Hierodule

The Scythed Hierodule was recorded during the invasion of Hamman's World, a small Imperial colony close to one of the tendrils of Hive Fleet Kraken. Hamman's world was attacked soon after the Kraken's defeat on Ichar IV, as the hive fleet began to splinter. Nothing like the Hierodule had ever been reported before. It is armed with four huge razor-sharp claws, each capable of slicing clean through a battle tank, and heavily protected by chitin plates, in places up to 30 cm thick. A Hierodule is far larger than a Carnifex, a monstrous-killing machine, even by Tyranid standards.

The garrison of Hamman's World put up a brave defence. During the bloody battles for the colony, the Scythed Hierodule played a major role in the vanguard of Tyranid attacks, leading swarms of lesser Gaunts into battle, particularly against the strong points and preparted ferrocrete defence forces occupied by the Planetary Defence Forces.

After the battles and subsequent evacuation of Hamman's World, a detailed study of the campaign was carried out by newly arrived Xenos-Biologis teams. Although their findings were kept secret, they did not believe that the Hierodule creature acted as a focus for Hive Mind activity, or is a synapse creature - all the attacks were still accompanied by the usual Tyranid Warriors and Hive Tyrants who seemd to control the actions of the lesser creatures.

As well as its claws, the Scythed Hierodule also bears a symbiote creature, which appears to live in the Hierodule's back, growing out between the armour plates. This toxic creature helps defend its host from attack, squirting a jet of potent mutagenic acid against any enemy that gets too close. Not samples of a Scythed Hierodule have been recovered for research. Those creatures that have been killed have all been destroyed by large weapons, leaving few remains for laboratory investigation.

As yet, the Scythed Hierodule has only been reported active within a single tendril of Hive Fleet Kraken, and even then only encountered on a handful of worlds, but slowly its presence on the battlefield is growing. The advance of Hive Fleet Leviathan has seen Hierodules leading assaults. Capture of a live sample has become a high priority for Xeno-biologists if an effective counter-measure to this threat is to be found quickly. So far none of the Xenos-Hunter teams that have been sent to capture a Scythed Hierodule have ever returned!