House Orhlacc - Notable Campaigns: Rangdha Outbreak (Unknown Date.M30) - House Orhlacc's greatest hour of valour took place on the world of Bloch, during the last Rangdha Outbreak, a terrifying xenocide campaign that would see House Orhlacc cement its martial reputation in the blood of its own people, as no less than 48 Imperial Knights of Orhlacc were lost in a desperate last-ditch defence to hold back a massive enemy counterattack. For this great sacrifice, the house was rewarded with the rare gift of a Memento Mori, a distinction bestowed upon it by the hands of the Emperor of Mankind Himself.The Orhlacc Exodus (ca. 006-007.M31) - Trying to sway the reputed House Orhlacc into Dark Compliance, the Rogue Trader Charid Udine is exterminated with her retinue by the vengeful Knights of House Orhlacc. Dark Haven's few Defence Lasers -- hidden deep beneath the fungal canopy of their world -- exact a heavy toll amongst the Rogue Trader's flotilla, while Charid Udine's own vessel, the ruby-hulled galleass of war, Hammer of the Deep, is captured by the loyal Knight House. The Lord Seneschal of Dark Haven reported the incident to the cluster's Imperial authorities but received only platitudes in reply. With the Forge World they owed fealty to already being blockaded, Valdemar Orhlacc ordered the planet to be secretly abandoned, a fact that was deliberately kept hidden from Loyalists and Traitors alike. House Orhlacc's exodus was only noticed several solar months later when the Khabir, a Lunar-class Cruiser on patrol from Dominica Minor, reported Dark Haven deserted. Many thought House Orhlacc had simply been destroyed or had vanished entirely, but these rumours of their demise were all to be proven wrong as the Knight house had not perished in their long voyage, but had successfully found shelter within the Agathean Domain. House Orhlacc would also once again take to the field of battle almost two standard years later during the famed Liberation of Numinal, where their decisive intervention heralded an important Imperial victory in the region.Battle of Beta-Garmon, "The Titandeath" (006-013.M31) - House Orhlacc took part in the long and savage Beta-Garmon campaign, which included hundreds of war zones across dozens of worlds. During this conflict, House Orhlacc provided Knight support to the Legio Destructor. Even before the greater armies of the Warmaster Horus reached the star cluster, the battle lines had long since been drawn, and fighting had been going on for many Terran years. It was a cauldron of battle that would consume millions of lives before its end and see the demise of entire Titan Legions, earning this campaign the dire moniker of the "Titandeath." The Beta-Garmon Cluster, also known as the gateway to the Throneworld of Terra, was the last hurdle that the Warmaster Horus' forces had to overcome before they reached the Imperium's capital world. Heavily fortified by the Loyalists, Beta-Garmon would become one of the greatest and bloodiest battles of the Horus Heresy, as well as one of the longest-lasting.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. In short order, the Legio Infernus cleared the landing zones around their Titans, their Princeps Maximus Horgoth Nyr commanded his Titans with savage efficiency against the unprepared enemy. 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. The Legio Suturvora were not to have an easy victory, for they had underestimated the determination of the Legio Praesagius. Even as battle was joined between infantry and armour throughout Ithraca, the Loyalist Titans gathered their strength, the dark fire of their void shields igniting the air around them. Knights of House Orhlacc, having won free of a battle against the Traitors in their own ranks, joined the True Messengers, war between the two forces only averted by an exchange of ancient Collegia Titanica battle cant. Outrage and confusion at the betrayal of their brothers was quickly replaced with grim determination, and training took over for the princeps and Scions. Questions as to why the Fire Masters had turned upon them could wait -- all that mattered was survival, as the Legio Infernus bore down upon the Loyalists. Despite facing nearly one hundred enemy war engines, nine Loyalist Warlord Titans of the True Messengers boldly strode forwards to meet the foe in battle. They valiantly sacrificed themselves, buying the necessary time needed for the remainder of their Legio and their Knight allies to reach the streets of Ithraca. 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 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, Legio Praesagius gathered its allies and convened its councils of war; the horrors that the Loyalist Titans had faced at the city of Ithraca on Calth would not go unanswered. Princeps Ultima Vergos promised her allies and her fellow princeps that the Fire Master 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 Ultramaran way of life, while the Traitors desired only to leave ruin in their wake.Doom of Bormina (ca. 008.M31) - As the campaign known as the Doom of Bormina unfolded in the southern regions of the Five Hundred Worlds of Ultramar, the Legio Praesagius was having its first taste of battle since Ithraca. In the rain-drenched warrens of the macro-jungles, the Loyalists faced Legio Audax wolf packs, the close tangle of the world favouring the smaller Scout Titans. Here House Orhlacc shone, its Scions bringing the battle to Audax in the green hell of Bormina, their Knights able to dart among the roots of the great jungle trees and go places even the savage Audax Warhounds could not follow.Raid on Lysanda (ca. 008.M31) - The Knights of the Traitor House Ærthegn participated in multiple raids upon macro cargo haulers across Ultramar to cut off Loyalist supply lines and to secure materiel for the Crusade of Iron. The most audacious of these raids remains that of an assault upon a Legio Lysanda "coffin ship." The Traitor Knights overcame the Nobles of House Orhlacc tasked with defending the ship and captured those Titans that remained in their cradles.Liberation of Numinal (ca. 009.M31) - House Orhlacc and its allies from House Hermetika and those non-aligned raiders of House Ærthegn notoriously formed the second wave of attack during the counter-invasion of the Agri-world of Numinal. Most notoriously, it was House Orhlacc's savagery in combat and the losses they inflicted on Archmagos Draykavac's retinue of House Atrax Knights that tipped the balance in favor of the Loyalists. House Orhlacc's new flagship, the conquered ruby-hulled Hammer of the Deep, also proved instrumental in closing with the planet and inserting the Knights into the battlezone through a daring drop assault.