Chicxulub Crater (level)

Synopsis
Having smuggled the nuclear bomb aboard the Chimeran flagship, Blake, Hale, Capelli and their team must now complete Operation:Black Eden, now the only hope of stopping the Chimera. Their objective, to place the bomb in the ship's main reactor and detonate it, but an army of Chimera onboard defend the ship, and inside, Daedalus is lying in wait...

Cutscene: Special Delivery
''Blake, Capelli, Hale and four X-Ray Squad members, two of which are pushing the bomb, are walking to the shuttle. Capelli looks at Hale who then falls to the ground, clutching his skull in pain. Capelli pulls out his M1911 pistol and puts it to Hale's head.''


 * Daedalus [Telepathically]: Through my will, the universe, shall be reborn.

''Capelli looks menacingly at Hale. Blake turns around.''


 * Richard Blake: Hold your fire!

''Capelli, with his gun still held against Hale's head, turns to look at Blake. Hale lifts his head up and raises an arm.''


 * Nathan Hale: I'm fine.

''Capelli turns to face Hale again. His hand tightens over the trigger.''


 * Richard Blake: Capelli!

''Capelli relents and holsters his gun as Hale gets back on his feet. As they follow Blake, Hale turns to glare at Capelli, who glares back. The screen changes to a group of Battleships-the remnants of the Chimeran Fleet- hanging over Chixilub. The fleet's flagship is at the centre of the formation, golden energy from the towers across the world pouring into the ship and being channelled into the crater below. A caption reads "Chixilub Crater, Mexico. June 26, 1953. 8:27PM". The shuttle carrying the group approaches the flagship and makes for a loading bay in the ship's starboard side. It lands, lowers the ramp and opens its cargo bay. Hale and Capelli come out, guns up, scouting the area.''


 * Nathan Hale: Clear.


 * Joseph Capelli: Clear.

''Capelli raises an arm and signals the rest of the team forward. Two Black Ops who are pushing the bomb along come out, followed by Blake and the others.''


 * Nathan Hale: Echo One to command. Package is onboard.

Richard Blake walks out of the Shuttle


 * Richard Blake: Let's move. We need to get that bomb within 500 feet of the ship's reactor. The combined yield will wipe out everything in a three mile radius.

Hale, Capelli, Blake and the two Black Ops continue to walk through the loading bay.

Gameplay

 * Richard Blake: X-Ray Squad, you're with me. We're moving the package to the engineering deck.


 * X-Ray One: Yes sir.


 * Richard Blake: Hale, Capelli, I need you to clear a path. They're gonna have cooling shields all around the reactor. Find a control room and get those shields down!

''The group split up; Blake and X-Ray Squad go right, making for a lift, while Hale and Capelli turn left, following a walkway round until they find themselves overlooking another loading bay. A squad of Advanced Hybrids are stationed there, but they haven't seen the Sentinels yet. A group of Drones fly towards the pair, but to their amazement, they do not react''.


 * Nathan Hale: Hold your fire, they're not registering us as a threat.

Hale and Capelli head down the walkway and attack, destroying the Drones and killing the Hybrids before they can react.


 * Joseph Capelli: All clear. Let's move before they send in reinforcements!


 * Richard Blake [Radio]: Echo, squawk in. I'm hearing gunfire from your direction.


 * Joseph Capelli: Yeah, we're clear, but I think it's safe to say they're onto us!


 * Richard Blake [Radio]: Understood. Proceed as planned.

''Hale and Capelli move through the landing bay towards an elevator on the far side of the room. Hale activates the controls, but as they wait, they hear running footsteps approaching to their left. Hale and Capelli head to cover''.


 * Nathan Hale: You hear that?


 * Joseph Capelli: Steady! It's a Titan! Get to cover!

''At that moment, a blast door to their left opens and a trio of Steelheads and a Titan emerge. After a short gun battle, all the Chimera are killed''.


 * Joseph Capelli: You got 'em. Let's get the hell out of here!

''Hale and Capelli enter the lift, which begins to rise once they're inside.


 * Richard Blake [Radio]: Blake to Echo, we've reached the engineering level. Little resistance so far, but pathways to the reactor are locked down. We're gonna need you to open them up from the control room.

''The lift stops. Hale and Capelli exit, then duck for cover as a group of Drones pass by, just missing them''.


 * Joseph Capelli: Great, more patrol drones! Keep quiet and stay low.

They wait until the drones have passed by, then move through the room and into the next, moving through the second room and up a corridor that spirals upwards.


 * Joseph Capelli: Jesus, this place is huge! Should've brought a bigger nuke!

They reach the top of the passage, through another chamber towards a ramp leading down


 * Joseph Capelli: Watch out, they're right below us! [At that moment, Steelheads on the level below start shooting up]

''Hale and Capelli head down the ramp and kill the Steelheads. They head right through a door, down a corridor and emerge on a walkway over what looks to be a cooling shaft. They move along the walkway''


 * Richard Blake [Radio]: Echo, we're at the entrance to the reactor, but the Chimera have encrypted the door lock.


