Battle of the Silent Cartographer
From Halopedia, the Halo wiki
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Installation 04, Silent Cartographer Island | ||||||||||||||||||
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Tactical UNSC victory
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- "It's Halo: Combat Evolved's Normandy moment."
- — Halo: The Great Journey: The Art of Building Worlds[2]
The Battle of the Silent Cartographer was a brief conflict within the larger Battle of Installation 04, in which UNSC forces spearheaded by John-117 attacked the Covenant-held island that housed the installation's Cartographer facility, in order to locate the ring's control room. The mission was a success, but at the cost of all of the Marine personnel.[Note 1]
Prelude[edit]
On the evening of September 19, John-117, alongside a unit of Marines led by Sergeant Parker, successfully raided the Ket-pattern battlecruiser Truth and Reconciliation, rescuing Captain Jacob Keyes who had been captured by the Covenant earlier that day. During his time as a prisoner, Keyes had overheard members of the Covenant discussing Halo and its true purpose as an incredibly powerful weapon. Cortana corroborated this with information she had acquired through her infiltration of the Covenant proselytization network and they learned that the Covenant were searching for the installation's control room. Keyes declared that the ring must be prevented from falling into the hands of the Covenant, who they feared would use it to wipe out the entire human race. To this end, Keyes ordered John-117 and Cortana on a new mission; they were to locate the Silent Cartographer, an underground facility located on an island that contained a map room that would provide the location of the control room.[3][4]
Covenant Special Operations Officer Zuka 'Zamamee was granted permission to hunt down and kill the Spartan by the Council of Masters following the raid on the Truth and Reconciliation, a request he had previously been denied. Soha 'Rolamee informed 'Zamamee that it was believed that the Master Chief was the last of his kind, believing the rest to have been slain during the Fall of Reach, and he granted the officer permission to use whatever resources he needed to in order to kill the Spartan.[4] 'Zamamee studied the human raid on the Covenant cruiser, identifying Cortana's infiltration of the proselytization network and used this information to deduce the Master Chief's likely next course of action, concluding that the Spartan would likely assault the Cartographer island next. In order to kill the human, he laid a trap inside the security substation on the island; an ambush with the aid of his assistant, Yayap and a team of other Unggoy as well as a Mgalekgolo pair inside the darkened room adjacent to the security center.[5]
The battle[edit]
The UNSC launched their assault on the island the following day, September 20. Pelicans Echo 419 and Bravo 022, carrying John-117 and a full squad of Marines led by Gunnery Sergeant Waller, approached the island, landing on the beach downwind from a group of Covenant soldiers. The UNSC assault force outnumbered the Covenant and within ten minutes, all of the opposition was wiped out. Once the landing zone was secure, Echo 419 returned, delivering an M12 Chaingun Warthog. John-117 quickly took the wheel, and along with a Marine passenger and gunner, left the beach in search of the Cartographer facility while Sergeant Waller and the rest of the Marines remained behind to secure the beach.[5]
John took the Warthog around the island, killing several Covenant patrols as he went before arriving at the facility just as a Covenant Dextro Xur-pattern Spirit departed. After thinning out the hostiles guarding it, John drove the Warthog straight into the opening before proceeding inside. He managed to kill a group of Covenant near a security door but not before the aliens managed to seal the door, blocking his path.[5][6] John hastily made his way back up to the surface while Cortana made contact with Captain Keyes, informing him of the situation and reported that they would have to disable the installation's security systems. The Captain, currently leading a separate mission, ordered the Master Chief and Cortana to use any means necessary to force their way into the Cartographer while Echo 419 remained on-station, looking out for Covenant aircraft. John drove his Warthog around the island, and, with the assistance of Cortana, soon located a path leading up into the island towards the security substation. He fought his way through groups of Covenant resistance including a pair of Mgalekgolo before reaching the substation.[5]
Zuka 'Zamamee, lurking within a cargo module along with Yayap and other Unggoy inside the substation, had determined that the Spartan was on his way and he prepared his forces to ambush the Master Chief. As John-117 entered the room, one of the Mgalekgolo charged out of the darkness towards the human, who opened fire in return. 'Zamamee chose that moment to emerge from cover alongside his team of Unggoy, but he was unable to fire at the Master Chief because the Mgalekgolo was in his line of fire, and a moment later the second Hunter charged in, knocking the Sangheili warrior to the floor. One of the Unggoy, Linglin, panicked and fired a bolt from his plasma pistol into the second Mgalekgolo's back, killing it and causing it to knock its bond brother to the floor. John quickly killed the first Hunter while it was down before killing Linglin with another burst of fire. Yayap was saved by 'Zamamee, who pulled the Grunt inside an open cargo module and the two hid as the Master Chief passed their hiding place.[5]
After defeating the ambush, John-117 made his way through the room and to the holographic controls for the installation's security systems, quickly shutting them down thanks to his unusual-familiarity with the interface. With the security door leading to the Cartographer now open, John-117 left the facility, receiving a desperate transmission from Pelican Bravo 022, which was under heavy enemy fire. After taking