ONI: Sword Base
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ONI: Sword Base is the third track (Disc 1 Track 3) included in Halo: Reach Original Soundtrack, and plays mainly in the Halo: Reach campaign level ONI: Sword Base. It is composed of Sword Control (0:00-1:55), Incommunicado (1:55-2:58), Inbound Imminent (2:58-4:44), Aim to Please (4:44-6:00) and Latchkey (6:00-8:28).
Sword Control (1:55) opens with muted percussive beats, accompanied by strings and brass. As the percussion melody becomes more complicated, bass guitar joins the melody. The melody repeats, with strings joining in for melody. The piece ends with a percussion solo and strings holding until the end. The piece was first featured in the ViDoc A Spartan Will Rise before the release of the game. In-game, the piece plays during the opening cinematic of the level, then continues into the gameplay sequence afterwards. A version with low strings, brass, and percussion (accompanied by choir) plays when Kat-B320 and Noble Six enter the garage of SWORD Base and fights a pair of Mgalekgolo. A percussion-only version plays in Halo: Reach Firefight during the final wave of a round.
Incommunicado (1:03) features percussion and synth effects. An ambient melody plays in the background. The piece plays when Kat-B320 and Noble Six arrive at Farragut Station to activate its comms array.
Inbound Imminent (1:46) features a rock melody by electric guitar and synth notes, accompanied by percussion. It builds up to a heavy melody by the electric guitar before ending with a cymbal clash. The piece plays when Kat-B320 and Noble Six arrive at Airview Base. An alternate version (with muted percussion and lighter electric guitar melody) plays if the player starts the level at Rally Point Bravo.
Aim to Please (1:16) opens with muted percussion and synth effects, resembling the opening of Destroyer's Invocation (from Mausoleum Suite in Halo 2: Original Soundtrack). The percussive rhythm repeats until the synth effects fade out. Tribal percussion fades in, holding the rhythm for a while before fading out. The first section plays when Kat-B320 and Noble Six enter the atrium of SWORD Base, and the second section (with tribal percussion) plays when Noble Six joins Emile-A239 in defending the top floor of the base.
Latchkey (2:28) opens with high strings, accompanied by choir, playing the suspenseful melody from the later track We're Not Going Anywhere (which was first featured in Halo: Reach announcement trailer). The melody becomes more expressive before ending in a choir climax. The first section of the piece plays in the ending cinematic of the level. The piece plays in full in the ending cinematic of the level Tip of the Spear and in the level The Pillar of Autumn when Noble Six arrives at Platform Delta in the Asźod ship breaking yards. The piece plays briefly in the cinematic before the Halo: Reach credits, having transitioned from the initial track Cold Blue Light (from Cairo Suite in Halo 2: Original Soundtrack) in the scene. A strings-only version plays in City Under Siege (from the later track Exodus).
Trivia
- The track shares its name with not only a campaign level, but also with a secret Office of Naval Intelligence research facility.
- The track Sword Control is named after Sword Control.
- The name Incommunicado alludes to the deactivated comms array in Farragut Station.
- The name Inbound Imminent is derived from a dialogue from Sword Control, "Return to Sword Base, the rest of your team is inbound, imminent."
- The name Aim to Please is a direct quote from Noble Six in the ending cinematic of the level.
- The name Latchkey alludes to Laszlo Sorvad's Forerunner discovery on Reach.
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