Sacred Icon (Level)

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Sacred Icon is a Halo 2 campaign level. As Thel 'Vadamee, you make your way through a wall filled with Sentinels and Flood, ending in an open-air Elite encampment, which you must defend successfully from the Flood onslaught before the next level, Quarantine Zone, starts. This is the first and only level where Jackals will be your allies, This is also the first of two levels with Human enemies ever in the whole series.

Usable Weapons

 * Battle Rifle
 * Covenant Carbine
 * Energy Sword
 * Magnum
 * Needler
 * Plasma Pistol
 * Plasma Rifle
 * Rocket Launcher
 * Sentinel Beam
 * Shielded Plasma Cannon
 * Shotgun
 * SMG

Vehicle
Phantoms (non-drivable)

Allies

 * Major Grunts
 * Major Jackals
 * Elites
 * SpecOps
 * Rtas 'Vadumee

Chapter 1: Uncomfortable Silence
{Cutscene}

{fade in on Covenant-looking structure}

{text: Sanctum of the Hierarchs, Covenant Holy City, High Charity}

{camera pans down, we see a large hallway with rows of Honor Guards, Thel 'Vadamee walks through, close up of 'Vadamee}

{'Vadamee watches as the Jiralhanae take Honor Guard equipment from the Elites, Brutes fight each other for choice parts, 'Vadamee walks through a large doorway, past Honor Guard Brutes to where the Prophet of Truth and Mercy speak with Rtas 'Vadumee}

Rtas 'Vadumee: "This is unprecedented... Unacceptable."

Prophet of Truth: "A Hierarch is dead, Commander."

Rtas 'Vadumee: "His murderer was within our grasp. If you had not withdrawn our Phantoms ..."

Prophet of Truth: (slightly indignantly) "Are you questioning my decision?"

Rtas 'Vadumee: "No, Holy One! I only wish to express my concern that the Brutes..."

{Prophet of Truth holds up a hand for silence}

Prophet of Truth: "Re-commissioning the guard was a radical step, but recent events have made it abundantly clear that the Elites can no longer guarantee our safety."

Rtas 'Vadumee: "I shall relay ... your decision ... to the Council."

''{Rtas 'Vadumee and his Elites leave. Rtas 'Vadumee nods to 'Vadamee, who returns the nod. Prophet of Truth speaks to the Arbiter}

Prophet of Truth: "Politics ...(small sigh)... How tiresome. Do you know, Arbiter, the Elites have threatened to resign, quit the High Council, because of this... {Searches for a correct term} exchange of hats?"

Thel 'Vadamee: "We have always been your protectors."

Prophet of Truth: "These are trying times ... for all of us."

Prophet of Mercy: "Even as the humans' annihilation filled us with satisfaction, the loss of one of the Sacred Rings wreaked our hearts with grief."

Prophet of Truth: "Putting aside our sorrow, we renewed our faith in the prophecy that other rings would be found. And see how our faith has been rewarded."

{They turn to a large view screen of a Halo}

Prophet of Mercy: "Halo! Its divine wind will rush through the stars, propelling all who are worthy along the path to salvation."

Prophet of Truth: "How to start this process? For ages, we searched for one who might unlock the secrets of the ring. An Oracle. And with your help, we found it."

{They turn toward 343 Guilty Spark, who seems to have been suspended in a gravity beam}

Prophet of Mercy: "With appropriate humility, we piled the Oracle with questions. And it, with clarity and grace, has shown us the key."

{triggers a hologram of the Index}

Prophet of Truth: "You will journey to the surface of the ring, and retrieve this Sacred Icon. With it, we shall fulfil our promise."

Prophet of Mercy: "Salvation for all!"

Prophet of Truth: "And begin the Great Journey."

''{Fade to black, fade in on Delta Halo. A Phantom flies toward the surface. Cuts to Phantom interior.}''

Tartarus: "Once the shield is down, we'll head straight to the Library. I do not wish to keep the Hierarchs waiting."

{Focus on 'Vadamee, zoom in as he speaks.}

Thel 'Vadamee: "The human who killed the Prophet of Regret ... Who was it?"

Tartarus: "Who do you think?"

Thel 'Vadamee: "The Demon is here?"

