Traitor efforts, focusing their forces on the Boreaus Agri-sprawl, a heavily developed area containing a maze of feed-towers and macro-granaries that would serve to negate the numerical advantage of the Traitors. Though only a handful of Titans from the Legio Praesagius could be mustered, they were supported by several maniples from the Legio Oberon, alongside dedicated companies of both Titan Killer infantry and super-heavy tanks. Amongst their number stood the Psi-Titan Occedentalis-Damysus, the Warlord-Sinister Titan lending its support to Princeps Ultima Dae Vergos' forces for reasons known only to its preceptor-intendant. Having marshalled their forces, the Loyalists hoped to spring a devastating ambush on the approaching Traitor force, consisting of Titans drawn from both the Legio Audax and the Legio Suturvora. Though Vergos had constructed her plan with meticulous detail, she could not account for the powers to which the Traitors now bowed. The Occedentalis-Damysus, tasked with striking the opening blow against the Traitors, found its talent stifled by the forces the Traitors employed. With the Psi-Titan brought low by packs of Legio Audax Warhounds hiding amongst the very buildings Vergos sought to use against the Traitors, the Loyalists were forced onto the back foot. In an effort to secure victory, Vergos ordered her forces into the city in order to limit the numerical advantage of the Traitors, drawing them into a bitter, close-quarters fight. Amid the devastating crossfire, the protective storm-coils surrounding Boreaus were hit repeatedly, dozens toppling in flames. Without the coils to hold it back, the storm raced in to cover the city. In the gloom, rain and flashing lightning, the two sides met with a mighty crash, like gods of old fighting over the fate of Mankind. Filled with battle rage, Vergos bulled her way toward the Traitors' commander -- Princeps Tesarius Orcan Rex, and his Warbringer Titan God Hammer -- leaving savaged enemies in her wake, and destroyed God Hammer by squeezing its head into scrap with its power claw. Her rage receding, Vergos realised that, despite the death of Orcan, her force was still badly outmatched. Vox messengers were coming in from orbit reporting that the Loyalist fleet was heavily engaged and calling for retreat, and reluctantly Vergos had to comply. Yet someone had to stay and cover the withdrawal -- and for this task the Legio Oberon stepped forward. Its Titans accepted their fate willingly to save Dae Vergos and the remaining True Messengers. For their princeps it was a chance to repay a debt owed since the battle at Ithraca on Calth, where they could not save their allies from the Traitors' surprise assault on the voidport. As the Legio Praesagius drop-craft made for orbit and their waiting fleet, the last communication from the surface was from the Legio Oberon maniples striding into the teeth of the enemy's guns, their vox blaring with a single repeated phrase: "For Ithraca!"Battle of Drooth II: Crusade's End (010.M31) - This battle represented the final confrontation between the forces of Horgoth Nyr and Dae Vergos, bringing an end to the Crusade of Iron. Though the Traitors had achieved many victories, Nyr found his forces bloodied by the vengeful Loyalists that pursued him. In the eyes of both himself and those around him, Nyr's record of conquest and slaughter across Ultramar was tainted by his failure to eradicate every trace of the Legio Praesagius. As the rampage across Ultramar undertaken by the Word Bearers and World Eaters drew to a close, Nyr knew he must settle the running battle between Vergos and himself. Committing to luring his foe to him, the Traitor forces burned a dozen worlds, each an open challenge to the Loyalists that pursued them. Though it was clear such actions were committed to bait Vergos into a fight, the Loyalists had little choice if they wished to punish their enemy. Gathering what remained of those forces committed to the Crusade of Iron, the Loyalists set sail for Drooth II and the battle that awaited. Known for its burning, sand-like mineral deserts, Drooth II was originally populated solely by a research station and listening outpost, placed there by the Ultramarines Legion to watch over the eastern edge of Ultramar. The Drooth outpost of Helgarn's Furnace was connected to a massive geo-orbital station by the slender needle of a gravity elevator, sprawled across hundreds of kilometres of metallic desert wastes. Macrocannon and lance batteries defended all approaches from orbit, and made landing within the bounds of the outpost suicidal. This outpost was quickly overrun by the Dark Mechanicum