Cairo Station

Summary
Cairo Station is the first level in Halo 2 where enemies are encountered. As the Master Chief, battle against enroaching Covenant forces on the titular orbital platform. Your efforts culminate in a decisive battle against Elites guarding a bomb meant to destroy the station.

Enemies Encountered

 * Elites (Minor, Major, Ranger)
 * Grunts (Minor, Major, Gunner)
 * Drones

Weapons

 * Battle Rifle
 * SMG
 * Magnum
 * Shotgun
 * Turret
 * Plasma Pistol
 * Plasma Rifle
 * Needler

Mission Objectives

 * Repel Covenant Boaders
 * Find the Covenant Bomb

First Cinematic
{MC and Johnson step from the tram into a crowd of cheering marines, robot cameras hover around}

Master Chief: "You told me there wouldn't be any cameras."

Sergeant Johnson: "And you told me you were gonna wear something nice. Folks need heros, Chief. It gives 'em hope. So, smile, would ya? While we still got something to smile about."

{they walk to the end of the room, blast doors open, fade to white}

{fade in, Brutes walk the Elite Commander out onto the ledge, Covenant have gathered on the walkway}

Grunts: "Her-e-tic! Her-e-tic!"

{they reach the edge, we see the statium seats filled with roaring Covenant, the Brutes fix the Elite's arms onto floating cuffs}

Tartarus: "You've drawn quite a crowd."

Elite Commander: "If they've come to hear me beg, they will be disappointed."

Tartarus: "Are you sure?"

{the crowd cheers as energy beams hit the Elite on either side, he shakes with pain, fade to white}

{fade in on the Cairo's bridge, dozens of Navy officers cheer as MC and Johnson approach Lord Hood at the end}

{they salute}

Lord Hood: "Gentlemen, we're lucky to have you back." {an officer whispers in his ear} "Go ahead, Cortana."

{Cortana's avatar appears on a nearby holotank}

Cortana: "Another whisper, sir, near Io. We have probes en route."

Lord Hood: "I apologize, but we're going to have to make this quick."

Cortana: {looking in their direction} "You look nice."

Master Chief: "Thanks." Sergeant Johnson: {simultaneously} "Thank you."

{they look at each other}

Lord Hood: "Sergeant Major, the Colonial Cross is awarded for acts of singular daring and devotion, for a soldier of the United Earth Space Corps." {he places the medal on Johnson's uniform}

{fade to white, fade in on Tartarus' face}

Tartarus: "There can be no greater heresy! Let him be an example for all who would break our oath!"

{The crowd cheers. Tartarus barks an order, and two Brutes grab onto the Elite's now blackened armor and pull. Fade to white.}

{Fade in, a woman joins MC and Johnson.}

Lord Hood: "Commander Miranda Keyes. Your father's actions were in keeping with the highest traditions of military service. His bravery in the face of impossible odds reflects great credit, upon himself, and the UNSC. The Navy has lost one of its best." {he hands her a medal, fade to white}

{fade in, the naked Elite hangs limply from his restraints, a brand rises from the floor, Tartarus picks it up and strides forward}

{the Elite raises his head, Tartarus presses the brand against his chest with malice, the Elite fights the pain but gives in and screams, fade to white}

{fade in, klaxons sound}

Cortana: "Slipspace ruptures directly off our battle cluster."

Lord Hood: "Show me."

{imagery appears on a large board}

Cortana: "Fifteen Covenant capital ships holding position just outside the kill zone."

{The board shows UNSC ships approaching the Covenant ships.}

Radio: "This is Fleet Admiral Harper. We are enganging the enemy."

Lord Hood: "Negative, Adrimal. Form a defensive perimeter around the cluster." {to Keyes} "Commander, get to your ship, link up with the fleet."

Commander Keyes: "Yes, sir." {leaves}

Lord Hood: "You have the MAC gun, Cortana. Soon as they come in range, open up."

Cortana: "Gladly." {her avatar disappears}

Lord Hood: "Something's not right... The fleet that destroyed Reach was fifty times this size."

Officer: "Sir, additional contacts. Boarding craft and lots of 'em!"

Lord Hood: "They're going to try to take our MAC guns offline, give their capital ships a straight shot at Earth. Master Chief, defend this station."

Master Chief: "Yes, sir." {to Johnson} "I need a weapon."

Sergeant Johnson: "Right this way."

{fade to white} [edit] Gameplay

Intercom: "All hands report to battle stations. This is not a drill. I repeat, this is not a drill!"

Johnson: "How's it going, Malta?"

