The Armory

For the location where weapons are stored on ships, see Armory. For the UNSC building in Halo Wars, see Field Armory. For the armor customization in Halo: Reach, see Armor customization (Halo: Reach).

The Armory is the second campaign level of Halo 2, and the first of which is playable. It is a short stage mainly to allow the player to get a feel for the game controls. It has no enemies, but it does have Marine allies.

One Size Fits All
{Gameplay}

A Master Gunnery Sergeant inspects John-117's new armor.


 * Master Gunnery Sergeant: "Well, I guess it was all obsolete, anyway."


 * Master Gunnery Sergeant: "Your new suit's a Mark VI, just came up from Seongnam this morning. Try and take it easy till you get used to the upgrades."


 * Master Gunnery Sergeant: "Okay, let's test your targeting, first thing. Please look at the top light."

Once the Chief does as he's told:


 * Master Gunnery Sergeant: "Good. Now look at the bottom light."

Once the Chief does as he's told


 * Master Gunnery Sergeant: "Alright. Look at the top light again."

Once the Chief does as he's told:


 * Master Gunnery Sergeant: "That's it. Now the bottom one."

Once the Chief does as he's told:


 * Master Gunnery Sergeant: "Okay."

If the player doesn't pass the first diagnostic test.


 * Master Gunnery Sergeant: "Tracking looks sketchy, I'm gonna run you through the full diagnostic. The diagnostic software sets your targeting system to be normal. Go ahead and look at the four lights, Chief. You want me to leave it like that, or make it inverted?"

If the player wants it to be Inverted as selected.


 * Master Gunnery Sergeant: "Okay, now it's inverted. Go ahead and target 'em one more time. Should I leave it inverted, or put it back to normal?"

If the player wants it back to Normal as selected.


 * Master Gunnery Sergeant: "Okay, now it's back to normal. I'll leave your targeting set to normal. If you change your mind, you can switch the setting anytime."

The diagnostic tests are completed.


 * Master Gunnery Sergeant: "Stand by. I'm gonna offline the inhibitors. Move around a little, get a feel for it. When you're ready, come and meet me by the zapper."

If the player explores the armory, jumping, and hitting stuff about.


 * Master Gunnery Sergeant: "Hey, take it easy!"

or


 * Master Gunnery Sergeant: "Careful, you'll pull a tendon doing that!"

or


 * Master Gunnery Sergeant: "Fine, but don't come cryin' to me when you rip your leg out of its socket."

The Master Chief moves over to the shield recharge station.


 * Master Gunnery Sergeant: "Pay attention, 'cause I'm only going over this once. This station'll test your recharging energy shields. Step on in, I'll show ya."

If the player looks away from him.


 * Master Gunnery Sergeant: "Over here, Chief. Focus."

If the player keeps looking away from the Sergeant.


 * Master Gunnery Sergeant: "This is important. You could at least look at me when I explain it."

or


 * Master Gunnery Sergeant: "I'm talkin' to you Chief. Look at me."

or


 * Master Gunnery Sergeant: "I know you Spartans think you know everything, but it couldn't hurt you to at least look this way."

or


 * Master Gunnery Sergeant: "Look, just 'cause the brass kisses your ass don't mean I will. Look at me when I talk to you."

The Chief steps in the station.


 * Master Gunnery Sergeant: "Your new armor's shields are extremely resilient, very efficient. Much better than the Covenant tech we used for the Mark V."

If the player waits:


 * Master Gunnery Sergeant: "Are you listenin' to me?"


 * Master Gunnery Sergeant: "Step into the red square Chief, and we'll get started."

If the player keeps waiting over and over again:


 * Master Gunnery Sergeant: "Chief, stand in the red square."


 * Master Gunnery Sergeant: "You have to stand in the red square before we can start the test."


 * Master Gunnery Sergeant: "Go ahead and stand in the red square. It'll just take a minute."


 * Master Gunnery Sergeant: "Come on, son. Step into the red square."

If the player steps into the red square but stalls and doesn't press the switch.


 * Master Gunnery Sergeant: "Go ahead and press the red switch to start the shield test."

If the player doesn't do as he's told and waits.


 * Master Gunnery Sergeant: "Just place your hand on the touch-pad to activate the switch."


 * Master Gunnery Sergeant: "Hit the switch! It won't hurt... much."


 * Master Gunnery Sergeant: "Go ahead and use that switch in front of you."


 * Master Gunnery Sergeant: "The switch right in front of you will start the shield test."


 * Master Gunnery Sergeant: "It's a switch. You press it."

''The Chief presses the red switch. The machine zaps the Chief's shields, and they quickly recharge.''


 * Master Gunnery Sergeant: "Bingo! As you can see, they recharge a lot faster!"

The elevator door opens, and Sergeant Johnson steps out wearing a dress uniform.


 * Master Gunnery Sergeant: "If your shields go down, find some cover, wait for the meter to read fully charged."


 * Sergeant Major Johnson: "That, or he can hide behind me. You done with my boy here, Master Gunns? I don't see any training wheels."


 * Master Gunnery Sergeant: "His armor's working fine, Johnson, so shut your chili-hole. You're free to go, son, just remember, take things slow."


 * Sergeant Johnson: "Don't worry, I'll hold his hand."

