The Truth and Reconciliation (Level)

Looking for Truth and Reconciliation, the CCS-class Battlecruiser?

The Truth and Reconciliation is the third campaign level in Halo: Combat Evolved where you board the Covenant ship, the Truth and Reconciliation, by using a Gravity Lift after clearing the area and save Captain Keyes.

You'll venture to the Covenant's flagship and navigate through it to find Captain Keyes and rescue him from the Covenant's grasp with the aid of marines. But you'll have to guide him along with some other handy Marines out of the Truth and Reconciliation into a Covenant "Spirit" Dropship to get you to the next chapter. This is the first level you encounter Hunters and Sangheili Zealots.

Allies

 * Humans
 * Captain Keyes
 * Marines
 * Orbital Drop Shock Troopers
 * Echo 419
 * AI
 * Cortana

Weapons

 * Assault Rifle
 * Sniper Rifle
 * Frag Grenade
 * Plasma Pistol
 * Plasma Rifle
 * Needler
 * Energy Sword (Non-usable)
 * Plasma Grenade

Vehicles

 * Pelican (Non-drivable)
 * Spirit (Non-drivable)
 * Wraith (Non-drivable)
 * Shade
 * Truth And Reconciliation (Non-drivable)

Part 01: Truth and Reconciliation
{Cutscene}

The view pans across a plateau with a Covenant Cruiser above it.

Cortana: "The enemy has captured Captain Keyes, and are holding him aboard one of their cruisers, the Truth and Reconciliation. The ship is currently holding position approximately three hundred meters above the other end of this plateau."

Pelican Echo 419 comes into view, it starts to land.

Marine ODST: "So how do we get inside the ship if it's in the air? The Corps issued me a rifle, not wings."

Staff Sergeant Johnson: "There's a Gravity Lift that ferries troops and supplies between the ship and the surface. That's our ticket in."

As the Pelican lands..

{Gameplay}

Cortana: "Once we get inside the ship, I should be able to lock on to the tracking signal from Captain Keyes' neural implants."

Staff Sergeant Johnson: "Hit it Marines, go go go! The Corps ain't payin' us by the hour!"

The ODSTs and the Chief head forward.

Cortana: "Stick to the higher ground on the right. We should be able to recon the Covenant position without being spotted. I'm detecting Covenant Stationary Guns near the next pass. I recommend using your Sniper Rifle to take out the gunners while I call for Marine support. (over radio) Get ready to move in to support us, Sergeant. The Master Chief is going to covertly take out as many of the Covenant as he can. Don't open fire until you hear the enemy return fire on us. That should let us keep the element of surprise."

Once the Covenant spots the Chief..

Sergeant Parker: "Let 'em have it!"

The Marines open fire.

If all the Covenant soldiers are not taken out yet, a Grunt will run towards a Shade turret.

Cortana: "Alert! A Covenant is making a run for that stationary gun. (Drops NAV point on Grunt) Take him out!"

Once the area is secure.

Marine ODST: "Hey, we did it! Right behind ya, Chief!"

Cortana: "Stop. Motion Tracker shows movement around the next bend."

Sergeant Parker: "We're ready to advance as soon as you call for us, Cortana."

As the Fire Team Charlie move further up the plateau.

Cortana: "Covenant forces detected up ahead. The path up on the left should let us sneak up around them."

Sergeant Parker: "We'll hang back while you get into position, Chief."

If the Chief takes the left flank...'

Cortana: "Cortana to Fire Team Charlie. The Chief has the left flank covered. Recommend you move up the middle."

If the Chief moves up the middle...

Cortana: "Cortana to Fire Team Charlie. The Chief has secured the middle. Get ready to move up the left, you should be able to flank the enemy."

Marine ODST: "Roger that."

After the Chief takes out the last of the Covenant infantry..

Cortana: "Alert! Covenant Dropships are inbound!"

After area is secure.

Cortana: "We're directly under the ship now."

Marine ODST: Alright! Are we bad or what?

Marine ODST: "Mother of God...I'd never thought I'd get close to one of these things. How the hell are we suppose to get inside that monster?"

{or}

Marine ODST: "If we're gonna board that thing, we need a plan."

Cortana: "The Covenant use a Gravity Lift to ferry troops and supplies between the ship and the surface. We need to ambush them at the Grav Lift's loading zone, and use the lift to enter the ship."

If three or more Marines from the team are dead...

Cortana: "Cortana to Echo 419, requesting reinforcements from our position."

Foehammer: "Roger, Cortana, Echo 419 on approach."

Covenant troops soon drop from the cruiser's Gravity Lift, engaging the team.

Marine ODST: "Contact, enemy in sight!"

