The Cauldron Base

Template:Level Infobox Template:Article Quote The Cauldron Base is the fourth chapter of Spartan Ops' fifth episode, Memento Mori.

Summary

Fireteam Crimson arrives at "the Cauldron" and fights its way to Magma Base. With the aid of the Marines stationed there and a pair of stationary auto-turrets, Crimson is able to defend the base from numerous waves of Covenant attackers. Once the coast is clear, Roland contacts Crimson's handler Jared Miller, informing him that Spartan Gabriel Thorne's IFF tag has been detected in the vicinity. Crimson finds only Thorne's IFF transmitter and signs of a struggle, but Roland finds enough evidence to extrapolate the path Thorne took out of the area.

Transcript

{Cutscene}

An Elite stands in the tunnel, directing Grunts towards Magma Base.

• Roland (COM): "Hello, Crimson! Roland here. How you been? Well, enough chit chat. There's a UNSC base under attack and they need your help. This really is your whole life, isn't it?"

• Miller (COM): "Roland, get off the line. Crimson, you're coming in hot. Help the Marines defend the outpost. I'll see what I can line up by way of support."

{Gameplay}

• Marine: "Hell yeah! Backup!"

• Miller (COM): "Grab a Warthog and let's go."

Crimson and the Marines board some nearby Warthogs and drive them through the first tunnel. They soon encounter a squad of Covenant.

• Private Rick Spaulding: "Where'd they come from?"

• Miller (COM): "Crimson, these guys aren't your main objective. There's a forward base up the road that needs your help."

If the player takes too long getting to the base:

• Miller (COM): "Hey, it's real nice of you to kill every Covenant you see, but the Marines at the forward base need your help, NOW."

Crimson approaches the base. A Phantom drops off a squad of heavily armed Covenant troops.

• Corporal Steven McCord: "The Covies are hellbent on taking out our generators. We lose those, we lose the base."

• Miller (COM): "There it is, Crimson. Defend the generators from the Covenant attack."

Health meters appear on the generators.

---

From this point on, if the player loses one generator:

• Miller (COM): "Crimson, you've lost a generator!"

---

If the player loses both generators:

• Miller (COM): "Dammit! Both of the generators are offline!"

Level ends.

---

Another wave approaches.

• Miller (COM): "Uh oh. Phantom inbound!"

Crimson fights off the second wave.

• Miller (COM): "Crimson, I see some turrets our Marine friends have yet to activate. If you power them up, your lives should be considerably easier."

• Miller (COM): "Get ready. More bad guys heading your way."

Crimson fights off several more waves.

• Miller (COM): "Crimson, there's heavy enemy movement nearby. Get ready."

A Phantom deposits a pair of Hunters. This is followed by a wave of Elites and Grunts.

• Miller (COM): "Watch out! Hostiles inbound!"

or

• Miller (COM): "Hostiles inbound, Crimson!"

More attackers appear:

• Miller (COM): "Crimson, there's heavy enemy movement nearby! Get ready."

Crimson fends off the last of the attackers.

• Roland (COM): "Spartan Miller, emergency."

• Miller (COM): "What isn't an emergency today, Roland?"

• Roland (COM): "Spartan Thorne's IFF tag is within Crimson's operational area."

• Miller (COM): "Thorne... from Majestic?"

• Roland (COM): "Yes, that Thorne."

• Miller (COM): "What's he doing there?"

• Roland (COM): "No idea. The rest of Majestic are still aboard Infinity. I'm sending the waypoint to Crimson now."

A waypoint appears near the cliff edge. Crimson reaches it, but only finds and collects Thorne's IFF transponder.

• Miller (COM): "There's no Spartans here, Roland."

• Roland (COM): "No, but there are signs of a battle. One moment. Analyzing. These tracks predate Crimson's arrival. I have a direction for movement out of this area, but it's faint."

• Miler (COM): "Crimson, follow Roland's directions. I'll try to get Commander Palmer on the line."

Crimson reaches the final waypoint.

CHAPTER COMPLETE

Level ends.

Trivia

• When playing locally with two or fewer players, the chapter features four Mantises; two at the beginning and two behind the generators. When playing in matchmaking there are instead two LAAG Warthogs and two Gauss Warthogs.
• Completing the chapter without losing a generator on Heroic or harder will unlock the What Power Outage? achievement.