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| {{Ratings}}
| | a flood is a large bit of water that covers houses and shit |
| {{Era|H1|H2|H3|TF|FS|GOO|HGN|FA}}
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| {{seealso|Halo: The Flood}}<br />
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| {{Article Quote|I am a timeless chorus. Join your voice with mine and sing victory everlasting.}}<br />
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| {{Covenant Species Infobox
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| |name=''Inferi redivivus'' (Flood)
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| |image=[[Image:BestiarumFlood.jpg]]
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| |imagecaption=
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| |homeworld=Unkown origin, Extragalactic
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| |height=Variable (depending on host)
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| |weight=Variable (depending on host)
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| |skincolor=Variable: green, black, tan( depending on host), however mostly mutates to brown.
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| |distinctions=Significant physiological and psychological mutations
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| |equipment=Variable:
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| *[[Active Camouflage]]
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| *[[Elite Personal Energy Shield]]
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| |types=*[[Gravemind]]
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| *[[Proto-Gravemind]]
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| *[[Prophet Form]]
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| *[[Pure Form]]
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| *[[Carrier Form]]
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| *[[Combat Form]]
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| *[[Infection Form]]
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| *[[Juggernaut]]- Deleted from the game.
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| |affiliation= ''Inferi'' genus
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| |notable=*[[Gravemind]]
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| |othernames=*"Flood" ([[Human]] and [[Covenant]])
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| *"''Inferi redivivus''" ([[Foreunner]])
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| *"Parasite" ([[Covenant]])
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| }}
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| The '''Flood''', <ref>[[The Library (Level)|The Library]], referenced by [[343 Guilty Spark (Monitor)|343 Guilty Spark]]</ref> (Latin '''''Inferi redivivus'''''<ref>''[[Halo 3]]'', ''[[Bestiarum]]''</ref>, meaning '''"renovated dead"'''<ref>http://carnage.bungie.org/haloforum/halo.forum.pl?read=865888</ref>) also known as the '''Parasite'''<ref>[[The Heretic (Level)|The Heretic]], referenced by the [[Prophet of Truth]]</ref> by the [[Covenant]], is a species of virulent, savage, parasitic organisms that thrive by consuming all sentient lifeforms of sufficient biomass and cognitive capability. This includes Humans and most Covenant species. <ref>[[Two Betrayals (Level)|Two Betrayals]], first cutscene, referenced by [[343 Guilty Spark (Monitor)|343 Guilty Spark]]</ref>
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| | it can often cause people to float and this can be henceforth quite bad since some people dont float as well as others |
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| The exact origin of the flood is currently unknown, but it is known that they are an extragalactic species bent on consuming all sentient life throughout the entire universe. In regards to every outbreak of the Flood, there exists three or four stages the parasitic organism undergoes, which are feral, coordinated and interstellar with the possibility of another higher stage present and intergalactic. In the feral stage, the Flood make use of the four basic forms: Infection, Combat, Carrier and a proto-Gravemind form (Brain Form). Once a viable [[Gravemind]] has developed, the Coordinated stage begins with the numbers of forms growing rapidly. The Interstellar stage develops once the Flood have acquired sufficient technology and do not possess any further known evolutionary changes. The Intergalactic stage is the last known stage of the Flood, once it has consumed all sentient life in a galaxy (and by extension, gained complete understanding of any technological and scientific knowledge that was present), it will have reached a complete critical mass, which must depart to other galaxies, possibly by either entering a dormant state or by utilizing said gained knowledge and technology, for further replication. In retrospect, the Flood follows a systematic flow of replication similar to the [[wikipedia:Lysogenic cycle|lysogenic]] and [[wikipedia:Lytic cycle|lytic]] cycles of viruses, but on a universal scale as opposed to a cellular scale.
| | (fat ppl, ur ok) |
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| The Flood's potential for destruction is not under estimated. It is an organism-scale parasitic species, and its sole means of reproduction is by assimilating other sentient species into its fold by neurological and physiological mutagenic means, by entering and infesting live bodies or recent corpses. Its all-consuming nature and dependence on sentient life means that it would be impossible for the Flood to be a part of any ecosystem. They adapt quickly to any ecosystem and use its properties to its advantage.
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| ==Forerunner-Flood War==
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| {{Main|Forerunner-Flood War}}
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| The Flood are believed to have arrived more then 100,000 years prior to [[2552]] at 98,379 BC<ref>''[[Halo 2]]'',,''[[Sacred Icon (Level)]]''</ref>, when they encountered the [[Forerunner|Forerunners]], although it is unknown where the Flood came from. The Flood used unarmed civilian assets to penetrate planetary defense groups, first attacking the [[Forerunner]]-held planet of [[LP 656-38 e]], bypassing the [[Forerunner]] orbital [[fleet]] and infesting the planet below, soon moving to similarly infest [[DM-3-1123 b]]. They were perceived as hostile by the Forerunners, whose ground forces were overcome by the sheer numbers of Flood forms on the ground. While at first the Flood demonstrated a lack of even "basic cohesion", they had "numerical superiority"; billions of forms to dedicate for the assault and infestation of each and every one of the Forerunner population. In desperation, the Forerunner armada was ordered to immediately commence full planetary bombardment on infested worlds, although at great cost- many [[Forerunners]] were unable to be evacuated before bombardment commenced, leaving the [[Forerunner]] military initially with Pyrrhic victories against the Flood. In events where the naval garrisons were unable to commence bombardment, major Forerunner population centers appeared to activate localized weapons of mass destruction, destroying themselves before the Flood could infest them in "noble sacrifice[s]" .
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| Thereafter, the Forerunners realized that naval tactics were unable to stem the growing tide of the Flood, and began to invest in super weaponry. While the Forerunners initially deployed the [[Sentinel]] electromechanical drones to fight against and contain the Flood, almost immediately afterwards, the [[Forerunner Fleet Command]] contemplated "premature stellar collapse": using naval battle groups to destroy planetary star systems' primary stars in supernovae that would engulf the planetary systems and prevent any possibility of Flood infection.
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| While the Flood were practicing "exponential growth", spreading from system to system with the intent to infest the Forerunner populations, not to wage war with Forerunner battle groups, the tide was turning: The Flood had reached sufficient proportions to spawn a [[Gravemind]] form, a creature that embodied a collective sentient intelligence for the Flood species, and one that could coordinate the Flood swarms in active attacks against the Forerunner fleets. The [[Forerunners]] were aware of this, and constructed the [[Contender-class Artificial Intelligence|''Contender''-classification]] [[artificial intelligence]] [[Mendicant Bias]] in an effort to destroy this centralized [[Gravemind]] and disorganize the Flood.
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| The Forerunners began a "Conservation Measure", researching the Flood, while constructing the artifact that would create a portal to the [[Installation 00|Ark]] on [[Earth]], protecting the "worthy" human race from destruction from the Flood. Some Flood specimens were kept by the Forerunners for scientific study. At this time, a Forerunner called the Librarian was busy cataloging and storing every form of sentient life on board the Ark.
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| The Forerunners employed many, many measures, including intricate naval tactics, in an attempt to contain the Flood, but ultimately failed. Finally, the Forerunners were forced to a Pyrrhic solution, building seven ring-like installations, known as [[The Halos]], across the galaxy. Because the Flood were parasitic, and their survival was immediately linked to the presence of potential hosts, the Forerunners reasoned that eliminating all potential Flood hosts, that is, all sentient life forms in the galaxy, would starve the Flood out. After all other measures failed, the [[Forerunners]] activated the [[Halos]] in 97,448 B.C.E., unleashing galactic destruction, destroying almost all sentient life forms. However, the human race and all other species on [[Earth]] and throughout the galaxy were shielded from the firing of the Halos by the Ark and its [[Portal]].
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| The Flood were contained, lacking hosts and thus unable to reproduce. The only surviving specimens were contained in state of the art, high security Forerunner research facilities, such as the Halo installations and the [[Threshold]] [[Gas Mine]].
