Floodgate

Floodgate is the sixth campaign level of Halo 3 and the first Halo 3 level in which the Flood appears.
==Background==
The level takes place in Voi, Kenya on the continent of Africa on Earth during the Battle of Earth. Floodgate is the first campaign mission where Sangheili allies other than Thel 'Vadam are encountered in Halo 3. It is also one of the shortest levels in the game.
Shortly after John-117 disabled the Covenant Anti-Aircraft Battery in the previous level, The Storm, UNSC Frigates under the command of Lord Terrence Hood attacked the Covenant controlled Forerunner dreadnought. This assault failed, as the Dreadnought survived unscathed. The Covenant Loyalists then activated a Portal to the Ark, temporarily disabling the Frigates. The remnants of the Covenant Loyalist fleet then followed the Dreadnought into the Portal. With the UNSC fleet disabled, and the Anti-Aircraft Battery out of commission; the Flood-infested Indulgence of Conviction suddenly jumped out of Slipspace nearby and crashed near the Traxus Factory Complex 09.Halo 3 - The Storm
Immediately after the crash of the Flood-loaded battlecruiser, the infection spreads around the city, infecting everything in its grasp.
In order to eliminate the infestation, John-117 and Thel 'Vadam had to overload the crashed cruiser's engines, wiping out the entire city and the Flood with it. To do this, they pushed back through the factory where they just came from, fighting many Flood Combat Forms and new Pure Forms, and if possible, saving what UNSC Marines they could before they could be killed and/or mutated into more Flood Combat Forms. They were then aided by the arrival of Rtas 'Vadum and a Covenant Separatist fleet. 'Vadam and John, along with a Sangheili strike team, pushed forward to the crashed ship. John-117 was later informed by Miranda and Johnson that the Elites "found" Cortana in the ship, and tasked him to recover her. Thel and the rest of the strike force stayed outside to ensure nothing would enter and attack John-117 while he was in the ship. John eventually found Cortana, but it was just a recording. A Combat Form inside surprised him, but was quickly taken down by 343 Guilty Spark. The two were later extracted from the ship.
Once on board the Separatist Assault Carrier, Shadow of Intent, 343 Guilty Spark extracted Cortana's recorded message from the Covenant storage device. This message informed everyone about the Flood-infested High Charity making its way towards Earth, and that there was a way to stop the Flood. Hood, concerned with Cortana due to her rampancy, decided to bunker Earth's defenses, which Rtas protested as the humans barely survived a small infestation. John and Miranda managed to convince Hood to send forces through to the Portal to stop both Truth and the Flood. During this time, the Separatist fleet glasses Voi and the surrounding area to ensure there were no Flood left on Earth.
==Transcript==
{Gameplay}
===It Followed Me Home===
Hot zone. Weapons free.
*Commander Miranda Keyes (COM): "The Flood - it's spreading, all over the city."
*Lord Hood (COM): "How do we contain it?"
*Commander Keyes (COM): "Find the crashed Flood ship; overload its engine core. We either destroy this city, or risk losing the entire planet."
*Lord Hood (COM): "Do it."
*Commander Keyes (COM): "Chief, make your way to the crash site."
To the right, two Marines are seen on a cliff edge, fighting off several Flood Combat forms. They are overrun and mutate into more Combat Forms OR if all of the Infection Forms are killed, proceed back into the factory.
When John and Thel 'Vadam re-enter the city:
*Gunnery Sergeant Reynolds (COM): "All squads, report!"
At this time, a human Combat Form jumps from the building on the right. Killing it will result in the Fog Skull being dropped.
*Marine (COM): "Multiple contacts, unknown hostiles."
*Thel 'Vadam: "There are some powerful weapons we've not yet used..."
John finds a Marine squad on a loading ramp.
*Marine (COM): "There! Over there! We're surrounded, Sergeant!"
*Marine (COM): "Aaaaah!"
*Reynolds (COM): "Fall back, fall back!"
*Female Marine: "Sergeant, come on!"
