The Package

'' Were you looking for Catherine Elizabeth Halsey, the data storage unit, or the Halo Legends short? ''

The Package is the ninth level in the campaign of Halo: Reach.

Completing the level on Normal or higher earns the player the This Is Not Your Grave achievement and 20 gamerscore. The Firefight map Glacier is based on the last section of this level.

Plot
The level begins on August 29, 2552. It takes place around the destroyed Sword Base, as well as in an interior cavern underneath the facility. Noble Team is ordered to destroy Sword Base in a torch-and-burn op. Noble Six and a small strike force of Orbital Drop Shock Troopers infiltrates Sword Base to take out Covenant anti-air turrets. On their way to the facility, the team finds an operational Scorpion tank that they use to fight through Covenant forces around Sword Base. Meanwhile, the Falcons carrying the rest of Noble Team land at Sword Base and begin the assault.

Noble Six arrives at Sword Base, and the entire team pushes through to a set of pre-arranged coordinates. However, there is nothing there. Auntie Dot receives a set of revised coordinates from an AI of unknown origin, and a hidden door slides back to reveal an excavation tunnel. Noble Team rides a cart down the tunnel, where they find a large cavern housing a massive Forerunner artifact. On the way down, Dr. Halsey reveals herself as the one who orchestrated their arrival. She asks for their assistance in defending her lab while she decrypts final information from the Forerunner ruins.

Noble Team uses Wolf Spider turrets to defend the lab as the Covenant begin their attack. They engage in a open firefight against incoming waves of Covenant and after a period of time, Dr. Halsey opens the doors to the lab. Noble Team walks into the lab, revealing a large, glowing Forerunner artifact in the center. Dr. Halsey tells them about a great discovery that could change the tide of the war, and stresses that it is imperative that they get the information off-planet. She then shows them Cortana, who is revealed to be the AI that sent them the revised coordinates. She stores Cortana in a data storage unit and gives it to Noble Six, whom Cortana has chosen.

Jun leaves to escort Halsey to CASTLE Base, while the rest of Noble Team gets into a Pelican to fly to the that is awaiting their arrival. As they depart, a large underground explosion destroys Sword Base, denying the Covenant access to whatever remains.

Transcript
{Cutscene}

Sword Base, Babd Catha Ice Shelf, Eposz

August 29, 2552 26:16 Hours

''Fades in to the burnt and destroyed landscape outside Sword Base. A Falcon flies overhead as Noble Six walks out from a small hill. Six walks down the rocky terrain.''


 * Colonel Holland (COM): "Noble One, this is Noble Actual. Noble One?"


 * Carter-A259: "...Go ahead."


 * Colonel Holland (COM): "We need that base taken out, son. What's your status?"


 * Carter-A259: "Still outside. Thermal on the interior shows standing-room-only. We gotta thin 'em out or we'll be way too popular."


 * Colonel Holland (COM): "Copy that, Noble One. Holland out."

''Six jumps out and lands beside three ODSTs. ''


 * Carter-A259: "We've got a job to do, so let's stay focused and get it done. Six, are you in position?"


 * Noble Six: "Affirmative."


 * Carter-A259: "Good. Execute."

Six beckons the ODSTs and they move out.

{Gameplay}

Torch and Burn

 * ODST #1: "Targets."


 * Carter-A259: "Covenant own this sector now. They are defending for a full major strike, not a small-group infiltration. Eliminate all hostile anti-air defence so the rest of Noble can land at Sword Base for the torch and burn. Keep a low profile, we'll take them by surprise, this will be a hell lot easier."


 * ODST Sergeant: Spartan, we'll follow you."

The team moves down to the flooded Farragut Station in front of a Covenant outpost, comprising of a deployable lookout tower, Shades, a few Ghosts, and a group of infantry.


 * ODST Sergeant: Falcon down. Watch for bodies."

After clearing the area:


 * ODST Sergeant: "Structure's cleared, Lieutenant."

