Editing Darius Cyaxares (section)

==The Great Crusade==
{{See also|Sand Keepers}}

[[File:Desert_planet_j1.jpg|200px|thumb|The Death World Kumul]]
Before taking command of the Sand Keepers, Darius Cyaxares travelled to the '''Death World Kumul''' and stayed in its wastes for a whole season.  He disclosed his purpose only to the Emperor, and it must be assumed that the Master of Mankind had no objection to his son's activity.

In his first years as the Legion's commander, Darius greatly reshaped the Crimson Hawks, beginning by renaming them the '''Sand Keepers'''.  The Primarch assumed command from the remarkable twin brothers, '''Aurus and Diatus Moelia''', who had been stewards of his Legion for three years.  On their first meeting, he warned them that they had little time left together.  This prophecy that would come to pass the next year when Diatus Moelia was slain in an accident during the Legion's relocation to the Kumul.

Darius Cyaxares' foresight was also evident in the Legion's operations.  His strategies were inscrutable but infallible, allowing the Sand Keepers to perform military miracles without the losses suffered by his brothers' men.  Yet their overall contribution to the Great Crusade was far exceeded by many of the other Legions.  On a visit to Ciban IV, Darius offered an explanation for the Sand Keepers' slow pace to his friend and brother Primarch [[Gaspard Lumey]]: ''"I have built a lighthouse but the sun still shines."''

Yet when the two met again on the eve of the [[Core Worlds Campaign]], Darius saw darkness approaching.  The Primarch's vision became confused.  Although he was still sharp and insightful on the events of the next weeks, everything beyond that was clouded in darkness.  As the months stretched on, Darius could not even be sure when the Adversary would strike, only that peril loomed.  He did all he could, preparing his Sand Keepers and striving to find a compromise at the [[Council of Nikaea (Hektor Heresy)|Council of Nikaea]].  Yet neither Darius Cyaxares nor his mighty Father could prevent the eruption of civil war and the opening of the [[Hektor Heresy]].