Infection Forms and Combat Forms descend from above and swarm on the Marines at the ramp, killing, then infecting them, forcing the remaining Marines, John, and 'Vadam to kill them.
*Marine Sergeant: "Ahhh!"
The Sergeant becomes mutated by an Infection Form.
*Marine Sergeant: "No! No! No!"
A Marine proceeds to attack the reanimated Sergeant.
*Female Marine: "What are you doing?! That's the sergeant!"
*Marine: "That was the sergeant!"
They fight off the wave of Flood.
*Thel 'Vadam: "Quickly! Let us find their ship. Make short work of this abomination!"
The Marines accompany John and 'Vadam into a building, where a lone Marine is running away from a horde of infection forms.
*Marine: "Uhh! Get off me!"
or
*Marine: "Get it off! Get it off!"
If the Marine is not saved, the Infection Form dives into his chest, gruesomely transforming him into a Flood Combat Form. This forces John-117 and 'Vadam to kill him immediately.
Marines led by Stacker are pinned down behind sandbags with more Flood surrounding the area. John and 'Vadam clear this section of the warehouse.
If the Marines are saved from being killed or infected.
*Female Marine : "It gets inside you, chews you up."
*Marine: "We gotta get outta here."
*Thel 'Vadam: "Wretched parasite! Rise up and I will kill you! Again and again!" (He will sometimes replace "Wretched" with "Accursed")
Reaching the other end of the warehouses, the surviving Marines who joined John and 'Vadam hold position after clearing the area.
Upstairs, two Marines, one wielding a Flamethrower, try to combat the Flood as well, but they soon die, leaving the Flamethrower for John or 'Vadam to pick up as they head up there and down a hole in the floor into the office areas.
*Cortana (Cortana Moment): "Chief! (connection drops) I can't tell you everything...it's not safe. The Gravemind...it knows I'm in the sys-(connection drops)."
John and 'Vadam force their way through another wave of Flood, and find a marine huddling in a corner of the large room previously used as an Aid Station, surrounded by three dead marines. The Marine is holding a pistol, and will occasionally aim it at his own head, before lowering it and burying his face in his hands.
*Traumatized Marine: "I...I didn't have a choice...! The L.T...the Sergeant...they were all infected! I could see it crawling...sliding around beneath their skin! (sobs) A-and then they got up...they s-started to talk! Oh, God! Their voices! Oh, God! No, make them stop! I did them a favor...y-yeah that's it; I helped them! (sobs) Maybe...maybe I need to help myself... (breaks out into sobs)"
*(Occasionally, if you head outside and then return to the Marine his body will have disappeared and his pistol will be left on the ground with one bullet missing, incinuating that he had committed suicide)
With no time to spare, John and 'Vadam continue on ahead to the lake bed.
===Shadow of Intent===
The Flood. It has Evolved.
John-117 and Thel 'Vadam enter the lake bed of Voi where the Scarab was previously fought and destroyed.
Shipmaster Rtas 'Vadum (COM): "Hail, humans, and take heed."
{Cutscene}
Rtas 'Vadum (COM): "This is the carrier Shadow of Intent."
John and Thel 'Vadam pause to see three Elite-controlled s fly in formation as an Assault Carrier slices overhead from Slipspace.
Rtas 'Vadum (COM): "Clear this sector, while we deal with the Flood."
A Major and four Special Operation Elites leap out of landed Orbital Insertion Pods ahead of John and 'Vadam, fighting against the Flood.
{Gameplay}
John and 'Vadam make their way to the Elite lance.
*Thel 'Vadam: "My brothers, I fear you bring bad news."
*Major Elite: "High Charity has fallen, become a dreaded hive!
*Thel 'Vadam: "And the fleet? Has quarantine been broken?"
*Major Elite: "A single ship broke through our line, and we gave chase."
*Thel 'Vadam: "But we had a fleet of hundreds!"
*Major Elite: "Alas, brother. The Flood... It has evolved!"
John, 'Vadam, and Elites fight their way through the infestation and arrive at the crash site.
