Nightfall

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Next:	Tip of the Spear
Nightfall
Game:	Halo: Reach
File name (?):	m30
Player:	Noble Six
Date:	August 11, 2552
Location:	Viery Territory, Reach
Objective(s):	Recon Covenant-occupied dark zone with Jun-A266.
Par Time:	00:10:00 (Master Chief Collection)
Par Score:	7,500 (Master Chief Collection); 10,000 (Halo: Reach)
	Halopedia has a walkthrough guide for this level; see Nightfall/Walkthrough.

This article is about the level. For the digital feature, see Halo: Nightfall. For the armor set, see Nightfall armor. For the Halo: Reach track, see Nightfall (music).

“

Move in behind enemy lines and evaluate the opposition.

”

Nightfall is the fourth campaign level of Halo: Reach.^[2]

Summary

The mission involves Noble Six and Noble Three engaging in a recon mission on Covenant forces in the colloquially named "Dark Zone", a Covenant-occupied region in the Viery Territory. They first eliminate a few guards posts, and then encounter a native creature of Reach, the Gúta. They then meet a few militia troopers attempting to recover smuggled UNSC weaponry at a waterfront. The militia troopers tell the Spartans about a hydro plant further into the dark zone. At the hydro plant, they discover a Covenant stealth pylon, which Jun places a remote detonator charge on after a few firefights. After proceeding further into the dark zone and eliminating the Covenant troops in the area, the two Spartans discover a Covenant invasion force and a landing zone. Kat receives the visual and tells them to retreat so they will be prepared for the next day.

Transcript

{Cutscene}

Fades in on a cliffside at night. Reach's moons, Csodaszarvas and Turul, are hanging in the night sky.

26:30 Hours

A Phantom dropship flies by with its search light on. Jun-A266 emerges from a concealed position behind a rock as the dropship passes. He signals to Noble Six with his head. Six follows him along the cliff edge.

Warrant Officer Jun-A266: "Recon Team Bravo reporting: Three and Six in position. It's starting to get crowded up here, Kat."

Lieutenant Commander Catherine-B320 (COM): "Then we're closing in. Report any Covenant structures or devices. Direct action may be necessary."

Six joins Jun at a cliffside overlooking over a mountainside.

Jun-A266: "Copy that. (chuckles) When Kat runs an op, direct action is always necessary."

Jun passes a magazine of sniper rounds to Six.

Jun hands Six a magazine of 14.5×114mm sniper rounds.

Jun-A266: "Here. You may need these. High velocity, armor-piercing. They'll take the hat off an Elite at two thousand yards. And they ain't cheap."

Jun and Six head further along the ledge, Jun reaches a boulder and starts to climb it.

Jun-A266: "Hmm. I'll be in touch."

Noble Six slides down the ledge to the ground below. Cuts to their point of view as they reach the ground.

{Gameplay}

...Too Quiet

Infiltrate the Covenant dark zone and determine the Covenant's combat capabilities.

Another Phantom dropship flies pass Six with its search light turned on.

Catherine-B320 (COM): "Recon Bravo, the sector ahead is dark to electronic surveillance."

Jun-A266: "Covenant can block our instruments?"

Catherine-B320 (COM): "So it would seem, and Command wants to know what they're hiding."

Six heads up along another ledge. A Sangheili stands watch over the area, back facing them, while a few Unggoy sleep nearby.

Jun-A266: "Elite. He's yours, do it quiet."

Noble Six assassinates the Sangheili quietly using a combat knife or by breaking its neck.

Jun-A266: "Not bad..."

Six eliminates the Unggoy and continues forward, eventually reaching a Covenant-controlled complex.

Jun-A266: "Recon Bravo to Noble Two, stand by for contact report."

Catherine-B320 (COM): "Standing by to copy, over."

Jun-A266: "We have eyes on multiple hostiles patrolling a settlement. This what we're looking for, Kat?"

Catherine-B320 (COM): "Negative, too small, you're not in the dark zone yet. Engage at your own discretion, but keep moving."

Jun-A266: "You heard her, Six. Drop those tangos."

If the player engages before Kat responds:

Jun-A266: "Already engaged."

A Phantom arrives as Recon Team Bravo advances.

After eliminating a few of the Covenant troops, a Phantom shows up.

Jun-A266: "Incoming. Looks like we really pissed them off."

Jun and Six eliminate the rest of the Covenant in the area and continue on a trail behind the buildings, going further into the complex, soon finding an area with more Covenant troops.

Jun-A266: "We got hostiles near."

