Iyanden - Attack of the Eldritch Raiders: The Eldritch Raiders arrived as another wave was closing in. Little of Iyanden now lay in Eldar hands, and the majority of its defenders lay dead. The last of the Biel-Tan forces had perished in an attempt to slay the Hive Tyrant in command of the swarm. They had died in failure; hundreds of lives had been lost, and the beast was yet unwounded. Farseer Kelmon was lost amidst the slaughter, as were many of the Council. Draech had perished a second time while defending the Webway gate. Leadership now fell upon Farseer Taec Silvereye and the Spiritseer Iyanna Arienal, and they marshalled their last forces in the Fortress of the Red Moon. From the bridge of the Flame of Asuryan, Yriel looked upon the ruin of Iyanden and knew only anger; at Kelmon for not contacting him sooner and at Ethrael for his failure to protect the Craftworld, but the better part of his rage Yriel spared only for himself. He should have been here; he would have been here but for the monstrous pride that had driven him away. Yriel's subordinates marked the grim look upon their Prince's face, but dared not ask its meaning.Like the burning spear of Khaine, Yriel's forces tore through Hive Fleet Kraken's blockade and ripped the heart out of the attacking swarm. Then, without pause, they came about to strike at two more waves. Not a single Tyranid ship reached the Craftworld through that maelstrom of plasma, though the cost of the Raiders was dear. Nearly a hundred vessels had accompanied Yriel, and scarcely a third of them remained by the time the second wave of Tyranids was naught but ichor-flecked debris. Bloodied but unswerving, the Raiders prepared to sell their lives to the last in order to turn back the next wave of Tyranids. Vigilant eyes watched the scanners, waiting for the first tell-tale blip that would indicate the onset of the next assault -- an assault that did not come. The space-borne threat had been defeated.The space battle had been won, but under Iyanden's skies, the battle for the Craftworld's soul still raged. The Tyranid hordes now turned and hurled themselves at the Eldar with renewed ferocity. This unexpected assault shattered the Fortress of the Red Moon and sent its defenders reeling. No longer was there a concerted defence of Iyanden, just a series of doomed pockets of resistance, fighting to survive. Iyanna Arienal gathered what ghost warriors she could and formed a breakwater of the dead that she hoped would buy time for the living to counter-attack. Wraithcannons and D-Sythes blazed darkly amongst the ruins as reborn ancestors perished anew to save what descendants they could. They did not hold for long. This attack was led by a Hive Tyrant larger than any the Eldar had yet faced. Neither shuriken nor blade could pierce the creature's hide, and every sweep of his claws reduced a ghost warrior to ruin.Knowing the battle would be won or lost with the Hive Tyrant's fall, Iyanna summoned what forces she could. Amongst them, there was one warrior whose might should have been sufficient to crush the Hive Tyrant. At Iyanna's call, the Crafworld's Avatar of Khaine strode into the fray, its towering form alive with fire. With a growl akin to an erupting volcano, the Avatar roared a challenge to the Hive Tyrant. However, Tyranids do not fight for honour; indeed, it is doubtful they have any concept of bravery or cowardice. Instead of meeting the Avatar in single combat, the Hive Tyrant urged its minions to destroy the newcomer. Not one, but a dozen thundering Carnifexes stampeded towards the demigod. The Wailing Doom felled two of the beasts in a single swipe and disembowelled a third, but under such an assault, not even the embodiment of the Blood-handed God could prevail. The impact of the fourth Carnifex slammed the Avatar from his feet, molten blood oozed form his shattered iron frame. Before the war god could rise once more, the rest of the brutes closed in and tore him apart.With the Avatar's fall, Iyanden's last strength was spent, but, in an act of loyalty that restored Yriel as a hero, the Raider Prince and his people disembarked from their sleek ships to reinforce the wavering ground troops. Yriel himself led the charge, and not one of the Hive Mind's abominations could stand before him, for he had taken up the Spear of Twilight from its resting place in the Shrine of Ulthanash. This was a cursed weapon of legend, likely to prove as fatal to the wielder as to his enemies, but the hour was too late for Yriel to heed any personal danger. The Hive Tyrant thundered to meet the Eldar Prince, but the creature's savage strength and ferocity proved no match for the awesome energies of the Spear of Twilight. With one fluid motion, Yriel thrust the weapon into the monster's gaping maw and out through the back of its chitinous skull. It was as perfect a blow as any that had ever been struck. With a howling scream, the Tyrant collapsed and died at Yriel's feet. The last echoes of the monster's death shriek signalled the defeat of the alien horde. With their synaptic conduit severed, the remaining Tyranids ceased to attack as a united wave and reverted to instinct. In that heartbeat, the hunters at last became the hunted, as those Eldar who had yet the strength to stand surged forwards to claim vengeance for the dead. Iyanden had been saved.