Due to differing navigation methods, the two fleets couldn't merge en route to Baal but had to agree to rendezvous at the Mandeville Point, the closest point in the star system to Baal. When Adam's *Talon's Master* entered the system, he found that the fleet led by Quarren had already arrived, fully arrayed in battle formation.
"There are some advantages to warp travel," Quarren's image appeared before Adam. "We arrived two solar hours early."
"Just one hour early," his navigator corrected from behind.
Adam realized then that the Imperial fleet had traveled across time itself. The warp's lack of temporal boundaries often led to peculiar outcomes: ships could emerge in their destination system either before or after intended, sometimes even centuries adrift.
"Such unpredictable time shifts are a hazard, not a benefit," Adam observed.
"Quite so," Quarren agreed. "The Emperor be praised that we're only an hour early."
Adam nodded, turning his gaze toward the Tyranid bioships filling the system. From his unique vantage as captain, he could view the entire *Talon's Master* and the broader system as if in third person. When he focused, his perspective sharpened, magnifying every detail.
The Tyranid bioships had surely detected the Imperial fleet upon its arrival, yet they made no move, merely clustering in orbit around Baal.
"Our augur arrays can't get a reading on them," Quarren's image remarked, casting a sidelong glance at his scanning officers. "Perhaps you'll have better luck."
Adam initiated a scan, the pulses spreading swiftly through the system. The Tyranid swarm comprised a total of 21,000 ships, far fewer than intelligence reports had warned.
Although Baal had been out of contact, Adam had gathered some intelligence from Qin Mo, who had estimated the swarm at nearly 40,000 ships. If the number had halved, the Tyranids must have dismantled part of their fleet.
Even reduced, 21,000 bioships vastly outnumbered the combined strength of the Talon and Imperial fleets.
"Share the scan results," Adam ordered.
The scan data streamed to the Imperial fleet, and a servo-skull soon delivered a long scroll of parchment to Quarren, detailing the composition of the swarm fleet.
The Tyranid swarm included 15,000 escort-class vessels, designated by the Talon fleet as "Drone Guards." Adam himself didn't know how his sector, never having faced the Tyranids, had acquired such precise information about their bioships, but the data existed.
The Drone Guards came in two primary types: the *Strangler*, equipped with flexible, powerful tentacles akin to insect predatory limbs, and the *Corroder*, armed with acid cannons capable of melting through adamantium.
Both variants encircled the swarm's larger bioships, in a pattern akin to Imperial and Talon escort formations.
Besides the Drone Guards were the *Siren* class. Similar to the Drone Guards, they came in two main variants, with additional types unique to this line: *Hunters*, equipped with pincer-like organs for consuming prey, and *Cannoneers*, sporting biological artillery.
Each Siren bioship encircled the central mothership. These dreadnought-sized leviathans were ominously labeled on the scan reports, though little else was noted.
The Tyranid light cruisers, named *Runners*, and the standard cruisers, *Razordemons*, loomed larger than the escorts, with similar subclass distinctions, totaling 3,000 ships.
Among the swarm's heavyweights were *Devourers*, equivalent to battlecruisers, and differentiated into distinct types, with a count of 2,000.
Beyond these were specialized bioships, like the *Hornwhale*, responsible for guiding the swarm through faster-than-light travel.
Quarren seemed surprised as he scanned the report. Talon's classifications for the Tyranid fleet were identical to the Imperium's.
Those monstrous ships resembled oversized insects rather than true ships; the Empire categorized them by size and function as frigates, cruisers, and heavy cruisers. This standardization within Talon's system hinted at some mystery.
Pushing the servo-skull aside, Quarren stared through his bridge at the approaching bioships, conferring with Adam on the battle plan.
"What do you propose?" Although Quarren had clear command, he sought Adam's counsel, knowing his own knowledge of Talon's fleet was limited.
"I suggest we leave the system immediately," Adam replied. "Rationally, this should be a reconnaissance mission. But Baal may not last if we depart now."
"True," Quarren agreed. Though prudent, retreat wasn't a viable option; the current fleet was the most formidable void force the Empire could amass on such short notice.
The Empire could theoretically assemble a fleet to overpower the Tyranid swarm, but such ships were dispersed across vast territories. Gathering them would take centuries.
If they were to fight on, both Adam and Quarren knew the answer lay in one tactic: destroy the mothership. Without it, the bioswarm would be leaderless.
A decapitation strike was a timeless strategy against Tyranids.
"Will your Iron Planet join us?" Quarren asked.
"No." Adam recalled the *Celestial Engine*, still under construction. Its planetary structure had been barely completed and had only taken part in the Battle of Cadia out of sheer necessity. This time, it wouldn't come.
However, the Talon fleet had brought another powerful weapon: the *Orbital Dockyard*.
The dockyard, positioned at the fleet's rear, though smaller than the Celestial Engine's satellite, boasted powerful weapon arrays along with manufacturing and repair facilities beyond what the Celestial Engine could provide.