The Covenant in the area are quickly eliminated. Jun and Six find a trail leading away, with still more Covenant troops advancing.

Jun-A266: "Visual on targets."

After dealing with the enemy troops, Jun and Six continue down the trail.

Let Sleeping Dogs Lie

Move on from the settlement by taking the southern path out of the silo area.

Jun and Six reach a clearing where some enormous native creatures are attacking Covenant troops. A Phantom dropship hovers overhead, pointing its searchlight at the creatures.

Jun-A266: "Look at that!"

Six fires his weapon at the charging Gúta.

After laying waste to the Covenant, the creatures notice Jun and Noble Six, and begin to charge them.

Jun-A266: "Major enemy, incoming."

The creatures take sustained gunfire from both Jun and Six, but eventually fall.

Jun-A266: "Kat, pick any of that up?"

Catherine-B320 (COM): "Affirmative, Recon Bravo. It's an indigenous creature, called Gúta."

Jun and Six continue on, soon finding another trail.

Jun-A266: "Six, there's a trail up ahead through the rocks. Let's take it."

While taking the trail they come across several Moa. Soon they hear gunfire.

Jun-A266: "Gunfire. Magnums. Security sidearms, standard issue."

The trail opens up to a pumping station. Several militia are under attack by Covenant forces.

Jun-A266: "Noble Two, we're at some sort of pump station. Got eyes on civilians, I'm thinking more local militia. They've engaged hostiles."

Catherine-B320 (COM): "Move to assist. They may have intel we need."

Jun-A266: "You heard her, Six. Keep those civilians alive."

Militia trooper: "Give us a hand! Bastards just keep comin'."

If civilians die anywhere between now and end of level:

Jun-A266: "Recon Bravo to Noble Two. We've lost the civilians."

After the Covenant troops in the area are eliminated, the group gathers around a couple briefcases.

Militia trooper: "Little more action than we're used to. You Spartans are good in a fight."

Jun-A266: "What are you doing here? Whole area's supposed to be evacuated."

Militia trooper: "Didn't like leaving it to someone else to protect our home. So we came back, for this. (indicates briefcases holding a SRS99-AM sniper rifle, an M41 SPNKR, an M392 DMR, and an MA37 assault rifle) We have 'em hidden all over the territory."

The troopers reveal the weapons inside the cases.

The briefcases open electronically to reveal various UNSC weapons.

Jun-A266: "You know this stuff is stolen?"

Militia trooper: "What? You gonna arrest me?"

Jun-A266: "No. Gonna steal it back."

A Phantom shows up, and the group moves to defensive positions.

Jun-A266: "Another dropship coming in."

After dealing with the hostiles, a second Phantom shows up.

Jun-A266: "We've got company."

After eliminating the hostiles, yet another Phantom shows up.

Jun-A266: "More inbound."

Eventually, they eliminate the final wave.

Jun-A266: "Nothing here but that lake."

If at least one militia trooper is still alive:

Militia trooper: "Road leads to a hydro-electric plant, but the gate doesn't work."

Jun-A266: "Alternate route?"

Militia trooper: "We use the riverbed to smuggle rations, weapons..."

Jun-A266: "Basically anything the UNSC considers contraband."

Militia trooper: "Basically."

Jun-A266: "Show us."

If all militia troopers have been killed:

Jun-A266: "No movement. Nothing else alive, human or Covenant. Nothing here but that lake. Kat, where are we going?"

Catherine-B320 (COM): "There's a hydroelectric plant nearby."

Jun-A266: "Front gate looks locked. Is there another way in?"

Catherine-B320 (COM): "Stand by, I'll check with Recon Alpha. Jorge said settlers dammed a nearby river. There's a (unintelligible) - a dry river - that might be your best route."

Jun-A266: "Copy. Thanks."

The Spartans follow a militia trooper to the riverbed.

The militia troopers lead Jun and Six to the riverbed. If the troopers are dead, the Spartans continue on their own.

Jun-A266: "There's the riverbed, Six. Let's see where it goes."

The Spartans continue down the riverbed.

Jun-A266: "Where does this riverbed lead?"

Militia trooper: "Straight to the hydro plant. We dammed this river up forty-five years ago. Plant powers every settlement in the territory. Shame if it all gets wasted."

Jun-A266: "Doing what we can."

A Phantom passes overhead.

Jun-A266: "Hold up. Covie dropship, take cover."

The Phantom passes by them.

Jun-A266: "OK, clear. Let's move."

I'll Just Leave This Here...

