Battle of the Burning Moon
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The Battle of the Burning Moon was the decisive final battle between Craftworld Iyanden led by Prince Yriel and the Chaos warband of Argan Kallorax in 942.M41.[1a]
Overview
After his earlier defeat at the Battle of Agrion, Kallorax faced a mutiny from his own forces but ruthlessly crushed it and hung mutilated but still-living rebel leaders body to the prow of his personal shuttle. Seeking revenge, Kallorax directed his Sorcerers to find him the location of Yriel's base, but unfortunately for him Iyanden had foreseen this turn of events and woven a psychic shield that obscured his own psykers vision. In a rage, Kallorax had his Sorcerers put to death and instead made a pact with Daemons, offering numbers of lives in hopes of using the foul creatures to destroy his hated Eldar enemies. In the end, the mass sacrifices by Kallorax paid off and the Keeper of Secrets N'Kari pledged his support. N'kari was able to detect the Eldar base's location even through their psychic shield, and Kallorax's forces struck at them with a vengeance. Yriel managed to mobilize his own fleet and strike first. In the Battle of the Burning Moon, the greatest naval battle in that part of the Galaxy for many centuries, the two armadas clashed.
Kallorax's armada still dwarfed the Iyanden forces, but Yriel used his enemies' own size against them by charging them at point-blank range. Using his superior crews to place down accurate close-range fire while Chaos warships inadvertently crashed and fired on one another. The Eldar also used their swift but heavily armed Darkstar Fighters and Eagle Bombers to great effect. Nonetheless, the sheer firepower and number of the Chaos ships took a heavy toll on the Eldar, and Yriel's Flame of Asuryan battled Kallorax's new flagship, the Riot Hunger. Yriel used his Vampire Hunter attack craft to deliver boarding parties of Wraithblades into the heart of Kallorax's vessel. Kallorax had his Shadow Guard, his elite inner circle of Renegade Space Marines, defend the breach. However, this was what Yriel had intended, and after Kallorax had drawn his best troops away from his command bridge Yriel and a force of Wraithknights leaped from the Flame of Asuryan onto the Riot Hunger. Yriel then confronted Kallorax directly as battle raged around them. The battle proved to be a stalemate as Yriel's strikes were too weak to do the Renegade Warlord any damage, while Kallorax's cumbersome attacks were too slow to strike Yriel. Eventually, Kallorax feinted with his axe before striking Yriel with his gauntlet, sending the Eldar Prince reeling. Yriel fell to his knees, and Kallorax stood over his opponent and gloated in triumph. However, Yriel managed to gather a final muster of wits and strength and ducked under Kallorax's final blow, impaling the Chaos Lord with his sword. With victory in hand, Yriel's forces quickly destroyed the Riot Hunger.[1]
Few of the Shadow Guard outlived their master, but in a final gamble three Chaos Cruisers made a mad dash for Iyanden itself. Yriel abandoned his attack on Kallorax's remaining fleet and instead spurred the Flame of Asuryan to pursue, destroying two of the Chaos Cruisers upon arrival. However, the last ship, in a final act of malice, launched a volley of Cyclonic Torpedoes at the undefended Craftworld, a level of firepower that could devastate Iyanden. Yriel realized his folly of using all of Iyanden's ships for attack, as the Flame of Asuryan was too far to intercept the torpedoes. Iyanden's own point-defense lasers managed to intercept 35 of the 36 torpedoes, but the last struck home and created a devastating impact on the Craftworld that killed tens of thousands of Eldar. Worse still, their Spirit Stones had also been destroyed and the slain were doomed to the torments of Slaanesh. In a fury, Yriel destroyed the final Chaos warships but knew that his hubris had cost Iyanden deeply.[1]
Yriel assured himself that his battle plan was sound and the sacrifices to Iyanden necessary for victory over Kallorax, but Yriel was disgraced and he left the Craftworld with a portion of his most loyal Corsairs.[1]
Sources
- 1: Iyanden: A Codex: Eldar Supplement, pgs. 13–22
- 1a: Iyanden: A Codex: Eldar Supplement (E-Book): Iyanden's Rise and Fall
