Alpha Base (level)

Alpha Base is the first level of the strategy game, Halo Wars. During the final stages of the Harvest Campaign in February 2531, the UNSC Marine Corps firebase, Alpha Base, has been overrun by Covenant forces. Sergeant John Forge has to pull together the scattered UNSC forces in the area and mount an attack to reacquire Alpha Base.

Transcript
{Intro}

Harvest comes into view, its surface covered in peaceful colors of green and blue.


 * Captain Cutter: "Captain's report, February 4th, 2531. Five years, five long years. That's how long it took us to get Harvest back..."

''Several marines race through a battlefield within the remains of a destroyed UNSC city. A Marine dies when a nearby wall explodes from a passing Banshee's ordinance, debris and plasma engulfing him. The surviving Marines recover quickly and start to move forward.''


 * Marine: "Go, go, go!"

''They confront a Lance of Elites whom are separated by a wall of debris, a few of the marines shout as they arrive. A Marine quickly joins in and starts to fire upon the Elites, only to be shot by a plasma bolt to the chest. The rest, despite being outnumbered manage to gun down several of the Elites, as another marine gets pierced in the shoulder with a needler round. Then a Warthog runs the Elites over. The camera then cuts to the rear of the Warthog driving through a battlefield with the gunner firing the turret.''


 * Marine: "Keep firing!"

''Three marines fire their weapons, the last one blasting a shotgun from the hip. The camera then cuts to a shot of several Pelican dropships arriving with several Warthogs racing through the drop zone. Marines then pile out from one of the landed Pelicans. The camera then shifts to a Marine hitting an Elite from behind with his Assault Rifle. The Elite falls down and is shot dead by another marine. Then, it shifts to a panorama, showing nine Marines cheering and a Warthog overlooking the battlefield; a destroyed city with a burning Covenant Destroyer in the distant sky, presumably shot down by UNSC forces.''


 * Captain Cutter: "At first it was going well..."




 * Captain Cutter: "Then setback after setback..."

''An Elite impales a Marine with its Energy Sword. UNSC troops are overwhelmed by plasma fired by Elites and Banshees. The camera then shifts to a scene where three Elites jump over a crumbled wall, igniting their energy swords. A dead Marine lies nearby.''


 * Captain Cutter: "Loss after loss..."

''Two Covenant Destroyers begin to glass Harvest with an airstrike in carpet bombing style. Damage from orbital bombardment is visible, represented by several rings of burnt land.''


 * Captain Cutter: "Made what was going to be a quick and decisive win..."

''A wounded marine crawls through shattered wasteland with a dark sky and debris. The Marine attempts to get to a rifle lying on its side, when a sword-wielding Elite approaches and impales him.''


 * Captain Cutter: "Into five years of Hell..."

Directly overhead, a Covenant Destroyer charges up its energy projector, and unleashes its deadly beam.

Captain Cutter: "Of course, that's all Harvest really is today..."


 * Captain Cutter: "It's Hell down there, but now it's ours again."

Fades to the Halo Wars logo, then fades to black.

The partially glassed surface of Harvest is shown, with the UNSC Spirit of Fire moving thorough debris in orbit.

EPSILON INDI SYSTEM

HARVEST

FEBRUARY 4TH 2531

20 YEARS BEFORE THE HALO EVENT

''Pelicans are dispatched from the UNSC Spirit of Fire and they head to the surface of Harvest. UNSC Pods soon follow. The UNSC fleet is approaching a large field of shattered debris in orbit, presumably from wrecked UNSC vessels from previous space battles. The surface of the shattered planet, Harvest is then revealed. Damage from orbital bombardment is seen quite clearly, in the form of massive rings of scorched earth and ash choked seas on the surface. The view is soon headed into the bridge of the Spirit of Fire.''


 * Captain Cutter: "Serina, status?"


 * Serina: "Standard orbit achieved. All systems normal."


 * Captain Cutter: "Prep for pod launches, bring weapon systems online."


 * Serina: "Expecting trouble, Captain?"


 * Captain Cutter: "Harvest may be ours again, but I don't think the Covenant appreciate that yet."

''Professor Ellen Anders enters the bridge. Sergeant John Forge radios in.''


 * Captain Cutter: "Sergeant Forge, report."


 * Sergeant Forge: "Definitely plenty of bad guys down here, Captain. And they've found something in the ice."


 * Captain Cutter: "Damn it, that complicates our mission. Anders, what have you got?"


 * Prof. Anders: "Captain, scans on the Northern Polar region shows some interesting Covenant activity on the surface. There's some kind of structure down there."

Anders activates a map of the Northern Polar region.


 * Serina: "What do you think they're looking for?"


 * Captain Cutter: "That's what were here to find out. We are to bring Alpha Base up to operational status and take control of that site."


