Alliance

Alliance is the ninth campaign level of Halo 5: Guardians.

Transcript

{Cutscene}

Fade in on a tent pitched on the side of a windy cliff.

Cut to the tent interior. Spartan Jameson Locke is inside. He notes the holo-table in the center then watches the outside sunset.

Locke turns upon hearing footsteps. It is Thel 'Vadam, the Arbiter and kaidon of the Swords of Sanghelios.

Locke: "Spartan Jameson Locke, UNSC. Captain Lasky sends his greetings, and thanks you for your cooperation."

The two look each other in the eye.

Thel 'Vadam: "ONI... out of the shadows... The spies announce themselves now, Agent Locke?"

The Arbiter turns to inspect some hologram controls.

Locke: "I'm a Spartan now, sir."

The Arbiter dismisses his statement with a waved hand.

Thel 'Vadam: "I know who you are."

The Arbiter faces Locke again and approaches the table. It activates and displays a projection of Sunaion.

Thel 'Vadam: "You were an agent when you volunteered to execute me."

Locke: "I saved your life today."

Thel 'Vadam: "Yet now you hunt another Spartan, the greatest of your clan."

A rumble is heard as the hologram flickers and malfunctions. A glowing purple sphere arises out of it.

Cortana: "Let him hunt. He'll never find us."

The holographic sphere retreats into the table. The blast shakes the tent. Dr. Halsey and Sarah Palmer enter.

Halsey: "It's Cortana. She touched every networked device in the camp. She knows the Guardian is here."

Palmer: "Locke, that thing's our last shot."

Locke: "You have the firepower to get us in there."

Thel 'Vadam: "Sunaion is the Covenant's final stronghold on Sanghelios."

The Arbiter begins to leave the tent. He glares at Locke as he does.

Thel 'Vadam: "We will move only when victory is assured."

The Arbiter exits, and Locke turns to Halsey.

Locke: "Doctor, Osiris will deploy within the hour. Have your plan ready."

Cut to black.

A WHISPER IN THE STORM

{Gameplay}

The Spartans of Fireteam Osiris are at a cave leading to the Swords of Sanghelios's base camp. An allied Storm Elite stands guard ahead.

Locke: "Guns down, Osiris. We're guests here."

Halsey (COM): "Locke, I have a briefing prepared. Given Cortana's show of power, I am reluctant to discuss it over open channels."

Locke: "Understood, doctor. We're on our way."

Speaking with Halsey

The Spartans approach a balcony where Dr. Halsey is overlooking the camp. A hologram of a Forerunner construct is by here, and an Unggoy Storm strolls past. Halsey waves her arm to catch their attention.

Halsey: "Over here, Osiris. I have located a means to activate the Guardian."

Locke speaks to Halsey.

Locke: "Osiris reporting in, Doctor Halsey."

Halsey gestures to the hologram.

Halsey: "This is a Constructor, a Forerunner tool I can use to interface with the Guardian. Constructors were ubiquitous in Forerunner facilities. These hills are riddled with support stations for the Sanghelios Guardian. Palmer has the coordinates to one such station. Finding a Constructor there should be simple."

Idle Dialogue

Singing Unggoy

Locke comes across an Unggoy, singing a song.

Singing Unggoy: "Where Sun and moon and planets roll, and stars that roll from pole to pole."
Locke: "Interesting song."
Singing Unggoy: "Thanks! Human prisoner used to sing. I thought maybe practice? Sing with him? But then he was in corpse pile. So no singing with him. Happy to sing for you though!"

Unggoy Reports

An Unggoy walks around camp and randomly announces updates, whether it be camp-related or about Halsey, to a Sangheili who is working on a datapad. The Sangheili, in turn, responds in brief replies to the Unggoy.

Unggoy Messenger: "Covenant forces are holding position in Sunaion."
Unggoy Messenger: "Unggoy infusions are almost gone. Wait! Unggoy infusions almost gone?!"
Unggoy Messenger: "Supplies says rations will be late, again."
Unggoy Messenger: "Arbiter says take things through the north caverns."
Unggoy Messenger: "The sentries should all face the other way."
Unggoy Messenger: "Banshee mechanics want another plate of armor."
Unggoy Messenger: "Science human says to leave her alone."
Unggoy Messenger: "Science human needs a fusion core to calibrate something."
Unggoy Messenger: "Science human complains a lot."
Unggoy Messenger: "I think someone stole science human's arm."