{or}

Sergeant Parker: "Covenant forces sighted! Let's hit 'em, Charlie Team!"

Marine ODST: "Crap, those stationary guns are gonna tear us to pieces!" {or}

Marine ODST: "Sir, those freakin' guns have us pinned down!"

As another Covenant dropship approaches..

Cortana: "Alert! Covenant Dropships are inbound!"

Marine ODST: "Man, there's always something..."

When the team kills everything, including the Hunters.

Sergeant Parker: (If 4 or all 5 Marines are alive) "We've cleared the area, let's square away the gravlift. Marines! Prepare for boarding."

Marine ODST: "Yes, sir!"

(ODSTs gather under the gravlift)

(If 2 or more Marines are KIA)

Cortana: "Cortana to Echo 419. We've reached the Gravity Lift and are ready for reinforcements."

Foehammer: "Copy that, Cortana. Hang tight, gentlemen. Foehammer out."

Cortana: "Once we're inside the ship, I can home in on the Captain's command-neural interface. He'll probably be in or near the ship's brig, which should narrow our search."

Foehammer: "Echo 419 inbound, clear the drop zone."

Staff Sergeant Johnson: "Everybody out!"

Marine leathernecks exiting the Pelican greet the Chief before taking cover near the lift.

Part 02: Into the Belly of the Beast
{Cutscene}

Marine 1: "Whoa!"

The Marine begins to float into the air.

Marine 2: "Yeehaw!"

Chief begins to float upwards.

Once the team gets inside.

{Gameplay}

Cortana: "We're in. I've got a good lock on the Captain's CNI transponder. No Covenant defenses detected."

Marine 1: "What, there's no Covenant here? Maybe nobody's home..."

As the Covenant begin to attack the squad.

Marine 2: "Contacts! Lots of contacts!"

Marine 3: "No Covenant! Ya had to open your mouth!"

Once the squad kills the Covenant in the room.

Marine 2: "Area secure, Sir. We'd better keep moving. How about that door?"

As the team come to a massive blast door

Marine 2: "The door's locked, sir. I can't bypass it. We can't get through here."

Cortana (O.S.): "We can use the side passages to find a way around."

Sergeant Parker: "We'd be sitting ducks in that narrow space. We'll hold this position until you can find your way around and open the door from the other side, Chief."

Cortana: "Chief, let's see if we can find a way to open this door."

As the Chief goes alone and approaches a large hangar.

Cortana: "Wait. That's the locked door down there. The Marines are waiting on the other side. The controls to open it must be somewhere in this room."

As the Chief opens the door.

Marine 3: "All clear sir!"

Cortana: "We should get moving."

Marine 1: "Alright, everybody stay cool. Yell if you see anything."

As the team enters a big docking bay.

If the most or all of the team members are dead...

Cortana: "Cortana to Echo 419, requesting reinforcements at our position.

Foehammer: "Foehammer here, Cortana ... I read you, but you're inside the ship. I'm not sure I can — "

Cortana (O.S.): "Lock onto my signal and approach fast and low. There's a shuttle bay on the ship's starboard side."

Foehammer: "Roger, Cortana - Echo 419 on approach."

As the Chief and the rest of the team go around killing Covenant inside the big docking bay)

Marine 3: "Hey, which way should we go now? All the doors on this level are locked!"

Cortana (O.S.): "Wait a moment. I'm going to access the Covenant Battlenet and locate an override code to open a door."

Marine 2: "You'd better hurry Cortana, we can't hold them off all day."

As two Hunters emerge into the bay.

Cortana (O.S.): "Working on it." (To the Master Chief) "I'd like to see you crack a 128,000-bit modulating encryption key."

Once you kill the pair of Hunters.

Cortana: "Got it. The door is open. Everyone should move through now. I can't guarantee that it won't lock again when it closes."

If every Marine in the team is dead, as the Chief approaches the second level of the docking bay.

Cortana: "I'm going to call for reinforcements. There's no sense going in with anything less than full strength.

Cortana (O.S.): "Cortana to Foehammer. We need additional support troops. We're going to open the shuttle bay door again. Move in and drop off reserve troops on my signal."

Foehammer: "I copy, Cortana. Echo 419 standing by for your signal."

As the Chief disengages the energy shield over the bay doors.



Cortana (O.S.): "Cortana to Echo 419. The shuttle bay door is open. You can start your approach."

Foehammer: "Roger. Echo 419 inbound."

Once the team reaches the ship's bridge and kill all Covenant forces.

Cortana: "This looks like the ship's command centre. The Captain's transponder signal is strong, he must be close."

Sergeant Parker: "This looks like a good spot, Chief. We'll mind the store here while you go find the Captain, good luck sir."

When the Chief come across an empty brig.

