Floodgate (Level)

Floodgate is the fifth campaign mission of Halo 3.

Background
It takes place in Voi, Kenya on the continent of Africa on Earth during the Second Battle of Earth and the Battle of Voi. Floodgate is also the first campaign mission where the Flood is encountered.

Shortly after disabling the Anti-Air Gun in The Storm, UNSC Frigates under the command of Lord Hood attack the Covenant controlled Forerunner Dreadnaught. This attempt failed, and it appeared the Dreadnaught survived unscathed. The Covenant activated the Portal to the Ark, temporarily disabling nearby ships. The rest of the Covenant Loyalist fleet follows the Dreadnaught into the portal. Suddenly, a Flood-controlled Covenant CCS-class Battlecruiser comes out of slipspace nearby and crashes into Traxus Factory Complex 09.

In order to eliminate the infestation, John-117 and the Arbiter must overload the crashed cruiser's engines, wiping out the entire city and the Flood with it. To do this, they push back through the factory fighting many flood forms, including Pure Forms. They are aided by the arrival of Rtas 'Vadum and the Covenant Separatist fleet. The Arbiter and Chief push forward to the crashed ship, and the Arbiter holds position while the Chief extracts a recorded message of Cortana stored in a Covenant Storage Device.

Once on the Covenant ship, Shadow of Intent, 343 Guilty Spark extracts Cortana's recorded message from the Covenant Storage Device. UNSC and Covenant Separatists begin to prepare for the voyage to The Ark. And while doing so, Covenant warships begin to glass half of the continent of Africa.

Upon completing it on the Normal, Heroic, or Legendary difficulties, the player will earn the "Cleansing" achievement and 30 Gamerpoints.

Transcript
Note: In co-op gameplay, the Arbiter does not speak, and realtime conversations including him do not play.

Voi, Africa, Earth Second Battle of Earth

It Followed Me Home
{Gameplay}


 * Commander Keyes (COM): "The Flood. It's spreading all over the city."


 * Lord Hood (COM): "How do we contain it?"


 * Commander Keyes (COM): "Find the crashed Flood ship, overload its engine core. We either destroy this city, or risk losing the entire planet."


 * Lord Hood (COM): "Do it."


 * Commander Keyes (COM): "Chief, make your way to the crash site."

Some time later, when entering the city


 * Arbiter: (may vary upon difficulty setting) There are some powerful weapons we've not yet used..


 * Marine Commander (COM): "All squads, report!"


 * Marine Sergeant (COM): "Multiple contacts, unknown hostiles."


 * Marine #1 (COM) : "There! Over there! We're surrounded, Sergeant!"

''Two marines are seen through a wire fence fighting off two Flood Combat forms. They retreat behind the building, the Flood follows.''


 * Marine #1 (COM): "Aaaaah!"

You find a group of Marines in a loading ramp.


 * Marine Sergeant (COM): "Fall back, fall back!"


 * Female Marine #1: "Sergeant, come on!"

Infection Forms and Combat Forms (including the new Brute ones) descend and swarm on the Marines at the ramp, infecting and killing them, forcing the other Marines, the Chief and Arbiter to kill them.


 * Female Marine #1: "What are you doing?!"


 * Marine #2: "That's not the Sergeant. Not anymore."

They fight off the wave of Flood.


 * Arbiter: "Quickly! Let us find their ship. Make short work of this abomination!"

The "Infected Marine" is infested by Flood Infection Forms. N-bCMhBINiA

The Marines accompany the Chief and Arbiter into a building, where a lone Marine fights off a horde of infection forms. {It is possible to save him, but more often than not, he will be mutated before your eyes}


 * Infected Marine: "Uhh! Get off me!"

{If the Marine is not saved, the Infection Form dives into the Marine's chest, causing his back to swell and his skin to change color. He collapses to the floor then Whip Tentacles grow out of his left arm and then the sensors on the Infection Form pop out of his chest wound.}

''Marines are pinned down behind sandbags with lots of Flood surrounding the area. The Chief and Arbiter clear the section of the warehouse.''