as war engulfed Ultramar and turned into a profane manufactorum capable of churning out debased weapons infused with powers pulled from the Immaterium. It was here that Nyr chose to make his stand against the Loyalist forces, aware that the veil between dimensions lay thin and the entities within the Warp were easily called upon should the Traitors lose the advantage. With both sides drawn to the world, the stage was set for a battle of cataclysmic proportions. Vergos chose her landing zones accordingly, and the Legio Praesagius set down in the desert 600 kilometres from the Traitor defences, their landing shielded by the curvature of the planet. Similar landings took place all around the outpost, the Legio Lysanda and Legio Oberon taking up position along with several Psi-Titans of the Chamber Occedentalis -- the Loyalist forces keeping their distance from the dark god-engines. Upon a signal from Vergos, the Titans walked, the shimmering desert dunes shuddering to their every step. On all sides of the outpost, dozens of Titans were fully engaged in brutal exchanges of fire. With unnatural speed and strength, the Traitor Titans fell upon the Loyalists, ripping and tearing at them like savage beasts. But, unlike on Calth, the Loyalists were prepared. From amongst the ranks of the Loyalist Titan Legions the Psi-Titans let their might be felt. The darkly majestic Warlords of the Ordo Sinister unleashed torrents of psychic energy into the Traitor forces rising against them. However, the Psi-Titans were caught unawares, as the Warhound wolf packs of the Legio Audax attacked the unsuspecting Loyalists from their unprotected flank, pulling the larger Titans down with their deadly Ursus Claws, like a ravenous packs of wolves pulling down a bear. Though the carnage and burning Titans, Vergos' Warlord, the Pride of Konor, pulled its way into the heart of the outpost, her guns tearing apart the structure and any who barred her path. Finally, she confronted her nemesis -- Princeps Maximus Horgoth Nyr and his Warbringer Titan Mons Ingnum. But as the two princeps fought one another in a deadly struggle, Vergos realised that Nyr's Titan displayed an unnatural Warp-enhanced endurance, which allowed it to rise like a revenant risen from the dead. Seeing no other options, Vergos fired her Titan's remaining Volcano Cannon upon the magnetic locks holding the research outpost's gravity elevator in place, causing the massive structure to collapse in on itself and down upon the battlefield, killing both Nyr and Vergos. Though the Horus Heresy would drag on for standard years yet to come, the Crusade of Iron ended that day on Drooth II. Whatever rage had driven Princeps Dae Vergos and her followers to hunt down Horgoth Nyr died with her, and the Legio Praesagius returned to Gantz to count its losses and rebuild its strength. By contrast, the death of Nyr tore what little unity of purpose remained among the Fire Masters, and its princeps fell even deeper into the thrall of the Warmaster Horus. Not until the dark days of the Battle of Beta-Garmon, the so-called "Titandeath," and the invasion of the Sol System itself, was the Traitor Legio to gather again in significant numbers, guided by the hand of a single grand master. By then, of course, the Legio Praesagius had rebuilt its numbers, and hastened to join the fight against their old foes, both Titan Legions playing their part in the final battles for the future of the Imperium.Imperial Muster at Beta-Garmon (012-013.M31) - For reasons only understood later in the war, the Ruinstorm that had been invoked by Lorgar, primarch of the Word Bearers, several standard years earlier during the Battle of Calth, began to abate across vast swathes of the galaxy. Loyalist high commanders were able to utilise the potent astropathic relay at Beta-Garmon to contact and recall formerly lost or stranded forces from across the war-torn reaches of the northern Imperium. The Imperial Muster at Beta-Garmon rapidly escalated into the largest gathering of Loyalist might since the early years of the war, a concentration of forces so mighty that the Traitors had to respond in kind. The resulting clash of arms would become known as the "Great Slaughter," a theatre of war of such scale that it would encompass the "Titandeath" and the Sea of Fire campaigns, each major campaigns in their own right. By its end, both sides were so badly bled that their only remaining option for ultimate victory was to force a final, decisive confrontation. As history related, that final battle would be fought at Terra, but only after the weighty butcher's bill of the Great Slaughter was paid in full.