Editing The Ark (level)

{{Title|The Ark}}

{{Level infobox

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{{Article quote|Search the waste for the Cartographer.}}

'''The Ark''' is the seventh [[campaign]] level of ''[[Halo 3]]''.

==Summary==

The Chief and the ODSTs meet up with a group of Marines whose Pelican was shot down.  The Marines inform the Chief that there's a good landing zone for the ''Forward Unto Dawn'' nearby.  After retaking the Pelican crash site, John-117 and his allies commandeer an assortment of vehicles and drive off to secure the LZ. Along the way, the Chief discovers a large Forerunner wall built between the cliffs. The entrance to the wall is guarded by [[Sentinels]] which attack the Covenant but leave the humans alone. Johnson arrives in a Pelican and informs Commander Keyes that Hocus has found a structure located on the other side of the wall. Keyes deduces it's a Cartographer which they can use to locate the Prophet of Truth.   

[[File:H3 - Shadow of Intent Bridge.png|thumb|300px|The Major and 'Vadum on the ''[[Shadow of Intent]]'s'' bridge.]]

''Cut to the bridge of the ''[[Shadow of Intent]]''.''

*'''Johnson (COM)''': "Alright. Pop the hatch!"

'''{''Gameplay''}'''

'''''Sharpshooter.'''''

''The Master Chief (and the Arbiter, in co-op) and two ODSTs jump out of the Pelican. The Marines remain on-board. Another Pelican lands, dropping off two more troopers (In 3-4 player Co-op, [[N'tho 'Sraom]] and [[Usze 'Taham]] will come from the second Pelican). As the team moves on, one spots what looks like a galaxy in the sky.''

*'''ODST #1''': "We got more enemy contacts ahead, move out!"

*'''ODST leader''': "They're setting up an AA battery. That thing'll tear the ''Dawn'' apart... We'll wait for you to take the shot."

*'''Johnson (COM)''': "Come on Chief, move ahead. Go, go, go!"

*'''Longsword Pilot (COM)''': "Thrusters are gone, I can't control it!"

*'''[[Private First Class]] [[Chips Dubbo]]''': ''(whispering)'' "Flak got our Pelican too, sir. But before we went down, we spotted a good LZ. If we can get to our vehicles, we'll lead you to it."

*'''Rtas 'Vadum (COM)''': "Hit them again! And again! And again!"

*'''Keyes (COM)''': "Fire pods one through twelve. [[Archer]]s away."

*'''Unknown Longsword Pilot (COM)''': "Affirmative. I see it...."

*'''Unknown Longsword Pilot (COM)''': "Seraphs, on my six!"

*'''Keyes (COM)''': "Watch your fire, watch your fire!"

*'''Unknown Longsword Pilot (COM)''': "All squadrons, form up! Form up!"

*'''Rtas 'Vadum (COM)''': "...burn."

*'''Keyes (COM)''': "Charge the MAC. Give me a firing solution."

*'''Dubbo''': "Mount up. Let's find that LZ. Follow us, sir, all the way down this canyon."

''The team mounts up and moves on through the canyon, clearing [[Covenant]] patrols and passing the Longsword's wreckage. There's a working [[M12 LRV|Warthog]] nearby that the Chief can use.''

*'''Jiralhanae Commander (COM)''': "Nooooo! Hit the carrier! Kill the [[Rtas 'Vadum|Half Jaw]] and his crew!"

*'''Jiralhanae Commander (COM)''': "Do not fear the [[San'Shyuum|Prophets']] wrath, because if you fail I will have your hide!"

''The assault team heads into another canyon with a large [[Forerunner]] wall built in between the cliffs. Fighting their way through a large enemy force, the team makes it to the higher level, where Covenant troops are engaged with [[Aggressor Sentinel]]s.''

*'''ODST #1''': "Oh, they see us all right. They just haven't decided what to do with us yet."

*'''ODST #1''': "The LZ's through this cave, sir. Watch yourself; got Covenant heavy armor!"

*'''Johnson (COM)''': "That did it. LZ's clear."

'''''Armor up.'''''

*'''Keyes (COM)''': "Thanks, Chief. I wouldn't have lasted much longer up there. Come to the back of the frigate."

*'''Johnson (COM)''': "Alright then, you heard the lady."

''The Monitor hovers near one of the Scorpions.''

''The convoy starts to move out.''

''After the convoy scores a kill:''

*'''Marine #2 (COM)''': "Tank beats Hunter!"