They come across another deployable lookout tower and a Scorpion hidden from it.


 * ODST #2: "We have a Scorpion still operational, sir."

''Noble Six commandeers the tank. More towers and Ghosts appear, but are easily eliminated by the Scorpion's firepower.''


 * ODST Sergeant: "Ready to get that anti-air whenever you are, sir.

Noble Six clears the area.


 * ODST #1: Area secure."


 * Carter-A259 (COM): "Get a move on, Noble Six. Our Falcons are standing by."

''The teams finally reach the Airview Base, now the dwelling of two Covenant Tyrants defended by Covenant troops, Ghosts and Banshees. An aerial battle between Banshees and Falcons rages above them.''


 * ODST Sergeant: "Enemy guns dead ahead, Lieutenant.


 * Carter-A259 (COM):"Time to get to work, Noble Six. Take out those guns."

Noble Six destroys the first AA gun.


 * ODST Sergeant: "First target neutralized."


 * Carter-A259 (COM): "Copy. Stand-by."

After destroying the second anti-air gun:


 * Carter-A259 (COM): "Nice job, Six. Falcons commend to set. Meet you inside the base, Lieutenant."


 * ODST #1: "Nice kill, Spartan!"


 * ODST Sergeant: "Make sure they pay for Reach."


 * Alternatively


 * ODST #1: "Give 'em hell, Spartan!"


 * ODST Sergeant: "They sure gave it to Reach"



''Falcons fly over Six and towards Sword Base. Six continues to the Sword Base's gate.''


 * Carter-A259 (COM): "Noble Team: Falcons landed, hostiles engaged. Jun is working on getting the gate open."


 * Jun-A266 (COM): "Really missing Kat about now..."

Six gets to Sword Base's gate area, defended by Covenant troops and vehicles.


 * Jun-A266 (COM): "Got it. Gate's opened, boss."


 * Carter-A259 (COM): "Six, get over here! Covies all over the base."

Six reaches the gate.


 * Emile-A239 (COM): "Tango, coming for the pad!"


 * Jun-A266 (COM): "Head for the garage!"


 * Carter-A259 (COM): "Double time it Six, come on!"

If Six stalls at the gate:


 * Carter-A259 (COM): "Noble Six, get inside the base!"

Latchkey
''Six finally arrives at Sword Base's courtyard. The rest of Noble Team are seen fighting Covenant troops.''


 * Emile-A239: "Just in time, Six."


 * Carter-A259: "Kill them all, Noble!"

''Noble team finish off the Covenant in the courtyard. They enter the base and clear out the entrance. Noble team heads to a door at the end of the parking lot.''


 * Carter-A259: Have to go through maintenance. Elevator's out.

 Noble team enters the maintenance hall and climb up a series catwalks, engaging some Jackals on the way, finally arriving at the top and entering the security checkpoint, which has been severely damaged.''
 * Emile-A239: The way this place been done? We're lucky anything still works.


 * Jun-A266: "Where we going now, boss?"


 * Carter-A259: "Dot?"


 * Auntie Dot (COM) : "Please proceed to the prearranged coordinates.”


 * Emile-A239: "Cryptic..."


 * Auntie Dot (COM): "You know as much as I do, Noble Four."

A door opens, and the team continues into Sword Base's main atrium.


 * Auntie Dot (COM): "Coordinates nearby, Commander."


 * Carter-A259: "All right, up the ramp, to the right!"

The team eliminates the Elite forces defending the atrium consisting of several Stealth Elites and a General.

''The team continues to the coordinates. They come across a door with the ONI emblem on it.''


 * Carter-A259: "This is it, in here."

{Cutscene}

''Noble Team enters a corridor littered with dead bodies and destroyed equipment. An unmanned turret stands behind some sandbags.''


 * Jun-A266: "Looks like they got themselves cornered."


 * Carter-A259: "Or were committed to the position."

