Flood combat form

A combat form is the product of Flood Super Cells, typically via a Pod infector, infecting a sentient host organism. They serve as the Flood's primary combatants, defending the Flood against attack and securing additional hosts for infection.
== Pathology ==
When a Pod infector successfully enters a host body, it takes over the organism's nervous system and mutates its body using Flood Super Cells; inhalation of spores can have the same effect. During the initial infection process, the host's skin changes to a brownish-green coloration, while their eyes will roll back into their heads, the infection progresses gradually, taking several hours to produce any radical physiological alterations.
Over a period of time, internal organs are broken down, and the resultant nutrient stockpile is used to develop the tentacles, claws and various other appendages and apparatuses. If the combat form is infected by a Pod infector, it maintains the infector's red sensory appendages as an impromptu central nervous system until the host has been completely assimilated.
Both living and deceased hosts can be infected, although the infection process is inherently fatal to living hosts. If the host is still living when initially infected, or at the very least has not suffered somatic brain cell death, the Flood is able to retrieve large quantities of information from the host's memory, ranging from muscle memory to specific coordinates, access codes, flight protocols, etc. As combat forms retain most of the host's abilities they are able to utilize their host's weapons and vehicles, albeit with less finesse.
On rare occasions, weak or damaged Pod infectors cannot properly take over a host, allowing the host to survive, even retaining some control and consciousness.
== Types of combat forms ==
Virtually any sentient creature can be infected to become a combat form, but a small number of species are known to be immune to conversion, including the lekgolo (who do not have a central nervous system), the yanme'e, whose exoskeleton lacks the required amount of calcium, rendering infection impossible, and the huragok which is an artificial organism, and therefore believed to be immune.
Combat forms have numerous different variations, dependant upon a number of factors, such as the victim's species, age, body type, and physical and mental fitness.
=== Human forms ===
==== Viral ====
Virals are humans that have only very recently succumbed to Flood infection. They are identifiable by their palid greenish-brown, necrotized skin and blank white eyes. Virals are highly aggressive and capable of transmitting the Flood Super Cell to a victim by means of a bite.
==== Leaper ====
Leapers are one of the most common variants of the basic human combat form. They are capable of leaping over large distances to close the gap on a victim. The musculature of the upper arm becomes more developed, and the forearm deforms, elongating into a prehensile whip-like tentacle capable of bludgeoning or strangling.
==== Slasher ====
Slashers are one of the most common variants of the basic human combat form. The Slasher is named for its main means of attack: sharp blade-like protrusions of bone capable of penetrating body armor and severing limbs.
==== Bruiser ====
Bruisers are physically larger and much tougher than most of the other human combat forms. They exhibit increased muscle and bone growth, making them noticeably taller, stronger, and much more physically resilient in comparison to Slashers and Virals, yet less so than Tanks.Category:Daisy-023
Category:Flood