Volistad - History: The world of Volistad was first colonised by the Imperium of Man in 979.M35 and the Adeptus Mechanicus began terraforming initiatives to make the world suitable for Imperial colonisation, which soon commenced. However, the history of Volistad from this point on is unknown. Warp Storms isolated the planet while still in its sociological infancy, and it was left to develop on its own for the next 3,500 standard years. When Volistad was re-discovered by the Imperium in 437.M39, it was in a state of planetary civil war; the world had been reduced to a feudal state and was led by four major families -- House Ochinka, House Petchenka, House Silenko, and House Volga --  whose constant warfare with one another in pursuit of political dominance had brought the planet's society to its knees. The feudal in-fighting had become so fierce by the time of the return of Imperial forces, as a result of the limited use of primitive nuclear weapons by the feuding noble houses, that Volistad's eco-system was near collapse. Most of the surface had been overtaken by the oceans, which had been swollen by the melting of the world's polar ice caps.The return of Volistad to the Imperial fold ended this feudal warfare and restored order to the world in the name of the God-Emperor. With technologically advanced troops, the Administratum's Departmentus Reclamata set to work crushing the in-fighting and re-introducing the world to the ways of the Imperium. The strongest of the Volistad noble houses, House Petchenka, was declared the house from which all of the world's hereditary Imperial Planetary Governors, known locally as Overlords, were to come. The eco-system was restored to a workable state and the natives' sub-standard technology was brought up to the Imperial standard.For the past 2,560 standard Terran years, Volistad has been a planet strongly loyal to the Imperium. Volistad possesses two factors that make it of strategic importance to the Imperium -- Astropaths and Titans. Nestled in the central region of the world called Tollcharin lies a monastery of the Adeptus Astra Telepathica. The Astronomican is a navagational reference point, essential for safe and successful traversing of the perilous realms of the Warp. The Astropaths' role on Volistad is to provide a stabilising influence at this temperamental Warp site, allowing the Astronomican to perform its function and maintaining relatively safe Warp navigation through this vital corridor of the Segmentum Tempestus. Should the distortions become too great to stabilise, or should any starships find themselves in jeopardy within the Warp, the Volistad Astropaths act as what is effectively a psychic lighthouse.The Astropaths had to cease their "work" once the Orks of WAAAGH! Skroll arrived for fear that the Ork Weirdboyz might discover them and their purpose. Should the Astropaths be destroyed, the Orks could cut off the whole sector from Imperial navigation and entire regions of space would be at their mercy. It would certainly extinguish any hope of long range reinforcements arriving in time to save Volistad.Secondly, an Adeptus Mechanicus Explorator archaeological team discovered ancient Titans still in stasis on Volistad in 928.M41. The Titans had been placed on Volistad to protect the world during the initial Imperial terraforming mission in the 35th Millennium, and had remained undisturbed for the better part of 7,000 Terran years. The decision on what to do with the unexpected discovery of these massive and potent war machines was still pending within the Imperium's bureaucracy when the Ork assault began.