User:Saberstorm/The Antis'Grafen Hive Collective



Originally a group of Flood on an undiscovered Halo Instalation, the Antis'Grafen Hive was created when Spartan II Supersoldier 020 Sara was infected by the Flood. She fought back against the infection, jump starting their next stage of evolution.

Brief History
Developing rapidly into a Tier 4 society, their full potentiall was never truly realized except in small parts due to the conflicts they engaged in. First, there was a small matter of a massive Dreadnaught built by UNSC Insurrectionists and Deserters. Hoping to use Halo to power the Dreadnaught, the Hive maintained a stalemate for years until the arrival of the Master Chief and Cortana allowed them to tip the ballance and destroy the threat. Later, the Hive played an important role in defending against a second Covenant offencive, where the Covenant were seading UNSC and Elite worlds with Flood spores. Dominating the front lines in the conflict, the Hive continued to show development and evolution in spite of their limitations. Not only did they display their potential to become Worldbuilders when they were able to outline the process, but they also managed to restore a glassed world from the war against the Covenant to life. Eventually, a Forrunner artifact called the Grail was located, and the Hive unanamously decided to use the Grail to end the Flood threat, knowing full well that the Grail could kill them too. Vanishing when the Grail was activated, no one knows for sure whether or not the Hive died as well, or whether they accended to Tier 0.

Philosiphy
The Hive seperates themselves from the Flood, claiming to be a new 'sister species' to the parisites. The only difference between the two species, however, is only a matter of evolution and a willingness to change. Even though they have developed quickly, they are small in number, and are a relitively young species compared to all others in the galaxy. Knowing this, they have developed their own code that is the basis to all their laws and guides their actions during encounters with other species.

1 - All life is to be protected, unless said life shows obvious desire to threaten all other life with extinction.

2 - Never assimulate a perminant host.

3 - Never colonize an inhabited world.

4 - Never betray the Hive.

5 - Never give away Hive technology, nor allow it to be reverse engineered by another species.

Government
The Hive is unique in the fact that it has no disernable form of government. This is partially because their system is unique to their situation. Though they have individuallity, they still have a telepathic connection to each other, resiminat of their orgin as Flood. This allows them to communicate vocally and mentally. As a result, their only true loyalty is to their Queen, but they still hold respect for others both Hive and otherwise. Furthermore, their Queen regularly consults them before making decisions that can affect the entire Hive. The final factor behind their government is that they seem to have a military society with a chain of command that oversees day to day activities both of and on the battlefield. They have no system of money, and have no trade with other galactic powers.

About the Flood...
The Hive dispise the Flood more than any other spiecies they know. To them, the Flood is a cancer in their own veins, and they try to be as different from the Flood as possible. The fact that the Hive evolved from the Flood is both a blessing and a curse to them. It's a curse in that anyone seeing them mistakes them for Flood easily, but a blessing in that they are immune to both infection and the influence of a Gravemind.

Forms
There are 6 different types of what are called 'Hive members', each with their own unique abilites.

Child Form/Hatchling
Identical in appearance to their Flood counterparts, the Infection Forms, the spore-like Child Form of the Hive is reffered to as a Hatchling. They are much sturdier than Flood spores, and are much more difficult to kill. They are the only ones with the ability to assimulate others, but they cannot take perminant hosts. Any assimulation performed is temproary and done in a symbiotic form. This is only done to heal allies or other Hive members, to discretely communicate with allies, or to extract information from enemies. Several Hatchlings working together can also use assimulation to paralize and capture VIP enemies for interrogation, or to rapidly regenerate an ally's lost limb.

Not all hatchlings are newborn either. One of the unique things about the Hive is that when they die, they can choose to be reborn as a new Hatchling, using the Hive's telepathic structure to transfer their conciousness to a new body. This is not without consequence, as there must be an 'empty' Hatchling for the transfer to work, and few Hive members ever enjoy dieing more than twice.