Sangheili Officer on Datapad: Copy that."
Sangheili Officer on Datapad: Received."
Sangheili Officer on Datapad: Message logged."
Sangheili Officer on Datapad: Noted."
Sangheili Officer on Datapad: Confirmed."
Sangheili Officer on Datapad: Yes, yes."
Sangheili Officer on Datapad: I hear you."
Sangheili Officer on Datapad: Copy."
Sangheili Officer on Datapad: "Understood."
Sangheili Officer on Datapad: Good."
Sangheili Officer on Datapad: Affirmative."

Arbiter at the Camp

Arbiter Thel 'Vadam is speaking to two other Sangheili Officers at the center of the camp.

Sangheili Officer #1: "Our systems have been compromised."
Thel 'Vadam: "By the Human AI, not the Covenant."
Sangheili Officer #1: "It is sabotage! We must respond."
Thel 'Vadam: "We fight one enemy at a time. Today, the Covenant."

Sangheili Officer #1: "Our airstrikes will drive them out of hiding and into our ground troops."
Sangheili Officer #2: "We clear and hold the indicated zones. We have sufficient military strength to handle the Covenant defenses."
Thel 'Vadam: "If the human plan holds, they will awaken the Guardian. And then Sunaion is ours."

Sangheili Officer #2: "Arbiter, you know I do not follow the old ways, but to allow a human to awaken the Guardian?"
Thel 'Vadam: "That discomfort you feel, that betrayal… I am depending on it."
Sangheili Officer #2: "Sir?"
Thel 'Vadam: "The Covenant soldiers will hear the Guardian wake from its slumber, they will look up over the bodies of their brothers, through the smoke of their burning city, they will look to the horizon as their holy idol rises from the sea and forsakes them. And that is when the Covenant dies."

Cliffside Sangheili conversing

Two Sangheili are holding position near a cliff.

Sangheili #1: "Jul 'Mdama. Thel' Vadam. They're all the same: nothing more than power-hungry despots."
Sangheili #2: "Talking like that might get you gutted around here."
Sangheili #1: "Then my point is proven: they ruled by fear."
Sangheili #2: "Even just rulers have their limits."
Sangheili #1: "Sali 'Nyon. He was a true leader."
Sangheili #2: "Who?"
Sangheili #1: "Sali 'Nyon. The true Hand. Blessed by the Forerunners. He moved against 'Mdama and sought to unite us under a single leader."
Sangheili #2: "And since I've never heard of this nishum, I assume he failed."
Sangheili #1: "All I'm saying, brother, it's that we must not follow simply because we are told to."
Sangheili #2: "You talk of following like a lonely Grunt. We are at war, you fool. Orders are orders. I'd like you understand that."
Sangheili #1: "The Arbiter is a soldier, just like you. He's not perfect."
Sangheili #2: "He's wise and brave. That's more than I can say for you."

Sangheili Medical Tent

Sangheili medics are either tending to the wounded or examining one sitting down.

Sangheili #1: "What is it? Why do you pause?"
Sangheili #2: "This wound is familiar."
Sangheili #3: "'Mdama Keep. Their plasma blades burn less intensely. Harder to cut armor, but the injuries are more grievous and do not cauterize."
Sangheili #2: "So the blades leave Sangheili alive, but too wounded to fight."
Sangheili #3: "'Most choose suicide to preserve their honor."
Sangheili #2: "Making any wound a death blow. Barbaric."
Sangheili #3: "Indeed. Had I ever met Jul 'Mdama, I would have gutted him with my bare claws."

A Sangheili medic is trying to tend to a wounded one lying on a table.

Wounded Sangheili: "Do not touch me you honorless filth! Had the Arbiter not ordered me here, I---"
Medic Sangheili: "We can ill afford to lose warriors, even those as inconsequential as yourself."
Wounded Sangheili: "You spill blood outside of battle! I would rather take my own life than let you touch me."
Medic Sangheili: "That life is not yours to take. You belong to the Arbiter, and he believes you are worth repairing."
Wounded Sangheili: "I refuse to be shamed by a...medic."
Medic Sangheili: "Then die, coward! Fail the Arbiter, and have the shame of your dereliction follow your clan for generations."
Wounded Sangheili: "I...(groan)"
Medic Sangheili: "Good. Since you cannot be brave, at least be quiet."