{If Marines are saved}


 * Female Marine #2: "It gets inside you, chews you up."


 * Marine #3: "We gotta get outta here."

Reaching the other end of the warehouses, the surviving Marines who joined the Chief and Arbiter hold position after clearing the area.


 * Arbiter: "Wretched parasite! Rise up and I will kill you! Again and again!"

Upstairs, a couple of Marines, one wielding the Flamethrower, tries to combat the Flood as well, but they soon die, leaving the flamethrower for the Chief or Arbiter(Co-op character) to pick up as they head up there and down a hole in the floor into the office areas.


 * Cortana (Cortana Moment): "Chief. {background mumbling} I can't tell you everything...it's not safe. The Gravemind...it knows I'm in the sys... {background mumbling}."

The Chief and Arbiter force their way through another wave of Flood, and find a marine huddling in a corner of the large room used for the Aid Station in the Storm on Voi, with a pistol surrounded by three dead marines.


 * Traumatized Marine: "I didn't have a choice. (pause) The LT, the Sergeant, they were all infected! (Pause) I could see it crawling, SLIMING AROUND BENEATH THEIR SKIN!! (sobs) (pause) And... and then they got up... s-started to talk! OH GOD! THEIR VOICES! Oh, God! No, make them stop! (Pause) I did them a favor. Y-yeah that's it, I helped them (Sobs). (Pause) Maybe... maybe I need to help myself (babbling and weeping)." (As the chief walks out there is the sound of a pistol shot)

With no time to spare, the Chief and Arbiter continue on ahead to the lake bed.

Shadow of Intent
The Master Chief and Arbiter enter the lake bed of Voi where the Scarab was previously fought and destroyed, and three Elite-controlled CCS-class Battlecruisers fly in formation as an Assault Carrier slices overhead from Slipspace, scattering Orbital Insertion Pods.

Shipmaster Rtas 'Vadum (COM): "Hail Humans, and take heed."

{Cutscene}

Shipmaster Rtas 'Vadum (COM): "This is the carrier Shadow of Intent. Clear this sector while we deal with the Flood."

A Major Domo Elite and few SpecOps Elites leap out of the landed Orbital Insertion Pods ahead of you, fighting against the Flood.

{Gameplay}


 * Arbiter: "My brothers, I fear you bring bad news."


 * Major Domo Elite: "High Charity has fallen, become a dreaded hive!


 * Arbiter: "What of the fleet? Has quarantine been broken?"


 * Major Domo Elite: "A single ship broke through our line, and we gave chase."


 * Arbiter: "We had a fleet of hundreds!"


 * Major Domo Elite: "Alas brother...the Flood. It has evolved!"

The Chief, Arbiter and Elites fight their way through the infestation and arrive at the crash site.


 * Commander Keyes (COM): "Chief, the Elites are looking for something. We didn't believe them when they told us."


 * Johnson (COM): "It's Cortana, Chief! She's on that ship! Find her! Get her out!"


 * Major Domo Elite: "Hurry Demon! We seek the same prize. But our Shipmaster will sacrifice All to stop the Flood."

''The Master Chief, the Arbiter, and the remaining Elites fight past dozens of Pure Forms, Combat Forms, and Infection Forms to the massive, burning hulk of the crashed Flood battlecruiser. Up an incline, an ominous hole resides in the ship's hull, leading to the interior.''


 * Arbiter: "We'll hold here. I will let nothing pass."

Master Chief drops in alone.

Infinite Devil Machine

 * Gravemind (Gravemind moment): "Do not be afraid. I am peace...I am salvation."



The Chief reaches a large room


 * Gravemind (Gravemind moment): "I am a timeless chorus, join your voice with mine, and sing victory everlasting!"

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{Cutscene}

''Inside the central chamber of the Flood-infested crashed cruiser. SPARTAN-117 finds 'Cortana' in a small Covenant handheld memory unit.''