Cortana: "We must be in the brig. These look like holding cells. There are probably multiple detention stations. The Captain must be in one of them. We need to keep looking for him."

When the Chief comes across a full detention centre..

Marine POW 1: "It's the Chief!"

Marine POW 2: "Chief! Chief!"

Marine POW 3: "Chief, lemme out man!"

Captain [[Jacob Keyes|Keyes: "Watch out Chief, the Covenant guards are using some sort of stealth systems."

When the Chief secures the cells.

Captain Keyes: "Good work, Chief."

Marine Corporal (POW): "That was amazing, sir, you really kicked the shi— (interrupted)"

 [[Jacob Keyes|Keyes: Stow it, Corporal! Let's get these cells open, Chief. The power control's along the back wall.

The Chief opens all the cells.

Marine POW: Wow!

{Cutscene}

Captain Keyes: "Coming here was reckless. You two know better than this....thanks. (Pause) Marines! Lock and load your weapons, let's be ready to move."

Marine: "Okay, Sir."

Marine: "Yes, Sir."

Captain Keyes: "While the Covenant had us locked up in here, I overheard the guards talking about this ring world. They call it... "Halo"."

Cortana (O.S.): "One moment, sir. Accessing Covenant battlenet. (Pause) According to the data in their networks, the ring has some kind of deep religious significance. If I'm analysing this correctly...they believe that Halo is some kind of weapon. One with vast, unimaginable power."

Captain Keyes: "Well...that's true. The Covenant kept saying, "Whoever controls Halo controls the fate of the universe."

Cortana (O.S.): "Now I see...I have intercepted a number of messages about a Covenant search team, scouting for a "Control room". I thought they were looking for the bridge of a cruiser that I damaged during the battle above the ring. But they must be looking for Halo's control room."

Captain Keyes: "That's bad news. If Halo is a weapon, and the Covenant gain control of it, they'll use it against us and wipe out the entire human race." (Pause) "Chief, Cortana. I have a new mission for you. We need to beat the Covenant to Halo's control room. Marines! Let's move!"

Marine: "Yes, Sir."

Marine: "Okay, Sir."

The Captain picks up a fallen Needler.

Captain Keyes: 'Chief, you have the point."

Part 03: Shut Up and Get Behind me...Sir


{Gameplay}

Cortana: "We should head back to the shuttle bay and call for evac."

(After fighting your way to the bridge, two cloaked Elites attack you, and Sergeant Parker and his squad have been killed)

Cortana (O.S.): "We made it! Cortana to Echo 419. We have the Captain and need extraction on the double."

Foehammer: "Negative, Cortana, I've been engaged by Covenant air patrols, and I'm havin' a tough time shakin' 'em. You'll be better off findin' your own ride...sorry."

Cortana (O.S.): "Acknowledged, Foehammer. Cortana out. (To Keyes) Air support is cut off, Captain. We need to hold here until she can move in."

Marine 4: "Aw, man! We're trapped in here! We're screwed! We're screwed, man!"

{or}

Marine 5: "Oh great! Now we're trapped here. We're screwed!"

Captain Keyes: "Stow the bellyaching, soldier. Remember you're a leatherneck. Cortana, if you and the Chief can get us into one of those Covenant dropships, I can fly us outta here."

Cortana (O.S.): "Yes, Captain. There's a Covenant dropship still docked."

(The Chief takes the Captain and the Marines back to the hangar)

{Once you release the dropship from the clamps}

{Cutscene}

Cortana: "That's it, the dropship is loose."

Captain Keyes: "Everybody, mount up, let's get onboard."

Cortana (O.S.): "Give me a minute to interface with the ship's controls."

Captain Keyes: "No, no need. I'll take this bird out myself."

Cortana (O.S.): Captain! Hunters!

Captain Keyes: "Hang on!"

(He rams the two Hunters with the dropship)

Marine 6: "Nice one, sir!"

Captain Keyes: "Time for a little payback."

(The Spirit flies out, fade to black)

{If Captain Keyes dies at some point}

Cortana: "No! Without the Captain... (Sad, slow and mopey) the Covenant have already won...

{or}

Cortana: "No! We lost the Captain..."

(the game reverts to the last checkpoint)

Legendary Walkthrough
This level can be one of the most frustrating levels, let me give you an overview. You start off with a Sniper Rifle, one of the weapons a Halo Player would love and loathe in equal measures. Foehammer will drop you down somewhere near the Truth and Reconciliation, and you must venture into the ship to retrieve Captain Keyes.

Walk on until you get onto the high grounds behind a rock. Aim the Sniper Rifle in search for walking Grunts and Elites. You can fire as much Sniper rounds as you want as long as they hit their target. Take out the Shades first, they can get really nasty, then the Elites, two headshots can finish them off.

