Another Day at the Beach

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Another Day at the Beach is a bonus video on the Halo 2 Multiplayer Map Pack. It details what happens to the second Pelican after being shot down by the Scarab in the cinematic before the level Outskirts.

Characters

Covenant

• Minor Elite KIA
• Jackal Sniper KIA
• Minor Grunts (2) 1 KIA

United Nations Space Command

• The Master Chief: (seen standing in the troop bay of a Pelican)
• Cortana: (Voice Only)

Marines

• Unknown, Recon: (Voice Only)
• Unknown, Pelican Pilot: (Voice Only)

• Sergeant Johnson: (Voice Only)

Orbital Drop Shock Troopers

• Butkis, Private
• Jones, Private
• O'Brian, Private: KIA
• Walpole, Private
• Stacker, Sergeant
• Unknown, Pelican Pilot: KIA
• Unknown, second Pelican Pilot: KIA

Synopsis

File:6814-t halo2 beach.jpg

The Minor Elite and Jackal Sniper stand together.

Butkis (Right) telling Jones (Left) the location of the sniper.

The second Pelican, that is shot down in the first cutscene of Outskirts, flies over Hotel Zanzibar and is spotted by a Minor Elite. Private O'Brian and the Pelican's pilots are killed in the crash, and Sergeant Stacker tells the remaining 3 ODSTs (Butkis, Jones, and Walpole) to grab their tags and ammo.

The Elite sends in two Minor Grunts and a Jackal Sniper to engage them, and the sniper nearly hits Butkis. Walpole, the squad's sniper, easily takes him out. The Jackal's body falls from the ledge and lands next to the Grunts, scaring them back to their previous location. The first Grunt gets by the Elite, however, he manages to grab the second one by the neck, then throws him aside. He then activates his Active Camouflage and walks towards the ODSTs.

The Elite takes out his Energy Sword and slashes at Butkis, connecting with the ODST's Battle Rifle and cleanly severing it, Butkis falls and and grabs a Plasma Pistol. The Elite then throws a Plasma Grenade at the Walpole's helmet. Walpole takes the helmet off and throws it, and the helmet explodes next to the Elite, deactivating his Active Camouflage. The Elite grabs Jones and uses him as a hostage, with the Energy Sword at his throat. Jones tells the ODSTs to take him out, Butkis fires an overcharged Plasma Pistol and takes out his shields, and Stacker finishes him off with his Battle Rifle. The Elite falls and drops his Energy Sword, slowly his hand unclenched, deactivating the Energy Sword.

Cortana contacts Stacker and tells him to find a safe spot and that they'll come to him.

Script

Unknown Recon Marine (Radio): Immediate; Grid kilo 23 is hot. Recommend mission abort.

Pilot (Radio): Roger, recon. (To Sergeant Johnson) It's your call, Sarge.

Sergeant Johnson: We're going in. Get tactical, Marines!

(5 ODST's inside the troop bay. Stacker is sitting between the troop bay and the cockpit. O'Brien and Walpole to the left, Jones and Butkis to the right.)

Stacker: You heard the man, boys. It's time for some hazard pay!

(Butkis cocks his Battle Rifle. While O'Brien hits Walpole's arm. Jones is sitting in the corner with his Sniper Rifle.)

Pilot: Thirty seconds out... stand by to... whoa...

(Pelicans fly by)

(Scarab fires at the its cannon at the MC's Pelican, while it uses its turret against the ODST's Pelican)

(Cuts to outside Hotel Zanzibar)

(The Pelican, with its engines screaming and burning, flies fast over Hotel Zanzibar)

Elite(looks up): Wort Wort Wort!

(Grunts mumbled a few words)

(Pelican crash lands behind Hotel Zanzibar. Butkis stands up from being moved from the right to the left side of the Pelican. Walpole is sitting in the same place checking on O'Brien to his right. Jones is on the left side on the ground crawling to the cockpit. Stacker is using the Pelican's wall for support.)

