343 Guilty Spark (level)

Looking for 343 Guilty Spark, the character?

343 Guilty Spark is a campaign level in Halo: Combat Evolved. It takes place at the Battle of the Alpha Halo Containment Facility. This is the first time we see the Flood. It is also the first level you'll use the shotgun, the last level where you will be aided by Marines, and the only level where you fight Covenant enemies without fighting Elites.

Compared to the previous levels, this level is very dark, dank, and creepy, and if this is your first time playing, you'll find yourself becoming very jumpy as you go, unless you've got nerves of steel. The first chapter of the level is set in a rainforest, and the second chapter, "The Flood" is set in the main Alpha Halo Flood containment center. There is a Covenant group protecting the complex that is massacred once the Flood are unleashed, and some survivors of the Marine force that accidentally released the Flood by opening the door the Covenant worked so hard to close down. All members of the advance party of Marines (with the exception of Sgt. Johnson) became Flood including Private Mendoza and Private First Class Wallace A. Jenkins.

Usable Weapons

 * Pistol
 * Assault Rifle
 * Shotgun
 * Frag Grenade
 * Plasma Pistol
 * Plasma Rifle
 * Needler
 * Plasma Grenade
 * Shade

Vehicles Encountered, but Undrivable

 * Pelican
 * Spirit

Part 01: Well Enough Alone


(Opening cinematic-Camera flies over a group of Jackals and Grunts running through a swamp, panicky and obviously in retreat. As it pans over them, you see through the fog and rain the outline of a dropship, which further materializes as the camera draws closer).

Foe Hammer (O.S.): The last transmission from the Captain's dropship was from this area. That was over twelve hours ago. When you locate Captain Keyes, radio in, and I'll come pick you up.

(In certain parts of the level, you can hear a radio transmission coming from a crashed human dropship and a Covenant communications terminal. As it repeats, it seems that this is some sort of distress beacon. Static pervades the transmission, and the signal fades in and out of clarity).

Unknown DROPSHIP PILOT: Dropship Victor 933-(static)-Pillar of Autumn-(static)-need assistance. We are under att-(static)-attack by some new kind of hostile-(static)-isn't Covenant. (Static) Captain Keyes has been captured by hostiles. (static) -dug in at a large structure in a swamp-(static)-We need to pull out. Please-(static)-I will set this message to repeat at-(static)-regular intervals. Dropship Victor 933, clear.

(After passing through several large rooms and many smaller ones inside the structure, as you come into an area blasted with gunfire and scorch marks. A lone Marine sits leaning against a wall, Pistol pointed at you. He shoots at you if you come too close, while screaming at the top of his lungs the following phrases. He also fiddles around with his pistol a lot, checking to see if the magazine is full).

Marine:
 * Stay back! Stay back, you're not turning me into one of those things!
 * I'll blow your brains out! Get away from me!
 * Gaaaaahh! Aaaaaahh! Don't touch me, you freaks, I won't be like you, I'll die first!
 * Find your own hiding place, the monsters are everywhere!
 * Play dead! That's what I did... played dead. They took the live ones... oh, God, I can still hear them!
 *  Monsters...
 * Ahhhhhh! Ahhhhaaahhh! Aaaaaaaahhhhhaaaaaaa!
 * Just leave me alone!
 * Sarge? Mendoza? Bisenti? Oh, God... the things took them... They're gone! Get it? Gone!
 * They won't get me! Oh God... oh God I don't want to be like them, please, please no, nooo...

(As you come down one of two ramps on either side of a door which has been locked down with some sort of keypad-cinematic).

''The Master Chief approaches the door cautiously. At a noise, he turns around, gun ready to shoot anything around him. After a moment, he turns back to the door, places his gun on his shoulder, and opens the door. When it opens, a dead Marine falls into his arms. The Chief advances a few paces, places the body on the floor gently, and sweeps his Assault Rifle about the room. He notices a helmet lying on the floor, and, crouching, moves swiftly towards it. Once he's there, he surveys the room one more time, places his rifle on the floor, and picks up the helmet. The name JENKINS is stamped across it. There is a large, jagged hole punched through the top of it. The Master Chief shakes his head, and removes a Recorder Chip from inside the Helmet Recorder, near the HUD, and inserts the chip into a socket in his helmet''.

Open Record View (2552.5.27.5:52:56 L).

Pvt. Jenkins, Wallace A.

