Genesis (level)

This article is about the campaign level. For the Forerunner planet, see Genesis.

Genesis is the thirteenth campaign level of Halo 5: Guardians.

Completing the level on any difficulty grants the player the achievement "Reclamation", worth 10 Gamerscore points. Keeping the M820 Scorpion intact until the first Warden encounter on Legendary difficulty grants the player the achievement "Tank Still Beats Everything", worth 10 Gamerscore points. Having Fireteam Osiris operate four different vehicles at once on Heroic difficulty or higher rewards the player with the achievement "Rolling Thunder", worth 10 Gamerscore points.

Transcript

{Cutscene}

GENESIS 28 OCTOBER 2558
FORERUNNER INSTALLATION

Fade in to the surface of the Forerunner planet Genesis. A slipspace portal opens to let in a Guardian, arriving from Sanghelios.

Cut to Jameson Locke's point-of-view. He and the rest of Fireteam Osiris are atop the Guardian, and in the distance can see another Guardian over this planet.

• Holly Tanaka: "Is that it?"

• Olympia Vale: "Where are we?"

• Tanaka: "What the-"

The Guardian shakes and the Spartans begin to slip and fall.

• Locke: "Activate mag boots!"

Their boots magnetically adhere to the Guardian, keeping them from falling. They see now that they're standing "sideways", facing down the enormous "slope".

DANGER ZONE

(Gameplay}

• Tanaka: "Like standing on the side of a skyscraper. This is bad."

• Locke: "We'll be fine."

• Tanaka: "Chief's down there, huh?"

• Locke: "Let's find out. Spartan Jameson Locke, broadcasting on all UNSC frequencies. Sierra 117, please respond."

• (COM): (static)

• Edward Buck: "Guardian's moving."

• Locke: "Get moving. Reach a low enough altitude where it's safe to jump."

The Spartans dash down the Guardian, their jumps magnified by gravity. Promethean Crawlers and Soldiers phase in.

• Locke: "Crawlers ahead! Don't stop! Shoot and run!"

The Spartans do their best to fight the droids and not fall off the Guardian.

• Locke: "Stay in the middle! Watch out for gaps!"

• Tanaka: "Didn't come all this way to get killed now! Move faster!"

The segments of the Guardian tilt and sway, making travel harder.

• Buck: "Like it's trying to shake us off!"

A massive pulse blasts from the Guardian. The construct shakes and roars.

• Vale: "What's that sound?!"

{Cutscene}

Locke and the Spartans lose their grip as the floor gives way. Locke tries to grab on another floating piece, but they freefall off the Guardian.

As they approach the ground, Locke and the others activate their suits' thrusters, slowing them to land.

{Gameplay}

• Tanaka: "Did it work? Is this the right place?"

• Locke: "Let's try this again. Spartan Jameson Locke to Sierra 117. Please respond."

The radio breaks with static again.

• Locke: "Chief... Doctor Halsey sent us. We're here to help-"

• John (COM): "How the hell are you here?"

• Locke: "Long story, sir. Cortana has been activating Forerunner-"

• John (COM): "I'm aware. We're at the Gateway."

• Cortana (COM): "It's you. The same as Meridian. As Sanghelios. My, you do get around quickly."

• Tanaka: "So this is the right place."

The Spartans pass from their landing site to a Forerunner elevator. A purple light shines inside.

• Exuberant Witness: "More humans?"

• Vale: "That's a monitor."

A floating round droid with a purple eye floats down. The Spartans enter the elevator, which descends.

• Exuberant: "Hello. I am 031 Exuberant Witness, monitor of the Genesis installation. Welcome. Have you also come to stop Cortana from claiming the Mantle?"

• Locke: "The Mantle?"

• Exuberant: "A forced peace upon the galaxy. The threat of death overpowering any celebration of life. Unless you join with the other humans and stop her, it is your future."

• Locke: "You've seen the other humans?"

• Exuberant: "Oh, yes. Cortana has had them in the Gateway for some time. It is not far from here. I can show you."

• Locke: "That would be appreciated."

Their elevator reaches the bottom. Exuberant floats and opens the door.

• Exuberant (COM): "Accessing your communication systems. Oh, by the way, there are a number of hostile visitors just outside. So I brought you this. I assume it will be of use to you?"

CALL ME CUPID

The monitor teleports in an M820 Scorpion tank.

• Buck: "A Scorpion? Yeah, I reckon we can make use of that."

• Exuberant: "I found it among the detritus of Guardian 3209's arrival."

The Spartans climb aboard the Scorpion and drive down the path ahead. A hostile Ghost and Ghost Ultra attack ahead.

• Exuberant: "The Guardian slipspace bubbles are bringing in a considerable amount of rubbish from their origin planets."

• Buck: "Somebody ought to tell these guys they already lost the war."

• Tanaka: "They want a fight, let's give 'em one."

As the tank drives onward, an enormous slipspace portal opens. A Guardian emerges out of it and assembles.