{Focus on Tartarus}

Tartarus: {Affirmative Snort} "Why?" {Re-focus on 'Vadamee} "Looking for a little payback?"

{'Vadamee draws a Carbine and holds it}

Thel 'Vadamee: "Retrieving the Icon is my only concern."

Tartarus: {skeptical laugh} "Of course."

''{Cut to exterior panoramic view of Delta Halo's Library, with the Sentinel Wall in the foreground. The Phantom flies towards the Sentinel Wall and stops over a landing. 'Vadamee drops from the Phantom, which then flies off. Behind 'Vadamee, an Enforcer rises up and slowly advances. 'Vadamee whirls around and fires three shots from his Carbine, to little effect. Suddenly, the Enforcer is hit by a sustained burst of plasma fire and loses its right-back leg. The Phantom flies by and away, and the Enforcer chases after it}''

Tartarus: "Lower the shield, Arbiter!" {Cut to mug shot of 'Vadamee} "I'll pick you up when you're finished." {Fade to white, game play starts}

''On the first room, there are some Constructors repairing an entrance. If you destroy one, some Sentinels will appear (if on Legendary difficulty, the Sentinels will appear automatically) and will only leave if you destroy their "Door".''

''(After you jump into the passageways moving downward, and the first room, you meet a Grunt, who greets you)

(After you enter the next room, you will find a group of Grunts and Jackals fighting Sentinels. After you defeat the Sentinels and cut off any more from entering, a Grunt might speak to you)''

Grunt: "Arbiter ... our savior!" (Pause) "Stupid Jackal, say thank you!"

(If you stare at the Grunt long enough, or just wait around)

Grunt: "If hungry, eat Jackal!"

(When you move into the next room)

Tartarus: (Through your COM link) "You're getting close to one of the shield generators. Many of my Brutes have fallen attempting to take it down. Let's see if you fare better."

(When you stand near the Grunt running toward you)

Grunt: "Big scary thing! Run away! Please! Don't make me go back!"

(When you reach the Shield Generator)

Tartarus: "You've reached the power source, Arbiter."

(An Enforcer descends from above)

Tartarus: "It is useless to attack the Enforcer at the front, especially when it's shields are up. Stay in the shadows, wait until it loses interest, then strike the beast when it's back is turned."

(After you destroy the Enforcer)

Tartarus: "You've reached the power source. Overload the locks holding it in place."

(After you overload (or push them to save ammo) the first three locks)

Tartarus: "One more, Arbiter."

(After you overload the last one)

Tartarus: "Release the power source. Now, find a way to remove it from it's cradle."

(Use the holo-panel, the platform will then start moving and the door in front of you will open)

Chapter 2: Buyer's Remorse
(If you look up, you will see the bright-green shield surrounding the Library fading away, followed by Tartarus's Phantom flying lower towards the other side of the wall)

Tartarus: "Our path to the Library's clear. I'll pick you up on the ledge ahead."

(The door of the approaching wall opens to another Enforcer firing on the Phantom)

Tartarus: (Growls) "Blasted machines! Make your own way through the wall, Arbiter!"

(The Phantom leaves, followed by an attack by Sentinels, Sentinel Majors and a break-out of Flood-Infected Humans)

(Once you get through the wide-opened door in the wall, you will reach a piston at the other end.)

(As you proceed through one of the hallways below, your COM link will pick up a Marine's transmission)

Marine Sergeant: (Over COM link) Proceed to the objective! We'll hold out as long as we can! (Screams painfully) Get it off me! Suppressive fire! Suppressive fire!

(After you reach the next bottom floor)

Marine Sergeant: (Over COM link) Negative ma'am! They are NOT Covenant ...



Marine: Cover that doorway!

(Once you reach the bottom of the wall)

Chapter 3: 100,000 Years War
(As soon as the doorway opens, a sentinel production facility can be seen in the distance as it is shot down by Wraith Mortars and crashes further into the Quarantine Zone)

(When you walk on the snow, pods will land in the canyon)

Elite: "Forerunners be praised! The Arbiter!"

(When you defeat the wave of Flood)

Elite: "This Quarantine Zone has been compromised. We must do what we can against the Flood. Our commander has landed further in. Let us join him."

