Data Hive

Data Hive is the second-to-last mission in Halo 3: ODST. It is set in the immense data facility below the city of New Mombasa, where the Covenant are trying to gain access to the Superintendent's data core. It is the first linear level in the game after the hub.

Summary
The level begins as the Rookie, having followed Dare's distress signal, descends down a subway elevator shaft, into the Superintendent's Data Center deep under the city. He ends up on sub-level 7 of the complex, and has to fight his way down to sub-level 9 where Dare is currently holding out. Upon arriving there, they fight their way through a Drone hive to the core of the Superintendent to secure its core data. Inside the data core, they meet a Huragok who has combined the Superintendent's data with its own, making it extremely valuable. Buck then arrives at the complex, and they escape to the surface through heavy Covenant resistance.

Opening Cutscene
''{View of a dimly-lit room in the Superintendent's Data Center is shown, with an elevator car on the bottom of its shaft. The Rookie descends from the elevator shaft, and drops to the top of the elevator car.}''

Dare (Radio): They've got me cornered! I'm low on ammo! If you can hear me, I'm on sub-level nine, near station t-

{As Dare is cut off by static interference, The Rookie clicks his comlink with his fingers, and glances at the wall to his right, where the text "SUBLEVEL 07" is written, accompanied by the Superintendent's avatar.}

Gameplay
{After going down the first service corridor for some time, the The Rookie can overhear a brief conversation between two Grunts before they spot him}

Grunt #1: Why Yanme'e yet not seal this entrance?

Grunt #2: Too busy building fancy spit house!

Grunt #1: Nah, if traitor escape, it their fault, not ours.

''{The Rookie traverses through the facility, encountering small amounts of Covenant resistance. He then starts to pick up a conversation between Superintendent and a lone survivor.}''

Survivor: Do it Vergil, now!

Superintendent: Construction ahead! Expect delays.

Survivor: I'm gonna die, you hear me!

{As the Rookie pushes through small amounts of Covenant, he rescues the survivor, who turns out to be an NMPD Officer.}

NMPD Officer: Thanks Trooper, they almost had me. I'm trying to get down to the next level checking my team, this staff is locked down tight.

{The Data-Stack opens.}

Superintendent: Welcome! Access granted.

NMPD Officer: (whispering) Well, guess you have something I don't.

or

NMPD Officer: (whispering) Well, looks like you got the magic touch.

{Drones appear.}

NMPD Officer: Buggers, look out!

{After the Drones are killed.}

NMPD Officer: What's wrong with you, Vergil? You trying to get me killed?

Superintendent: Warning! Hitchhikers may be escaped convicts!

''{The two descend down into the stack. They drop into a circular room. The Rookie heads through a door}''

NMPD Officer: Can't see a damn thing. You go first.

{You can see Drones eating some bodies.}

NMPD Officer: Son of a bitch! These are my guys. Buggers got all of them. (Whispers) Now I'll have to check on the Doc myself.

NMPD Officer: What are you doing down here, anyway? Don't want to tell me? That's all right...we all got secrets.

{The two continue through many locked data stacks filled with Covenant.}

NMPD Officer: You going down to level 9 too? Guess I could use some backup...

Superintendent: Welcome! Access granted.

NMPD Officer: Go ahead trooper, raise the stack.

{If the player doesn't have 29 of the Audio Logs, the officer will stay up as Drones appear.}

NMPD Officer: You hear that? Buggers! Down at your level. Oh no! They're up here too! Coming out of the damn vents! Get back! No! Ahh!

{The stack closes as the officer is killed by the Drones.}

Superintendent: Crime doesn't pay!

{Alternatively, if the player does have 29 audio logs, the officer jumps in with you.}

''{After heading through the door, the two emerge into a icy hallway, with Covenant patrols ahead. The two defeat all of them..}''

NMPD Officer: Trooper, hold up a sec. I got to check on a... personnel issue.

{The officer walks up to a door on the left side of the frozen room.}

Superintendent: Crime scene, restricted entry.

NMPD Officer: Shut up, Vergil! You hear me?

Superintendent: Acid condition, change required.

NMPD Officer: Freaking machine! The whole city's gone to hell. Wait here, watch for hostiles! I'll be back.

