Battle of the Silent Cartographer

The Battle of the Silent Cartographer was a brief conflict within the larger Battle of Installation 04, during the Human-Covenant War. A part of a much wider conflict in 2552, the battle produced numerous casualties on both sides and resulted in the UNSC's discovery of the Control Room's location.

The battle
SPARTAN-II John-117 and two squads of marines were ordered by Captain Keyes to land on the Covenant-held island and capture the Cartographer in order to locate Halo's control room.

Two Pelicans carried the marines to a beach that was lightly held by Covenant infantry. The Chief and marines wiped out the defenders and a Warthog was delivered to the beach by a Pelican. The Master Chief and two marines took the Warthog past two Covenant patrols and launched an attack on the heavily guarded entrance to the Cartographer. They succeeded at wiping out the guards, but as Master Chief faced off with a sword-wielding Zealot the Covenant managed to seal a security door that proved impervious to any attempts to open it.

The Chief made his way around the island and ambushed and destroyed another unprepared group of Covenant infantry at a second beach and then moved inland, fighting his way past Elites, Grunts, and eventually a pair of Hunters. Cortana called in Pelican Bravo-22 for a delivery of reinforcements and heavy weapons. After defeating several more squads of Covenant infantry, the Chief fought and killed another Hunter pair who were the guards of the security override and then used the override to open the door.

The Covenant struck back; ground forces succeeded in shooting down Bravo-22 and a squad of Stealth Elites ambushed but failed to kill the Master Chief. The Chief defeated another Covenant patrol near a mesa and resupplied at Bravo-22's crash site before returning to the Silent Cartographer. A trio of Jackals and a pair of Hunters had been sent to guard the entrance but the Chief was able to defeat them easily using the rocket launcher he had taken from Bravo-22.

The Zealot who had guarded the path to the Cartographer earlier had disappeared and the Chief fought his way down through the corridors leading to the Cartographer; in many of the fights the Chief was able to ambush unprepared Covenant infantry. However, the Covenant launched a counterattack against the marines on the beach while the Chief was underground and wiped them out.

After finding the map, the Chief fought his way back up the surface. The Zealot returned and dueled the Chief but was killed, and a final squad of Stealth Elites arrived by Spirit dropship but were also defeated. The Master Chief was picked up by Pelican Echo-419, which then carried him off to make an underground aerial insertion near the Control Room.

Other
It is not stated in Halo: The Flood how many factual Marines participated in the battle, but in the game you are given a varying number depending on the difficulty you are on. Easy will give you nine, but Heroic will give you seven. The book only mentions two Warthogs and not the wrecked one you find by the beach in the game.

The fate of the two squads that accompanied the Chief to the island is unknown, although they are believed to have suffered heavy casualties in both the initial beach assault and in assisting the Chief on his daredevil insertions underground. However, if the player heads back to where the marines previously were, they will find their bodies scattered on the beach head.

It can also be noted that a Warthog can be driven down into the main structure to where the locked door is. If the Marines in the Warthog stay in the tunnels they will survive the Covenant attack.