Editing War of Beasts (section)

==The Opening Phases==
===The Speed Freekz Cometh===

The first major threat to hit the planet in the wake of the Great Rift opening was a massive [[WAAAGH|Waaagh!]] of [[Orks]]. Bursting from the Rift seemingly at random, and led by powerful [[Speed_Freek|Speed Freeks]], the Ork fleet easily broke through the naval cordon and landed its boyz in the deserts between the great hives.

While most of the fleet crashed and burned, the Orks soon used remains of the downed fleet to create ramshackle scrap-cities, and from there '''Speedboss Krooldakka''' roared out at the head of a massive force of bikes, trukks, and battlewagons. Still reeling from the birth of the Rift, the Imperial forces gathered could do nothing to stop it.

At first, the Orks met little success as the force fields were too strong. Growing bored, they resorted to raiding caravans or battling and racing each other in the massive deserts outside of the hives. This state of affairs didn't last however as the Great Rift continued to grow, and with its expansion Warp Storms washed over Vigilus. The bastion fields soon flickered, then failed outright, which was what the Orks were waiting for. The green tide rushed to each Hive, and despite the best efforts of the [[Imperial Guard]], the [[Skitarii]] of the Adeptus Mechanicus, and the [[Sisters of Battle]], it was all they could do to avoid being overwhelmed.

===They Came From Underneath===

Despite the threat of the Orks, there were threats to the defense of Vigilus much closer to home. Centuries before, a [[Genestealer Cult]] derived from the '''Pauper Princes''' had managed to get a single Purestrain Genestealer onto the world. It grew into the [[Genestealer Patriarch]] called the '''Grandsire Wurm''', and its cult refused to let its years of preparation go to waste due to the unexpected greenskin arrivals. Uprisings that were supposed to be triggered decades down the road were forced to do so prematurely, and soon every Hivesprawl was in chaos due to the simultaneous insurrections. Imperial defenders fell to synchronized ambushes across the planet as the Cult consolidated its hold on the Hives.

The response to the Genestealer Cult-led revolt was slow, as the Imperial Government initially thought it was the work of criminals and malcontents and instead focused on shoring up its defenses. These uprisings, plus the constant ork raids, essentially forced the industry on the planet to grind to a halt. Things were, to put it mildly, looking grim.

===Tooth and Claw===

[[File:Vigilus_tooth_and_claw.jpg|320px|thumb|right|Bugs vs. Furries.]]

It was at this point that a task force of [[Space Marines]] made of elements from the [[Iron Hands]] and the [[Brazen Claws]] decided to throw their hats into the proceedings. On the way to the Stygies Front, they made a detour to Vigilus once contacted by their Mechanicus allies. Led by [[Kardan Stronos]], the Astartes made a massed [[Steel Rain|drop pod assault]] on the outskirts of each major Hivesprawl before converging toward Megaborealis. Expecting to find Orks, they found cultists and [[Genestealers]] instead. Battles with these cultists would keep the sons of [[Ferrus Manus]] busy for many months.

Later on, a second task force of Astartes, this time [[Space Wolves]] from the Great Company of [[Ragnar Blackmane]], arrived to do battle with the xenos occupying the Oteck Hivesprawl. There was little coordination between the Wolves and the Iron Hands, and both chapters gave little notice to the Aquiliarian Council of their plans, having no interest in getting bogged down in the petty rivalries, long-winded procedurals and political deadlock that kept the council from effectively coordinating their defenses in the first place.

The Iron Hands began a cold and clinical system of quarantine and elimination alongside their Mechanicus counterparts in Hive Megaborealis, whilst the Space Wolves put their innate hunting senses to potent use against the Genestealer Cults, being one of the few Imperial forces able to effectively sniff out (literally) and take the fight to the cultists in the Oteck Underhive.

