The Pillar of Autumn (Halo: Reach level)

For more articles of the same name, see The Pillar of Autumn (disambiguation).

The Pillar of Autumn is the tenth campaign level of Halo: Reach. The level takes place on August 30, 2552, near the ship-breaking yards at Aszod.

Plot
The Pelican carrying the remaining members of Noble Team is critically damaged and Carter-A259 is badly wounded. Carter orders SPARTAN-B312 and Emile-A239 to complete the courier mission without him, while he lures the Covenant away from the pair by using the Pelican as a decoy. Emile-A239 and SPARTAN-B312 execute a low-altitude jump from the Pelican outside of the dockyard and are forced to fight their way to the facility. After battling through several Covenant outposts, the two SPARTAN-IIIs are forced to continue their journey through a cave system to circumvent a large group of Covenant forces. Upon reaching the other side, however, they are confronted by a Scarab. Realizing that the Scarab's presence prevents Emile and Noble Six from moving on, Carter rams it with the Pelican, knocking it off a cliff and sacrificing himself in the process. The two SPARTAN-IIIs continue their journey and eventually reach the Aszod ship breaking facility.

The two SPARTAN-IIIs are then hailed by Captain Jacob Keyes, whose cruiser, the Pillar of Autumn, is moored at the facility, and are ordered to clear a landing zone for the Captain, who will use a Pelican to retrieve the Package himself. Emile mans the facility's Mass Driver to provide covering fire against incoming Covenant Phantoms, while Noble Six and surviving Marines engage the Covenant on the ground. Once cleared, Keyes' Pelican arrives and Captain Keyes retrieves the Package from Noble Six. As the package is handed over, a CCS-class Battlecruiser is revealed to be moving in on the Pillar of Autumn. Keyes orders Emile to fire on the advancing Battlecruiser, however, before Emile can oblige a Phantom attacks the landing zone, destroying one Pelican and deploying a group of Sangheili warriors onto the Mass Driver. Emile successfully kills one of the Sangheili with his shotgun before a second sneaks up behind him and impales him with an energy sword. Still alive, Emile draws out his kukri and stabs the Sangheili in the neck.

Keyes returns to the landing platform and offers Noble Six transportation to safety. The SPARTAN-III refuses and offers to defend the Captain as he heads towards his ship. Using the Mass Driver, Six defends the site and stalls the Covenant Cruiser just as it is about to glass the area. After successfully halting the cruiser's attack, Noble Six looks on as the Pillar of Autumn takes off and heads towards space to escape Reach.

Transcript
{Cutscene}

Auntie Dot's satellite view shows Noble Team's Pelican being pursued by two Banshees and a Phantom.

Aszod, Eposz

August 30, 2552 16:52 Hours


 * Auntie Dot (COM): "Noble Leader, seek immediate medical attention."

The view zooms in and follows the Pelican.


 * Auntie Dot (COM): "Noble Leader, please respond."

''Cuts to the cockpit of the Pelican, with Noble Six moving closer to the pilot seat. Suddenly, several plasma bolts hit the Pelican, impacting Noble Six, flickering the SPARTAN's shields. The view turns to the troop bay of the Pelican, and Emile-A239 is seen firing his Grenade Launcher at the two Banshees. Emile concentrates fire on a single Banshee. The grenade detonates close by, and the EMP disables the Banshee, which swoops up and crashes into its wingman. Both are taken out, but the Phantom still pursues. The view switches back to the cockpit, and moves in front of Six. Carter, critically wounded but still in the pilot seat, takes off his helmet and throws in on to the ground. Blood splatters cover the cockpit window.''


 * Auntie Dot (COM): "Please respond, Sierra Two-Five-Nine. You are alarming me."

''Carter-A259 turns back to Noble Six. His face is bloodied, and his armor is charred from plasma fire.''


 * Commander Carter-A259: "Not sure how long she's gonna stay together. Skies are jammed up anyways. Gotta get you off her, Lieutenant."

