The Ork forces' sudden assault took the Tyranid Fleet's Swarm Consciousness completely by surprise. It had never expected so many Ork troops beneath this barren planet's surface—so many that it could not calculate their exact numbers for the moment.
The Swarm Consciousness felt its advantage slipping away. Its past experience fighting Orks told it that it could not let them gain the upper hand, or its chances of defeat would rise dramatically.
The Tyranid Fleet had crossed the vast sea of stars to devour everything and relieve its hunger. It had not filled its storage capacity with Warrior Bugs, because biomass was easier to store.
The Tyranid Swarm was hungry. It wanted to feast and fill its ravenous bellies, not be defeated by its "prey"!
To regain the advantage, or even crush the Orks in a single stroke, the Tyranid Fleet planned to retain only around fifty million Warrior Bugs and commit all the rest to the battlefield.
Devoting all its processing power to the battlefield, the Swarm Consciousness intended to secure an overwhelming advantage against the Orks within seven days.
As for the Ork Warbosses who had distinguished themselves, the strongest could be held at bay for now, while decapitation strikes began with the weaker ones. By concentrating its strength and whittling them down from weakest to strongest, it could strip away their support. Without their followers, even the mightiest bosses could accomplish little alone.
In the Octarius system, when the immense Tyranid Fleet had been unable to defeat the system's Ork Warboss for a prolonged period, it had split off forces to destroy and devour other Ork systems first. This both strengthened it by seizing more biomass and cut off Ork reinforcements.
This tactic had proven effective. The Tyranid Swarm had ultimately slain the supreme Ork Warboss who