Outskirts (Level)

Outskirts is a Halo 2 campaign level. As the Master Chief, you must battle your way through the streets of Old Mombasa to reach the highway. From there, you head to a highway tunnel, which leads to the next level, Metropolis.This is the first level in which you will encounter Jackals, Phantoms, and Sniper Jackals. This is also the first level in which you will be able to use vehicles, the first level in which you can use the Hijacking ability, and the first level in which you will encounter Hunters. It will also be the first level in which you can use the Sniper Rifle, the Beam Rifle, and the improved Rocket Launcher.

Usable Weapons

 * Battle Rifle
 * Beam Rifle
 * Energy Sword
 * Magnum
 * Needler
 * Plasma Cannon
 * Plasma Pistol
 * Plasma Rifle
 * Rocket Launcher
 * SMG
 * Sniper Rifle

Drivable Vehicles

 * Ghost
 * Warthog

"Sniper Alley"
During the initial hours of the First Battle of Earth, Covenant Ground Forces may have been disoriented and confused, but were still able to own the city of Mombasa. In the city of old Mombasa, the new Jackal Snipers made their first appearance. After taking out the initial UNSC force, a fire team of these Snipers took up position in one long, lonely alley. Two of the Snipers got on the second and third floor of a building decimated by the Scarab, the third on the ground, hiding behind a weapons container, while the fourth and fifth took up positions on parallel buildings. The final sniper took up guard duty at the end of the alley. A squad of ground Jackals stood ground in the adjacent alley, along with another squad of snipers in various hidden locations along the rooftops. The Hidden Sniper Rifle can be found in "Sniper Alley".

Part 01: Outskirts
J7ZzYQbIZ_M (Three Pelicans rocket away from In Amber Clad, jet engines thundering, and spear out towards New Mombasa. The Assault Carrier hovers high over the city, Gravity Lift engaged.)

Cortana (Radio): The message just repeats. 'Regret, Regret, Regret.'

(The Master Chief watches from the stern of a Pelican as the clouds roll by below.)

Commander Keyes (Radio): Catchy. Any idea what it means?

Sergeant Johnson (Radio): (as the dropships approach the outskirts of Mombasa, passing over a convoy of Warthogs) Dear Humanity... we regret being alien bastards. We regret coming to Earth.

(Inside the cockpit of the Pelican, Johnson leans against the bulkhead behind the two pilots.)

Sergeant Johnson: And we most definitely regret that the Corps just blew up our raggedy-ass fleet!

Pilots (in unison): Hoo-rah!

Cortana (Radio): Regret is a name, Sergeant. The name of one of the Covenant's religious leaders. A Prophet. He's on that carrier, and he's calling for help.

(A Marine sniper/spotter team lies prone on a rooftop, and the Pelicans pass over their position.)

Marine (Radio): Immediate; Grid kilo 23 is hot. Recommend mission abort.

Pilot (Radio): Roger, recon. (To Sergeant Johnson) It's your call, Sarge.

Sergeant Johnson: We're going in. Get tactical, Marines!

Lord Hood (radio): Master Chief, get aboard that carrier, and secure the Prophet of Regret. This is the only place on Earth the Covenant decided to land. That Prophet is going to tell us why.

Pilot: Thirty seconds out... stand by to... whoa...

(The pilot goes silent as a huge walking tank comes into view. Its leg spears a truck, and then its main gun focuses and fires, giving the lead Pelican a glancing blow. The two other Pelicans veer off, plasma turrets on the tank's bank tracking them. The lead Pelican flips inverted, hits a building, and slides through a low brick wall, before blacking out the frame.)

(Your view is blurry.)

Cortana:
 * (Easy) You all right Chief?
 * (Normal)(*Fakes tapping helmet*) Hey, wake up.
 * (Heroic) Talk to me, should I start CPR? What's going on.
 * (Legendary) Blink if you can hear me.

Sergeant Johnson: Shake it off, Marines. Clear the crash site. Go, go, go!

