PART 1 DIGSITE
and which now houses only one. Fighting his way to the top of the Tower, Chief
confronts its vicious warden Chak 'Lok and at last locates the source of the distress
signal: Spartan Griffin, badly beaten and nearing death. In his final moments, he
reveals that the Banished have been digging into the Ring in search of the
Conservatory, a Forerunner facility north of the Tower.
Griffin's intel suggests that the Banished are looking for something at this excavation
site. Investigate and disrupt.
You fought your way into a Banished digsite. Before you could discover what they
were digging for, they attacked you with an [Redacted]. The digsite commander, a
terrifying [Redacted] tried to stop you. Finally, you were able to descend into the
digsite itself, to find what The Banished were hunting for.
Led by Griffin's intel, Chief and the Weapon locate an excavation site, where the
Banished are using a colossal mining laser to cut their way into the Conservatory. The
Master Chief fights through legions of Banished, and the dig site commander Bassus,
to clear the tunnel to the mysterious Forerunner facility.
The Banished are searching for something called The Conservatory, which is buried
deep within the Halo. Enter it and discover its true purpose.
On the trail of the Harbinger, Chief and the Weapon exit the Conservatory into a
Forerunner construct called the Spire. There they meet the submonitor Adjutant
Resolution, who guides them through the ancient structure and reveals its purpose: the
reconstruction of Zeta Halo. Master Chief orders the Weapon to halt the Reformation,
enraging Adjutant Resolution and inciting a battle with the submonitor. Victorious,
Chief and the Weapon initiate shutdown of the Spire, revealing a network of structures
like it across the Ring. As the Spire collapses around them, the duo resolve to locate
and neutralize the remaining Spires before Halo is once again made operable.
PART 2 REFORMATION
En route to the second Spire, the Pelican is brought down by Banished anti-aircraft
gun batteries. Chief sets out on foot to disable the guns and is confronted via hologram
by Escharum, who reveals that he has sent his best warriors to stop the Chief: the
Hand of Atriox, better known to their prey as Spartan Killers. In rapid succession,
Chief brings down the AA guns, defeats the Spartan Killers Hyperius and Tovaras,
and retrieves the Pilot in a graveyard of UNSC ships. Reunited, the Pilot, the Weapon,
and Master Chief make for the second Spire
The second Spire is discovered in lockdown, shuttered by the Harbinger in
anticipation of Chief and the Weapon's arrival. Unable to break the security protocols
on her own, the Weapon readies a plan to bypass the Spire's lockdown by utilizing
data strands gathered from nearby Forerunner energy beacons. Chief and the Weapon
gather these strands and gain access to the Spire, where they learn that their efforts
have played right into the Harbinger's hand, opening the Ring's systems for her own
uses.
Chief and the Weapon enter the second Spire, ready to bring the Reformation to a halt.
Inside, they learn that the Banished have been working to gain access to a secretive
location called the Silent Auditorium. They shut down the Spires and await extraction
by the Pilot, when suddenly the Pelican is hijacked by a Spartan Killer and steered
north, away from the crumbling facility. The Weapon quickly opens a portal, and
escapes with Chief in pursuit of their friend. Through the portal, the Weapon and Master Chief arrive at a Forerunner location called the Repository. They learn that the Pilot has been taken to the House of Reckoning.
PART 3 RECKONING
Escharum has kidnapped The Pilot. The Weapon opened a gate for you to follow him.
Deep in Banished territory, Chief and the Weapon fight their way along a dangerous
path in pursuit of the captured Pilot. The duo cut through scores of foes and arrive at
last at the House of Reckoning
Chief and the Weapon reach the House of Reckoning and confront mighty Escharum,
who has eagerly anticipated their arrival
to bait them into a final confrontation. The bait is accepted, and they fight their way
out of the Repository. Along their advance, they discover fragments and memories of
Cortana, revealing the truth behind the Weapon's creation: that she is, in fact, an exact
copy of Cortana, subject to the same weaknesses as her predecessor. Fearing an
inevitable fate, the Weapon restores her deletion protocols, and asks the Chief to
complete his original mission.
He refuses an opportunity to truly test his foe. A brutal battle ensues, and though the Chief
emerges victorious, Escharum musters a final breath to assure his enemy that his death
will only inspire further conflict. Escharum dies and the Pilot is freed, but one loose
end remains: the Harbinger. Chief and the Weapon head for the Silent Auditorium.
PART 4 FINISH THE FIGHT
Confront the Harbinger at the Silent Auditorium and finish the fight.
Chief and the Weapon reach the Silent Auditorium, once the seat of Cortana's power,
now claimed and controlled by the Harbinger. Their enemy reveals the Auditorium
was where the Forerunners passed judgment upon her species, the Endless, and
sentenced them to indefinite imprisonment inside Zeta Halo. The Harbinger sought to
utilize her uneasy alliance with the Banished to free her people--a plan that nearly
succeeded before it was disrupted by the Master Chief. Finally defeated, the Harbinger
says her people have been found, and that the Endless will, at long last, be unleashed.
The Reformation is averted. The Auditorium begins to collapse. Chief and the
Weapon escape through a portal to an unknown destination.