(Once you cross the bridge and through a tunnel, you will meet the Spec Ops Commander, Rtas 'Vadumee)

Rtas 'Vadumee: "Arbiter! What are you doing here?"

(Rtas 'Vadumee is interrupted by screeches of the Flood)

Elite: "The Flood is upon us!"

Rtas 'Vadumee: "We must hold this camp until reinforcements arrive."

(When you keep fighting the Flood, a Phantom will descend from above, firing on any remaining Flood in the zone)

(Level Ends)

Normal Walkthrough
You start out with a Covenant Carbine and a Plasma Pistol. If you turn to your left you'll see a pair of Needlers, they are recommended because they're very effective against Sentinels. You will instantly see a swarm of Constructors flying about zapping their repair beams before flying further ahead. They're harmless and you can just ignore them, though you can destroy a few if you want. Further ahead you will find a live Grunt, but he will not follow you, even if you meticulously push him down shafts and into combat. Head towards the lighted section of this room and on the left will be a piston (get used to them). Go up to it and press "X" then jump down (On higher difficulties you must shoot or melee the pistons to activate them.) When you land there will be another Piston and Sentinel Launchers.At the end of the hall will be another piston, so repeat the process and jump down.

In the next room you'll get 2 Jackal Majors and a Grunt to fight beside. Due to a glitch you can give the Jackal's Covenant Carbines. Destroy all the Sentinels and the Sentinel Launchers in the room. At the far end of the room will be a walkway that has triangle supports. You'll see the first in-game Brute here, though its just a corpse (after Tartarus says that many of his Brutes have died fighting the Enforcers). Go down that hallway and you'll come to a room identical to the one you just came from. Once you've killed all the sentinels, there will be a piston at the far end of the room on the right side. Drop down there; the Jackals and Grunt will jump down to follow you. On entering the new room, a new scared Grunt will join up with your group, begging you not to send it back to fight the "big scary thing". Continue down the hallway, destroying sentinels and blowing up the things in the wall they come out of. If you're really concerned, make sure to run ahead and take out the sentinels and their launchers ahead of your troops, so your squad doesn't end up taking a lot of damage. At the end of the hallway will be yet another piston, so jump down.

You'll drop down into the shield door that's guarded by an Enforcer Sentinel. The Enforcer will usually end up killing most or all of your troops (2 Jackal Majors and 2 Grunts at this point, if you've been careful) with its barrage of artillery fire, but if you're quick enough and lucky enough sometimes your whole squad survives. Once you kill him (it will die when you unlock the plug locks first and that will make it a lot easier on Legendary go up to any one of the large pillars and activate it and then do the same with the other 3. Once you do that a holographic panel will come up at the center of the thing you’re standing on. Go up to it and press "X." Take a breather and enjoy the music as the Gondola takes you to a room identical to the one you just came from.

The second chapter begins, "Buyer's Remorse". After a few moments of peaceful riding, you can see Sentinels and Flood battling ahead. At this point your troops, if they're still alive, will follow you on the gondola into the next fight. If you had time to optimize guns, take the Needlers away from the Grunts and give them Plasma Rifles, as Needlers aren't very effective against charging Flood. The Phantom will only stay for a little while, so you need to act quickly. The Phantom will directly engage an Enforcer hovering in the middle of a large hangar which your gondola is going to park in: lots of normal Sentinels come out of the sides as well, but there are Flood swarming behind them. Its a three-way fight, and the Sentinels might fire at you a bit but will mostly shoot at the numerous Flood, who will quickly overwhelm the outnumbered Sentinels). If you time it just right and reload many times (its right after a checkpoint) you can conceivably throw a plasma grenade at the Enforcer while its still fighting the Phantom, before the Flood appear, but this is really difficult, and mostly done so that the Enforcer's artillery barrage doesn't slaughter your troops. You could just wait for its back to be turned and unleash a duel-needler barrage on it. Kill as many Flood and Sentinels as you can.