{If the player follows him}

NMPD Officer: What are you, stupid?! I told you wait outside!

{In front of him, a body crouched against the wall.}

NMPD Officer: Step away from there. This ain't none of you business! Kinsler gave me real specific instructions: Make sure the Doc's dead and make double sure no one knows about it.

Superintendent: Caution, traveler! Caution!

NMPD Officer: Sorry friend, but you know way too much.

''{The Officer fires on the player. The Rookie kills the traitor.}''

Superintendent: Crime doesn't pay! Good citizens do their part!

{If the player approaches the telephone next to Sadie's father, they can press the action button, revealing the last part of Sadie's Story.}

''{The Rookie leaves the room and continues to a cross road. To the left is a dead end with a Flamethrower in corner. Up ahead is a path. The hall starts to go from frozen to normal temperature.}''

Dare (Radio): Buck? Who knows if he can hear me but...I'm sorry. I should have told you more about this mission, more about everything.

''{At the end of the hallway is a Covenant group. The Rookie kills them. The door at the end of the hallway opens.}''

Superintendent: Welcome! Access granted.

''{The door leads to a narrower hallway, with a locked door at the end. The Rookie knocks on the door.}''

Second Cutscene
''{The Rookie approaches the door cautiously, watching the hallway, SMG at the ready. He lowers it and knocks on the door two times. He readies his SMG again. The door opens and Dare pulls the lever on her pistol. Seeing the Rookie there, she looks surprised.}''

Dare: It's you! I thought...

{Dare stops herself.}

Dare: Never mind... What was your name again?

{The two hear a noise coming from the hallway.}

Dare: Inside! Now!

''{The Rookie enters the room. Dare hits a button and the door closes and locks. Cut to the Superintendent. It looks over the room that Dare and the Rookie are in.}''

Dare(from the Superintendent): This way, and stay quiet!

{The view cuts from the Superintendent to a view of the window in which Dare and the Rookie can be seen walking towards the window.}

Dare: Some idiots blew the building at the top of the shaft, woke the whole hive.

''{A Drone crawls on the wall above the window. The view goes inside the room. The Rookie walks up to the window.}''

Dare: Down there? That's the Superintendent. The AI that runs every system in the city. My mission, our mission, is to secure the Superintendents data.

{The view goes to the Superintendent's camera, showing the Rookie and Dare.}

Dare(from the Superintendent): Problem is, there's only one way in from here...right through the hive. It would've been suicide to go alone, and I was hoping for more backup. I guess you're it.

''{View returns to the room. Dare walks up to the exit.}''

Dare: You've been solo since we dropped? Fighting on the surface?

{The Rookie nods his head.}

Dare: Unless you spent all night hiding in your pod...you must know your stuff.

{Dare readies her pistol.}

Dare: Show me.

Gameplay
''{The two head to the exit at the end of the room. Back at the hall, the two encounter Covenant reinforcements.}''

Dare: Company!

{The two defeat the first group and encounter more groups Covenant.}

Dare: Hostile reinforcements!

{The two destroy the reinforcements.}

Dare: This is just the start of the hive. It'll be worse down below.

Dare: Here trooper, through the door.

{The two make their way to the hole.}

Dare: We'll have to jump.

''{The Rookie jumps through the hole and lands hard, injuring himself slightly. Dare jumps after him. They emerge into a huge room. The two turn into another room with a Covenant patrol. The Rookie and Dare kill all of them and turn right, into a huge cavern like room with Covenant crates all around.}''

Dare: It's getting warmer. We must be right under the hive. Head across the bridge. Let's see if we can find a way up.

{The two make their way across the bridge, heading left to an open door.}

Dare: Trooper! Through here.

{The door opens to a small room with another door,locked,and an elevator.}

Dare: I found an elevator! Come to me.

''{The Rookie gets on the elevator and activates it. It starts to go up}''

Superintendent: Elevator up! Next stop-

{The Superintendent doesn't finish the sentence, but Dare speaks up.}

Dare: Bugger central.

''{The elevator opens to a narrow hallway. The two walk through it, reaching a opening in it in the middle. They reach another cavernous room.}''

Dare: Let's stick together. Move fast and quiet.