Wounded Sangheili: "There is no honor in dying in a tent, medic. A Sangheili must fall in battle!"
Medic Sangheili: "There is no battlefield harsher than a medic tent."
Wounded Sangheili: "Are you mad?! You know nothing of combat!"
Medic Sangheili: "You fool! When I draw weapons, it is for combat with death herself. I defend you with knife and needle."
Wounded Sangheili: "I fear no enemy. Not even death!"
Medic Sangheili: "Yes. That is what they always say."

Sangheili repairing a Banshee

Two Sangheili are holding position near a cliff. Fireteam Osiris can join in on the converation, resulting in different comments and different responses depending on which Spartan speaks.

Sangheili #1: "The Banshee remains inoperative. I do not yet understand why."
Sangheili #2: "Figure it out. We need every Banshee in the air."
Locke (if he joins conversation): "Did you check the anti-gravity drive?"
Sangheili #1: (To Locke) "That is not the problem, human."
Vale (if she joins conversation): "Is there anything we can do to help?"
Sangheili #2: (To Vale) "No. Go away."
Buck (if he joins conversation): "Have you hoisted your mizzenmast?"
Sangheili #2: (To Buck) "That is not even a thing! Be gone."
Tanaka (if she joins conversation): "See that part right there? Quarter-turn right and lock it."
Sangheili #2: (To Tanaka) "How did you know that, human?"
Tanaka (if she joins conversation): "Had to disable a few Banshees in the past. Just did the opposite."
Sangheili #2: (To Tanaka) "Ha! I like this human."

Osiris Banter

Vale: "The Master Chief worked with Cortana for a while, right?"
Locke: "Yes. He considered her a close friend."
Vale: "It's unusual to anthropomorphize an AI so deeply to consider them a friend."
Locke: "Unusual, but not unheard of."

Vale: "Locke, I was reading the Blue Team file you assembled. I knew the rumors about the original Spartans. The kidnappings, the conscriptions. I never wanted to believe it."
Buck: "Lesson I learned about history a long time ago, it's full of things you don't want to believe."
Tanaka: "And getting fuller of them all the time."

Buck: "I thought Sanghelios would be… different."
Vale: "You’d be surprised how much we have in-common with the Sangheili. For instance, they place huge importance on family and honour. What could be more human than that?"

Buck:: "After all Halsey did to the Master Chief and Blue Team – and when they were kids no less – after all that, she still acts like she cares about them."
Locke:: "Psych eval says that Halsey thinks of the Chief as her son. She has a motherly attitude towards all of her Spartans."
Buck:: "I’m glad I haven’t read that psych report. Not sure I’d ever feel clean again."

Vale: "I meant to ask, Buck: Did you get any word to Veronica before we left?"
Buck: "Yeah, but she’s working so I don’t expect she’ll hear my call for a few weeks."
Vale: "How does that work? Veronica and ONI, you’re both always at opposite ends of the galaxy…"
Buck: "Works fine, times we’re both in the same place make up for the times we’re not."

Dimkee Hotay

Locke sees an Unggoy named Dimkee Hotay and a Sangheili Storm sitting along a cliff edge, while Dimkee talks and the Sangheili groans or moans in annoyance or indifference.

