Chapter 17

Colossus Bridger- I mean he probably will. From what I've seen and heard, he seems to be the closets thing, besides Guilliman, that 40k has to a typical hero character. If nothing else, it'll just be a way to ensure that the Enclaves will not be

LezGo35- No, I haven't, which is why I asked about him because he doesn't appear much in 40k stories. You'll see what Kelbor-Hal does when he appears.

Eldar

Kharez

The Eldar warlock known as Kharez couldn't help but feel an ounce of uncertainty course through his body as the ritual was being conducted by the Farseer and her Seer Council, leaving him to oversee their defenses. That was probably why he felt a sense of uncertainty. He only had five squads of Black Guardians with him along with the appropriate weapon platforms and vehicles for such squads, several Aspect Warriors squads from various paths, and several rangers. He lacked much heavy firepower to deal with any heavier vehicles, which will no doubt be brought by the Forces of Chaos when they find them. Even the Thousand Sons utilize heavy vehicles on occasion, though they prefer the utilization of their psychic powers to such cumbersome vehicles. Though, considering their potential in the psychic arts, he should be more worried about that over their usage of heavy vehicles.

Though the Farseer was certain that the Forces of Chaos will come for them because of their ritual, Kharez hoped that they were far away enough from the moon that they were currently on that the Eldar can complete their ritual and leave before they can arrive to investigate. Because Kharez was confident that the Chaos Marines will win against them with how meager their defenses are. Unfortunately, his hopes were dashed as a single Chaos cruiser was making its way towards the moon, careful to avoid being detected by the Tau and the humans on or in orbit around Fehl Prime.

Ahriman, the leader of the Thousand Sons, gauzed upon the screen that featured the moon that held the psychic presence that he and many other Sorcerers of the Thousand Sons have sensed. He had no doubt that Neroth had also detected the psychic presence, regardless of where he was in the galaxy. With the warp so calm, even the weakest of psykers would have sensed the power coming from the natural satellite with the amount of psychic energy that was being manipulated there. Such power and manipulations can only come from one source and he highly doubted and he highly doubted that any of the Chaos Legions would have done something akin to what was happening at the natural satellite right now when Ahriman and the Thousand Sons were present in this galaxy. And he really doubted that any of the other leaders in his Warband will try to do anything without his knowledge. Psychic manipulations are their specialty after all and he was the greatest in the Warband and the entire Chaos fleet. With the warp so calm, he could easily detect any psychic ritual or manipulation in the galaxy. And this ritual on the moon was so great that it was like firing a flare in a dark cave. Easy to spot.

Even Neroth wouldn't have been arrogant enough to try a psychic ritual and try to keep it hidden from him, much less the other Chaos legions. The backlash would be too much and he would pretty soon have people trying to kill him for this. That left only one candidate and he could honestly see them doing it regardless of the risks involved, their arrogance was legendary in their old galaxy.

The Eldar must be on that moon, conducting a psychic ritual for currently unknown purposes. Regardless of its purpose, even if it's to draw the Chaos forces to them, Ahriman was not going to let a perfect opportunity in capturing a few Eldar escape his grasp. Especially when they could give them the location of Kelbor-Hal. Since the information about Kelbor-Hal came from an Eldar prisoner, Ahriman was certain that the Eldar leaders knew more about him, perhaps even his location. And the amount of psychic power being manipulated by this ritual can only come from an Eldar Seer Council. Or, even better, an Eldar Farseer. Or both. Thus, the prize was too grand to ignore, even if it was a trap. Kelbor-Hal was simply too important of a person that even the slimmest of chances of finding out where he was is worth any risk. Not only for his knowledge but also for the benefits he will give to those that find him.

With that in mind, Ahriman ordered his cruiser to fly toward the moon at full speed. The captain of the ship, however, spoke up.

"Ahriman, I advise against that." Said a Chaos Space Marine of the Thousand Sons, a Tzeentchian Sorcerer by the name of Kaibon. "We may be detected by the nearby Tau. Though weak, they have numbers on their side. I fear we'll be destroyed by them if we don't retreat the moment, they detect us." Ahriman considered the words of Kaibon and realized they were sound.

"Very well." Said Ahriman as he changed his orders. "Do what you can to make sure our approach to the moon is undetected by the Tau, captain. We may need the orbital support. In the meantime, I'll take most of our soldiers and warriors to the moon's surface. The Eldar responsible for the ritual are vulnerable to attack. If we strike now, we'll be able to kill or capture most of them before they escape."

"Understood." Said Kaibon as Ahriman left, knowing how he was going to travel to the moon.

"In the meantime, Kaibon, be on the lookout for Eldar ships. No doubt that there is at least one ship here to evacuate the Eldar on the moon. You have to engage the ship, either to prevent the Eldar from escaping or to defend yourself if it decides to attack." Said Ahriman before leaving the bridge, leaving Kaibon to captain it. Kaibon looked at the moon that was their target, eager to kill some Xenos. In the meantime, Ahriman was gathering the necessary warriors and sorcerers needed to combat the Eldar along with what few heavy vehicles they had. Soon, the assembled Warband was ready and thus Ahriman and a few other sorcerers began teleportation rituals to teleport them to the moon's surface. All of them were eager to fight the Eldar, those that can anyway, and, hopefully, gain knowledge about Kelbor-Hal. Though such rituals can take time, with the calmness of the Warp at the moment along with the powerful ritual being conducted at the moon as a reference point, the ritual was completed in seconds thanks to the expertise of the Thousand Son sorcerers. The teleportation ritual took the assembled force of Thousand Sons and teleported them a few hundred meters from the ritual site.