Emile continues through the corridor, but it's a dead end.


 * Emile-A239: "I'm going with cornered. There's nothing here."


 * Jun-A266: "No load-bearing columns either. Sir, if we're supposed to blow this place, this ain't the spot to do it from."

Carter accesses his TACPAD, annoyed.


 * Carter-A259: "Dot, check your vector."


 * Auntie Dot (COM): "Vector confirmed. Commander, we are precisely where ONI has directed..."


 * Auntie Dot (COM): "...Apologies. Coordinates revised. Please confirm?"


 * Carter-A259: "Revised...?"


 * Auntie Dot (COM): "By an AI of unknown origin, whose clearance is well above my own."


 * Jun-A266: "Well, it's pointing us a click and a half east and two thousand feet underground."


 * Emile-A239: (sarcastically) "And I didn't bring my shovel, Commander."


 * Jun-A266: "Sir, I say we go AI-free on this one. Obviously, these coordinates are junk, and the longer we go chasing them-"

''A sudden grinding noise cuts Jun's sentence off. Everyone raises their weapons. A wall in the dead end opens, revealing a secret passage. Emile stands in front of it, securing the way ahead.''


 * Carter-A259: "What is this, Dot?"


 * Auntie Dot (COM): "Our revised route, Commander."


 * Carter-A259: "All right, we came this far."

''Carter signals Jun to take point, and the rest of the team follow them into the hidden corridor. The team continues down the tunnel and find a tram. View turns to a security camera watching Noble Team entering the tram.''


 * Carter-A259: "Your new AI friend tell you anything else, Dot? ...Dot?"


 * Auntie Dot (COM): "She's been expecting you."


 * Emile-A239: "That's perfect."

''The view switches to a camera inside the tram as it starts to move. Dr. Halsey appears on a viewscreen.''


 * Catherine Halsey (Video COM): "Apologies for the unusual security measures, Commander, but the stakes demand it."


 * Carter-A259: "Dr. Halsey. Casualty reports have you listed as-"


 * Catherine Halsey (Video COM): "Yes. Well, as they say, news of my death has been greatly exaggerated. I only wish the same could be said of the rest of Noble Team."


 * Carter-A259: "We all do, ma'am."


 * Catherine Halsey (Video COM): "It may please you to learn the data module Noble Two procured from the Visegrad station contained precisely what my scientist promised: a latchkey discovery. It has unlocked, at last, the secrets of this excavation."


 * Carter-A259: "Not sure I understand."


 * Catherine Halsey (Video COM): "Your orders were a pretext to bring you to me and have been overridden. You are here, Team Noble, to assure the delivery of this vital data to a secure location."


 * Carter-A259: "Doctor, our orders are to destroy all sensitive material-"


 * Catherine Halsey (Video COM): "Others will handle the demolition."


 * Carter-A259: "I'll need to confirm this new directive with command-"


 * Catherine Halsey (Video COM): "Colonel Holland will be briefed. You belong to ONI now."

Fades out.

''Fades in to a camera overlooking the elevator travelling down to an icy cavern. Cut to Noble Team looking at the Forerunner cave complex.''


 * Catherine Halsey (COM): "Before you is an alien artifact neither Human nor Covenant in origin. Advanced beyond our comprehension... until now. Thanks to Noble Two, the decryption of its data is nearly complete."

Crumbling sounds shift Six's attention to a few falling boulders from the cave's ceiling.


 * Emile-A239: "Whatever we're doing down here, we better do it quick."


 * Carter-A259: "Have your data ready, ma'am. We're coming to you."


 * Catherine Halsey (COM): "The decrypting process is still underway..."


 * Carter-A259: "I don't think you understand. We're out of time. If it isn't portable when we reach you, it's gonna get buried."


 * Catherine Halsey (COM): "Bury any of it, and you bury mankind's best chance of survival! Commander, you've been wondering what your Spartans died for? They died for this. Please. Buy me all the time you can."