Adult Form
These massive bipedal forms look like Tank Forms with more humanoid porportions, and make up the backbone of the Hive Collective. This is the only form in the Hive's natural cycle that can speek vocally to other beings, and are invaluable in helping the Hive communicate with their allies. Reffered to as Warriors, they are born when a Hatchling swells up and... hatches like a butterfly from a caterpillar without a cocoon. They are far stronger than their Flood counterparts, and some have even survived direct blows from Brute Gravity Hammers.

Keeper Form
When an Adult has grown old and slow, it becomes a Keeper, similar in mass to Brain Forms, but without the grotesque tendrils and heaving, fleashy biomass. Keepers are called such becaue they help bear the burden of the Hive's telepathy. Unable to speek vocally anymore, a Keeper is unlike other forms in that it can speek mentally to other beings as well as the Hive. A Keeper can't use this ability as a weapon, however.

Sarcophogus Form
When a Keeper reaches death, they can either choose to die or be reborn as a Hatchling. Should they choose to pass on, their skin hardens into a stone like-substance, becoming a self made sarcophogus. They are then placed in tombs where they are remembered with reverence.

Queen
The only one that looks like a Flood/Human hybrid, there is only one Queen to the Antis'Grafen Hive: Sara. As the Queen, she can not only voice her own oppinions aloud to others, but she can also speek for the entire Hive (her voice changes to have an echoing quality when she does so). She is also the only one who not only posseses the ablity to talk with others with her mind, but also use that ability as an offencive weapon against enemys. Because the Hive relies on her to maintain their mentality, she is the only one unable to die so long as the Hive exists. Even if her body is mangled to the point that anyone else would be long dead, the Hive secures her consiousness like online backup storage until they can retrieve and/or regenerate her body.

Honorary Hive Member
Friends of the Hive are often called Honorary Hive members, and some are even given special implants that allow them to interface with Hive technology. One notable Honorary member is the Master Chief himself.

Hive Technology
All Hive biotech is powered by artificial photosynthisis, or photosynthetics. Most of their ships and weapons are based off various forms of marine life. Hive weapons contain no targeting sights, as they connect to a Hive Adult's nerological system to act as an extention of their bodies. The only way for non-Hive species to use them is to be made an Honoarary Hive member and recieve an interface implant.

Interestingly enough, the Hive's natural immunity to Flood infection seems to be further reflected in their technology, which the Flood is biologically unable to use.

Swordfish
A kind of battle/sniper rifle combination, the barrel is long and bladed, the origin behind its name. Fires thin, inch long, energy accelerated projectiles.

Blowfish
Like the Needler, this weapon fires explosive locking rounds. The green gas left behind is poisonous if inhaled 0.5 seconds after the explosion. The barbs and sturdy construction also make this weapon work as a nice mace.

Anemone
The best way to describe this weapon is as a chain grenade launcher, firing 4 2-inch diamater explosive rounds per second.

Motar
Only Adult Hive, Spartans, and a few of the stronger Elites have managed to wield this weapon. Resembling a tree trunk 2 feet in diamater and 4 feet long, this massive weapon is the Hive version of a rocket launcher. It fires what apears to be a literal ball of magma at high speeds, exploding and burning anything nearby upon impact.

Corrosion Grenade
This small grenade contains poison similar to Blowfish rounds, but enhanced to eat away at shields and armor as well.

Magma Grenade
This little capsule explodes like a blast from a Hive Motar.

Grasshopper
These one-man craft look like giant Flood versions of grasshoppers, are as fast as Banshies, and as manuverable as Hornets.

Sparrow
About the size of a Longsword, these ships can manuver in both air and space, and can be easily modified for a variety of missions.

Whale
This is the Hive dropship, and is a little larger than Phantoms or Pelicans, but packs a much bigger punch.

Stingray
These ships come in various sizes, and are probably the most obvous of all Hive vessels. Stingrays are the carriers, cruisers, and battleships of the Antis'Grafen fleet. The flagship Death and Rebirth is nearly twice the size of the Shadow of Intent.

Saberstorm 22:09, June 11, 2010 (UTC)