Escape (Halo Wars level)

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Escape
Game:	Halo Wars
Player:	UNSC Spirit of Fire
Date:	February 25, 2531
Location:	Interior of Trove, Korinth Prior system
Objective(s):	Open the Portal Optional: Kill Three Scarabs
	Halopedia has a walkthrough guide for this level; see Escape (Halo Wars level)/Walkthrough.

“

Help the Spirit of Fire's crew escape the Shield world.

”

Escape is the fifteenth and final level of Halo Wars.

The remaining UNSC Spirit of Fire survivors have to open six interlocks to open the portal that the Spirit of Fire needs to go through to escape the Shield World before Sergeant Forge activates the FTL drive in the installation's star. There are Forerunner symbols on each door. Serina discovers that doors marked with the same symbols must be opened after each other. Otherwise the door that is opened first will close. The UNSC forces, however only have 30 minutes to open the portal and yet have to deal with Covenant, Flood and even Forerunner forces. With the help of the Spartans from Red Team, the Spirit of Fire successfully escapes the Shield World.

Activating the interlock towers in a counter-clockwise fashion will reward the player the "Thinkin' About My Doorbell" achievement, worth 5 Gamerscore.

Transcript

{Monsters}

Sergeant John Forge, Red Team and a Marine officer are standing at the Apex Site, next to the Spirit of Fire's FTL drive.

• Sergeant John Forge: "Gentlemen, we're burning sunshine here!"

The Spartans holster their weapons. Forge and Jerome-092 go to the side of the FTL drive while the remaining two Spartans head to the transport's back. The officer goes to open the site's main door and presses a panel on the Forerunner door.

• Marine Lieutenant: "It's active!"

Simultaneously, a camouflaged figure behind him activates his energy sword.

• Jerome-092: "Sergeant!"

Forge stops working on the reactor and turns his head towards the Spartans: Numerous Stealth Sangheili deactivating their camouflage are charging towards them, holding energy staves. The Marine lieutenant screams.

• Forge: "Lieutenant?"

Forge turns around and sees the Arbiter throwing away the lifeless Marine. Forge turns back to Jerome and points to the charging Sangheili.

• Forge: "Take care of those Elites! He's mine."

Red Team, ready to engage the Sangheili.

Forge releases the transport's safety locks, tilting the transport's platform, and sending the reactor down the ramp to crush the Arbiter, who attempts to push it back. Red Team gets in position to engage the incoming Sangheili.

• Jerome-092: "Let's go!"

Jerome kills the first Sangheili with a shot from his shotgun; Douglas-042 and Alice-130 pitch into other two Sangheili and kill them with their SMGs. Alice manages to grab a stave from another attacker as Douglas shoots him and she then finishes him off. A Sangheili attempts to impale Douglas but is quickly dispatched while another's spear is stopped by him and cut in half by Alice's; Jerome quickly reloads his shotgun and kills the unarmed Sangheili, while Douglas and Alice throw two staves and impale two Sangheili from the distance.

Meanwhile, Forge heads to the gap between the Apex's door and the reactor. He finds out 'Moramee had evaded the reactor's blow and realizes the latter's behind him, camouflaged with two Energy Swords. Forge barely dodges an Energy Sword's lunge, and the Energy Sword impales the FTL drive instead. The Arbiter lets go of the stuck sword. Forge manages to hit the Arbiter, evade and face him. As Moramee advances, Forge starts shooting him with his MA5B but to no effect; the Arbiter tries to hit him again with a sword's slash which Forge avoids, but manages to destroy his Assault Rifle with a second hit. Forge charges at the Arbiter and they fall on the floor; Moramee tries to raise his right arm to kill Forge with his sword, but the Sergeant blocks it by using his body mass, then hits Moramee's head with his elbow and manages to disarm him of his sword by shooting the Arbiter's hand with his M6C. Moramee immediately grabs Forge with his left hand, strikes him to the ground and punches him in the stomach. Forge flinches from the blow.

• Ripa 'Moramee: "Like the rest of your race, weak and undisciplined."

The Arbiter picks up and throws Forge against the transport's wheel. Back at Red Team, Alice-130 jumps over a charging Sangheili, grabs its back, and turns around, causing another charging Sangheili to stab its ally. Jerome-092 kills the second Sangheili with his Shotgun and turns around, meeting the last Sangheili face-to-face. He shoved away the Sangheili, and runs back to the reactor to aid Forge. Forge is thrown to the ground by the Arbiter, who swiftly picks up his Energy Sword.

• Ripa 'Moramee: "There will be no female to save you this time."