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| ===2552===
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| ====[[Battle of Installation 04]]====
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| =====Release=====
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| Although the Flood were contained by the first firing of the Halo Array, samples of Flood specimens were kept alive on various Forerunner outposts for study. One such research site was located on [[Installation 04]]. This proved to be a grave mistake, as both Humanity and The [[Covenant]] stumbled upon the abandoned ring. The [[AI]] construct aboard the Human vessel [[Pillar of Autumn]] made a presumably 'blind' jump through slip space (although it is later revealed that she used translated co-ordinates from a Forerunner artifact found on Sigma Octanus) to evade [[Covenant]] pursuers. This lead both species to Installation 04, and in turn, the Flood. After the crash of Pillar of Autumn, the surviving crew dug in for what they believed would be a long and brutal campaign against Covenant forces on the ring. Meanwhile, their pursuers, the Covenant cruiser [[Truth and Reconciliation]], amassed its forces on the surface and soon discovered an underground [[Forerunner]] facility in the swamps of [[Halo]]. Due to the nature of the facility, The [[Covenant]] come to use it as a fortified base of operations, and for housing weaponry; oblivious as to its true nature. When Captain Jacob [[Keyes]] is captured by the Covenant for interrogation, he catches wind of this weapons cache and, upon his rescue, organizes fire team Charlie to seize it. When the team arrives at the swamp however, they find the facility all but deserted. The few [[Covenant]] soldiers left are scattered, and put up little resistance. As [[Keyes]] delves further into the facility, he comes across more and more mangled [[Covenant]] corpses. The Covenant occupants of the research facility had continued to move through the structure in hopes of finding [[Forerunner]] artifacts, but instead accidentally released the living samples of the Flood. Knowing full well what they are capable of, the bewildered Covenant forces promptly locked the facility down and evacuated those who survived. Keyes and his team are unaware of this, and proceed deeper into the facility until coming across one of the Flood Containment chambers. Believing that the 'Weapons cache' awaits, they unlock the door and are promptly attacked and assimilated by the Flood. With a large supply of sentient life now occupying the ring, the Flood had a viable food source and was able to multiply and infest most of [[Halo]]. Soon the infestation proved too great even for Halo's automated systems to handle, and the acting construct, [[343 Guilty Spark]] was forced to call upon a "[[Reclaimer]]" to activate the array once more.
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| =====Assault=====
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| At the time, Covenant forces, widely stretched across [[Installation 04]], were massively engaged and being overwhelmed by Flood forces. While at places, the Covenant were able to hold the line by using vehicular and air support in the form of [[Ghost]] attack vehicles, [[Banshee]] fighters, and [[Wraith]] heavy tanks, [[Grunts]] and [[Jackals]] crumpled easily to the Flood, and the smaller number of Elites were being outnumbered and destroyed. The [[UNSC]], having a much smaller presence, found out about the Flood on a widespread scale days later, when a UNSC [[Orbital Drop Shock Trooper]] force engaged with the Covenant, nearby [[Alpha Base]] was ambushed by the Flood, with bitterly high casualties. However, one of the attacking combat forms, a UNSC Marine, Wallace A. Jenkins, one of the Marines in the original expeditionary mission to the supposed arms cache, was infected by an elderly infection form whose powers of infection had been dulled by years of hibernation, making Jenkins's conversion into a combat form incomplete. Jenkins still held mental resistance against the pervasive Flood mind-being in his mind, and although incapable of articulate speech and with a physiologically devastated body, [[Jenkins]] was able to betray the Flood through inarticulate hand gestures during an interrogation with [[Major]] [[Silva]], informing the UNSC Marine companies that the Flood planned to attack the UNSC base from underground. Jenkins was captured for a source of intelligence against the Flood threat, and provided intelligence that the Flood planned to assault the UNSC base from a series of underground catacombs underneath the base, and the UNSC moved to secure them, thus preventing the Flood from staging another attack.
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| By that time, Flood dominance over the Covenant was being assured. The Sentinels were extremely rare, and unable to contain the Flood. Meanwhile, whole rooms formerly held by the Covenant were already completely taken by the Flood, although Covenant and Flood forces continued to wage war on massive ice plains, with the Covenant having the benefit of [[Shade]] stationary [[plasma]] turrets and vehicular/aerial support and the Flood sporting [[M19 Rocket Launchers]] and massive numbers.
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| The Flood, however, were not unintelligent. One of the UNSC personnel captured in the Marine force to the ex-Covenant arms cache was Captain Keyes, a brilliant naval strategist of the [[UNSC Navy]]. When he was infected, instead of using him in combat, the infesting infection form, while deleting his memories, felt that Keyes held vital memories. Keyes knew the location of Earth, the birthplace and major planet of the human race, a planet with tremendous possible assimilation opportunities for the Flood. Instead of becoming a combat form, he was synthetically merged with at least two other human hosts into a massive, engorged [[Brain Form]] aboard the [[CCS-class Battlecruiser|''CCS''-class Battlecruiser]] ''[[Truth and Reconciliation]]'', a Covenant warship that the Flood were relentlessly attacking. While in the brain form state, The Flood began to comb his memories, Captain Keyes successfully withheld information about Earth by constantly accessing information available on his [[Command Neural Interface]] such as his name, rank, and serial number, until the [[SPARTAN-117|Chief]] arrived. However, his arrival was too late, for Keyes was already dead. It was at that time the Master Chief punched a hole through Keyes' skull to get the Captain's CNI.
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| The ''Truth and Reconciliation'' was a major point of contesting between the [[Covenant]] and the Flood. The Flood appeared to have entered the warship previously, decimating most of the crew and garrison, leaving isolated pockets of resistance, mostly of small numbers of terrified Grunts and a few Elites aboard the vessel. However, below the ''Truth and Reconciliation'', in a series of rocky canyons, the Covenant were much stronger in force, with large numbers of Elites augmented by Grunts, Jackals, and Hunters, fighting off against The Flood. The Covenant High Command on Installation 04, however, were terrified by the Flood presence. Because the ''CCS''-class battle cruiser had been damaged in a previous space battle with the [[Halcyon-class Cruiser|''Halcyon''-class Cruiser]] [[UNSC Pillar of Autumn|UNSC ''Pillar of Autumn'']], it had been grounded, awaiting repairs for at least two days. After The Flood were discovered to be aboard the battle cruiser, the Covenant High Command sent a Special Operations strike force to the ''Truth and Reconciliation'' to commence immediate emergency repairs, prepare it for liftoff into space and neutralize The Flood. These efforts, however, failed, with the Flood eventually retaking the vessel. Later, the remaining UNSC Marine forces on the ring staged an assault on the Flood-held ''Truth and Reconciliation'', and managed to neutralize most Flood forms on the cruiser in a swift assault, and prepared the battle cruiser for take-off with emergency repairs to escape from the ring to Earth. However, there was tremendous risk: if the Flood-infected vessel traveled to Earth, if there was even "one" Flood form aboard, "''Earth could fall''", according to UNSC [[AI]] [[Wellsley]], because of the Flood's exponential parasitic potential. Against orders, Marine officer [[McKay]] destroyed the warship with whatever Flood forms were still aboard, killing hundreds of UNSC personnel but saving Earth from the Flood.
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| =====Defeat=====
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| The Flood appeared to be interested in seizing space-capable vessels in the hope of spreading itself away from the Halo rings and into the stars: they attacked the [[UNSC]] ''[[Pillar of Autumn]]'', also. After the UNSC cruiser's crash-landing onto the ring, and after engaging over fifteen enemy warships, it had been seized by the [[Covenant]], although a UNSC raid had managed to temporarily retake the hull. On the third and final day of the Battle of [[Installation 04]], however, the Covenant were in control of the crashed warship when a Covenant patrol was ambushed by The Flood, infested, and when it returned into the vessel, the Covenant garrison was attacked by Elites-turned-[[combat forms]]. The combat forms were able to scatter before they could all be destroyed, and a steady trickle of Flood continued to enter the ''Pillar of Autumn'' through vents and openings in the hull, waging a tedious guerrilla battle against the Covenant security force on board. Eventually, the [[Sentinels]] came on board, overwhelming the dwindling Covenant forces as the Flood began to come into the warship in full force, in the end almost completely obliterating the Covenant presence and severely limiting the Sentinels on board. Despite their best efforts and enormous numbers, The Flood were unable to stop SPARTAN-117 from detonating the wrecked warship's reactors and escaping while the thermonuclear detonation severed the ring world, destroying its capability to annihilate all sentient life, and killing all remaining Flood on Installation 04.
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| However, this did not mark the end of the Flood, who were still widely disseminated across the galaxy.
