Malkaor's Expedition Cadre arrives at Echo Reach

The Tau, having been forewarned of the dangers of the Naegleria system by the Eldar, were able to find a route through to the Hadron Expanse from the Aleph expansion sphere. Cut off from the rest of the Tau nation, they were desperately searching for a way through, all the while oblivious to the fact that the Eldar were working in their favour, guiding them towards a way through - as soon as they had managed to create one...

The first planet the Tau reached was Echo's Reach, a small nondescript world covered mostly fungi, but nonetheless a target for colonisation. Here Malkaor's Expeditionary Cadre arrived in late 04.018M42, and citing the planet as ripe for colonisation, began to construct the first of many bases on the world.

During this time, the tau stumbled across an artefact of immense power, but one they could not figure out. It appeared ancient and extremely alien, but the Tau started scientific investigations immediately. No sooner had they uncovered the gargantuan device however, the forces of chaos turned up. Led by the tzeentch dedicated Prophets of Sotek, the chaos force was a mixture of mortal and daemonic beings, but their attack came with such surprise and savagery that it was clear they were after the alien artefact. Putting up a strong defence, Malkaor's troops were able to see off the chaos incursion, securing the device for themselves.

The defeat was disappointing for the Prophets, but not entirely a disaster. While the Tau were under
attack on Echo Reach itself, they did not notice the small band of Thousand Sons landing on the second moon - where a second device was located and secured by the forces of chaos...