Cadia

Cadia is a terrestrial fortress world guarding the only navigable route to and from the nebula known as the Eye of Terror. Cadia's natural environment is similar to Terra's, with a large Ocean covering 70 percent of the planet. The land mass that does exist is divided between incredibly thick pine forests and vast glaciers. The planet is slightly cooler than most but not to the point that it adversely affects growing conditions. Cadia was settled sometime in the early 32nd millennium by Humans, who quickly became the dominant species. Cadia's location in comparison to the dangerous Eye of Terror has made it necessary for the people of Cadia to fortify the planet to an extent were almost the entire population live in massive fortresses known as "Kasr's", Thus Cadia has an odd mix of dense urban areas and vast open tundras. It is here that Abaddon the Despoiler, Warmaster of the Chaos Legions, fields his continual assaults or Black Crusades from his hold in the Eye of Terror.

Military
Cadia is the home of the Imperial Guard Cadian Shock Trooper regiments, widely regarded as the best soldiers in the Imperium short of the superhuman Space Marines, thanks mainly to their martial culture. Their leader is the indomitable Ursarkar E. Creed, the savior of Cadia and hero of the Battle for Cadia. . Since Cadia is the capital of the sector and very often raided by various civilizations, the planet has been extremely heavily fortified. All of the citizens of the planet must serve at least a four year term in the military, and the amount of military presence has lead to the population becoming focused on weapons production. 71.75% of the population is under arms (Codex: Eye of Terror p.24). Cadia exports vast numbers of weapons to its neighboring planets, while importing very little. Cadia has a special and honoured place in the history of Mankind. Cadia stands upon the edge of the Eye of Terror within a narrow corridor of stable space called the Cadian Gate. This forms the one and only predictable passage between the Chaos infested daemon worlds of the Eye of Terror and Terra. It seems that although many Chaos fleets have ventured out of the eye, very few Imperial fleets have ventured in. No battle fleet of any size can rely upon other unstable passages and must pass through the Cadian Gate. Cadia is therefore one of the most strategically important planets of the galaxy.

On several occasions the forces of Chaos have moved against Cadia and raging battles have been fought in the depths of space. Such huge battles are rare, but the constant intrusion of Chaos raiding craft is commonplace. Chaos Space Marines make frequent forays onto the surface of Cadia and must be hunted down. The bulk of the Cadian army is made up of the Shocktroops, with the remainder made up of the Whiteshields (conscript soldiers recruited at the age of 14 and trained to take place in Shocktroop regiments) and the Elite Kasrkin soldiers.

Notable regiments:
 * 7th Cadian "The Lucky Sevens"
 * 8th Cadian "The Lord Castellan's Own", led personally by Ursarkar E. Creed during the Thirteenth Black Crusade
 * 39th Cadian "Xenobane"
 * 69th Cadian "The Fighting 69th"
 * 88th Cadian
 * 110th Cadian "Shadow Corps"
 * 122nd Cadian Distinguished themselves in the Vogen Campaign, and featured in Codex: Cityfight (Chambers, 2001)
 * 412th Cadian Featured in Dawn of War: Winter Assault
 * 417th Cadian "Hellbringers"
 * 516th Cadian "The Wildcats"

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