Nathel Rim-Seeker, sometimes called The Betrayer, stood on the deck of her Raider, the wind whipping through her white hair. This sensation, of nature on her body, was what she considered one of the perks of being away from Comorragh so often. The twisted man next to her had a very different opinion. Philliam the Tormentor, the Haemunculus, had an expression that was impossible to read, as his Hell Mask concealed his true features. Nathel, though, had learned to recognize the subtle clues that betrayed the man's annoyance. "You do not appreciate my frequent forays into the Rim territories, do you Philliam?" she asked with a very slight smirk. Philliam turned to Nathel and made a gesture of respect. "Dispense with the pleasantries, Haemunculus. I did not arrange for your services because I liked you or your obsequiousness." She snapped. The man was insufferable. Nathel long ago decided that her Kabal would dispense with males in all positions of authority. She had even arranged to have a pair of female Incubi as her bodyguards. That she could not find a way to eliminate males from her service entirely was a source of constant irritation. Philliam stiffened and in his rasping voice, replied. "If you wish, great Betrayer. I do not pretend to understand your fascination with the realms outside Comorragh. If you spent your time in gathering slaves, it would explain it, but instead you hunt for artifacts and wraithbone. I often wonder if..." He cut himself off. He had no need to finish his sentence, for Nathel knew what the other Dark Eldar Archons said of her trips into the outer rim. It had gained her the name of Rim-Seeker. Some questioned her sanity, and others, more daring, had suggested that she sought to join with their foolish kin, the Eldar of the Craftworlds. But Nathel had also gained another name, The Betrayer, for while she sought out the Eldar kin, she more often than not turned on them if she saw the opportunity to capture more Wraithbone. Nathel herself had torn apart a Wraithlord of the Ulthwe in combat with her own Agonizer - a captured Eldar Singing Spear. The spirit stone of this Wraithlord hung in her room as a trophy, still containing the spirit of the Eldar warrior that had animated the Wraithlord. She liked to talk to it sometimes, speak of its experiences as a disembodied spirit. The Craftworld Eldar were wary of Nathel now, and so she was forced to resort to more elaborate treachery in order to corner them. This time, she had discovered a double prize - artifacts of interest to her had been reported on a planet on the rim, and an Eldar force had been spotted coming to retrieve them. Not only that, but the planet was occupied by the brutish Orks, while the primitive vessels of the Mon-Keigh Space Marines hovered in orbit. It was an opportunity too good to pass up, and now Nathel, along with a flotilla of Raiders carrying her own Rokea Kabal forces had emerged from the Webway portal and were converging on the site of the ruins she sought, in a crumbling Mon-Keigh city. To her right, the Ravager, skimmer armed with triple Dark-Lances, signaled back that there were contacts nearby. Nathel reached for an imager, and she sneered as she saw a large group of Ork warbikes roaring down a road in the distance, spewing filth into the air. The brutes had come between her and her prize. Even now her sensors detected movement of Eldar skimmers in the distance, but the Orks were in the way. She nodded to her pilot, and at a signal, the Ravager and the Raider carrying the Wych squad moved to intercept. To her left, larger transports unloaded a large squad of her Warriors while two more Raiders carrying further Warriors moved into cover behind a large building. She hated being distracted from her purpose, but it would not serve to have her Raiders shot down by the Orks. The Warbikes were now getting close, and the primitive machines unleashed a hail of shells towards the Raider carrying the Wyches. With a curse, she watched the transport take a hit and fall from the sky. Only four of the Wyches and the Haemunculus accompanying them emerged from the wreckage. Nathel snarled an order to her pilot, and her Raider, the Ravager, and one of the Warrior Raiders converged on the warbikes. A storm of fire descended on the Orks, and in the end, only one of the ten remained. Nearby, the large Warrior squad on foot had moved to the second floor of an abandoned warehouse and reported a swarm of the stunted Grots moving up along an adjacent street. Three Dark Lance shots from the squad and a nearby Raider accounted for three of them. At the last moment, they also reported seeing movement to their left* Mon-Keigh, their blue power armor visible in the gloom. Ultramarines, she believed she heard them called. Still another obstacle to her objective. The Craftworld Eldar then made their presence known. Two of her Warriors from the foot squad suddenly fell, bodies shredded by monofilament wire falling from the dark sky. "Shadow Weavers!" Nathel exclaimed, slamming the butt of her Agonizer down on the deckplate. "The cowards are aware of us!" She growled. "No matter. They will soon have more to worry about." Indeed, a horde of Orks were converging on the Eldar position, and more Space Marines were moving in behind. The scream of Shuriken fire was heard, and the flash of Brightlances and Starcannons lit the murk behind the walls where they were cowering. No doubt some foolish Ork was learning how much deadly firepower the Eldar could deliver. However, it