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| ====Threshold Gas Mine====
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| The Flood were also kept in the Forerunner-constructed Threshold Gas Mine, in one of the three peripheral arms of the station. A small Covenant special forces strike team of three [[Phantoms]] laden with Elite [[Special Operations Elites]] and [[Special Operations Grunts]], led by [[Special Operations Commander]] [[Rtas 'Vadumee]] and the [[Arbiter (character)|Arbiter]], were dispatched by the [[High Prophets]] to kill [[Sesa 'Refumee]], a Heretic Elite stationed within the mine that was encouraging dissent against the Prophets. While the [[Covenant Special Operations]] force attempted to track down and assassinate him, Refumee, by accident or design, unleashed The Flood that were kept within the station.
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| During the Arbiter's reckless pursuit of 'Refumee, the Arbiter, Rtas 'Vadumee, two Special Operations Elites and two Special Operations Grunts entered into a laboratory<ref>''[[The Official Halo 2 Strategy Guide]]'', page 92</ref>, and the Heretics deliberately locked the doors: most likely by design, in order to crush the [[Covenant Special Operations]] force. The Heretics then deliberately released the Flood from containment in that arm of the station, locking The Arbiter and his five allies into a peripheral laboratory and then besieging them with the Flood while Heretics dueled the Flood underneath them. When that trap failed to annihilate them, 'Vadumee retreated to call for reinforcements and coordinate a continued assault while the Arbiter and any remaining allies pursued 'Refumee to a gigantic elevator that ran in the spine of the Flood-infested arm: while presumably used to transport gas conduits, its walls were rampant with ravenous Flood, and it ferried canisters full of [[infection forms]]. The tenuous, agonizing elevator was nicknamed "A Descent Into Hell".<ref>''[[The Official Halo 2 Strategy Guide]]'' page 95</ref> The Arbiter's allies were slowly picked off as Flood attacked the elevator, with Sentinels continually hovering overhead and firing lasers into the stochastic fray. Finally, the Arbiter left the elevator into a second wide laboratory hall, where the Heretics had cleverly laid another trap, locking the doors while Flood forms poured in. The Heretics' plan was not flawless, however: a handful of Heretic Elites were still present in the second laboratory when the Flood entered, and those Elites were crushed while a horrid tide of infection forms, combat forms, and [[carrier forms]] lurched into the hall as the Arbiter was forced to defend against them until the tide stilled and the doors were opened.
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| 'Refumee's plan of unleashing the Flood upon the pursuing Covenant Special Operations strike force, however, was not nearly a precise plan. The Flood would not be contained into rooms and merely attack the Covenant strike force. Their voraciousness was too much for either the Heretics or their attendant Sentinels to contain, and the Flood passed on a pathway between their infested peripheral arm to the central core of the station, where they overwhelmed the Heretics there. The Arbiter was forced to pursue 'Refumee, but was heavily impeded by large waves of Flood crushing outnumbered Heretic Elites, Heretic Grunts, and ever-dwindling number of Sentinels. Eventually, the Sentinel presence was completely obliterated as the Flood spread to the upper levels of the station. However, the Arbiter destroyed the entire Gas Mine, destabilizing it. The station was sucked into a maelstrom in the lower atmospheric depths of Threshold, very likely crushing all Flood and Heretics still onboard.
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| ====[[Battle of Installation 05]]====
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| Unlike on Installation 04, where the Flood had been contained by the Sentinels until the Covenant began to meddle with the Forerunner containment measures, the Flood had been in continual war after the firing of the Halos 100,000 years ago: even up to 2552, the Flood were presumably dwindling with no fresh supply of hosts (perhaps involved more in hiding than open warfare). However, like on Installation 04, the fresh suitable host bodies of a newly-arrived Covenant armada and a UNSC strike force fueled the Flood's exponential parasitic capabilities, and Flood infestation increased at a surprisingly rapid rate: within hours, Sentinel forces were being overrun.
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| In order for the activation of the Halos and the facilitation of the ultimate Flood containment measure to occur, a Reclaimer had to retrieve the Index from Installation 05's own Library, making the Library a high-priority target for the Flood: if it could control the Library and prevent any Reclaimer from entering, it would make itself essentially invulnerable. Installation 05's Library was nestled in a tenuous series of wintry and snowy canyons, and boasted three levels of defense: an exterior [[Sentinel Wall]] kilometers in the distance, an underground honeycombed facility that created large amounts of Sentinels that impeded any invaders from advancing, a Containment Shield, an energy shield that denied access by any means to the Library until it was deactivated, and a [[Quarantine Zone]], a biological "airlock"<ref>''[[Halo 2 Multiplayer Map Pack]]''</ref> that would prevent the Flood from spreading any further. This multi-tiered defense was presided over by hundreds of Sentinels and [[Sentinel Major]]s, and a handful of [[Enforcers]].
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| However, two external forces, the Covenant and the United Nations Space Command, wanted the Index as well: the Covenant, to activate the Halos and set off the "sublimation event"<ref>http://www.halo3.com</ref> of the [[Great Journey]], and the UNSC, to secure the Index and prevent the Covenant from doing so. The Covenant sent an elite strike team of Special Operations [[Elites]], commanded by Special Operations Commander [[Rtas 'Vadumee]] and led into battle by the [[Arbiter, to retrieve the Index in a multi-staged assault. However, first, the Covenant needed to deactivate the Containment Shield by disconnecting its power generator in the center of the Sentinel Wall. Previously, a force of [[Brutes]], [[Grunts]] and [[Jackals]] had been dispatched to complete that operation, but they were overwhelmed by Sentinel defenders and forced into defending positions instead of attacking ones. The Arbiter was personally ordered by the [[Prophet of Truth]] to find and retrieve the "Sacred Icon" (the Covenant term for the "Index") for the Covenant. Because the Containment Shield was activated by the Sentinels, he could not be directly air-dropped to the Library. Instead, he had to land at the periphery of the Sentinel Wall, disable the generator, and then proceed. [[Tartarus]] deployed the Arbiter in a Phantom drop ship, where the Arbiter demounted, entered the first half of the Sentinel Wall, where there was evidence of heavy Covenant casualties and abandoned infrastructure, making his way down through the facility and finally deactivating the Containment Shield. While the first half of the Sentinel Wall had remained pristine, the second half, the one buttressing the Quarantine Zone, was infested by Flood. Sentinel resistance had been destroyed in some segments of the Flood-Infested Wall<ref>''[[The Official Halo 2 Strategy Guide]]''</ref>, and in heavily infested areas, The Flood appeared to be beginning to terraform the Forerunner facility, spreading murky spores into the air. The UNSC deployed a number of Marines to fight through the Flood-Infested Wall, but they were grossly overrun. The Arbiter was able to battle through hundreds of Flood forms that had taken residence in the Flood-Infested Wall, which had entered through wall-mounted conduits, although later, the Covenant deployed a team of three Special Operations Elites in the lower levels of the Flood-infested Wall, although those were killed as well. Finally, the Arbiter was able to make his way out of the Flood-Infested Wall, emerging at the ground levels: the Quarantine Zone.
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| With the Sentinel Wall compromised by the Covenant and the Flood, and the Containment Shield lowered by the Arbiter, there was only one last line of Forerunner defenses: the Quarantine Zone. There was a significantly elevated number of Enforcers present, even automated sentinel construction factories flying over watch, and automated factories built into the landscape, each churning out Enforcers and Sentinels, further swelling their numbers even in intense combat. Here, The Flood demonstrated their unusual technical aptitude, commandeering Covenant and even UNSC vehicles, possessing dozens of [[Ghost]]s, [[Wraith]]s, [[Warthog]]s, and [[Scorpion]]s to do battle with the hovering Enforcers. Flood forces also boasted large numbers of Combat Forms, which appeared to infiltrate the Containment Zone by means of arced chasms that periodically punctured the ground, emitting a green mist and appearing to be of indefinite depth, perhaps linkages to the Flood-infested underground.
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| Six Special Operations Elites, along with Rtas 'Vadumee, were airdropped at the periphery of the Quarantine Zone by means of Covenant drop pods, and The Arbiter joined them, rallying their efforts to secure a landing zone against large numbers of Flood attackers. Using the advantages of elevated ground, [[Shielded Plasma Cannons]], and a [[Deployable Lookout Tower]], the small Special Operations contingent was able to hold an LZ for a Phantom to drop off a [[Spectre]] and a pair of Ghosts. Meanwhile, 'Vadumee commanded his men to assist The Arbiter in forging towards the center of the Flood-infested Quarantine Zone, so that the Arbiter may reach the Library and take the Sacred Icon.