===The Megaborealis Throwdown===

A Mechanicus stronghold, Megaborealis was thought unassailable by '''Ipluvius XIV''', the [[Tech_Priest_Dominus|Magus Dominus]] in command of the Skitarii forces there, enough that he let himself get distracted by his studies. However, a squad of Ork [[Ork_Kommando|Kommandos]] begged to disagree and brought down the hive's forcefield. The massive Speed Freekz attack that followed, coupled with a [[Just As Planned|simultaneous attack by genestealer cultists]], caused the magos' cogitators to freeze up due to the stress, leaving the defenders without coordination. It was bad enough that the cultists were able to steal a [[Warp_Weapons#Imperial_Variants|Vortex Missile]] and detonate it in the middle of the Hivesprawl, destroying countless Imperial war assets including the [[Warlord Titan]] '''Dominus Rex'''.

In a decisive move, Archmagos '''Nesium Caldrike''' took control of the remaining defenders, and coordinating with elements of the [[Iron Hands]] Clan Kaargul put a stop to the Genestealer shenanigans, for now at least.

While all of ''this'' was happening, the [[Imperial Guard]] was making a large-scale counterattack with the aim of reinforcing Megaborealis. The armored convoys of [[Leman_Russ_Battle_Tank|Leman Russes]] and [[Chimera Transport|Chimera]]s took a heavy toll on the greenskins, but all this just seemed to draw more and more mobs of Speed Freekz to the convoys.

===Chaos Crashes The Party (Literally)===

Hivesprawl Dontoria, already under pressure from mysterious attackers (who turned out to be [[Dark Eldar]] opportunists), had an unknown spacecraft crash into the hive's center despite the best efforts from the anti-air emplacements surrounding it. From its ruined depths came the mutants of the '''Gellerpox Infected''', and worse, in their wake came the Heretic Astartes of the '''[[Death Guard]]'''.

While the [[Tempestus Scions]] there were able to repel the Infected's assault, the sons of [[Mortarion]] soon overwhelmed the defenses. In desperation the Hive's lower levels were firebombed in a two-mile radius, but this was not enough to contain Nurgle's followers, and soon the Gellerpox spread through Dontoria. Despite the warnings of Rogue Trader '''Delarique du Languille''', the Aquilarian Council was slow to react to the threat. Acting on a warning from her psyker servant that the Gellerpox would threaten Terra if left unchecked, du Languille took matters into her own hands. The Rogue Trader was able to halt shipping offworld and intercept and destroy what was thought to be the only Gellerpox-infected vessel departing Vigilus - but it was later found that two other infected ships had escaped and were now headed directly to [[Terra]].

===Here Come Guilliman's Boys===

After receiving a vision from [[Varro_Tigurius|Tigurius]] as well as a message from [[Roboute Guilliman]] to not allow Vigilus to fall, [[Chapter Master]] '''[[Marneus Calgar]]''' rushed as many of the [[Ultramarines]] that he could spare to the planet's defense. The going was difficult, and even with Tigurius' guidance many [[Librarian#Ranks|Epistolaries]] died to get the Chapter to the world on time.

Once there, he swiftly had those in the Aquilarian Council he determined to be Genestealer Cult infiltrators executed and the Vigilus Senate set up in its place.

===Wolf Bites Bug===

[[File:Tooth_And_Claw_Oteck_Rumble_2.jpg|320px|thumb|right|Rumble in the Hive Sumps, take 2!]]

The [[Space Wolves]] of course, were not idle. At Oteck Hivesprawl they tried to reclaim the all-important water supply back from the cultists. Things turned nasty very quickly when the Wolves' artillery support in the Imperial Guard turned out to have been controlled by the Cultists and a whole lot of Hive City was suddenly dropped on the Wolves' heads. Many died, but enough Battle Brothers remained to continue the hunt for the xenos. The cultists were finally cornered and annihilated, but in their wake they left the water supply mostly tainted.

'''Haldor Icepelt''', the commander of the Space Wolves there, ordered whatever explosives the cultists stockpiled found then used them to bury the polluted water source under tons of rubble, preventing its spread to other hives.