Editing Cortana (level)

{{Status|Gameplay}}

|image=[[File:H3 Cortana Loadscreen.png|300px]]

|player=*[[Master_Chief_(gameplay)#Halo_3|Master Chief]] (player 1)

*[[Elite (co-op)|Usze 'Taham]] (player 4)

|date=[[2552#December|December 11, 2552]]<ref>[http://halo.xbox.com/en-us/intel/featured/video/herofortitude/bfe5038b-314a-4f17-a6be-f7613e0e3788 '''Halo Waypoint''', ''Hero-Fortitude'']</ref>

|place=[[Installation 00]], inside the crash site of [[High Charity]]

|partime=00:15:00 {{C|''Master Chief Collection''}}

|parscore=17,000 {{C|''Master Chief Collection''}}<br/>15,000 {{C|''Halo 3''}}

With the [[Prophet of Truth]] dead and the [[Covenant]] defeated at last, the Master Chief must now infiltrate the Flood-infested [[High Charity]] and rescue [[Cortana]], who possesses the [[Activation Index]] needed to activate [[Installation 08|the new Halo]]. The Chief flies into High Charity in a Banshee and journeys into the depths of the city, searching for his lost AI companion. During this mission, not only does the Chief encounter stiff resistance from the Flood, he is constantly plagued by disturbing visions of Cortana being tortured, as well as taunts and threats from the [[Gravemind]]. Despite this, he finally locates and retrieves Cortana, finally fulfilling the promise he made to her before departing for [[Earth]]. The Chief then overloads High Charity's backup reactor to destroy the city. The Arbiter unexpectedly shows up and aids the Chief in his escape. The pair find a crashed Pelican and use it to escape from High Charity just before the city is destroyed.

''In the large room where the [[Halo 3 skulls|Tilt skull]] is located, a [[Terminal (Halo 3)|Terminal]] can be activated, but does not count towards the Marathon Man achievement. If activated, it displays another Cortana Moment.''

*'''Cortana (Cortana Moment)''': ''(panicking, voice slightly distorted)'' "There will be no more sadness, no more anger, no more envy!"  

''The Chief heads back out into the hallway.''

[[File:H3 High Charity Blowing up.jpg|thumb|300px|''High Charity'' is destroyed.]]

''The Chief and the Arbiter board the Pelican the Chief discovered earlier. The Chief uploads Cortana into the Pelican's holotank and starts up the engines. One of the [[Gravemind]]'s tentacles reaches for the dropship, but the heat from the thrusters forces it to retreat. The Pelican takes off, smoke pouring lightly from the left engine. The tentacle comes back and tries to ensnare the dropship, but the Pelican pulls free of its grip. The Pelican barely escapes as [[High Charity]]'s reactor goes critical, consuming the planetoid in a massive explosion. The Pelican makes its way to the new Halo ring.''

==Achievements==

The following [[achievement]]s can be unlocked on this mission on the [[Xbox 360]] edition of ''Halo 3''.

|[[File:H3 Achievement The Key.png]]

|[[The Key]]

|Finish the eighth mission of the [[Campaign]] on [[Normal]], [[Heroic]], or [[Legendary]].

|-align="center"

|[[File:H3 Achievement Tilt.png]]

|[[Tilt (Achievement)|Tilt]]

|Find and claim this skull.

===Easter eggs===

{{Main|Easter eggs}}

*The [[Halo 3 skulls#Tilt|Tilt]] Skull can be found on this level.

