The Crossed Virus on Holy Terra (40K)

[Splappy]

How badly would Holy Terra be affected if 10,000 individuals infected with the Crossed virus appeared in Terra, in the Underhive?

The Crossed virus' strain is immediately infectious upon contact with the body fluids as seen in the comics. The 10,000 individuals are split into 100 groups of 10 and dispersed throughout the Underhive. The groups of Crossed will have real life firearms and weapons, but not any futuristic 40K Imperium firearms and weapons initially. They of course can scavenge them off of others.

What would happen to Terra? Can the Imperium contain the virus?

 

[Cloak&Dagger]

It would be completely unremarkable and I doubt it would even make it to a Biologis for study, since it's incredibly obvious and would be purged immediately.

 

[IfIhadaHammer]

It's not particularly more dangerous than several of the existing flavors of zombie virus in 40k.

 

[Splappy]

It's not particularly more dangerous than several of the existing flavors of zombie virus in 40k.

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It would be completely unremarkable and I doubt it would even make it to a Biologis for study, since it's incredibly obvious and would be purged immediately.

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Hold on, you guys do know this is in the Underhive where there's a ton of lawlessness, and you read Crossed right?

Because if not I can post some images of it's effects and spread if need be.

 

[Sarissa]

Please do not.

 

[IfIhadaHammer]

Hold on, you guys do know this is in the Underhive where there's a ton of lawlessness, and you read Crossed right?

Because if not I can post some images of it's effects and spread if need be.

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I have, unfortunately, read Crossed.

And to put it simply, the Crossed virus is not nearly as dangerous as some of the zombie plague variants.

The Fydae strain, for example, being a warp based virus, doesn't need a material infection vector at all, but can simply hop from soul to soul.

The Walking Pox, a different strain, can be spread by sound.

And of course, quite unlike the crossed, the infected of these viruses are controlled by nurgle and are capable of coordinating on a massive scale without intelligent crossed to herd them around, and aren't ever going to turn on each other.

 

[Splappy]

SNIP

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And those viruses and specific strains, if dropped into the Underhive, have been dealt with quickly?

And those zombies that have appeared in the Underhive, they are capable of using weapons like humans?

Because the Lexicanum article describes them as mindless and shambling, which is very much not like Crossed infected.

 

[drexal15]

This is Holy Terra we're talking about here.

At worst the virus lasts/spreads in a localized area for a few days. Then either the inevitable psychic resonance of such a thing is noticed and the infection is purged, or the arbites notice something's up with the chaos cultist-like behaviour and then the virus gets purged.

Even if it does spread a little further somehow? Still a rather easy case of purging. Having a ton of powerful psykers around plus the freaking inquisition on call means it's wiped out in short order.

 

[Splappy]

This is Holy Terra we're talking about here.

At worst the virus lasts/spreads in a localized area for a few days. Then either the inevitable psychic resonance of such a thing is noticed and the infection is purged, or the arbites notice something's up with the chaos cultist-like behaviour and then the virus gets purged.

Even if it somehow does spread a little further somehow? Still a rather easy case of purging. Having a ton of powerful psykers around plus the freaking inquisition on call means it's wiped out in short order.

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On the bright side, it would mean that they would actually be giving a shit about what went on in the Underhive for once.

Although they'd probably just leave it immediately after sanitizing and collecting purging.

 

[Cloak&Dagger]

This is Holy Terra we're talking about here.

At worst the virus lasts/spreads in a localized area for a few days. Then either the inevitable psychic resonance of such a thing is noticed and the infection is purged, or the arbites notice something's up with the chaos cultist-like behaviour and then the virus gets purged.

Even if it does spread a little further somehow? Still a rather easy case of purging. Having a ton of powerful psykers around plus the freaking inquisition on call means it's wiped out in short order.

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Terra is just as much of a dump as any other Hive World, if not more so. It just has some strategically important infrastructure on it.

 

[Gul Damar]

Terra is just as much of a dump as any other Hive World, if not more so. It just has some strategically important infrastructure on it.

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Well it's worse because billions of pilgrims travel to Terra nonstop, with many dying of famine, disease or just old age before ever seeing the planet's surface due to the massive traffic jams. When the Great Rift stopped food shipments from reaching Terra, it took only a few weeks for the desperate masses to turn to Chaos and mass-sacrificing an army of daemons into existence.