 * Cortana: "Chief!"


 * Master Chief: "Cortana?"


 * Cortana: "High Charity, the Prophets' holy city, it's on its way..."

Cortana's projection above the holographic unit flickers and then disappears.


 * Master Chief: "Cortana!"

Suddenly, the humming of a Phantom's gravitic drives are heard, and a Phantom appears over the open chamber. SPARTAN-117 turns and readies his MA5C ICWS Assault Rifle at it while 343 Guilty Spark floats down from the Phantom, which continues to hover overhead.''


 * 343 Guilty Spark: "Reclaimer!"

''A Flood Combat Form appears to the right, and 343 Guilty Spark turns and uses a powerful energy beam on it, destroying it in a single glancing hit. 343 Guilty Spark turns back to the Covenant device where Cortana supposedly is, and begins to interface it with a beam projected from his central eye.''


 * 343 Guilty Spark: "We must act quickly before your construct suffers any further trauma!"

Spartan-117 menacingly grabs 343 Guilty Spark and pulls him away from Cortana's storage unit.


 * Master Chief: "Wait. Leave. Her. Alone."


 * 343 Guilty Spark: "If we do not take this device to a safe location, somewhere I can make repairs..."

343 Guilty Spark continues to try to project his multicolored energy beam into Cortana's storage unit.


 * Master Chief: "On Halo, you tried to kill Cortana. You tried to kill me".


 * 343 Guilty Spark: "Protocol dictated my response! She had the Activation Index and you were going to destroy my installation. You did destroy my installation. Now, I only have one function: to help you, Reclaimer, as I always should have done."

''MC stares wordlessly at 343 Guilty Spark, then slightly motions with Cortana's storage device. 343 Guilty Spark takes Cortana's device away, shooting his beam into it, while the Phantom projects a Gravity Lift. 343 Guilty Spark enters it first and MC reluctantly follows.''

''The scene cuts to an aerial one over the whole town of Voi at a high altitude. Clouds completely obscure the surface of Earth, but part of the crashed Flood-controlled battlecruiser is visible in the distance. 343 Guilty Spark flies away from the surface while two CCS-class Battlecruisers of the Sangheilian Fleet "glass" the town of Voi with plasma beams.''

''The scene cuts to an aerial one above the Forerunner Portal. Its 'wings' are open, and blue energy streams from their tips to the open Slipspace portal drifting ominously above the construct. The scene is quiet, and the moon is in the background. Fighting on Earth has ceased, and the Second Battle of Earth has ended with the departure of the Prophet of Truth's fleet through the Portal hours earlier. Four vessels of the Sangheilian Fleet are gathered above the Portal, and 343 Guilty Spark's Phantom arches to the largest of them: the assault carrier Shadow of Intent.''

''Inside the bridge of the Elite-controlled command vessel, the Assault Carrier Shadow of Intent. Elites and humans are gathered around a long holographic table, with Ship Master Rtas 'Vadum floating on a gravity throne at one end with his Elite attendants, Master Chief and the Arbiter in the middle, and Fleet Admiral Hood and Commander Miranda Keyes at the far side of the table. All are silent except 343 Guilty Spark, who is bobbing at the center of the table and interfacing with Cortana's memory unit with his projector beam.''


 * Rtas 'Vadum: "Will it live, Oracle? Can it be saved?"


 * 343 Guilty Spark: Uncertain. This storage device has suffered considerable trauma. Its matrices are highly unstable.

343 Guilty Spark glances at 'Vadum and Lord Hood


 * Lord Hood: Perhaps one of our technicians-


 * Rtas 'Vadum: That will not be necessary.

Coincidentally, the storage device works again, and a holographic projection of Cortana springs up.


 * Cortana: "Chief!.."


 * 343 Guilty Spark: "Success!"