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| The Flood, despite a significant vehicular and infantry presence in Quarantine Zone surrounding the Library, were unable to deny access to the Covenant and the UNSC. Miranda Keyes managed to slip the ''In Amber Clad'' through the Forerunner Enforcer patrols, while the Covenant launched a ground borne attack through the battling Flood and Sentinels led by the Arbiter.
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| ====Attack On [[High Charity]]====
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| SPARTAN-117, who had arrived with Keyes and Johnson, met the Arbiter for the first time in the clutches of the [[Gravemind]], the central controlling intelligence of the Flood hive, created from the combined intellect of tens of thousands of assimilated corpses. Gravemind attempted to convince the Arbiter against his own beliefs, through the use of the captured Monitor, [[2401 Penitent Tangent]], and the semi-revived [[Prophet of Regret]]. Still unswayed, although in question of his religion, the Arbiter prompted the Gravemind to show him, by "stopping the key from turning.", transporting SPARTAN-117 and the Arbiter to High Charity and Delta Halo's Control Room respectively.
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| Taking advantage of the distraction that SPARTAN-117's presence caused, as well as the ensuing [[Covenant Civil War]], Gravemind took the opportunity to deliver himself as well as a multitude of Flood underlings onto ''In Amber Clad'' and then jumped the Human ship <i>inside</i> [[High Charity]], whereupon it immediately crashed into the city's superstructure to deliver its infectious cargo, while a wave of Flood-controlled [[Pelican|Pelican Dropships]] delivered Flood all over the city. The ill-equipped and distracted populace were no match for the Flood onslaught, and the Covenant Holy City was quickly overrun, with even the [[Prophet of Mercy]] falling victim to an infection form.
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| The Flood soon spread to every district, and Flood spores began to infiltrate and overload the ventilation systems; the whole city being Terra-formed into a massive Flood hive. The words of comfort the Prophet of Truth delivered to the city's population were regularly rebutted by Gravemind over the comm system, to sadistically instill more panic and unease. SPARTAN-117, having successfully stayed in front of the wave of Flood running rampant in the streets, stowed away on the [[Forerunner Ship]] that was leading the Covenant fleet to Earth as well as transporting the Prophet of Truth. Cortana, who had to stay behind to manage the situation should Installation 05 be fired, was left in the clutches of Gravemind, who could potentially learn all possible Human knowledge from her.
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| ====Earth, The Ark, And The Flood's Defeat====
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| [[Image:Infection.jpg|230px|thumb|right|UNSC Marines attacked by the Flood.]]
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| ''{{Quote|Child of mine enemy, why have you come?! I offer no forgiveness; the fathers' sins passed to his son.|Gravemind on the level Cortana}}''
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| ''{{Quote|I know why you have come, you came for her. We are together now, two corpese in one grave.|Gravmind on the level Cortana}}''
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| {{Quote|Time has taught me PATIENCE! But basking in new freedom, I will know ALL THAT I POSSESS!|Gravemind, on level [[Cortana (Level|Cortana]]}}
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| At the conclusion of the [[Battle of Voi]], with the [[Prophet of Truth]] activating the Portal and the Brute fleet escaping to the [[Ark]], an infested Covenant cruiser slipped out of [[Slipspace]] and crashed into the city of [[Voi]]. In order to prevent the Flood from escaping and infecting the entire planet, [[Miranda Keyes]] ordered John-117 to detonate the cruiser's reactors and search the ship for Cortana, causing the city of Voi to be destroyed, and the Flood there eliminated. As [[John-117]] and the [[Arbiter (character)|Arbiter]] fought their way to the ship, the [[Shadow of Intent]] arrived and deployed an Elite task force to aid UNSC marines. Master Chief, with the help of the Elites, was able to battle through Flood forces, including newly encountered Pure Form Flood to reach the crashed cruiser where he found a message from [[Cortana]]. Upon this discovery, [[343 Guilty Spark]] arrived pledging his assistance to the Reclaimers. With the Flood spreading, Master Chief boarded a Phantom while the Elites went on to glass the infected areas. The forces, fulfilling their mission of removing the Flood from Earth, retreated back to the Elite carrier, the [[Shadow of Intent]], along with [[Cortana]]'s message.
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| [[Image:Flood Pack.jpg|190px|thumb|left|A group of Flood on the Unfinished Halo.]]
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| With the assistance of [[343 Guilty Spark]], Cortana's message was repaired, revealing a solution to the Flood menace on the Ark. To Lord Hood's disapproval, Miranda Keyes led UNSC forces allied with the Arbiter's and Rtas 'Vadum's Elites through the Portal.
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| On the [[Ark]], while attempting to lower the shield surrounding the Ark's citadel, the infested [[High Charity]] made a slipspace jump and crashed into the Ark, releasing the Flood inside the structure and causing an infestation on the newly built replacement for the destroyed Installation 04. After retrieving Cortana from the derelict [[High Charity]], SPARTAN-117 was able to kill all Flood present on the [[Ark]] and the replacement [[Installation 04]] by activating the unfinished Halo using the Index Cortana retained from the first Halo. The ring's activation also presumably killed the [[Gravemind]]. The Master Chief also destroyed High Charity by blasting its reactors causing them to go critical and killing the billions of Flood that were present when High Charity was destroyed.
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| ==Aftermath==
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| With [[Gravemind]] destroyed, and all the Flood on the [[Ark]] gone, it is possible that the Flood are now extinct. However, it is more probable that the Flood still exist on the other [[Halo]] rings, excluding Installations 04 and 05 (although it is possible that all of the Flood on Installation 05 didn't leave and there are still some there as that Installation was never destroyed) or any other remaining [[Forerunner]] installations. The fact that The Flood were never originally from [[Milky Way|this galaxy]] to begin with further complicates the issue. For now, the Flood are seemingly defeated.
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| ==Developmental Stages==
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| The Flood go through 4 distinct developmental changes.
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| *1. '''Feral''' stage is the lowest form communicating via pheromones, and have the natural instinct to harvest enough calcium to establish a viable [[Gravemind]]. (Seen in [[Halo_CE|Halos 1 and 2]])
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| *2. '''Co-ordinated''' stage is when the Flood become truly dangerous; they now take orders from the Gravemind that was created in the first stage. (Seen in [[Halo_2|Halo 2]])
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| *3. '''Interstellar''' stage allows the Flood to take control of most technology and spread throughout galaxy to infect more hosts. (Seen in [[Halo_3|Halo 3]])
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| *4. '''Transgalactic'''<ref>http://imagewtf.com/658/free-image-hosting/</ref> the last known stage the Flood enters, theoretically, in which it utilizes all captured technology to depart to uninfected galaxies to further replicate.
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| ==Biology==
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| [[Image:Flood wall.jpg|thumb|right|A wall covered in heavy Flood biomass: evidence of advanced infestation]]
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| <div class="thumb tright" style="width:150px;">
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| </div>
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| The Flood, a parasitic species, infects individual organisms and causes them to undergo different stages of organized transformation into various "forms". A Flood's chosen form depends on the species of creature infested, and the usefulness of the infected body. All Flood biomass is made up of the differentiable [[Flood Super Cell]].
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| The sole known pathway for Flood reproduction and survival is by the infestation and assimilation of other species.
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| Capable of surviving extreme enviroments ranging from -75 to +53 degrees celcius and even underwater (in early stages of life), the Flood can withstand harsh enviroments of all known colonised planets. Unable to withstand tremendous heat (fire) the flood have been eradicated fairly easily from the volcanic worlds of the Yesgreath System. It has also been shown that they are unable to survive in strong electro-magnetic areas and as such new forms of defense are being developed.