 * Prof. Anders: "I'll get my equipment ready."


 * Sergeant Forge: "Lady, there's no way you are coming down here on the first bird."

Anders ignores the Sergeant and leaves the bridge.


 * Captain Cutter: "Sergeant Forge, pull back to Alpha Base, I'm sending you some backup."


 * Sergeant Forge: "Roger that, Forge out."

The Captain deactivates the map, returns into observing Harvest from orbit.


 * Serina: "So, nothing too difficult then?"


 * Captain Cutter: (sighs) "It may be the key to this whole war Serina, it's worth the risk."

{In-Game Cutscene)


 * Sergeant Forge: "Captain, Alpha is toast, nothing for me to pull back to. Suggest you hold that backup for a while."

''A Marine fires from a tower that is being overrun. Several plasma bolts hit under where the Marine is shooting from impact, followed by an explosion behind him, killing him.''


 * Captain Cutter: "We need to turn that around, Sergeant. Serina, what's our status?"

Multiple units of Marines flee from Alpha Base under heavy fire from Covenant armor and infantry.


 * Serina: "Sir, we've got a lot of troops retreating from Alpha Base. If Sergeant Forge can regroup with them, our numbers may be sufficient to retake the base."


 * Sergeant Forge: "Roger that, we'll round up any and all survivors and get Alpha back."

{Gameplay}

''Sergeant Forge and his Gauss Warthog crewmen head along the snowy road where they encounter a small group of Marines alongside their Warthog fighting a group of Needler wielding Elites. The Sergeant assists.''


 * Sergeant Forge: "You boys from Alpha?"


 * Marine: "We were the first out sir."


 * Sergeant Forge: "Fall in behind me, we're taking Alpha back!"


 * Marine: "Get over here!"


 * Sergeant Forge: "Move it, people!"

''The surviving Marines mount on their Warthog and follow the Sergeant. After traveling across a broken bridge, they encounter more Marines.''


 * Marine: "Tango-one-four, you need to get us out of here!"

''The Sergeant and his allies assist the group of Marines, and once clear the other group of Marines follow the Sarge onwards. Once again, another batch of Marine units is located ahead.''


 * Marine: "This is Tango-three-three we are under heavy fire, that turret is chewing us up."

The Sergeant arrives and takes out the Shade Turret for the other groups of Marines.


 * Sergeant Forge: "The Cavalry's here. Form up and follow me!"


 * Marine: "Ewwww...we got Grunts bits up on the grill!"

''As Sergeant Forge and the groups of Marines head closer to Alpha Base, more Marine allies await ahead under fire from more Covenant units. In the background, Covenant infantry erect an anti-vehicle barrier.''


 * Serina: "Well would you look at that, they're trying to keep us out of our own base."

After Forge recruits the other units, they regroup near the entrance.


 * Sergeant Forge: "Vehicles can't get through that thing, but infantry and foot soldiers can."

''Marines enter the shield door while the Warthogs wait outside. Upon quickly routing the Jackal infantry defending the power source, the marines open fire on the anti-vehicle barrier's power source.''


 * Marine: "That thing's too strong, use grenades!"

Marines throw Fragmentation Grenades at the reactor, destroying it.


 * Sergeant Forge: "Barrier's down. Let's do this, gentlemen. Open fire!"

The barrier's generator is destroyed.


 * Sergeant Forge: "All right, let's head in and clear the base of hostiles."

The Sergeant and his allies encounters infantry units, Ghosts and Wraiths in the base, defending it from being recaptured.


 * Captain Cutter: "Air support en-route Sergeant. They'll take out the armor, the rest is yours."

''Shortswords drop Carpet Bombs onto the base, destroying all the Wraiths and any Covenant units nearby them. Sergeant Forge and his allies finish off the remaining Covenant.''


 * Sergeant Forge: "Well, that was the most fun I had all week."

{In-Game Cutscene}


 * Sergeant Forge: "Spirit of Fire, this is Forge. Area clear, situation normal. Orders?

Multiple Shortswords fly overhead and a Pelican lands near the back of the base.


 * Captain Cutter: "Alpha Base is ours again. Sergeant Forge, you may want to scout the area."

Level ends.

Trivia

 * Alpha Base was the first of two levels featured in the Halo Wars Demo.
 * In the intro cinematic, a Marine can be heard screaming the Wilhelm Scream when getting hit by a plasma blast.
 * The track that plays during the assault on Alpha Base is a combined version of 'Just Ad Nauseum' and 'We're Burning Sunshine'.
 * Alpha Base is the first mission that allows you to control Warthogs.

Mistakes

 * At the beginning of the mission, the Marines you gather will be in usual green colour, however, around halfway through the mission, the Marines you rescue will be yellow.