Tyrant Rising

Chapter 2: That's What Hive Was Going to Say (Part 1)

Review Answers:

ww1990ww: First Tyranids codex was published in 1994 I think so how on Earth in 1988 Harry has Swarmlord figurine? The simple answer is that I adjusted the timeline so Warhammer was released and updated earlier. Given that you're already accepting a world where magic exists and a boy transforms into an alien killing machine before being transported across space by a magical portal, I figured it probably wouldn't be too much to handle. I didn't state it anywhere in the story because it would've distracted from the progression of the narrative and wasn't particularly important. It was important for the story that Harry's transformation occur while he was still very young for reasons that should become clear as the story progresses.

comodo50: Is it [the story] a one shot only? Apparently not. In all seriousness, though, I do plan on completing this story, although I can't promise that it will be finished quickly since I had the brilliant idea to work on two very long and complex stories simultaneously.

Guest who wrote me an essay: (Not a dig, it's just you only reviewed as guest and there are a bunch of other people who have done the same) Your review was too long to quote the questions in full so I'll just bullet point them.

You are aware Tyranids can eat memories?

I know some Tyranids, specifically Lictors, are able to eat memories, but as far as I'm aware it's not something all Tyranids can do. I could be wrong, but, to my knowledge, it's a skill specific to Lictors used for intelligence gathering on new worlds.

Why does Harry not lead the Tyranids to farm suns?

Even if Harry/the Swarmlord was able to consume memories from the adult wizards he ate in the Ministry, I highly doubt any of them knew how to farm a sun. Even if the Tyranids did obtain the knowledge on how to do so, it would be practically impossible for the entire Tyranid Hive to switch their complete genetic make-up to become photosynthetic rather than heterotrophic, and they would have had no interest in learning how to do so because that's not how Tyranids think. Also, even slightly active animals in real-life that are capable of using photosynthesis still need to eat because the process doesn't produce enough energy quickly enough to sustain an active creature.

General rant (If you don't know much about Tyranids and want to find out what the deal is as part of the story, don't read this part)

Firstly, I think you probably posted this in the wrong place, I would suggest posting your review (minus the stuff pertinent to my story) on a Warhammer 40K fan forum and I'm sure you'll get a good debate on your points. For my penny though, I think of the Tyranids as basically being super-space-locusts. They don't think, "Oh, what would be the most sustainable method for us to continue on," they think, "We're going to consume everything in our way in order to satisfy our unending hunger." I also think there might have been a question buried in there somewhere about why Harry/Swarmlord was just shouting "Feed" and "Kill:" he was an 8-year-old being ruled by a brand new set of alien instincts that he'd had for three days. That's hardly going to produce an eloquent treatise or finely crafted repartee. People don't evacuate because the Tyranid Hive-Mind prevents travel through the Warp and the Tyranid ships are much faster in real-space, which also stops affected planets from calling for help. And each Hive Fleet eliminates all possible resistance before they start eating a planet, so you couldn't have a fleet of ships hanging out waiting for them to land and put all their forces on the planet before blowing it up because the Tyranids would try to kill it before doing so. So, even if they had previously planted bombs and the Tyranids hadn't just eaten them already, there would be no one to set them off.