did not stop the Eldar from directing fire at their Dark Kin, as another Warrior fell to the fire from the Longrifles of a squad of Rangers lurking on the parapet of the firebase directly opposite. Nathel smiled as her Warriors held their ground. The female Sybarite she had chosen for that reject squad may have been an upstart, but she knew how to keep order. The Ultramarines continued their advance, and a squad of their Scouts claimed one of the technological relics. Further along, the massive hull of a Land Raider Crusader rumbled down a street accompanied by a squad of Terminators and a Dreadnought. A squad of their foot troops also began moving towards the Dark Eldar. Nathel smiled. They would learn that lesson the hard way. She then smirked as a squad of Striking Scorpions were outflanked by the Mon-Keigh and several of them were shot down by the crude Bolters of the Marines. The Incubi in her retinue made gestures of regret - no doubt they wished to meet the Eldar Aspect warriors on combat. The remaining Warbike was soon eliminated by the Wych squad's Blasters, and Nathel ordered her forces to redirect their advance to the center. There was another group of Orks approaching from the right flank, but she trusted in the Wyches and the Reaver jetbikes to handle them when the time came. Another fusillade ripped into the Gretchin, killing a further five of them, but they continued to advance, the Ork Slaver behind them driving them on with his whip. "The fool will regret that when they get within range of the rest of our guns." To the left, a Raider blasted the Space Marine Land Speeder from the sky. "Air superiority." She commented smugly to Philliam. The Warriors on the building climbed down and began to advance out into the square before them, towards the objectives resting there. Meanwhile, The Eldar had torn through the initial Ork assault, the Ork Warboss and his retinue of Mega-Armored Nobz having been obliterated by two straight turns of concentrated fire, and had eliminated all but one of the Space Marine Terminators. The Eldar Dire Avengers chased the survivor - right into the Dreadnought. Nathel winced despite herself. She had killed these constructs before in close-combat, but it had been a close thing, and not an experience she'd choose to repeat often. The Dire Avengers were doomed. The Striking Scorpions turned to revenge themselves on the Space Marine squad that had come up behind them, and crashed into an unyielding wall of Power Armor. Three marines perished, but the Scorpions dwindled further, and the Mon-Keigh refused to break. The combat would continue. With a wave of her hand, one of the Raiders opened fire on the Eldar Wave Serpent. With a plume of smoke, the skimmer's turret was torn off. Nathel smiled, her control of the skies assured. She ordered her pilot and one of the other Raiders to advance on the Space Marines in the ruins on their left flank. With a wail of engines, the Dark Eldar transport whistled through the sky and descended on the Marines. Shot after shot preceded them, and a full half of the Ultramarines fell. Nathel and her retinue disembarked and hurled themselves into the survivors. The Marines were overwhelmed, and despite the loss of one Warrior, the Dark Eldar pursued the Marines out into the street beyond, mixing in with the Scouts and expanding the combat. On the right flank, the Gretchin were obliterated in a storm of splinters and clouds of monofilament wire. The Slaver escaped however with one of the objectives. The Ork mob that had followed the warbikes were assaulted by both the remaining Wyches and Haemunculus and the Reaver Jetbikes. The combat went poorly, however, and despite five Orks falling, the Haemunculus took a wound and two Wyches and a Reaver were killed. The surviving Wych turned and fled, accompanied by the Haemunculus. "Useless fools." Nathel growled when the news reached her. "I would have profited more by hiring Mandrakes." Philliam nodded vaguely as he punctured the chest of a Space Marine Scout with his scissorhand. Among the Orks, the loss of their Warboss seemed to have an effect as the rest of the Ork forces turned to attack the Eldar. Three clanking Killa Kans converged on the Eldar Warwalkers. Despite their superior combat abilities, one of the Walkers managed to topple a Kan with a well-placed kick. Elsewhere, squads of Guardians proceeded out of their hiding places to claim two objectives accompanied by a Farseer. The other Farseer and his Warlock bodyguard joined the combat with the Kans. Nathel clenched her jaw angrily at thought of all that precious Eldar wraithbone and spirit stones in danger of being stolen by the Orks as she carved the arms off a Space Marine who had dared to assault her. Indeed, the Ultramarine command squad had decided to join the fight. The resulting melee left most of Nathel's retinue dead, including Philliam. Curiously, the Marines had managed to outnumber the Dark Eldar. Behind her, the Warrior squad that was following joined the combat and caused the Scout squad to fall back, dropping their prize. Nathel snagged it with the butt of her Agonizer as she proceeded to impale another Ultramarine. The rest of her squad was dead by now, but she felt no fear. Already she had claimed several prisoners from the Marines. "This should make Philliam happy, once he has rebuilt himself." She commented with a vicious grin. The lone surviving Reaver finally lost his nerve and fled, leaving the Ork mob with a clear shot at the Wych