CEV:The Pillar of Autumn

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Next:	Halo
The Pillar of Autumn
Game:	Halo: Campaign Evolved
File name (?):	A15
Player:	John-117
Date:	September 19, 2552
Location:	Aboard UNSC Pillar of Autumn, over Installation 04
Objective(s):	Defend the Pillar of Autumn and escape
	Halopedia doesn't currently have a walkthrough for this level; could you write one?

“

Escape intact as Covenant forces board your ship.

”

The Pillar of Autumn is the first campaign level in Halo: Campaign Evolved. It is a remake of a level of the same name originally in Halo: Combat Evolved.

Plot summary

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Transcript

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Intro

Fades into space, the camera rotates to show Threshold and Basis then back to space again. A slipspace portal opens with a damaged Pillar of Autumn leaving it, with two Longsword escorts soaring alongside it. A tracking shot is done with the Longsword flying around the ship.

The camera focus on the bridge of the Pillar of Autumn. Inside the ship's bridge, the camera focuses on Keyes.

• Captain Jacob Keyes: "Cortana, all I need to know is did we lose them?"

• Cortana: "I think we both know the answer to that."

• Keyes: (sighs) "We made a blind jump. How did they—"

• Cortana: "Get here first? The Covenant ships have always been faster. As for tracking us all the way from Reach...at light-speed, my maneuvering options were limited."

Keyes begins pacing around, looking at viewscreens and touching the shoulder of a crewman. Their screen shows Installation 04 in orbit. Keyes then walks back to the viewscreen

• Keyes: "We were running dark, yes?"

• Cortana: "Until we decelerated. No one could have missed the hole we tore in slipspace."

• Cortana: "They were waiting for us on the far side of the planet."

• Keyes: "So, where do we stand?"

Keyes looks at the holotank, and Cortana appears on it shortly after.

• Cortana: "Our fighters are mopping up the last of their recon picket now. Nothing serious."

• Cortana: "But I've isolated approach signatures from multiple CCS-class battle-groups. Make it three capital ships per group... and in about 90 seconds they'll be all over us."

• Keyes: "Well, that's it then. Bring the ship back up to Combat Alert Alpha. I want everyone at their stations."

• Cortana: "Everyone, sir?"

• Keyes: "Everyone."

Alarm klaxon sounds. Crewmen run towards their stations.

• Keyes: "And Cortana..."

• Cortana: "Hmm?"

• Keyes: "...let's give our old friends a warm welcome."

• Cortana: "I've already begun."

Sarge Speech

The camera cuts to a screen

ALERT

EVACUATION IN PROGRESS

PROCEED TO NEAREST LIFEPOD IMMEDIATELY

The camera then changes to be near one of the ships armories, panning with marines running past it. In the armory, Johnson is walking into it with the camera slowly focusing on his face.

• Cortana (PA): "Attention, all combat personnel: Please report to your action stations."

• Marine: "Let's go."

• Marine 2: "Take a tour."

• Cortana (PA): "This is not a drill. I repeat, this is not a drill."

• Staff Sergeant Avery Junior Johnson: "You heard the lady! Move like you've got a purpose!"

Marines start picking up weapons and gearing up in the armory and talking along themselves.

• Cortana (PA): "5th Platoon, secure airlocks on Deck 11. 14th Platoon, rendezvous with 22nd Tactical at bulkhead Charlie 14."

Marines get in two lines, facing each other. Johnson walks down the column between the formation.

• Johnson: (Normal) "Once again, it is our job to finish what the flyboys started. When we meet the enemy, we will rip their skulls from their spines, and toss 'em away, laughin'! Am I right, Marines?"

• Johnson: (Heroic) "Men, here is where we show those split-chin squid-head sons-of-bitches that they could not have picked a worse enemy than the human race! We are going to blow the hell out of those dumb bugs, until we don't have anything left to shoot 'em with! And then we are going to strangle them with their own-living-guts! Am I right, Marines?"

• Johnson: (Legendary): "Men, we led those dumb bugs out to the middle of nowhere to keep 'em from gettin' their filthy claws on Earth, but we stumbled onto somethin' they're so hot for that they're scramblin' over each other to get it. Well, I don't care if it's God's own anti-son-of-a-bitch machine or a giant hula hoop, we are not gonna let 'em have it! What we will let 'em have...is a belly full of lead and a pool of their own blood to drown in! Am I right, Marines?"

• Marines: "Sir, yes sir!"