 * Joseph Capelli: Can you punch through using an Air Fuel?


 * Richard Blake [Radio]: Negative. We're looking at about three feet of solid iron.


 * Nathan Hale: Understood. Hang tight, we'll access the door from the control room.

''Hale and Capelli follow the walkway, then turn right and head for another corridor. They emerge at a balcony overlooking the control room. There is a large open shaft to cross and Advanced Hybrids on the other side are shooting at them. Hale and Capelli return fire, then head left, along the balcony to another door leading down. They follow it down, only to be met by four Advanced Hybrids and a Steelhead at the bottom. They take out the Chimera and turn right; they are now on a walkway that allows access to the control room, but the way is blocked by Advanced Hybrids, Steelheads and a Ravager. The pair kill the Chimera then make for the control room and wipe out any remaining Chimera. However, two Ravagers enter from an elevator at the far side of the control room. Hale opens fire and kills the Ravagers''.


 * Joseph Capelli: Good shot, we're all clear. [Capelli heads to a computer terminal and starts fiddling with the controls] Major Blake, Echo here. We've made it to the control terminal. Just gimme a minute and I'll clear a path for you on Engineering level. [pause] Doors are down; you should have a clear shot to the reactor.


 * Richard Blake [radio]: Negative, zero movement!


 * Joseph Capelli: [to Hale] I'm starting to think they don't trust us.


 * Richard Blake [Radio]: Echo, there should be a manual override in the conduit hub one deck over from your position. I need you to get over there!


 * Nathan Hale: I'll go. Can you guide me to the hub from here?


 * Joseph Capelli: Yes sir. Hold on one second; okay, you should have elevator access to the other deck now. Better get moving.

'Hale boards the elevator which begins to descend.

Cutscene: Twins
''Hale approaches Daedalus' corpse. He examines Daedalus' human face, then slowly reaches out his hand and regretfully touches Daedalus's face. Suddenly, a surge of blue energy passes from Daedalus to Hale; groaning in pain, Hale finally manages to withdraw his hand away from Daedalus and collapses to his knees. After taking two deep breathes, Hale slowly gets back to his feet and opens his eyes which are now pure gold in colour. Hale looks at and flexes his hands, which are still smoking, with an initial expression of surprise on his face, which is soon replaced by one of utmost joy.''

Cutscene: It Was An Honor
''The bomb detonates in the flagship and blows up all 7 battleships. Hale and Capelli's shuttle tries to fly away but the blast caused an EMP (Electromagnetic Pulse) which jams the shuttle's controls and causes it to start flying towards the ground.''


 * Joseph Capelli: Pull up! Pull up!


 * Nathan Hale: ARGH! It's not responding!


 * Joseph Capelli: Hale! Pull up!

''The right wing of the shuttle comes off and the shuttle crashes, at speed, into the ground. The shuttle carries on skidding on the ground until it comes to a complete stop. The screen black out. Time passes and the screen comes back to show Capelli slumped over his controls. He slowly gets up.''


 * Joseph Capelli: Just once I wish you'll try landing one of these things.

''Capelli looks over to Hale's seat to only to find out that he is not there. Capelli gets up and walks out of the shuttle to find Hale looking out to the distance with his back turned to Capelli. Capelli looks up and see new planets in the sky.''


 * Joseph Capelli: Hale? What happened? What the hell is that?


 * Nathan Hale: Can't you hear them? [Hale turns around to face Capelli revealing that he has changed fully Chimeran] They're calling to us. It's beautiful.

''Joseph Capelli pull out his M1911 and points it out Hale. Hale starts to walk towards Capelli.''


 * Joseph Capelli: Stay back.

Hale stops.


 * Nathan Hale: This is just the beginning.


 * Joseph Capelli: Forgive me sir, it was an honor.

''Capelli fires his gun and the bullet goes through and out the back of Hale's head. Hale falls to the floor.''

Screen blacks out, game ends.

Trivia
There are a number of unexplained oddities that occur in this level. Shortly after boarding the flagship, Hale and Capelli come across the lone corpse of a slain Hybrid (neither of the two Sentinels had fired a shot at this point, and X-Ray Squad was at another location on the ship). At this same location, a swarm of security drones are hovering nearby, all of which spot the two intruders. However, the drones do not recognize them as a threat, and do not open fire. Later on in the mission, when Hale is chasing down Nellie, the group of Chimera that had taken the bomb can be watched with the use of a sniper. The Ravager in command of the group can be seen violently striking and killing a nearby Hybrid.

There has been no explanation offered for these instances of strange enemy behavior.

It can be assumed, however, that the Ravager might have been upset over the Hybrid getting in its way, and the Drones might not have recognized Hale because he was so infected with the virus that he appeared to them as a Chimera (and they might have thought Capelli was his prisoner too). As for the dead Hybrid found at the beginning of the level, this could either be the glitch, or it could be that it also got in the way of a Primarch/Overseer.