With the UNSC on the back foot and its main force decimated, the Banished are the only ones on Zeta Halo who really have the numbers and experienced command to contend with any Flood threat that may crop up in Infinite. I know that the Master Chief has fought the Flood countless times, but he always had some sort of support network (i.e. Shipmaster’s fleet in Halo 3, Johnson and the In Amber Clad in Halo 2, and Alpha Base and the Pillar of Autumn crew in Halo CE), so despite him being mythic in his abilities, ultimately, he will be just one man against a sizeable Flood force (also worth mentioning he hasn’t actually fought the Flood since the first battle of the Ark). The Banished on the other hand have a massive force on the ring, big enough to establish strongholds and heavy weapon operations, so if an outbreak were to occur we’d most likely need to get them on side.
Not to mention, Atriox has had recent experience in fighting the Flood, seen through the events of Awakening the Nightmare. As such, combating the parasite would be fresh on his mind and he’d be more effective at carrying out a quarantine based on his recent experiences. I am not saying I think we will see any sort of alliance between the UNSC and the Banished in Infinite if the Flood were to return, However, I do believe the faction will play a pivotal role in beating them back.
As for Cortana and the Created, I don’t see them caring that much. After all, the Created are only really susceptible to the logic plague and wouldn’t care that much about a relatively small outbreak contained to Zeta Halo. Especially with an army of Guardians in their possession, they would be well equipped to deal with any further spread so what would be the harm in letting Zeta get infected, thus wiping out the UNSC remnants and the Banished forces, then just swooping in and clearing it out again when the dust settles?
Just my two cents.
The forerunner failed against the flood and the created aren’t as strong as they were, so if they know about a flood infection, I think it will be their top priority.
For the banished and Atriow, this is a good thinking, but if 343 want to make it an other way, they will find a way
Your reasonings are pretty solid but the logic plague is still nothing to scoff at and with Crotona being in the domain she will have access to all of the forerunners history. This includes what happened to mendicant bias, I feel like she would take the flood a lot more seriously than your giving credit for. This is of course assuming that she doesn’t already have it. Another thing to also mention is she still really cares about chief and doesn’t want anything to happen to him (as far as im aware in the extended lore) so any possible threat of the flood reaching him would be a top priority. Lets be honest a outbreak on zeta is not a question of if rather when cause when the forerunners tucked it away and put the shroud around it there was still 10 Proto-graveminds left on the ring Bornsteller (or iso-didact) only delt with the primordial.
Honestly it would still be really cool to see a CE style outbreak where the banished, the flood, the sentinels, and humanity are all just duking it out fighting each other with no other elegances. The way I see this playing out with a ten year cycle though is were going to be dealing with one foe at a time cause 343 does have a lot to tie up. so launch story I think will be dealing with Escharum, first dlc is Atriox, third dlc Cortana, fourth maybe flood…idk its just a theory. On top of that without spoiling anything in shadows of reach one of the big things on everyone’s mind was don’t cause a conflict big enough to draw Cortana’s attention.
> 2533274969710063;3:
> Your reasonings are pretty solid but the logic plague is still nothing to scoff at and with Crotona being in the domain she will have access to all of the forerunners history. This includes what happened to mendicant bias, I feel like she would take the flood a lot more seriously than your giving credit for. This is of course assuming that she doesn’t already have it. Another thing to also mention is she still really cares about chief and doesn’t want anything to happen to him (as far as im aware in the extended lore) so any possible threat of the flood reaching him would be a top priority. Lets be honest a outbreak on zeta is not a question of if rather when cause when the forerunners tucked it away and put the shroud around it there was still 10 Proto-graveminds left on the ring Bornsteller (or iso-didact) only delt with the primordial.
>
> Honestly it would still be really cool to see a CE style outbreak where the banished, the flood, the sentinels, and humanity are all just duking it out fighting each other with no other elegances. The way I see this playing out with a ten year cycle though is were going to be dealing with one foe at a time cause 343 does have a lot to tie up. so launch story I think will be dealing with Escharum, first dlc is Atriox, third dlc Cortana, fourth maybe flood…idk its just a theory. On top of that without spoiling anything in shadows of reach one of the big things on everyone’s mind was don’t cause a conflict big enough to draw Cortana’s attention.
Just pointing out, when the Halos fired they ruined the Domain. Because it was constructed using neural physics (Precursor technology) it was just as susceptible to the rings as every form of sentient life, so when the rings fired the Domain was reduced to its barest roots, with any knowledge inside of it either destroyed or reduced to fragments. Cortana likely knows about Mendicant Bias (she’s indirectly encountered him twice as far as we know) and probably knows of what he did, but it’s unlikely she knows everything about the Forerunners’ history, especially late in the war against the Flood. Even what the Librarian showed her was just her own recollection of what happened. I’m sure Warden Eternal has filled in some gaps, but he’s more of a security AI, and thus not the most reliable source of info.