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| ===Neurological===
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| Infection forms selectively target other species that possess sentient intelligence and are of sufficient biomass, and can infest living or dead bodies. Infection forms have long tendrils that pierce the skin of the host and find their way to the spinal cord. From here they synchronize with the host, matching frequencies with the host's nervous system and taking over brain functions, completely rewriting the psychology of the creature to the ravenous and voracious psyche of The Flood, although retaining higher-level cognitive abilities, such as combat techniques and technical knowledge which may be useful. However, resistance of the host is completely destroyed, as the original mind's memories are systematically erased, leaving only a simplistic and primal urge to assimilate other species and destroy them. During the early stages of infestation, when the host still retains its original consciousness, there are distinct somatosensory sensations: first the host's extremities grow numb and their lungs feel heavy<ref>''[[Halo: The Flood]]'', page 175</ref>. Then, the greater Flood intelligence begins to take over the mind, and sensation becomes increasingly indistinct: the host's vision seems to be "a gauzy white haze", but the host can make out shapes<ref>''[[Halo: The Flood]]'', page 197</ref> and the host can hear a low droning through the ordeal. Finally, once physiological mutilation occurs, the host can vaguely feel dramatic changes to its own body: the limbs feel to the host as if they are made of a spongy liquid and the lungs itch as well<ref>''[[Halo: The Flood]]'', page 198</ref>. They can use the vocal cords of Brutes, Humans, and Elites to communicate as well as the moans they use as observed on the level "The Covenant", where the drop pod crashes into the third shield tower. If you hide behind one of the spires you can sometimes hear them say things like "''Where is he''"(Uncommon), "''Don't hide from me''"(Common), and "''You will be ours''"(Rarely). It is likely that this is Gravemind speaking through the infected hosts, as he does this just before you team up with him towards the end of "The Covenant." Gravemind also speaks through Tank Forms. However, it is unknown how he does this since they are pure flood matter, unless the Flood engineered Tank Forms to have vocal chords.
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| ===Physiological===
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| While baseline neurological assimilation is the same regardless of host species, The Flood's infestation includes physiological mutilation, which is species-specific.
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| Higher-level species capable of combat, such as Humans or Elites, are selectively infected to become Combat Forms. Combat forms retain the general profile of their original species, although they are significantly mutated. Organ-based systems' physiology are corrupted, organ-specific functions are decentralized, and body cavities are decayed, making hit box-selective incapacitation impossible; organ functions are decentralized, thus, decapitation does not down a combat form. Furthermore, highly area-specific munitions, such as sniper rifle projectiles, are completely ineffective, as picking off selective areas of a combat form leads to no wide-scale physiological impediments, and the projectile will punch through the decayed flesh rapidly, punching through and exiting the other side of the combat form without consequence. Combat forms also generate tentacles very quickly without regard for the skeletal structure of the host, with tentacles protruding from the combat form at odd locations, typically localized to the chest axial regions, such as the neck, armpits, or torso. A single arm is oftentimes mutated to a claw like or tentacle-like structure that multifurcates at its terminus, with strange multiple angular hand-like entities replacing the hand. The musculature of the combat form dramatically changes as well, and the combat form is given prodigious arm and leg strength, allowing for heavy blows with its arm-like structures and for incredible speed and jumping height with its legs. Metabolic requirements, however, appear to be extreme on the organism: blood vessels become extremely prominent on the surface of the Combat Form, with thick and distinct blood-colored vessels spawning all across the creature's surface, most prominently so on the head.
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| ===Countermeasures===
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| Because of the millennia of Flood existence, it is believed that the Flood have evolved so extensively that there are few direct countermeasures against infection.
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| There is no confirmed way to effectively stop a Flood infection when a host is infected by an Infection Form. However, a possible exception is to have [[Boren's Syndrome]], a neurological condition where radiological exposure causes electrical anomalies in the host nervous system. The neural frequencies of the host are scrambled, although without negative manifestations to the host. However, it has been suggested that during Flood infection, the infection form is unable to rewrite the psychology of the host, and is unable to proceed to large-scale physiological mutation as well for an unknown reason, although Flood DNA is spliced into host DNA, even imparting the host with increased regenerative capabilities. [[Avery J. Johnson]], having Boren's Syndrome, escaped the containment facility in which two squads of UNSC Marines were attacked by The Flood. However, there is some [[Halo Graphic Novel Pg122|reason]] to suspect that this was due to his past in the [[ORION Project]], and that the Boren's Syndrome explanation was invented to hide it. The truth in this matter remains uncertain.
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| While Boren's Syndrome left untreated may leave you immune to the Flood, leaving it untreated usually equates to death within a couple years. There is said to be a one in a billion chance that research from someone so inflicted with Boren's Syndrome in a way that they cannot be infected could be researched on to produce a cure.
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| ===Flood Forms===
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| The basic Flood form is the infection form, the smallest Flood type of organism and unique in its distinctive spherical shape. The infection form is used to infect organisms of other species, physically adhering to their surfaces and inserting tentacles, forcibly "hacking" into its host's nervous system, completely changing its psychology to that of the Flood's, and eventually physiologically mutating it into one of the various Flood forms.
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| ====Infection Form====
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| {{Main|Infection Form}}
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| [[Image:Flood3.jpg|thumb|right|An annotated diagram of an [[Infection Form]].]]
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| The Infection Form is the most basic and simple Flood form, and is the smallest, albeit the easiest to defeat, although it is believed to be the most essential: it is the Flood's method of infecting and assimilating other species as these vile creatures attack in dozens or even hundreds. Their discovery on Halo indicated that they can remain dormant for countless millennia until a suitable host awakens them. It is a small, spherical organism, with a small, sagging, brown horn projecting from the top of its back, and tentacles projecting from its spherical surface. These tentacles propel the Infection Form through sinusoidal motion, and are used to bring the Infection Form towards its target. Upon reaching its target, it will attempt to infect it by extending its tentacles, penetrating its skin, and contacting the host's spinal cord, bringing about a successive series of neurological and physiological changes to the host. As these changes happen, the infection form will deflate its gas bag, pull itself into the host body, and spread its tentacles throughout the body<ref>[[Halo: The Flood]] page 180</ref>. However, energy shielding provides some protecting against an Infection Form, popping the creature in a small, but damaging, blast of noxious gas.
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| [[Captain Keyes]] was killed by an Infection Form. In the book, [[Halo: The Flood]], it says,"Keyes threw up his hands with the intention of protecting his face and accidentally caught one of the monsters. He squeezed and felt the creature explode. The little bastards were fragile - but there were so damned many of them. ''Another'' attacker latched onto his shoulder. The captain screamed as a razor-sharp tentacle plunged through both his uniform and his skin, wriggled under the surface of his skin, and tapped his spinal cord. There was an explosion so intense that he blacked out......." (pg 175, paragraph 4, lines 1-8) The only known human survivor of a Flood infection attack was [[Sergeant Johnson]] because of [[Borens Syndrome]] and [[Master Chief]].
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| After infecting viable hosts, the infection form resides in the chest cavity. When the combat form is destroyed, the infection form may or may not escape from the cavity.
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| Infection forms are extremely dangerous to unshielded enemies even in small numbers: a single contact between an infection form and an organism lacking a personal energy shield will lead to a horrible assimilation within minutes. But in Halo 3, the coordinated-stage infection forms transform their victims into Combat Forms very rapidly, in just a few seconds! Infection forms can't infect beings with strong armor, such as Master Chief, or Brute Cheftains. The addition of a personal energy shield is a tremendous advantage in fighting Infection Forms, making them dangerous only in significant numbers: the infection forms must first explode when reaching the potential host, lowering the shields with repeated detonations before seizing upon the unshielded host's armor, and then proceeding to assimilate, requiring a tremendous number of Infection Forms to breach the shielding and combat armor. The Infection form is most easily defeated with the pistol, as the explosive rounds can take out multiple Flood at once.
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| ====Combat Form====
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| [[Image:1195430022 100.jpg|right|thumb|[[Combat Form|Combat Forms]] from [[Halo 3]].]]
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| {{Main|Combat Form}}
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| After an infection form has successfully delved into a sentient creature with sufficient biomass and combat potential, it will neurologically and physiologically mutate the host, twisting it into a combat form. Combat forms oftentimes maintain the general profile of the original host organism, and possess the original clothing and armor they were wearing before infection. Infection forms have been seen only mutating humans, Brutes and Elites, not bothering to utilize Grunts or Jackals presumably because of their physical weakness and lack of significant biomass and combat capability, instead turning lower creatures into Carrier Forms and, possibly, because of the fact that it would take a longer amount of time to make a carrier form and the growing infection forms inside.