If you take out the Enforcer quickly, the situation will quickly devolve into a chaotic all-out brawl between your troops, the dwindling Sentinels, and the oncoming horde of Flood. This is a protracted Flood-battle which might take a good two minutes. This is very difficult in the heat of battle, but somehow try to rip SMG's off of dead Flood, and give them to your Jackals, *ASAP*, preferably mere seconds into the fight. Your 2 Grunts are basically a write-off at this point: even assuming all of your troops survive the Enforcer's barrage and not even considering the Sentinels, the Flood will easily overwhelm any non-shielded enemies. It is thus actually possible for one or both of your Jackals to survive the entire battle if you arm them with SMG's, and they actually take some real heat off of you. Once in a blue moon, in the small time window you have for arming your Jackals with human weapons in the first few seconds of the fight, a Flood will drop a shotgun, and Jackals can be armed with shotguns, which are of course great against the Flood (documented evidence of a shotgun appearing in the same game that a Jackal is still alive, and the player successfully giving the Jackal the shotgun, is not available at this time). However, even if your SMG-armed Jackals survive, their AI won't let them follow you into the rest of the Sentinel Wall and they'll just hang around the gondola while you proceed inside (of course, you could just race ahead after engaging active camouflage and never even try to keep your troops alive, but the challenge of trying to "save" them is half the fun).

After a while, a large door will open and two Sentinels will come out. Go through the door and follow the hallway until the end where there will be a piston. Jump down. Continue down the hallway and turn right. Activate the piston and jump down. Right near the dead Human bodies there will be s Shotgun and some SMG's. I usually take the Shotgun. Continue down the Flood-infested hallway and at the end will be another piston, so press "X" and jump down.

In this massive room there will be plenty of ammo spread around, you just have to look a little. I don't even bother fighting, but you can do whatever. Turn left from the room that you dropped down from the piston and you'll find a near-identical room with some flood in it. At the end of the smaller room will be an opening into an identical, massive room. Again, there will be some ammo strewn about, so if you’re running low, quick grab some. Otherwise, jump down into the massive room and head left. You'll see a piston, so press "X" when your near to it and jump down.

The next area is very dark, and perfect for the Arbiter's camouflage. Go straight until you reach the stack of boxes, and then turn right. Keep going until you reach the end and walk on the lowered platform in the middle of the room. It's an identical hallway that you've been down before-the one with the triangle supports. It doesn't matter which way you take, but head to the end of the room like before, and go down the identical walkway. Once you're in the next room, head left and at the end of the room you'll see a piston in an alcove to the left. Activate it and jump down, and do the same with the next piston. You'll drop down into a room like the one you were in when you started the level, except there's a piston in the middle of it. Go up to the piston, activate it, and drop down. You'll drop down into an identical room, except this one has a battle raging on. I always pick up the sword near the piston in the middle of the room before I activate the piston and drop down, but you don't have to. You'll keep falling for what seems like forever. When you stop though, there's a large door a few meters away. Walk through the door, and past the bridge. Keep going until you reach a Covenant Sniper Tower. Fight the waves of Flood with the other Elites until you've killed all of the Flood. Behind the Shielded Plasma Cannon is a small tunnel, head through that tunnel. A battle will already be going on, so help them. Keep fighting until the cut scene starts. Congratulations, you've completed Sacred Icon!

Speed run Normal Walkthrough
Alright, so Tartarus just dropped you off so that you can lower the shield surrounding the prize, the Sacred Icon! Now, as he said, in the cut scene, he does not want to keep the Hierarchs waiting, so don't keep them waiting! Do the level really quick for him! I once finished it like this in about 6 minutes. Good luck!

