Legio Suturvora - Notable Campaigns: Battle of Calth, Massacre of Ithraca (ca. 007.M31) - The Fire Masters Titan Legion took part in the infamous Battle of Calth, the treacherous campaign conducted during the early stages of the Horus Heresy by the traitorous Word Bearers Legion, on behalf of the Warmaster Horus against their hated rivals the Ultramarines. As Calth burned, the Battle Titans of the Fire Masters Legion took to the streets of the city of Ithraca, ready to massacre the fleeing civilian population in the name of their new, dark masters. But the remaining Loyalist war engines of the Legio Praesagius -- the True Messengers -- stood ready to defend the Imperium, even in the face of almost certain death. With the nearby Ultramarines forces scattered and lost, the people of Ithraca were forced to fend for themselves as the gigantic war machines unleashed apocalyptic weaponry across the ravaged skyline. Ultimately the Ultramarines would prevail, driving the Word Bearers back and robbing them of final victory, though the lives of the people of Calth would be changed forever by the damage done to their world's sun during the battle by the retreating Word Bearers in orbit.Shadow Crusade (007-008.M31) - Amidst the brutality and horror of the Shadow Crusade, whereupon the World Eaters and Word Bearers Space Marine Legions sought to bring about a dark awakening within the Warp after the creation of the Ruinstorm, Traitor and Loyalist Legions did battle. While the Loyalists reeled from the Calth Atrocity, the butchers of Ithraca, the Legio Suturvora, followed the Word Bearers and World Eaters across Ultramar on a trail of blood and flame. Giving themselves wholly to the Warmaster's cause, these Traitor princeps exercised their violence upon planets sworn to the Emperor.Crusade of Iron (ca. 008-010.M31) - The Shadow Crusade was made manifest, its pain and suffering bringing about turmoil in the Warp. This deadly era came to be known as "Shadow and Iron," a time marked by the Traitors' reckless hatred loosed upon the Five Hundred Worlds of Ultramar, and the Loyalists' righteous vengeance sent to meet them. It was the war within a war that arose between the Titan Legions, when gods of steel and plasma walked the Realm of Ultramar, and the doom of worlds walked with them. When the Warp opened and consumed those Loyalist Titans set to defend Calth, it revealed the true extent of the Warmaster's heresy. In the span of a single solar day, the greater sum of the Legio Praesagius was destroyed, along with millions of the Imperium's soldiers, and thousands of loyal Space Marines. Such was the scale of the betrayal that it echoed across the segmentum, a booming war cry that demanded a response. In the wake of this atrocity, the surviving princeps of the Loyalist Legio Praesagius gathered their allies and launched the Crusade of Iron across the Five Hundred Worlds to bring their betrayers to account.Battle of Ulixis (ca. 008.M31) - In spite of the chaos betrayal had brought to the Five Hundred Worlds of Ultramar, the Legio Praesagius gathered its allies and convened its councils of war; the horrors of the Battle for Ithraca would not go unanswered. Princeps Ultima Dae Vergos promised her allies and her fellow princeps that the Fire Masters 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. While the Primarchs Angron and Lorgar had been pursuing their own dark desires, Princeps Maximus Horgoth Nyr and the Legio Suturvora sought out military targets and worlds vital to the Ultramarines' ability to wage war. Like the Word Bearers and World Eaters, Nyr had been charged by the Warmaster Horus to keep the Ultramarines and the eastern Titan Legions pinned down defending their empire, though unlike his allies, he was not consumed by the pursuit of personal glory nor did he seek the favour of foul Warp patrons. Nyr took great pleasure in the execution of his oaths to Horus, pleased at last to have any pretence of restraint lifted from his Titans. In its endeavours, the Legio Suturvora was supported by its two principal allies – the Legio Mordaxis (Deathdealers) and the Legio Audax (Ember Wolves) -- the two Traitor Titan Legions having found common cause with the Warmaster. While Nyr and his Titans rampaged from one world to the next, Princeps Ultima Vergos set about a plan to defend Guilliman's realm, even as the Primarch himself struggled to hold its rulers and worlds together, and stymie the worst excesses of the Traitor Titan Legions. Ulixis was used as a staging ground by the Legio Suturvora to both harm Ultramar and deal severe damage to the Loyalist forces. Ulixis was one of the principal producers of munitions in Ultramar and, knowing its destruction would deal a severe blow to the Ultramarines' effort to rebuild, Princeps Maximus Horgoth Nyr of the Fire Masters set upon the world. In truth, the Legion's invasion was the first step towards springing a trap upon the Loyalists. When a combined force of both the Legio Lysanda and the Legio Oberon were drawn to the world, they found its surface devoid of Traitor Titans despite reports to the contrary. It was then the Traitors sprang their trap, seizing control of the planet's orbit and unleashing a fierce orbital bombardment upon the Loyalists on the surface. Though the initial bombardment was devastating, most of the Loyalist forces were driven into the system of caverns beneath the surface, forcing the Fire Masters to commit to a series of