As for OP yeah a plague of intelligent rape zombies is just a Tuesday Afternoon for Terra's security forces. A Inquisitor with his retinue and Stormtrooper support, a squad of Imperial Fists or a single Custodian could take care of this, heck just Arbites would be sufficient.

 

[Terra Novan]

As for OP yeah a plague of intelligent rape zombies is just a Tuesday Afternoon for Terra's security forces. A Inquisitor with his retinue and Stormtrooper support, a squad of Imperial Fists or a single Custodian could take care of this, heck just Arbites would be sufficient.

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Hell, a sufficiently well-organized and well-armed underhive gang might able to take it, considering the horrors they have to deal with every hour.

 

[Ben Who Devours]

The Crossed Plague was such a horror in-universe because it hit everywhere, at once. That isn't the case here. The Underhive is a mess so it'll take time and cause some damage, but if it's just 100 of them then...no biggie, in the long run.

 

[Splappy]

Hell, a sufficiently well-organized and well-armed underhive gang might able to take it, considering the horrors they have to deal with every hour.

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Any bit of fluid contact would turn a gang member into a Crossed though, and they don't know about that, so they could very well accidentally turn half their group into Crossed.

Especially if they ever go into melee. Though, if a Scalies member melees them, they might be immune if they're no longer human enough to qualify for the virus.

The Crossed Plague was such a horror in-universe because it hit everywhere, at once. That isn't the case here. The Underhive is a mess so it'll take time and cause some damage, but if it's just 100 of them then...no biggie, in the long run.

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Hmm I may have underestimated the (under)Hive size. I forget it is a huge place.

Perhaps a hundred groups of a hundred crossed would be more reasonable.

 

[Terra Novan]

Any bit of fluid contact would turn a gang member into a Crossed though, and they don't know about that, so they could very well accidentally turn half their group into Crossed.

Especially if they ever go into melee. Though, if a Scalies member melees them, they might be immune if they're no longer human enough to qualify for the virus.

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See the @IfIhadaHammer's post on different strains of a zombie plague in 40k. That's the stuff they have to deal with.

Then there is this:

Holy geeze guys...

The Black Dragons once had to cleanse a planet of more Plague Zombies, but instead of being slow, shaky, covered in flies, and hungry for flesh, these zombies were loud, as fast as a riot of normal humans, didn't eat flesh, and by all accounts looked alive except for the fact that their hearts weren't beating. Turned out to be a sentient disease created by Nurgle. Known as the Doubtworm, it had infected the planet with a memetic virus consisting of the words "the Emperor isn't real", which made all the people go berserk and eventually merge into a hideous worm-like monstrosity. The "zombies" were the early stage of the infection, and attacked the "survivors" (actually victims of the infection's later phases) in a last-ditch attempt to save themselves and the "survivors" from Nurgle's clutches.

Yeah, a literal Plague of Unbelief this time; eat your heart out, Richard Dawkins. Space Marines and Sisters of Battle are immune because they know for a fact that the Emperor is real (the former from their connection to him via the gene-seed, the latter because the victim needs to have some small amount of doubt in the Emperor to be infected). Also, the disease was smart enough to leave the planetary governor's family in their living human forms after it infected them, so they could pull a Genestealer and be evacuated off-world to infect more people. Thankfully a massive badass named Sister Sethano was present and convinced the Black Dragons to cyclonic torpedo the Doubtworm's ugly wormy face.

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[Splappy]

See the @IfIhadaHammer's post on different strains of a zombie plague in 40k. That's the stuff they have to deal with.

Then there is this:

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Yes, but the Plague zombies are described on lexicanum as being mindless. Crossed are not quite mindless- they do know how to use things like guns and stuff

In any case I will update the OP as right now the numbers disparity does seem little low for Crossed.

 

[IfIhadaHammer]

Yes, but the Plague zombies are described on lexicanum as being mindless. Crossed are not quite mindless- they do know how to use things like guns and stuff

In any case I will update the OP as right now the numbers disparity does seem little low for Crossed.

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Lexicanum is generally a good source, but its not the end all be all of 40k lore. Its missing a lot of Black Library book lore, for example.

I think my biggest problem with this is you've chosen the single hardest target in the imperium here. If this were happening on some random hive world, even one with a substantial garrison or even a Space Marine fortress monastery, a crossed infection would be a much more significant problem.

Of course all of this is also dodging the question of how the Crossed virus would interact with Nurgle and his servants. It is a plague, and I don't think it would just dodge all of the existing metaphysics of the 40k universe.