*Commander Keyes (COM): "Chief, the Elites are looking for something. We didn't believe them when they told us."
*Sergeant Johnson (COM): "It's Cortana, Chief! She's on that ship! Find her - get her out!"
Once outside again, a couple of Separatists Phantoms arrive, dropping off more Elite reinforcements to combat the Flood.
*Major Elite or SpecOps Elite: "Hurry, Demon! We seek the same prize. But our Ship Master will sacrifice all to stop the Flood."
John-117, 'Vadam, and the remaining Elites fight past dozens of Pure Forms, Combat Forms, and Infection Forms to the massive, burning hulk of the crashed Flood battle cruiser. Up an incline, an ominous hole resides in the ship's hull, leading to the interior.
*Thel 'Vadam: "I shall remain here. We will let nothing pass."
John drops in alone.
===Infinite Devil Machine===
*Gravemind (Gravemind Moment): "Do not be afraid. I am peace...I am salvation."
John reaches a large room after passing several dead Ultra Elites.
*Gravemind (Gravemind Moment): "I am a timeless chorus. Join your voice with mine, and sing victory... everlasting!"
{Cutscene}
Inside the central chamber of the Flood-infested crashed . John finds 'Cortana' in a small Covenant hand held memory unit.
*Cortana (recorded): "Chief!"
*Master Chief: "Cortana?"
*Cortana (recorded): "High Charity, the Prophets' holy city, is on its way-"
Cortana's projection above the holographic unit flickers and then disappears.
*Master Chief: "Cortana!"
Suddenly, the humming of a Phantom's gravity drives are heard, and a Phantom appears over the open chamber. John turns and readies his Assault rifle at it while 343 Guilty Spark floats down from the Phantom, which continues to hover overhead.
*343 Guilty Spark: (surprised) "Reclaimer!"
A Flood Combat Form appears to the right, and 343 Guilty Spark turns and uses a powerful energy beam on it, destroying it in a single glancing hit. 343 Guilty Spark turns back to the Covenant device where Cortana supposedly is, and begins to interface it with a beam projected from his central eye.
*343 Guilty Spark: "I must act quickly before your construct suffers any further trauma!"
John grabs 343 Guilty Spark and pulls him away from Cortana's storage unit.
*Master Chief: "Wait. Leave her alone."
*343 Guilty Spark: "If we do not take this device to a safe location, somewhere I can make repairs..."
343 Guilty Spark continues to try to project his energy beam into Cortana's storage unit.
*Master Chief: "On Halo, you tried to kill Cortana. You tried to kill me."
*343 Guilty Spark: "Protocol dictated my response! She had the Activation Index and you were going to destroy my installation. You did destroy my installation. Now, I only have one function: to help you, Reclaimer. As I always should have done."
John-117 stares wordlessly at 343 Guilty Spark, then slightly motions with Cortana's storage device. 343 Guilty Spark takes Cortana's device away, shooting his beam into it, while the Phantom projects a Gravity Lift. 343 Guilty Spark enters it first and John-117 reluctantly follows.
The view cuts to an aerial one over the whole town of Voi at a high altitude. Although clouds obscure the surface, part of the crashed Flood-controlled cruiser is still visible. The Phantom flies away from ship, while two CCS-class battlecruisers of the Fleet of Retribution glass Voi with their Energy projectors.
The view then cuts to an aerial one above the Forerunner Portal. Its 'fins' are open and blue energy streams from their tips to the open Slipspace portal drifting ominously above the construct. Fighting on Earth has ceased, and the Battle of Earth has ended with the departure of the Prophet of Truth's fleet through the Portal hours earlier. Four vessels of the Sangheilian Fleet are gathered above the Portal, and 343 Guilty Spark's Phantom arches to the largest of them: the Assault Carrier Shadow of Intent.
