Tau land on Aornis

On 0208.008M42 Commander Hawk Eye withdrew his units from Daedalon in order to help establish an advanced base on Aornis. Worn down after Melberg the Tau had been late to begin their campaign for the Rim Worlds and Hawk Eye was determined that the Tau would be first on Aornis to gain a vital advantage. The Tau Fleet, carrying reinforcements under the personal command of Shadow Strike were on their way, ready to start a major campaign of conquest in the region by taking Caitlen Station and preying on the Imperial shipping lanes. Aornis was to be a safe staging post for this.

Once again the Imperial fleet completely missed this new axis of attack by one of its enemies and the landings went unopposed by Imperial forces, though the Tau had to fight off an unexpected ambush from Eldar units. Why the Eldar would attack their sometime allies remained a mystery to the Tau, though two Inquisitorial spies knew the real reason. They had been tracking the movements of this particular Eldar group and had surmised that they had not given up on their quest to obtain the Solar Enslaver.