Editing Eyes of the Emperor (section)

=History=
''Neither the past nor the future is written with any certainty.''

- Sayings of the Vardhana


Much of the Legion's history is clouded in shadow.  Its leaders rarely kept written records and filed only those reports which were demanded of them.  Journalists were unwelcome on their Expedition Fleets.  Despite the lack of evidence, some key episodes could be reconstructed from the histories of other formations.

===Beginnings: XIX Squad and the Council of Ten===
Fragmentary evidence, including a commendation by '''Malcador the Sigilite''' in which the XIX Squad of the [[Sacred Band]] are praised as ''having redeemed the dishonor of their sires'' suggests that the Eyes of the Emperor drew their Terran recruits from among the families of those who had defied the Emperor.  Even less survives of their battle record in the Pacification of the Merican Hives, but it is clear that Hektor Cincinnatus came to trust them as he did few others.  Hektor's dispatches show that the squad's main role was to serve as battlefield snipers, guarding over the brotherhood of the Sacred Band from on high.  After the end of the Unification Wars, this band of warriors would rule the XIX Legion as the '''Council of Ten''' and spoke with one voice.   Their influence was spread through their gene-descendants, the ''Acharya'' caste of officers and teachers.  Though they claimed the Primarch as one of their own, the rediscovery of Shakya Vardhana greatly disrupted Nineteenth Legion and even the fulsome praise of Hektor could not soothe the discontent.

===Great Crusade===

During the first years of the Primarch's leadership, the Nineteenth were relocated to the Death World '''Marusthali''', where their Neophytes could be tested against the ferocious native predators.   Throughout the [[Great Crusade (Hektor Heresy)|Great Crusade]] the Eyes of the Emperor acquitted themselves with honour, winning many notable victories, but they were never among the great conquerors of the Legiones Astartes.  Their contemplative, almost spiritual ways were suited to careful consideration of possibilities and judicious use of force, not carving a swathe through the stars.  The Eyes brought many worlds into compliance without firing a single shot, deploying agents to teach distant worlds rather than warriors to subdue them.

Those who were loyal to Shakya Vardhana accepted his teaching that the wars of the Great Crusade were important, but that their true trial was still to come.  For a long time, this prophecy had a far-off air to it, but as the 31st Millenium began the Primarch announced that he sensed darkness swiftly approaching.  Attempting to head off the crisis, the Eyes of the Emperor brought evidence of sorcerous acts among the [[Black Augurs]] to the Emperor, triggering the [[Council of Nikaea (Hektor Heresy)|Council of Nikaea]].  The Edicts of Nikaea stripped the Librarians of their special rank and barred their use of psychic powers, reducing the Council of Ten to the Council of Nine.

'''Notable Campaigns'''

*'''The Society of Inquiry on Telos III'''.  In 843.M30, agents of the Legion established a polite, respectable society of academics and intellectuals on the civilised world of Telos III.  These learned men and women vigorously opposed theism, expounding the moral and intellectual superiority of philosophical materialism (the belief that matter, not thought, is the primary form of being).  Although largely apolitical, the Society's work helped to condition the Telosians for receiving the Imperial Truth.  When the Cruiser ''Stillness of Being'' arrived bearing warriors of the Eyes of the Emperor in 862.M30, the task of bringing Telos III into compliance required little more than an explanation.  (Given the political conditions arising on [[Ciban IV]] before its formal contact with the Imperium, some have theorised that the Eyes of the Emperor undertook a similar operation there.)
*'''The Illuminated Fraternity on Ceres VII'''.  Ceres VII was a populous Feudal World at the time of its compliance and went on to become a major agricultural exporter in the last century of the Great Crusade.  In 873.M30, the Eyes of the Emperor seized control of the planet with just a single squad of Satria, thanks to their foresight.  For a quarter century, scholar-adepts in service of the Legion carefully established fortress-monasteries full of warrior monks.  These human soldiers served the Eyes with great distinction in the brief compliance campaign, and many of their younger brothers became Aspirants for the Legion.
*'''Last stand at Vorthorn Station, 882.M30'''.  While on long-range operations deep into the Ultima Segmentum, the ''Spectre''-class Warp Runner ''Silent Mouse'' detected a distress signal in a dialect of Low Gothic.  While the vessel's technicians translated the signal, Brother Somporn Thaksin ordered a course change to investigate.  When ''Silent Mouse'' broke Warp, the Eyes of the Emperor discovered a space station being boarded by Orkish roks.  Brother Somporn ordered his squad into action without hesitation.  ''Silent Mouse'' docked and the Eyes of the Emperor deployed to hold back the Orks while civilians were taken aboard.  Somporn's men were stretched thin in the battle and as the Marines died, their cordon shrank.  With 217 men, women, and children loaded upon the ''Silent Mouse'', Brother Somporn commanded the Warp Runner to get under way just before a Nob's choppa cut him down.  The final sight that the technicians of ''Silent Mouse'' had of their brave commander was Somporn holding back the greenskins with his dying strength.