''The elevator door opens. Noble Team steps out.''

{Gameplay}

This Cave is Not a Natural Formation

 * Carter-A259: "Let's find Halsey's lab. Move!"

''Noble Team moves out and explores the cave complex. Four Wolf Spider turrets are located in different locations.''


 * Jun-A266: "Commander, I am seeing turrets already in defensive positions."


 * Emile-A239: "ONI was expecting company?"

Covenant Dropships begin their descent from the cave's ceiling.


 * Carter-A259: "They sure as hell got it. Doctor, we have hostiles inbound."


 * Catherine Halsey (COM): "Spartans, you cannot allow the Covenant to break through the door to my lab."


 * Carter-A259: "Understood. Let's give the doctor the time she needs."


 * ONI Control (COM): Noble Team, there are four defense turrets to assist you in defending the lab. Get them online, and quick! When the turrets take too much damage, they'll shut down to recharge. You'll need to reactivate them when they come back online."

''The team arrives at the lab's entrance. There are a wide assortment of weapons holstered on the side and Mongooses parked near the entrance. Weapons crates and armor abilities are also available. Sandbags provide defense and Carter, Jun, and Emile hold their position there.''


 * Carter-A259: "Noble Six! Activate the turrets! Set up a perimeter."

While Six moves around the cavern, activating the Spider Turrets, Covenant Spirits and Phantoms are heard as they enter the area.


 * Emile-A239: "They're landing out of range, across the bridge!"


 * Catherine Halsey (COM): "I need more time. Whatever you need to do, do it."

After the cavern has been defended for a while, Wraiths are dropped off by Phantoms.


 * Emile-A239: "We got targets! Watch out for those Wraiths!"

''Brutes join the Jackals and Grunts while Plasma Mortar rounds hit near the entrance. More Phantoms appear. Banshees enter the battlefield to aid their allies.''


 * Jun-A266: "Heads up, we got more trouble!"


 * Catherine Halsey (COM): "Hold on, Spartans. I'm getting close."

Noble Team continues to defeat wave after wave of Covenant troops.


 * Emile-A239: "Another Phantom! Dropping troops to flank us!"


 * Jun-A266: "Maybe we can grab a Banshee and bring the fight to them."

Ghosts and Elite Rangers join the assault.


 * Catherine Halsey (COM): "Package is almost ready. Just a little more."

More Phantoms approach, right outside the entrance.


 * Carter-A259: "More Covenant! Get your defenses ready, Six!"

''A pair of Hunters and a lance of Covenant led by an Elite General are dropped from the Phantom. Noble Team manages to kill the majority of the attacking Covenant troops.''


 * Catherine Halsey (COM): "Well done, Spartans! I am opening the laboratory door."


 * Carter-A259: "Door's opened, Noble Six. Get to the lab."

If Noble Six stalls:


 * Carter-A259: "Six, open the lab! That's an order!"

Six activates the pad and the lab door opens.

{Cutscene}

''The door opens and Noble Team steps in. They begin running into the corridor and reach the end of it: Dr. Halsey's lab. A large sphere-shaped Forerunner artifact hovers outside the lab.''


 * Emile-A239: "What is this stuff?"

Dr. Halsey, still in the middle of preparing The Package, moves to another monitor.


 * Catherine Halsey: "Knowledge. A birthright from an ancient civilization. This AI is its custodian, and she has chosen you as her couriers."


 * Emile-A239: "Chosen? By an AI?"


 * Catherine Halsey: "By this AI, yes. Her measure of you carries as much weight as my own..."

Halsey moves away from view, revealing an AI (whom the player recognizes as Cortana) on a holo-tank analyzing Forerunner data.


 * Catherine Halsey: "...Perhaps more. You are to take her to the UNSC ship-breaking yards in Aszod. There, you will find a Halycon-class cruiser waiting to get her off-planet."


 * Carter-A259: "I understand."