When you're sure there's no Covenant left in the vicinity, whip out your Assault Rifle and get in a shade, then start shooting the reinforcements. They won't all come within the range of your shade after losing the first squad so you'll have to go occupy the shade at the far end of the area.

The squad led by an Elite are tough, and they'll always aim at you instead of the Marines. Perform a no-scope kill by the Sniper Rifle so as to bring down the Elite's shield and let the Marines finish it off, while you hammer the Grunts.

You'll get a checkpoint as you move up the hill. Take note of this: This will be the only checkpoint you get in the whole area, so try not to screw up along the line.

Continuing, snipe the Grunt in the Shade, and then go for the Jackal next to him. Move your sights down, and blow away these few Grunts that stick their behinds around the sheltering rocks. Eventually, an Elite will show up. Proceed to dispose him off the cliff, then when things stop popping up like gophers move in a little.

There are two Grunts on the far right side of the upper ledge. Aim for one of them, then quickly move your sight down. A Major Elite will be hiding in a little corner there. Time to practice No-Scoping, right through the heart to take care of the shields, a quick melee to finish him.

Switch to your Assault Rifle, and move to the other side of the upper ledge and wipe out the two Grunts there. One of them should have dropped a Needler; quickly ditch your AR for it. There are two more Grunts and an Elite in this area, so concentrate your Needles on the Elite first, then mop up the Grunts if your Marines haven't yet. Two or three more Grunts will come down the path, use the rest of your Needler ammo to take them out. Now go back for your Assault Rifle, and fill up on ammo.

You will finally get another checkpoint at the beginning of the next area. Once again, this will be your only checkpoint for the area, so stay frosty.

There may be a Shade with a Grunt Gunning it on the upper ledge. Take him out before your Marines wake the rest up. Once he's down move your zoom to the other ledge, where there is always an Elite keeping guard. Sometimes he's walking; most of the time he's running, so this is a slightly tricky shot, but you can do it.

Now, move back to the starting point and look along the edge of the rock formation. You should see a rock just below a few feet to the right of the first shade you took out. Jump on that rock, and prepare to have some fun.

You will have to jump to look over the edge and fire at the Covenant, but that's the fun part. So, down to business. Aim for the first Shade you see, then aim for the Jackal that's coming across the natural bridge. A pair of Grunts might come up right in front of you; if so, let them meet the business end of your Assault Rifle.

Move your scope down and scrub those two Jackals on the natural bridge, and any Shade Gunners you can see. After they've bit the dust, jump down from the perch and move forward a little. You should see another large rock at the edge where the ground elevates into the natural bridge. Jump on the rock, then on the ground above, and crouch close to the first shade you decommissioned. Once again, plug any Gunners, Jackals, and other enemies that are visible.

Right about now, a dropship should be coming in to drop off a fresh contingent of enemy Covenant to attack you. The only one you can see on your side of the gulch is a Jackal. Shoot him, then revert to the 2x zoom and get ready for the other ones. Use your Sniper Rifle to blast the Elite, then switch to your Assault Rifle to mop up the Grunts. Once they're crisp, get off your perch, go down the left side, and finish off the two Jackals that were on patrol.

Once you’re back at Sniping spot #2, take a moment to access the situation. You have just sniped a whole Gulch-load of Covenant. Think you're done? WRONG! Move across the natural bridge, and keep you zoom on the patch of rocks and trees where your very first Active Camouflage power-up is. As the music starts, an Elite will step out of his hiding spot; Take him down. Then, turn around, switch to your Assault Rifle, and shoot the Grunts that are down there. After they're gone, keep moving across the bridge to find a hidden squad of Grunts engage your Marines. Flank them, and the Gulch is yours.

Reload both your guns, switch to your Plasma Grenades and your Assault Rifle, then move across the Active Camo.

All right, you have forty-five seconds to quietly kill as many Covenant as you can. Creep to the ledge across from the Active Camo, and drop down. A Minor Elite and a Major, followed by a group of grunts will rush out. Drop a grenade on the Major's helmet and assassinate the Minor. Hey look, the grunts are running. Stick one's face, and watch them get blown sky-high. Pull out your sniper and pop a bullet through the gunner above you and creep forward. There's a Minor patrolling the area in front of you. You don't need to scope for this-just pop his face open. Now a dropship and an onslaught of Covenant are coming in. Shoot the dropship's load (the covenant reinforcements from the gravity lift won't come through until you've killed the jackals from the dropship, so aim for them AFTER the grunts), and grab the Shade near where you came through to the gravity lift area (since the Covenant troops will have to go up the hill to where you are to attack you, thus bottle-necking their attack.) Open fire on the Gravity Lift and kill the Covenant as they come up the hill to attack. Your Marines will take care of the stragglers.