>Play>

(Helmet cam view. A Marine (Jenkins) looks around the inside of the dropship Victor 933. There are several other Marines seated in the dropship with him. Johnson's Favorite music flip music blares over the cabin speakers).

Private Mendoza: Why do we always have to listen to this old stuff, Sarge?

Sergeant Johnson: Watch your mouth, son. This "stuff" is your history. It should remind you grunts what we're fightin' to protect.

Private Mendoza: Hey... if the Covenant wanna wipe out this particular part of my history, that's fine by me.

Private Bisenti: Yeah... better it than us.

Sergeant Johnson: You ask 'em REAL nice next time you see 'em Bisenti. I'm sure they'll be happy to oblige.

Dropship Pilot (O.S.): LZ looks clear! I'm bringing us down!

Sergeant Johnson: Go go go!

>FFW>>

>PLAY>

The Squad advances through the swamp towards the same structure you are in now

Sergeant Johnson: Stay close Jenkins!

They reach the entrance and sweep their weapons across it, wary.

Sergeant Johnson: Mendoza! Move it up!

Mendoza advances in a crouch, gun at the ready.

Sergeant Johnson: (To Jenkins) Wait here for the Captain and his squad, then get your ass inside.

Private Jenkins: Sir!

Sergeant Johnson: Okay, let's move!

>FFW>>

>PLAY>

(The squad stands around a dead Elite. Its stomach is torn open).

Private Kappus: -which is weird, right? I mean... look at it. Something... scrambled the insides.

Sergeant Johnson: What's that? Plasma scoring?

Private Kappus: Yea... I dunno. Maybe there was an accident. You know, friendly fire or something?

(Captain Keyes approaches the squad).

Captain Keyes: Well what do we have here, Sergeant?

Sergeant Johnson: Looks like a Covenant patrol. Badass Elite units, all KIA.

Captain Keyes: Real pretty. Friend of yours?

Private Kappus: Naw, we just met.

>FFW>>

>Play>

(The squad, along with Captain Keyes and his own squad, stand around a locked door-the one you have just come through).

Captain Keyes: Right. Let's get this door open.

Private Kappus: I'll try Sir. But it looks like these Covenant worked pretty hard to lock it down.

Captain Keyes: Just do it, son.

Private Kappus: Yes, Sir.

''Kappus removes a Spoofer from his pocket and sticks it to the door. He punches a few keys, and the door opens. He waves the squad through. Jenkins takes point through the door, and the rest of the squad fans out around him''.

Private Mendoza: I've got a bad feeling about this...

Sergeant Johnson: Boy, you always got a bad feelin' about something-

Corporal Lovik (O.S.): -Captain, Sarge... can you hear me?!

Captain Keyes: What's going on, soldier?

Corporal Lovik: We've got contacts...lots of them...but they're not Covenant...they're just tearing through us...what the!...ooooohhh...nooooo!!

Sergeant Johnson: Corporal? Do you copy, over? (No response) Mendoza, get your ass back up to Second Squad's position, and find out what the hell is goin' on.

Private Mendoza: But, Si-

Sergeant Johnson: I don't have time for your lip, soldier! I gave you an order.

Private Kappus: Sarge! Listen!

(An odd hissing noise grows louder and louder).

Private Bisenti: What is THAT?

Sergeant Johnson: Where's that comin' from, Mendoza?

Private Mendoza: Everywhere... I don't-there! Mira!

''Mendoza points to a nearby door, which has just exploded outwards. Small squid-like creatures, which are known as (Flood Infection Forms) pour from it''.

Private Riley: Ahh... augh! Get it off! Get it off- augh!

''Riley lies on the ground, one of the Infection Forms attached to his face. Bisenti tries to pull it off him.''.

Private Kappus: Hold still, hold still!

''Kappus pulls the creature off of Riley, who collapses. Kappus tries to hold the creature which is now trying to infect him.''.

Sergeant Johnson: Let 'em have it!

''The Marines open fire, to little effect. Infection Forms are now all around them.''.

Captain Keyes: Sergeant, we're surrounded!

Sergeant Johnson: God Dammit Jenkins, fire your weapon!

Private Jenkins: There are too many, Sarge!

Sergeant Johnson: Don't even THINK about it, Marine!

Private Mendoza: Yo, this is loco!

Captain Keyes: Get back here, Marine! That's an order!

