Editing Apriori Public Service Announcements (section)

==The All-Devouring Swarm: Tyranids==

Although the [[Tyranids]]' precise origins are unknown to us, they are not daemons, an expression of the God-Emperor's disapproval, or whatever other apocalyptic rumors are circulating.  They are living, flesh-and-blood creatures, no less vulnerable to lasguns and bolter shells than any other living creature.  In many ways, though, the Tyranids are not so much a swarm of aliens as a viral ecosystem, and so it is often useful to discuss the Tyranids with the language of the Medicae.

Like viral diseases, a Tyranid infestation progresses through several stages, and preventing an infestation from occurring at all is much easier than exterminating an invasion which has taken root.  The exact causal relationship is not entirely clear, but planetary invasions are predated by a [[Genestealer]] cult infestation.  It is not a coincidence that planets experience rebellions led by these cults in the years leading up to a Tyranid invasion; the cults are softening up their planet for the Swarm's benefit.

The key to surviving the Tyranids, then, is to identify and destroy Genestealer cults, or even prevent them from being founded.  Genestealer cults thrive and grow along similar patterns to Chaos cults, and most of the warning signs are similar.  The major difference is that there is an additional biological component to their method of exerting control.  This provides an additional technique for identifying cults in the form of screening by Medicae facilities, but unlike minor Warp influence, no successes in reversing Genestealer implantation and restoring the individual have been reported.  Genestealer cultists sometimes reach out to their friends and family for additional cult recruits, but in light of this biological alteration, it is clear that the individual is already effectively dead by the time this secondary recruitment drive occurs.  The only response that honors the person they once were is to report them to the authorities immediately.

[[Category:Warhammer_40,000]] [[Category:Knights Inductor]] [[Category:Stories/Warhammer 40,000]]