When you hear music start, the Hunters are coming. Jump out of the Shade and charge them. When one uses its shield to melee you, dodge, turn, and No-scope its back. You'll see a satisfying spurt of orange blood and the Hunter will go down. Rinse and repeat for the other Hunter. By now, your marines are probably dead, so Cortana will order reinforcements from Foehammer (the reinforcements will come even if not all your Marines are dead).

Alternate strategy: If you are playing the PC version (1.07), staying in the shade NEAR THE ENTRANCE TO THE GRAVITY LIFT AREA (not some other shade) and gunning the hunters is a very good way, to kill them as they will continuously miss you with their fuel rods.

Courtesy - FIREBENDER

As soon as they are dead, scour the place for ammo and grenades. Remember to take the frags from the dead marines because you'll need them. You may notice that the graphics in this game aren't exactly top notch (though they are pretty good for a 2001 game), but there are some scenes which just leave you staring at the breathtaking view, like the arc of the Halo extending over the sky, the ending cinematic, the silent cartographer level, the first level, the huge chasms and gorges, large indoor outdoor scenes, ice bridges, flood-covenant battles, Halo's Control Room, the light bridges, Proto-gravemind, the crashed Pillar of Autumn at "The Maw", etc, etc.

Well, here's another... look up... at the CCS-Truth and Reconciliation Battle cruiser. It's a real sight to behold.

Now jump into the Gravity Lift and watch the pretty cut scene as you're lifted into the belly of the beast.

Now you're in the loading bay, jump on the middle of the room, and check your motion sensor. A Covenant Stealth Elite (sometimes 2 on Legendary) with an Energy Sword will open a door and charge. Quickly put a few sniper slugs in him while he's getting angry (headshot works best), and he'll collapse and die. Now more Covenant reinforcements will slam into the room and attack.

There are two ways you can go about doing this, (do note that this walk through is for the Legendary difficulty) the easy yet long way and the obscenely (on Legendary) hard yet quick way.

First the balls-out strategy way: Try to keep as many Marines alive as you can. Thankfully there isn't a lot of Elites in this part, just 4 to 8 Zealots (all wielding energy swords). Your sniper rifle is key versus the Elites and your frags are very effective at killing the hordes of Grunts and Jackals that come through the doors. Use the med kit at the far corner of the room if you need it.

Second is the longer yet easier method, but it involves betraying fictional video game characters and leaving them for dead:

As soon as you've killed the first invisible Energy sword elite (and possibly another major elite if you were lucky), ready your grenades and throw them at the raiding parties that the Covenant send for you through the doors on the Right, on the same side as the med kit (the doors on the left lead to a dead end, that should also separate them). Once they are dead go through (only Covenant can open the door from the outside so try not to lock yourself out) take cover and wait for your shields to recharge while you reload your weapons and collect plasmas grenades from dead Grunts. (You can probably hear your Marines (which you abandoned fighting while you sit here) then jump out and shoot the Covenant one by one by opening and closing the door at your discretion, you may do this while your marines are still alive and get extra support, but without you to stop the energy sword elites, they're helpless. There's a squad of grunts and jackals that will pass through these hallways to get to the Gravity Lift loading bay.

Sometimes, energy sword elites will come inside after you, pull out your sniper rifle and put a few rounds in him. Try not to go for plasma grenades, as they'll run up to you thus killing you both, though it does occasionally work without substantial harm to you.

Notes for both strategies: If the energy sword elites get too close, immediately jump, as one swipe of the energy sword will kill you. Also, either strategy you use, your marines will probably die, if they don't, you're a better player than me. But it's not overly critical to your success if they die or not.

Once the fight is over a big door will open and a Hunter pair will jump out. Go and get the Active Camo from behind the crates, go around the hunters and put one sniper bullet each through the orange area on their backs (you're invisible, this will be easy). The area where they came from is sealed off; you'll have to use the other gate.

Go through and you'll come across two Grunts, kill them without making a noise (melee because you're probably still invisible). Go through and on the passage to the left, there should be a Major Elite. Stick him with a plasma grenade and shoot the grunts. The rest of the area is just navigating hallways and killing covenant patrols, not much advice to give you... [LATER...]

You'll come into a storage dump now. Clear out the few enemies standing guard there, more will come after you take these out. There's dead Marines with Grenades, Sniper ammo, Medkits, etc in the corner. Take some supplies and the Assault Rifle, if you don't already have one. Now lots of Grunts and Jackals led by Elites will come in. Grenade the first and second groups and then find cover. Unlike the Flood(explained in later levels), the covenant AI is more defensive then offensive, they won't come after you (except maybe the more aggressive Elites). Focus on the Elites and Jackals first and take them out with your Sniper Rifle (don't worry about using up ammo, there's lots more). Then mop up the Grunts. There will be multiple groups, possibly 4 or 5, though number of covenant per group will be small.

