| abstract | - Mission two opens with an A.I. discussion regarding the strategic importance of Sword Base. If you played the Multiplayer Beta you will be instantly familiar with this mission and its main map. You will drop down in to the courtyard of Sword base. Your first objective is to push back the hostile forces and defend the court yard. The main force of this resistance are Jackals and Grunts followed by a few Elites. Using the zoom of your DMR will be a handy tactic for this encounter. While defending the courtyard you will make your way through a series of checkpoints leading through roadblocks to the base entrance and exterior outposts. Before entering Sword Base you will have to traverse an outdoor path. Make sure to grab the orbital bombardment device in the tunnels in between checkpoints. You can use the orbital bombardment to destroy the first two Wraith tanks that come down the path to earn yourself an achievement; note that if you do destroy both Wraiths with one orbital bombardment, then it is possible for the Target Locator to gain more charges for more air strikes, and this could be handy on higher difficulties. With the Wraith tanks destroyed a Pelican will make a landing to drop off a Warthog. With the Warthog in two you can head towards your next objective – Activating the AA Gun. Focus on defensive driving while overtaking the AA Gun placement. Allow your AI gunner to take out the forces they should be able to dispatch them within a few minutes. Hop out of the Warthog and activate the AA Gun located by the orange marker. Inside the AA Gun activation building you will find the Armor lock ability and a Health kit. Your next objective will be to find Farragut Station to activate a broken com link. ONI support will drop a new Warthog for you to ride to the outpost. Head toward a marker to meet up with Kat to begin your joy ride. Kat will serve as gunner but this may not be enough. Unlike previous engagements there are a large number of Elites in these waves. Try to splatter them instead of relying on the gunners. There will be Revenants at the com center. It is best to exit the warthog to eliminate the hostiles, as there is a high chance they will flip your ride. With the comlink and AA gun now operational you will need to eliminate the remaining hostile forces to begin. Kill the Jackals at the top of the comms tower to grab a Needle rifle and snipe the remaining forces. ONI authorities will then order you to return to Sword Base. For this ride you’ll be heading along the previous route you used. Before returning inside Sword Base you will need to defend the courtyard one more time. Activate the marker and headback inside. Once inside swap out your orbital bombardment for a shotgun as it won’t work inside the base. The first major challenge you will find inside the base is a pair of Hunters. Strafe around them and blast them in to the back with the shotgun. If you head back to the beginning area, you might encounter a BOB. Once you’ve entered the main portion of Sword Base you will have the option to exchange your existing Armor Ability for Sprint if you grabbed armor lock earlier in the mission. Your final object for sword base will then become clear – you must find the breach on the top floor that the Covenant are using to assault the Base. Head up the three levels of ramps and corridors until you reach the top sections of Sword Base. You and your AI partners will fight against groups of Grunts and the odd Elite if you didn't encounter it earlier. In these close quarters grenades can prove to be deadly against the Elites. Try to stay a good distance back and rely on your assault rifle to take them out. Don’t waste your ammunition on the Grunts. You are so close that you might as well dispatch them with a well placed melee kill. After a few corridors, you will come up to your last objective at the top of the Sword Base structure. You must secure the Covenant breach point and defeat any airforces in the area. Watch out for a golden Elite wielding a Concussion rifle leading to the breach point. It is an up close and personal battle. The Armor Lock ability will prove useful here. You’ve now reached the top of Sword Base. Before entering the damaged section of the base make sure to grab the rocket launcher that is positioned right in front of the hole this is what you will need to eliminate the large dropship near the base. As you approach the dropship watch out for two cloaked Elites to the left of the entry hole. They killed us on our first run through – one well placed Rocket to the right of the hole will take care of them quickly. Two good blasts to the dropship should trigger the end cinema – if not there is always a crate to top off your rockets back where you found the launcher.
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