Sergeant Johnson: Jenkins!

''Infection Forms swam the Marines. Captain Keyes and Sergeant Johnson fall, though later it is revealed that Johnson]] survives infection.''

''Infection Forms attack Jenkins and block his helmet cam. After a moment he falls over, and the screen blacks out. After another moment, words flash in red''.

>Unexpected Halt X (WND/INCAP/KIA? Ref.a4 3d.3)

>End Record View (2552.5.27.6:39:23 L)

''The [Chief removes the chip from his helmet, shakes his head, and tosses it to the ground. He stands quickly, gun ready''.

Note: Even though Sergeant Johnson is attacked by Infection Form, he survives because the Flood cannot infect him due to his Boren's Syndrome. How he manages to escape to the surface is explained in the Halo Graphic Novel story: "Breaking Quarantine", and how he escapes Halo in "Halo: First Strike".

Part 02: The Flood
Master Chief escapes the facility, encountering Flood forms and some Covenant infantry struggling to survive.

As the Chief reaches the final elevator and rises to an exit from the structure...

Foe Hammer (radio): This is Echo 419. Chief, is that you? I lost your signal when you disappeared inside the structure. What's going on down there? I'm tracking movement all over the place!

Corporal Lovik: We could use your help...sir.

Private Dubbo: Sir! Thank God you're here! We've been lost out here for hours. After we lost contact with the rest of the mission, we headed for the RV point, and then these....these, things...they ambushed us. We've gotta get out of here!

Foe Hammer (radio): There's a large tower a few hundred meters from your current position. Find a way above the fog and foliage canopy and I can move in and pick you up.

(As the Chief comes near the tower Foe Hammer was speaking of, an odd blue object and a flotilla of Floating Robots descends from the mist. The robots begin to slice away at any nearby Flood, avoiding your Marines. After a few minutes of fighting around the base of the tower, you suddenly find yourself enveloped in a bright gold light, and then appear on top of one of the legs of the tower. The blue object hovers in front of you)

343 Guilty Spark: Greetings. I am the Monitor of Installation 04. I am 343 Guilty Spark. Someone has released the Flood. My function is to prevent it from leaving this installation. But I require your assistance. Come. This way.

(The Chief vanishes in another series of amber flashes)

Foe Hammer (radio): Chief, I've lost your signal! Where'd you go? Chief? Chief!

Well Enough Alone
This is a lot darker place in the rest of the Halo series, but, stay calm, nothing will attack you, just keep track on your motion tracker, lit your headlight.

Walk over to the downed Pelican. Fill up with the ammo, on Easy you will always acquire a Shotgun, but in Normal play through, Bungie have removed it so just fill up the ammo and continue.

Move down the path through the big puddle. A little up ahead, you will find a couple of dead Covenant with two PPs and one Needler. Ignore it; its dead empty. On the other hand, those PPs are fully charged. Ditch your Assault Rifle for one of them.

There is a path leading up towards the ramp right up the Pelican Hill, there you would get an Active Camo, but it's practically useless unless you like to ambush some Grunts.

Aww, the fresh scent of a fully charged directed energy weapon. Move ahead, and you should see another downed covenant dropship,the Brilliant Gift. There is a small group of Grunts and Jackals (about six total). The Grunts are stupid enough to charge straight at you, so switch to your Human Pistol and pump each one a headshot. The Jackals tend to stay back, so time to get that PP ready. Feed each one an Overcharge, and melee them dead (to save Pistol ammo). Once they're gone, keep moving till you reach this sort of ramp made of a large tree root. There is a Jackal nestled in a crook on the other side, so feel free to feed him an Overcharge and a melee. Now go back for your other Fresh PP.

Go across the tree bridge, and you should see a Shade on the other side. Keep moving, and you should see an explosion, and another group of Grunts/Jackals getting their alien asses kicked by (what I hope to be) Marines. Feel free to start unloading Overcharges on anything that moves. Once the main faction has been fried, go in and melee anything that remains. Now go back for your Assault Rifle (chill, you critics, i know what I'm doing!)

Well, if there were any Marines in the first place, they sure bugged out real damn quickly. Ah, well, you need to get used to being alone. Thats how its going to be from now on. Get on that lift and get down into this creepy structure.