and Heamunculus. Shoota shells and Rokkits were loosed, and the Wych was blasted apart, but the Haemunculus was spared, and now freed of the responsibility of command over the Wyches, turned to face the Orks, her Destructor turning several of them into cellular goo before she charged. The Orks lost another two of their number and fled in their turn, pursued by the lone Dark Eldar. The battle with the Space Marines was going well, and despite suffering some damage from her zealous use of her Combat Drugs, Nathel had succeeded in killing the Ultramarine Chaplain with two swift strokes of her Agonizer. The Sybarite from the Warrior squad then added a final poisoned blade to the wounds suffered by the Marine commander. Nathel and the Warriors triumphantly re-mounted the Raider in preparation for an assault on the Land Raider. In the center of the line, the foot squad of Warriors, despite suffering a further couple casualties from sniper fire, challenged the Eldar Guardians for another objective. A bitter close-combat ensued, but the superior skill and speed of the dark Eldar prevailed and the Guardians fled, leaving the Sybarite in control of the relic. They backed off to take themselves out of the range of the Eldar who would no doubt wish revenge. The Raider squad that was backing them up dismounted and captured another relic in their turn and the center was solidly in the hands of the Rokea Kabal. The Craftworld Eldar were experiencing trouble at the hands of the Orks and the Space Marines. The Dire Avengers had been wiped out by the Ultramarines Dreadnought, while the Striking Scorpions had suffered a similar fate at the hands of the Marine Tactical Squad. The Land Raider Crusader soon added its significant firepower to the battle, sending the remains of a Guardian Squad into flight and destroying Nathel's command Raider. The Eldar Farseer however, despite the slaughter of his bodyguard, soon proved that he was a match for the Killa Kans, tearing limbs off them repeatedly with his Witchblade. The Shadow Weavers then began bombarding the Orks continuously with a veritable storm of monofilament wire, sending one mob in search of cover. Nathel decided to take advantage and leapt into the fray. The Warrior squad immobilized the Dreadnought from behind with a Blaster, while Nathel and the Sybarite assaulted the Land Raider with their Haywire grenades, immobilizing the massive tank. However, the Warriors assaulted the last Terminator, and suffered a similar fate to the Dire Avengers, succumbing to the Veteran Space Marine's power fist, and the whole squad was forced to fall back, accompanied by Nathel who cursed and promised to have their souls if they continued to flee. The relic she was carrying was lost in the retreat and soon she found herself facing the Terminator, his heavy Flamer ready to fire... An inferno engulfed Nathel and the Warriors. Dark Eldar were falling all around her, screaming as the flames cooked them, and Nathel's anger was not enough to keep them from faltering. Her shadow field prevented her from being affected, but she could feel the weapon's heat all the same. With a call to the remaining Raiders, she called a withdrawal. Her Kabal had managed to take three relics and a good number of valuable prisoners, including Space Marines and Orks, but no Eldar. The Webway Portal opened before her, as she stood on the top of a hill overlooking the ruined city. The relics she had captured lay on the grass as she prodded them with her foot. Suddenly she cursed and smashed one of them with the butt of her Agonizer. "Useless trinkets!" she shouted. "None of this is what I was seeking!" She turned as she heard someone snicker. Phillam, body torn and damaged from the combat blades of the Scouts, but still alive, had finally found the courage to express himself in front of Nathel. "Ironic, no? You came in search of things that no Archon in their right mind would want, and instead you come away with precisely what they would!" he wheezed. "These Space Marine prisoners will make you wealthy, great Betrayer." He continued, making Nathel's title sound mocking. "But you failed to gather your relic or your Eldar prizes." Nathel glared at Philliam, and aimed the crackling blade of her Agonizer at him. "Don't trifle with me, Philliam. I doubt that any of my rivals in Comorragh would be terribly curious if I simply reported that you had perished here on this filthy mudball!" she snarled. Philliam simply laughed as he was carried away by his Grotesque servants. Nathel watched, expression thunderous with her anger and frustration as the remaining Raider, the Ravager, and the rest of her troops entered the portal. The last one still outside, Nathel sighed, her anger fading as she gazed up at the sky, the twinkling lights of the departing Eldar vessels streaking into the void. "You pompous fools, so superior, so secure in your massive Craftworlds, sealed away from the Webway paths we tread..." she mused. Glancing down at the remaining relics before her, wraithbone constructs of unknown usage, she sighed. "Soon, I will be able to follow you into your most sacred spaces. The Rokea will sail the stars and drive daggers into the hearts of your infinity circuits!" Nathel smiled as she contemplated her future. With a single step, she left the planet and vanished into the portal. If you'd like to read the other installments, see: Part 2: The Key to the Fury of the Stars Part 3: Desperate Measures Part 4: Unwelcome Saviour by Jesse, May 10, 2001