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| Combat forms are most damaging at close range, utilizing their whip-like mutated arms to lash out with scourging blows of significant force, even stronger than a [[SPARTAN-II]] warrior augmented with strength-amplifying amorphous circuity. A single blow can lower a [[MJOLNIR Armor]]'s personal shields by half, and few [[melee]] swipes are needed to drop a lowly Grunt or Jackal, while sufficient numbers can down even a Brute, Elite, Marine, or Spartan.
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| As mentioned below, combat forms can use any weapon that their host body might once have used, also utilize weaponry or vehicles, although they are poorly proficient with almost all firearms and are clumsy with vehicular operation. They have been seen to utilize active camouflage as an elite form. Combat forms are rakishly aggressive and lack even rudimentary battlefield tactics, although their sheer numbers can force even powerful enemies to succumb. Infected Elites, Brutes or Humans can be transformed into combat forms within seconds,and corpses of previously infected hosts can be alarmingly reanimated in seconds by other infection forms, making corpse destruction a useful tactic when combating the Flood, and is even recognized by the Forerunner Sentinels, who sometimes incinerate infected corpses to ensure that they can not be reanimated.
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| Note: Jackels cant be reanimated
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| reason : unknowned
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| ====Carrier Form====
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| [[Image:Flood carrier.jpg|right|thumb|A Flood [[Carrier Form]].]]
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| {{Main|Carrier Form}}
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| The exact origin of Carrier Forms is unknown, although they are theorized to be combat forms too injured, damaged, or aged to be combative for further use, or smaller and weaker life-forms (like Grunts and Jackals) who have been infected but lack the calcium mass to serve as combat forms, or both. The purpose of a Carrier Form is to nurture and disseminate Infection forms.
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| Physically, they are a large, bloated sac situated upon a torso and a pair of waddling legs that slowly transport Infection Forms. Their bloated "sac"-like form is a result of the many [[Infection forms]] crawling around inside them. In combat situations, once they are within close proximity of a potential host or when their sacs are perforated even with a single projectile, forcing the carrier form to its pudgy knees while the sac exponentially swells with gas for several seconds, then spontaneously detonates into fleshy scraps, hurling infection forms into the air. The detonation itself is extremely damaging, and its gas-propelled dissemination of infection forms facilitates easier assimilation, as it hurls infection forms in all directions, and stuns the potential hosts with the concussive blast. This explosion also has the potential to set off any stray grenades, making it even more deadly.
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| In comparison to both Halo: Combat Evolved and Halo 2, Halo 3's Carrier Form is much more '''difficult''' to destroy, and it releases more [[Infection Forms]].
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| ====Pure Form====
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| [[Image:Floodtypes pure.jpg|right|thumb|Summary of the Flood Pure forms.]]
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| {{Main|Pure Form}}
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| A new more stronger strain of Flood that develops once a coordinated stage has secured sufficient resources namely in the form of calcium from host species. The Flood make use of those reservoirs of calcium to develop an adaptable framework upon which the Flood Super Cell was attached which creates a fearsome biological war machine. Initially, this form's primary function was to aid Infection Forms by securing more biomass in the shape of hosts as well as enough complex neurosystems to strengthen the local Gravemind. This duty overlaps with the Combat Form but once enough Pure Forms have developed, the Combat Forms are relegated to defensive roles or adding to the biomass and calcium reservoirs.
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| They can transform into another pure form within seconds; a stalker form usually turns into a tank form when you get close to it, and a ranged form if you're trying to kill it and there's a wall nearby; ranged forms mainly turn back into stalkers to transform into tank forms, and tank forms may be mistaken for a Hunter form, mainly because a tank form has one oversized hand (equivalent to a Hunter's shield), a small arm (equivalent to where it's gun once was), it's roar which sounds similar to that of a hunter, and even more similar body mass.<ref>http://imagewtf.com/658/free-image-hosting/</ref>
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| The ranged form is succeptable to the Covenant [[Needler]].The ranged form can also fold itself well remaining on the wall when folded it is much harder to kill.
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|
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| They can sometimes be heard talking in Halo 3. It is apparently the [[Gravemind]] speaking through them, as all Flood in an area speak with an echoing near simultaneity, in the same tone, speaking the same sentence. They use taunts such as "''I will be your doom''", and calling the player's armor a "''casket''".
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| ====Prophet Form====
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| [[Image:FloodProphet01.jpg|right|thumb|A Flood [[Prophet Form]].]]
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| {{Main|Prophet Form}}
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| Prophet Forms are rare products of infestation and assimilation. Because of this, many mechanisms and details of Prophet Forms are unknown, although it appears that the Prophet Form is directly infected and incorporated into one of the many kraken-like tentacles of a Gravemind form, and fully retains the original voice and full intelligence of the former Prophet.
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| The Prophet Form is like the Combat Form in the physiological distinctions it shares with the original organism before infection: Prophet Forms can easily be compared to Prophets by their heads and to a less extent, their chests, merely having a central body of the Gravemind tentacle.
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| ====Brain Form====
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| [[Image:Flood Brain Form.jpg|right|thumb|A Flood [[Proto-Gravemind]].]]
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| {{Main|Proto-Gravemind}}
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| One of the rarest types of Flood is the Brain Form (a.k.a Proto-Gravemind). This form is unlike all other Flood forms since it lacks any sort of mobility, defense, and is passive. These are the beginning stages of a Gravemind form. It is believed to be the product of syntactical fusion of several combat forms, merging all of its subordinate forms into a massive, bloated spherical organism with spindle-like outgrowths that adhere to the surrounding environment.
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| Proto-Gravemind forms are unique in that the consciousness of the original host organisms are still vaguely maintained, greatly unlike most combat forms, allowing for slight manifestations of mental resistance to Flood assimilation and mental communication with other humans. However, the Flood is able to, with high intuitive perception, sift through the individual memories of the original hosts, deleting erroneous ones while seeking memories that are of great importance to the overall Flood species. Once such a memory is found, it is incorporated into the general consciousness of the Flood species.
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| The only known human example currently is Captain Jacob Keyes, who was taken by the flood in combat form originally, and was then merged with the Proto-Gravemind on the bridge of the CCS-class battle cruiser, the Truth and Reconciliation.
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| ====Gravemind====
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| [[Image:Gravemind.jpg|right|thumb|A Flood [[Gravemind]] form.]]
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| {{Main|Gravemind}}
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| The Gravemind is the leading intelligence of the Flood. There can only be one at a time, although if one is killed another may form. The Gravemind is the assumed highest state of transformation that a Flood form can achieve. It is believed that once a "critical mass" of Flood forms have been synthetically fused, similar to the Brain Form, but on a larger scale (and very likely the next stage of a brain form), a Gravemind form is created. It assumes a centralized sentient intelligence that is believed to lead the general Flood species itself through unknown means, possibly telepathic. It also appears to hold all of the Flood's memories, even those of individual organisms, through extraordinary and enigmatic "genetic" means. While it is capable of directing the overall Flood species, it also possess micro-managing capabilities for small encounters.
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| The Gravemind is the personification of Flood psychology, ravenously seeking to assimilate all sentient life in the galaxy, and is of unusual intelligence: of inventive plans for Flood propagation and serpentine delusions and betrayals, capable of manipulating others to do its bidding. It appears that only one is present at a time<ref>http://halo3.com</ref>: one existed over 100,000 years ago, but was destroyed by the first firing of the Halos. Another was recreated afterwards, and laired in the depths of Installation 05: it showed remarkable understanding of Forerunner technology, even going so far as to capture the resident Monitor, 2401 Penitent Tangent, manipulating the installation's teleportation system, and understanding the purpose and intricacies of the Halo installations. The Gravemind is also remarkably long-lived, surviving for millennia.
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| Physically, it somewhat resembles an engorged Venus Fly Trap: it is a "''massive, tentacled...entity''"<ref>''[[The Art of Halo]]''</ref> with a gigantic, fleshy neck and indistinct head, prominently featuring a massive mouth that speaks in low, gravelly tones. It possesses massive tentacles of extraordinary length and strength, capable of stretching from the dark interior of Installation 05 and believed to be extending hundreds of kilometers to above the surface of the Halo.