Now there are a few more hallways and then you'll come across a dropship bay with one Spirit dropship docked and one casting off anchor.

Now this may take a few tries, but you have a checkpoint right behind you so don't worry. As soon as you get the checkpoint, go forward, open the door and pull out your Sniper Rifle (you will have to be quick about this because the next patrol that'll come through will be a real pain in the a$$ if you don't engage them first) and quickly shoot the MOUTH of the Elite standing next to the hanger doors, it'll take two shots, at least, on Legendary.

As soon as he's dead, ignore the two grunts and run towards the door on the corner of the room to the right of you, an Elite and two jackals will come out (sometimes three Grunts with Needlers). Stick an Elite or Grunt and watch the others blow sky high. Go inside and recharge your shields as you'll be under a barrage of fire from an Elite and 6 or 7 Grunts while you do this. If you succeeded, you've just killed 2 Elites, 2 Jackals and a Grunt or two (best case scenario) without them being able to get a single shot out, good job.

Now, peep out and you'll see several Grunts, kill them with your Assault Rifle (or whatever weapon you have, I recommend the AR though). As soon as they're dead look up at the top of the platform, there will be an Elite, when he shows himself, shoot his mouth with the Sniper Rifle. He'll retreat to a hiding place to recharge his shields. His head will be visible to you if you're still in the doorway, shoot it with your Sniper Rifle and he'll collapse and die. DO NOT USE THE SUPPLIES FROM THE DEAD MARINES YET (unless you REALLY need them), you'll want them later. On Heroic and below, you'll get two fire teams (Two 5 man teams) as reinforcements (one after another if the first dies). On Legendary, you're all alone over here and since this walkthrough is for Legendary... I'll guide you as if you're alone.

Go into the middle of the room and use your Sniper Rifle to take out any Jackals on the second floor if there are any. Go to the other side of the bay (near the other dropship), and you'll find crates next to the platform. You can crouch and take cover under them (Covenant aim for your torso, not your head). Now more Elites, Jackals, and Grunts will come through. Use your sniper rifle for the Elites and Jackals and your Assault Rifle for the Grunts. Around two-three minutes after this latest group of enemies come, you'll get a checkpoint, so try getting them all as quickly as you can.

You might have noticed a few dead marines with ammo and Grenades by the other side of the room. Don't go near them yet. Come out and kill the remaining Grunts and Jackals on the second floor (if there are any there) with your Sniper Rifle. As soon as they're dead, you probably have very little health and ammo left. Walk over the dead Marine with the Medkit and you'll be replenished in all your needs. Now go back to the other side and pick up the Overshield.

Cortana will now try to hack into the Covenant ship systems and open a door, as soon as you hear her start saying this, make sure you have the Over-shield and run as quickly as you can back to where you started this room. There is a hunter pair that just joined the party. If they didn't see you then that gives you a good chance to take one of them down peacefully.

If they didn't see you, then they won't charge in swinging. Giving you the chance to compose yourself and sneak around the opposite end of the platform, take a good sniper shot and hit one of their necks(if you didn't, don't worry, but be careful because your last checkpoint was a long time ago). The other (or both if you missed) will come after you. Do not expose yourself to their fuel rod cannons, instead let them chase you.

Worst-case scenario: They split up and one comes through around each side of the middle platform, in which case it's going to be tough because they've surrounded you from both sides and there's very little cover that'll protect you now. So, try to lure them through ONE SIDE on first contact. As soon as they're just around the curve, run as fast as you can to the other side (a whole lap around the platform), sniper rifle in hand, and you'll be looking at their backs, hit the orange part of their backs from behind with the rifle. He'll drop dead in one shot if you hit the orange spot. Now the other will realize he lost his bond brother and come after you, repeat the same trick and go around the platform and shoot him from behind. In the best-case scenario, it should be a 1-shot 1-kill deal in a row.

If you're still alive, the door will open and you'll go through and get a checkpoint. You're safe. Feel free to take a deep breath and then proceed and kill the grunts in your way. You've just killed 6 or so Elites, 7-9 Jackals, 15+ grunts and 2 Hunters without the help of any marines and on Legendary. Kudos to you.

Go up to the next floor and you'll see two jackals coming out of a door, throw a frag between them and run up behind the crate beside the wall near where the jackals died. Jump up and throw a PLASMA grenade over the crate at the elite in the doorway or near him. Unless he sees you before the plasma grenade explodes, he won't dodge it, he'll just stare at it until it blows.