• Johnson: "Uh-huh. Damn right, I am. Now move it out! Double time!"

The Marines break formation and run out of the area, as Johnson follows them slowly.

• Cortana (PA): "Attention, all personnel: We are re-engaging the enemy. External and internal contact imminent."

• Johnson: "All you greenhorns who wanted to see Covenant up close...this is gonna be your lucky day."

Shots throughout the ship internally and externally show conflict as crew attempt to rebel the boarders.

• Cortana (PA): "Fireteams: Report to defensive positions Alpha through Sierra. Sensors show inbound Covenant boarding craft. Stand by to repel boarders."

• Private Manuel Mendoza: "Get on it. We can't stop them!"

• Johnson: "Stay cool Mendoza. What do you expect rifleman? You think this little pleasure cruise is going to last forever?"

• Johnson: "Men, keep your eyes downrange, fingers on the triggers, and we'll all go home in one piece."

Cryo

Cut to a computer screen.

>X - CORTANA.1.0 - CRYOSTOR. 23.4.7
>(PRIORITY ALPHA)

• Tech Officer Sam Marcus: "Whoa! Sir?"

>WAKE-UP SERIES STANDBY. SECURITY LOCK (PRIORITY ALPHA)
>ENGAGED

>X - CORTANA.1.0 - CRYOSTOR. 23.4.7

• Cortana (PA): "Cortana to Cryo Two. Transmitting security code. Bridge out."

>UNSEAL THE HUSHED CASKET

• Tech Chief Thom Shephard: "Right. Let's thaw him out."

The crewmen begin pressing buttons.

• Marcus: "Okay. Bringing low-level systems online. His vitals look good."

• Marcus: "He's hot! Blowing the pins in five..."

Cut to John-117's cryo chamber, which excretes steam opening.

Bridge

The bridge door opens with Master Chief walking into the room and several crewman looking at him as he walks to the front

• Master Chief Petty Officer John-117: "Captain Keyes."

Keyes turns away from the main view screen and shakes the Master Chief's hand.

• Keyes: "Good to see you, Master Chief. Things aren't going well. Cortana did her best, but we never really had a chance."

Cortana's avatar appears on the holotank.

• Cortana: "A dozen Covenant superior battleships against a single Halcyon-class cruiser. With those odds, I'm content with three - make that four kills." (to the Chief) "Sleep well?"

• John-117: "No thanks to your driving, yes."

Cortana smiles.

• Cortana: "So you did miss me."

A loud explosion rocks the bridge. The Chief puts his hand out and Keyes grabs it for support.

• Keyes: "Report!"

• Cortana: "It must have been one of their boarding parties! I'd guess an antimatter charge!"

• Fire Control Officer: "Ma'am! Fire control for the main cannon is offline!"

• Cortana: "Captain, the cannon was my last offensive option."

• Keyes: "Alright then. I'm initiating Cole Protocol, Article 2. We're abandoning the Autumn. That means you too, Cortana."

• Cortana: "While you do what? Go down with the ship?"

• Keyes: "In a manner of speaking. The object we found, I'm going to try and land the Autumn on it."

• Cortana: "With all due respect, sir, this war has enough dead heroes."

• Keyes: "I appreciate your concern, Cortana, but it's not up to me. The protocol is clear. Destruction or capture of a shipboard AI is absolutely unacceptable, and that means you're leaving ship. Lock in a selection of emergency landing zones, upload them to my neural lace, then sort yourself for a hard transfer."

• Cortana: "Aye aye, sir."

Cortana's avatar disappears.

• Keyes: "...which is where you come in, Chief. Get Cortana off this ship. Keep her safe from the enemy. If they capture her, they'll learn everything. Force deployment, weapons research...Earth."

• John-117: "I understand."

• Keyes: "If all goes well, we'll rendezvous on the object's surface. And if it doesn't..."

Keyes takes out a old ornamental pistol, and offers it to Chief.

• Keyes: "... make sure my daughter gets this."

Chief accepts the pistol and nods.

Cortana's avatar reappears.

• Cortana: "The Autumn will continue evasive maneuvers until you initiate a landing sequence. Not that you'll listen, but I'd suggest letting my subroutines handle the final approach."

• Keyes: "Excellent work, Cortana. Thank you. Are you ready?"

Cortana looks around the bridge for one last time, then sighs.

• Cortana: "Yank me."

Captain Keyes pulls a data chip out of the holotank and Cortana disappears. He gives the chip to the Master Chief.