 * Catherine Halsey: "Do you? Mankind is outmatched. When Reach falls - and it will fall - our annihilation is all but certain. Unless... we can glean from this artifact a defence against the Covenant. A game-changer. On the level of the conical bullet in the nineteenth century, or faster-than-light travel in the twenty-third."


 * Carter-A259: "And what if we can't?"


 * Catherine Halsey: "An apt question, if there were somewhere else to place our hope. There is not."

''Dr. Halsey looks at Cortana one last time and shuts off her projection. Jun curiously looks at the lab as Dr. Halsey pulls out the data storage unit. Halsey, holding the Package securely with both hands, walks forward as if she is approaching Carter, but passes him and holds it out to Noble Six instead.''


 * Catherine Halsey: "Take it, Lieutenant... She has made her choice."

''Six looks at Carter, who nods in response. The Spartan places his or her hands over the package.''


 * Catherine Halsey: "Do you have it?"


 * Noble Six: "Yes."


 * Catherine Halsey: "Say the words, please."


 * Noble Six: "I have it."

Halsey lets go of the unit and Six looks at her.

Fade out.

''Fade in to Noble Team and Dr. Halsey walking out a tunnel leading to two Pelicans. View switches to the team and Dr. Halsey. The data storage unit, now attached to Six's lower back, emits a dim blue glow. Carter turns back to Halsey.''


 * Carter-A259: "Dr. Halsey, Noble Three will escort you to CASTLE Base."


 * Dr. Halsey: "I require no escort, Commander-"


 * Carter-A259: (ignoring her) "Jun, make sure nothing falls into enemy hands."


 * Jun-A266: "I'll do what's necessary, sir... good luck."


 * Carter-A259: "You too, rifleman."

''Jun and Dr. Halsey climb into one Pelican while Carter boards the other. Emile and Noble Six slowly walk back, securing the area. Cut to the cockpit of Carter's Pelican. Carter climbs into the pilot seat.''


 * Carter-A259: "I need a heading, Dot."


 * Auntie Dot: "Head three kilometers north, then turn right. Heading zero-five-zero."


 * Carter-A259: "Which leads to...?"

Six walks into the troop bay while Emile sits down on the tail of the Pelican.


 * Auntie Dot: "The ship-breaking yard in Aszod. The only off-planet extraction point left on this continent. Small-scale air attacks have decimated many convoys en route. An armada of Covenant cruisers have hastened to side as well. UNSC cruiser, Pillar of Autumn is awaiting your arrival."

Both Pelicans take off.


 * Carter-A259: "Wouldn't be a Noble mission if it were easy."

''Emile sits back as explosive charges detonate beneath the ice shelf, destroying what remains of Sword Base and the Forerunner complex. The surrounding waters pour into the opening, flooding the excavation area.''

Fade to black.

Level ends.

Mistakes

 * Jun in gameplay carries his sniper rifle, however in all cutscenes he is shown using a DMR.

Easter eggs

 * The Tribute Room easter egg can be found on this level.
 * There is an easter egg on this level that spawns four Banshees.

Reference

 * This level's name may be a reference to the Halo Legends episode of the same name, in which the "Package" was Dr. Halsey herself. While in Halo: Reach, the package is a fragment of the A.I. Cortana.
 * The name of the final chapter, "This Cave is Not a Natural Formation..." is a reference to a line spoken by Cortana in the Halo: Combat Evolved level Halo, when the Master Chief drives a Warthog into a Forerunner tunnel. The line was widely ridiculed by fans because of the obviousness of Cortana's statement, and Bungie added the reference as a humorous reminder of this.

Miscellaneous

 * The Banshees in the final sequence of this level have no pilots; this can be easily seen when hijacking one.
 * When Dr. Halsey talks to Noble Team at the end of the level, she closes a display screen of Jorge and Kat, both of whom have been listed as MIA.
 * This is the last level in which Colonel Urban Holland makes an appearance.