Now finish off the 2 grunts and 2 jackals on the other ledge. Whatever you do, do not walk up to the middle platform yet because that'll trigger more covenant reinforcements and you'll be caught between the jackals and grunts that you were engaging before and the Elite and Jackals that just came through now. If that happens, you will probably die unless you jump back to the first floor, enemies are very accurate on Legendary. They hardly ever miss.

Instead, whip out your sniper rifle and shoot them from where you are. When they're dead collect plasma grenades and walk to the middle platform. As soon as you hear the sound of the door opening, throw your entire load of plasma grenades at the enemy and back off to a good distance behind the middle platform (not near the door though on the other side though). Use your sniper rifle to finish off the survivors of the plasma barrage (if there were any). Now more covenant (an Elite and a squad of grunts) will come out and trap you in the middle.

If there are any survivors on the other side (where you threw the plasma grenades), then you have been surrounded and as I said before, Enemies on Legendary rarely miss. In this case, jump down onto one of the crates below (to prevent fall damage) and restock your dwindling ammo (there are two dead marines near the door Cortana opened) and go back all the way up, sniper rifle in hand. You will catch them off-guard, it should be very easy so go trigger happy with your sniper rifle, there's lots of ammo downstairs.

If there weren't any survivors to your original plasma grenade barrage then go back to the other side and use your sniper rifle to kill them from afar.

Now here comes a tricky part, the ship's command centre, otherwise known as the Bridge. There's some health and ammo to the hallway on your left, take it if you need it.

Now for the tough part, there are 2 major elites, a zealot and 6 grunts over here. So run and gun isn't an option. Pull out your AR and run into the room and melee the nearest sleeping grunt. Then run like hell. Go back to the previous area, the game should give you a "loading... done" message. It'll unload the previous area from it's memory and load the new one. Now go back, the covenant won't remember you because their AI was unloaded from the memory, so you can do multiple surprise attacks this way by going back and forth between loading areas. It gives a considerable advantage.

You can use this trick with all enemies near load points. Use the sniper rifle on the Elites and the AR with the grunts. Remember to avoid the Energy Sword Zealot.

Now move into the next area to the brig, there should be two brig areas. One has no guards and no live marines either, but lots of much needed supplies.

The other one holds Keyes and 3 other marines. There are multiple Zealots and Jackals guarding them. Mostly invisible. Though they shouldn't be a problem.

Free them and watch the cut scene. As soon as the cut scene ends, two more invisible elites with plasma rifles will come through. They are quite capable of killing Keyes and most of your marines if left to run their course so shoot them with your sniper rifle the moment they open the door.

Open the door and kill the two Jackals. Now fill up on your sniper ammo. You're leaving this area so fill up on everything you can. Now there's a fairly formidable group of Covenant that have an advantage in their position and availability of cover. There is an empty hallway between you and them, with absolutely no cover. Use all your frag grenades on them to scatter and disorganise them and charge in. Remember to take the lead so your marines and Keyes will have less chance of dying. Once you've broken this group's lines, the rest is fairly easy all the way back to the Bridge.

Once you get to the door leading to the Bridge there will be two invisible elites with energy swords. Wait until the walk by each other to take them both out with a single sniper rifle shot.

Now after the dialogue between Keyes and Cortana is finished, there will be a whole posse of Grunts through those doors.

Run to the back of the room (there are no doors on that side) and wait for them to finish talking. When the music starts, the Grunts are coming. They'll focus on throwing grenades and will take all your fire without answer. Remember, losing Keyes is mission failed. These Grunts are the Covenants best bet at taking him down, so stay away from the grunts.

Use all your plasma grenades on them. They must not get the chance to throw anything on Keyes. He's very fragile. On Legendary, 1 or 2 plasma pistol hits will take him down so stay vigilant.

Now the Level will end soon, you'll arrive back at the hanger bay. There's one last covenant group here, an Elite, a few Grunts and Jackals. Stick the Elite and use your AR on the grunts and Jackals. Your marines will be useful. Remember to always stay in front of Keyes. Block their fire with your body.

After you're done with them, it's simple, just activate the Hollow-panel and Mission Accomplished.

You've killed 3 Hunter pairs (4 counting end cut scene), 18-20 Zealots, 30+ Elites(Majors and Minors), at least 4-5 dozen Jackals and 70+ Grunt(including the enemies on the ground as well as in the ship) at a loss of around 15 marines(on Heroic and below, you get more reinforcements then Legendary, so that should be around 25). According to the story, Master Chief just killed half the ship's active fighting force and 1/3 of the crew.