Dimkee Hotay: "One night, I was sneaking around in this ship—I mean I-I was walking, right… just regular walking! But this one Sangheili saw me and he got mad, and started yelling about how there's no honor in being a sneaker. Ahh, you know how they are with their honor. It's always honor this and honor that. Have an honor! Take an honor. Do a big honor, hehehe yeah… I forget, what was I talking about?"
Dimkee Hotay: "So, here is a big question: do humans make eggs? True or the other one? I know you give up, so I'll tell you. I don't… remember, actually. But, it was a question we had to know. Another one was "what kinds of things humans breathe?" Not waters! You put them in waters, then forget about it. Heh, they get real quiet after breathing waters."
Dimkee Hotay: "There's this one thing I've been thinking about for years. Say you're a nice thing, right? And there's a mean thing that turns nice things into mean things. But, you caught it. Would you kill the mean thing once and forevers, or would you maybe take the mean thing and put it someplace safe so people in the future could find it, feed it to some dogs? I'm just saying that I might probably not do the second one."
Dimkee Hotay: "How long you train for to join the Swords of Sanghelios? Because I did a lot of training back in the Covenant for all kinds of combat. I done weeks of trainings with all the best guns so I can be the strongest. You know how good Unggoy brains are for makin' a learn, right? It's because of our synap… synamounum… synapses are super great! So we learn the best and the fastest. That's very true, it is. Because of biology. They say Unggoy training for a week is like Sangheili trains for a whole year, because of the power of Unggoy brains. We are weird-smart. Really! Weird-smart!"
Dimkee Hotay: "You ever serve on a space-time ship all out in space? I was on one for years, but can't ever remember the name. I mean, how come we got such complicating ship-time names. Every time you make intel in a battle, the ship's probably blowed up by the time you finish, like "Sir, they're firing missiles pew pew pew at the CSS Pinnacle of Shadowy Gumption and—oh, yup too late! It's explodeded! Don't worry, here comes the Unyielding Double—pew never mind!" Gotta give ships littler names like Murder, Flip, or Bob! That's way safer!"
Dimkee Hotay: "You got to quit talkin' in Sangheili, okay? You gotta talk human! I don't understand Sangheili. All I hear is "wort wort wort"."
Dimkee Hotay: "Sometimes, new learns push out the old stuff. You ever had that happen? Like I'm so good at chargin' plasma pistols and throwin' grenades and also bein' friends! I used to be real good at quantum theories once, but then I got way into throwin' grenades! Haha! I think it was a pretty smart decision, you know, since so much of doin' war is when to throw grenades at something."
Dimkee Hotay: "You know, maybe humans are way braver than we think. They doin' all kinds of honors, flying those Pigeons or Peregrine or Percolator ships, or whatever you call them. Like rocks with wings. Seriously, never seen one land the side up you want, or even land it on purpose. Maybe, maybe all those crashes is a strategy. Huh, maybe we're supposed to think "Wow, they treat their own ships so bad, just think how much they gonna wreck ours!""
Dimkee Hotay: "Doisac. Doisac. Doooiisac. Doi-sac. Planet of the Brutes everybody! Coulda' named it anything, they could have! But they named it Doisac. Doisac!"
Dimkee Hotay: "Hey, you wanna do secret telling? Because I got one that makes me very regretted and inside my memories. This once, I was in a very danger place. We had a bunch of other Unggoy, like maybe twenty or fifty of them… I forget, but it was a lot. And things were gettin' more and more dangerous and there was maybe gonna be an exploding soon… I don't know. So we had to escape in a ship before night time, but I do remember that the ship was real tinny smallest and could only do seats for one Unggoy. Only one. There wasn't room for nobody else, nope! And I told everybody! So along the way to the ship, everybody was doin' so much fightin' because not enough seats and some Unggoys was killin' others, or doin' cries, or bein' bravers and makin' heroic sacrifices. Ah, it was so very emotional. And then, there was only me. The last Unggoy alive and I finally got to the ship and it was huge. Huge! You'd have to be crazys to think there was no seats! But anyway, that's my regretted memory. Did I say regretted? I meant proudest. I brought in some piles of rocks just for company and had so much fun in that big ol' ship."
Dimkee Hotay: "You remember being more purpler? I do! Ah, maybe it's just my eyes getting smarter, but I swear sometimes it's like there's a whole spaceship that's different and nobody says anything. And was the Gravemind always so much scary? I don't know, he was like a big puppet, big flappy thing. Ah maybe it's just me that notices stuff."
Dimkee Hotay: "You wanna know what I was thinking about, I mean, just now? Back when I was servin' the Covenant and you're gonna say "Servin' them what?" and I'm gonna say "Breakfast!" and boy haha, are we gonna laugh! But back, uh, back when I remembered what I was talkin' about? Ahh, back then was good times."
Dimkee Hotay: "You know, you don't talk much. Are you just doin' the Sangheili brain-thing? "Keep breathing, very honorable to be breathing and tall and makin' yells at everybody." Are you thinkin' that? Or are you just bein' quiet?"
Dimkee Hotay: "I lots a' times think about how your mouth is weird. And not your mouth in particular, but Sangheili mouths. So I guess I… uh your mouth too, but no offense! Unggoy just spend all day lookin' up into those things and they're creepy! Like four little toothy fingers, just flap-flap-flappin' around. If you guys had tongues, you would be even creepier, right? Hey, hang on! I just realized that you don't have tongues! How do you make food noises? pfft pfffffft pfft pfffffft pft pft pft pft Ha! I bet you can't say that, can ya?"
Dimkee Hotay: "I'm gonna tell ya something I learned that hardest way. You gotta be nice. Nice to everybody. Not just the food nipple manager, but everybody! 'Cause you can call a guy an eggface, one time, one time and it's very funny heheh, it's actually pretty funny. But then, probably, even if it's just three times, everybody asks why you're so mean always. Even though you only said the mean thing like six times! Nine times tops."
Dimkee Hotay: "I used to work for the Didact. It was okay, I guess. Worked for Jul 'Mdama mostly. But he was a jerk. Almost got us all killed and then he didn't, and that was okay too I guess. I mean, not dead's better than dead, right? Just ask my buddy Pelerp. He's dead. And he doesn't like it. At least he doesn't say he likes it. Anyhow, whole time I knew the Didact, he says like three words. Three! He said "I can't be composed!" I wonder if he wanted that for himself and was afraids. I hope he found the way to be that and also not afraids. You know, I was afraid that they would find out that I shooted Pelerp, but I blamed it on the green-demon guy. You know, actually I blame a lot of things on him. You ever do that? That guy was the best! You could shoot him and shoot him, and he never fell over. Not like… Pelerp."
Dimkee Hotay: "So last night, instead of sleepin', me and the other Unggoy was up talkin' about battles. And my buddy Gripple was sayin' all about how he shot at a Spartan human once. No kiddin', I mean I'm serious. And it was an amazing story. It was the kind of story that makes you proud to do a war. Even though we don't do wars with humans no more because the Arbiter said not to, right. Ah, it was so amazing. We forgot that we'd been told to be asleep, I'm serious, like eight times already! But everybody was yellin' so I started yellin' too, and you know how it feels to yell real loud about somethin', I mean real loud?"
Dimkee Hotay: "Unggoy should get more honors. We do all the dangerous jobs, even though you have to be really tough and not cry when you do them. Trust me, because I heard… uhhh… from a friend, that if you have active camouflage on and do a crys, it makes a big sizzle sound and everybody can see me hidin' in the corner. And the mean Kig-Yar in charge of the recruits gets all shouty and gives me hard little bites—ah, my legs! So yeah, super dangerous. There is all kinds of honor in dangerous stuff."

