Battle of Coheria
The Battle of Coheria is a conflict that occured close to the end of the 41st Millenium between the forces of the Deathwatch and the Harlequin allies of the infamous Farseer Eldrad Ulthran. What happened there set the stage for the galaxy-changing events that followed soon after.
Something About A Crystal Moon[edit]
Coheria is the moon of Port Demesnus, known for its deserts full of crystal sands. Once a hub for the fleets of Port Demesnus, it was abandoned by the Imperium of Man since people had a bad habit of going mad just by staying there.
The moon itself once lay at the edges of the ancient Eldar empire. At the birth of the Chaos God Slaanesh, the moon was innundated by the psychic energies of the god's awakening, its crystal sands absorbing an echo of the death of countless Eldar souls. This psychic residue manifested in tortured whispers tugging at the edge of consciousness, and was the main cause of the rampant insanity plaguing the Imperial facilities that had been constructed on the moon.
Long forgotten by the collective consciousness of Craftworld Eldar, its rediscovery close to the end of the 41st Millennium by Illic Nightspear of Alaitoc, it piqued the interest of a certain dick, who saw a need to visit the moon personally.
The Dick Hatches a Plan[edit]
Seeing the potential of the moon's psychoactive crystal sands, the germ of an idea formed in Eldrad's mind: of a grand ritual, with Coheria as its focus, to prematurely awaken Ynnead, the nascent God of the Dead, from its slumber. If the ritual succeeded,it was a chance for salvation for his race, as it meant that not all Eldar needed to die to birth the Doom of She Who Thirsts.
It was an audacious plan, and fraught with peril, but a small chance of success was better than no chance at all. Eldrad needed to visit Coheria, in person, so he reached out to his allies amongst the Harlequins, and a Troupe that was part of Masque of the Midnight Sorrow, led by the Death Jester Inriam's Spectre, answered his call.
Eldrad laid out his plan, and the Death Jester found it agreeable, as it was so daring that even he couldn't help but be impressed. He aligned his Troupe to the Farseer's aim, and as a contingent escorted Eldrad to Coheria, others scattered to many Craftworlds to gather what was needed to make said plan work.
Grand Theft Farseer[edit]
Under the cover of their usual performances depicting the Dance Without End between Cegorach and Slaanesh, which had been modified to add a new player coming unto the stage, the Harlequins stealthily absconded with the crystalized remains of Farseers from each Craftworld. These were brought to Coheria, and arrayed in a giant runic circle of Eldrad's devising.
Their purpose was clear: each fossilized Farseer was both an artifact of psychic might, and a link to the Infinity Circuit of their Craftworlds. Using these links, Eldrad intended to siphon the energies of all Eldar souls inhabiting the Infinity Circuit of all Craftworlds, focus it on sands of Coheria, and create a blazing psychic beacon so powerful that Ynnead couldn't help but wake up.
Of course, there's the tiny detail that Eldar Fleets and Craftworlds across the galaxy would be temporarily defenseless when the ritual hit its climax, never mind the countless Imperial ships thrown off course, but sacrifices had to be made...
After centuries of preparation, everything was ready upon Coheria. Now all that was needed was an uninterrupted casting of the ritual, and for that a diversion was in order.
A Dick Plays His Hand[edit]
A Warhost made out of forces from Craftworlds Ulthwe and Saim-Hann struck at Port Demesnus without warning. The forces of the Imperium scramble to respond, and soon all four of the planet's continents were ablaze with war.
One of the forces sent to the warzone was a Deathwatch Kill-Team from Talasa Prime led by Watch Captain Artemis. Experienced at dealing with Eldar and their convoluted ways, it occured to the good Captain that the planet might not be the real target at all.
With this hunch, and a little old-fashioned insubordination, Artemis gathered his Kill-Teams, loaded them back unto their Corvus Blackstars, and set a course to the surface of Coheria.
A Mon'Keigh Wrench thrown into the Plans[edit]
Artemis found himself vindicated when he found Eldar signals upon the supposedly abadoned moon. As the Watch Captain readied his forces for deployment, he felt a psychic entreaty from Eldrad enter his mind, with the latter asking for a parlay, to allow the ritual to complete as it would benefit both Eldar and Human alike (which was technically true).
Unfortunately for Eldrad, Artemis was never in a diplomatic mood, especially with foul xenos. The Captain ordered the attack, and the Harlequins of the Midnight Sorrow lept to the Farseer's defense.
The battle became a wild and confused melee, not helped by the onset of mists charged with psychic power. The Deathwatch found themselves hard-pressed by the Harlequins, while Eldrad worked to bring the ritual to completion.
Then Artemis threw out a stasis bomb. This action caused a brief bump in the time stream, but it was enough to metaphorically throw the High Farseer's plans veering wildly off-script.
The Death Jester tried one more time to find common cause with Artemis, that this was the greatest chance all races had at striking a great blow against Chaos, but it was for naught. The Watch Captain's hatred for all xenos was too great, and he rebuffed the offer of alliance as easily as he pulled the trigger to end the Death Jester's life.
The ritual reached its crescendo, but with the end of the Death Jester took the Laughing God's blessing with him. As Eldrad struggled to keep the spell from collapsing, a pulse of bright plasma roared in his direction. He let his concentration waver for a brief moment, to divert a small fraction of his power to protect himself, but that was all it took.
The spell unravelled, and Ynnead's awakening was interrupted. All that gathered psychic energy caused the crystal seers to explode, after which it blazed through planet uncontrollably. Coheria was doomed.
As the Marines boarded their transports to escape, Eldrad staggered through a Webway Gate as well. As he mulled on his failure, he thought he saw a small spark of the consciousness he had sought to awaken fly off, though even he could not say where in the galaxy it would go.
Things Still (Kind Of) Worked Out[edit]
Although Eldrad failed hard, Ynnead woke just long enough to send a fragment of its power into Realspace. At that same moment, in a colliseum in the Dark Eldar city of Commorragh, a certain Eldar, who had lived the life of a Craftworlder, then an Outcast, then finally a Wych, was about to meet her end.
In that timeless moment, the fleeting consciousness of the God of the Dead looked upon the dying Eldar, and was pleased, as it gazed upon one of the rare members of her race who had trod upon all the Paths, both light and dark. Yes, she would do nicely indeed.
And so, it would come to pass that Yvraine, Daughter of Shades, would be Reborn. And nothing, NOTHING, would be the same ever again.