Use the dammed riverbed to the northeast of the pump station to reach the hydroelectric plant.

They continue on, eventually reaching the plant, which is under Covenant control. A Covenant stealth pylon is seen near the plant.

Jun-A266: "Kat, are you seeing this? Covenant structure, kind of a big pylon. Heavily fortified."

Catherine-B320 (COM): "That's the source of our dark zone."

Jun-A266: "OK...consider it gone."

Catherine-B320 (COM): "Negative, stick a remote det charge on it. Command's planning something big, they say that pylon ties it down."

Militia Trooper: "We gonna blow it?"

Jun-A266: "We're gonna clear the area, and I'm gonna plant a remote det charge. You want to provide some cover, go right ahead."

They neutralize the guards on the bridge, attracting the attention of the other Covenant in the area.

After eliminating the Covenant forces in the area, Jun heads for one of the pylon's legs.

Jun-A266: "All clear, Six. This is gonna take a minute, keep your eyes peeled."

Jun prepares to fight a pair of Mgalekgolo.

A Phantom shows up and drops off a pair of Mgalekgolo, followed by another Phantom with a Sangheili Spec-Ops team.

Jun-A266: "We've got big targets coming. Covenant dropship inbound!"

Noble Six eventually defeats them while Jun continues to work on the remote detonator.

Jun-A266: "Recon Bravo to Noble Two, charge placed."

Catherine-B320 (COM): "Somewhere inconspicuous, I hope?"

Jun-A266: "Stuck it inside the pylon's power supply."

Catherine-B320 (COM): "Alright. Keep pushing into the dark zone. Command wants to know what the Covenant are hiding."

Jun-A266: "There's a gate to the southeast of the hydro plant."

Catherine-B320 (COM): "Copy. Uploading security codes to you now."

The team reaches the gate.

Jun-A266: "Okay, got 'em. Unlocking the gate."

Jun accesses the control panel and opens the gate.

Catherine-B320 (COM): "Recon Bravo, you're heading into the dark zone now."

Jun-A266: "Understood."

The Spartans and the surviving militia head through the gate. A Phantom holds position nearby. The human forces engage more Covenant troops almost immediately.

Jun-A266: "Phantom, too close for comfort."

Jun and Six fighting Covenant inside the dark zone.

They advance further, engaging more Covenant troops and a Shade turret.

Jun-A266: "Shade! Fire and maneuver, Six. Hit' em from the side."

After neutralizing the Shade, they advance further. Multiple Banshees start flying overhead.

Jun-A266: "Lotta air traffic around here, Six. I think we're getting warm."

As they advance further in, they encounter more Covenant troops and several more Shades. Soon, a Ceudar-pattern heavy corvette is seen holding position on the other side of the rock wall.

Jun-A266: "Noble Two, we have eyes on at least one Covenant ship."

Catherine-B320 (COM): "Solid copy. Don't stop now."

Eventually, the Spartans and militia clear the area of hostiles.

Jun-A266: "Yes, clear."

or

Jun-A266: "We are done here."

They head to a cliff side at the end of the trail.

{Cutscene}

Six and Jun looking at the landing zone.

Jun and Six go prone and crawl forward towards a cliff edge. A Covenant Tyrant is standing in front of a massive Covenant landing zone. Two Covenant corvettes hold position nearby. Additionally, two deployment spires are seen far away.

Jun-A266: "Jackpot."

SPARTAN-B312: "Transmitting visual."

Jun-A266: "You seeing this, Kat?"

Catherine-B320 (COM): "Confirmed. Receiving Noble Three and Noble Six's live visual of a Covenant strike force."

Jun-A266: "That's no strike force, it's an invading army. If we're gonna smother this thing, we need to go in hard and fast."

Catherine-B320 (COM): "Agreed. All recon teams disengage and fall back. Sun will be up in a few hours...and it's going to be a very busy day."

Fade to black.

Level ends.

Achievements

The following achievements can be unlocked on Nightfall across the Xbox 360 and Halo: The Master Chief Collection editions of Halo: Reach.