Alright, so you've got a carbine and a plasma pistol. There is a container to your left with two plasma rifles. Dual-wield them in place of the plasma pistol and keep going through the piston on the next level to your left. (Get used to the piston idea). At this part, it doesn't matter. If you want speed, you can overload it with the plasma rifles, or save the battery and activate it manually. The rest of the time you have to use the plasma rifles. Go down, and through the next piston. Once down, you will go through the hall. Use the PRs to activate the next piston, as sentinels will come out. Same thing with the next hall. Now, you come to a hall with grunts and jackals fighting off sentinels. Only kill the Sentinels if you need to! You'll need the ammo. Now, there's another hallway. do the same thing. If you're running low on Plasma Rifle battery, there is a dead brute with a full plasma rifle up ahead. Once at the end, turn left and overload the piston. Now, you'll come to an enforcer guarding the plug locks you have to overload. Ignore the Enforcer! It will just die once you finish the task. Once you've overloaded all the locks it's just a push-a-button task. Go invisible and push the button in the middle. The enforcer will just explode once you do this. Thank god that's over. Now Tartarus will just pick me up in the next landing, right. Another Enforcer will come. Just kill the enforcer really fast so that you can go on without having to fight the flood and sentinels. Now, if you threw away your dual-wielded plasma rifle to use the carbine, pick it up if you can find it. Otherwise, just keep going through the tunnel that opens once you get to the top. Don't wait around in here, just run through and get in the piston. If you wait, hordes of flood will come out and kill you fairly fast. Now, once you get to the bottom, flood are your biggest problem. Just before you jump over the second half-wall, activate your camouflage. TIMING IS IMPORTANT! I've been killed many times when my camouflage wore off in the wrong place at the wrong time.Or,when you here the doors opening,then you may also active your camouflage. Now, another flood infested hallway. And what do you know, we've also got marines to play with! On your way out of the piston room, swap your carbine for the shotgun. If you have the sputnik skull, you can grenade jump out the window to your right and get to the marines first hand, this is a lot quicker. Through this hall, you want to throw grenades, preferably fragmentation grenade, behind you, to kill any chasing flood. While running forward through the tunnel, after about 5 seconds of running, activate your camouflage. There is a crap load of flood in the next room. Once your camouflage wears off, you should be able to fight your way through the smaller amount of flood carriers and limited combat forms. If your camouflage recharges while doing this, activate it o skip the carriers. go down the piston, and you're in another hall, and you'll see boxes ahead of you. Throw a grenade ahead of you to take out some flood, and fight your way through the rest. The piston will bring you down to a floor with a window to the outside where there is an enforcer helping other sentinels fight flood. Ignore them and go into the other elevated hall. Jump in and activate your active camouflage. Run through the flood and go to a similar hall to the right of you when you jump down, and use the PR to overload the piston. Now you drop to a room where there is no flood and just a piston in the middle of the room. Go down it to another room just like it with another piston in the same place, just with flood and sentinels. Throw a grenade to the flood on your right. There is an energy sword to the right of the piston. Swap your PR for it after you overload the piston with it. Drop down, and you're finally in open space. Run through the first area with flood and elites and go through the tunnel. Now just finish off all of the flood in this area with your shotgun and energy sword (this is what it was for) and you're halfway to the great prize, the sacred icon!

Glitches

 * In the part where you fall down one of the tubes to see the Phantom for the first time, and you land on the beam in the middle of the hole at the end. You are actually invincible, and will not take damage from any enemy regardless of their weapon or what difficulty the game is on. It is only when you jump down off the perch that you can take damage again. Also, though your shields won't go down, you will take "damage" from foes until blood starts to splatter the ground, but you won't die.
 * When you hear the Marines scream on the radio, do a grenade jump (you must have the Sputnik skull) to the other side and kill the Flood. It is not recommended on higher difficulties other than Normal because the Marines will die as soon as you arrive.
 * When you hear the Marines on the radio for the first time stating they will hold the Flood off, look out the window to the right of you. Three Marines will be fighting a big wave of infection forms and human combat forms. If they manage to kill all the infection forms, when you follow the path, you will trigger something and the marines will drop dead. At the second place where marines argue over radio, three marines will drop dead after you go around some of the crates.
 * If you look at any of the dead Marines or Brutes throughout the level, you can see their eyes blink from time to time.
 * In co-op, during the part where you first encounter the Enforcer, if a Flood hits you the exact time you are hit by an Enforcer's rocket you will sometimes be sent across the map onto the top of the area you just came from. However, you cannot return to the area so you must restart the level.
 * You can do the Unlimited Plasma Pistol glitch on this level.
 * A little bit after you enter the Flood wall, it is possible to get two Sentinel beams at once.
 * During the fight with the first Enforcer, if you blow off all its attacking parts, you'll start getting hit by an invisible Sentinel beam coming from the Enforcer.
 * If you proceed to power-up all Absorbers without destroying the Enforcer, it (with all Sentinel Launchers and Sentinels) will self-destruct just before the door starts to open.
 * When you reach the section where you first do battle with the Flood, your jackal (if still alive) may drop its shield and drop its weapon, this is a very rare occurrence however. (this glitch is made easier if the Jackal is holding a Covenant Carbine).
 * In the beginning of this level turn to the east and you may see Jackal corpse with Grunt blood. A similar corpse was seen in 343 Guilty Spark, with the same blood.
 * You can make a Flood freeze by jumping over it repeatedly.
 * In both Marine radio encounters, when you reach a certain point towards them, you run over a trigger that auto-kills them even if they aren't fighting anyone.
 * An unarmed Jackal can be found here by lag. More about it is found in the Unarmed Grunt section in Glitches, Tricks and Cheats.
 * Since Jackals are your allies in this level, you can give them carbines to hold with their shield, and if you fire a charged plasma pistol shot to them, they will drop the carbine and have a full plasma pistol.
 * If you give a Jackal a Needler, when it was previously overcharging its Plasma Pistol, it will rapidly fire the weapon. The needles will not harm the player or any other allies.
 * If you have a Sentinel Beam, you can active a Piston with at least 2 melee hits. But you'll have to be close to the Piston.

