Hell's Own, Hammerhand's briefing had described it as a classic hardcore penal legion. The criminals conscripted were described as typically deserving of their fate. They were recidivistly violent criminals, psychopathic murderers, revolutionaries, traitors, corrupt officials, psychotics, weak but controllable psykers, Imperial Guard troopers convicted of the crimes of cowardice, dereliction of duty, and other transgressions of regular military law. In addition chaos adherents that had been caught before the corruption of chaos had insinuated too deeply were often also recruited and used as cannon fodder. These latter and the psykers were often a concern for the Inquisition. Infrequently but, given the chronic Imperial manpower and logistics problems, all too often the taints of chaos had corrupted squads, platoons, companies and even complete penal regiments causing revolts or setbacks and even defeats during Imperial campaigns. Hence Hammerhand's allocation to Hell's Own. He hoped that the name was not intended to insinuate inevitable corruption, was simply ill omened but more likely simply ill considered.
The actual criminal composition of the Imperial penal legions varied from system to system, governor to governor and year to year. Due to the endless demands for manpower to underwrite the Imperial Guard's incessant casualty lists the level of criminality required for recruitment was often markely reduced. Endemically in some systems and in any and every system if the conditions were correct expressions of blasphemy , defeatism, and fear were enough. In other desperate or corrupt Imperial systems failure to deliver production targets, spitting, wealth, property, or having sons or daughters desired by powerful Imperial Officials were usually sufficient.
As a consequence every officer in a Penal Legion had to watch their back every waking hour and minute. They also needed to find someone they could trust to watch their back when they were asleep.
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