Editing Tyranid (section)

==Overview==

[[File:Nidhoggr Hive Tyrant.jpeg|400px|thumb|left|Your cooperation is not necessary [[Genestealer Cult|but is appreciated]].]]

Before they arrived to this galaxy, the Tyranids were probably lying dormant in intergalactic space because there was nothing there to consume (probably). Despite this, they had sentinel organisms, looking constantly for any sign of life in distant galaxies. We actually don't know how many galaxies they have already left bare - most of the facts behind their origin and backstory that we have on them are simply not more than speculation and conjectures. It could be that we have only seen a fraction of their numbers, or that said current numbers are all there is. We simply don't know.

The Tyranids have hibernated until they were triggered by, and attracted to, concentrated sources of psychic energy like moths to a lightbulb. One of them was the [[Astronomican]], the psychic signature of the [[Emperor of Mankind]] spanning throughout the entire galaxy. Also, In the 30k [[Horus Heresy]] era, [[Necron|an alien device]] known as the Pharos on the Ultramarine realm planet of Sotha sent up a huge psychic energy pulse, effectively giving the Milky Way a big neon sign that called it an all-you-can-eat buffet (note that this is only known to the reader--the multitude of characters in the 30k and 40k eras had no inkling of just what was coming nor who or what actually called them). Thus the Tyranids set off, taking roughly the next 10,000 years to do so, but just who would be insane or evil enough to summon such an apocalyptic force of alien nature to the Milky Way? [[Barabas Dantioch|A pretty cool guy who had no idea about what he would eventually call to dinner, actually]]. Still, the possibility that the Tyranids are retreating from [[Games Workshop|''something'' more terrifying than even them]] remains open as of now.

The Tyranid species is mentally connected and controlled by the extremely powerful and near godlike [[Hive Mind|HIVE MIND]]. The Hive Mind is the collective consciousness of the entire Tyranid race, a psychic embodiment of Tyranid instincts and racial imperatives: to devour and evolve. It is so powerful that its mere presence (the Shadow in the Warp) makes even psykers and [[Chaos]] [http://vignette3.wikia.nocookie.net/warhammer40k/images/0/07/Shadow_in_the_Warp_.jpeg/revision/latest?cb=20160531070506 shit their metaphysical brains out in terror.] The power of the Hive Mind is such that it casts a stifling influence over the Warp in the area, and therefore, warp travel becomes almost impossible. Hence it is that a world that finds itself a target of a Hive Fleet is unable to call for help or receive reinforcements by the time it detects the Hive Fleet's presence. This super consciousness allows their forces to move with a unity of purpose and cohesion that makes them extremely dangerous. The individual intelligence of different strains of the species is variable, however, and many of the smaller species lack the psychic power to communicate over long distances, and so the swarm relies on larger organisms, the so-called "Synapse Creatures", to act as relays and communication nodes in the psychic network (if the Hive Mind is the Internet (Internid), then synapse creatures are ISPs (ISynaPse) and routers (router-warriors)?). Outside of the range of a synapse creature, such as a Tyranid Warrior or a Hive Tyrant, smaller varieties such as those found within the Gaunt genus revert to animalistic behavior. However, certain strains, such as the [[Genestealer]] or the Lictor, are designed to be able to spend long periods of time beyond the reach of the Hive Mind, and are consequently considerably more intelligent and autonomous than other Tyranid organisms.
[[Image:KillEmAll.jpg|300px|thumb|left|DAKKA DAKKA DAKKA!]]
The normal Tyranid modus operandi is to locate a delicious looking planet, usually by following the psychic emanations of vanguard organisms like the Genestealers, who are sent ahead as scouts to infiltrate and form cults while obtaining genetic information about the local species (hence the name Gene-stealer), drawing the fleet towards a viable target. The Tyranids are capable of non-[[Warp]]-based FTL travel, which they achieve by using gravity to manipulate spacetime and travel extremely quickly towards large gravity wells such as stars, and once they are relatively close, they must rely on STL travel to close the gap with their target. Once they reach the world, infinite swarms of creatures flood down to the surface to overwhelm all resistance and consume the planet's population and resources in a manner reminiscent of a Korean StarCraft champion performing the devastating "Zerg Rush" (Note that the Zerg were supposedly based on Tyranids, which in turn were based on aliens from movies like ''Starship Troopers'' and ''Alien''. All these organisms are based on eusocial Hive insects such as the order ''Hymenoptera'', which includes ants, bees etc.) In the later stages of the invasion, the Fleet manipulates the planet's biosphere and seeds it with aggressive plant life that grows extremely rapidly and assimilate all nutrition/life left on the planet, which is then consumed by the creatures of the swarm and massive feeding tentacles/tubes, dropped by Tyranid bio-ships in low orbit, and hence conveyed to the Hive Fleet as a whole. The fleet literally grows in size and mass, and moves on to the next planet.

