Reactor (level)

Reactor is the fourteenth level of the real-time strategy game, Halo Wars.

Primary

 * Bring and Attach Elephant to FTL Reactor Core.
 * Use an Elephant to tow the Core up to the Apex Base site.

Optional

 * Kill 20 Vampires (This will unlock the level's skull).

Description
After Victor 397 and another Pelican carrying the FTL drive core crash due to Banshees in the air, Captain Cutter changes the operation into a ground operation, and UNSC ground forces are tasked with getting the core to the top of the apex. After an Elephant is attached to the core, Sergeant John Forge and other UNSC forces including the Spartan IIs from Red Team escorted them from Covenant, Flood, and Sentinels to top of the apex with success.

Transcript
Scene opens with two pelicans lowering the Spirit of Fire's FTL drive

Cutter: Is this really going to work, Professor?

Anders: I believe this is our best hope. The overloaded FTL reactor will cause a chain reaction in the sun.

Cutter: Enough to destroy all the ships here before the Covenant can get a chance to make anything of them.

Anders: Well, put simply, Captain, our reactor will cause the sun to go supernova, leaving nothing here but dust.

Serina: That's the weak part of this plan, if you ask me. We've no way home without that reactor.

Cutter: One problem at a time Serina. If the Covenant get their hands on these ships it will mean the end of the war. We'll take our chances here, to give humanity some hope.

Anders: I know it's been a tough call, Captain, but it's the right one.

Forge appears on a monitor, in front of the FTL drive

Forge: Spirit of Fire this is Forge. She's buttoned up and ready to go!

Cutter: Deliver that package safely, Sergeant.

Forge points at the screen and shoulders his shotgun

Forge: Keep the coffee hot. I'll be back before you know it.

Anders: I'll be monitoring you from here, Sergeant.

Captain Cutter leaves

Serina: Well, it'll be pretty obvious if he succeeds.

Anders looks down at the floor and shakes her head, with a worried and sad look on her face

{Gameplay}

Two Pelicans, carrying the FTL drive, are being pursued by Banshees

Victor 397: This is Victor 397, stabilizers out, we can't carry her! Going down!

A Banshee scores a fatal hit on one of the Pelicans

Victor 397: Clear the area, we're dropping cargo!

The Pelicans drop the FTL drive at the last second, both crashing soon after, the FTL drive slides down the hill, scene ends, mission starts

Cutter: I don't want to take anymore chances flying that core in, we're changing this to a ground operation.

Forge: The core is a heavy son of a bitch, use Elephants to drag it up those ramps, they're the only vehicle with enough torque to pull that damn thing.

After the Elephant is created

Forge: Alright, lets hitch the Elephant up to the FTL core and go from there.

Serina: If that Elephant gets destroyed on the ramp, the core will roll all the way back down, it's not going to be pretty.

Serina: Once the core reaches a flat area, it will no longer be in danger of rolling back down the hill, get the core to level ground, and do try to avoid any unnecessary jostling.

After fighting up several ramps, against Flood units, Sentinels, and Covenant bases, the core finally reaches the top.

Forge: Spirit, we've reached the target site, orders?

Misson Complete

Cutter: Sergeant, engineers are on their way to rig the core, we're nearly there.

The Elephant backs the FTL drive onto a teleporter which is soon sent away.

Primary

 * Escort the Generator to the top of the Spire.

Secondary

 * Kill 20 Vampires.

Walkthrough
Begin by using Forge and Red Team to gather disposed supplies and begin building turrets and supply pads. Build a reactor and upgrade it. Once you are finished, research the Twin Engine for the Elephant, that will make it go much faster and complete the mission faster as well. Build and upgrade another reactor so you have 4 tech levels. Upgrade the Scorpion and Wolverine as high as possible.

It doesn't hurt to fully upgrade flamethrower units as well because they are very effective against infantry and flood. Once you are finished upgrading, make a space for a field armory and purchase the Medium Turret and the reinforcements upgrades. Recycle you Field Armory then purchase as many scorpions, wolverines and flamethrowers as possible. Make sure you have an even balance. Keep in mind that you need 2 extra slots for your Elephant if you haven't purchased it yet. Send all units up the hill with Forge and Red Team in the lead. Be sure to keep the Elephant towing the reactor at the bottom until the base at the top has been cleared. BEWARE! If your Elephant is destroyed while towing the core up a ramp, the core will slide down and obliterate anything on the ramp. If the Elephant is on a flat surface and gets destroyed, the core will not slide down. Watch out for Sentinels, but they are a good distraction for the Covenant, as near the Covenant bases. They can distract the Covenant units so you can fully attack the bases, then work your way up to the teleporter to complete the mission.

Another faster way, easiest on lower difficulties, is to use all available units, (actually Red Team and Sergeant Forge would suffice on Easy), to attack the first base right after the cutscene ends. By that time, the Covenant would have only been able to train a few squads, which Red Team can wipeout swiftly. This strategy gives you another base to train units at, and should only take 3 minutes.

If you come across Vampires, have the Spartans take control of them, they will serve useful when trying to get the skull. When the ramp is cleared, repair any damaged units and replace any units that were destroyed. Send your forces up the second ramp to clear the flood there, be sure to move the Elephant past the flood controlled spot ASAP. There is another Covenant base up ahead, so send your forces to eliminate it. If the base is protected by a Shield, use the Spirit's MAC cannon on it to decimate it in one shot. The Sentinels will also be attacking the base, and if it is gaurded by turrets, the Sentinels should distract them for you. Once you eliminate the base, have some forces escort the reactor loaded Elephant to the top where your objective tells it. Once the Elephant is in position, the mission ends. Note: Red Team come in very useful as they can clear anything the Covenant throw at you, so long as you remember that they are not invulnerable.

Strategy 2
Start off by building 2 reactors at the base and upgrading them both. Then upgrade it to a fortress and build a supply pad and a vehicle depot. Upgrade the supply pad and spawn as many cobras, wolverines and tanks as you see fit. Then head to the base but keep the core at the bottom. Once you have destroyed the Covenant base bring the core up and build another base. Upgrade your wolverines and cobras until they have maxed out. Then build some barracks another supply pad and an air pad. Upgrade the supply pad and spawn two or more vultures and upgrade them. Now get everything up two the second base except the core once again. Once you have the base destroyed send the core up and if you wish you can build another base with whatever you want on it. Now escort the elephant to the apex with the vultures. Once the elephant reaches the apex, the level ends.

Skull
Requirements:

To get this skull to appear you will need to kill 20 Vampires.

Location:

The Skull is located next to the second Covenant Base encountered, third in total. The black box is on the narrow patch of land betwen the map edge and a cliff. This cliff is the left side of the first ramp you go up towards the first Covenant Base you encounter.

Trivia

 * If playing on this on a higher difficulty, along with taking too long to complete this mission (i.e. building up on forces, upgrading, ect.) the Covenant will eventually produce a Scarab, making the mission a lot harder.
 * The site where you put the reactor has the shape of a Marathon Symbol.
 * This is the last level you get to use Sergeant Forge.
 * This is the first of the 2 levels where you fight Covenant, Flood, and Sentinels all together.