Part 02: They'll Regret That Too
(As you arrive at a bombed-out building and a firefight breaks out)

Marine 2: Secure this area! / Dig in fella's! / For now, this is home. (varies)

Sergeant Johnson: If they didn't know we're here before, they do now.

Sergeant Johnson: Yep. Here they come! Up high!

{After the first wave of Covenant forces are killed}

Sergeant Johnson: More on the street! Left side!

{After the second wave of Covenant are killed}

(Jackals come around a corner)

Sergeant Johnson: We got Jackals in the courtyard!

(Later, A group of Drones flies into view)

Sergeant Johnson: Buggers, headin' over the rooftops!

{Another wave of Covenant attack}

Sergeant Johnson: Across the street! Down low!

(Later, The sound of Phantom engines drifts over the rooftop)

Sergeant Johnson: Eyes up! Phantom's back!

(Later, another Pelican arrives, hovering over the courtyard)

Pilot 2 (Radio): My girl's a little big for that courtyard, Sergeant. I see a good LZ on the other side of these buildings. Meet you there, over.

Sergeant Johnson: Copy that. Someone get a satchel on the gate!

(A pair of Hunters breaks through the gate)

Cortana: Hunters.

Sergeant Johnson: Stand back, Marines. Let the Chief show you how it's done.

(Once the Hunters are down)

Cortana (Radio): Second squad, this is Cortana. What's your status, over?

Gunnery Sergeant Pete Stacker (Radio): We're operational Ma'am, barely. Our pilots didn't make it.

Cortana (Radio): Find a hole, stay put. We'll come to you.

(When you reach the second courtyard and kill a jackal sniper)

Marine: The only thing worse than jackals are jackals with sniper rifles!

(When you reach the far courtyard, a third Pelican drops in and unloads Marines.)

Commander Keyes (Radio): Sergeant, I need you on that bird.

Sergeant Johnson (Radio): Ma'am?

Commander Keyes (Radio): My Pelicans are going to start airlifting armor and reinforcements into the city. They'll need an escort that isn't afraid of a little hostile ground fire.

Sergeant Johnson (Radio): Understood. I'll keep an eye on 'em. Chief... good luck.

(Johnson climbs aboard the Pelican and dusts off)

(Once you reach the second squad's position)

Marine 3: Chief! Glad you could make it. Crash site's on the other side of this hotel, Chief. Covenant are crawling all over it. Follow me.

(As you move into the darkened hotel)

Marine 3: Stay outta sight.

(A Marine pulls up in a Warthog, honking the horn)

Marine 3: Special Delivery from Commander Keyes, Chief.

Cortana (Radio): The highest concentration of Covenant ground troops is directly below the carrier. I don't think they want you to get on board.

Cortana (Radio): That bridge is the most direct route to the city center.

Part 03: A Day at the Beach
If you took the warthog:

Marine 3: Oh man, I love the beach...

Marine 2: I hope you packed a suit, mate!

Cortana (Radio): Cut the chatter... we got trouble.

{Taking the ghost will skip the part above)

(As you negotiate the beach)

Commander Keyes (Radio): Chief... the carrier just launched a wave of pods. They're inbound on your position.

(Covenant Orbital Insertion Pods slam down on the beach all around you, and armed Elites spring from them)

Cortana: This tunnel leads up to the bridge. It's full of rats if you know what I mean, but it beats swimming.

(As you move into the highway tunnel)

Cortana: I've been analyzing the Covenant tactical chatter. They're surprised, confused... I don't think they expected us to be here. Not... you and me, all of us... humanity, on Earth. Odd, I know, but it does help explain why they came here with such a small fleet.

Part 04: Speed Zone Ahead
(When you come across a group of Shadows in the tunnels)

Cortana: The Covenant must be trying to regroup. Don't let them.

(Once you approach the exit of the tunnel, the level transitions)

Normal Walkthrough
Welcome to Old Mombassa, I guess. This place is actually kind of nice; if only there wasnt the crapload of angry-as-Hell Aliens that want to make you a statistic. Looks like its a gonna be a busy Monday.