{However, it isn't long before the Drones find them and swarm them.}

Dare: Damn! Here they come.

''{The Drones start firing. The Rookie and Dare defeat them, but as they progress, more Drones come.}''

Dare: We can't go back. We have to keep pushing through.

Dare: Good shooting trooper. Keep it up! We're almost there.

Dare: Follow me. I see a way across. The data center is close.

''{The door at the end leads to a narrow hallway. At the end, a short drop leads to an open door. The door opens to a huge room, with the data center in the middle. A Phantom arrives.}''

Dare: It won't be long before they smash through that door. Let's take them out,now.

{The two run to the door, where a Brute Chieftain and his bodyguards stand in front of it.}

Brute Chieftain: Open this door, traitor!

Superintendent: Spray and neuter your pets. All dogs must be kept on leash!

Brute Chieftain: By the Prophets, you will pay for your insolence!

{The Rookie and Dare defeat them and secure the door.}

Dare: Not bad. You do know your stuff.

Superintendent: Welcome! Access granted.

Dare: Nice and slow, check your corners.

''{The door opens to a slanting hallway with another door at the end. The door opens to a hallway with a sliding platform. At the end is another door, which opens to the entrance to the data center.}''

Third Cutscene
''{The view shifts to inside the data center. The entrance opens to see the Rookie and Dare. They walk slowly in, weapons at the ready. At the end of the room is what appears to be the data core. As the two look at it, a spark lights off in it and there is a strange noise. The door closes on them. Dare activates the flashlight on her pistol. She points it at the core.'' ''The view goes to the Superintendent. The camera is above the Rookie and Dare. Then, in the middle of the screen, it shows red words that say "Emergency shutdown initiated." The screen then goes to static. It then shuts off. Back with the pair, they walk to the core. Suddenly, Dare's pistol shows a small tentacle through a hole. If the player has 30 audio logs, Dare will raise her pistol but the Rookie stops her and shakes his head. He then whistles to bring the creature out. However, if the player doesn't have 30 audio logs, the Rookie will raise his SMG but Dare objects.}''

Dare: Don't shoot!

''{Either way, a long and thin head sticks out. The view goes to the pair, where it reveals it's a Huragok.}''

Dare: We've seen them before on other ops but we've never gotten this close.

{Dare puts her pistol down.}

Dare: Best we can tell, they're prisoners or slaves. Either way, they don't like the Covenant any more than we do.

{The Huragok comes close to them.}

Dare: The Slipspace event fried most of the Superintendents circuits. I thought it might be finishing the job. But now I see that you weren't trying to hurt the Superintendent.

{Dare reaches out a hand and puts it close to the Huragok.}

Dare: You were trying to fix it.

''{The Engineer points his head toward a shard of metal on his back. Dare reaches up and takes it off. Dare reaches out and the Huragok appears to sniff her hand.}''

Dare: ONI calls them engineers. Believes they are biological supercomputers. If I'm right, this one's taken the Superintendents data and combined it with it's own.

{Dare starts to pat the Huragok's head.}

Dare: Everything we need to know about the Covenant, what they're looking for under the city is right in here.

''{A beeping noise from the core catches their attention. The Huragok floats toward it and uses a tentacle to push a button, revealing a small monitor. The Superintendent zooms in on some Jetpack Brutes, landing on the rooftop. The view goes back to the room. Dare approaches the monitor.}''

Dare: Damn! Buggers must have raised the alarm.

''{The Superintendent zooms out of the Brutes and zooms in on a marine. It's an ODST. ''

Dare: Buck!

Buck (from the Superintendent): Veronica? Where the hell are you?

Dare: Data Center, but we're coming out.

Buck: We?

{The Superintendent zooms in on him.}

Dare: No time to explain but do not, I repeat, do not shoot anything pink!

Buck: Whatever you say, just come on!

{The view goes back into the data center, where Dare picks up her pistol.}

Dare: Those Brutes are here for the Engineer. They'll kill it if they get their chance.

{Dare pulls the lever on the pistol.}

Dare(to the Engineer): You. Stay behind me. Okay?

