Earth City

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Earth City is a music track featured in Halo 2, and is track seventeen of Volume 1 of the Halo 2 Soundtrack.

The song combines deep strings with a piano rhythm to create an imposing, suspense filled piece. Towards the end, a higher string set creates a building crescendo, accompanied by a vocal set reminiscent of the one at the end of The Last Spartan.

Though its title suggests its association with New Mombasa, the 'Earth City', it is frequently played as the theme of the Covenant's Scarab walker. It is first played in the Halo 2 E3 2003 demo when the Master Chief mans the gun of a Gauss Warthog and continues on until the end of the demo. This is the only time when the music is not associated with the Scarab. It first appears in the final game when the Pelicans launched from In Amber Clad encounter the Scarab in the cinematic before Outskirts. It is later played in Metropolis when the Master Chief encounters Wraiths outside a Marine Command Post, just before the Scarab arrives there. Shortly afterward, it is again played as the Prophet of Regret's carrier prepares to make a Slipstream Space jump, while the In Amber Clad attempts to intercept it.

Lastly, it is again played when a Scarab is encountered, this time it is as the Arbiter escorts a Scarab commandeered by Avery Johnson on the jungle of Delta Halo, during the level The Great Journey.

The song's length is 3 minutes and 6.54 seconds (3:06.54).

The version played during the Metropolis level is somewhat different than the OST version.

A similar song can be heard in the Halo 3: ODST level, Coastal Highway, featuring similar piano rhythms. Like Halo 2, it is played during a Warthog chase within New Mombasa. In the Halo 3: ODST Original Soundtrack, this similar song, called "Orbital Drop Shock Trooper" is in the track, Finale.