NMPD HQ (level)

NMPD HQ is a Halo 3: ODST level. It is played from Romeo's point of view.

Summary
Chronologically the fifth flashback level, NMPD HQ begins at 19:14, three hours after the squad's insertion into the city. Buck and Romeo have made their way to the top of the NMPD Headquarters building to be picked up by an NMPD Pelican dropship. With Dutch and Mickey already onboard, the Pelican is shot down by Banshees and crashes on another landing platform. Buck and Romeo didn't make it onto the pelican but make their way through the top floors of the building, and eventually defend the Pelican's crash site to fend off oncoming Covenant Phantoms and Banshees. Finally, a Brute Chieftain drops off from a Phantom, and severely wounds Romeo before the rest of the squad manages to kill it. After this, Buck decides to evacuate the squad through train tunnels leading to the old city, and the squad starts moving out to Kikowani Station.

Transcript
Black screen, text appears:

ROMEO

NMPD Headquarters

3 HOURS AFTER DROP

The cutscene begins,:

''The cutscene begins with a door in the NMPD Headquarters opening. Buck immeadieatly takes point while Romeo watches his back.''

Buck: Clear?

Romeo: Yea.

View changes to one of the Superintendant's cameras as he watches Buck and Romeo exit to the outside landing pad.

Romeo: We're good.

Buck: Activates his comm. Hey Rookie. You out there? Respond. That's an order!

Romeo: (Following Buck.) Give it up, Gunny. Even if he ain't dead he's lost in that soup. Our comms can't cut through that.

Stops and turns to Romeo.

Buck: Oh give up, huh? What if it were you down there?

Romeo: Just sayin', (Shrugs.) I ain't dead.

Buck shakes his head at Romeo as he walks past.

Buck: You're a piece of work Romeo.

Mickey's and Dutch's NMPD variant Pelican Dropship comes in for a landing as Buck flags them down.

Mickey: Welcome aboard ladies! First stop, anywhere but here!

Just as the Pelican Dropship prepares to land, two Banshee fighters come into view and open fire on the Pelican.

Buck: Banshees on your six! Hit the deck!

''Buck and Romeo drop to the floor and cover their heads while the Pelican takes a hit from a Banshee's Fuel Rod Cannon.

Dutch: We're losing her! Watch out!

The Pelican spins out of view as Buck and Romeo fire at the attacking Banshee fighters.

Mickey: Aah!

Romeo looks around for any other enemy aircraft while Buck activates his comm.

Buck: Mickey! Dutch! Status!

Buck polarizes his visor, and puts his hands on Romeo.

Buck: Live or dead, we're pulling them out!

{Gameplay}

Buck: You hear me?

Turns away from Romeo and pulls the charge handle on his Assault Rifle.

Buck: Make some noise. I got your back.

The two go back indoors.

Buck: Back inside! Let's find that Pelican!

Romeo: What about all those Covenant we side-stepped on the way up?

Marine: Nah, negative! But I didn't see much of anything after that flash. Uh, listen, some of these buildings are open, should be able to get inside, flank the Covenant on the streets.

Buck: Roger that, thanks!

In the building on the second floor, Buck finds various Elites and Brutes dead.

Superintendent: Toll ahead, please slow down.

Buck: What the hell happened here?

Superintendent: Final notice. Bill past due.

After battling through more Covenant forces, Buck comes across more Elite and Brute corpses.

Buck: Veronica, what's with all the dead Elites?

Dare: What do you mean?

Buck: It's like a family feud, like they were killed by Brutes, there something I should know?

Dare: It's classified.

Buck: Huh, some things never change.

Buck comes across a Deployable Lookout Tower with some various Jackals and Grunts around it.

Buck: Got a little Jackal problem!

Dare: An overcharged Plasma Pistol shot will neutralize their shields, it should also take down a Brute's armor.

Buck: Oh yeah! Where were you a minute ago?

Dare: Still trapped inside my pod.

After opening a door Buck finds a group of Marines around a destroyed Warthog, taking fire from Covenant on higher ground.

