Tayari Plaza

Tayari Plaza is a Halo 3: ODST campaign level. It is the first level to be played from Buck's point of view, and also the first flashback level in the game. Completing this level on Normal or above unlocks the Tayari Plaza achievement as well as the Buck character for Firefight mode.

Summary


Directly after the drop, with the aftereffects of the in-atmosphere Slipspace rupture washing over the city, Buck survives a rough landing and moves toward Dare's crash site in Tayari Plaza through hordes of Covenant. Scattered Marines provide limited assistance. When he arrives, Dare is nowhere to be found. Instead, Buck is confronted by a Covenant Engineer holding the charred remains of her helmet. Romeo appears and kills the creature, and the resulting explosion propels the helmet into a nearby building for the Rookie to eventually find. Unsure of Dare's fate, Buck and Romeo decide to scrap the mission, find their squad, and get out of the city.

Transcript
{Cutscene}

BUCK

Tayari Plaza

Immediately after drop

The sound of the Slipspace rupture opening can be heard.:

''View opens on one of the Superintendent's cameras (location labeled as Lumumba) just as the shockwave from the Slipspace rupture passes through the city. The screen adjusts to the brightness, and the air is still full of blue particles from the rupture. From a camera below the Superintendent watches two SOEIVs drop in, one of them bounces off a building, deflects into a second and crashes upside down, the other pod goes straight behind the second building. The Superintendent zooms in on the first pod, its avatar showing a sad face.''


 * Dare (COM): "Squad, what's your status? You still with me, Buck?"


 * Buck: "Yeah. Give me a sec."


 * Dare (COM): "I hit pretty hard. My hatch won't open. How about yours?"

Buck's hatch opens and he falls out of his pod.


 * Buck: "Ah! (sarcastically) Works great."


 * Dare (COM): "Right. When you get done fooling around, I could use some help."


 * Buck: "Did I...do something wrong? Because the only thing I regret about you and me? Not knowing you were a spook when we first met. I would have been a lot less charming."


 * Dare (COM): "That's what I miss most about you, Buck. The way your mouth's always move a little faster than your brain. Look, don't start about my job. We both agreed to end it."

Buck tries to take out his Assault Rifle, but it is stuck.


 * Buck: "That was years ago, Veronica! I'm (grunt) a little (grunt) fuzzy (grunt) on the..."

He finally gets his Assault Rifle out.


 * Buck: "...details. Must have met a lot of other saps since then. Why pick me for this safari?"


 * Dare (COM): "First, you're the best soldier I know, and second... You don't really remember, that night? What you asked me in the morning?"

''A Phantom flies overhead. Buck looks up.''


 * Buck: "I remember not getting an answer..."


 * Dare (COM): "Say again Buck? You're breaking up."


 * Buck: "I said stay put! I'm on my way!"

{Gameplay}


 * Dare (COM): "We missed our LZ. This grid is packed with Covenant. Be careful."


 * Buck: "I appreciate the concern."

Buck cocks his Assault Rifle.


 * Dare (COM): "Won't be much of a rescue if you're dead."

After fighting through a group of Covenant, Buck comes across two Marines behind a destroyed Warthog.


 * Private First Class Chips Dubbo: "Trooper! Over here!"


 * Private First Class Chips Dubbo: "I saw your pod hit... You're one lucky S.O.B."


 * Buck: "See any more come down?"


 * Dubbo: "Nah, negative! But I didn't see much of anything after that flash. Uh, but listen! Some of these buildings are open. Should be able to get inside, flank the Covenant on the streets."


 * Buck: "Roger that, thanks!"

In the building on the second floor, Buck finds various Elites and Brutes dead.


 * Superintendent: "TOLL ZONE. PLEASE, SLOW DOWN."


 * Buck: "What the hell happened here?"


 * Superintendent: "FINAL NOTICE. BILL PAST DUE."

After battling through more Covenant forces, Buck comes across more Elite and Brute corpses.


 * Buck: "Veronica, what's with all the dead Elites?"


 * Dare (COM): "What do you mean?"


 * Buck: "It's like a family feud, like they were killed by Brutes. Is there something I should know?"


 * Dare (COM): "It's classified."


 * Buck: "Huh, some things never change."

Buck comes across a Deployable Lookout Tower with some various Jackals and Grunts around it.


 * Buck: "Got a little Jackal problem!"


 * Dare (COM): "An overcharged Plasma Pistol shot will neutralize their shields, should also take down a Brute's armor."


 * Buck: "Oh yeah? Where were you a minute ago?"


 * Dare (COM): (irritated) "Still trapped inside my pod."

If Buck lingers around the door without opening it:


 * Buck: "Gotta get through this door. Should be a switch around here somewhere."

After opening the door Buck finds a group of Marines armed with Silenced SMGs around a destroyed Warthog, taking fire from Covenant on higher ground, soon getting killed.

If Buck goes left to the building, he'll find a female Marine taking cover.


 * Marine: "Trooper, we're pinned down! Flank through this building, hit 'em from behind!"


 * Dare (COM): "Buck, location?"


 * Buck: "Almost there! What's wrong?"


 * Dare (COM): "Multiple hostiles closing in on my position. Listen carefully, if I don't make it..."


