The Hive

**The Hive** is one of the most widly feared threats in Soup itself.

Infamous for the typical Drone build, a six-legged, truck sized wasp with five eyes, two to four wings, and a slender body. Though the most common description of one, there are numerous variations and classes.

As they spread across the multiverse, they destroy and infest planets, spreading Bulwark and devouring everything living and not. Though pushed to the brink of extinction a long time ago and forced to hide their dwindling numbers, a strange event has allowed them to return. Now, a single Hive can contain hundreds of trillions of Drones.

At first going undetected, the Hive has grown at unprecidented rates. Hives branching from a single origin planet can now cover whole clusters of universes, showing no sign of stopping. While this normally wouldn't be an issue, the current condition of most of inhabited Soup is ill-prepared for such a force.

## History

- Conflicts

-Hunters

-needs info

## The Echelon

The Echelon is the overall Class Tree of the Hive. Of the four main branches, or Annexes, there's no one major threat. Each works together flawlessly, and some are able to communicate with their origin Hive from great distances. As the Hive grows and matures, the Drones can metamorphosize to the next tiers, each more dangerous than the last.

The start of the first three branches starts with the basic Classless Drone. Classless will specilize to a branch by multiple factors, such as the ratio of one class to the others, security and stability of the Hive, and genetic factors.

Almost all Drones start off from a simple egg, laid by the Queen herself. See: Reproduction System

### Architect Annex

Refered to as "builder-class" Drones, they mainly are responcible for maintaining the internal Hive. This includes tending to the young, transporting materials, expanding the Bulwark structures, and maintaining the overall structure of their colony. They are not defenseless however, even highly trained troops have underestimated a small handful of Drones and have met their terrible end.

* Basic Builders
* Nurse Branch
* Transport Branch
* Medic Branch
* Structural Branch

### Hornet Annex

Refered to as "warrior-class" Drones, their diversity and coperation in destroying the local life make them the main threat of the Hive. They swarm into massive clouds and walls of rampaging mandibles, decimating entire cities in just minutes at their worst. Where there's one, there's a swarm not too far behind.

* Basic Warriors
* Tank Branch
* Subterrainian Branch
* Aerial Branch
* Arachnid Branch
* Carrier Branch
* Astrotic Warrior Branch

### Seeker Annex

Refered to as "scout-class" Drones, they tend to be the smartest and hardest to find. The Seeker Annex has the smallest Drone classes of the Hive. Thus, they can be one of the most difficult to stop. Once they spot prey or a threat to the Hive, they can return to the colony and summon whole armies to swarm. Most are programmed to avoid detection at all costs, however, there's one major exception.

* Basic Scouts
* Lymph Branch
* Morphos Branch
* Astrotic Scout Branch

### Imperial Annex

Refered to as "royal" Drones, they're the main source of reproduction, and the central controllers of the Hive Mind to some degree.

* Royal Drones

## A Strange Biome

After maturing to different stages, a Hive will eventually grow a plethora of strange structures. While some are more common and dangerous than others, there are a few key structures which can determine if a planet is doomed for consumption or if there's a fighting chance for the remaining population.

### Stage 1

Stage one Hives aren't anything special. They contain the more basic and infamous structures, as the start of the Hive must remain hidden.

* Cancroid
* Dome
* Tunnel

### Stage 2

Stage two Hives are the more classic ones. They can stretch for miles, and the sound of buzzing can be heard from deep below the earth.

* Megadome
* Runway
* Basic Storage
* Belfry
* Feelers

### Stage 3

Stage three Hives are where things start to get tricky. The environment around the Hive is flooded with toxins and gasses, at first simply tinting the sky orange, but eventually almost blotting out all sunlight.

* Neuron
* Secondary Storage
* Blacklight
* Emitter

### Stage 4

Stage four Hives are what the Hunters concider to be near the point of no return. The swarms of Drones becomes difficult to handle, and it becomes increasingly hard to determine how close to the tipping point a Hive is due to how hard it is to get any useful data.

* Spire
* Basic Tower
* Neural Network
* Advanced Storage
* Vent

### Stage 5

Stage five Hives are beyond the point of no return. Some try to save their planet, but it would be by pure luck and overwhelming forces that they'd be able to fend the swarms off at this point. The world begins to suffer as the atmosphere becomes uninhabitable, and the threat of Spores becomes a worldwide hazard.

* Brain
* Alarm Tower
* Citadel
* Atmospheric Alterator
* Planetary Blister
* Infested Structures
* Bone

### Stage 6

Stage six Hives are often refered to as "fully infested planets". The entire planet has been devoured by the Hive, and the atmosphere is so thick with horrible gasses and toxins that it's impossible for life to enter without heavy life support. Even if anyone manages to reach the surface, they likely won't last long against the swarms within the hurricane force gusts of spores and acidic particles. It's dangerous to even be near the planet, as the Hive may send space-faring swarms which will go undetected until they breach the atmosphere. By then, they've already spotted you, and you're being hunted.

* Monolith
* Mentality
* Genetic Alterator
* Minefield (wip)
* Skeleton

### Stage 7

There is no planet remaining in stage seven Hives. The world has been devoured by the Hive and Bulwark. It can move, it is alive, and it is the Hive. There is no planet to save, it is all one living creature at this point.

* Spine of Spires
* Metropolis
* Cytokine Summon Citadel

As the Hive matures, it gains abilities to alter the environment around it. After a planet is fully infested, there tends to be no hope in returning it to its natural state. The planet is doomed after a turning point, and the only hope left would be to flee and hope you are not followed. Eventually the Hive becomes something not worth fighting unless it's after something important, and even then it's often better to just try and flee.

## Sisters of the Hive

* Aspects of Mutation
* Aspects of the Hive Mind
* Aspects of Hunger
* Aspects of Veneration