Tanis skirmishes continue

On Tanis Prime although neither the Tau nor Imperium were as yet willing to deploy large numbers of troops, the skirmishing between patrol forces continued into mid 03.022M42 as both sides sought to establish control over the world with minimum resources. In previous engagements the Sky Lords had managed to send a signal to their chapter before their squad was eliminated, indicating that the Tau may have greater numbers on the world than at first thought.

This message was intercepted by the Deathwatch chapter who had a number of motivations for sending - as they did - a squad of their finest marines to the Tanis system. First, their purpose was to stand as a shield between the Imperium and the alien races that would threaten the divine right of humanity to rule the stars. More specifically, the inquisition wanted to know the Tau intentions in the Hadron Expanse. They knew that the Tau were building a "Hadron Expansion Sphere", but the activity on Tanis, so far from their base at Echo Reach, indicated a desire to expand into the Rifts of Hecate. The inquisition wanted to know how many forces the tau were willing and able to commit, and whether they intended a full colonisation of the Tanis system, rather than just the construction of a forward base.

The Deathwatch would not be successful in finding this out for them however, as the Tau managed to conduct an ambush on the astartes as they began exploring the site where the Sky Lords had been eliminated. Underestimating their enemy, the Deathwatch put up a strong fight, but were eventually surrounded and killed by the superior firepower of the xenos force. The Tau intentions at Tanis remained for now unknown.