When you stop, switch to your AR and get ready to have some fun. In the little antechamber, there is another squad of Grunts/Jackals (where are the Elites?) Newbies prefer to toss a frag grenade among them, but I like to blow away the nearest Grunt to get their attention, then move through the other end of the antechamber and melee the first mofo in front of you, and repeat/rinse until their all dead. Serious fun.

In the next room, grab a PP and send some Overcharges over to the Covenant on the floor. Once most of them are RIPing, grab your AR and get on the floor, and beat the rest to death. Moving on to the next room, you'll see three Jackals;proceed to beat their brains out. In the next hallway, you should see a dead Jackal, a lot of Covie blood, and a small room full of mangled Covenant corpses. Obviously, this place has something thats lurking in its dark corners. Lets hope we don't run into it on a bad day. The next couple of rooms are just as creepy.

Eventually, you'll come to a room that has seen some serious combat. Bullet holes, plasma scoring, blood, mangled bodies, flaming wreckage, complete with one scared-out-of-his-mind Marine. That poor guy obviously saw some bad things going down, and he gives me the creeps even today. I sure hate to say it, but put him out of his misery. Just go in and melee him. After that grim job, go to the other side. You should probably find a fully charged Plasma Rifle (cooler than Fully charged PP!)Ditch your Pistol for it (yes, the Pistol!). Afterwards, get onto the second level, into the next room, and activate the light bridge and down the ramp into...

An interesting thing to note is that when you return to the room the scared marine was in in the next chapter, he will be oddly missing, with no blood and no signs of conflict with the flood. Strange.

The Flood
After a you're ready, load your game and take a good look around the room. There are four doors on the ground level: behind you, in front of you, and on either side of you. To your left, there is a supply of Pistol and AR ammo (guess who its from?) Fill up on AR ammo, then go to the door in front of you.

Right about now, that door will bust open and a wave of those little squid things you saw in the cinematic (Flood Infection Forms) will com for you. A word to the wise: if one catches you with your shields down, you're in trouble. But just unload a few dozen Assault Rifle rounds into the main faction and melee the survivors.

As you finish off the main portion, the door on your right is going to bust open too. Feel free to unload the rest of your AR clip into that swarm.

The door on your left is going bust open now, and this wave is pretty big, so I prefer to toss a Frag Grenade to clear out the first couple dozen, and unload on the rest with your automatic weapon.

Now, the door you came through is going to bust open, revealing a bunch of Infection Forms and a couple of infected Elites. Tip for Pros: pause the game if you are hyperventilating. Once you're back to normal, unleash the pistol on them. The Flood don't have shields, but they pack one hell of a punch, and you want to stay pretty far away from them. Use the pistol on the general area of their chest, as they don't really have a head to aim at. The tentacles make a good target.

After a few seconds, all those nasty Flood should be dead. Head up the ramp you came in by, but watch out for more Combat Forms just waiting to ambush you. If you see them, you could always neatly blast them in the chest with your M6D, but it's more satisfying, in my opinion, to unload the MA5B on full auto. Ah, the joy of 7.62 mm rounds.

In the next room, a pack of Flood are taking on the Covenant. Stay on the upper level and exit through the door to the right. Head through the hallway to find yourself in another roomful of Flood, and this time there are no Covenant to distract them from you. Oh noes! Well, actually, this isn't as dire a situation as it looks like. Stay on the upper level and back into a corner. Fire a few shots to get the attention of the Flood. They'll all gather into your corner, but not one of them will have the brains to try and jump up onto your upper level. Now, between the wall and the upper level, there is a tiny crack. Just big enough for a frag grenade! Well, well! I don't think I have to tell you what to do here. Exit Flood. Drop down, clear out any survivors, and head through the door below the one you entered by. Follow the hall back to the previous room.

The Flood should be done with the Covenant here by now. Peek out of the hall, gun down anything close by with the M6D, and then retreat into the doorway. When the Flood come for you, unleash the AR on them, and rinse and repeat as necessary. Yes, you fools! Chew full metal jacket death! Ahem. Head back through the disgustingly blood-spattered hall to the door on the right. This next room has Covenant and Flood again. Wait a while for all the Covenant to die, then use the same strategy as before on the remaining Flood. Once everything is dead, jump up the stack of Covenant crates to get to the upper level. There might be a few Jackals or Grunts that hid from the Flood up here. Get them with the MA5B.