The Chief slides the chip into the back of his helmet.

• Cortana: "Hmm...your architecture isn't that much different from the Autumn's..."

• John-117: "Don't get any funny ideas."

• Keyes: "Good luck, Master Chief."

Outro

The Master Chief is firing a assault rifle outside the escape pod while marines run in. A Marine heading for the airlock, but trips as a shot goes near them.

• Marine: "Oh no, oh no!"

The Master Chief picks him up and throws him into the life pod

• Marine: "Nyah!"

Another marine catches them, then Chief closes the pod when they get in.

• Cortana: "Now would be a very good time to leave!"

• John-117: "Punch it."

• Lieutenant Taylor: "Aye aye, sir!"

Taylor seals her eye visor. The lifeboat launches out of the airlock.

• Taylor: "We're disengaged. Goin' for minimum safe distance."

Shots of the pod going around Basis, with a body floating in space above the pod.

• Marine: "We're gonna make it, aren't we, sir? I don't wanna die out here!"

The Chief pats him on the shoulder.

• Cortana: "Look!"

The Chief steps up front. Halo swings into view and the Bumblebee drops towards it.

• Marine: "What is that thing, Lieutenant?"

• Taylor: "Hell if I know, but we're landin' on it!"

• Marine: "The Autumn! She's been hit!"

Shots of the Autumn going into the rings atmosphere.

• Cortana: "I knew it! The Autumn's accelerating. Keyes is going in manual!"

The Autumn accelerates and flies over the lifepod.

• Taylor: "Heads up, everyone, this is it! We're entering the ring's atmosphere in five!"

• Cortana: "You sure you wouldn't rather take a seat?"

The Chief grips the sides of the lifeboat, with the camera focusing on his helmet.

• John-117: "We'll be fine."

Fade to white.

Level ends.

Differences from the original game

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• The Pillar of Autumn can be seen exiting slipspace, bringing in debris from the previous battle on Reach.
• Sergeant Johnson retains three of his difficulty-based opening speeches, as his normal difficulty speech applies to both easy and normal, while Heroic and Legendary are unchanged. However, his easy difficulty speech still appears later, in the scene where he and his squad fight boarders near an airlock, regardless of difficulty.
• In the opening cutscene, Thom Shepard is already in the cryo bay while Sam Marcus remains in the control deck. Furthermore, Thom carries a handheld display showing the Master Chief’s scans as seen in the control bay. Both now have unique character models different from both releases, as well as uniforms distinct from the rest of the ship’s bridge crew.
• The player can choose to skip the targeting and shield tests entirely. Doing so will prompt Captain Keyes to summon the Master Chief to the bridge. If the targeting test is taken, the player can choose whether or not to try look inversion.
• The scale of the space battle above Halo is much more emphasized, with cutscenes showing boarding vessels attaching to the Pillar of Autumn and Covenant battle ships being destroyed by the ship’s MAC cannon. Further combat can be observed in-game through the ship’s windows.
• The player takes control of the Master Chief outside of the cryo pod rather than in it, having climbed out of it in the opening cutscene.
• In the brief face to face encounter with the Sangheili Minor before meeting Dubbo, the player is unable to move and cannot get close to the Elite. An invisible barrier prevents the player from proceeding down the hallways it retreats and eventually is locked into.
• Instead of giving the Master Chief a standard M6D pistol, Captain Keyes gives him his own pistol to give to his daughter as a keepsake in case he doesn't make it. The Master Chief instead obtains a pistol from a wounded marine just outside the bridge, and carries Keyes’ pistol throughout the entire game, only using it once in The Maw.
• The damaged door after the first section of maintenance access hallways no longer appears.
• Cortana will explain Overshield when the player first encounters it, and that she has created a patch for the Master Chief’s armor to use it.
• The Pillar of Autumn can now be seen entering into the atmosphere just before crashing.
• Cortana’s remarks about the damage to the superstructure are delivered much earlier, specifically in the first airlock fight rather than toward the end of the mission.
• There is no longer a text tutorial directing the player in melee, instead being delivered in dialogue by Cortana.
• When the bridge is rocked by an antimatter charge, the Master Chief remains standing, presumably anchored by his armor.
• The mess hall’s food dispensers now feature branded food, such as Jim Dandy's hot dog dinner, Fronk's Formed Fish tacos, Have S'Moa burgers, Pronk Knorp, and Ge Dunk Ships. Food trays, mugs, and MREs can be found as well.
• The bulletin board seen throughout the mission now features messages identical to that of the original game, albeit on a digital interface. The board notably newly includes a full duty roster for the Pillar of Autumn, with names pulled from the novels.
• The hallway where lifepods can be seen being destroyed now features small tables by the windows.
• In the hallway where you encounter a Sangheili Minor fighting three marines after the mess hall fight, you can turn right to face the small nook it was standing next to. Inside is a cracked door, revealing a bathroom with two visible toilets inside.
• The ship’s interior damage appears much more extensive than previous depictions, often showing areas where lights are out and small fires.
• Grenades can be found fairly early in the mission on any difficulty. This may be an oversight, as they do not appear in player inventory even after they are obtained toward the end as in previous releases, but can still be used.
• In the final cutscene, the Master Chief continues to shoot after tossing the panicked marine into the life pod. This is more consistent with his cameo early in Halo: Fireteam Raven.
• Cortana’s closing line "If I still had fingers, they’d be crossed." is removed.
• Though it can be observed on various viewscreens on the bridge, Installation 04 cannot be seen until the final cutscene.
  • The screens no longer list the ring as called "Halo", keeping that name for the reveal by Captain Keyes on The Truth and Reconciliation.