Stacker (coughs): Status!

(Walpole looks up from O'Brien's body)

Walpole: Sir, O'Brien's down.

(Jones looks towards Stacker after peering inside the cockpit)

Jones: We lost our pilots too.

Stacker: Grab their tags and ammo.

Butkis(looks out of the Pelican): Sarge, we better get moving.

Stacker(joins Butkis): Agreed. We'll find better cover in those buildings. Butkis, you take point.

(Cut to Elite)

(The Elite stands on the building and looks at the crashed Pelican, commands the Grunts to go forward and the Jackal to go higher and snipe.)

(Cut to the ODSTs. They found cover behind a wall. Butkis looks out and nearly got killed by the sniper Jackal.)

Butkis: Hello!...Sniper, 3rd floor, left.

Jones: Here, let me give him my "Welcome to Earth" gift basket.

(Snipes the Jackal down)

(The Jackal's body falls from the ledge and lands next to the Grunts, scaring them back to their previous location. A frag grenade explodes nearby.)

(The first Grunt runs by the Elite, however, he manages to grab the second one by the neck, then throws him aside. He then activates his Active Camouflage and walks towards the ODSTs.)

(Cut to ODSTs. They walk toward the hotel. Suddenly, the Elite activates it's Energy Sword and slices at Butkis, cutting his Battle Rifle in half.)

Butkis: Woah...!

(Butkis falls down. He stands up wielding a Plasma Pistol)

Stacker: Damn, Where is he? Anybody see him?

(The ODSTs scan the area in a defense position.)

(The Elite throws a plasma grenade and sticks Walpole's helmet. He throws the helmet away, and luckily, it hits the Elite, deactivating it's active camouflage.)

(The Elite grabs Jones by the neck and uses him as a hostage, with the Energy Sword at the ready. Butkis charges his Plasma Pistol, while Stacker and Walpole readies their Battle Rifles.)

(Elite start saying something, which is most likely threats. It roars at them.)

Jones (struggling, groans): Take him, guys!...

Stacker: Cook the bastard.

(Butkis discharges the Plasma Pistol, taking down it's shields. Stacker fires a Battle rifle at the Elite. The Elite dies. It's hand slowly unclenching the Energy Sword, deactivating it, while Jones rubs his neck gasping.)

Cortana (Radio): Second squad, this is Cortana. What's your status, over?

(Stacker helps Jones stand up.)

Gunnery Sergeant Pete Stacker (Radio): We're operational Ma'am, barely. Our pilots didn't make it.

(Walpole kicks the Elite's head and stares at it.)

Cortana (Radio): Find a hole, stay put. We'll come to you.

Trivia

Comparison of Pelican exhaust effects in cutscenes

• The names of the ODSTs are the names of several of the animators at Bungie Studios.
• All of the names of the ODSTs were shown in the Halo 2: Killtacular documentary during the cinematic design part.
• This is the only time the Pelicans engines are shown as blue with exhaust effects, while in the Campaign's cutscene the Pelicans engines had no exhaust and were black.
• The Elite wears the armor of a Minor Elite, yet uses Active Camouflage and wields an Energy Sword. Equipment usually held by SpecOps Elites or Stealth Elites.
• The fact that the ODSTs used a form of the Noob Combo on the Elite, coupled with the fact that the video is found on the multiplayer map pack, makes it likely that this is a negative response by Bungie to criticisms of the Noob Combo.
• Sergeant Pete Stacker has ODST Body Suit in the video, but when you reach Hotel Zanzibar in Outskirts he is wearing a marine uniform.
• The name of the video is likely a reference to part three of Outskirts, titled A Day At The Beach.
• In the beginning of the movie, when the Scarab fires, it destroys a UNSC Pelican, and damages another (The Master Chief's Pelican), but when you see the ODST Pelican, it is trailing smoke, even after not being physically hit by neither the Scarab's main gun, or the Plasma Cannon on its 'head'.