User:Kalon117/Hordemind

Dualmindedness
Once Hordemind tapped into the Forrunner's main library on board the, an entire list of all catalogged life forms was "downloaded" into its memmory. This sudden influx of information, as well as the actions of several Forrunner AI's running anti-virus software to stop the biomechanical infection, caused massive problems within the Gravemind form's nervous tissues, effectivly causing a split consciousness to form a "dual-mind'" with the intelligent, evil, millitant Hordemind, and the rampant, child-like Hoardmind.

Hordemind
Hordemind controls a mixed army of species from many worlds on the far side of the galaxy. It has had almost no contact with humans or any known species since before the firing of the Halo array, but already caused the total infection of several species in the trailing end of the Scutum-Crux arm of the milky way. The remaining memories and neural networks within its main body make it an extremely tactically intelligent gravemind form, able to use whatever it has avaliable to the fullest extent. However, other important areas of its fractured mind were lost or broken in the consciousness schism that created it's alter ego Hoardmind. It cannot force itself to relearn any activities such as repairing or reformating technology or social thinking like effective methods of torture and information collection. These downfalls have kept it from spreading much farther than its spiral arm or escaping the otherwise hindering nature of Hoardmind. It must use the abilities of its immature alter self in order to maintain its own survival, and so lets the younger Mind continue its quest for a specimen of all the cataloged species. It believes that once all the beings are collected, the shattered fractions of its Total Mind will reform, letting it combine with the other self and achieve the status of the ultimate life form.

Story
Well shielded by the central library of the Forrunner during the first firing of the rings, the weakened Mind(s) stayed in a form of hibernation before escaping undetected on a forrunner repopulation vehicle delivering cataloged species back to their home planets. Over their centuries of freedom, the dual-mind has had time to collect a large amount of useable biomass, only limited by the fact that its hijacked transport ship had a damaged slip-space drive, cutting its manuverability dramatically. Being centered of the far side of the galaxy has limited their contact with both the Covenant and the UNSC, but recent contact with an alien "junk yard" has allowed the accuisition of a ragtag fleet, including several working slipspace drives. Advance scouts of the dualmind have begun showing up in Covenant and Human controlled space, signaling their soon arrival.