Expendable/Unfinished Business

Template:Level Infobox Template:Article Quote Unfinished Business is the first chapter of Spartan Ops' eighth episode, Expendable.

Summary

With the UNSC Infinity now safe, Fireteam Crimson returns to "Apex" to retake the area. The Covenant are ready for them and have set up Forerunner portals that can bring in reinforcements. Miller orders Crimson to take out the portals. Crimson locates and disables all three portals. They then proceed to clear out the remaining Covenant in the area. During the battle, Miller picks up an SOS in Morse code on the Covenant comm network. He isn't sure what to make of it since the Covenant don't use Morse code.

After Crimson finishes securing the area, Fireteam Lancer is called to stand guard over the area. Infinity then receives a transmission from Fireteam Majestic asking for backup. Palmer orders Crimson to assist Majestic.

Transcript

All dialogue is spoken through the COM.

{Cutscene}

An aerial pan of "Apex," where some Covenant Grunts and Jackals are seen being led by an Elite. A Pelican is seen in the sky and the camera zooms in on it as it lands.

• Miller: "Spartans don't leave unfinished business, so it's back to "Apex." Once the area is cleared, Fireteam Lancer is scheduled to babysit."

{Gameplay}

• Miller: "Looks like the Covies knew we were coming. They've got portals set up for bringing more troops in; let's take them down!"

The player engages some Covenant infantry and two Ghosts.

• Palmer: "Miller, I'm back. Status?"

• Miller: "Crimson's on the march, Commander. Just about to clear out a Covenant camp."

Crimson runs into a shield wall blocking their path.

• Miller: "Uh... umm hold on. I've located a maintenance panel for the shields. If Crimson can overload the fusion coils, the whole thing will go down."

• Palmer: "Do like the man said, Crimson."

• Miller: "Marking the panel."

The player overloads the panel.

• Miller: "Heat signature increasing...move, Crimson! It's gonna blow!"

The shield explodes and the barrier disappears.

• Miller: "That did it! Shield down!"

• Miller: "The first of the portals is just through this passage."

• Palmer: "Eyes sharp, Crimson."

Crimson finds the first portal

• Miller: "There's the first portal."

• Palmer: "Shut it down."

First portal is shut down:

• Palmer: "Good work, Crimson."

• Miller: "The second and third portals are up ahead."

• Palmer: "Let's get to it."

Crimson heads through the tunnel in search of the remaining portals. They encounter Covenant resistance along the way, including a cloaked Zealot. They come to an open area.

• Dalton: "You've got drop pods heading Crimson's way."

Covenant drop pods deploy additional enemy troops into the canyon.

Second portal is shut down:

• Miller: "Excellent work. Second portal's down!"

• Palmer: "Nicely done."

• Miller: "Marking the next terminal's location now."

Third portal is shut down:

• Miller: "Excellent work. That's the last of the portals!"

• Palmer: "Then let's clean up these Covenant and-"

• Dalton: "Dalton to Commander Palmer: You've got a Wraith inbound on Crimson's position."

• Palmer: "I see it! Thanks, Dalton. Crimson, ready up!"

A Covenant Phantom deploys a Wraith, backed up by infantry.

When the Wraith is destroyed:

• Palmer: "Nicely done. Miller, we set for the babysitters?"

• Miller: "Fireteam Lancer is ready to move in as soon as we give them the sign."

• Palmer: "Crimson, mark a landing area for Lancer."

Crimson head to the designated area. They clear out the remaining Covenant and mark the area.

• Palmer: "Nice work, Crimson. Take 'em out and prep for extraction."

Crimson moves out, neutralizing any remaining Covenant they find.

• Miller: "Weird... Commander, did you see that?"

• Palmer: "I missed it. Educate me."

• Miller: "There was a blip on the low end Covie frequency. Something turning on and off in a pattern. Then it disappeared."

• Palmer: "Pattern?"

• Miller: "Let me check... Morse code! An SOS!"

• Palmer: "Covies don't use Morse code."

• Miller: "I'll keep an eye out to see if it happens again."

Crimson reaches the extraction point.

• Dalton: "This is Dalton. Drop pods inbound."

Covenant drop pods deploy more enemy troops.

After the last of the Covenant are defeated:

• Miller: "That's the last one. Let's head home. Dalton, Crimson's ride ready?"

• Dalton: "On station and ready to fly."

Crimson marks the extraction point.

• DeMarco: (gunfire in the background) "Majestic to Infinity! We've got some overexcited Covies shelling our position! Any chance we could get 'em off our backs?"

• Palmer: "That can be arranged, DeMarco. Ready for more, Crimson? Let's go give Majestic a hand."

CHAPTER COMPLETE

Level ends.

Trivia

Strategy

• When facing the Wraith tank, the best strategy, especially if you're in a captured Ghost, is to remain in the cave system while engaging the Wraith. The Wraith will come to the cave entrance, but cannot fire at the player while they are deep inside. If the player has a Ghost, they can simply fire at the Wraith until it is destroyed while shooting at the Covenant around it. In this manner, the Wraith can be destroyed relatively easily without the player putting themselves into danger while doing it.

Miscellaneous

• The title is presumably a reference to Jared Miller's comment about Spartans not leaving unfinished business, in this case referring to the aborted mission from Backup.