''View faces a critically injured Noble One. Noble Six, grabbing the pilot chair, looks up.''


 * Noble Six: "Sir, you-"


 * Carter-A259: "Don't wanna hear it. Get the Package to the Autumn."


 * Noble Six : "Done."


 * Carter-A259: "Not yet, it's not... Emile, go with him/her. It's a ground game now."

''The view switches to Emile, pumping his left shoulder with his fist. In the background, two more Banshees appear.''


 * Warrant Officer Emile-A239: "It's been an honor, sir."


 * Carter-A259: "Likewise... I'll do what I can to draw their fire."

Six turns and walks to the troop bay.


 * Carter-A259: "Six. That AI chose you... She made the right choice."

''The Pelican turns and make the pursuing aircraft out of sight. Six and Emile position at the Pelican's tail, ready to jump off. Holding the AI data storage unit, Six crouch down as Emile grips the Pelican. Carter counts down with his fingers.''


 * Carter-A259: "On my mark!"

Carter counts down to zero.


 * Carter-A259: "Mark!"

''Six and Emile jump down, and the view switches to Six's point of view. They slide down a canyon, energy shields depleting. They come to a stop. Six looks up as his/her and Emile's shields recharge. Carter's Pelican flies over them, more Banshees in hot pursuit. Six turns back, checks the the package for damage, then places the AI data storage unit on his/her back. They look up to the road up ahead.''

{Gameplay}

Once More unto the Breach
Six and Emile continue through the narrow crack until they reach a cliff edge, overlooking a large area.


 * Emile-A239: "Still with us, Commander?"


 * Carter-A259 (COM): "Stay low, let me draw the heat. You just deliver that Package."


 * Emile-A239: "There's our destination, Six: Pillar of Autumn. Race you to her."

''Carter's Pelican, still being pursued by Banshees, zooms away in a distance. After clearing the distracted Covenant troops, Emile-A239 and Six come upon a pair of Mongooses.''


 * Emile-A239: "Got transport. You think we got time to walk over there?"

''After traveling a short distance, the SPARTANs reach another open area. Heavy Orbital Insertion Pods drop and Covenant troops emerge from them. To make the situation worse, a Scarab drops from the sky.''


 * Emile-A239: "Scarab! Do not engage! Gun it, Six!"

If Six dismounts his Mongoose:


 * Emile-A239: "Six! Get back on to the Mon!"

Carter's Pelican reappears and distracts the Scarab by shooting its back.


 * Carter-A259 (COM): "Get the Package out of there. Remember your objective!"

''More Orbital Insertion Pods drop, and another Scarab falls from the sky as the first one walks over the cliff. After fleeing from the battlefield, the SPARTANs come upon a broken bridge.''


 * Emile-A239: "The bridge ahead is out, Six. We're gonna have to jump it!"


 * Emile-A239: "Wraith! Heading our way!"

''A Phantom flies overhead as the Mongoose makes a successful jump. Barricades blocks the vehicle's way. Forced to leave their vehicle, Emile and Noble Six continue on foot.''

This Town Isn't Big Enough

 * Carter-A259 (COM): "Enemy forces blocking the road up ahead."


 * Emile-A239: "Got a Wraith! Southeast side!"

After clearing or rushing through the area, Six and Emile go through a cave.


 * Carter-A259 (COM): "Noble! You got a...situation."

{Cutscene}

''A Scarab suddenly walks down in front of Emile and Six. ''


 * Emile-A239: "Mother... We can get past it, sir!"

Emile steps back in hesitation.


 * Carter-A259 (COM): "No you can't. Not without help."


 * Emile-A239: "Commander, you don't have the firepower!"

''After noticing the two Spartans, the Scarab charges its main cannon, aiming at Six and Emile. Carter's Pelican flies over and shoots at it. The Scarab is distracted and stops charging its cannon.''


 * Carter-A259 (COM): "I've got the mass."


 * Emile-A239: "Solid copy. Hit 'em hard, boss."


 * Carter-A259 (COM): "You're on your own, Noble... Carter out."