Inside the bridge of the Shadow of Intent. Elites and humans are gathered around a long holographic table, with Shipmaster Rtas 'Vadum floating on a gravity throne at one end with his Elite attendants, Master Chief and Thel 'Vadam in the middle, and Fleet Admiral Hood and Commander Miranda Keyes at the far side of the table. All are silent except 343 Guilty Spark, who is bobbing at the center of the table and interfacing with Cortana's memory unit with his projector beam.
*Rtas 'Vadum: "Will it live, Oracle? Can it be saved?"
*343 Guilty Spark: "Uncertain. This storage device has suffered considerable trauma. Its matrices are...highly unstable."
343 Guilty Spark glances at 'Vadum and Lord Hood
*Lord Hood: "Perhaps one of our technicians-"
*Rtas 'Vadum: "That will not be necessary."
Coincidentally, the storage device works again, and a holographic projection of Cortana springs up.
*Cortana (Recording): "Chief!"
*343 Guilty Spark: "Success!"
*Cortana (Recording): "High Charity, the Prophets' Holy City, is on its way to Earth. With an army of Flood. I can't tell you everything. It's not safe. The Gravemind...it knows I'm in the system."
Cortana's image flickers and stalls. John turns to Rtas 'Vadum.
*Master Chief: "It's just a message."
*Rtas 'Vadum: "Let it play."
343 Guilty Spark jolts the device with another beam.
*Cortana (Recording): "But it doesn't know about the Portal, where it leads. On the other side, there's a solution. A way to stop the Flood, without firing the remaining Halo rings-"
Suddenly, Cortana's skin lights up. She clutches her head, gasps in sudden pain and collapses onto the "floor."
*Cortana (Recording): (softly, her voice filled with agony) "Hurry, Chief...the Ark...there isn't much time."
Cortana's recording ends, she is left staring with desperation at John.
*343 Guilty Spark: "I'm...sorry."
*Rtas 'Vadum: "No matter, Oracle. We've heard enough. Our fight is through the Portal, with the Brutes and the bastard Truth!"
Elites around the room raise their forearms and roar in agreement.
*Lord Hood: (wearily) "Fine. We'll remain here. Hold out as long as we can."
*Rtas 'Vadum: "Did you not hear? Your world is doomed." (descends from his seat) "A Flood army, a Gravemind, has you in its sights! You barely survived a small contamination."
*Lord Hood: "And you, Ship Master, just glassed half a continent! Maybe the Flood isn't all I should be worried about..."
*Rtas 'Vadum: "One single Flood Spore can destroy a species. Were it not for the Arbiter's counsel, I would have glassed your entire planet !"
Lord Hood angrily raises his fist at 'Vadum, but Miranda Keyes interrupts.
*Commander Keyes: "Sir, with respect, Cortana has a solution."
*Lord Hood: "Cortana? Did you see her condition? How damaged she is?"
While Hood and Keyes argue, John-117 bends down and observes Cortana's pained, frozen figure, still collapsed on the holographic table.
*Lord Hood: "She could be corrupted for all we know. Her "solution" could be a Flood trap!"
*Commander Keyes: "We should go through the Portal, find out for sure."
*Lord Hood: "What we should do Commander, is understand - clearly - that this is humanity's final stand - here - at Earth. We go, we risk everything; every last man, woman and child. If we stand our ground, we might just have a chance."
*Thel 'Vadam: "No. If your construct is wrong, then the Flood has already won."
*Master Chief: "I'll find Cortana's solution. And I'll bring it back."
*Lord Hood: "Earth...is all we have left. You trust Cortana that much?"
*Master Chief: "Sir. Yes, sir."
*Lord Hood: "This is either the best decision you've ever made or the worst. Hell if it is, Chief? I doubt I'll live long enough to find out which."
Lord Hood turns, looks wordlessly at Miranda Keyes, and then exits the bridge.