When the level starts off, your going to be blinking. Looks like that crash gave you a major headache. Go forward and take your anger out on that Grunt that comes around the corner by meleeing him in the back. Now move ahead, switch to your Battle Rifle, and zoom in. That building in the center is going to come in handy, but you have to clear out and clean house before its yours. Start up by sniping those Grunts that are on the ground, then move up and do the same to the Grunts on the balcony.

Hello, there are two Jackals. Mornin' bastards, care for a an SMG barrage. Why, yes, thank you! Do that, plus a few melees, till they fall down dead. Dual wield one of their PPs to complement your SMG, then get into that building.

Two Grunts and an Elite will jump down and greet you. Dumb alien crap, they don't know what's coming. Give 'em hell with your SMG/PP combito, and once they are RIPing grab a fresh PP and move to the second floor. As your get there, you should see an Elite on the roof next door to you. How'd he get up there? Oh, well, just feed him an Overcharge, a BR burst, and he's out of the business. Feed the Grunts down there BR bursts, and the buildings' yours.

Alrighty then, it's time to earn your salary as the Protector of Earth and the Killer of Covenant. A group of Covies will come out to challenge your. Bust 'em with a Frag, and finish off anybody with BR bursts.

With every group that comes around the corner, do this: Overcharge for the Elite, BR bursts for the Grunts. Trust this guy, they wont stand a chance.

We got Jackals in the Courtyard!

Damn bastards, they wont give up. Get to that turret, but headshot the first Jackal you see with your BR. Now get on that turret, and start mowing down them birdheads. Yes, you freaks, chew armor-piercing death! Ahem. Anyway, just keep that up till they bite the pavement.

Buggers, headin over the rooftops!

Ah, more of em, eh? Come and a get it, bug bait! Sweep that there turret over, and their corpses will provide nice decoration for Mombassa. One dozen fried bugs on the sidewalk, up!

Now back to our original strategy: Overcharge, BR bursts, etc., etc. Occasionally another squad of Jackals will come from their spots, but just sweep your turret if they come.

Eyes up, Phantoms back!

It would be a lot easier if we could just blow that damn dropship to hell, but we cant do that, can we? For now, we'll just have to make do. Phantom, meet GPMG (AIM FOR THE PLASMA TURRETS!) Enemy troops, meet GPMG (WATCH OUT FOR NADES!) Jackals, meet GPMG (DIE, YOU AVIAN FREAKS!)

Someone get a satchel on the gate!

What's a satchel? No time to find an encyclopedia, we need to blow away a couple of worms in cans. The Hunters came to Earth, and they have had a major overhaul since Halo. They're bigger, faster, with better guns and better melees. Luckily, we won't need the Pistol, Overshield, and Active Camo you think you need. When they bust through the gate, just train the turret on them and let the AP rounds do their thing. Die, freakish worms!

Once they're dead, jump down and fill up on BR ammo, SMG ammo, and grenades. Moving through, we will come across the newest SOB to join the Covenant: Jackal Snipers. On Normal, it takes three direct shots for you to die, so don't panic, just zoom in with your BR and let 'em have it. Kill him, and move up to feed the ground Jackals a Frag Grenade.

Aw, man, Johnson has to leave! There goes our Ace in the Hole.

Hey, Johnson, wanna trade guns? Thanks!

Ok, so you got yourself the SRS99C-S2-AM Sniper Rifle. Scroll down, look at the weapon cache locations, then go and grab the nearest Sniper Rifle ammo. Find an SMG too. Now weapon check: Sniper Rifle, SMG, fully loaded, and a full complement of nades. Lets go and meet Sniper Alley.

The first Sniper Jackal you will see will be foolishly walking around aimlessly. Plug a .510 shell through his skull.

Alright, here is the layout: In the collapsed building lurk two more snipers. Behind that purple box is another sniper. On the buildings surrounding them are two more snipers. Killing another Sniper will make all hell break loose. Got it? Good!

