Task 1 - Imperial Guard - 453rd Pelean

The 453rd Pelean is an amalgamated unit composed of the 53rd Pelean and the 4th Mechanized Pelean. With the 53rd lacking an upper command structure and the rank and file of the 4th having been decimated after a protracted siege at , the union of these two units seemed like a rare perfect pairing to the Munitorium. This was not the case.

Pelea is a world located in the galactic north-west of Ultima segmentum. Approximately 1.7 times larger than Terra its surface is dominated by a single vast ocean. Volcanic hotspots abound in the equatorial rim, creating island land masses that trail away as the eons pass. The islands range from newly risen expanses of molten rock to verdant tropical and subtropical rain forests. A colossal network of reefs encircle the planet. This feature is so profound that they are plainly seen from orbit. Initial surveys showed little of interest, while precious minerals exist deep within the planet, it deemed cost ineffective to gather them from the ocean depths as the islands are rather devoid of heavy elements. Nothing is known of the first settlement of Pelea other than the large stone foundations that date to a time well before the Emperors Crusade. These locations are shunned by Pelea's current inhabitants. Dark and foreboding stories are associated with the time worn stones of the old ones.

The first recorded colonization occurred sometime in late M34. Colonists were settled in hopes of producing sufficient fish and other sea fauna protein for the nearby hive world of Upsilon Fortis. Terrestrial bio-stocks took hold but did not establish dominance over local species. Forming an unusual dual biotic system, crossover of chemical material only happens at the amino acid level and below. After 300 years this resulted in only enough food production to support a slow stable growth of the settlements. With no immediate expectation of export or of a near term, some would say heroic, re-engineering of the planetary biocycle by the Adeptus Mechanicus, support for the colony was abandoned. The colony grew slowly eventually rising to sufficient size to support levies of troops for the Imperial Guard. The Peleans support a tithe of one Regiment every other generation. This slow trickle of troops is more than made up for fact that Pelea has a relatively heavy gravity for a human colony. Peleans from the first colonization are a hardy lot possessing great strength and endurance. While troops from Pelea bear some resemblance to deathworlders their size is the result of relatively good nutrition and the population gene shift resultant from an HG environment. This good fortune was tempered for the munitorium by the fact that Peleus had no means of producing any armaments aside from melee weapons and bows.

Early in M39 the exploritor ship Coherent Light of Olympus and her attendant fleet arrived in the Peleas system. While it was possibly responding to the initial request for assistance from millennia past we will likely never know as the Adeptus Mechanicus loves to keep its secrets. What is known is that Mechanicus teams scoured the planet while the fleet stayed in system for nearly two decades. When they left unexpectedly, the Peleans the breathed a sigh of relief. They would retain their ocean world, it would seem, as they had known it for four millennia. Four years later the Olympus returned with a host of bulk personnel and construction carriers.
Within three years a city was built upon the largest reef of the planet. Workers were brought in the millions, industry flowered on the barren ocean. Mechanicus devices spread throughout the reef like the tentacles of the indigenous hey-ey creature. To the surprise of all the original Peleans the city was producing metal.

Today in M42 there are two cultures on Pelea stoic island dwellers clinging to ways that had once served their forebears well and citizens of the reef Hive toiling away in manufactoriums and forges producing ever increasing wealth for the subsector. Small but vicious wars have broken out time and again between the two. Leaders from the administratum and ministorium fight to retain both vital resources for the Imperium. But there is as much animosity and resentment between the two as there is water on Pelea. Meanwhile half a galaxy away an anonymous munitoruim clerk enters the code that places the 53rd under the command of the 4th.