 * Buck: "Whoa! Hang on, I'll be right there!"


 * Dare (COM): "Too late, they spotted me!"


 * Buck: "Damn it, no! Veronica? Talk to me! Don't move! I'm coming, you hear?"

A pair of Hunters emerges from the set of doors on the other side of the area.


 * Buck: "Hunters?! No, I do not have time for this! Turn around you bastards, let me shoot you in the back."

After clearing the area of Covenant and proceeding through another door, Buck arrives at Dare's location.


 * Superintendent: "ATTENTION TRAVELER! LOST ITEM CAN BE CLAIMED ON... LOWER LEVELS.""


 * Dare's SOEIV comes into view, under attack by three Grunts. 


 * Buck: "There's her pod, now I just need to find a way down..."

After dispatching the Grunts he approaches her pod and tries to open the door.

{Cutscene}


 * Buck: "Arrgh! I'm here...I got ya..."

''Buck manages to shove the hatch off the pod, but it is empty. Suddenly, an Engineer pops out at Buck.''


 * Buck: "Aw, nuts."

The Engineer gets closer to Buck, who falls over backwards, and a blue light appears from its helmet.


 * Buck: "Whoa, whoa!"

Buck sees Dare's damaged helmet in one of its tentacles.


 * Buck: "Whoa!"

''A sniper rifle goes off, the Engineer dies, Romeo is revealed to have taken the shot. Romeo waves to Buck, who returns it.''

''Buck gets up, the Engineer starts to shake and starts to give off a high pitched whine, Buck dives for cover and it explodes, propelling Dare's helmet into the air. The Superintendent tracks the helmet.''


 * Superintendent (on-screen): LOST-AND-FOUND ITEM! CALCULATING TRAJECTORY...

The Superintendent finds that the helmet will be launched through a window.


 * Superintendent (on-screen): OPENING WINDOW SHUTTER!

The Superintendent's avatar shows a happy face.


 * Buck: "What the heck was that? You ever seen one before?"

''Romeo doesn't respond. Buck takes his helmet off.''


 * Buck: "Hey, Romeo! You got your ears on?"

Romeo shrugs.


 * Buck: "Oh, I get it. Permission to speak, smart ass."


 * Romeo: "No, I don't know what it was, but it was gonna grease your ass good. Just like it did the Captain."


 * Buck: "Yeah, maybe. You hear from Mickey, Dutch?"

Buck investigates a piece of the Huragok's armor, with Dare's stomach armor plate attached to it, stuck in a wall.


 * Romeo: "Negative."


 * Buck: "The Rookie?"

Romeo shakes his head.


 * Buck: "We need to get above this crap, link up with the b-net, one of our drones must have seen where they hit."


 * Romeo: "So, we're poppin' smoke on the lady's mission? She ever tell you what she wanted?"


 * Buck: "No... never. Doesn't matter. All I care about now is gettin' my men out of this city. Even you."

''Buck puts his helmet back on, and the level ends. Screen fades to black.''

Trivia

 * Oddly, Buck has a radio conversation with Dare at the beginning of the level despite getting hit with an EMP just before he landed. If the EMP had been able to disable Buck's drop pod, it should have also shorted his radio. It is possible that he was using his HUD radio to communicate rather than the one in the pod.
 * Throughout the entire level, the sky is filled with blue fog and ionized particles, residue from the Carrier's in-atmosphere Slipspace jump.
 * Buck soon comes across dead Elites on his way to Dare. A total of fourteen dead Elites are on this level, another possible reference to the number seven; 14/2 = 7.
 * In the area where Buck mentions the "family feud" between Brutes and Elites, the wall graffiti to the right of the road says "Believe," a reference to the Halo 3 Believe ad, as seen here.
 * The "family feud" noted by Buck and the dead Elites encountered are due to the fact that just after the Prophet of Regret jumped away, reinforcements sent by the Prophet of Truth arrived and assumed control over the battle. The Brutes not only overtook the Elites previously in command but also executed any Elites stationed on and above the planet. This was a part of Truth's complex socio-political scheme for the Covenant that would culminate with the beginning of the Great Schism two weeks later.
 * Among the group of dead Elites is one in an Assault Harness despite the story being Halo 2-era. The Assault Harness may have already been in use among Special Operations Elites strictly for covert missions/operations, which might explain why this particular armor permutation is present during the Battle of Mombasa only during the events of Halo 3: ODST.
 * Near the second group of dead Elites are two deactivated Energy Swords, the only swords in the entire game. This is also a reference to dual wielding swords, an ability not yet possible. There is also an Ultra among this group under the overpass. It is one of only three Elites holding the rank of Ultra in the whole game.
 * In the area with the pinned Marines, if one head left, one can find some papers on the ground with Bungie members on them.
 * The Marines pinned in the plaza before the Hunter fight are the only Marines wielding Silenced SMGs by default in this game.
 * Engineer that Romeo kills can be seen to the left of Dare's drop pod before the ending cutscene is triggered. Only its armor is visible; if shot or meleed it will react like a fixed metal object and will not take damage.
 * Buck describes linking up with the "bee-net," likely an abbreviation for "BattleNet," the information network of UNSC military units. It is also a reference to B.net, the colloquial name for Bungie's website.
 * The Firefight level Crater is based on this level.