Editing Hive Fleet Behemoth

[[File:Nids3rdEdCover.jpg|thumb|250px|Tyranids of Hive Fleet Behemoth looking for [[Ultramar|the all you can eat buffet]].]]

'''Hive Fleet Red n' Blue''' was the first ([[Hive Fleet Tiamet|major]]) [[Tyranid]] [[Hive Fleet]] to enter the galaxy. It was destroyed during the '''First Tyrannic War''' of 745-746.M41. The discovery of the Tyranids, as heralded by Behemoth, was one of the first major events in the [[Time of Ending]].

== Invasion ==

For nearly a decade prior to their discovery, the [[Explorator Fleet]]s were aware that something was happening out in the Eastern Fringe, as worlds which had previously been confirmed to support life had been reduced to Dead Worlds down to a microscopic scale. [[Inquisitor]] [[Kryptman]] of the [[Alienhunters|Ordo Xenos]] was dispatched to investigate. When he reached the Explorator Base on the former ocean planet Tyran, he discovered a lifeless rock containing a single data-record detailing what happened, leading to the current designation of the Tyranids as such. Kryptman then branded them as ''xenos horrificus'', an alien form of life so destructive that extinction was the only option. Analyzing the path of known Tyranid attacks and extrapolating a future course, he discovered that they were heading straight for [[Ultramar]].

While moving towards Ultramar, the Hive Fleet ate a moon-sized chunk of biomass the Imperium held for 9000 years at Occulus and then fought the Star Krumpa [[Freebooterz|Freeboota]] [[Ork]]s who had been plaguing this part of the galaxy for years, finding their first serious fight (noted by the boyz involved as a particularly great fight) but eating most of the Orks in the end, had two scout tendrils dodge around [[Trazyn the Infinite|Trazyn's]] dynasty at Solemnance, and annihilated the Death Shadows [[Chaos Space Marines]] at Sybari.

Upon learning of this, the [[Imperium of Man]] suspended the [[Damocles Crusade]] currently underway against the [[Tau]] Empire in order to reallocate resources (and because the [[High Lords of Terra]] had determined that the Tau would serve as a nice buffer/buffet between them and the new threat).

[[Marneus Calgar]], the [[Chapter Master]] of the [[Ultramarines]], took most of the [[Space Marine Chapter|Chapter]] to the Ultramar world of Prandium. Despite this concentration of force, the Tyranids were able to overwhelm the Ultramarines and force them to abandon Prandium. Calgar spent a week fasting and declared that the Ultramarines had suffered the sin of pride by allowing themselves to become complacent (bear in mind this was years before [[Matt Ward|our spiritual liege]] was working at [[Games Workshop]]).

Falling back to [[Macragge]], the Ultramarines fortified their chapter homeworld, but the Tyranids responded by unleashing the powerful and specialized variant of Hive Tyrant, the [[Swarmlord]]. Despite the best efforts of his [[Honour Guard]] (including the <s>force feeding</s> sacrifice of their commander), Calgar was so grievously wounded that he lost his arms and legs, one eye, his stomach, and presumably his ultrapeen, and had to retreat to orbit leaving the northern polar fortress with only the First Company to defend it.

Fortunately, [[Imperial Navy]] reinforcements from [[Segmentum#Segmentum Tempestus|Segmentum Tempestus]] (yes, the Tyranids were so bad they needed reinforcements from another Segmentum) finally arrived. The battle turned in the Imperium's favor, keeping the Imperium <strike>functional</strike> in existence when the ''Emperor''-class Battleship ''Dominus Astra'' detonated its warp-drive, dragging most of Hive Fleet Behemoth into the [[Warp]], [[Fail|making all previous space battle tactics obsolete forever]] as one ship, or even just the warp-drive can now destroy hundreds of other ships. On the plus side, the Tyranids might have been able to meet the [[Chaos Gods]], so perhaps there will also be a [[Rip and Tear|Hive Fleet Khorne]] joining us soon.

Returning to Macragge, the Ultramarines Third Company scoured the northern fortress, where they discovered First [[Brother-Captain|Captain]] Saul Invictus and the entire First Company had been killed to a man. Only one member of the First Company, Battle-Brother Altarion, had survived the battle, and he was so messed up that he had to be put into a [[Dreadnought]], which of course invites philosophical debate on whether he actually died or not, but that's for another day.

== Aftermath ==

While the Imperium had achieved a victory on the battlefield, the cost of Hive Fleet Behemoth was severe. An entire world of Ultramar was lost and the Ultramarines First Company with it. Captain [[Severus Agemman]] of the Second Company was promoted to First Captain of the Ultramarines, while Veteran [[Brother-Sergeant|Sergeant]] [[Cato Sicarius]] was promoted to Captain of the Second Company. The losses the Ultramarines suffered were so great that [[Dante]] sent several companies of the [[Blood Angels]] to help the Ultramarines purge the remaining Tyranids from Ultramar.

Nearly a century later, the Ultramarines had still not fully recovered from the losses Hive Fleet Behemoth had inflicted but by that point Macragge was cleansed of Tyranids. Several ships of Behemoth survived, but without the coordination of the [[Hive Mind]] they broke apart into smaller Hive Fleets. The Swarmlord was officially listed as destroyed in action, but its corpse was never located.

Despite all their losses the Ultramarines believed that they had crushed the Xenos threat and another enemy of the Emperor was no more. Such hopes came to haunt them when two and a half centuries later, when [[Hive Fleet Kraken]] assaulted the Imperium's borders...

=== Court of the Nephilim King ===

One of the splinter fleets of Behemoth, these guys were so small at first that they evaded the sensors used by the Ultramarines and escaped before going dormant for a while. Centuries later, they reawakened and attacked the nearby unsuspecting worlds, gaining enough biomass to become a threat. They earned the name "Court of the Nephilim King" when they attacked a world belonging to the [[Imperial Knight]]s of House Raven, who noted that the splinter fleet's preference for monstrous warrior-creatures aided by synapse organisms eerily mirrors a Knight Household's organizations. After a series of crushing defeats against them in which the splinter fleet was able to counter their every tactic, the surviving Knights were forced to retreat and have since sworn vengeance against the Court of the Nephilim King.

[[Category: Warhammer 40,000]]

[[Category: Battlefleet Gothic]]

[[Category: Xenos]]

[[Category: Tyranid]]

[[Category: Hive Fleets]]

[[Category: Megafauna]]

[[Category: Ships]]

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