Tau prepare for Zadoc Invasion

Having taken the Zadoc moon base in 06.023M42 the Tau had been preparing their invasion of Zadoc proper for some time. It came as no surprise that the next target for the Tau would be the trading outpost of Adriante, as this installation on the cold outer planets of the Zadoc system was strategically vital to incoming supply traffic to the system. Given the time between the creation of the initial bridgehead and the assault on Adriante, there had been plenty of time for the forces of chaos to react to the Tau presence in the system. 

Using arcane sorcery fuelled by the daemonworld of Astralis, the Thousand Sons, led by Ahriman and a projection of Magnus the Red prepared an immediate counter attack to any move the Tau made, and when in mid 09.023M42 that time came, the traitor astartes deployed in strength against the hunter cadre sent to take the trading post. The Tau however had anticipated this kind of response, and their attack force was well equipped to deal with the strong counter attack from the daemon led space marines force. Although individually powerful, the Thousand Sons did not have great numbers, and the Tau had brought maximum firepower. Fire warriors deploying from devilfish supported by crisis suits, hammerheads and larger battlesuits overwhelmed the ancient astartes and their sorcery, inflicting a heavy defeat on the Thousand Sons and banishing Magnus back to the warp. Now the Tau had the planet of Zadoc itself surrounded and cut off from outside supply, barring the warp conduit to the Astralis daemonworld. It was only a matter of time before they would make planetfall.