The Tyranid Fleet's five hundred thousand ships had already been stretched thin, and then the Orks' cheating had wiped out another hundred thousand... Even the Great Devourer was at a loss. This Ork Warboss called Slick and his Screw Clan were too powerful.
Of the Great Devourer's remaining four hundred thousand ships, half were pursuing the Ork Fleet from behind, having been left far in its wake. The other half were scattered, with two hundred thousand ships failing to form an effective formation.
In its haste to protect the Norn Queen cocoon incubating above Ork V, the Great Devourer hurriedly reorganized the chaotic Tyranid Fleet, establishing a defensive zone comprising one hundred thousand ships.
Based on the time the Ork Fleet would take to reach Ork V at sublight speed, the Norn Queen cocoon had at most one day left to incubate.
Through its precise calculation units, the Great Devourer issued the following orders while organizing the Tyranid Fleet:
First, the Tyranid ships ahead of the Ork Fleet were to continue assembling and block the Orks' advance.
Second, the two hundred thousand ships pursuing from behind were to accelerate and prepare to establish a pincer attack as quickly as possible.
Third, the Norn Queen's incubation was to be accelerated, even if that greatly weakened her combat strength upon hatching and drastically shortened her lifespan. Even so, that was better than being destroyed by the Ork Fleet while still in her cocoon.
Fourth, the Tyranid reinforcements coming from the other side were to accelerate, joining the two fleets as quickly as possible to continue the war of attrition against the Screw Clan.
Those were the arrangements within the star system. Outside it, vast numbers of Tyranid ships were approaching Octaria in a long line. The Tyranids used a form of gravitational