running battles beneath Ulixis. For solar days the two Titan forces fought in the dark, their massive weaponry tearing apart the guts of Ulixis. It was within the Wyrms' Lair, a vast cavern littered with the remains of the burrowing creatures that had carved it long ago, that the conflict came to a head, both sides committing their forces in an effort to eradicate the other. As the fighting raged between the two opposing sides, Princeps Raynal Hess in his Warlord Titan Astra Obsurus, leading a Legio Lysanda Myrmidon maniple, charged out to meet Princeps-Maximus Nyr and his Warlorld Titan Mons Ingnum in battle. However, Hess was unaware of Nyr's fellow supporting Fire Masters Titans, which laid in waiting. Their combined volleys crippled the legs of Hess' Titan. However, before the Traitors could strike the killing blow, Hess overloaded his Titan's reactor, and the pitch darkness of the Wyrm's Lair turned to blazing day. When the explosion finally receded, those princeps still in functioning war engines were surprised to see the light remained, for a massive hole had been blown in the cavern ceiling, and a stairway of rubble and broken Titans led up to it. More surprising still was the vox message that came streaming down across all bands -- the Loyalist fleet had returned with reinforcements, and the Traitors were in full retreat. Kast rallied the Legio Oberon and the survivors of the Legio Lysanda, and pushed the Traitors back. Though Nyr and many of his Titans managed to escape, their hold on Ulixis was broken, and perhaps most crucially of all, the Loyalists had driven the Fire Masters back, disproving the invincibility of their enemies.Ambush at Espandor (ca. 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 Traitor invasion intended to seize the Agri-world of Espandor, 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-class 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 Legio Infernus. Much to Vergos' frustration, Horgoth Nyr did not command the enemy Titans. Princeps Tesarius Orcan Rex, as pitiless a leader as Nyr, led the Fire Masters and, supremely confident of his gathered force, he strode into Vargos' trap without a second thought. Orcan's Warbringer-class Titan God Hammer led the Fire Masters into the Boraes Agri-sprawl, where the Loyalist forces laid in waiting. The Fire Masters' own supporting Secutarii and Dark Mechanicum war machines moved out into the ruins left by the Titans, their job to root out any stragglers or survivors. Beyond the edge of the storm, in the hinterlands surrounding Boreaus, Dae Vergos and the Loyalists waited. Only the Psi-Titan Occedentalis-Damysus advanced upon the city, cloaked in a shroud of psychic energy. The Occedentalis-Damysus, tasked with striking the opening blow against the Traitors, found its talents 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. Utilising Ursus Claws, the Legio Audax wolf pack dragged the larger Titan to the ground, like a bear brought down by hungry wolves. 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. Meanwhile, the remaining Loyalist Titans advanced from the woods, their weapons pummelling the invaders. Vergos raced to move her Titans into the city where they could take cover from the enemy's superior numbers. Amid the devastating crossfire, the storm-coils surrounding and protecting 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 Humanity. Filled with battle rage, Vergos bulled her way toward Orcan's Warbringer, leaving savaged enemies in her wake, and destroyed the God Hammer by squeezing its head into scrap with its Titan-grade 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, 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 for 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!"Confrontation on 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 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 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 Titandeath, and the invasion of the Sol System itself, was the Traitor Legion 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.Battle of Beta-Garmon, "The Titandeath" (006-013.M31) - The Legio Suturvora took part in the long and savage Beta-Garmon campaign, which included hundreds of war zones across dozens of worlds. 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. During the Battle of Beta-Garmon, the Legio Suturvora was supported by the Knights of House Ærthegn and House Mordred.Battle of Tallarn (010-011.M31) - Fire Masters Titans supported a unit of the Word Bearers in battle against a force of Salamanders Space Marines and the Firebrands Titan Legion that provided the Loyalist Astartes with heavy fire support.13th Black Crusade (999.M41) - When Abaddon the Despoiler led the largest Chaos incursion into Imperial space in 999.M41 since the Horus Heresy, the Fire Masters were one of the Traitor Titan Legions that had some limited involvement in the 13th Black Crusade's campaign on Cadia.War of Beasts (ca. 001-025.M42) - Following the destruction of the Fortress World of Cadia and the formation of the Great Rift, the Fire Masters took part in the campaign known as the War of Beasts upon the Imperial world of Vigilus, situated within the Nachmund Gauntlet. This was one of the few stable passages through the Great Rift into the Imperium Nihilus. As such, this world became strategically vital to the Imperium and a target for assault by xenos and the forces of Chaos led by Abaddon the Despoiler.