I'm certain that most of us have seen the image of an alien figure that resembles a Praying Mantis holding a covenant Plasma Rifle. Now there are a few possibilities to this figure. The first is it is a new race of Covenant, breaking the chain of 7 covie races. Second it might just be a red herring to keep us guessing, I wouldn't put it past them. Third it might be a mature form of the flood. That one is, of course, the wildest theroy and would be the hardest to swallow. My reasoning is that all the "pure" flood we have seen are the little puss bags the leap and grabble onto any warm body, much like college guys after a few drink, but I degress. Ahem..., Moving on, now there are insects that do use a living animal as a living host for the development of their larva, such as the Africa Tumbu fly who's larva bury into the skin in order to gestate. Now if the flood used the host itself as a food source (like the desert wasp) as well as a incubator and protective shell it could mean that after a set amount of time they grow large enough to rip out of the host and develop into the next life cycle. If this new form is the Drone that we've seen it could explain why the forerunners saw them as such a threat that required a mass sterilzation. It would also explain the need for them to alter the atmosphere; to make it more compatible with a insectoid lifeform of large size, possibly of a Methane or Cyanide based atmosphere.
Just my caffine craze induced 2 cents.
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