14: Reactor

Anders’s plan to utilize the Spirit of Fire’s FTL Reactor Core to nuke the Shield World is about to be put into action. After two Pelicans fail to drop the Core into the World’s Apex Base, it falls to you to transport the Core through hostile environments to the plateau atop a series of ramps, where the Core can be attached.

Objectives

Win Condition: All Primary Objectives met.

Loss Condition: Loss of the FTL Reactor Core.

Par Time: 15:00–30:00

PRIMARY OBJECTIVES

Build and Attach Elephant to FTL Reactor Core

Completion Score: 500 Points

The FTL Core is heavy, but an Elephant should be able to drag it to the Apex.

Use an Elephant to Tow the Core up to the Apex Base Site

Completion Score: 1,500 Points

Destroying the Shield World is the only way to deny the Covenant its secrets. The FTL Core must be towed to the Apex.

OPTIONAL OBJECTIVES

Kill 20 Vampires [20]

Completion Score: 750 Points

Vampires are very effective at destroying UNSC aircraft. Counter them with Wolverines.

Mission Commencement

You’re tasked with moving the exceedingly heavy (and precious) Reactor chamber from the base of the mountain to the summit, while avoiding being overrun by Covenant forces along the way. You must first take your troops and move them to the vicinity of the fallen Reactor Core. Protect this Core from any encroaching enemy as you build up your Station into a fully functioning Fortress. Haste is important here, as the Covenant are massing forces at several choke points along this zigzagging peninsula.

Quickly build your base and insert the two Turrets nearest the lake to quell the few floating Flood Forms and the intermittent Banshee attacks. There is an immediate threat at the top of the grassy ramp northwest of you, so don’t delay; build two Reactors, three Supply Pads, and a couple of Scorpion Tanks. Then take the assembled force, with your Spartans leading, and head up the hill.

Either before or after you reach Waypoint 2, tether the Reactor Core to a vehicle strong enough to drag it to the top of the mountain. Fortunately, your Fortress base produces Elephants; construct one and then upgrade it so it moves at a quicker rate (do this after you build the Elephant). Trundle the Elephant across to Waypoint 1, where the Reactor Core is waiting, and couple the Core to the Elephant. Then bring this contraption with you up the ramp, following well behind the initial forces attacking Waypoint 2.

Take your ragtag band of brothers up the ramp to the base, cutting down the scattered Covenant infantry troops as you go. When you reach the base, demolish the foes at the Sniper Towers so they don’t fire on you, and beware of enemy Vampires whittling your health down as you try to destroy this base. Call on two MAC Blasts from the Spirit of Fire to help take out this base quickly and effectively. Once the base explodes, bring the rest of your squad up to this location.

Once you wipe the Covenant base from the grassy hillside, quickly call in and deposit a Firebase. It is important to claim each base as your own and create additional bases to stop the Covenant from rebuilding. Once you claim this base, you’re periodically attacked by Flood Bombers, so erect two or three Turrets to shoot down these foes, and upgrade the Turrets with Missile Launchers in case Vampires arrive here.

Black Box 14 When your second base is well under construction, send an infantry unit south along the rocky promontory to the side of the grassy ramp you just climbed. Nestled in a tree-lined clearing is your penultimate collectible crate: Black Box 14.

The remainder of this mission involves ferrying the Elephant with the Reactor Core up the ramps to the top. However, before this occurs, move your offensive line up the second long ramp to Waypoint 3, and engage the Covenant in this area. Place Spartans Jerome and Alice in the Sniper Towers at this location, where the Flood are accumulating, and then launch all your salvos at the Flood Den and the troublesome Launcher embedded in the hillside. After you defeat these, head around to the next ramp.

Trundle your mechanized division up to the next Covenant base at this Waypoint, and lay waste to it. If you’re having difficulties, call in a MAC Blast from the Spirit of Fire, or upgrade your Scorpions or Vultures and launch fearsome secondary ability attacks into the base, taking it down as quickly as possible. Once the base has been removed, repopulate it with a Firebase and quickly upgrade it to a Station. Add two Turrets to guard against any stray Bomber Forms or Vampires.

The plan is identical as you reach the top of the mountain ramps, with a final Covenant base to destroy. With a sizable army (remember you can build Vultures down below and quickly send them up as reinforcements without zigzagging up the ramps like Scorpions have to), this base should be leveled in moments. Begin with the Covenant’s Turrets, and then launch your entire barrage of firepower into the base center. There’s little point in taking down the building clusters connected to the central spire, as this simply takes you longer to reduce the base to rubble.

Anders’s plan is about to be put into effect. Drive your Elephant toward the Apex Site, and it automatically reverses in and completes this mission. Clear the area of Covenant first so there are no foes in the vicinity of your Elephant as you reach the site.

Bountiful Harvest Weigh the pros and cons of completing the Kill objective before this mission starts. To complete the objective, you must wait for Vampires to appear, as they aren’t built at a base. They periodically head toward your base or toward your troops ascending the mountain ramps. They always appear in twos. To defeat them, construct Turrets with Missile Launchers at every base. If you wish, build additional Wolverines to help bring down the Vampires. Wait for Vampires to fly in, and keep this up until all 20 are downed. The Bountiful Harvest Skull is located close to Waypoint 4, in the middle of a circle of Forerunner stonelike objects to the north. Grab this on your way to the mountaintop, or leave a unit here to take it if you’re trying to keep as much of your Time Bonus as possible.

Awards and Summary