Editing Eternal Zealots (section)

==The Healer of Lazarus==
[[File:Pre-Heresy Zealots Emblem.png|200px|thumb|The Standard of Aubrey, original Eternal Zealots emblem]]
<span style="font-size:110%">'''The Primarch of the Sixteenth'''</span>

Far from the reach of Imperial space, the world of Lazarus stood as the nexus of a fledgling interstellar empire. Its residents had begun delving into the intricacies of faster-than-light travel and colonisation efforts were being started on surrounding worlds. However, there was one major difference between Lazarus and the Imperium.

Lazarus did not belong to man.

The reptilian Lazarites of Lazarus were making rapid technological and societal progress. In the century following the Sixth Lazaran War, the Lazarites had united as a species and set their sights on expanding their empire through the vastness of space. Though limited by their primitive warp drive technology, trade had begun with other xenos and colonisation missions had spread beyond the Lazarus System itself.

It was at the boundary of Lazarite territory, on the world of Hyue, in the year 901.M30, that the young Lazarite Empire would meet the overwhelming force of humanity’s [[Great_Crusade_(Hektor_Heresy)|Great Crusade]]. In less than a day, the entire Lazarite colony on Hyue was dead, destroyed from orbit by the virus bombs of the 41st [[Expedition_Fleets_(Hektor_Heresy)|Expedition Fleet]]. Following Imperial protocol, the fleet prepared to continue with the purging of the xenos scourge from any and all occupied worlds, however the Lazarite counterattack would catch them by surprise.

A swarm of Lazarite ships emerged from the shadow of an asteroid field as the 41st prepared to conduct Exterminatus on the Lazarite world of Mucazar. Despite being outclassed in speed, weaponry and defences, the Lazarite destroyers moved with unerring precision, exploiting blind spots in Imperial firing positions and sacrificing hulls when exposed to Imperial counterattack. The Lazarite assault had only one purpose in mind, the disablement of the Imperial flagship Pionarium Imperialis.

Lazarite commandos braved the void to assault the bridge of the Pionarium Imperialis, swiftly disabling the command crew and taking control of the vessel. The human commanders of the 41st were shocked when the Lazarite leader removed his helmet and revealed himself to be a human, a tall warrior with an air of unstated nobility. With the appearance of [[Aubrey_The_Grey|Aubrey Vokrii-Kendov]], the missing primarch of the Sixteenth legion, the 241st Expedition Fleet was forced into humiliating surrender.

The astropathic messages from the 241st sent Terra into a frenzy of activity. Hektor Cincinnatus himself made haste for the Lazaran system, arriving weeks later to find that Aubrey was already expecting him. Together with his Chrysaspides, Hektor boarded the Pionarium Imperialis, ready to confront his brother. What he found was beyond his expectations. In the weeks following the surrender of the 41st Expedition Fleet, Aubrey had been studying and learning, picking up the language of Gothic as well as understanding of the Imperial Truth. Hektor had expected to meet a feral brother, corrupted by Xenos but instead he found an equal, a true primarch with a mind sharper than a scalpel.

Hektor would soon come to find out that Aubrey rejected the idea that humanity alone would be dominant in the galaxy. He staunchly refused attempts to exterminate the Lazarites, arguing that they were his people as well. Unable to shake his brother’s conviction in a world where xenos and humans could co-exist, Hektor escorted Aubrey back to Terra to speak with their father, the Emperor of Mankind. Aubrey would grow close to Hektor on the journey back, impressed by the charisma and authority of the first primarch. Hektor would also come to respect Aubrey for his tactical acumen and unyielding conviction.

Aubrey’s reunion with the Emperor was a tense affair. While overjoyed at the return of yet another wayward son, the Emperor feared that his mind had been polluted by Xenos corruption. Standing his ground to the end, Aubrey would defend his belief in peaceful co-existence against the hardest psychic scouring of his father. After a full day of contemplation, the Emperor gave his final answer. The Lazarites would be spared, but quarantined to the Lazarus System. Never would the Lazarites get the opportunity to threaten the hegemony of human supremacy. The compromise was quietly accepted by Aubrey, however his heart continued to burn with the dream of a tolerant Imperium, where man and xenos could coexist in harmony.

<span style="font-size:110%">'''A Legion Restored'''</span>

Following his discovery, the Sixteenth Primarch would then turn his attention to the salvation of his gene-sons, the dying Emerald Doom. Through his genetic material, the gene-seed of the Sixteenth Legion could be repaired, saving them from certain destruction. However, even his pure genetic material was not enough. The rampant mutations within the genetic material of his gene-sons would not be so easily cured.

Aubrey spent years researching the failure in the genetic material of the Sixteenth Legion. Working on Luna, with the finest genewrights known to man, he painstakingly redeveloped his legion’s gene-seed, seeking to eliminate the cancerous flaw that was consuming his legion. Still, the geneseed of the Sixteenth proved stubbornly resistant to change. External genetic material was rejected and the geneseed continued to mutate, ever changing its effects on the Astartes that carried it. In a final act of desperation, Aubrey reached out to his contacts within the Lazarite Empire, who told him of xenos traders that sold advanced gene-forging technology, technology that had the potential to exceed the limited human technology at work. For Aubrey, this was not a difficult decision. He would show that cooperation with Xenos could bring humanity to the next level.

At his private gene-lab on Lazarus, Aubrey refined the gene-forging process, restoring the Catalapsean Node and Omophagea of his legion. It was rumoured that Pallas Eugenesis herself travelled to Lazarus to provide guidance and help during the process, but nothing could be conclusively proven due to the secretive nature of Aubrey’s work. He would go on to develop advanced gene-therapy, intended to cure his existing sons of their scourge. Only when the process was perfected did Aubrey consent to see his gene-sons, the remaining five thousand Astartes of the Emerald Doom. Aubrey had kept the worst of the cancer at bay, but his sons would have to be ever vigilant against the sickness within their blood.

Aubrey wept upon seeing his afflicted legion, not a single Astartes was spared the ravages of their cancerous gene-seed. Still in their zeal they had continued fighting as true servants of the Emperor, dedicated to spreading his Imperial Truth. He would rename the legion into something more befitting of their righteous fury, the Sixteenth would become Eternal Zealots, surviving forever for the glory of the Emperor.

A legion of five thousand dying marines came to Lazarus in 908.M30. They left as renewed warriors, eternal zealots that would be at the forefront of mankind’s great crusade. Recruitment would begin in earnest, utilising the perfected gene-seed that Aubrey had toiled over. However, the compromises made by Aubrey to save his legion would come to haunt them down the line.