Dev-response to interesting question about campaign

GeneralZod:

SEMI-SPOILERS again.....



IIRC, it was our fault, or the Spirit of Fire's anyway. In mission 8 through 10 the UNSC (or you) basically agitate the Flood infection on the surface of the Shield World. In 10 you lead the infection toward the site where the Spirit of Fire is getting pulled into the planet (we actually wanted to show the SoF on this map near the edge where you are evac'ing to, being pulled into the docking tunnel - became too costly graphics-wise).

So you basically lead the Flood to the hole you just opened in the skin of the Planet that was previously keeping the Flood out. And although the tunnel tries to clean the ship of the infection, there are just too many Flood forms in the tunnel and some Flood make it through through various nooks and crannies in there.

Mission 13 hints at this a little with the Forerunner vents that are overflowing with Flood. They are supposed to have gotten into the guts of the planet's machinery and are running around in there now. And the reason the portal door is closed in Mission 15 is that the Sentinel AI has basically pulled the alarm lever and locked down the planet once it realizes it is losing the Shield World's interior to the Flood. Hence you have to hack it open to let yourself out.

TNine wrote:That seems reasonable enough. I guess. But why was the Flood on the outside of the Sheild World in the first place?