*'''Marine #2 (COM)''': "Tank beats ''everything''! Oh, ''man!'' I could do this all day!"

*'''Stacker (COM)''': "All armor, form up on the lower doorway. Chief, get upstairs; have your robot pick that lock!"

*'''343 Guilty Spark''': "Please, use caution; avoid collateral damage! While this facility looks quite hardy on the surface, there are undoubtedly delicate structures below the façade. ''(pause)'' Odd, for a doorway to require such robust security protocols. One moment, Reclaimer."

*'''343 Guilty Spark''': "There we are. Please, follow me."

*'''343 Guilty Spark''': "Hurry! To the Cartographer!"  

*'''Johnson (COM)''': "Heads up, Marines! We got trouble."

*'''Stacker (COM)''': "Second line, clear! Push forward!"

''The Scarab crawls down the side of the Cartographer building and onto the battlefield.''

''A sermon broadcast by Truth can be heard inside the Scarab:''

''A group of [[Kig-Yar]], including several marksmen, as well as a Jiralhanae Captain and several Unggoy try to stop the Chief's progress. The Spartan eliminates them and goes to the back of the Scarab and destroys its core, then flees before the Scarab detonates in a deafening explosion. The ''[[Shadow of Intent]]'' can be seen entering the atmosphere at extreme distance.''

===Real Men Don't Read Maps===

'''''Bang and clear.'''''

''If the player remains inside the room and stalls:''

''If the player comes close to the room where the terminal is you can hear 343 Guilty Spark say a few lines from it. If anyone enters the room or 343 Guilty Spark is hit, he will stop talking''.

''If the player hesitates''

''The Arbiter and the Marines keep watch, while the Master Chief activates the Cartographer.''

[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kzqe1sNBtV4 '''{''Cutscene''}''']

*'''[[Master Chief Petty Officer]] John-117''': ''(surprised)'' "That's...our galaxy. We're beyond the rim."

''Guilty Spark turns around and looks at the Master Chief.''

*'''John-117''': "Can you tell me where we are ''exactly''?"

*'''343 Guilty Spark''': "Near one of the Ark's superluminal communication arrays, I'm afraid. Unfortunate. The Meddler has triggered a barrier; a defensive perimeter around the Ark's core."

*'''343 Guilty Spark''': "The barrier ''will'' be difficult to disable... how odd that my makers would place such a comprehensive defense around a single - ''(shocked)'' Oh my."

*'''Dubbo''': "Sir, Pelicans are gonna land... one level down!"

*'''343 Guilty Spark''': "Protocol dictates action. The installation was my responsibility, [[Installation 08|if my suspicions are correct...]] no! I must not jump to any conclusions."  

*'''[[Cethegus]]''': "The [[pack]] will ''feast'' on you!"

*'''Johnson (COM)''': "Hang tight, Chief! We're on our way!"

''The Chief goes outside, where he finds Cethegus conferring with the Prophet of Truth via a holo-pedestal. [[Jiralhanae Jumper]]s gather around Cethegus. Truth orders Cethegus alone to take out the Chief.''

*'''343 Guilty Spark (COM)''': "I really can't say... not for sure. But if you allow me to find a terminal closer to the Core-"

''A Sentinel comes up to the Chief and inspects him. The Arbiter interrupts Guilty Spark.''

''The Sentinel closes back up and rejoins the flock.''

''Keyes interrupts.''

''Level ends''

==Trivia==

{{Main|Glitches}}

*Strangely, while playing co-op at Mission Start, while riding in the Pelican, Player 2 (Thel 'Vadam) will be looking out the sides of his head, no matter where he looks. Once he gets out of the Pelican however, he will see out the front of his head.

*At the structure with the light bridge, killing all the tanks and Warthogs at the bottom will cause the Marine who drops off the Gauss Warthog in the next area to be invincible. He will still react normally and say his line "Chief, 'Hog's all yours," before proceeding to attack the player. It should also be noted that even if the player kills all the tanks and Warthogs by the light bridge, they will still come out of the cliff in the next area, and will not be hostile. This is probably due to the fact that, if the tanks are watched in Theater mode (right after activating the light bridge), they simply disappear and new tanks and Warthogs appear out the other door.