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| ====Aquatic Form====
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| [[Image:Swim Form.jpg|right|thumb|150px|Small "proto" Forms aimlessly float around in their container]]
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| The proto form is never encountered in combat and its use by the Flood is unknown. They were on the level [[Oracle]] inside a small glass and metal tank. Since the player cannot get to them physically, they cannot die and do not react to anything. Whether they are a natural Flood form or a [[Forerunner]] experiment is not clear. The only indication that they are alive is that they float in a school in circles around the tank. They could be "Baby Infection Forms" still developing as they would have in the sacs found in flood hives. The Proto Forms are suspiciously similar in appearance to the [[Flood Drop Pods]] of [[Halo 3]]; it has been theorized that they are in fact immature versions of the drop pods. They can also be mistaken as Horseshoe Crabs which are probably what Aquatic Forms were based on.
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| ==Combat Behavior==
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| While possessing an unusual sentient intelligence, and Combat Forms still retaining extremely high-level cognitive functions such as vehicular operation, lower level cognitive abilities, such as precise dexterity and overall battlefield tactics, are notably lacking in The Flood, in their psychology and combat behavior. While the Gravemind coordinates Flood strategy on a galactic scale, small encounters are not coordinated between individual Flood warriors.
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| [[Image:Floodambush.jpg|thumb|left|The Flood emphasizes "numerical superiority" in engagements and also aggressive swarming tactics.]]
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| The Flood follow a zealous, ravenous strategy, with little target selectivity, aggressively attacking all hostiles in range. Furthermore, Flood tactics are based primarily on asymmetrical warfare: The Flood employ swarms of creatures, often times outnumbering enemies by horrendous factors, compensating for their individual weakness with massive numbers in an attempt to overwhelm enemies and then reanimate their corpses afterwards.
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| The Flood have a strong preference for close-range combat: combat forms possess abnormally strong melee attacks by whipping their tentacles, capable of dropping a SPARTAN-II MJOLNIR Armor's shields in half with a single blow. Carrier forms cause tremendous devastation at close ranges, and their explosions are extremely devastating to friends and foes alike at close range, with the added benefit of disseminating infection forms in the immediate vicinity of enemies. Infection forms are capable of attacking only at point-blank ranges, exploding in damaging bursts when meeting a shielded opponent's personal [[energy shields]] or instantly grabbing hold of an unshielded enemy organism and infecting it. Combat forms can also use firearms, and have been seen clutching firearms in one of their hands (regardless of whether it is one-handed or two-handed). However combat forms are extremely poor warriors at range with ranged weaponry: it is believed that the neurological ramifications of Flood infection significantly decrease accuracy, as well as weapon recoil if held in only one hand. The Flood are mostly only dangerous with heavy weaponry, such as the M19 Rocket Launcher or the [[M90 Shotgun]], and are curiously ill-skilled with close-quarters weapons such as the [[Energy Sword]].
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| However, as aforementioned, the Flood demonstrate a curious higher intelligence despite their poor combat aptitude and coordination. The Flood collectively learn the intelligence of any species of which even one member is assimilated, and selective hosts with particular knowledge, such as vehicular/starship operation, are still imparted with that intelligence after being infested. For example, during the ill-fated raid on the ''[[Infinite Succor]]'', after even one Elite was assimilated, all the Flood could open any doors and access any system on the ship immediately afterwards, demonstrating that The Flood can share collective knowledge across their species. Furthermore, when the Flood assimilated the Prophet [[Legate]], The Flood reflected the high-level knowledge of the Legate through its individual organisms to Special Operations Commander Rtas 'Vadumee, mocking him with the words, "''[t]he Forerunner could not defeat us...what chance you?''". The Flood, however, reflect unusual knowledge in the individual psychologies of its individual species in processes facilitating increased infestation: The Flood were sighted gathering bodies in the corners of the Covenant ''CCS''-class Battlecruiser ''Truth and Reconciliation'', perhaps making it easier for Infection Forms to find hosts to reanimate. The Flood were also gathering body parts for unknown purpose aboard the ''Infinite Succor''.
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| [[Image:Catch.jpg|thumb|left|Typical Flood combat behavior: ravenously targeting the nearest enemy, with infection forms running ahead of combat and carrier forms.]]
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| Flood Combat forms have been sighted crudely operating Ghosts, Warthogs, Wraiths, and Scorpions in ground operations, although with slow deliberation and clumsy driving and accuracy. The assimilated crewmen of the [[UNSC Frigate]] ''[[In Amber Clad]]'' were also able to initiate a [[Slipspace]] micro-jump for the frigate and perform rudimentary maneuvering of the ''In Amber Clad'', navigating the frigate from the atmosphere of ''[[Delta Halo]]'' to ''High Charity'' and then crashing the vessel into a tower. In addition, The Flood can instantly absorb knowledge from an infected host into their collective mind.
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| The Flood's millennia of existence are believed to have made the assimilation process unusually brief: creatures killed in a short firefight can be reanimated within seconds to minutes by an infection form, and live creatures can be mutated into fully-grown and mentally devious combat forms: within minutes of contact, many Elites aboard the ''Infinite Succor'' were mutated. At times, the mutations can occur randomly and uniformly: according to the ''[[Halo Graphic Novel]]'', they can sometimes develop into engorged combat forms notably larger than the normal combat form or can alarmingly grow thick shells within minutes, indicating that the Flood can facilitate tremendous and exaggerated metabolic activity during the physiological mutilation. Furthermore, in rare cases, the physiological mutations can constantly shift: when Rtas 'Vadumee battled his comrade-turned-combat form [[Kusovai]] aboard the ''Infinite Succor'', [[Kusovai]] continued to mutate throughout the duration of the battle. Though never seen, it can be assumed infection forms were involved in infecting victims in this case. Before being killed to prevent his becoming a Flood, one of the Elites accompanying Rtas 'Vadumee appears to have a wound in his chest that may have been the entry point for an infection form. Many of the Flood on the ''Succor'' seemed to constantly be mutating the infected biomasses and also seemed to merge them together. This suggests the possibility that over time any infected host can mutate further and further, as exemplified by the Brain Form or the Gravemind and different permutations of the Combat Form as exemplified in the Carrier Form being a further mutated Combat Form.
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| ==Tactics==
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| It is best to use the Assault Rifle, [[Shotgun]], or Pistol against the Flood in Halo 1. Don't bother meleeing them, it takes 5 melees to kill 1 combat form. It is a good idea to melee the infection forms though, especially if you are in combat. That prevents them from draining your shield too much.
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| In Halo 2, dual-SMGs have proven to be very useful, as well as the Shotgun and Energy Sword. However, all other weapons except heavy weapons and Sentinel Beams are useless. In Halo 3, the Shotgun, [[Energy Sword]], Assault Rifle, [[Brute Shot]] and [[Needler]] are all great against the Flood, as well as heavy weapons. Dual-wielding Plasma Rifles and aiming at the heads of The Flood is more than enough to rip them apart easily. The Assault Rifle is excellent for combat forms and infection forms alike, though it is unfortunately ineffective against pure forms. The SMG is also as good against the Flood as Halo 2, as long as ammo is in large supply. Also effective is the Battle Rifle, as aiming for the infection form in the chest of the combat forms will kill the infection form controlling the Combat form in a single burst. However, this tactic is rather ineffective against the pure forms, as they are not controlled by an infection form and thus cannot be "decapitated". Sticking Carrier Forms or using a flame-based weapon against them will kill them and their cargo of Infection Forms. Energy Swords are the best weapons to use against pure forms, as even on Legendary, they will still kill a pure tank form with one hit, but are closely followed by the [[Brute Shot]], as the melee attack kills and incapacitates all forms of Flood in one hit, except for tank forms, which take two hits. The fact that you can use the melee as many times as you want makes the Brute Shot more useful than the Energy Sword in situations where there are extremely large numbers of Flood. Gravity Hammers are also good for large groups of Flood, but aren't nearly as effective against pure forms as Energy Swords. The shock wave from the hammer can burst the pods containing infection forms, resulting in more enemies.
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| ==Changes==
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| ===[[Halo 2]] (from [[Halo: CE]])===
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| *The Flood can make screeches and roars which were not present in the first game.
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| *Skin is more textured, giving the flood a more realistic and disgusting look. Faces are also more recognizable on humans, a touch many players find scary.
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| *If a Combat form has both arms shot off, it will walk slowly then explode, releasing an infection form. This eliminated the "Flood Pet" glitch.
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| *Rather than having to "gather bodies," the Flood can seemingly infect hosts over the course of a few minutes.
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| *Rather than corpses re-animating themselves, an [[Infection Form]] will re-animate the body.