If Buck goes to the left to the building, he'll find a female Marine taking cover.

Marine: Trooper, we're pinned down! Flank through this building, hit 'em from behind!

Dare: Buck, location?

Buck: Almost there! What's wrong?

Dare: Multiple hostiles closing in on my position. Listen carefully, if I don't make it...

Buck: Whoa! Hang on, I'll be right there!

Dare: Too late, they spotted me!

Buck: Damn it no! Veronica? Talk to me! Don't move! I'm coming, you hear?

A pair of Hunters emerges on the other side of the area.

Buck: Hunters! No, I do not have time for this! Turn around you bastard, so I can shoot you in the back!

After clearing the area of Covenant and proceeding through another door, Buck arrives at Dare's location.

Superintendent: Attention travelers! Lost items can be claimed on... lower levels.

''Dare's SOEIV comes into view, under attack by three Grunts. ''

Buck: There's your pod, now just need to find a way down.

After dispatching the Grunts he approaches her pod and tries to open the door.

Level over.

{Cutscene}

Buck: Arrgh! I'm here. I got ya.

Hatch opens, Dare's pod is empty

An Engineer pops out at Buck.

Buck: Aww, nuts!

The Engineer gets closer to Buck and a blue light appears from its helmet.

Buck: Whoa, whoa!

Buck sees Dare's damaged helmet in one of its tentacles.

Buck: Whoa!

''A sniper rifle goes off, the Engineer dies, Romeo is revealed to have taken the shot. Romeo waves to Buck, who returns it.''

Buck gets up, the Engineer starts to shake and starts to give off a high pitched whine, Buck dives for cover and it explodes, propelling Dare's helmet into the screen the Rookie finds later, the Superintendent marks the helmet's location

Buck: What the heck was that, you ever seen one before?

Romeo doesn't respond

Buck: Hey, Romeo! You got your ears on?

Romeo shrugs.

Buck: Oh, I get it. Permission to speak, smart ass.

Romeo: No, I don't know what it was, but it was gonna grease your ass good, just like it did the Captain.

Buck: Yeah, maybe. You hear from Mickey, Dutch?

Buck investigates a piece of the Huragok's armor, with Dare's armor's stomach plate attached to it, stuck in a wall.

Romeo: Negative.

Buck: Rookie?

Romeo shakes his head, no.

Buck: We need to get above this crap, link up with the bee-net, one of our drones must've seen where they hit.

Romeo: So, we're poppin' smoke on the lady's mission? She ever tell you what she wanted?

Buck: No, never, doesn't matter. All I care about now is gettin' my men out of this city, even you.

''Cutscene ends. Fades back to the Rookie.''

Trivia

 * Completing the levels on Normal or above unlocks the NMPD HQ achievement, as well as the Romeo character for Firefight mode.
 * There is also an achievement named Dome Inspector, which requires you to score 15 direct headshots on this level in order to be unlocked.
 * The ending cutscene is the only seen time, where Buck uses his combat knife.
 * Some display screens on the level show a seismic survey of the Great Rift valley, authored by Dr. Endesha, Sadie Endesha's father. This is referenced in Sadie's Story, where her father tells Sadie about unusual object below the region, discovered by a survey made by the Superintendent.
 * The beacon object of this level is Romeo's Sniper Rifle, with its barrel bent, hanging from a power line.
 * In the ending cutscene, the NMPD officer that is thrown into the air by the Brute Chieftain's Gravity Hammer has a Battle Rifle, even though it isn't obtainable by the player in the game.
 * Occasionally, a Banshee will fly into the crashed pelican at the end of the level during the fight, and become somewhat lodged there. Players can melee a Brute out of it, without destroying it, but it still can not be flown.
 * When the player goes over the bridge, it appears that Romeo is hesitant, possibly because he is afraid of heights. Buck also notices this.
 * During the final cut scene of the level, if the player is on legendary difficulty, Romeo's wound will shoot out a comical amount of blood. The wound doesn't spray any blood on lower difficulty levels.