Achievements

The following achievements and trophies can be unlocked on Pillar of Autumn across all editions of Halo: Campaign Evolved.

Icon	Title	Unlock requirement
	The Autumn Leaves	Complete Pillar of Autumn.
File:CEV Achievement CleanSweep.png	Clean Sweep	Find all skulls and terminals in Pillar of Autumn.
File:CEV Achievement ThisIsMyShipNow.png	This Is My Ship Now	Eliminate Captain Keyes and trap his six avenging Marines in the Autumn's observation pen.

Trivia

• The view screens in the bridge depict the Pillar of Autumn with damaged areas highlighted in red, its Longswords, Installation 04, and the Covenant battlecruisers Undiminished Entelechy and Truth and Reconciliation; the latter two in red, signifying their status as enemy vessels.
  • The Autumn's Longswords are named on these screens as K-03, K-07, K-12, K-25, and K-31. K-12 is the Longsword used by the Master Chief to escape the Pillar of Autumn in the final level, and is appropriately noted as being under rearmament, and thus unable to fly. Each of the Longswords has a named pilot and copilot, all of whom are references to other science fiction franchises.
• The SKT-9 Bumblebee lifepod in the end of the mission, Lima Foxtrot Alpha 43, is based on the Lifepod asset originally created for Halo: The Television Series. The lifepod retains some of the decals from the Television Series asset including labels denoting it as assigned to UNSC Gladius, the orange stripes, and "216" numeration.

Gallery

Concept art

• 

  Concept art of the bridge.

Cinematics

• 

  The Pillar of Autumn exiting slipspace.

• 

  Sergeant Johnson gives a speech to his troops.

• 

  A Banshee fires at two Longswords.

• 

  A Longsword in flight.

• 

  Several R'sisho-pattern Ticks latching onto the ship.

• 

  Johnson and his marines in combat.

• 

  Cortana on a holotank in the bridge.

• 

  The Fire Control Officer tells Cortana that the Autumn's main cannon is offline.

• 

  Jacob Keyes' custom M6D magnum.

• 

  Jacob Keyes handing John-117 his M6D magnum.

• 

  Captain Keyes talking to Cortana.

• 

  Captain Keyes watches at the Chief leaves the bridge.

• 

  The Chief aboard the Bumblebee.

• 

  John-117 and Lieutenant Taylor.

• 

  Lifeboat Lima Foxtrot Alpha 43 launching from the Pillar of Autumn.

• 

  Lima Foxtrot Alpha 43 passing Basis to get to the Halo ring.

• 

  Lifeboat Lima Foxtrot Alpha 43 flying to Alpha Halo.

• 

  Lima Foxtrot Alpha 43 and the Autumn enter the ring's atmosphere.

Screenshots

• 

  Thom Shephard using his data pad.

• 

  A Sangheili kills Samuel Marcus.

• 

  Thom Shephard is killed in an explosion.

• 

  The canteen aboard Pillar of Autumn.

• 

  Overshield modules aboard a R'sisho-pattern Tick used by the Covenant to board the Autumn.

Sources

Campaign Evolved Campaign Missions Pillar of Autumn

Succeeded by Halo