• Buck: "Look up!"

• Exuberant: "Why has she called so many? A single Guardian can effectively police a solar system. This show of force is unsettling."

• Vale: "I'm sorry, 'police'? 'Show of force'?!"

• Exuberant: "Indeed. Guardians are how the Forerunners enforced peace on the lower systems."

Several Phantoms arrive with the Guardian, which begin deploying troops. Prometheans phase in to attack them.

• Exuberant: "As you can see, Genesis's defenses are targeting the invaders. Unfortunately, the defenses will also consider you invaders as well."

• Locke: "It's your installation, can't you tell them to let us through?"

• Exuberant: "No. Between Warden and Cortana, most of my administration privileges have been revoked. But worry not! I still have control over some aspects of this facility."

The Spartans drive in, battling numerous hostiles.

• Exuberant: "Warden is going to notice this commotion. Be quick."

If the tank is badly damaged.

• Exuberant: "Your vehicle is not coping well with the stress of combat."

If the tank is close to destruction.

• Exuberant: "Please be more careful. That is the only one of those vehicles that exist on Genesis!"

More Prometheans phase in, including high ranked Knights.

• Exuberant: "Oh my. I never was in combat before. This is rather distressing. And exciting."

They clear out most of the enemies, though a few remain.

• Exuberant: "You are performing admirably. I think. There's less of them now than there were, which I assume is your objective?"

The Spartans reach a closed gate blocking the path.

• Tanaka: "Looks like the road ends here."

• Locke: "Exuberant."

• Exuberant: "One moment. I will open this."

After a few seconds wait, the door opens up. A vacant Wraith Ultra is parked nearby, as is a crashed Pelican.

• Exuberant: "Follow me."

The tank continues driving up the path.

• Exuberent: "The Gateway is almost ready. Hurry!"

• Tanaka: "What is the Gateway?"

• Exuberant: "It is a bridge between the Domain and Genesis. Within that building, Cortana will be reborn into the physical world."

The path leads to a distant hill, atop which can be seen the now-activate Forerunner building, creating a portal into the sky.

• Exuberant: "There! The Gateway."

Several Wraiths and a Banshee guard the path.

• Tanaka: "More Covenant."

• Locke: "And the Master Chief is there?"

• Exuberant: "Cortana has had the other humans wandering in circles within the Gateway for some hours. She is preparing for something. But just what is unknown."

More Prometheans defenses emerge to fight the Covenant. Locke and the Spartans battle them all.

• Exuberant: "Genesis is really a magnificent planet. It's usually less... busy. Quite lonely, actually. But magnificent!"

The Scorpion blows up the many Covenant tanks blocking their way.

• Exuberant: "Yes, I can see now why the Warden is troubled by your presence. You are quite destructive."

The tank continues to push through the enemies.

• Exuberant: "I must admit, I do find this rather exhilarating, in spite of myself."

The tank nears the end of the path, though enemies are still in the way.

• Exuberant: "You may want to hurry. Cortana is attempting to activate several high-level communication systems."

The tank continues blowing up its resistance.

• Exuberant: "Humanity has not changed much since last your kind walked the stars. You are as deadly as ever."

The path halts at the edge of a cliff, but the ends of an inactive light bridge can be seen.

• Exuberant: "This way, straight ahead."

The Gateway is on the other side of the chasm.

• Exuberant: "Oh. There's supposed to be a bridge here."

• Locke: "Is there another way across?"

• Exuberant: "One moment."

The light bridge activates, allowing them across.

• Exuberant: "There you are. Oh! I can work bridges too, it seems. Most exciting. Come along."

The Spartans pass over the chasm, reaching a rocky hill.

• Exuberant: "Hurry humans, the Gateway is almost-"

Portals appear on the hill, bringing in the Warden Eternal and two Focus Turrets.

• Warden: "Monitor! Why do you aid these humans?!"

• Exuberant: "I have bad news, humans. The Warden has found us."

• Buck: "We've dealt with him before."

• Exuberant: "And you likely will again. He is rather... tenacious."

The Warden leaps down to engage the Spartans.

• Exuberant: "Warden, why do you aid the ancilla? It is not protocol! It is not right!"

• Warden: "This facility's need for you has passed, monitor."

The Warden charges, but is easily defeated by a tank.

• Exuberant: "Fantastic. I am so happy you survived. But still, the Warden is victorious."

• Locke: "How so?"

• Exuberant: "This late in her plans, every second Cortana gains is a gift."

The hill is too rocky to let the vehicles easily proceed.

• Exuberant: "I'm afraid your vehicle won't cross this terrain, humans."

The Spartans proceed on foot.

If the player climbs up the right hill.

• Exuberant: "Interesting that humans can survive here where the others find it so difficult. Your resilience was always so irritating to the Forerunners. Where they had to craft and plan, you simply... performed."

The Spartans cross over the hill's boulders.

