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From Warhammer 40k - Lexicanum
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Through regular nullship probes, the Inquisition maintains a watch upon the systems within the Eye of Terror. These spy vessels are hidden behind their screening shields and psychic barriers whilst they use their massive sensor arrays to take physical readings of the worlds within the warp-filled region of space. This allows them to collect data on the [[Traitor Legions]]' various bases and fortresses. Specially-trained [[psyker]]s that are monitored for signs of [[Chaos]] contamination are attached to these expeditions who monitor the thoughts and feelings of the Traitor Legionnaires. Despite these precautions, much of the information gathered is fragmentary and much more is lost to the natural hazards within the Eye, or else the ships themselves are lost, either destroyed by the psyker crews being driven insane by the images they have witnessed, or taken prisoner in boarding actions by the Traitor Legions.{{Fn|4}}
In spite of the manifest dangers of these missions, the nullships are periodically sent by the Inquisition into the Eye{{Fn|3}} (such expeditions are called by the [[Adeptus Mechanicus]] as '''Exploritas''' expeditions){{Fn|2}}; some grains of information are yielded and then stored within the records of the [[Ordo Malleus]].{{Fn|3}} Some of these discoveries have been so explosive as to shock the higher levels of the [[Imperium]], with the [[High Lords of Terra]] debating long and hard on what action to take.{{Fn|2}}
As of the [[41st Millennium]], it had been more than a hundred seventy-eight years since the last nullship had been sent into the Eye of Terror. Prior to this point, there had been twenty such spy ships that had been dispatched where none had returned or sent back anything useful. At this time, the prophetic visions of a [[Psyker]] imprisoned on [[Mars]] attracted the attention of [[Magos]] Technicus [[Ipsissmus]] who decided to construct a new class of nullship that had ten times the screening of the older model, was larger and better armed, had the capacity to carry more fighting men and had the ability to travel the entirety of the Eye of Terror without being detected. He arranged a meeting with the [[Inquisitorial Representative]] about launching an expedition into the Eye to ascertain the details of the Psyker's prophecy. The mission was accompanied by a [[Librarian]] of the [[Purple Stars]] [[Chapter]] of the [[Adeptus Astartes]]. The expedition and a follow-up mission determined the rise of [[Abaddon]]'s [[13th Black Crusade]] within the Eye of Terror.{{Fn|5}}
