Editing Ferdain (section)

== Planetary History ==

Originally teeming with [[Feral Orks]], Ferdain was freed from Ork control by eight regiments of the Praetorian Guard. The planet was swiftly awarded to the General of the campaign, who had it immediately turned into a private retreat for the noblemen of Preatoria to get away from the sprawling, scum-filled hives of the planet.

Ferdain used for this purpose for many years, being passed on eventually to the General's grandson. By this point, tribal feral Ork forces had begun to spring up on the planet, threatening the property of those who had joined his grandfather's scheme and thus threatening his own reputation. The threat was not deemed sufficient enough for [[Imperial Guard]] retaliation, and as the planet was his own property, it was deemed his responsibility to defend it.

Oddly enough, it was a senior Magos Biologist of the Adeptus Mechanicus who approached him with a proposition. His solution was simple - he would have [[Skitarii]] dispatched to destroy the uprising and install planetary defences up to scratch with the current Adeptus Mechanicus. In return for this seemingly genuine request, he had the Governor pay him a hefty tithe for his services, and claimed wide areas of seemingly useless land as the Mechanicus' property. Seeing little other option, the Governor reluctantly agreed to his terms.

The Orks were swiftly put down by the elite Skitarii, and the [[Servitor]]s brought on-world swiftly began digging out foundations for huge underground complexes. When completed, the facilities were silent for almost a year. When they finally roared into life, the Magos Biologis instantly began working on their purpose here - humanity was not the only thing that could be improved by the glory of the Machine God. If they were to transcend mere flesh and limitation, so too, would their beasts of old. Cavalry would be a viable tactic once again, being able to operate with little-to-no supply lines, no [[Techpriest]]s required constantly on-hand to administer prayer and litanies, and all the armour of a light tank by installing a naturally-growing organ inside rapidly-accelerated clones.

And so they got to work, obtaining a huge stock of animals from throughout the galaxy. Horses were deemed the most suitable for use due to their old role as stalwart war beasts. Amongst their first improvements came the sub-dermal armour implants, suddenly making mounted warfare that much more viable. Regiments that had once simply requisitioned a unit of [[Rough Riders]] when they needed a unit to charge and outflank suddenly began opting into the scheme. Over the next few hundred years, the Equestrarium became a galactic distribution center, constantly shipping out mounts for new issue or replacement as though it were simply a shipment of lasguns.