This makes the Tyranids a very dangerous foe to fight. Even the Imperial Guard and Orks will find it difficult to beat them in a war of attrition, as individual losses are meaningless to the bugs (actually gribbles, according to Warhammer 40k' official Facebook page). As long as they are able to recover the biomass of the dead, it is simply recycled into new warriors and ships. It's worth noting that going against technological species results in less and less recycled biomass, so a Hive assaulting a high-tech heavily fortified fortress loses some of its total biomass bit-by-bit, but there are few cases where the Tyranids really bite off more than they can chew (well... as per the backstories of the codices, tyranids are good only for one thing: to be beaten by literally everything. And as per the rules.... well, same here). Even a Hive Fleet that has taken terrible losses and is forced to retreat may soon return to terrorize strong worlds as capturing and consuming a few poorly defended backwater planets is all that is required for them to replenish their forces. Even Hive Fleets considered defeated by the Imperium may still be dangerous, as the splinter elements that have survived may continue to infest worlds in the region. It is worth noting that in the rare event that two different Tyranid fleets encounter each other, they are apt to attack each other. This is generally believed to be some sort of Darwinian selection mechanism to compare the competitiveness of the traits the individual fleets have accumulated, with the victorious fleet consuming the other, absorbing their best traits, and culturing a deadly hybrid with the best of both worlds.

[[File:1389680259601.jpg|thumb|450px|right|Who doesn't love a scuttling swarm of space locusts?]]
So far, only fragments of Tyranid Hive Fleets have made it to this galaxy, and they were given monstrous names such as "Behemoth" and "Leviathan" and ate untold numbers of planets before finally being destroyed or stalled. It's also known that these are merely scouting fleets for the unimaginably large swarm that has yet to arrive, still currently in transit from another galaxy ([[Imperium|Imperial]] scholars suppose them to be either en route from a galaxy they successfully scoured of all life, or retreating from some force even nastier than they are). Noted Imperial scholars believe that the only possible plan that stands any chance against the arrival of this force involves giving a [[melta]] gun to everyone that has hands and praying to the God-Emperor for the best. They have been expected to arrive on Terra's doorstep any day now for years, being stalled by a force even more malicious then they are: [[Games Workshop|GW]]'s refusal to move the story forward.

And if they intend to retcon the above so that Leviathan is in fact the main force, they can easily write it off as ravings of a crazed Inquisitor.

Following in the footsteps of the Hive Fleets before it, Leviathan has been destroyed at Baal by the Blood Angels and the Ultramarines, apparently with a little help from [[Ka'bandha|Ka'Bandha]] the Bloodthirster. Admittedly, that campaign only involved the tendril not engaged in war with the Orks on Octarius, meaning that there may be significant elements of the fleet still roaming around the galaxy. However, since GW has been officially referring to this as the 'Fall of Leviathan', it's probably safe to say that Leviathan too is now splintered like Behemoth and Kraken. Of course, this still isn't good news for the rest of the galaxy, because there are four new Hive Fleets in the neighborhood, one of which has apparently dedicated itself to vacuuming up all the splinter fleets left behind by Kraken, Behemoth, and Leviathan, thus gaining all their tasty biomass and DNA.