''Carter rams the Pelican into the Scarab's side as it charges its main cannon again. The Scarab's side bursts into flames, explosions rocking within it. The Scarab lets out a dying scream and struggles to stay on the cliff. More explosions rock it and it falls down the cliff. A loud explosion is heard indicating its destruction. The view switches back to the two SPARTAN-IIIs.''


 * Emile-A239: "Crevice to the east. Let's go."

Six nods as he/she readies his/her weapon.

{Gameplay}

''Emile and Six enter another cave. The bodies of dead Marines litter the cave.''


 * Emile-A239: "Buggers. Go quiet."

''Drones attack the duo, but with skill and superior firepower, the SPARTANs take the Covenant troops down. After taking down several Skirmishers, Emile and Six find the cave's exit. The Sinoviet facility is seen, with the grounded and scrapped being an enormous battlefield between UNSC and Covenant troops.''


 * Marine: "SPARTANs! Over here!"


 * Emile-A239: "Understood. We've got to get to the dry dock. Priority One."


 * Captain Keyes (COM): "This is Captain Keyes of the Pillar of Autumn. We are tracking you, Noble, but we've begun our launch sequence. Proceed to dry dock, Platform D. I'll be on it myself to receive the Package."


 * Emile-A239: "We'll be there, sir."


 * Captain Keyes (COM): "You'd better be, soldier, because my countdown has no abort."

''They clear the front of the shipyards and proceed into the facility. Soon they link up with some more Marines fighting another mass of Covenant''


 * Marine #2: "Sierra, you made it!"


 * Emile-A239: "So far. Tac eval?"


 * Marine #2: "They got this facility covered from all angles. We'll give you covering fire. Take the flank. There has to be a way around."


 * Emile-A239: "We'll find it.  You just keep 'em busy."


 * Marine #2: "You got it, sir."

''Six and Emile penetrate deeper into the facility, fighting past numerous Covenant soldiers. Along the way they encounter a pair of Marines''


 * Marine: "Spartans! Dry dock's through that structure across the way.  Punch through. We'll back you up."

Six and Emile continue, fighting more Covenant, including a pair of Hunters.

As the player moves up a flight of stairs:


 * Captain Keyes (COM): "Keyes to Noble Team. We're running out of time here, Spartans."


 * Emile-A239: "Solid copy, sir. We're close."

The Spartans finally exit the warehouse and see the massive Autumn in view, firing its 50mm Autocannons.

Keyes

 * Emile-A239: "What's the situation?"


 * Marine #3: "We rigged the mass driver up top. We lose that, the Autumn will have no covering fire. She'll never make orbit."


 * Emile-A239: "Noble to Keyes: we're at the pad."


 * Captain Keyes (COM): "Copy, Noble. My Pelican's ready. Clear an LZ and I'll meet you there."


 * Emile-A239: "Will do, sir. All right, Six... This is it. I'll man the big gun. You just get to the platform and deliver that Package."

Noble Six fights off numerous waves of Covenant Infantry, eventually clearing the platform for Keyes.


 * Emile-A239 (COM): "Noble to Keyes: Pad is clear."


 * Captain Keyes (COM): "On my way."


 * Emile-A239 (COM): "Six, time for you to leave. Get the package to the pad... and get your ass off this planet. I've got your back."


 * Captain Keyes (COM): "This is Keyes, on hot approach to Platform Delta."

Keyes' Pelican approaches the platform.
 * Captain Keyes (COM): "Ready to take possession of the package, Noble."

The player reaches the platform.

{Cutscene}

Captain Keyes steps off the Pelican and meets up with Noble Six.

or
 * Captain Keyes: "Good to see you, Spartan. Halsey assured me I could count on you."
 * Captain Keyes (Legendary): "Good to see you, Spartan. Catherine assured me I could count on you."


 * Noble Six: "Not just me, sir."

Noble Six hands over Cortana to Captain Keyes.


 * Captain Keyes: "They'll be remembered."