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| *If a player, Grunt, Jackal, Elite, or Brute is jumped by an Infection form (while their shields are down if necessary), they will die instantly, in Halo CE it would simply take a bar of health.
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| *Some mutated [[Elites]] still have their energy shields working.
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| *The [[Gravemind]] is introduced, making the Flood a more significant faction in the series.
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| *The Flood can use vehicles.
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| *The melee attack does no damage against the Flood.
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| *The Flood appear to be "smarter" when in combat.
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| **In Halo: CE a combat form would walk slowly when shooting at the player. When loosing the arm that shoots, they would "berserk," charging the player madly flailing its arms. In Halo 2 the combat forms can "decide" when to use a melee attack, or to shoot at the player.
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| **If a player is wielding a sword or shotgun, a combat form may retreat, they won't do this if a player is wielding most other weapons.
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| ===[[Halo 3]] (from [[Halo 2]])===
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| *An infected [[Brute]] combat form was added.
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| *Infection forms can mutate [[humans]], unshielded [[Elites]] and Brutes into ready for action combat forms in around seven seconds (another [[seven]] reference).
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| *[[Pure form]]s are introduced.
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| *[[Flood Growth Pods]] are introduced, growing on walls in ships and buildings.
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| *[[Flood Drop Pods]] are introduced.
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| *Gravemind can speak through his minions during combat.
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| *Combat forms wield weapons far less than in both ''Halo: CE'' and ''Halo 2''.
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| *Melee attacks were useless in ''Halo: CE'' and ''Halo 2'', but can be used effectively against the Flood with any weapon.
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| *[[Carrier forms]] release significantly more infection forms.
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| *Carrier forms are alot harder to kill.
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| *The [[plasma rifle]] is significantly more effective against them.
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| *If you are hit by an Infection form while your shield is down it will not only make a crunching noise, but it will most likely kill you.
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| *[[Flood Juggernaut]] is removed.
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| ==Trivia==
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| *The first known human to be infected by the Flood was a UNSC [[Marine]] named [[Private]] [[Riley]].
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| *The [[Flood Juggernaut]] was a Flood form intended to be featured in ''[[Halo 2]]'', and was found in the game's code, but was never featured, much like the [[Engineers]] in ''[[Halo: Combat Evolved]]''.
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| *The Flood can infect nearby dead corpses in [[Halo 3]]. If you leave a weapon near the corpse about to be infected, the newly infected combat form will pick it up and use it, depending on what weapon it is.
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| *Blowing off a Flood combat form's limbs in ''Halo: Combat Evolved'' would cause the form to trail the player, as it would want to attack, but would not possess the appendages to do so, a trick often referred to as "How To Make Flood Friends", "Harmless when Armless", or "How To Make A Flood Buddy", although occasionally, the Flood form would attack with invisible arms. This was disabled in ''Halo 2'' and ''Halo 3''. This instead results in the death of the Flood prior to the loss of the last appendage.
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| *Part of the Flood's Binomial nomenclature, ''Inferi'', is Latin for "The Dead", and could be a reference to Roman mythology, as this was their name for the Netherworld and it's inhabitants.
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| *[[Jackals]] have been shown to be able to be infected, this only happened to [[Bok]]
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| *It's been speculated that the Flood may have been created by the [[Precursors]], as a sort of biological warfare and may have got out of control, however this is just pure speculation.
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| *''Inferi'' means 'The Dead' and ''Redivivus'' means 'renovated, reconstructed, rebuilt or recycled' so literally ''Inferi redivivus'' means 'The Dead Reconstructed'.
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| *Combat and pure forms seem to have the ability to "talk" in Halo 3, although they only use this ability to serve as mouthpieces for [[Gravemind]].
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| *In Halo 2 and Halo 3, [[Combat Form]]s made of [[Brutes]], [[Elites]] or [[Humans]] may suffer a head shot if hit in the chest, quickly destroying the infection form in the chest cavity. This makes it easy to take them down using battle rifles or pistols, but not overly useful unless there aren't any infection forms around to reanimate those downed in that way.
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| *There are more Flood in the other parts of the [[Milky Way]] on other [[Installations]] and [[Flood Research Facility|Research Facilities]] but are probably secured by other [[Forerunner]] Constructs, preventing them from breaking loose.
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| *There is a species of fungi that is frighteningly similar to the Flood, the ''cordyceps unilateralis''. They attack carpenter ants and take over their neural system in order to make the ants go to high places. By the time it gets there, its been rotted from the inside out like a Flood host and it releases spores from that vantage point.[http://neurophilosophy.wordpress.com/2006/11/20/brainwashed-by-a-parasite/]
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| *The Flood's name has several potential origins. The one, mentioned in the books, is the one that they "break over you like a flood". Another one as a biblical reference to Noah's [[Ark]] that rescued animals of every kind from the Flood. The Flood represents the water that Noah saved his family from, [[Installation 00]] represents Noah's Ark.
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| *It is not known as a matter of fact whether or not aquatic Flood forms exist, it is mere speculation. There are some alternatives for the objects in said ''tank''. For example, they could simply be constructor units of the gas mining facility.
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| *In [[Halo: Combat Evolved]], it is possible to melee a combat form to death, although it will take a very long time before it dies. In [[Halo 3]], one melee will kill almost all combat and pure forms, including the Brute and tank forms.
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| *In [[Halo Combat Evolved]], driving over a [[carrier form]] with a [[Warthog]] will not cause much damage to the player. In [[Halo 3]], driving over a carrier form with a Warthog will flip the 'hog over because the carrier forms in Halo 3 have the force of a grenade.
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| *In [[Halo Combat Evolved]], in the level [[343 Guilty Spark (Level)|343 Guilty Spark]], it is possible to see a few [[combat forms]] ''before'' going into the structure in the beginning of the level. You need a [[pistol]] to see them, though. They can be seen on the large tree stumps that is far away from you.
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| *In a PC World article, the Flood were voted as #31 of the top 47 "most diabolical (evil) videogame villains of all time."<ref>[http://www.pcworld.idg.com.au/index.php/id;338891934;pp;1 PC World: The 47 Most Diabolical Game Villains of All Time]</ref>
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| *One speculation is that the individual Flood has the power to grow completely new organs and tissues at will. This may help explain how the [[Gravemind]] is able to use Flood as mouthpieces.
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| *Flood blood in [[Halo 3]] resembles vomit.
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| *In Halo 3, you can stick a corpse just before it is re-animated. Once animated the sticky grenade seems to have dissapeared (This works with all sticky grenades including the Incendiary Grenade).
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| *It is possible to infect Sgt. Johnson into a combat form in the last level of Halo 3
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| *It is thought that the Flood may have been kept and contained for a reason; in the level [[The Library (Level)|The Library]], the monitor [[343 Guilty Spark]] says: installation was specifically built to study and contain the Flood - their survival as a race was dependant on it. {{quote|The installation was specifically built to study and contain the Flood - their survival as a race was dependant on it. I am grateful to see that some of them have survived to reproduce.|343 Guilty Spark}}. This may be a reference to Guilty Spark believing the Master Chief to be a [[Forerunner]], and being glad they reproduced, or it could be that he's glad that the Flood survived, and that they serve a purpose also.
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| *They can be very annoying to players for they sometimes creep up on the player.
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| *It is possible to do a headshot on a Combat Form. Use a weapon with a scope (Carbine, Battle Rifle etc.) and aim for the (red) apendages of the Flood spore where the head normally would be. The spore dies and the body still remains intact (unless you damage it with your horrible aim).
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| *It is impossible to kill a Flood Combat Form in Halo: Combat Evolved with the Human Sniper Rifle
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| *With the IWHBYD skull on the Flood will mumble: "Brains........."
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| *In Halo 3 Flood blood splattered looks like symbols from Bungie's last game [[Marathon]].
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| *In Halo 3 egg sacks contain Flood Infection Forms. When shot by the player they break open and come out.
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| * In Halo 3 Infection Forms die if they touch your shields causing little damage.
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| * In Halo 3 Tank Forms can "spit" out Infection Forms.
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| ==Sources==
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| <references/>
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| {{Flood}}
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| [[Category:The Flood]]
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| [[Category:Factions]]
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| [[de:Flut]]
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| [[fr:Le Parasite]]
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| [[it:Flood]]
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| [[ja:フラッド]]
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