 

[Splappy]

Lexicanum is generally a good source, but its not the end all be all of 40k lore. Its missing a lot of Black Library book lore, for example.

I think my biggest problem with this is you've chosen the single hardest target in the imperium here. If this were happening on some random hive world, even one with a substantial garrison or even a Space Marine fortress monastery, a crossed infection would be a much more significant problem.

Of course all of this is also dodging the question of how the Crossed virus would interact with Nurgle and his servants. It is a plague, and I don't think it would just dodge all of the existing metaphysics of the 40k universe.

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I mean, googling "Plague Zombie 40K"...

Spoiler

It does not seem like they frequently carry around guns. I do not know if they simply don't have access to the guns, if they're not intelligent enough to use them, or if they're simply not dexterous enough most of the time or not, but by and large it seems they like melee a bit more.

Anyway, I will update this thread a bit, since it does seem a bit restrictive in it's scope atm.

 

[Ben Who Devours]

Lexicanum is generally a good source, but its not the end all be all of 40k lore. Its missing a lot of Black Library book lore, for example.

I think my biggest problem with this is you've chosen the single hardest target in the imperium here. If this were happening on some random hive world, even one with a substantial garrison or even a Space Marine fortress monastery, a crossed infection would be a much more significant problem.

Of course all of this is also dodging the question of how the Crossed virus would interact with Nurgle and his servants. It is a plague, and I don't think it would just dodge all of the existing metaphysics of the 40k universe.

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Nurgle, Khorne, Slaanesh...There are aspects of them all except Tzeentch, though individuals such as Beau Salt or Fleshcook are probably his by 40k standards.

IIRC certain conditions and diseases have at times caused odd interactions with the infection, and given rise to intelligent ones. So other supernatural factors may come into play. It infects chimps, so abhumans are fair game. And SM's are eminently corruptable by other sources, so I reckon they are too.

 

[Splappy]

I've altered the scenario to be a bit more numerically sensible for an infection in a densely populated underground city. And since Crossed typically wield weapons, I've made it explicit they do have weapons to start off with.

It infects chimps, so abhumans are fair game. And SM's are eminently corruptable by other sources, so I reckon they are too.

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Wait, the virus has infected chimpanzees before?

 

[Ben Who Devours]

I've altered the scenario to be a bit more numerically sensible for an infection in a densely populated underground city. And since Crossed typically wield weapons, I've made it explicit they do have weapons to start off with.


Wait, the virus has infected chimpanzees before?

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ya it's on a few of the covers. Only primates though, it explicitly doesn't affect most animals. Also if you accept Homo Tortor having any factual basis behind the in-universe fiction, it could affect other species of primordial human.

 

[Destynova1]

Homo Tortor was fanfiction done by a conspiracy theorist.

 

[Ben Who Devours]

Homo Tortor was fanfiction done by a conspiracy theorist.

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ya that's what I'm saying, if you accept the covers of the HT issues or assume that there's any potential reality behind that guys theory, then it's evidence that non-human hominids are affected. Considering the original idea of Crossed was "they don't actually do anything normal humans haven't at their worst", it's a valid consideration.

The chimps weren't from Homo Tortor, anyway, so the point still stands.

 

[Splappy]

ya that's what I'm saying, if you accept the covers of the HT issues or assume that there's any potential reality behind that guys theory, then it's evidence that non-human hominids are affected. Considering the original idea of Crossed was "they don't actually do anything normal humans haven't at their worst", it's a valid consideration.

The chimps weren't from Homo Tortor, anyway, so the point still stands.

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The thought of an Underhive Scalie with the Crossed virus is pretty terrifying...

Or a Space Marine/Custodes with that. However, a Custodes/Marine wears full body armour, do they not? I can't see body fluids getting into the armor very easily.

 

[Ben Who Devours]

The thought of an Underhive Scalie with the Crossed virus is pretty terrifying...

Or a Space Marine/Custodes with that. However, a Custodes/Marine wears full body armour, do they not? I can't see body fluids getting into the armor very easily.

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Yeah, it would struggle to get through sealed armour. Hazmat suits work in +100, and Julie's soldiers in Mimic just had visors, masks, gloves and form-covering clothing.

If it started among a Chapter, or got into a Chapter's auxiliaries/servants and thus hit them whilst they were unarmoured, or they were on a battlefield where heavy duty weapons were in use, though, it could happen.