Miscellaneous

 * You can also give the Jackals Covenant Carbines, SMGs, Needlers and Battle Rifles.

Mistakes

 * When a game play starts, for some unknown reason, your Carbine will be maxed out and even though you fire 3 rounds into the Enforcer, your carbine will have a full magazine. This is similar to when the Arbiter shoots at the Heretic Leader's banshee, and no rounds or charge is expended on the weapon.
 * Notice when sliding down the last Piston in the level, there will be snow in the tunnel even though you're inside of a fully concealed tunnel. The snow could possibly be Flood ash.
 * There's a Battle Rifle located in the weapons cache at the exit of the destroyed Sentinel Constructor Factory an ammunition level surpassing the limit of '108' that ranges as far as '236' bullets.

Easter Eggs

 * The Mythic Skull can be found on this level.
 * In one area, you can find Needlers that can hold extra rounds.

Miscellaneous

 * The Forerunner Hand can be found in this level. It has six digits (2 index fingers, 2 middle fingers and 2 thumbs).
 * When out on one of the balconies in which Enforcers and Flood are in combat, off on the far corner of the adjacent structure is a door that is clearly discolored to a bright green. Whether it was an error or intentionally done as a joke, is unknown. Either way, it is interesting to find and not difficult to see, although focusing on it is difficult as the Flood and Enforcers continue to attack you and each other.
 * In the beginning of the level, you can see the lake where Master Chief kills the High Prophet of Regret.
 * After you are dropped off by the Phantom, there are patches of Flood blood near the Grunt which indicates the Flood has made it far enough to the point of escaping (before grabbing In Amber Clad).
 * Originally, Bungie had planned for there to be an additional level after Sacred Icon called "Forerunner Tank." It was cut, however, due to deadlines.
 * The weapon that fires from the Phantom at the beginning of the level is a cross between the Battle Rifle and Plasma Rifle hybrid.
 * In the first part of this level, all Covenant Carbines that are laying on the floor hold extra rounds.
 * There is a small weapon cache hidden in the second room. There is a dead Brute, some plasma grenades and a Carbine that has over 25 extra rounds.
 * If you look back outside in the beginning of the level when the Phantom drops you, you can see High Charity.
 * This is the first of two levels in the Halo trilogy where you can use the blue Sentinel Beam.
 * When you get out of the tunnel at the beginning of the "100,000 Years War" part, if you look at The Library you can see a Sentinel Constructor Factory being destroyed by Wraith shots.
 * There is speculation on why the Arbiter is able to use the Forerunner systems on this and other levels. The Forerunners made it to where no one but themselves and the Humans would be able to use the systems on the Installations that they created, but it is shown that the Arbiter can use them as well. This is likely an oversight made by Bungie and the Halo creators. Examples of this is when the Arbiter takes down the Containment shield on the Sacred Icon and when Rtas 'Vadumee activates the Gondola on the Quarantine Zone.
 * All the dead Brutes you come across in the level are lying in a pool of blue (Grunt) blood. Same with Jackals that are dead before you arrive.
 * When you look out of the damaged wall at the start of the level, look to your right, and you can see High Charity.

Images
 Image:Halo6.jpg|A Phantom Heads To Delta Halo. Image:Enforcer sneak.jpg|An Enforcer sneaks up on the Arbiter. 