*After obtaining [[Cortana]], there is a skull on a ledge-like structure (it's purple and is kind of bulbous at the end) overhead after the player exits the hallway that leads to Cortana. To get it, one needs to get the Deployable Cover, deploy it on the floor directly in front of the edge of the roof, jump on the deployed cover and crouch jump onto the roof. One may also partner jump or grenade jump with a plasma grenade. Once on top of the roof, locate the skull towards the apex of the angled roof and get the skull. Please note that this skull has no affiliation with the "[[Halo 3 skulls|13 required skulls]]" list and, if carried for the rest of the level, will start Master Chief with a Spartan laser on the next level. This may only work with certain skull combination's and/or other factors in gameplay. However, this skull is unavailable in the ''Halo: The Master Chief Collection'' edition of ''Halo 3''. An unknown glitch causes the skull to spawn in incorrectly, which then rolls off the ledge and into the abyss below the reactor room. Whether this will be fixed in a future patch is as-of-yet unknown. Season 8 update seems to have fixed the skull from dropping down and can now be used again as intended in the original Halo 3.

*The line "It's the coin's fault," is a reference to a factor that brought [[John-117]] into the Spartan program. He identified the side of a 20th-century quarter owned by [[Catherine Halsey|Dr. Halsey]] before it fell to the ground in ''[[Halo: The Fall of Reach]]''.

*The room where [[Cortana]] is located is a remake of the room from the level ''[[High Charity (level)|High Charity]]'' from ''Halo 2''. This room is located before the final gravity lift where Cortana says "apparently these are the Prophet Hierarch's private quarters, their inner sanctum". In the "inner sanctum" there are three doors, two located opposite one another, with a third, opposite a large view screen. In the level ''High Charity'', the Chief enters through the third door, and exits through the door on his right; in the level ''Cortana'' from ''Halo 3'', he enters through the door that was locked in ''Halo 2'' (opposite the door that leads to the final gravity lift). The graphic design of the room and the rest of High Charity's interior has been remodeled in ''Halo 3''. It resembles the corridors of the {{Pattern|Ket|battlecruiser}} ''[[Truth and Reconciliation]]'' from ''Halo: Combat Evolved''.

*Most of the weapons from the [[The Covenant (level)|previous level]] are carried on to this level unless the player makes a fresh start, in which case the loadout will be an [[MA5C assault rifle]] and an [[M90 shotgun]].

*As seen later, primarily in ''[[Halo Wars 2: Awakening the Nightmare]]'', [[High Charity]] was not completely destroyed when the player detonates its reactor. This shell is eventually covered by a [[containment shield]] under the command of [[000 Tragic Solitude]].{{Ref/Game|HW2|Detail=''[[Phoenix Logs]]'' - ''Idle Hands II''}} This is later breached by [[Voridus]] and the [[Banished]] in ''Awakening the Nightmare'', [[Outbreak on Installation 00|releasing the Flood that had survived the destruction of High Charity]] and the firing of [[Installation 08]].

*After [[Thel 'Vadam]] joins you in battle against the [[Flood]], you can find his [[Type-26 Banshee|Banshee]] outside by the [[D77H-TCI Pelican|Pelican]]. You can jump up to his Banshee and even destroy it, but it is impossible to enter the vehicle.

File:H3 Cortana Concept 2.jpg|Concept art of the Master Chief's raid within ''High Charity''.

File:H3_Cortana_Concept_3.jpg|Concept art of the Flood-infested ''High Charity''.

File:H3_Cortana_Concept_4.jpg|Concept art of the Flood-infested ''High Charity''.

File:H3_Cortana_Concept_5.jpg|Concept art of the Flood-infested ''High Charity''.

File:H3_Cortana_Concept_6.jpg|Concept art of the Flood-infested ''High Charity''.

File:H3_Cortana_Concept_7.jpg|Concept art of the Flood-infested ''High Charity''.

File:H3_Cortana_Concept_8.jpg|Concept art of the Flood-infested ''High Charity''.

 

File:H3 Cortana Storyboard 1.jpg

File:H3 Cortana Storyboard 9.jpg

 

File:H3 Menu 09 Cortana.png|Preview of the level in ''Halo 3'' menu.

File:H3-MC-Boot-FloodBiomass.jpg|John-117 finds Flood biomass stuck on his boot upon arrival.

File:H3-Cortana-StasisField.jpg|thumb|300px|The shielded podium in which Cortana is trapped.

{{Levels|H3}}

[[Category:Halo 3 campaign]]