Meanwhile

Kharez

Kharez had been in the process of formulating a trap for the inevitable arrival of the Chaos forces when he sensed powerful psychic energies being manipulated and it wasn't from the ritual. Realizing what this meant, Kharez was about to rally his forces through psychic means when he saw a massive blue and white tear in the fabric of reality appear, and out came the Thousand Son forces. Right on top of a guardian squad and their Falcon transport. The guardian squad had no time to react before the Chaos Marines butchered them with their psychic-enhanced bolters and psychic powers, their transport ripped apart by two Chaos Marine Hell brutes. Done with those Eldar, the Thousand Son force marched onward, eager to find and capture those conducting the ritual that brought them here. In the meantime, the lone Eldar that was near them, hidden in a crater far away enough that the Forces of Chaos didn't see him yet he saw them, was looking in horror upon seeing a large number of Chaos Marines. Counting over sixty Rubric Marines, four Hell Brutes, and nine Sorcerers, including the leader of the Thousand Sons in this galaxy, Kharez was horrified at the large force of Chaos Marines.

He expected them to arrive later, all of them too busy in their raids and plunders to react to their ritual. It was the reason they had such a small force defending the ritual. That the Chaos Space Marines would be too busy harvesting the humans in this galaxy and universe to scramble a large force in time before they left. That was the Farseer thought. What she was so confident on. Now, she was proven wrong and their entire operation in this universe was in jeopardy.

Psychically contacting the remaining Eldar defenders, Kharez ordered most of them to defend the cave entrance where the Seer Council and their Farseer were located while the rest try to fight a delaying action against the Forces of Chaos.

Getting onboard the Eldar jet bike provided to him by the Farseer, Kharez quickly took off towards the cave that the Seer Council was in order to coordinate the defense. Flying out of the crater, Kharez prayed to Isha that he can hold the Chaos forces back long enough for the Farseer to finish her ritual. Otherwise, he fears that this ritual will be the death of them all.

In the meantime, Ahriman sensed the departing Eldar, going fast enough to avoid the gun ranges of their Hell brutes. No doubt the other sorcerers have seen this, but he quickly ordered them to stand down. The jet bike that the Eldar was riding was moving fast enough that any of their guns will not hit him. Nor any of their psychic powers. It would be a waste of energy to fire on him. Not that it would matter, this was actually good for them. It would cause the Eldar to come out of their hiding spots and face them if they wish to stop them from interfering with their ritual. A good thing as the terrain did not benefit the Eldar at all.

The terrain of the moon was flat open space with only a few craters spread around the surface. The Eldar are a race that fought with trickery and mobility in mind. They preferred to strike quickly, taking out as many key enemy resources as possible, before retreating, preventing the enemy from reacting. All of their vehicles, some more than others, emphasized this. All of them were faster than anything within the arsenal of both the Forces of Chaos and the Imperium of Man. Even their warships were faster than theirs by a large margin. However, this came at the cost of being less durable than their human counterpart, hence the strike quickly and retreat tactics of the Eldar.

The terrain didn't favor such tactics. The clear line of sight everywhere for their weapons and psychic powers gave the Chaos Marines an advantage over the Eldar. Any attempt by the Eldar to rapidly approach them or ambush them would fail because of the terrain. It would be spotted by the Chaos Marines before they could launch an attack unless it's from their long-range weapons or aircraft. Both of which were capable of being countered by psychic powers. Even though the Eldar were experts in psychic powers, the Thousand Sons were also experts so the advantage was balanced out. To make matters worse for the Xenos, the Chaos Marines knew the location of their leaders. The ritual is like a beacon to the Chaos Marines. All they had to do was march towards the ritual and the Eldar would be forced to engage them in more conventional styles of battle, which negates the natural advantages and warfare methods of the Eldar and greatly benefitted the Chaos Marines.

Marching towards the ritual, the Chaos Marines were eager to capture the Eldar leaders for information on Kelbor-Hal. The prize for finding the old tech priest and bringing him back to Abaddon is beyond their imagination and scope. Perhaps they'll be able to even gain the ultimate of prizes for a Chaos Marine. Ascendancy as a Daemon Prince of Chaos, like the Primarchs of old. While Ahriman, who cared little of that prize, wondered if he could use Kelbor-Hal as a way to garner support from Abaddon in capturing the leader of the Ynnari, Yvraine. With his support, the capture of Yvraine would be all but assured. That is if Kelbor-Hal was still alive. A possibility that still has to remain on the table. The Eldar may try to be preventing them from finding Kelbor-Hal but the possibility remains that they don't know if he's still alive or not as well. After all, they're trying to prevent them from finding Kelbor-Hal according to Neroth. Who's to say that he was still alive?

That possibility will anger Volmas and Neroth, Ahriman was certain of that, but he wasn't sure of Xyphas. The Alpha Legionnaire was well adept at keeping his emotions and body language under control. Regardless, he was going to capture these Eldar anyway. As he said, it was only a possibility that Kelbor-Hal was dead and capturing the Eldar leaders or, at the very least, one of their seers will confirm if he was dead or not. Along with his location if he was still alive. Who knows? They may even know the current plans of Yvraine and if she was here or not. That will make Ahriman happy above all else. Even finding Kelbor-Hal.

With that in mind, Ahriman casted a psychic power over the entire Chaos force. The Eldar will strike soon, no doubt. Better prepare now for their inevitable attack.