Forge slowly sits up, facing away from the Arbiter, who slowly approaches him.

• Forge: "Look me in the eye and say that."

• Ripa 'Moramee: "As you wish."

The Arbiter grabs Forge's head and brings his face close to his.

• Ripa 'Moramee: "My face will be the last thing your pathetic eyes would ever see."

Forge looks over the dead Arbiter.

Just as 'Moramee raises his sword for the kill, Forge drives his combat knife into his opponent's neck. 'Moramee gasps in surprise and pain and drops his sword; Forge picks it up and uses it to impale the wounded Arbiter, who dies. Red Team arrive at the scene, and holster their weapons as the Arbiter closes his eyes.

• Forge: "And for the record, I would have kicked your ass the first time, if the lady hadn't stopped me!"

The Arbiter's body is rolled off the platform by Douglas-042, while Alice-130 places the reactor inside the elevator; thereafter, Jerome-092 accesses the reactor's control panel.

• Jerome-092: "Sir, it's already overheating. I'll have to separate the core and align them manually when they need to blow."

Forge places one of his hands on Jerome's shoulder.

• Forge: "Son, I've a feeling before this is over, we'll need every last Spartan in the fight. I can do this. Report back to the ship."

• Jerome-092: "Good luck, sir. It's been an honor."

Forge looks up to the artificial sun.

The Spartan and Forge stare at each other as the elevator's door close and salute with a nod. Forge looks up the ceiling, which opens. He begins his ascent while looking at the artificial sun. Cuts to black.

{In-Game Cutscene}

Two Pelicans fly over the closed exit portal.

• Serina: "Captain, the exit passage has been sealed. Our escape is blocked."

The Pelicans touch down near a UNSC Station with some UNSC Marines nearby.

• Captain James Gregory Cutter: "Ground teams. Find a way to open that portal or we're all dead!"

• Professor Ellen Anders (COM): "The portal has six doors. You'll need to open them in the correct order."

The Pelicans lift off from the base.

{Gameplay}

The UNSC forces are immediately under attack from a horde of Flood forms.

• Serina: "Based on Anders' observations, the alien technology will only react to human touch. Any other alien life nearby will lock the system."

• Jerome-092 (COM): "Clear out the area around this interlock."

They eliminate the Flood forms, and release the first interlock.

• Jerome-092 (COM): "We got this interlock released."

• Anders (COM): "The doors have some sort of alien glyphs on them. That may be the key to opening them."

Upon spotting a Scarab:

• Serina: "Watch out. Several large Covenant vehicles have been spotted."

Upon spotting the Covenant base west of the portal:

• Serina: "We've spotted a large Covenant base west of the portal."

Upon spotting the large amount of Flood form east of the portal:

• Anders (COM): "We are detecting movement coming from the east side of the portal. Possible large alien infection."

The UNSC forces continue on, releasing the second interlock.

• Anders (COM): "That's it. The doors are paired. You need to activate both doors of a set to open them."

• Forge (COM): "Forge to Cutter, I'm beginning my ascent. Estimate thirty minutes to the detonation site."

A 30-minute countdown to the detonation appears. The UNSC forces move on, releasing the third interlock:

• Jerome-092 (COM): "Another interlock is down."

---

Upon the first time an interlock has locked up again:

• Serina: "An interlock has been deactivated."

---

When the timer reaches 19:10:

• Forge (COM): "Forge here. I'm at the access point to the sun. I'll need some time to break through."

When the timer reaches 11:10:

• Serina: "Covenant forces will be at Forge's position in approximately ten minutes."

• Forge (COM): "I'm in the sun. You heard Serina, I'll wait ten minutes, then detonate the core. That's all the time I can give you."

• Cutter: "Roger that. We can't let them leave with those ships. Good luck, Sergeant."

The UNSC forces releasing the last three interlocks.

{In-Game Cutscene}

Three Pelicans fly over the portal, which opens, the arms supporting its central ring unlock and descend into the pit one by one. Finally, the central ring releases a burst of energy and falls into the tunnel.

• Cutter: "Sergeant Forge, all ground forces are evacuating back to the Spirit of Fire."

• Forge (COM): "Copy that. Get our people out of here, I'm blowing the core!"

{One Less Sun in The Universe}

The Spirit of Fire is facing toward the artificial sun which is beginning to degenerate. Numerous Forerunner ships are pulled into the sun. In the bridge, Cutter and Anders are gazing out the window.

• Serina: "Hangar bay reports all crews checked in."

• Cutter: "Then let's not outstay our welcome. Best speed away."

• Serina: "Captain, the gravity field from the sun is expanding. We're not going anywhere."

