- llamalizard
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- Intrepid Legendary Member
I wish I was still legendary.
UPDATED
original theories are below this one, which i guess also doubles as a plot guess.
Revised theory (summary):
The ODSTs are being dropped directly onto a covenant carrier in order to try and capture a prophet, as the Chief was supposed to before the Halo Event. However, Dare orders them, at the last moment, to change direction and they change their trajectory - to the ONI building. The EMP follows immediately after this, and whilst the other five members of the Rookie's squad land conscious, he is knocked out. They find each other via radio communications and retreat to the ONI building, which looks to be built like a fortress, blowing the bridge behind them.
At this point, you may wonder why they blew the bridge when the Covenant could just fly over in phantoms. They wanted to slow them down, keep them away from whatever they were looking for - whatever was being kept inside/under the ONI facility. Dare was the only one who knew what this was, and was the one that ordered them to regroup/defend the site. It worked, slowing down the Covenant advance - at least for a while. Whatever was inside that building, they did NOT want the Covenant getting it.
From the gameplay trailer, we see that the ONI facility is now little more then a burning hulk, but the Covenant are still searching New Mombasa. What does this indicate? perhaps that there is a much larger underground area, not unlike HighCom at Reach, containing the most important research and artifacts? After all, HighCom/Castle Base had an 'air vent' that led to a massive underground antechamber containing a slipspace-warping crystal. It's feasible to believe something similar existed below Mombasa.
Now, since the building is burning very early on in the game, and the flashback appears to be at day, it seems safe to say it has burned down within the last two hours, the Rookie being out for at least four. The other ODSTs have made some attempt to reach him via radio, but, getting no response, assumed the worst. The fact that there is still a major Covenant presence in Mombasa indicates they have not found what they wanted, meaning the others could well still be alive - after all, if half of HighCom was underground, and 'unknown' artifacts such as the crystal even further below...
They could be alive, but hiding in the (theoretical) lower, more highly protected levels. It is proved that the superintendent has at least some control over this building or the surrounding area, due to his reluctance to blow up the bridge. Is it possible he/it had some form of override code for access to the building?
At the same time as this, the other 16 pods are all empty - being dropped and controlled remotely, as a diversion. It is possible some have troops inside, but seeing as they never communicate and only 5 other people are seen in the drop bay/briefing room it seems unlikely. They did NOT change their angle of impact, at least not as much. Although some have landed throughout Mombasa, they are still tightly sealed - this could mean they were actually stocked with supplies to be used by the squad, but since the plan failed never were. What it definitely means is that they were never 'popped', so either every ODST outside your 6-man squad died on impact or they simple never were there.
This may be unorthodox (supplies being dropped), but for a mission their size - finding one prophet in a ship that size (a few kilometres at least, from memory), and the sheer amount of hostiles inside, I'd say dropping some supplies throughout the ship is a reasonable measure.
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seen here.
EDIT: I now know for sure that the carrier was the original target, having watched the gameplay.
Why were the ODST pods headed directly for Regret's craft? Is this Dare's 'change of course' that was declared shortly before the EMP? and if so, why?
My (first and original) theory:
Dare, as an ONI officer, was tasked with the same mission earlier given to the Master Chief - capture a covenant prophet. They took command of the ODST shock squad to do this, planning to land on (and hopefully puncture into) the covenant carrier. However, the unexpected slipspace jump completely screwed their plans, scattering them across the city.
Note the large amount of drop pods in this picture. Many are extremely close to the carrier, so it is possible that some ODSTs did, in fact, manage to get on board. But without a leader (Dare), they may not have been told what their objective was, and were subsequently killed/died on impact with the ship's shields and incredibly tough shell. There is also the possibility that those closest to, but not touching the ship were torn apart by the slipspace rupture.
Secondary theory:
Very similar, but some differences. Dare's plan was actually to use the SOIEV pods to barrage the Carrier's shield and overload it, allowing a UNSC ship to fire upon & destroy it. Why they wouldn't use empty pods for this is beyond me, but they may have been aiming to:
1: secure the ONI facility in mombasa.
2: destroy/damage the covenant carrier, or knock out its shields in order to allow a strike from either a SHIVA warhead attached to a remote-controlled longsword, or a MAC cannon barrage.
Basically, it could have been a suicide mission.
UPDATE:
Third theory:
The unmanned pods (16 now, since I counted about 22 in the image) were dropped to fluctuate the shields, allowing a MAC cannon to fire on either the shield generators (if possible), engines or slipspace drive. This would allow further HEV strikes on the ship without fear of it jumping beneath them and/or being killed on impact with the shields.
At the same time, The Rookie's squad was SUPPOSED to land on the ship once it was disabled, but Dare somehow realized it was going to jump (perhaps because the area with the generator (which is exposed, seen in Halo 2) started to glow) and ordered them to instead drop towards somewhere they were sure would be safe - The ONI facility in New Mombasa. They changed course, but not quickly enough - they were still hit by the shockwave and scattered around the area.
Upon landing, some of the squad found each other/fell in a tighter formation due to having changed course effectively (see the bridge scene - at lest 3 ODSTs are here) and retreated to the ONI building, but the rookie, having been crashed into, was knocked away from the group and landed a few kilometres away. We know due to a voice early in the gameplay trailer that the other ODSTs at least attempted to make contact, but since he did not reply (possibly due to being unconscious) they presumed he was dead and regrouped at the ONI facility, where they may still be. After all, they did blow out the bridge to stop the covenant, which leads to the next theory.
THEORY FOUR:
16 of the pods were unmanned, and being used as a distraction so the other six could land safely. Although they may have been originally tasked with infiltrating the carrier, Dare changed their co-ordinates to the ONI facility, possibly due to either realising what was in there was too valuable to let the covenant find (whether shield technology, forerunner relics or weaponry), or realising, as in the last theory, that the ship was going to jump and wanting to land 'her' squad safely.
What should be noted is that we only definitively know that 6 drop pods (The rookie, Romeo, Butch, Mick, Dare and Buck) actually had people in them, and may have been tasked to secure ONI headquarters originally before being told by Dare to change course. It should also be noted that at least 20 drop pods are visible in this screenshot alone, which leaves at least 14 to drop in numerous places on the ship's shields and at least disrupt it, even of only for a few seconds, or distract incoming fire from the inhabited pods dropped last.
Thoughts?
[Edited on 06.02.2009 2:50 AM PDT]