The Nexus

The Nexus was a Necromorph Hive Mind form created on Tau Volantis from the remains of the planet's extinct natives. It belonged to the same hive mind sub-species as the Hive Mind that had risen on Aegis VII, and like that creature it functioned as a ground commander for lesser Necromorph forms, telepathically broadcasting Marker signals and coordinating the infestation. Several Nexus forms were left flash frozen on the surface of Tau Volantis, and the signals locked inside their bodies later guided the people who came to the planet.

Origin and anatomy#

The Nexus forms were gargantuan crustacean-like Necromorphs assembled from at least one corpse of the extinct alien species of Tau Volantis. The creature's head resembled the skulls of the alien skeletons found across the planet, which set it apart in appearance from the human-derived Hive Mind of Aegis VII even though the two were of the same sub-species. The head was mantis-like, with four eyes separated by fleshy openings down a crowned forehead and a vertically split set of mandibles that opened to reveal large claws and a ring of pustules around the mouth.

The body carried four long limbs used to attack, with two blade-like arms held behind the head, and a chest cavity that opened onto a large pulsating sac much like the one on the Aegis VII creature. Several appendages rose from its back. The interior held hollow chambers laced with Corruption strands, and within them sat Nests and cyst-like nerve clusters. The Nexus drew prey toward its mouth or smashed at them with its limbs, swallowing victims down into a stomach filled with acidic liquid where the internal Nests would finish them.

Role as a Marker relay#

The appendages on the Nexus acted as antennas. They broadcast the Marker signal to the lesser Necromorph pawns and received it in turn from the Markers and the Brethren Moons, making the creature a command node within the wider infestation. The cyst-like nerve clusters in its interior were directly involved in carrying the signal, and they were sensitive to damage. When struck, they summoned enhanced Feeders that had grown stronger by feeding on the Nexus from the inside, defending the body much as white cells defend a wound.

Because these signals persisted even in the frozen specimens, they became a tool of research rather than only a weapon. The Sovereign Colonies Armed Forces, studying the recovered Necromorph at Excavation Site 1, traced the signal that the Nexus received to triangulate the source of the Marker transmissions, which led them to the Alien Machine buried beneath a nearby mountain and paved the way for the building of Facility Two.

The frozen specimens and Nexus-001#

When the Convergence on Tau Volantis ended in the flash freezing of the whole world, several Nexus forms were caught and preserved. Three were found at the base of the frozen mountain that concealed the Alien Machine, held in postures that suggested they had been moving to climb or tear down the mountain when the freeze took hold. One interpretation held that the Tau Volantis Moon had ordered the Nexus creatures to stop the Machine from activating, and that the surviving aliens had triggered the Machine first, locking everything in place.

One specimen was designated Nexus-001 by the research teams, the number marking it as one of several. Two centuries after the freeze, Isaac Clarke and John Carver reached this frozen Hive Mind in an effort to thaw it and triangulate the signal still held within its body. The creature thawed and revived, and in the confusion of a clash with Robert Norton and the soldiers of the Circle, it turned on everyone present. Isaac was pulled into its body and forced to fight his way back out. After a sustained struggle Isaac and Carver brought the enormous creature down, and it collapsed dead.