*It is possible to board and destroy the Scarab when the player first exits the Forerunner building and sees the Gauss Warthog being attacked by Ghosts. To do this, the player must grab a Ghost and destroy it at the correct time, so the Ghost part can launch the player directly into the Scarab's doorway. Once destroyed, the player will see the Scarab again in the area where they would normally fight it; half of the Scarab will be missing, and smoke will billow out from its main cannon.

*A player can easily navigate a Chopper the full way down to the Chieftain fight at the end of the level. With a large amount of patience and time, a player can (with a partner) also navigate a Warthog to the Chieftain fight at the end of the level. This second option may take hours, however.

*If the player has a Plasma Pistol where the Arbiter is about to board the Banshee, they can overcharge the Plasma Pistol to disable the Banshee. However, the player won't be able to board it or even shoot the pilot. The Arbiter will also disappear from the level.

*After activating the Silent Cartographer, if Thel 'Vadam doesn't board the Banshee in time, or if it flips, he will get up and disappear. Given time, the Banshee will disappear as well.

===Mistakes===

*The Milky Way seen throughout the level is represented as a barred spiral galaxy, but when Master Chief activates the Cartographer it is represented as a spiral galaxy. In reality, the Milky Way is a barred spiral galaxy.

*During the beginning cutscene, the seats on the left side of the cargo space of the Pelican Kilo 023 appear to be occupied by ODSTs; however immediately it appears that the left side seats are now unoccupied and the ODSTs are seemingly gone (though Master Chief is blocking the view of the right side seats). When gameplay starts, one can clearly see marines sitting on both sides of the cargo space, ODSTs returning to the left side. This is most likely an oversight by Bungie, though the NPCs could have switched seats for some reason between the two shots.

*Farther down the room with sleeping Grunts is a [[Urinating Brute|Brute urinating]] in the corner.

===References===

*Whilst it is more likely a coincidence than not, the opening cinematic shares some similarities with the ending cutscene of ''[[The Pillar of Autumn (Halo: Combat Evolved level)|The Pillar of Autumn]]'' - several Marines and the Chief escape a space battle (The {{UNSCShip|Pillar of Autumn}} against the Covenant armada and the Covenant loyalist and separatist battles) by flying a small craft (A Bumblebee escape pod and Pelican dropship) towards a Forerunner installation (Installations 04 and 00 respectively). A further similarity is in transit, John-117 looks over the shoulder of the pilot at the approaching structure.

*The first cinematic section, just before gameplay begins but after the cutscene, bears a solid resemblance to the opening of ''The Silent Cartographer''; the Chief (and several Marines) stare out the back of a Pelican as it approaches a Forerunner structure crawling with Covenant.

===Miscellaneous===

*This is the only level in ''Halo 3'' in which all Covenant vehicles and weapon emplacements make an appearance, including the incomplete "Mantis" anti-air cannon.

*From the first time the player sees a Chopper the player can play this whole level through in it (Besides activating the light bridge and the Cartographer). At the end cutscene if the player uses the Chopper in the whole level, a Chopper could be seen in the background.

*It is possible to methodically set-up for the final battle first by triggering the Brute Chieftain spawning in. Next, if playing on fan difficulties SLASO or CLASO, kill the remaining Brute Stalkers and/or Jackals, and stockpile Plasma Pistols and/or Equipment via taking them to where the Chief activates the Cartographer. It is possible for the Chief to drop Plasma Pistols and Equipment down to the bottom level from the terminal. Once the Chief is set-up, it is also possible for him to carefully fall down from the terminal down onto the bottom level, where the Chieftain will only cheer and will be alone. In order to fall down safely, it is best to slowly inch your way off the top level of the terminal until you fall or, alternatively, fall down back first into the Chieftain, killing him. After that, it is best to stockpile any spare Plasma Rifle, Covenant Carbine, Equipment, or Plasma Pistol for the deloaded Jetpack Brutes. In order to spawn the Jetpack Brutes in, after setting everything up, backtrack to the area where you recently killed the Brute Stalkers and turn around. If done right, you'll hear Johnson say "Hang tight, Chief! We're on our way!" This provides you with a better chance in the aforementioned fan difficulties.

*After the cutscene near the end of the level if the player looks down the spot where the player fights the Brute Chieftain, the hologram pedestal is there and the player can destroy it, but it will be repaired when the player reaches the bottom floor.

*This is the only ''Halo 3'' level where the regular Wraiths are rigged to explode when its driver dies unless you use the RB and shoot driver method.

==Gallery==

File:Ark Desert Scenery.jpg|The vast desert on the Ark.

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==Sources==

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