• Exuberant: "Quickly now! The Gateway is just behind that hill."

The Spartans reach a crashed Pelican, and an enormous courtyard in front of the Gateway.

• Locke: "117, if you can hear me. We are approaching the Gateway. Hold your position."

Locke only gets static as a response.

• Locke: "Chief?"

• Buck: "Cortana's still blocking the comms?"

• Exuberan: "Indeed. But I can assure you that the humans are still in the Gateway."

As the Spartans walk up the courtyard, enemy portals open. The Warden returns, now with two of him.

• Warden: "I have misjudged you lot! I had mistaken your behavior as tenacity, when it's in fact suicidal foolishness."

Promethean Knights, Soldiers, and Crawlers arrive to support him.

• Tanaka: "Watch for snipers in the back."

Despite his attacks, the Spartans continue to move up.

• Warden: "Come. Let us battle our last!"

As they destroy Prometheans, the Warden sends in more to replace them.

• Exuberant: "Humans, watch out. You are surrounded."

• Buck: "What'd we do before we had her around to point things out to us?!"

When one of the Wardens is badly weakened.

• Exuberant: "You've injured him for certain. Keep it up."

When one of the Wardens is destroyed.

• Exuberant: "You are doing a fantastic job, humans. The Warden is furious."

• Locke: "One down! Focus fire on the Warden!"

The remaining Warden summons two Focus Turrets.

When the second Warden is midway damaged.

• Exuberant: "Your fighting skills are impressive. Warden will soon be defeated. At least, these bodies will be defeated. Warden himself... Oh, ignore me. You're doing wonderfully!"

When the last Warden is almost dead.

• Exuberant: "You've almost done it! Keep fighting!"

The last Warden body is destroyed.

• Exuberant: "Perfect. The Warden is quite humiliated, I assure you."

• Tanaka: "Yeah? A robot can feel humiliation?"

• Exuberant: "Oh! Warden is not a robot. I thought you understood that."

The door at the far end of the courtyard activates, allowing the Spartans to enter.

• Exuberant: "Follow me."

The Spartans follow her to the Gateway's entrance. Fade to black.

{Cutscene}

Fade in to Fireteam Osiris, dashing into the Gateway at top speed. Exuberant floats by with them.

• Exuberant: "There! The others!"

Blue Team is walking around in front of them at a balcony.

• Locke: "Chief!"

The Spartan-IIs turn and points their guns at Osiris. Locke holsters his rifle and raises his hands.

• Locke: "Chief, please. Wait. Cortana-"

• John: "She's dangerous. I know."

• Locke: "You don't have to do this alone. We're here to help you."

The two Spartans watch each other, but look up as a bright light appears above.

• Cortana: "You're too late to do anything."

The Spartans look up warily as the light above glows brighter.

• John: "Cortana. No!"

Blue Team suddenly vanishes.

• Exuberant: "Oh no. She should not have brought them so close to her. This will push the Warden past all restraint."

Fade to black. Level ends.

Trivia

Easter Eggs

• Ten pieces of Mission Intel can be found on this level.
• A vacant Ultra Wraith can be found after Exuberant Witness opens the door.
• The Light of Urs fuel rod cannon can be found by a ledge after the first bridge and by a dead Grunt with mission intel.
• The Spitfire plasma pistol can be found on a ledge nearby a terminal with mission intel, after the vacant Wraith and the first crashed Pelican.
• Two The Answer SAWs can be found just before the dual Wardens fight. One is on the left of the entrance by a crashed Pelican, and the other is on the right.
• On Legendary difficulty only, near the Gateway is a closed door that features the corpse of a Promethean Crawler. If the player teabags it 117 times, 031 Exuberant Witness will be able to shoot highly-damaging gauss beams, granting her the ability to directly fight. Note that the Crawler must be teabagged in the place where it originally spawned and that the Crawler must stay in the same place in order for the easter egg to work.

Gameplay

• The Promethean Soldiers in the run down the Guardian are deliberately weakened to have armor that breaks from a single shot.
• Should any player lose all of their health during the run down the Guardian, instead of being revivable, they will immediately die.
• It is possible, through careful maneuvering, to get vehicles into the second Warden boss fight, including the Wraith or Scorpion. Allies will also pilot them if brought to the encounter.
• If the player dashes to the spot where Exuberant teleports in the Scorpion, they will find the Scorpion is already there but is invisible.
• Exuberant Witness is invincible and has no weapons, but can catch grenades thrown by enemies much like a Watcher.
• All of the enemy Phaetons can be disabled by an EMP blast, but none can be hijacked.

Miscellaneous

• The checkpoint's name "Call Me Cupid" is a reference to the Halo 2 level Metropolis, during which Sergeant Johnson brings a tank while declaring: "If God is love, then you can call me Cupid!"

Gallery

• 

  Concept art for the level's beginning.

• 

  In-game view of the level's beginning.

• 

  The location where Osiris battle with a tank against Covenant and Prometheans.