''Keyes turns back towards the Pelican but stops short as a massive shadow appears in the sky. A CCS-class Battlecruiser pushes through the clouds, advancing towards the Pillar of Autumn.''


 * Captain Keyes: "Cruiser, adjusting heading for the Autumn! Noble Four, I need fire on that cruiser or we're not getting out of here! Do you copy?"


 * Emile-A239 (COM): "You'll have your window, sir."


 * Captain Keyes: "Bridge, this is the Captain. We have the Package. Returning to the Autumn, over."


 * Marine (COM): "Copy that."

''Captain Keyes and the marines enter the Pelican, Noble Six, alarmed of a sudden sound of Phantoms, draws a Designated Marksman Rifle. A Phantom appears close by, and fires plasma bolts from its forward turret at the two Pelicans. The Pelican escorting Keyes' Pelican is shot down and crashes on the platform Noble Six is standing on. Six dives away from the burning wreck, and Keyes' Pelican flees. Six readies his/her weapon and turns as the Phantom wheels overhead towards the mass driver, but is forced to duck as the starboard door gunner fires a barrage of plasma at the SPARTAN. The Phantom drops off a pair of Zealots by the Mass Driver. One Zealot is visible to Noble Six, the second is concealed by the Mass Driver. Emile yells in surprise. The first Zealot raises its Energy Sword, but is knocked off its feet by a shotgun blast and drops it, falling on its back to the deck. Emile stands, raises his shotgun, and fires again point-blank into the fallen Zealot's chest, killing it.''


 * Emile-A239: " Who's next?!"

The second Zealot impales Emile from behind with an Energy Sword, then pulls the Spartan off the blade, holding Emile by the throat.


 * Emile-A239: "I'm ready! How 'bout you?!"

''Still alive, Emile pulls out his kukri from his shoulder pauldron sheath and stabs the Zealot in the throat before dragging them both off the MAC. Keyes' Pelican returns to Platform Delta.''


 * Marine: "Lieutenant, get on board! We gotta get the hell out of here!"


 * Noble Six: "Negative. I have the gun."

Six turns away from the Pelican.


 * Noble Six: "Good luck, sir."


 * Captain Keyes: "...Good luck to you, Spartan."

Keyes' Pelican leaves.

{Gameplay}


 * Captain Keyes (COM): "Noble Six, I need you to get on that mass driver and cut me a path."

If the player stalls:


 * Captain Keyes (COM): "We need you on that gun, Noble.  Or the Autumn ' s sitting in her grave."

''Six moves towards the building housing the mass driver, but is confronted by a Sangheili Field Marshall and an accompanying squad of three Zealots. The four powerful Elites are in turn guarded by several Grunts and an Engineer (on higher difficulties). Noble Six fights his/her way through and mans the mass driver.''


 * Captain Keyes (COM): "Cruiser, moving into position. I need it dead!"

Waves of Phantoms and Banshees attack the mass driver.


 * Captain Keyes (COM): "Mass driver won't crack those shields! Steady, Spartan!"

The Cruiser begins to charge its ventral energy projector.


 * Captain Keyes (COM): "Fire! Now, Lieutenant! Hit her in the gut!"

If Six stalls:


 * Captain Keyes (COM): "You have to fire now, Spartan! We won't survive another hit!"

If Six stalls even more: 


 * Captain Keyes (COM): "Aim for the glassing port!"

''Noble Six fires. The mass driver slug hits the ventral energy projector on the Cruiser.''

{Cutscene}

The magnetic fields guiding the plasma destabilize, causing a massive explosion that rocks the ship.


 * Captain Keyes (COM): "Good guns, Spartan. All stations: brace for cast-off."

The Pelican docks in time, as a few Marines run by the troop bay.

Easter Egg: At this point, if the right thumbstick is held to the right, one can see a SPARTAN-II inside a cryo-chamber.

Noble Six climbs down the ladder leading to the mass driver as the Pillar of Autumn'' launches into the sky using atmospheric rocket pods. The Covenant cruiser crashes down in the background.''