 * Cortana: "..High Charity...the Prophets' holy city, is on its way to Earth, with an army of Flood. I can't tell you everything. It's not safe. The Gravemind...it knows I'm in the system."

Cortana's image flickers, and SPARTAN-117 turns to the Arbiter and the Elites.


 * Master Chief: "It's just a message."


 * Shipmaster Rtas 'Vadum: "Let it play."

343 Guilty Spark jolts the device with another beam.


 * Cortana: "But it doesn't know about the Portal, where it leads. On the other side, there's a solution; a way to stop the Flood, without firing the remaining Halo rings. "

''Suddenly, Cortana's skin lights with lightning and she gasps in sudden pain and collapses onto the 'floor'."


 * Cortana: Hurry, Chief! The Ark...there isn't much time."

Cortana's recording ends and pauses.


 * 343 Guilty Spark: "I'm sorry..."


 * Rtas 'Vadum: "No matter, Oracle. We've heard enough. Our fight is through the Portal, with the Brutes and the bastard Truth!"

Special Operations Elites around the room raise their forearms and roar in agreement.


 * Lord Hood (exhausted): "Fine. We'll remain here...hold out as long as we can."


 * Rtas 'Vadum : "Did you not hear? Your world is doomed. A Flood army, a Gravemind, has you in its sights! You barely survived a small contamination."


 * Lord Hood: "And you, Ship Master, just glassed half a continent! Maybe the Flood isn't all I should be worried about."


 * Rtas 'Vadum: "...one single Flood spore can destroy a species. Were it not for the Arbiter's counsel, I would have glassed your entire planet!"

Lord Hood angrily motions at 'Vadum, but Miranda Keyes places a hand on his shoulder.


 * Commander Keyes: "Sir, with respect, Cortana has a solution."


 * Lord Hood: "Cortana? Did you see her condition? How damaged she is?"

While Hood and Keyes argue, the Master Chief bends down and observes Cortana's pained collapsed paused figure.


 * Lord Hood: "She could be corrupted for all we know. Her "solution" could be a Flood trap."


 * Commander Keyes: "We should go through the Portal, find out for sure."


 * Lord Hood: "What we should do Commander, is understand - clearly - that this is humanity's final stand - here - at Earth. We go, we risk everything; every last man, woman, and child. If we stand our ground, we might just have a chance."


 * Arbiter: "No! If your construct is wrong, then the Flood has already won."


 * Master Chief: "I'll find Cortana's solution. And I'll bring it back."


 * Lord Hood: "Earth...is all we have left. You trust Cortana that much?"


 * Master Chief: "Sir. Yes sir!"


 * Lord Hood: "This is either the best decision you've ever made or the worst. Hell, if it is, Chief. I doubt I'll live long enough to find out which."

Lord Hood turns, looks wordlessly at Miranda Keyes, and then exits the bridge.

''Inside the Shadow of Intent's hangar bay, both the Elites and the UNSC are readying for battle; the battle through the Portal. While a Phantom drifts into the hangar on the far side, two M12 Warthog LRVs race to the loading elevator, drawing near a group of Marines clustered around some UNSC crates. At uneasy rest opposing the Marines are a Major Domo Elite and a few Minor Elites. The Major Elite's Particle Beam Rifle is resting on the floor. Sergeant Major Johnson, with his arm full with 'stolen' Covenant Carbines brushes past the wordless Elites, scooping to pick up the Major Elite's rifle. The Elites rise in anger around Johnson.''

''Nearby, a pair of Orbital Drop Shock Troopers are joking with each other as the Arbiter passes by, with an acquired M41 Rocket Launcher on his shoulder and a M7057 Defoliant Projector in his hand. The ODSTs and a pair of nearby Marines observe the Arbiter in half-awe, half-disappointment over the loss of their Rocket Launcher, when 343 Guilty Spark drifts through the Marines in tow behind the Arbiter, leaving a Marine speechless. Johnson re-joins the Marines, beginning to hand out Carbines, the scene cuts to the fore of the hangar, where a Pelican Dropship lays before the hangar's energy field.''



