Early warning signs of the apocalyptic threat of Hive Fleet Behemoth came from a n Explorator census of the planetary

Systems on the Eastern Fringe surrounding T yran undertaken in the preceding decade before Behemoth's invasion. Planets know n to have been full of life were discovered reduced to lifeless, barren rock wit hout even any living bacteria. These mysterious new Dead Worlds were reported to the Explorator General but nothing came of it. The outpost on Tyran also filed its own reports of discovered dead worlds, but no help was sent.[1b] Hive Fleet Behemoth attacked from the galactic south-east of the Eastern Fringe without warning and ploughed wildly into the galaxy, ruining hundreds of systems and devouring everything in its path. Compared to later Hive Fleets which adopt ed different strategies, Behemoth showed no subtlety in its berserker advance. E ventually its onslaught used more biomass than it could replace and it all but c onsumed itself in the process of breaking the Imperial defence at the Battle for Macragge.[1a] Tyran Main article: Fall of Tyran The first documented attack was upon the outpost of Tyran in 745.M41 [4]. Hive F leet Behemoth overran the isolated Adeptus Mechanicus Explorator Base with overw helming force, and stripped the world of all life. A data-codex recording the in vasion was stored deep below the base's command bunker and was recovered almost a year later by Inquisitor Kryptman, a far-sighted Inquisitor who had been dispa tched to investigate the reports of unexplained dead worlds. Analyzing the codex , Kryptman realised the grave threat that was entering the galaxy and became det ermined to warn the Imperium. Being the first time the Imperium had encountered a new alien race, they were named after the planet Tyran.[1b][2] Occulus Occulus was an moon-sized observator station caught in Behemoth's path as it pus hed onwards past Tyran. The station was a bio-artefact claimed by the Imperium n ine thousand years earlier and was devoured, along with its crew.[1a] Jagga Jagga was the home to Ork Freebooters known as the Star Krumpas. Their considera ble Kill Kroozer fleet, once the major threat to local shipping, put up a great fight against Behemoth but was eventually destroyed.[1a] Thandros The System of Thandros contained a Telepathica Matrix orbiting Thandros I, which boosted astropathic signals and allowed intragalactic communications. Kryptman, after discovering the fate of Tyran, attempted to send a message via this Telep athica Matrix. But he couldn't get through. In desperation he ventured to Thandr os and found it destroyed. Kryptman managed to salvage the Matrix so it could pr oject the data-codex along with his own report. The Ordo Xenos replied with orde rs to travel to Macragge and assist in mounting a defence against the alien flee t. The Ordo Xenos, as dictated by Imperial tradition, also named the invading al ien fleet after an ancient and forbidding legend - Behemoth.[2a] Solemnace Solemnace is a Necron Tomb World that was in the path of two minor tendrils. How ever they made major course corrections to avoid conflict with the Necrons, and eventually the tendrils lapsed into hibernation after finding themselves unable to pinpoint any nutrient-rich prey worlds.[1a] Prandium Prandium, known as the "jewel in Ultramar's crown", was as easy conquest for Beh emoth. The luscious Agri-World was stripped of all life.[1a][2] The Tyranids wer e so thorough that even Prandium's atmosphere was consumed for what ever biomass

it contained. The Ultramarines, led by Marneus Calgar, mounted a defence of the planet, but had to sacrifice Prandium. For a week Marneus Calgar went without f ood or water while meditating on the matter. When he came out of his trance-like state, he told the Ultramarines that they had been guilty of the sin of pride a nd that they would have to adapt and develop new strategies and tactics, even we apons. Hit and run raids were abandoned in place of concentrated defenses and st atic firepower. This meant that the Ultramarines had to choose a place to defend , and they chose their fortress monastery on Macragge.[Needs Citation] Sybari Behemoth went on to absorb Sybari, a Fortress World that served as the secret st ronghold for the Death Shadows Renegade Chapter.[1a] Battle for Macragge Behemoth's invasion of the galaxy towards Macragge. Hive Fleet Kraken is also sh own. Main article: Battle for Macragge Marneus Calgar declared that the Hive Fleet would be halted at Macragge. Forewar ned of the impending Tyranid attack by Inquisitor Kryptman, the Ultramarines for tified their Homeworld's already formidable defences. In the inevitable assault the defenders blew apart countless waves of Bio-vessels as they speed towards th e planet, but with every wave more and more Mycetic Spores managed to break thro ugh to the planet's surface. Calgar, on the planet's surface, attempted to slow the Tyranid onslaught and buy time for the vital polar fortresses of Macragge to be further fortified. At the battle of Cold Steel Ridge the Swarmlord, the Hive Mind's deadliest servant, was dispatched to deal with Calgar. The arrival of th is unique beast infused the Tyranids with a keen strategy that coupled with thei r animalistic nature. The Swarmlord bellowed a challenge to Calgar and charged d irectly towards his position. The Ultramarines Honour Guard could not stop the S warmlord from renting, tearing and gravely wounding Calgar. Just in time, Thunde rhawk Gunships arrived to evacuated Calgar to the Battle Barge Octavius in orbit above Macragge. Cold Steel Ridge was taken by the Tyranids, leaving the path to the northern polar fortress clear.[1c][3] Arriving on Octavius, Calgar took command of the surviving Imperial fleet. Macra gge's space defences had been all but destroyed by the Tyranid fleet. The Tyrani d ships, having delivered their cargo of spores, broke orbit and turned away fro m Macragge. Calgar pursued them to the ringed world of Circe where the Tyranids revealed a second fleet concealed amongst the planet's rings. However reinforcem ents from the Tempestus Fleet dropped into Real Space and viced the Tyranid flee t in. But still the Tyranid's had superiority in numbers, until the Emperor Clas s Battleship the Dominus Astra valiantly charged into the heart of Hive Fleet Be hemoth and detonated its Warp Drives, creating a cataclysmic vortex that sucked both it and the entire Tyranid fleet into oblivion. The Tyranid fleet now destro yed, Calgar's forces made haste back to Macragge where all contact had been lost with the polar fortresses. The 3rd Company landed on the northen fortress and p ushed into the subterranean tunnels to find them littered with Tyranid and Ultra marine bodies. Within the lower penitorium, they found a circle of Terminators l aying dead where they had fought back to back and made their last stand. The ent ire 1st Company of the Ultramarines had been killed to the last man defending Ma cragge.[1c][3] Aftermath Behemoth's threat to the galaxy had ended, but the Hive Mind had sampled a signi ficant amount of new biomass and gained experience of how the galaxy's defenders tactically operate. It would also be years before its creatures were scoured fr om Macragge and before the Ultramarines and Ultramar could replace all their los ses.[1c][3] After the Battle of Macragge, the Hive Fleet splintered into smaller fragments t

hat scattered in all directions. Since, given time to absorb fresh biomass, thes e splinters could grow large, the Imperium had to deal with plenty of fresh Tyra nid threats during the following decades. Nevertheless, the Imperium allowed its elf to think that the worst of the Tyranid menace was over, until it became clea r during the last century of M41 that the scattered Tyranid forces being discove red on worlds in the Eastern Fringe were the precursors of two new Hive Fleets, Kraken and Leviathan.