''{Dare then nods to the Rookie, whose next to the door. The Rookie opens the door. They both raise their weapons.}''

Gameplay
''{The three head back to the exit. Both troopers appear to have energy shields now, provided by the Engineer}''

Dare: The Engineer still has shields, but they won't last long in a firefight. Take point, clear a path to Buck.

''{Outside, two Jetpack Brutes jump out while a Phantom drops off more. The Rookie and Dare defeat them. The Rookie proceeds to the Covenant reinforcements.}''

Dare: Go trooper! I'll cover the Engineer.

Buck: Rookie? I could use a hand over here. Come on!

''{Buck and the three regroup. A door opens to the right.}''

Buck: This is our exit Rookie. Head through the door.

''{Behind the door is a short hallway leading to a hole. The Rookie and the others drop inside a dark room filled with sleeping Drones. They can either fire on them or sneak past. Buck is now affected by the Engineer's shields as well.}''

Buck: About this uh, asset. Feel free to fill me in whenever.

Dare: Not now Buck!

''{An opening in the left part of the room leads to the hallways that looks like the ones at the beginning. The four head to a right.}''

Buck: Door's locked. Damn!

Dare: Don't worry. We have a key.

{The Engineer heads to the door and starts unlocking it.}

Buck: I've seen a hundred of these things today! Why is this one so important?

Dare: This Engineer knows what the Covenant is after. If I could safely capture more of them I would. What they know can win the war!

Buck: Oh.

Dare: You haven't killed any of them, have you?

Buck: No!

Buck: Well... Maybe one or two.

Dare (sarcastically): Nice work.

Buck: How was I supposed to know?

''{After this conversation, the Engineer successfully opens the door. Up ahead, more sleeping Drones are spotted. The four can kill them or simply ignore them. The four head to a door at the end of the hall. It leads to a small room with an elevator. At this point, the Drones awake and start attacking. The four defeat them.}''

Buck: Elevator. Come on.

{ The level ends as the four gather on the elevator.}

Trivia

 * At one point in the level, the player will encounter an NMPD officer. The Superintendent is seen acting strange towards him, such as not opening data stacks for him to allow access or saying phrases like "Warning: hitchhikers may be escaped convicts." (A reference to the final segment of the level The Maw in Halo: Combat Evolved).
 * It is interesting to point out the speed of which the Drones can create a suitable Hive to breed and live in, considering the short timeframe between the Covenant attack and the setting of this level. This is partially explained by two Grunts seen conversing in the level, who point out that the Yanme'e spent most of the time building their hive and not sealing the entrance to the tunnel. This conversation notably marks the first time in the series that a Covenant species is referred to by its Covenant name in dialogue.
 * Around the level, there are multiple monitors which show data of the Superintendent's status. If the player goes too close to these screens, the Superintendent will interrupt the displays, labeling the information as classified.
 * There are two different cutscenes that can be played when Dare and the Rookie meet the Huragok, Vergil. The normal cutscene is viewable if the player has not collected all 30 audio logs, and shows the Rookie arming his gun and aiming at Vergil, with Dare telling him to stand down. If all 30 audio logs are recovered, it is Dare that aims at Vergil, with the Rookie motioning for her to stand down, then whistling to Vergil to come over, reflecting the information gained from the logs.
 * During the level, you can see Drones feasting on the deceased NMPD bodies.
 * During the level, there are some "corrupted screens" and sometimes they show binary code which after translation, it says "BARRETT", a reference to level designer Chris Barrett.
 * The design of the chamber holding the Huragok and the Superintendent has almost the exact same design as the Pfhor power core chambers encountered throughout Marathon (Video Game Series).
 * You start the level on Sublevel 07, another 7 reference.
 * The fact that there are 9 Sublevels is one of the game's many references to The Divine Comedy. Specifically the 9 circles of hell. According to the book, the ninth level of hell is actually cold, and one of the hallways on the ninth sublevel is frozen.
 * It is possible that the Flamethrower in this level was used to set off the fire prevention system that killed Dr. Endesha.
 * This is the only level in which you can use a flamethrower against non-Flood NPC enemies.
 * When Dare mentions ONI Alpha Site's destruction, you can see a Drone on top of the window flying away.