Halo: Reach (Xbox 360)	Title	Unlock requirement	Games
	I Need a Weapon	Beat Nightfall on Normal difficulty or harder (any difficulty on MCC).	Halo: Reach Halo: The Master Chief Collection
N/A	Now Just You Gúta Minute	Beat the par time on Nightfall.	Halo: The Master Chief Collection
N/A	Moon's Out, Goons Out	Beat the par score on Nightfall.	Halo: The Master Chief Collection
N/A	Meeting of the (Artificial) Minds	Find Data Pad 3 on Nightfall.	Halo: The Master Chief Collection
N/A	Unsolved Mysteries	Find Data Pad 12 on Nightfall on Legendary difficulty.	Halo: The Master Chief Collection

Trivia

Glitches

Jun is known to accidentally shoot the player if they assassinates the target he is firing at, dealing immense amounts of damage to the player's health or even outright killing them. That is because the friendly AI regards the enemies that are assassinated as being alive until the player finishes the animation, and Sniper Rifle rounds can penetrate opponents.
After the encounter in the pumping station, the player takes a path that is inhabited by Moas. However, as the next area loads, the Moas will be erased from the level, even when in sight of the player.
By exiting a Forklift when it is parked next to the locked gate at the Stealth Pylon, a player can jump straight through the gate after a few tries, skipping the Hunter encounter. The next area will be entirely devoid of enemies; the player can then simply sprint to the end of the level. This is a very useful glitch when playing on Legendary. The ending cutscene will also feature two different tracks being played at once. Furthermore, the Tyrant will not be seen in the area. Note that this will not work on cooperative play.

References

The chapter "...Too Quiet" is a reference to the cliché phrase, "It's quiet... Too quiet." This phrase was previously referenced in the second chapter of the Halo: Combat Evolved level The Silent Cartographer, "It's Quiet...".
The chapter "I'll Just Leave This Here..." is a reference to the internet meme "i'm just going to leave this here", which is "commonly used as a title or intro to a blog/forum post, followed by an image or video (usually of a humorous nature)",^[3] and in the game, Jun leaves an explosive charge on the pylon.
Player will start with 56 reserve ammo for the Sniper Rifle, a reference of 7 (56/8 = 7).

Miscellaneous

A section of this level is a night-time version of the multiplayer map Powerhouse, with some notable differences such as the Stealth Pylon being absent in the multiplayer version.
This is the only level that features a Gúta, one of Reach's native species.
This is the last level to feature Moa.
This is the only level in any of the games to feature the Colonial Militia.
This level bears many similarities to the mission Truth and Reconciliation from Halo: Combat Evolved. Both missions are sniper missions that give the player a sniper rifle with above-maximum capacity ammo, both missions are set at night and have an initial emphasis on stealth, and both missions are the third playable campaign levels of their respective games. Additionally, although unintended, both missions have glitches that skip enemy spawn triggers and make the ends of the levels easier.
- The player's secondary weapon also has increased capacity, though this is often overlooked. However, in co-op, the ammunition is at normal capacity.
The Firefight map Waterfront is based on a section of this level.
The Dreaming Grunt can be found on this level.
The actual date is not given at the start of the level, just the time. However, the next level, which begins the next morning, takes place on August 12, making Nightfall take place on the night of August 11.
When you reach the stealth pylon, the two Sangheili Minor have a special pointing animation as they overlook the pylon and the surrounding area. This is a detail many overlook as they just kill the Sangheili Minors before they notice.
3 BOBs may spawn on this level.

Gallery

Concept art of Noble Six brandishing a combat knife during Nightfall.
Concept art of a Spartan scouting the landing zone for the Fleet of Valiant Prudence.
Concept art of the water pumps later in the level.
Noble Six assassinates a Sangheili in a Pre-Alpha build of the game.
The first Covenant outpost in the Alpha build of the game.
Preview of the level in Halo: Reach menu.
Jun and Six wielding sniper rifles.
Six and Jun following the riverbed.
Jun and Six come across a Covenant stealth pylon.
A Sangheili General watching over the encampment at the stealth pylon.
The Spartans and militia troopers in combat.
Noble Six stands guard while Jun plants an explosive on the stealth pylon's power supply.
A Phantom arrives at the stealth pylon to deploy reinforcements.

Sources

^ Halo: Reach Editing Kit, game file HREK\tags\levels\solo\m30\m30.scenario
^ Gamespot, Halo: Reach Interview (Retrieved on Jun 1, 2020) [archive]
^ Know Your Meme, I'm just going to leave this here (Retrieved on Jun 1, 2020) [archive]

Preceded by
ONI: Sword Base

Halo: Reach Campaign Missions
Nightfall

Succeeded by
Tip of The Spear

[HREK-1] Halo: Reach Editing Kit, game file HREK\tags\levels\solo\m30\m30.scenario

[2] Gamespot, Halo: Reach Interview (Retrieved on Jun 1, 2020) [archive]

[3] Know Your Meme, I'm just going to leave this here (Retrieved on Jun 1, 2020) [archive]

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