We recently caught sight of the Tyranids’ newest fiend, the Parasite of Mortrex, when it burst onto the Warhammer Community scene without warning. This horrifying monster is swooping into action in the upcoming Codex: Tyranids – but what is it and where has it come from?
The Parasite gets its name from its disturbing propensity to implant eggs into its unfortunate victims (although a xenological report in Codex: Tyranids is quick to observe this makes the Rippers the true parasites). It’s been observed in a growing number of war zones across the galaxy, but it was on the planet of Mortrex that this bat-winged nightmare was first sighted.
Mortrex was one of the best-defended fortress worlds in Ultima Segmentum, studded with fortifications and defence batteries that made assaulting it a fool’s errand. When Hive Fleet Kraken attacked in full force, these impressive bulwarks held off their unrelenting assaults for a full ten days with no signs of weakness.
On the tenth day, however, Imperial defenders were caught unawares by this now-infamous bioform diving in on entrenched troops, stabbing left and right with its barbed ovipositor tail. Few were killed outright, but the true horror began when the Ripper eggs gestated to maturity in a matter of seconds, bursting forth in a shower of gore and sowing chaos within the trench lines.
The defenders of Mortrex were unable to resist simultaneous attacks that came from within and without, as the rising tide of Rippers overwhelmed them. In just two weeks, the planet had been overrun by a chittering carpet of teeth and claws,* and it was soon rendered a lifeless ball of dust. That voracious speed can be replicated in your games with the Enfolding Strike stratagem, which lets you infect enemy combatants with a drive-by sting.
The scant few survivors nicknamed the creature itself ‘the Parasite’, which no doubt irritated members of the Ordo Biologis greatly. They were unwilling** to discuss their ordeal any further, which might explain why confirmed sightings have since been so rare. Until now, that is…
You can create your own living tide of Rippers when Codex: Tyranids and the Parasite of Mortrex arrive for pre-order in the very near future. Our xenologists are hard at work deciphering the hive mind’s inscrutable design, and there’ll be more previews in the coming weeks, so subscribe to the Warhammer Community newsletter if you don’t want to miss out.
* As Rippers are also responsible for breaking down all organic matter on a planet, the hive mind got a handy head-start on the clean-up job.
** And understandably so…