There's two doors up here. One is near where the Covenant were. We'll go through there eventually, but right now, we want to power up the Energy bridge and head directly across. Hey, the elevator you got down here on! Fancy that! Well, the Flood fancy it, anyway. They come at you in droves, but you can use the same strategy you've been using. Hold the doorway with the AR and grenades, then finish things up with a pistol. This is one of the reasons I dislike the Flood: they make most strategies ineffective, so that there's only one or two ways you can play each fight. Now, get on the elevator and press go! Shoot! I guess the Flood broke it.

Now, go back through the door the Covenant were at. Here we have no enemies (for once), a load of ammo and health (for once) and the M90 Shotgun (4EVAR!). The M90 is your prize; for the rest of the game, it'll be your go-to gun, as the pistol becomes gradually less effective. So, time to make use of the 8-gauge. This reduces the Flood from evil alien space zombies to playthings before your awesome might.

After the next hall, we come to another elevator room. This time, though, you don't need to camp in the doorway! Turn that shotgun on and blaze a path through the Flood. Once you're done, hop on the elevator and—well, sometimes you have to sink before you rise. Right? Well, you're going down. In more ways than one.

The elevator shaft's bottom can be a bit tricky. The Flood have really got you surrounded here. Luckily, a bit of jumping around and M90-ing will see you through the danger. Head to the right side of the door, climb up on the crates, and grab the overshield as soon as those Flood are all dead. Amazingly, in the next room, there's a couple of Marines left. If you are able, you can save them, but mostly, you should just worry about yourself and let them eat the path. By "worry about yourself" I mean "be a cowardly fool". Grab one of the camouflages and start firing some shotgun rounds into the Flood down below, coupled with grenades whenever you feel one is needed. The shotgun, despite its reputation as a close-range nightmare, is actually pretty decent at long ranges too; you just need to aim carefully. After about a clip from it, those Flood should be dead. Once they're all cold, grab the other active camo and head down onto the lower level. Exit through the blown-out door. The next split-path hallway has Flood hiding on either side, so be careful. If you get surrounded, you're pretty much hosed.

The next room is pretty normal. Flood are on the lower and upper levels, but there aren't too many of them. Jump up on the flaming pile of rubble. Grab the ammo and health, then jump up onto the upper floor. Leave through the only open door. Keep going straight across the next room. Enter the next room. You're on top with Flood below. Luckily, you can use the "grenade through the wall gap" trick again, killing most of the Flood here. Drop down and blow away the survivors, then leave through the broken door. The next room is more or less the same as the last one, only now you're on the bottom. A shotgun shell for each Flood form, and you're on your way again. Directly across the room from the door you came in by is an exit. You'll run into a load of Flood in this hall, so open up with the shotgun. You're about to get a chance to refill on ammo, so don't worry about conservation. In the next room is a fallen pillar with health and a lot of needles and shells on top. Stock up, then jump from there to the upper level. The next hall is clear of Flood.

There is a Energy bridge switch in this next area, as well as a bunch of Flood on the ground floor. You could try and clean them out, but I wouldn't recommend it. Extend the Energy bridge and go across to the door. A LOT of Flood will come out—there's at least ten of them in the doorway, they're so bunched up that a couple of grenades can kill them all. Mop up the stragglers with the shotty. Head on through once you're sure everything is dead. Finally, another elevator. The first time I played this, I decided that if this elevator went down too, I would kill myself.

Luckily for you (and me) it goes up. There are a LOT of Marines up here—I count thirteen—and about half of them have shotguns. For a real challenge, try to kill them all. You might as well. They'll just die anyway, and it's good practice for multiplayer.

Anyway, if you aren't a treacherous swine who kills his soldiers, stock up on ammo and health one more time and move out of the base. The Marines know where to go, but they won't last very long. Rule of thumb: stick to the left. When you see a structure with big blinking lights, get close to it and stay close. The Marines, if they aren't already dead, will be soon. Then a flying blue ball, actually 343 Guilty Spark will show up. He will teleport you to the next level.

Interesting to note, by the way: it is possible for two 343 Guilty Sparks to appear in the cutscene—the one who's talking to the Chief and one floating aimlessly in the background. Probably just a glitch.

Another "glitch" is the event is when one of the Marines aiding you is Sgt. Johnson, despite the fact that he is canonically believed dead for some time after. This has happened on a couple of occasions, and is probably because he his character model is counted as a normal Marine in Halo: CE. Privates Bisenti, Jenkins, and Mendoza can also appear, despite having been taken over by the Flood.