''The Chief and Miranda Keyes stand at attention before Lord Hood, who looks at them grimly from the rear of the Pelican as the troop bay door shuts and the Pelican takes off. Keyes glances at SPARTAN-117 wordlessly, and the two leave, going off to their own businesses.''

Hood's Pelican arcs away from the gathered Sangheilian Fleet as the Shadow of Intent powers its engines and thrusts into the Portal, followed by eight CCS-class Battlecruisers, and later four more battlecruisers and The UNSC Foward Unto Dawn (not seen).

Normal Difficulty Walkthrough
At the beginning just backtrack your footsteps to where you fought the Hunters on the previous level. Along the way sub your BR for a Shotgun. Position yourself behind the sandbags with your Shotgun out. Make sure to throw 2 Fragmentation Grenades down the ramp when the Flood show up. Just mow down the Brute Combat Forms first then the Human Combat Forms. If the two Marines behind the sandbags are alive, good job. Go into the building and get your Assault Rifle out and you'll see a Marine run from a horde of Infection Forms. Shoot the one at the ground first then shoot the ones on him. Shoot a full reticule length away from him that way you don't shoot him. When that's said and done, hop down with your Shotgun and mow down any Flood coming near the Marines. The Infection Forms aren't much a threat if there isn't something to distract you. Head across the factory saving any Marines you can and killing ALL the Flood. When you see an area that looks clear, think again. Get out your Shotgun. It's probably low on ammo by now,so take out whatever Flood you can then switch back to the Assault Rifle. When everything is dead, switch your Shotgun for a Battle Rifle and pick the Flamethrower from the corpses. If any marines survived they tend to get stuck and do not proceed to the next area, if you wish for them to keep fighting with you you may need to give them a bit of a push and eventually they will start moving under their own steam (bear in mind it appears you can only take 5 marines to the next section). Proceed through the only you can go and you'll be in a room of twists and bends. Make sure you aim the Flamethrower high or you'll shoot the ground and probably burn yourself. When they're all dead proceed to a room with a scared Marine. Kinda reminds you of the one from the first game doesn't it? He won't do anything but say things of how his squad died. If you want whack him or just leave. You'll be outside and you'll get a cutscene of the Shadow of Intent dropping a few Elites. Help them out if you can, but they'll probably get killed then infected by the Flood. It is possible to kill the majority of the flood combat forms with a BR before triggering the cutscene if you stand on the catwalk to the left immediately out of the door that leads to the wide open area ensuring that the Elites have no immediate threats. Clean house with whatever you have left of the Flamethrower, and if you're lucky, you can find a Shotgun. Replace the Battle Rifle for it and proceed. When you see a ramp, I suggest you hang back a bit. Just literally run forward a bit and then run backwards so the Flood that jump out of the crater won't be on your 12 and 6.

Wait until they get close so you can one-shot them with your Shotgun or melee to conserve ammo. Don't worry about the Infection Forms, they'll just pop when they leap at you.

When all the Flood are dead, go up the ramp and into the factory and if you have a Deployable Cover, drop it. It's a long hallway and if you just sit behind it, the ones with the guns are no threat. Stick a Combat Form in a group with a Plasma Grenade, and you should disperse most of them. When they're done proceed forward to the spot where you found the .50 cal gunner on the last level. Get to the upper level and,with your shotgun,gun them all done. If one of them has a Needler, take it out quickly. They surprisingly have good aim.When you go outside,you'll run into a new Flood form, known as the Pure Form .In it's first stage, the Stalker form, it can do nothing but run around, so it'll evolve into a ranged form, or a tank Form if you give it the time. Throw a frag grenade then one Shotgun should do it good. After that,the Elites finally show up to help. These look kinda strange don't they? They're Assault Elites. Pretty cool, eh? Well anyway, quickly get on the turret and mow down any Flood you can. Pick it up and shoot down any ranged forms or tank forms you can find. When it runs out of ammo let the Elites take care of the rest. Eventually you should be able to see 2 ranged forms bombarding you, obviously you should take them out. Maybe throw a grenade or just run in like stupid, 2-3 well places shots will take 'em down. When the crashed ship comes into view, just run to it, don't worry about the Elites or the Arbiter, they won't come anyway. When you're inside, DON'T SHOOT THOSE SACK-LIKE THINGS! They spawn approximately 25-30 infection forms per sack. Just pick up Cortana and watch the cutscene.