Inside the Shadow of Intent's hangar bay, both the Elites and the UNSC are getting ready for battle. While a Separatist Phantom drifts into the hangar on the far side, two M12 Warthog LRVs race to the Forward Unto Dawn's loading bay, drawing near a group of Marines clustered around some UNSC crates. At uneasy rest opposing the Marines is a Major sitting on a Ghost, along with a few SpecOps Sangheili. The Major's Particle Beam Rifle is resting next to the Ghost. Sergeant Johnson, with his arm full of "stolen" Covenant Carbines brushes past the wordless Elites, stopping only to scoop up the Major's rifle. The Sangheili, resentful at this non-permitted collection, rise challengingly around Johnson. Johnson ignores them and continues walking.
Nearby, a pair of ODSTs are joking with each other when Thel 'Vadam passes by, with an acquired M41 Rocket Launcher over his shoulder and a Flamethrower in his left hand. The ODSTs and a pair of nearby Marines watch 'Vadam in awe, when 343 Guilty Spark drifts through the Marines in tow behind 'Vadam, leaving a Marine speechless. Johnson rejoins the Marines, and begins to hand out Carbines.
The scene cuts to the fore of the hangar, where a Pelican Dropship lays before the hangar's energy field. John and Miranda Keyes stand at attention before Lord Hood, who looks at them grimly from the rear of the Pelican as the troop bay door shuts and the Pelican takes off. Keyes glances at John wordlessly, and the two leave, going off to their own business.
Hood's Pelican arcs away from the gathered Sangheilian Fleet as the Shadow of Intent powers its engines and thrusts into the Portal, followed by eight Cruisers, a Carrier, and the UNSC Frigates Forward Unto Dawn and Aegis Fate.
Fades to black.
Level ends.
==Achievements==
Icon	Name 	Description 	Value
 	Cleansing 	Complete the level on Normal, Heroic, or Legendary difficulty.	30G
 	Fog 	Find the Fog Skull. 	10G
 	Exterminator	Earn over 15,000 points in free-for-all meta-game scoring. 	10G
==Trivia==
*In this level, the only enemies the player encounters are the Flood.
===Glitches===
*The Elite Helmet Glitch occurs on this level.
*Occasionally, when the player shoots the Infection Form off the Marine in the first building, he will still turn into a Combat Form regardless.
===Easter Eggs===
* The Missing Person Poster can be seen in this level.
*The Fog Skull is found on this level.
===References===
*The Suicidal Marine bears a striking resemblance to the Crazed Marine in the Halo: Combat Evolved level 343 Guilty Spark that shoots you (thinking that you may be Flood-controlled). It should be noted that the player comes across the Crazed Marine in the first level you fight the Flood in Halo: Combat Evolved, and that you come across the Suicidal Marine in the first level you fight the Flood in Halo 3.
*The layout of the factory portion is nearly identical to that of The Storm, except the player is going in the opposite direction. This is similar to Assault On The Control Room and Two Betrayals.
===Miscellaneous===
*This was the first and only known time the Flood have been on Earth. It also is the first mission that no live Covenant Loyalists are encountered, as well as the Elite's first appearance in Halo 3 with the exception of Thel 'Vadam, Usze 'Taham, and N'tho 'Sraom.
*Very oddly, this mission does not have a carry-on stats from the previous level, The Storm, meaning that you will start out with a Battle Rifle and an Assault Rifle, no matter what weapons you had from the previous level. Additionally, any surviving Voi factory workers and Marines that helped you take down the Covenant AA will not appear, despite appearing in the cutscenes before this mission starts. Additionally, in Co-op, only one of the players can carry their weapons that is not either a Fuel Rod Gun or a Rocket Launcher. Also, if you left anything on the lakebed platforms (not the lakebed), they are missing from the chapter.
*Oddly enough, the chieftain's corpse is found in the small loading bay (where Truth's hologram was in The Storm). The corpse still appears there even if you killed the chieftain when he first appeared in The Storm. His two Brute guards are also there, however they have the skin palette of a Brute Minor instead. Marine corpses are also found nearby, although they are not present there in The Storm.
**Many other misplaced corpses can be found throughout the map. For example, in The Storm when you leave the building two Hunters appear and no Brutes follow them. When you come back there are several dead Brute Minors, and the Hunter corpses strangely disappear from the game.