Zoom in 10x, and wipe out one of the others in the collapsed building. When the Drones and the ground Jackals pop out, ignore em and get to work on the Snipers. Your Marines should be able to handle themselves, as they wipe out most of the Drones.

Once the Snipers have eaten lead, time to save your Marines from a energy related death. The ground Jackals; if theyre still alive, a nice frag should toast them quickly. The Drones; waste all your SMG ammo on them, if you want; youll be ditching the SMG in a second.

Alright, once everythings said and done, Sniper Alley on Normal is a breeze. Its Legendary you'll want to watch out for.

Continuing on our quest to rid the galaxy of aliens, we will come across another two Jackals. Feel free to feed them a long SMG burst apiece. Switch to your Sniper Rifle, zoom in, and move forward hesitantly. You should get a checkpoint right about the time a Sniper comes barreling around the corner. I love this part, because if you plug him in midmotion, he'll go flying. Fly, birdie, fly!

Youre probably clean out of SMG ammo at this point. We coulad always go back for more, but heres a better idea. Grab a pair of Mags, stock up on ammo, and get ready for the best Magnum Montage Earth has ever seen.

Moving through the alleyways, a sniper will make his presence known straight off. Bust his skull with a flurry of Magnum fire, then move forward to greet a very surprised Elite. Cut his surprise short with more .50 caliber rounds, then help your Marines mop up the pack of Grunts that showed up. As youre perfroming this task, a Sniper on a second story level will look down, ready his gun, aim- and die silently at the blocky end of your handgun. From here on out, you can just stay in this little intersection and waste your Magnum ammo on anything that isn't in Marine Green. Once the alien troopers quit crashing the party, replenish your supply of Magnum ammo and go into the next area.

Here is where the guys of second squad decided to chill. Of course, these methane breathing sons of bitches won't let them relax, now will they? First off, plug the ever annoying Grunt Gunners, then confront the Elite. Keep this in mind: this guys rank varies considerably. Usually, he is the scarlet Major, but on a few random occasions, he will be in the pearly armor of the brand spankin' new Ultra. If he happens to be the Ultra, get close to him, wait till he pulls out his shiny blade of death, then back up while pounding him with everything you got.

Speed Run Walkthrough
Note: This walkthrough require correct Grenade Jumping, precision in everything and... speed. This walkthrough is based on the current fastest Speed Run at High Speed Halo, Fully_Synthetic and Chad's 4:43 Legendary Co-Op run, with a bit of minor editing as I personally deem fit to allow for Single-Player use. It may be altered as and when faster runs emerge. Certain portions detailed here may only take place on Legendary and alternate methods, not detailed here, will be necessary in such events.

Start moving towards the doorway. Jump onto the lamp in front, then onto the awning to the left. Turn back towards the hole you jumped up from and jump towards the pathway there. Throw a Frag Grenade as you fall and immediately jump again as you land so that you make use of the grenade's force in a Grenade Jump. Jump across the chasm to the building opposite. Throw a Frag Grenade at the wall of the building as you reach the top of the small slope and turn towards the building to the left, jumping as you reach the edge. Follow the path and jump down to the next area, then jump onto the pointed roof, then over the parapet. Follow the path in a straight line over to the next building, jumping as necessary. Throw a Frag Grenade shortly before you reach the small parapet and jump as you hit the parapet, letting the grenade blow you onto the next building. Continue walking in a straight line until you see the sign for Hotel Zanzibar. Jump over the gap between the building you are currently on and the next one, then head for the hotel and drop down. Go in and throw your currently last Frag Grenade at the Covenant in the hall, then hide to the left. Rush out and charge past the survivors, heading down to the beach. If you've been going fast enough, you should hear Miranda say "Sergeant, I need you on that bird" as you near a parked van. Find the crashed Pelican and the Ghost near it, then board it. "A Day At The Beach" will appear as you do so, as will a checkpoint.

Boost the Ghost past all resistance and head into the highway tunnel. You will get a checkpoint as you near the first turn. Once "Speed Zone Ahead" appears, get out of the Ghost and commandeer the Warthog that appears. Charge past the resistance. You will get a checkpoint as you pass the first group of Covenant, then a second near the little ramp.