This new hive fleet is known as [[Hive Fleet Kronos|Kronos]], after the Greek titan who fathered the gods, and with Warp Rifts and Chaos Daemons now running amok in the galaxy, the Hive Mind has turned it towards a previously untapped niche: fixing the mess left by Chaos. Its take on the Shadow in the Warp is one of a complete and total "HAHAHA FUCK YOU!" towards the Ruinous Powers, capable of smothering psychic abilities of any kind, causing Daemons to wither in its presence and closing Chaos portals and small Warp Rifts just by proximity. In other words: Chaos energy is arguably the most malevolent, most corrupting, most powerful force in the galaxy... [[Awesome|and the Hive Mind has produced a Hive Fleet with the primary mandate of telling it to shut up and go to its room.]]

With the coming of 10th, Leviathan is back! The start of the new edition is also the beginning of the 4th Tyrannic War, with the ‘Nids for the first time not entering from the galactic east, but the galactic west - slamming into the nearly undefended Segmentum Pacificus, the Segmentum furthest from the most fucked up regions of the galaxy, but also the furthest from the massive forces being wielded in places like the Indomitus Crusade. This has sent basically everyone (including G-man) into a fucking panic, with the only available solution to send tiny, elite forces to try to disrupt the advance while people figure out what to do, costing the Imperium their best soldiers. It remains to be seen whether this will be a long term war zone or catastrophic event on par with the Great Rift, or a campaign on a scale similar to the Pariah Nexus or any of the Kill Team war zones.

On a smaller note, thanks to the Devastation of Baal, it has been confirmed that Tyranid troops and monsters aren't even singular organisms. Instead, each is a collection of symbiotic organisms working in tandem with one another to create a killing machine. While they might all be of the same species, external outputs and influences can cause them to be able to "choose" to take on the massive variety of forms that Tyranid lifeforms can have. Tyranid blood? [[Wat|A living parasite.]] Tyranid weapons? [[Tyranid Bio-Weapons|Well, that's self explanatory.]] Tyranid organs? [[Squig|A separate critter that could survive just as easily outside of its hosts when it is needed to swap gibblets.]] This means that those giant Hive Fleets you see aren't just one massive creature, but a multitude of smaller creatures working as one (this has some basis in real life biology; colonial organisms such as the Portuguese Man O' War are composed of multiple interdependent organisms). This realization kind of solves some of the bizarre-looking Tyranids that would be biologically impossible, but isn't actually much of a big deal, since most living things are technically made up of a collection of cells which are living things unto themselves. Tyranid creatures can then be thought of as multi-bodied organisms, the same way we are multi-cellular organisms, only our various organs, tissues, and limbs can't be freely transplanted with no rejection issues across similar <s>bioforms</s> individuals.

It remains to be seen whether this new backstory element will retcon some earlier reveals about the Tyranids, such as their observed tendency to throw themselves into digestion pools to recycle themselves into raw materials when they are too damaged to fight or no longer tactically useful. For one thing, why bother reducing Tyranids into liquid biomass that requires precious time and energy to be remade into new bioforms from the cells up, when the Hive Mind can skip a step and conserve its resources by simply tearing out reusable organs and bio-weapons from crippled or unneeded bioforms, and then install or graft those organic parts into new or less-damaged bioforms, while throwing only the bare skeletons and the too-damaged parts into the digestion pools for recycling? For another thing, if this becomes widespread knowledge among the Imperium, will it become the new standard procedure to either completely vapourize or thoroughly incinerate Tyranid corpses whenever possible, so as to keep the Hive Mind from reusing this grisly "salvage" should Tyranid forces take the field or advance their battle-lines far enough to retrieve those corpses? All we can say for certain is, prepare yourselves for another round of the evolutionary arms race.

But even worse than all of this is the fact that perhaps it is not the Tyranids the galaxy should be fearing, ''but what they're running from''. Aside from the [[Leagues of Votann]] who hunts them for resources.