Iyanden - The Battle of The Burning Moon: So began the Battle of the Burning Moon -- the greatest naval confrontation seen in that part of the galaxy for many centuries. Kallorax's armada, though it had suffered greatly from Yriel's previous attacks, still dwarfed Iyanden's forces, and the Eldar were forced to rely on every iota of their cunning. Fortunately, the sheer size of Kallorax's armada soon began to work against it, when Yriel ordered his ships to engage full speed and close to point blank range. At such velocities, even Eldar gunners could hope to provide little in the way of accurate fire, but such was not Yriel's plan. So tightly-packed and poorly crewed were Kallorax's vessels that barely any of their salvoes hit the Eldar craft it was aimed at, instead tearing gaping wounds in the hulls of their allies, slaughtering crews and unseating gun batteries. As sections of the Chaos vessels went dark, agile Eldar bombers slipped into the silenced kill zones to inflict more damage, sometimes flying into the ravaged superstructure itself to destroy vital systems. Some of these daring pilots were consumed in the ensuing explosions; others safely rode the bow-wave of energy into open space. Yet not everything in that battle favoured the Eldar. Ponderous though Kallorax's ships might have been, their sheer firepower was devastating. Even the smallest mistake by an Eldar helmsman could prove disastrous. The punishing volley of shells, missiles and torpedoes could shred the Eldar vessels' delicate steeing vanes and solar sails in the blink of an eye, leaving the craft adrift or out of control and easy prey for a second salvo. Many of Yriel's ships were crippled by stray shots; others were overwhelmed by the endless fighter-craft and Heldrakes that swarmed and boiled in the vacuum between the duelling starships.At the heart of the battle line, the Flame of Asuryan vied with Kallorax's newly-promoted flagship, the Riot Hunger. The Chaos vessel was vaster by far than Yriel's ship but here, as elsewhere, victory went to the swifter combatant, not the most muscular. Swooping low under the rippling torpedoes from the Chaos ship, Flame of Asuryan tore a great rent in the Riot Hunger's hull. Soon, Vampire Raiders were loose in the space beyond, deploying Yriel's boarding part of Wraithblades into the very heart of the command superstructure. Klaxons blared as Kallorax ordered the Shadow Guard, his inner circle of Renegade Space Marines, to defend the breach. These were the veterans of a thousand shipping raids, murderers of whole colonies; they were black-hearted killers who had slain the finest warriors of the Adeptus Astartes at their master's command, and now they came forward to slaughter perfidious aliens in his name. Not all of Yriel's assault force had come aboard the Riot Hunger in Vampire Raiders. Like Kallorax, the Eldar Prince had committed his finest warriors to this battle. Theses were Wraithknights, and much too massive to be accommodated within a Vampire's sleek hull. Instead, they had used their jump jets to cross the void between the two vessels, tearing their way through the Riot Hunger's ravaged hull and into the vaulted chambers beyond to join the fight.