INTRODUCTION ASSIMILATION BATTLE HUNGER INTELLIGENCE TERRAIN

INTRODUCTION

Found on the fortress-world of Halo, the Flood are a group of parasitic life forms that will eventually consume everything with significant biomass in the universe. Halo was designed to study and contain the Flood infection, which was unwittingly set loose by the Covenant. The Flood's parasitic nature belies their intelligence, for the Flood can access the memories of any host it infects.

According to sources, the only sure way the Flood race can be totally killed off is by destroying their food supply. The Flood consume all organic life that is capable of supporting the infection of flesh and neural patterns.

ASSIMILATION

Flood take over the bodies of hosts and assimilate them into Flood. This is done by the Flood Infection Forms. Infection forms have a long tendrils that pierce the skin of the host and find their way to the spine. They paralyze the host so they cannot resist the Infection Form or cry out for help. A symptom has being described has having your chest full of water.

The tendrils latch onto the hosts Brain and Spine and try to find a match with their DNA. It then infects the host with its own DNA changing the host into a Combat Form, or if too damaged or of little Biomass a Carrier Form. As the hosts skin mutates and becomes soft, the Infection Form deflates itself and crawls into the chest of the host, between the heart and lungs. It does this often while the host is still alive. It is an agonizing process. The Infection then gains control of all the hosts neural systems and thus controls its body. They are now part of the Flood and can never go back.  

BATTLE

The Flood literally flood the enemy with overwhelming numbers. As they can assimilate their "food" rather quickly and easily their numbers are always on the increase. They swamp their enemies with so much force there is often little they can do. The Flood Combat Forms are impeccably strong, a single blow can incapacitate a single weaker opponent and severely wound even the mighty Elites and Spartans. Once wounded the enemies are easy prey for the Infection Forms which are always nearby. Carrier Forms explode within large clumps of their enemies. They are exceptionally silent so are not often noticed until its too late and their explosion is devastating. Infection Forms make short work of non-shielded targets as they cannot prevent its tendrils penetrating their bodies. The Flood seem to prefer close combat. Despite being able to use weapons they will often charge and assault their enemies. This is not to say they are incapable of far range combat. They are able to use any weapon their host once did and will use them with equal effect in combat.

HUNGER

The Flood are completely driven by an indescribable hunger that blanks out everything else. They are driven to consume all known life in the Universe. Anything with enough biomass to sustain them is considered "food" to the Flood and are used to make more Infection Forms and thus reproduce and spread at an alarming rate. The Flood cannot cope with confinement, they hope to escape and consume all the known Universe and when their numbers get too high, nothing can stop them.

But they are capable of waiting. They hibernated in a dormant state on Halo for thousands of years until they could feed on the newcomers and use their technology to escape.

INTELLIGENCE

Despite popular belief, the Flood are an intelligent race of beings. The only reason they simply swamp their enemies is simply because they can afford to. The Flood often have superior numbers to their enemies due to their nature of reproduction and resisiliance to bodily harm. When in different circumstances they will use far range weaponry and ordnance like Rocket Launchers. They are even capable of battlefield tactics. Hiding behind obstacles so targets can be ambushed. They know remaining still will prevent motion trackers detecting them. They are also capable of waiting and professional infiltration. Flood infiltrated the Pillar of Autumn by hiding in storage containers, waited to be brought inside and then cause chaos within.

All this is because the Flood can access the mind of their host. They know everything they know. How to use weapons, how to drive vehicles even battlefield tactics they may know, everything. And they use what they learn well.

The Flood Brain Form discovered the location of Earth by draining Captain Keyes mind but was killed when the Truth and Reconciliation was destroyed.

TERRAIN

Though the Flood can manage in environments that are normal to both Covenant and Humans, they prefer to alter it to their own preferences. It is not known how they achieve this, but the Flood can alter atmosphere and thus the planet making it so other Non-Flood life forms cannot survive and thus become at the mercy of the Flood. After the Flood was released on Halo they began to change it, but thankfully they did not succeed in doing so.