Glitches

 * If you use a grenade to flip the turret the Grunt is supposed to run to and man (the one Cortana marks with a Nav Point), Cortana will still warn you he's going to take the turret and will still mark him but he will behave as a normal Grunt Minor armed with a Needler. Apparently Grunts can't flip turrets.
 * Right before you go into the valley where the Gravity Lift is, if you move fast enough the checkpoint will be reached before any of the Marines, Cortana will call for more men to be dropped while your Marines follow up behind you. If you've been careful you now have 10 marines to fight against the reaction force that is sent to deal with you. The same glitch can be performed when you first enter the hangar, meaning Echo 419 can say (scripted) “Roger Cortana, Echo 419 inbound” three times.
 * In the brig where Captain Keyes is being held, you can actually kill him and the three Marines while the Energy Shields are still up just by aiming in a precise location while standing up against the shields. If you kill Keyes and the Marines and then activate the cutscene where Master Chief rescues them, then after the cut scene Keyes and the Marines will be there and turn against you and open fire. If you run, they will chase after you.
 * Before reaching the second level of the shuttle bay, there is a dead Grunt lying on the ground with a (usually) fully charged weapon and two grenades. If you walk out the door and walk back in, he will disappear.
 * This level may include the largest grenade jump possible. The jump includes four grenades and will skip the second floor completely. A video is here: ; the jump occurs after about 13 minutes. A video is also available on youtube: ; the jump is at around 2:47. This jump includes 3 plasma grenades and 1 frag. Three plasma grenades are thrown near the Overshield, each one is lower than the other. Then, a frag is thrown at the ground. Grab the Overshield before jumping, so no damage occurs.
 * If you kill two allies in the last part of the level, Keyes will appear as an enemy on your HUD. In Legendary difficulty, he will either fire his Needler at you occasionally or repeatedly throw grenades at you. The amount of grenades he can throw seems to be infinite. Occasionally, he will fire on you in the ending cutscene.
 * It is possible to kill yourself when you activate the cell controls. You can shoot the door and if you're close enough you will die. During the cut scene, your body will float around where the Master Chief is supposed to be walking, and when it is over you will still be dead and will have to restart from the last checkpoint.
 * There is a rare glitch in which the Marine fire team gets frozen inside the hallway before the bridge. Upon releasing Captain Keyes, you can return to them and they will unfreeze; never having been killed by the Stealth Elites and reinforcing your unit of rescued Marines.
 * If you kill Keyes just as the shield goes down you will have to restart the level.
 * If Keyes dies at the same time you release the dropship, the first part of his death cut scene will play but will cut off halfway. The end of level cut scene will then play and you will go onto the next level.
 * If you open the doors then kill yourself as the cutscene starts, you will be dead on the floor as Keyes and the others are shooting and killing the enemies but you still don't respawn.
 * If you kill your troops before going up on the grav lift they will be there in the grav bay and in addition they will try to kill you as soon as the level begins (In the Belly of the Beast). If you want to truly test your skills, try killing them all then throwing a plasma grenade on the grav lift and walking in on top of it so that it explodes as the game goes into the cut-scene. If you try that you will start the next level with the damage and no shields.

Mistakes

 * There was a bug earlier in the development of the game in which Keyes had AI behavior which was "taunt enemy corpse" and when he picked up a Needler, he would fire it into a dead Covenant soldier, which would explode and kill himself. This bug was described by Joseph Staten on the Halo 3 Legendary Edition Bonus Disc.
 * Just like on The Silent Cartographer, you will find groups of dead Marines inside the ship and out during the level with no explanation why. One possibility is that they may have been executed by the Covenant, although for some reason there are weapons lying with the Marines.
 * Somewhere within the hallways of the vessel, there is a small patch of Flood blood on the ground. This is odd as the flood were not released until later in the game. There is only one patch, and it is the same sickly green as you encounter from 343 Guilty Spark onward.

Miscellaneous

 * If you pay attention while searching for Captain Keyes throughout the level, you will find random groups of marines lying dead in the hallways of the Truth and Reconciliation. This is odd considering that all the marines that were with Captain Keyes went to the brig with him and the only other marines to enter the ship were with the Master Chief. It is also possible that they were a recon force sent in before the strike team. It is reinforced by the fact that in Halo: the Flood, it says that recon had confirmed Keyes's capture and there are also dead Elites below the ship and in the launch bay.
 * The rescued Marines and Keyes will often be very good at killing enemies. They fire more often and more accurately than normal marines.
 * If all your marines except one are killed, when you walk up to him he will say, "It's just you and me, Chief.".
 * In Halo: The Flood, it was stated that John left the strike force in the docking bay rather than unlocking the blast door stating they would just slow him down. Thus, explaining why unlocking the doors to let the strike team in from the docking bay is optional.