If the player stalls:


 * Sergeant Johnson: "C'mon, Chief. They're waiting for us on the bridge."

If the player continues to stall:


 * Sergeant Johnson: "Get on the lift, Chief. We're gonna be late."


 * Sergeant Johnson: "I don't want to keep the brass waiting, Chief."


 * Sergeant Johnson: "Fine, you can tell Lord Hood why we're late!"


 * Sergeant Johnson: "Get your shiny green posterior on this elevator!"


 * Sergeant Johnson: "Would it help if I said, 'Please'?"

The Master Chief enters the elevator.


 * Master Gunnery Sergeant: "So, Johnson, when you gonna tell me how you made it back home in one piece?"


 * Sergeant Johnson: "Sorry, Gunns. It's classified."


 * Master Gunnery Sergeant: "Huh! My ass! Well, you can forget about those adjustments to your A2 scope, (the sound of the elevator drowns out the rest of the sentence, which continues:) and you're sure as hell not gettin' one of the new M7s!"

The doors close and the elevator rises.


 * Sergeant Johnson: (sarcastically) "Well, he's in a particularly fine mood. Maybe Lord Hood didn't give him an invitation."

''The elevator stops, the doors open and the Chief and Johnson get out to board a small tram. It starts to move, with a view of the crew of the Cairo Station going about their business and a backdrop of windows displaying the station and the stars. The planet Earth comes into view. As the tram starts moving, Sergeant Johnson comments on the things passing by the windows.''


 * Sergeant Johnson: "Earth... haven't seen it in years. When I shipped out for basic, the Orbital Defense Grid was all theory and politics. Now look! The Cairo is just one of three hundred geosync platforms. That MAC gun can put a round clean through a Covenant capital ship. With coordinated fire from the Athens and the Malta, nothing's getting past this battle cluster in one piece."

Several UNSC ships drift past the station.


 * Sergeant Johnson: "Ships have been arriving all morning. Nobody's saying much, but I think something big's about to happen."

The tram stops, and they walk out to join a crowd of cheering Marines.

Level ends.

Achievements
A single achievement can be unlocked on The Armory in the Halo: The Master Chief Collection edition of Halo 2: Anniversary. The Windows Vista release of Halo 2 did not feature this achievement, and the original Xbox release of Halo 2 did not contain achievement unlocks at all.

Glitches

 * When getting out of the elevator, look to your left. There should be a trash can. Get on top of it and jump. If you keep on jumping, sometimes you will hear dead Jackal noises. While jumping, your armor will get damaged and doing so, you will die from jumping on the trash can. Easier in Legendary.
 * Before you go on the elevator ride, find a bin with three bullet-casings next to it. The bin can be pushed out of its spot, and occasionally, there will be an explosion and your shields will drop. It is unknown why this happens.
 * If you crouch jump on one of the tables up to the roof, you can see around outside by directing view.
 * If you have the Black Eye Skull activated, your shields will not recharge during the shield test.
 * You can start the shield test without standing in the red square. Either stand on top of the switch and activate it or stand outside the red square as far away as possible yet can still activate the switch and activate it.
 * Right after boarding the tram, turn around and walk into Johnson pushing him out the door before they close. Johnson should have one arm going through the glass door, push him again and he will be out side of the tram moving with it.
 * Using the Bandanna Skull in Halo 2 Anniversary will allow the player to throw grenades during this mission, allowing for easy manipulation of the objects in the room. By sticking the Gunnery Sergeant with a plasma grenade, you can cause him to run around frantically. The player can also use grenades to knock Johnson out of the elevator, though this will cause the level to become impassable as the tram will not move without him.

Easter eggs

 * Johnson's cigar is found under the trash can to the left of the second lift.
 * The That's Just... Wrong skull (previously unnamed) can be found on this level, on Legendary.
 * The Cairo Station console message can be found on several consoles in the armory.

Miscellaneous

 * If you look away from the Master Gunnery Sergeant during the basic diagnostic, he will ask if you're paying attention and/or stop talking until you look back.
 * In the armory, there are canisters labeled with food products such as rice, bacon and BBQ ribs.
 * Johnson's line, "That, or he can hide behind me", is possibly an allusion to the fact that he cannot be killed at any point in the game. However, as he only appears in-game in the first section and near the first airlock in Cairo Station, the first part of Outskirts, and the last section of The Great Journey, it is more likely to be a testament to Johnson's overwhelming sense of self confidence.
 * This is one of ten levels in the entire Halo series where you don't face any enemies. The other nine are The Heretic, Arrival, Prepare To Drop, Noble Actual, Prologue, Epilogue, Meridian Station, Alliance and Before the Storm.
 * Out of all three games, this is the only one not accompanied by a supporting cutscene at either the start or the end.
 * Although the Mark VI armor has a HUD zoom for when the user is using a non-scoped weapon, it does not work in this level when the Master Chief is unarmed. This only happens in The Armory.
 * During the development of Halo 2, the origin of the MJOLNIR armor was to be affected by the game's difficulty which could either be Songnam, Pittsburgh, Shanghai or Essen. This concept was cut from the final build.
 * In Halo 2: Anniversary graphics, before leaving the armory, the Cairo Station terminal can be seen. However, it cannot be accessed on this level.