Rally Point Alpha
Good Morning! Cortana's got a surprise for you but you're probably not going to like it. To get out of the pod, you're going to have to pull the release lever just about your head. After talking to Cortana and yanking her, go straight ahead. You'll be walking towards a large golden diagram of the ship. When you are almost there, you'll be walking over a catwalk. If you'd like, you can hop the railing and under the catwalk will be a station to fill you in on the events of the previous Halo games.
When you're ready, head into the room with the diagram and take the door leading out to the right. Go through the couple of hallways ahead until you have to pry open the elevator doors. When you've opened them, you'll have to climb up the elevator shaft.
Start climbing and pay attention to when your head turns slightly to the side. As you climb debris will fall and this head nod is going to be your hint that you need to move. Whenever this happens, jump in that direction to avoid the debris. As you climb up, you'll have to jump left, then right twice, and then back left once. At the top of the elevator shaft, you'll be attacked by an Elite with an energy Sword. To take him out, press RB to hit him with a melee attack.
Turn left and go into the next room. Directly ahead will be a set of stairs leading up to a platform with an Elite working some kind of controls. Go up the stairs and at the top press the B button to crouch. Walk up behind him slowly and when you are close enough, hold the RB button to assassinate him. When you do this, a bunch of Grunts down below will start attacking. Usually a precision weapon would be great against Grunts for head shots since they tend to not have shields but you won't have access to such a weapon yet. At this point, use your Assault Rifle to pepper the enemies below. Short controlled bursts from the AR will be accurate at pretty good range.
After you've killed a few of the Grunts on the lower level, hop down and clean up any remaining enemies. Feel free to pick up a Plasma Pistol from one of them. If you hold the fire button, the blast will drain shields completely which makes it ideal for the tougher Elites.
When you've killed every Grunt here, head up to the top of the platform where the Elite was and activate the console. After you've done that, find sturdy cover because the glass is going to break and the change in pressure is going to have crates flying all over the room. You're going to be attacked from either side by both Elites and Grunts. Charge the Plasma Pistol and aim it at one of the Elites. Release the shot and change to your Assault Rifle. Shoot the Elite with the AR to finish him off quickly. With the tougher enemy down, try and take out as many Grunts on that side as you can. If you can get rid of most of them, it will eliminate one part of this pincer attack and allow you a fair amount of breathing space.
Use the same technique on the other group to get rid of the Elite. Now, you simply need to clean up the Grunts here and you are set to go. On the lower levels, you may be able to find weapons lockers with Assault Rifles and pistols. You can also find some under the central platform attached to the wall. Grab a pistol and a Plasma Pistol from one of the Grunts before leaving. A single head shot from the pistol (which has a 2x zoom) will kill a Grunt and if you use a charge shot from the Plasma Pistol and well placed Magnum shot, you can take down almost any Elite in two shots.
Rally Point Bravo
Head back to the entrance of the room and you're going to take the elevator a couple of floors. When you exit, turn left and through the next door will be a few more covenant. There will be two Grunts and an Elite. Use your Magnum to take out the two Grunts and then take cover. Charge your Plasma Pistol, pop out and let it fly at the Elite. Switch back to your Magnum and hit him in the head for an instant kill. Remember to replace your Plasma Pistol when you have the chance since you can't reload it and it brings so few shots.
After going down some stairs, you're going to come to a hallway with a well lit room at the end. You'll encounter a bunch of Grunts and a couple of Elites at the other end. You have plenty of cover so take your time on them. Not far beyond them, you will come to an H-shape room with the full variety of enemies including Jackals inside. You can use the Plasma Pistol on these shields as well but if you want to save the ammo for that, you can also shoot through the slot on the left side of their shield. If you hit their hand, it will stun them and usually presents a pretty good view of their head. They will be staggering, however, so it might be a difficult shot.
Go past this room and turn left to find large room with an observation room in the middle. Again, you'll find a pretty good assortment of enemies here. You'll be able to go left, right or center in this fight but remember that since the central room is curved, the walls can provide great cover from most angles. Try to eliminate as many Grunts as possible to give yourself some more breathing room in case you need it. For the most part, you'll deal with Grunts at first but approach the far side of the room slowly because there will be a couple of Elites waiting for you. It's probably best to make your way up through the center if you've cleared most of the area out. There's far more cover in there than on the outer ring.
The next couple of passages will bring you out onto the hull of the ship. Floating not far from you will be a Battle Rifle. I would definitely switch out your Magnum for the Battle Rifle. It doesn't shoot as fast but it provides you with more shots between reloads and has much better range than the Magnum. It has absolutely no reticle bloom so you can fire it as fast as it allows without compromising your accuracy.
Turn left and make your way across the destroyed bulkheads. Jump up to the next level and take cover by the barrier to the right. In front of you by where this platform turns right, you should see a Jackal and against the wall as it turns should be a row of Battle Rifles that you can use to restock your ammo supply. These Jackals are going to be a little different. Rather than carrying shields, these enemies will be carrying longer range weapons. In this case, they are carrying the Covenant Carbine which fires faster but is similar in function to the Battle Rifle. Later, you will encounter Jackals that carry a Sniper Rifle style weapon called a Beam Rifle.
With no shield, this Jackal shouldn't be a problem but sometimes finding exactly where their head is with the extra head gear (helmets and goggles) can be a little tough. In general, if you don't hit when you think you should have, aim a little higher and you should take care of them.
Further along this platform are more Jackals and some of them will have shields. Be sure to watch to your right as well because there are quite a few enemies down there and if you stray too far to the right side of the platform, they can hit you. They will also start climbing up to the platform in front of you, increasing the resistance you meet.
After this next group of Jackals, look up a little bit to see another Jackal on a raised platform. This is one of the Sniper Jackals I mentioned. They are remarkably accurate, even against moving targets so if you see these, it's almost always best to back up a little to avoid fire from other enemies while you focus on them. Kill him and then turn right. Find a cover position and take out any Grunts you find below.
When you get close to where the Sniper Jackal was, you'll come across an Elite so take cover behind the platform. Hit him with your Plasma Pistol if you've still got it and then finish him with a head shot. Get inside the building behind him but watch out for the Jackals inside the room. If you're out of ammo, you can also grab one of the Carbines for help. Inside the room, activate the weapons system and then head back outside.
You should see a Phantom coming in to drop off a bunch of Jackals on the lower level. Wait for them to drop and toss a grenade just under them as their landing to take out a good portion of them before the fighting even starts. As you approach the launch bay, you can use any of the exposed structures for cover or use the doors of the other launch bays as hills. From these, you can just peek over the top and then retreat a step or two when you are attacked for protection.
Surrounding your destination will be a few Elites and scattered Grunts. Make liberal use of grenades and head back to where the Jackals were if you run out of Plasma Pistol ammo. Take them out and open the bay door manually to get rid of the Covenant fleet.
Escape
The ship will get caught in a gravity well and it's probably not going to end well if you get sucked in. Head back into the ship and navigate the crumbling halls. You'll watch some Grunts get crushed under a giant canister and the floor will be destroyed. Jump around the outside of the room to get to the next hallway. From there, follow it into a Hanger Bay. The Hanger bay has been pretty beat up but cross the broken platforms. On the far side will be more ammo and an energy Sword. Grab these and drop the lower level. Enter the next hallway, kill the Elite and then the two Grunts not far after him. Keep running and you'll get to your exit.