Trivia

 * At the start of the level, the Flood which runs in the mist at the big tree and the hill will appear as yellow blips, indicating that they are allies. This may be an error to the motion sensor as later on in the game, they become enemies. Another possible explanation is that the Friend-Or-Foe tags that are still embedded inside the flood forms, which could possibly be mutated marines They are not invincible, if you hit them with enough pistol shots, they go down. This adds to the mystery and tension of the setting, creating an atmosphere of fear in the player.
 * This the only level you can hear a sample of the Flip Music loved by Johnson.
 * On the cutscene of the Jenkins Helmet, you can see that the Infection Forms have holes in them.
 * If you at any point of the first chapter reach the upper level of the swamp, you will find Pvt. Mendoza comfortably standing at attention in the middle of nowhere.
 * During the first chapter of the level, dead corpses will spawn in the swamp when you are at some point of the inside of the installation. If you dare, walk back outside before the Pvt. Jenkins cutscene and bodies of marines will be scattered through the lower level of the swamp. If you can make it to the upper level of the swamp (around Mendoza and such), you will find corpses of Covenant and human flood forms.
 * If you throw a grenade when you're still on the Pelican in the beginning, you will be able to stay in it, eventually landing and you'll get to explore the outside of the map. Also, the Pelican can be moved with melees.
 * During the video of Jenkins helmet, it shows the squad using a spoofer to open up an already unlocked door (note the green around the door).
 * In the Halo 3 level, Floodgate there is another Crazed Marine, though this one won't shoot at you. Instead he points the pistol at his head occasionally, contemplating suicide. Ther is also a crazed marine in halo 2 in the level Sacred Icon who is hidden.
 * The chip you pull from the Marine's helmet says "DO NOT EAT". You need an editing program in which you can view the bitmap to see this.
 * When the Covenant run away from the structure early in the level, there are Assault Rifle shots coming from the structure. To see this fully use the "Stay in Pelican Trick" to get to the higher level of the swamp. Walk towards the entrance and slide down. You will see three MA5Bs pointing at different angles firing wildly for 5 seconds. In HMT (Halo Mod Tools) and HHT (Halo Hacker Tools) they appear under the scenery tag.
 * If you don't kill any of the Grunts or Jackals outside in the swamp, when you meet up with your Marine allies, one of them will have a fully charged Plasma Rifle.
 * At some point in Part 1 of the level, there is an elevator (the same one you use to reach the inside of the complex), which, if activated, explodes into fiery pieces.
 * There is a third elevator shaft which requires a mod to reach. There is no lift in it just a fire where the panel to turn the lift on would be.
 * If you go where the lone marine (The safari-looking marine easter egg with no weapon) stands about 50 meters little ways aways from the marine (barely so you can see him in the mist) look to your right (Where the crashed Spirit is right before the tree bridge crossing) right were the Spirit is look up were there's a steep hill if you have a pistol, zoom in on the hill and their will be a dead Grunt body on that hill. Its not an AI you killed, it's just a Grunt body.
 * This is the last level that Marines make their appearance to assist you in both cinematic and gameplay, although there are still some surviving ones on the Installation.
 * It is a common belief that, since Johnson's and Keyes' squad were the first to be infected, therefore there should be far less human combat forms in the level. In fact, they were not the first infected Marines, with the infection of Second Squad heard over the COM. If other Marine squads were supporting them, and subsequently infected, this explains the numbers nicely.
 * During the Jenkins Helmet Cam cutscene, Mendoza says " I've got a bad feeling about this", to which Johnson Replys "You always got a bad feeling about somethin'" This is nearly identical to a Grunts conversation during the Halo 2 Campaign level The Oracle, one grunt says "Me have a bad feeling about this", another grunt replies "You always had bad feeling, you had bad feeling about this morning's food nipple", the situations in which these conversations take place are nearly the same as well, as flood infection form begin to pour into the room after both conversations.
 * The Helmet Cam cutscene in the Pelican where a marine says "Hey Sarge, why do we have to listen to this old stuff?" is likely a nod to a cutscene in StarCraft where a Terran Marine says to his superiour, "Hey Sarge, why do we have to listen to this old shit?" At which point the Seargants response is the same. Also, the Zerg and flood are both found at this point.
 * During the flood cutscene when the pelican dropship lands you will see the crashed pelican.