User:-AR-/Preserve Form

"They were like walking refridgerators filled with dead bodies... I'll ever forget that smell they made..."

- Anonymous UNSC War Veteran

Flood Preserve Forms were Flood forms tasked with preserving dead bodies on the battlefield for later infection.

Purpose
Preserve Forms were created to gather dead bodies on the battlefield to save for later infection. Each Form was able to hold up to 5 large bodies, or 7 small bodies.

Physical Description
Preserve Forms were large and bloated, easily dwarfing Carrier Forms and Tank Forms in size. A large toothed mouth like opening dominated the center of its 'chest', and it was able to walk on four stubby legs. Tentacles on the front of the bottom half (legs and base) provided little protection.

Creation
Once infected, select hosts with enough calcium reserves would be chosen to become Preserve Forms. The host would stay as a Combat Form for a short time, before absorbing extra bodies onto its back, eventually going on all fours as its head deteriorated into a mass of tentacles. The extra mass on the creature's back would, in turn, eventually open up on the inside and expand, and mutate further to create the 'mouth' that is so prominent.

Behavior
Preserve Forms offer little threat directly unless attacked from the front; the low position of the tentacles, as well as their sheer number, allow the Form to easily kill creatures in its direct path, albeit, at very close range.

Despite this, these Flood Forms can become extremely annoying if they are left alone, as they are able to create extra Combat Forms if a Carrier Form is met. Interestingly, the Preserve Form will kill the Carrier with tentacles, and then spew out the dead bodies for infection.

On the battlefield, the Preserve Form collects bodies by opening its 'mouth' and swallowing them whole.

Weaknesses
On the outside, the Preserve Form's tough, fat mass can absorb many, many shots before going down, and it is almost completely immune to grenades. However, while it is 'collecting' its bodies, a shot with a plasma rifle, or multiple shots with a plasma pistol, to the inside of the chest cavity will be able to kill it easily. It is not relatively hard to do this, as the Form is extremely slow, and takes a while to 'feed' and 'collect' the body.