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Are there any instances in the fluff of a psykically enabled organism making contact with the Tyranid hive mind through a synapse node creature? Or perhaps even more simple than that, a Tyranid organism developed with the possibility of a vocal range speaking to another species using the words of the Hive mind, even if it was in a language not understood by the receiving species?

And if not, what do you, dakkaites, figure the Voice of the Hive Mind would sound like?

I imagine it to be some kind of psychic choir, like the incoherent screeching of the millions of individual organisms being layered and tuned to create "words" as that gestalt consciousness idea is one of my favorite things about Tyranids as a faction/race/species.

Yes, its the Shadow in the Warp and its exactly like you described. It'd be like having all of Eurasia (Europe and Asia) screaming directly in your mind at once at full volume, each trying to tell you their lives.

@Deadshot

So that's why Psykers heads explode and normal humans' eyes bleed when a Hive Ship is approaching Thanks!

I just didn't know if there was actually any instances of anyone "talking" with the Hive Mind so to speak. Maybe in some kind of nightmarish unconscious dream realm? I feel like the psychological terror and mind-shattering ramifications of holding a conversation with such a Cthulhuesque Lovecraftian horror would be demoralizing for a prey world's defenders and might be a tactic exploited against less disciplined foes.

Sure risking revealing yourself to the defenders gives them time to fortify but when you're already devouring planets and drowning out the warp I think it's pretty obvious what's coming and some doom-broadcasting might go a long way in shaking up what would be hardy line soldiers that would have to be overcome some other way

IIRC in the Dawn of War series (non-canon, but it's still notable) Jacobas, the Librarian (I think his name is) has a psychic battle with the Hive Mind.

Tigurius may have been able to contact the Hivemind.
In Valedor Yriel hears it howl in pain while he lets the Spear of Twilight feed on it.

Even if you were able to make contact with the Hive Mind the conversation wouldn't be anything meaningful.

It is intelligent, but not in the same way other sentient beings are. Its a predator and every ounce of its intelligence is orientated towards feeding. It has massive capability to adapt to changing situations, but its not capable of empathy. It may not even be fully self-aware.

It would be like trying to hold a conversation with an ant colony.

If I remember correctly, in the audio drama Heart of Rage, the Blood Angels go into a Tyranid Hive Ship and one is impaled by a Hive Tyrant and used as a puppet to speak through.

@tydrace oo I need to listen to this.

I think Tigerius contacted it at one point. And I think any psychic communication would be more based on emotions and images than coherent speech. So the psyker might see the system that the hive fleet is approaching from the eyes of a sensor organism or something and they would get the feeling to feed and consume, but they probably couldn't debate the finer points of Dickens or anything.

 GKTiberius wrote:
I think Tigerius contacted it at one point. And I think any psychic communication would be more based on emotions and images than coherent speech. So the psyker might see the system that the hive fleet is approaching from the eyes of a sensor organism or something and they would get the feeling to feed and consume, but they probably couldn't debate the finer points of Dickens or anything.

He "contacted" the Hive Mind and was able to perceive the alien mind of a Tyranid organism of some sort, and he saw the following as he looked deeply into its mind:

1) The "terrible sentience it had in place of a soul"
2) The "steel will of its leader"
3) Its primogenitor "coldly assessing him from the void"
4) Behind it all, an "immortal hunger" that could never be killed

He didn't get any communication back from it directly; he just looked at the Hive Mind from the bottom up. It's a great little passage though, and tells you all you really need to know about the setup of the Tyranids. The whole thing is driven by the urge to feed, nothing more nothing less. It's similar to us, but also entirely different because there is no emotion or individuality or growth as we know it; just a single urge that rules every aspect of the species.

I'm loving this! Feed me moooooooore...

Side note, being sentient (but obviously without emotion) don't you think the collective would be pretty good at keeping that all overpowering hunger in check to accomplish more tasks?

Do you ever think the Hive Mind will grow strong enough, with enough organisms/biomass (and additional processing power gained from such growth) to check that hunger completely and develop more permanent infrastructure, possibly even becoming "civilized"?

Not implying it ever would, just conjecturing

 bocatt wrote:
I'm loving this! Feed me moooooooore...

Side note, being sentient (but obviously without emotion) don't you think the collective would be pretty good at keeping that all overpowering hunger in check to accomplish more tasks?

Do you ever think the Hive Mind will grow strong enough, with enough organisms/biomass (and additional processing power gained from such growth) to check that hunger completely and develop more permanent infrastructure, possibly even becoming "civilized"?

Not implying it ever would, just conjecturing

No, because the need to feed is what drives its changes. If it stopped needing to feed, it would no longer do anything. It would simply remain still and wither away.

The Hive Mind is a stomach with a brain, and its never full.

 tydrace wrote:
If I remember correctly, in the audio drama Heart of Rage, the Blood Angels go into a Tyranid Hive Ship and one is impaled by a Hive Tyrant and used as a puppet to speak through.

There's also a short story in one of the old compendium novels that has a trainee Rune Priest mentally hold a conversation with the Hive Ship they're invading.

 Grey Templar wrote:

 bocatt wrote:
I'm loving this! Feed me moooooooore...

Side note, being sentient (but obviously without emotion) don't you think the collective would be pretty good at keeping that all overpowering hunger in check to accomplish more tasks?

Do you ever think the Hive Mind will grow strong enough, with enough organisms/biomass (and additional processing power gained from such growth) to check that hunger completely and develop more permanent infrastructure, possibly even becoming "civilized"?

Not implying it ever would, just conjecturing

No, because the need to feed is what drives its changes. If it stopped needing to feed, it would no longer do anything. It would simply remain still and wither away.

The Hive Mind is a stomach with a brain, and its never full.

Not that the need would be gone, but just like humans holding their instincts and needs in check, could accomplish more and more complex goals.

Humans too are stomachs with brains. And genitals. That drives all our decisions at a very basic level, but we have very elaborate plans to satisfy those needs. Go to school > Get a good job > Stable source of income > buy food and water and other necessities for myself and progeny. Does school have anything to do with food? No. But it's part of the big plan

Do you think the Hive Mind will ever do such a thing? The only thing that holds animals that we can study back from such long term goals is long term memory and forethought/projection capabilities which the Swarm appears to have in spades if we count the Swarmlord as some kind of avatar of a small percentage of the Hive Mind's total computing power.

I can't imagine the species ever becoming like symbiotic plants or w/e as they rely on absorbing already available biomass rather than synthesizing their own (much like people) but possibly using other species as livestock? Leaving conquered Tyranid "ranch" worlds instead of dead worlds?

Like I said, this is all just wild posturing but I think it's really interesting