NMPD HQ: Difference between revisions

{{Era|RW}}

|date= [[2552#October|October 20, 2552]], 1914 hours 2 seconds and 55 miliseconds{{Ref/Film|[[Halo 3 ODST ViDoc: Desperate Measures]]}}

{{Article Quote|Pelican down. Keep your sniper rifle handy.}}

Chronologically the fifth flashback level, NMPD HQ begins at 19:14, three hours after the squad's insertion into the city. [[Edward Buck|Buck]] and Romeo have made their way to the top of the [[NMPD headquarters]] building for pickup by an [[New Mombasa Police Department|NMPD]] [[D77C-NMPD Pelican|Pelican]] dropship. With [[Taylor H. Miles|Dutch]] and [[Michael Crespo|Mickey]] already onboard, the Pelican is shot down by [[Type-26 Ground Support Aircraft|Banshees]] and crashes on another landing platform. Buck and Romeo must make their way across the upper floors and rooftops of the city's tower blocks to reach their squadmates at the crash site. Once there, they defend the downed Pelican from oncoming [[Covenant]] [[Type-52 Troop Carrier|Phantoms]] and Banshees. Finally, a [[Brute Chieftain]] drops from the last Phantom and severely wounds Romeo before the rest of [[Buck's squad|the squad]] manages to kill it. Lacking air transport, Buck decides to evacuate the squad through subterranean train tunnels leading to the [[Old Mombasa|old city]], and the squad heads for [[Kikowani Station (location)|Kikowani Station]].

*'''Buck''': (''Activates his comm.'') "Hey [[Rookie]]. You out there? Respond. That's an order!"

*'''Romeo''': (''Following Buck.'') "Give it up, Gunny. Even if he ain't dead he's lost in that soup. Our comms can't cut through that."

*'''Romeo''': "Just sayin', (''Shrugs.'') I ain't dead."

''[[Michael Crespo|Mickey]]'s and [[Taylor H. Miles|Dutch]]'s [[NMPD]] variant [[D77C-NMPD Pelican|Pelican]] Dropship comes in for a landing as Buck flags them down.''

''Buck turns away from Romeo and pulls the charge handle on his Assault Rifle.''

*'''Romeo''': "What about all those [[Covenant Loyalists|Covenant]] we side-stepped on the way up?"

''After a moment of fighting, a [[Type-52 Troop Carrier|Phantom]] flies overhead.''

*'''Buck''': "[[Kig-yar|Jackals]] with Carbines up top. Watch yourself!"

''Romeo and Buck fight their way to a landing pad, Mickey's and Dutch's Pelican can be seen on the rooftop of a nearby skyscraper. There is a bundle of long girders being held up by a crane that appears to be the only way across.''

''Romeo progresses over the make-shift bridge, two Banshee fly into view.''

''The Banshees, one-by-one, fly low overhead and shake the bridge. Buck and Romeo get off of the make-shift bridge and rejoin Mickey, Dutch and an NMPD Officer on a rooftop littered with various heavy weapons. They eliminate the Covenant troops around them.''

''The Phantom dropship swoops down and drops a [[Jiralhanae Chieftain|Brute Chieftain]] wielding a Gravity Hammer.''

''The Chieftain kills an NMPD officer with his hammer and Romeo fires at the Chieftain with his Sniper Rifle, collapsing its shield. A shockwave from the hammer sends the sniper back into a barrier and the Chieftain, using its hammer's bladed end, brings it down on Romeo's chest. Romeo's sniper rifle gets caught on the Chieftain's hammer and it throws it off, sending the mangled weapon to the streets below.''

''Giving out a victorious roar, the Chieftain prepares to finish Romeo, but Buck jumps on its back and stabs it in the neck with his [[Combat knife]]. As the Chieftain chokes and gurgles while stumbling around the landing pad, Mickey tries to get a clean shot on it with his shotgun, but is unable to. Thus, he tackles the Chieftain to the ground and Dutch shoulder-charges it, finishing the Brute.''

''Dutch and Mickey exchange looks and help Buck with the dead Brute. Buck takes his Combat knife out of the Brute's neck, shakes some blood off, which hits Dutch, and cleans it off on his arm. Romeo begins to cough and wheeze and Mickey immediately tends to him.''

|[[File:HTMCC_Achievement_Bits_And_Pieces_Steam.jpg|center|64px]]

|<center>'''[[Bits and Pieces]]'''</center>

*The crashed Police Pelican contains a ridiculously large amount of ordnance, including turrets and their cases, Spartan Lasers, and even racks of Rocket Launchers with spare ammo. How the NMPD obtained heavy weapons is unknown, although it is possible that the Pelican was carrying munitions meant for UNSC forces elsewhere in the city. Another possible explanation is that due to New Mombasa being incredibly valuable as one of Earth's seven Tether cities, the UNSC provided the NMPD a large amount of weaponry during the Battle of Earth. More pessimistically, the weapons may be an example of extreme [[wikipedia:Militarization of police|police militarization]], or may be a result of Police Commissioner [[Kinsler]]'s rampant corruption. An external non-canon explanation may be that the weapons are simply available for gameplay purposes.

*During the end cutscene, the NMPD officer killed by the Brute Chieftain's [[Gravity Hammer]] has a [[BR55HB SR Battle Rifle|Battle Rifle]], even though the officer holds a Rocket Launcher and nothing else during gameplay, and the Battle Rifle does not otherwise appear in the game.

*This cutscene is the first instance in a ''Halo'' game of a Brute using the blade side of the Gravity Hammer, although the first time this is ever seen occurs in [[Halo: Landfall]]. Likewise, the scene also shows the first usage of a Combat knife in any Halo game.

*Edward Buck's stabbing of the Chieftain in the neck may have also inspired the standard Spartan assassination to an Elite in Halo: Reach.  

*When standing before Romeo's broken sniper rifle in [[Mombasa Streets]], one cannot tell from where it fell. None of the surrounding buildings are as tall as they were in this level, and the construction crane the player uses to reach the Pelican crash site cannot be seen.

File:Buck Knife.png|The Jiralhanae Chieftain moments before Buck stabs it in the neck.