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Regrouping with Palmer

Palmer is standing by a Pelican docked by a cliff.

Palmer: "Ready when you are, Osiris."

If the player agrees to step aboard.

Locke: "We're ready, Commander Palmer."

Palmer: "Okay. Let's go."

{Cutscene}

The Pelican activates its thrusters and takes off. It flies past several enormous statues of Sangheili heroes and heads for the mountains ahead.

Level ends.

Trivia

Glitches

If a player jumps off the edge of one of the cliffs and falls to their death, their corpse will go through the rocky sides of the cliff and disappear.

Easter Eggs

A Sangheili and Unggoy called Dimkee Hotay can be found on a ledge admiring the scenery. If the player waits around them for a bit, the Grunt will begin to comment on different aspects about the Halo franchise rather humorously, including the home planet of the Brutes, the Master Chief's tendency to be unstoppable, and the honor code of the Elites. The Elite will simply grunt back in reply.
There is a piece of rock in the cliffs of the level that resembles a human face. It can be seen above the Arbiter to the right of the singing Grunt.
An Intel audio log can be found in the level describing interspecies affection between Sangheili and humans. The log is of the Sangheili Vel 'Trokaik reciting a love poem about Sarah Palmer, before being humorously interrupted offscreen by a Grunt.

Miscellaneous

The checkpoint named "A Whisper in the Storm" has the same name as the first checkpoint as the Halo 2 level "The Arbiter".
The Elite who is fixing the Banshee can be spoken to, and will have different dialogue depending on which member of Osiris speaks to him.
Even if it is non-combat, this is the first level ever for a human player character to interact with a friendly Unggoy.