 * Captain Keyes (COM): "This is the Pillar of Autumn. We're away. And the Package is with us."

Six walks down the valley as the Autumn'' flies off into space. The view pans down to Six's legs and the destroyed cruiser.''

Fades to black.

''Fades in to the Soell Star System. The Pillar of Autumn exits slipspace. The cruiser flies over view.''

September 19, 2552 01:20 Hours


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


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

The Autumn slowly drifts off towards Threshold and Halo.

Credits roll.

Easter Eggs

 * When Keyes' Pelican docks with the Autumn in the end cutscene, one can see a SPARTAN-II inside a cryo-chamber. In the November 2010 issue of GameInformer, an interview with Marcus Lehto confirmed that the Spartan is in fact John-117.
 * By using Pan Cam, it is possible to see a hidden Spartan in one of the Autumn's hangar bays.
 * The Hidden Weapons on The Pillar of Autumn easter egg can be found on this level.
 * There is a small Seventh Column emblem on Captain Keyes uniform.

Glitches

 * If Emile drives the Mongoose over the broken bridge, he may not always go fast enough to clear the gap. However, he is scripted to abnormally lurch forward should he not go fast enough. This can still cause Emile to miss the bridge completely and fall into the canyon.
 * Emile's shields are curiously still intact after death, similar to the Elites next to him (which he killed). They will flare up and drain, but only one of the Elite's shields recharges. See Dead Shielded Emile.

Reference

 * The opening chapter of the level is a reference to the first Halo: Reach ViDoc released, Once More Unto the Breach.
 * The second chapter of the level is a reference to the chapter This Town Ain't Big Enough for Both of Us, from Halo 2's level, Metropolis, which is the first time in any Halo game in which the player could engage a Scarab in combat, whereas the second chapter of 'The Pillar of Autumn' is the last.
 * The last chapter of the level is a reference to the Halo: Combat Evolved level of the same name.
 * It should also be noticed that the amount of thrusters on the back of the Pillar of Autumn differ from the amount in Halo: Combat Evolved, with the Reach version having 14, and the Combat Evolved version having 10. This is another 7 reference: 14/2=7.

Mistakes

 * The Longswords seen escorting the Pillar of Autumn to Installation 04 in Halo: Combat Evolved's opening scene are missing in the ending cutscene.
 * For some reason, if one looks at the space background in the last cutscene, the Soell System is shown to be located outside of the Milky Way Galaxy.

Miscellaneous

 * The maps Holdout and Boneyard are based on this level.
 * This level shares the same name as the first level of Halo: Combat Evolved, making "The Pillar of Autumn" both the first and last level of the entire Halo series (if one doesn't count "Lone Wolf").
 * There are Cargo Trucks and 18-Wheeler Cabins that can be driven with or without Emile at the beginning of the level, and they can easily make the jump across the broken bridge.
 * The troops on-board Captain Keyes' Pelican are UNSC Marines. This marks a rare appearance of Marines in the game, which centers on the battles of Noble Team supporting the UNSC Army on Reach.
 * When clearing the platform for Keyes and when using the mass driver cannon, the player can see two Scarabs alongside Wraiths and Ghosts fighting Warthogs and Scorpions in the background.
 * If the player does not shoot at the CCS-class Battlecruiser with the Mass Driver, the ship will glass the area. When it does, the screen turns white, and you will hear your character's death scream.
 * According to Marcus Lehto, in the Halo: Reach Legendary Commentary, the dialogue between Keyes and Cortana is the original recording from Halo: Combat Evolved. Also, the Halo depicted is the original one as well, unaltered from Halo: Combat Evolved.
 * It is rather odd that Carter-A259 is injured despite the fact there are no bullet holes on the window to show that he was shot by plasma fire and almost impossible to have the pursuing Banshees and Phantom hit him.
 * This is one of four levels where the player can operate a forklift.
 * The Marathon symbol engraved on the side of the Autumn is nowhere to be seen. However, there is now a Seventh Column symbol painted on the hull.