===The Heresy===

[[File:Lewecke-gateport.jpg|200px|thumb|Dodu rises over Malluma]]
At the outset of the Heresy, the Eyes were scattered across the Galaxy.  Shakya Vardhana and his Disciples arrived on the moon '''Malluma''', where they had been dispatched at the orders of the Warmaster Hektor Cincinnatus.  Contrary to the intelligence provided to them, the Eyes of the Emperor encountered no [[Orks (Hektor Heresy)|Orks]] on Malluma.  They faced a far more dangerous foe, as the treacherous Warmaster had sent them into a deadly trap - a daemon world, ruled by the ''Shadow in Time'', a powerful child of Tzeentch.  The daemon separated Shakya Vardhana from his bodyguard and attempted to win him as the chosen of the Changer of Ways, but the Primarch remained true to the Emperor.  In the fight that ensued, the sacrifice of many Space Marines banished the Shadow in Time.  Although the Vardhana and the Disciples suffered greatly on Malluma, they emerged resolute and certain that their hour had arrived.  The fleet regrouped and made haste towards the Segmentum Solar.

Behind the Vardhana's back, the Council of Nine and their descendants in the ''Acharya'' had led the centre of the Nineteenth into alliance with the traitor "War Council" of Hektor Cincinnatus.  The Expeditionary Fleets were redirected to begin operations in the Galactic North, seizing critical resources for the rebellion.  If the ordinary ''Satria'' and ''Wesias'' Battle Brothers were confused by these orders, they were long accustomed to following the dictates of the ''Acharya''.  Only '''Phirun Soun''', former Chief Librarian of the Legion and the missing Master of the Council was aware of the true threat.  He sensed the Mark of Chaos on the most debased of Hektor's allies and did not hesitate to act.  Phirun seized the Warp Runner ''Devotion of Illobian'' and fled towards the Galactic South, trusting in fate to bear him safe to the Vardhana.  Despite the convulsions of the Warp triggered by the onslaught of the Ruinous Powers, ''Devotion of Illobian'' sailed swift and sure.  Soun's vessel broke Warp in the outer reaches of the Tramezzino system, far in the south of the Segmentum Solar.  To the horror of the ship's company, warships broadcasting Nineteenth Legion identification codes were present.  The only man on ''Devotion of Illobian'' to greet the news calmly was Phirun Soun, for he already knew what the ship's technicians would soon discover - the ships were led by ''Virtue of Patience'' under the command of Shakya Vardhana.

Using the intelligence delivered to him by Phirun Soun, the Primarch led a battle for the soul of the Legion.  The Loyalist Eyes shadowed the movements of their brothers still obedient to the Council of Nine, bringing the truth to the ordinary Battle Brothers and gradually breaking the control of the ''Acharya'' caste.  This effort was entwined with a series of strikes on Traitor supply depots in the Segmentum Solar, a key contribution to the defence of Sol in the early stages of the Hektor Heresy.