Suicidal Marine
Shortly after you get the Flamethrower, there will be a Marine in the corner talking to himself about his squad's infection by the Flood, and how he just "did them a favor,". After this, he says something about how he should do himself a favor too, and points his gun at his temple, seemingly about to kill himself, although he alternates between this and putting his gun down and shaking.

Trivia

 * At the start of the level just past the area with the SAM (Surface-to-Air-Missile) you can see what appears to be an image of a demon's head, if you look right when you should turn left, on some covenant wreckage.
 * The suicidal marine bears a striking resemblance to the Crazed Marine in Halo: Combat Evolved that shoots you. It should be noted that the player comes across the crazed marine in the first level you fight the Flood and that you come across the suicidal marine in the first level you fight the flood in Halo 3.
 * In the last section of the level, upon entering the infected ship, on the floor after falling down the hole in the ship you will see several elite bodies. some of these seem to have helmets that resemble the commando helmets, but if you look closely you will see that they in fact have combat helmets, with assault helmets fused into the front.  This is either a glitch or somehow-but seemingly unlikely- meant to be. The only exception is the body identical to Rtas Vadum's.  The Body and Shoulder armour of these elites is assault armor.
 * This is the last level where the player stays in Earth.
 * At the very beginning, where it says "It followed me home", walk forward until you see the large crack separating the land. if you zoom in, you will see 2 marines, one with an SMG and one with a Pistol running. They will be followed by 4 flood combat forms. If the marines survive this wave, 6 more will come. Its fun to see how marines fare against the flood. Amazingly, in some cases they will survive this attack. If they do, they will run back the way they came. But if they lose, the surviving flood will either stay where they stand, or they will run back to where they came from. You can help them with grenades and your Battle Rifle but they will most likely die when they get ambushed by flood up ahead.
 * Also, if you look at the long street with the billboard in flames and just before the flood jump on the marines, it looks kind of like that one part in the Halo E3 2007 trailer just before it shows the chief standing in a burning hallway with his assault rifle beginning the start of the third level, Tsavo Highway, when Truth says "your world will burn until its surface is but glass!".
 * It is possible to let the Marines whom you saved in the first half (if any) follow you for the rest of the level. (NOTE: Only tried this in Single-Player.) Just walk halfway through the catwalk (Where the dead flamethrower-wielding Marine is. It leads to the room of the first Cortana transmission.) so that the AI makes the Arbiter follow suit. Then, push a Marine to the first few steps of the stairs. If done correctly, the Marine will walk all the way across the catwalk just like the Arbiter. Do this to the other Marine/s (optional). You then have to proceed by going THROUGH THE HOLE. Don't jump through or break any of the windows! Or the AI will make some, if not most, of them attempt to run directly through the windows, and since the windows have small ledges, they won't be able to get out. (Why the AI doesn't just make the Marines jump is unknown.) So jump through the hole and push your Marines through the doorway the Arbiter passed through. (NOTE: This is the room UNDER the hole, the one with Medical crates.) If done correctly, the Marines should move through the other room to get to the large room with the 2 Field Armories, and follow you for the rest of the level, even fighting the Flood alongside the Elite reinforcements.
 * This level and the level 343 Guilty Spark are the only levels in the Halo series were Marines aid you if fighting against the flood. (Though the level "Covenant" does feature some combat sequence where the Marines or ODSTs assist you in combating the Flood)