New Dark Eldar Cabal encountered

General Veers remained in overall command of all forces in the Perseus Deeps as the summer of 011M42 drew to a close. His forces were now spread out after the campaigns of Corticant, Bastien and Parthenope, and the Inquisition disputes, still rumbling along in the background, meant that a new offensive against Chaos didn't seem likely in the near future.

The Tau too were stretched. Very few forces had been sent into the Aleph Expansion Sphere from the Tau Empire during 011M42, as wars elsewhere demanded more attention. In addition the fighting on Tyndareous soaked up any reinforcements which may have been forthcoming.

The net result was that in 09.011M42 the Imperial and Tau posessions in the Perseus Deeps were vulnerable. This vulnerability was taken advantage of in late 09.011M42 by a new Dark Eldar cabal, known as the "Shattered Silence", and led by Archon Kuro Kenshi. Within the space of a week, the Dark Eldar had raided Skera in the Tau sector, and landed in force on Gamordal, the most exposed Imperial territory.

The result on Skera was a catastrophe for the Tau, who were brutally massacred by the Dark Eldar. After taking vast numbers of (inferior) Tau slaves for their own depraved consumption, the Cabal systematically razed to the ground several Tau settlements and laid waste to much of the Tau colony. Skera was badly mauled amd some Tau even questioned its continued viability, as it now appeared unable to defend itself from deliberate invasion.

On Gamordal the Praetorian 42nd, refitting and resting after their long and futile campaign on Tarsis Major, were ideally and fortuitously placed to react when news of the Dark Eldar arrived at thier base. Kenshi had clearly not included the presence of a full Imperial Guard regiment in his attack calculations, and the arrival of the 42nd was an unwelcome surprise. In a battle which raged for two days, both sides fought each other to a standstill, before the Shattered Silence Cabal withdrew under the cover of darkness, back to their fastness in the warp.