**The map weapons also seem to be laid differently. For example, when you re-entered the building after destroying the Scarab, on the small weapon holder there are just Fragmentation grenades placed there. When you come back to the spot in this chapter, there are four SMGs placed on the weapon holder. Also, there are weapon lockers in the area where you met the chieftain in The Storm, and the Covenant weapon locker seems to have mysteriously disappeared.
*The Marine with the Flamethrower is actually two dimensional and has no scripted actions other than two shots and its death animation. However the corpse can be infected at which point he becomes a normal Combat Form and may wield the Flamethrower.
*At the first checkpoint, the Marine on the radio that says, "We're surrounded, Sergeant!" is in fact Gus Sorola, the voice actor of Private Simmons from the web series, Red vs Blue.
*If you look at the dead Elite in white armor next to the hole in the Flood ship, it has the face of Rtas 'Vadum. This will occasionally happen to other Elites in white armor.
*If you melee the Ultra Elites down the hole in the Flood ship, you can get them infected by the Flood. This could be convenient if you have meta scoring enabled. Simply bring a full ammo battle rifle and carbine, pop one of those Flood growth pods, and if infection forms come out, lure the infection forms to the elites while avoiding them (don't let them have contact with your shields for obvious reasons). After the combat forms arise, headshot them while avoiding the infection forms and repeat the process.
*You can "push" the marines who hold position to follow you through the mission. They will start walking on their own once you push them up the staircase.
*In Theater mode, one can see that one Marine begins mutating before the Flood forms drop from the roof to attack the Marines. It is possible that this is due to Flood spores inhalation or is a scripted occurrence.
*This is one of the only four missions to not have an opening cutscene when launching the mission from the Campaign lobby, with the others being Sierra 117, Tsavo Highway, and The Storm.
*After the cutscene in which the Shadow of Intent drops off several Elite drop pods, if you go to the other end of the current area in Theater mode and bring camera as high as possible, you can still see the Separatist carrier outside the level's boundaries, not moving and slightly phased into the ground. It will disappear after a few minutes.
*On Lakebed A where the crashed flood ship is, if you zoom in on the Phantom landing the Assault Elites, one will notice that they will fight the Flood. However, instead of fighting completely, they will fall back and jump down the hole in the ship, and they are not seen anywhere in the section Infinite Devil Machine. If you are fast enough you can use a piece of wreckage to jump across before they enter the ship, if you follow them in you'll find they despawn.
*If the player does not shoot flood growth pods or lure any combat forms into the ship, one won't fight any enemies in the section Infinite Devil Machine. There is a flood combat form but it is killed by 343 Guilty Spark.
==Videos==
Halo_3_PC_Walkthrough_-_Mission_5_FLOODGATE_(Sub_ITA)
File:Halo- The Master Chief Collection Walkthrough - Part 31 - Floodgate|Floodgate Walkthrough
==Gallery==
File:Floodgate1.jpg|The Shadow Of Intent leaves Earth via The Portal.
File:Floodgate2.jpg|Lord Hood's dropship leaves the Shadow of Intent.
File:76002393-Full.jpg|Elite Helmet Glitch.
File:Picture 1.jpg|A Marine under attack by Flood Combat Forms.
File:Flood wall.jpg|Flood biomass-covered walls of the crashed Flood-controlled battlecruiser.
File:Closesave.jpg|John-117 shoots a Infection Form off the Marine just in time.
File:Hood Pelican.jpg|Lord Hood grimly watches Miranda Keyes and Spartan-117 as his Pelican departs from the hangar.
File:Conversing_Sangheili.jpg|Thel 'Vadam converses with a Sangheili Major about the Flood.
ccs floodgate.jpg|Two Covenant Separatist CCS-class battlecruisers holding position over Voi.
File:Flood Tank Pure Form on Earth.jpg|An image of a Flood Tank Pure Form.
File:Floodgate.PNG|From Prima Game guide
== Sources ==
Category:Halo 3 Campaign