Malta (radio): "Stand-by... they're latched! Check your targets and watch your crossfire They're in standard formation: little bastards up front big ones in back. Good luck, Cairo."

Johnson: "Field of fire on that bulkhead. As soon as that door opens, let'em have it."

Lord Hood (radio): "Find the borders' point of entry, Chief. Cut them off at the source."

{Later, in a hanger.}

Marine: "Hey, check it out. The Malta's already driven off it's boarders..."

Cortana: "Malta, what's your status? Over."

Malta: "I don't believe it! They're retreating! We won!"

{Outside the hanger windows, the Malta explodes.}

Marine: "This is bad... real bad."

{In the second hanger.}

Marine: "Uh oh, I think they're leaving the Athens."

{The Athens explodes}

Lord Hood (radio): "Cortana, assessment."

Cortana: "That explosion came from inside the Athens-same as the Malta. The Covenant must have brought something with them. A bomb."

Lord Hood (radio): "Then they sure as hell brought one here. Chief, find it."

{Later, as MC enters the armory.}

Master Sergeant Gunns: "Get the hell out my armory, squid-fa- Ahh, God!" {Is killed.}

{Later.}

Cortana: "Sir! Boarders have breached the firing control center. They have a bomb."

Lord Hood: "Can you defuse it?"

Cortana: "Yes, but I'll need the Chief's help to make contact with the detonator."

Lord Hood: "Chief, get to the bomb... double time. Cortana, prioritize targets and fire at will."

Fleet Admiral Harper (radio): "First echelon, you're with me. Blanket those cruisers. Take 'em out one by one. Second echelon, keep those carriers busy."

Cortana: "Registering all hostile vessels inside the kill zone. Thirteen cruisers, two assault carriers. I'm going loud!"

Fleet Admiral Harper: "The carriers are breaking through, sir. They're heading straight for the Cairo."

Lord Hood: "Cortana, concentrate your fire on the first carrier. Admiral, do what you can against the second."

Fleet Admiral Harper: "Everyone form up. Follow my lead."

Cortana: "The first carrier completely ignored us, sir, blew straight through the Malta's debris field, and headed straight for Earth."

{If you stall getting to the bomb}

Cortana: Chief, we don't have much time.

There isn't much time, Cheif. Hurry!

Clock's ticking, Chief. Get down here.

Chief, over here, next to the bomb!

Where are you? The bomb is right here!

Just a friendly little reminder, BOMB.

Ask yourself this question; "Is what I'm doing helping Cortana stop this station from being blown into tiny, tiny bits?"

Normal Walkthrough
{Needs to be done} ...

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, Cody Miller's 10:19 Legendary run, with a bit of minor editing as I personally deem fit. 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.

Go down the stairs and pick up the SMG and Battle Rifle (henceforth referred to as "BR" for brevity). Change to the SMG. Head into the next room and dual-wield a Magnum from the stockpile. Once in the next room, leap over the railing. Get to the second display-thing and jump onto it, then onto the higher area. Get to the area above the door and wait for the door to open.

Once the first wave of Covenant go through the door, drop down. DO NOT ENGAGE. Instead, go through and assail the Covenant in the adjoining room. Once they are all down, swap out your SMG for a Plasma Pistol (henceforth referred to as "PP" for brevity). Travel on to the next area, overcharging your PP as you do so. You get a checkpoint as you enter the room with the next enemy encounters.

See the Elite in the lower area? Jump down and let him have the charged shot as you fall, then kill with the Magnum. Treat the next Elite the same way, then head to the room at the rightmost corner of this room, overcharging as you do so. Release the charged shot on the Elite there and kill him with the Magnum, then drop the Magnum for your BR and kill the Grunts. Use the scope to snipe out the Grunts in the room across, then charge up and release the shot on the Elite there. Let him have the Battle Rifle rounds and swap out your current PP for a fresh one on the floor. Get to the stairway and reload your BR, heading on to the next area all the while. If you've been following the instructions closely, you should get a checkpoint as you ascend the stairs.

Overcharge your PP as you enter the next room. If you've been going full throttle all this while, you should get in just as an Elite comes under fire. Contribute your charged shot to the cause of bringing him down, then bring back your BR to take the stragglers. Snipe out the Grunts as they leave the boarding craft and contribute overcharges to bringing down the Elites. After two more waves (counting the Elite first seen here as the first), drop to the lower level and replace your PP. Kill the Grunts in the fourth and last wave, then draw close to the Elite. Wait for him to whip out his Energy Sword, then kill him and replace your PP with the Sword. Collect Plasma Grenades (henceforth referred to as "PGs" for brevity), return to the upper floor, get to the platform with the turrets, collecting more Plasma Grenades as you do so, then drop down on the right side of the room. The game won't move on until the Malta blows up, so you might as well watch. Stay alert, you don't get any checkpoints yet. The door opposite the window will blow. Feed the Covenant a PG, then hide behind the crate. Go around the crate and kill the Minor and Major Elite with Sword Lunges, then head into the room they came in from. You FINALLY get a checkpoint as you near the doorway to the next room with enemies.

