Malkaor's Tau establish foothold at Boltarean

In the Hadron Expanse the Tau and alliance forces had been regrouping and refitting following their success at Hussaria. Now they were once again ready to prosecute the war once more, establishing the Hadron Expansion Sphere for the greater good. On their list were the imperial systems of Arawath and Palantir, but the war between the chaos forces and the Imperium on Hobbiton indicated to the Tau command that the chaos forces in the subsector could not be ignored.

Malkaor suggested a considered plan. Instead of an all out assault against the chaos forces, he proposed to set up a base in the Boltarean system on the outer planet of Portega. Weakly defended, this world should fall rapidly, as the ice planet only had a few inhabited zones. If a base could be set up here, then a way-station built, the chaos forces of Boltarean could be effectively bottled up, allowing the Empire to expand without interference.

The plan was approved, and Malkaor's appearance at Boltarean caught the defenders completely by surprise. A Darrantine regiment had been posted to defend the outer world, equipped with a Deathstrike missile system intended to obliterate anything that came too close for comfort. Malkaor's troops were too swift and too brutal however, and the battle was over before the countdown sequence had even completed. The Deathstrike never fired, and the outer planet of Portega fell to the Tau. Part one of the Tau plan to neutralise chaos in the Hadron Expanse had been completed.