Weapons Caches

 * The first one is on the second story of the main structure in the first plaza. Get on the second story and check under the stairs.It contains BR and Sniper ammo, a Magnum, and (interestingly) two SMGs that have a total of 430 rounds (80 rounds more than usual).
 * Another on is found after you encounter the Hunters. Go through the doors and go to you reach the two crates stacked on top of each other. Jump on top and turn right. You should see some bodies. Go towards them and you should see the ammo.There will be two dead Grunts a Jackal and two dead Marines. There will be three Frag grenades, two fully loaded PPs, and a Sniper Rifle and two clips, plus one Magnum.
 * Another is very close to the above cache. When up by the bodies you should see a broken street light. Jump between it and the wall to get the ammo.
 * If you go to the building with the two Jackals on the bottom floor there are several Sniper Rifle clips as well as the gun.
 * A Sniper rifle cache is found in a balcony. It contains four or five boxes of ammo and a sniper rifle. This balcony also has the IWHBYD Skull when you trigger the events on Legendary.
 * Another is on the roofs, if you go along the roofs next to the sniper alley you should find a house with a corner blown off, there is an energy sword inside.
 * The last one is in the third beach area, in the open area building. If you park on the right side there is a ramp that leads up to the top floor. Here is the only Rocket Launcher in this level, plus a sniper rifle, BR ammo, and Sniper ammo. On the bottom floor is two Rocket ammo boxes.

Base Defense
In the first part of the level, when you must defend the Marines until help arrives, Base Defense is the best way to go. In this case, your "Base" will be that of the large building in the center of this courtyard. This building was probably a small open area park of some sort. Here is the basic layout: There are three levels to this place, with a tree taking up most of the space on the ground floor. A flight of stairs leads up to the second level, which is basically a large balcony (very vulnerable to Snipers) that has a (oo-rah!) MG turret in the center, with a seperate stairwell leading up to the third level. Sgt. Johnson will take up a position on this level, sniping and scouting for you. The Marines will usually stay with you on the second level, but one will usually stray down to the courtyard and sidestreet.

For your convenience, there are three ammo caches for you to feast upon. The first one is on the ground level, right in that little room in the doorway. There will be SMG and BR ammo. The 2nd and 3rd cache are on the 2nd level, one under the stairwell leading to the 3rd floor. This cahe contains BR, SMG, and Sniper Rifle ammo, plus a Magnum (for those of us who want to go in the Lethal Weapon way). The third is situated in the center of the balcony, surrounding the Machine Gun turret. There are also Frag Grenades in the courtyard.

The MG turret will be very useful in upcoming fights, but it only has a firing path that is centered on the main courtyard. Better keep that in mind.

On the right side of the balcony (assuming you are facing outward)there is a large hole. Keep that in mind.

The 3rd level consists mostly of a glass sunroof that will break if you try and walk across it. Keep that in mind as well.

The ground floors main entrance has no door to close, making it vulnerable to infiltration. Keep your enemies at bay with the MG to solve this problem.

There are many ways to get on and off and into your little fort. Two effective ways are the white and brown trucks that are around the side streets. Jump onto these trucks, and from there you can get to the balcony.

There are many crates in the courtyard for your enemies to hide behind. Try to take out them out before they can find cover.

Lastly and most importantly; DEFEND YOUR BASE! I dont care if youre playing on easy, you noobs; if you lose your base, you are screwed, with a capital S. Aim for heads, take out the officers, make sure your turret lives on, and prepare for some hardcore, badass combat. Go get 'em.

Trivia
The "Outskirts" cutscene shows the Master Chief's Pelican being the only one hit, while the other two are being tracked by the Scarab's turrets, but the "Another Day at the Beach" sidestory shows the ODST's Pelican being the only one hit. The "Outskirts" cutscene would be considered most "canon," because it was featured in the game.


 * Being a civilian area, Outskirts showed the player much of the culture of the 26th Century.

Reference Links
Suicide Jackal


 * Outskirts