Snipe out the Grunts on the catwalk, then feed the Covenant at the other end of the room two Frag Grenades. Take the path to the right to sneak up on a Major Elite and backstab him, then whirl around and go around the crates currently in front of you to kill another Major. Go back to where you backstabbed the first Major and go to the right of the crate. Stick the Major there with a PG, then go back behind the crate and to the left to wipe out another. Go behind and to the right and stick the next Major that drops in, then hide again and pop out to the left to finish a Minor. Drop your Sword, which is now most likely low on charge, for a PP. Kill a few remnant Grunts, then treat the Elite coming out to an overcharge. Hide, then use your overcharge combined with BR bursts to neutralise the two Sword-wieldings SpecOps Elites that drop by. Pick up any available grenades, then once again swap out the PP for a Sword. Watch the Athens blow, then head down the stairs. As the door opens, stick the waiting Major, then retreat and snipe out the Grunts. Throw another PG at the next Major that appears, then Sword Lunge him to death. Deal with the final Grunt. Checkpoint!

Approach the door at the end and Sword Lunge the approaching Minor. Head into the lower level of the Armoury and find the Infiltrator there. Make him greet your little pointy friend, then head up the stairs. Another checkpoint at the top.

Throw two PGs at the Elite duo waiting by the door, then Sword Lunge them into the afterlife. You get a checkpoint as you get behind the little barrier-thing.

Jump on top of it, then to the higher floor. Travel along the path and snipe out the turret-manning Grunt, then jump over to the room he once occupied. Go through the series of doors and get a checkpoint as you enter the next room.

Help Miranda and Sarge with their little Covenant problem and head on into the next area. As "Authorised Personnel Only" starts, throw two PGs at the approaching Ranger Elites and finish off with Sword Lunges. Now drop down. Whirl around and jump on top of the red storage-thing. Get to the edge nearest to the place you came out of and throw a PG so that it stops bouncing at the edge of the storage-thing, using it to Grenade Jump onto the top of the indoor area. Sword Lunge the Ranger waiting there, then head to the end of the roof. Grenade Jump up to the higher area and follow the edge to the place above the door to the next area. Drop down, ignoring the Ranger if he's still there, and go in. Reload your BR over the dead Helljumper. You should get a checkpoint here.

Head into the next area and swap out your now-empty Sword for an SMG. Pick up spare Frag Grenades while you're at it. Throw two Frag Grenades at the approaching Drones and finish off any that survived the detonations, then go under the staircase to the right and drop down onto the elevator. You will get a checkpoint as the formerly-closed door opens to admit more Covenant.

Quickly throw your last Frag Grenade into the door as it opens, then switch to your SMG. Turn around and kill any Drones that may have followed you down, then swap the SMG out for a PP and hide behind the crate.

Use an overcharge shot and a BR burst to kill the Major visible from the left of the crate, then go around it and to the right of the crate further in front while overcharging. Use the same tactic to drop the second Major. Now start the elevator. Once the elevator reaches the room the Covenant came in front, swap out your current PP for one with more charge. As the door in front of you opens, you will get a checkpoint.

Use the overcharge and the BR, as well as hiding at appropriate moments, to eradicate the three Rangers that appear to greet you. Continue down the path, ignoring whatever remnants of opposition remain, and head into the next elevator. You get a checkpoint as "Return to Sender" starts.

Immediately head to the left side of the room. Stick the first Major you see. Rub out the life of the Minor that tries rather unsuccessfully to backstab you with an overcharge and a BR burst. Stick the two Majors waiting on the other side of the crate with PGs. Let them blow, then use an overcharged PP shot and sniped bursts from the BR to kill the Needler-wielding Major at the other end of the room. Get out from behind your crate and go to the left of the one in front, using your overcharged PP and BR bursts to kill the last Major.

That's it for this level. The current record is Cody Miller's 10 min 19 sec run, but it involves two deaths which I skipped over. If you want to perform a better, deathless run, go ahead, do so and send it in. I'm sure the HSH folks will like one.

External Ref

 * Cairo Station (Level)