Eldar make presence felt in Hadron Expanse

Until early 022M42 the eldar had remained disinterested in the affairs of the other races in the Rifts of Hecate. There was nothing of value to the ancient race in the region, and they had no goals of their own to pursue. However the Ynnari and the Rillietan saw via their farseers a different threat. While the rich resources and ancient artefacts were not something the eldar race had any interest in exploiting, should any of the other races achieve dominance in the area, the consequences for their own planes could be dire.

A tyranid resurgence would pose a significant threat, while the prospect of a new Waagh! filled the ancient race with a sense of dread. If the Emerald Serpent achieved their aims or the forces of Nurgle uncovered new ways to spread plague, the outcome would be intolerable, and the march of the utterly infantile Mon-Keigh into the Rifts of Hecate also may have disastrous consequences. As the expeditions into the Rifts grew in strength the Ynnari decided they could not merely sit back and watch.

The eldar attacks appeared without warning against several foes in a simultaneous action that at first targetted the tyranids, the orks and even the Tau - their sometime allies - at Tanis. Ynnari and Harlequin forces fell upon the tyranids at Candic Major, destroying their warriors and taking out several key hive nodes, setting back the hive mind's progress on that world, while the Masque of the Morning Crescent battered the ork speed freak warband that had arrived at Mendesum - removing the greenskins from that world.

On Tanis, the Tau were shocked to be suddenly attacked by Ynnari forces, but the eldar had good reason. They did not desire the Tau to join in the exploration of the Rifts as there were secrets there they had decided were not appropriate for the younger race to learn, so they decided on "direct" pursuasion. The battle on Tanis V was hard fought, with losses on both sides, but the base of operations was razed to the ground, setting back Tau plans to send stronger forces to the Rifts of Hecate - as the eldar had hoped.

Questions were raised as to the priorities and aims of the eldar intervention by Ynnari and craftworld eldar alike, but while the leaders of the Ynnari sect did not reveal all their insights, the instructions were clear. Delay, disrupt and destroy, and above all do not let one faction establish dominance in the Rifts of Hecate.