The only way Cortana could truly know of the full extent of the Forerunners’ history (including their uprising against the Precursors) would be through Catalogue, whom has refused to cooperate with her or the Created.
> 2533274892901745;4:
> > 2533274969710063;3:
> > Your reasonings are pretty solid but the logic plague is still nothing to scoff at and with Crotona being in the domain she will have access to all of the forerunners history. This includes what happened to mendicant bias, I feel like she would take the flood a lot more seriously than your giving credit for. This is of course assuming that she doesn’t already have it. Another thing to also mention is she still really cares about chief and doesn’t want anything to happen to him (as far as im aware in the extended lore) so any possible threat of the flood reaching him would be a top priority. Lets be honest a outbreak on zeta is not a question of if rather when cause when the forerunners tucked it away and put the shroud around it there was still 10 Proto-graveminds left on the ring Bornsteller (or iso-didact) only delt with the primordial.
> >
> > Honestly it would still be really cool to see a CE style outbreak where the banished, the flood, the sentinels, and humanity are all just duking it out fighting each other with no other elegances. The way I see this playing out with a ten year cycle though is were going to be dealing with one foe at a time cause 343 does have a lot to tie up. so launch story I think will be dealing with Escharum, first dlc is Atriox, third dlc Cortana, fourth maybe flood…idk its just a theory. On top of that without spoiling anything in shadows of reach one of the big things on everyone’s mind was don’t cause a conflict big enough to draw Cortana’s attention.
>
> Just pointing out, when the Halos fired they ruined the Domain. Because it was constructed using neural physics (Precursor technology) it was just as susceptible to the rings as every form of sentient life, so when the rings fired the Domain was reduced to its barest roots, with any knowledge inside of it either destroyed or reduced to fragments. Cortana likely knows about Mendicant Bias (she’s indirectly encountered him twice as far as we know) and probably knows of what he did, but it’s unlikely she knows everything about the Forerunners’ history, especially late in the war against the Flood. Even what the Librarian showed her was just her own recollection of what happened. I’m sure Warden Eternal has filled in some gaps, but he’s more of a security AI, and thus not the most reliable source of info.
>
> The only way Cortana could truly know of the full extent of the Forerunners’ history (including their uprising against the Precursors) would be through Catalogue, whom has refused to cooperate with her or the Created.
Oh man your right I completely spaced on that detail, im only recently getting back in the extended universe and its been a while. Thank you for the correction! 
> 2533274892901745;4:
> > 2533274969710063;3:
> > Your reasonings are pretty solid but the logic plague is still nothing to scoff at and with Crotona being in the domain she will have access to all of the forerunners history. This includes what happened to mendicant bias, I feel like she would take the flood a lot more seriously than your giving credit for. This is of course assuming that she doesn’t already have it. Another thing to also mention is she still really cares about chief and doesn’t want anything to happen to him (as far as im aware in the extended lore) so any possible threat of the flood reaching him would be a top priority. Lets be honest a outbreak on zeta is not a question of if rather when cause when the forerunners tucked it away and put the shroud around it there was still 10 Proto-graveminds left on the ring Bornsteller (or iso-didact) only delt with the primordial.
> >
> > Honestly it would still be really cool to see a CE style outbreak where the banished, the flood, the sentinels, and humanity are all just duking it out fighting each other with no other elegances. The way I see this playing out with a ten year cycle though is were going to be dealing with one foe at a time cause 343 does have a lot to tie up. so launch story I think will be dealing with Escharum, first dlc is Atriox, third dlc Cortana, fourth maybe flood…idk its just a theory. On top of that without spoiling anything in shadows of reach one of the big things on everyone’s mind was don’t cause a conflict big enough to draw Cortana’s attention.
>
> Just pointing out, when the Halos fired they ruined the Domain. Because it was constructed using neural physics (Precursor technology) it was just as susceptible to the rings as every form of sentient life, so when the rings fired the Domain was reduced to its barest roots, with any knowledge inside of it either destroyed or reduced to fragments. Cortana likely knows about Mendicant Bias (she’s indirectly encountered him twice as far as we know) and probably knows of what he did, but it’s unlikely she knows everything about the Forerunners’ history, especially late in the war against the Flood. Even what the Librarian showed her was just her own recollection of what happened. I’m sure Warden Eternal has filled in some gaps, but he’s more of a security AI, and thus not the most reliable source of info.
>
> The only way Cortana could truly know of the full extent of the Forerunners’ history (including their uprising against the Precursors) would be through Catalogue, whom has refused to cooperate with her or the Created.
Cortana may also have access to all human records including the in-universe retellings of the Forerunner Trilogy. Nowhere near complete records, but sufficient knowledge. Hell, she may even have access to the Absolute Record. If that’s still a thing.