Cutter and Anders look at each other, Anders with a disgruntled look on her face. Cutter turns back towards the sun.

• Cutter: "Let's see if we can't turn that to our advantage. Serina, plot a course that takes us into the sun. We're going to slingshot around it."

Serina shows a holographic display on the bridge's holo-table, showing the shield world as well as the trajectory the Spirit needs to fly around the sun in.

• Serina: "Threading a needle, while accelerating around an exploding star, inside a planet that's falling apart. Sure, why not?"

• Cutter: "Serina, can you do it?"

• Serina: "It's done. You might want to hold onto something."

Cutter and Anders move away from the window and sit down.

• Serina: "Closing your eyes might help, too."

Trove is violently destroyed.

The Spirit of Fire accelerates towards the artificial sun as several pieces of the planet are pulled into it. The ship circles perilously close to the sun, burning it's edges as blinding light floods into the bridge. Spirit of Fire successfully slingshots around the sun and accelerates through the exit passage. It bursts out of the planet just as it begins to collapse. As the ship speeds away the planet begins to implode, then suddenly explodes outward along its horizontal axis. Fades to black as pieces of debris are thrown into space.

{The End}

Scene fades in and pans over Marines and Navy personnel in cryo-chambers.

SPIRIT OF FIRE

CRYO ROOM 3

MARCH 11TH 2531

• Anders: "Captain, I would much rather stay awake to monitor this area."

• Cutter: "Professor, there's been no sign of the Covenant for almost two weeks. There's nothing to do."

Cutter is seen guiding Anders into her cryo-chamber.

• Anders: "But, Captain-"

• Cutter: "But nothing, Professor. You got us all out of there alive. Get some rest."

Reluctantly, Anders steps back into her cryo-chamber as Cutter taps its key pad.

• Anders: "Not all of us, Captain. Not all of us."

Anders enters cryo-stasis.

Her chamber's cover closes and she immediately falls asleep. Frost forms on Anders face. Cutter walks to the chamber beside Anders' and closes it, empty. Cutter gives the chamber a nod of respect. Its designated occupant's name is revealed by the name on the chamber's cover: SGT. J. FORGE. Fades to black.

Level ends.

Credits roll.

If the player has beaten the game on Legendary, extra dialogue plays after the credits.

• Serina: Captain, wake up. Something has happened.

Trivia

• Like Halo: Combat Evolved, Halo 3 and slightly to Spartan Ops, the final level in Halo Wars involves escaping an explosion designed to destroy a Forerunner structure and to stop the antagonists. It is also vaguely similar to the end of Marathon 2: Durandal, as the protagonists must put a sun into an early supernova.
• The Forerunner symbols on the projected blue floors are the numbers 1-5 from the Iris campaign. After 5, the symbol for 3 is repeated.
• It is possible to "kill" any, if not all, members of Red Team by opening a door whilst they are standing on it, one will see the Spartans fall to their deaths.
• There is a Emp'seam-pattern Antlion that seems to have been abandoned (much like the Scarab in Beachhead) near one of the Covenant Bases. It can help destroy the base if garrisoned.
• In the center of the level, there is a structure similar to a Sentinel factory or Protector plant. It produces Protectors in groups of three most of the time, and the Covenant will battle with the Sentinels if contact is made.
• Once the player has beaten the game on Legendary, the Legendary ending will play every time, regardless of difficulty. Also, if the player skips the credits when playing on Legendary, it will skip ahead to Serina's Legendary dialogue, rather than skipping it too.
• There are two unique Pod infectors that can be found to the west of the portal. These pod infectors are alone instead of in a swarm, and they do not attack enemy units. Strangely, when selected, their unit icon shows the Spirit Of Fire symbol instead of the pod infector's.

Gallery

• 

  A map of the level.

• 

  Concept art for the level.

• 

  A render of the escape portal model.

• 

  A render of the escape portal model.

• 

  A screenshot of the escape portal.

• 

  A screenshot of the escape portal.

• 

  The FTL drive at the Apex Site.

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  Sangheili charging towards the Spartans.

• 

  Forge and Red Team prepare the FTL drive for detonation.

• 

  Forge checks the gap between the Apex's door and the reactor.

• 

  A closeup of the Spartans as the Sangheili charges at them.

• 

  Jerome stops a Sangheili in place.

• 

  Forge volunteers to detonate the FTL drive manually.

• 

  The sun enters supernova.

• 

  Anders and Cutter looking at the sun from the bridge.

• 

  Cutter standing in the cryo bay.

Preceded by Reactor

Halo Wars campaign missions Escape

Succeeded by None