Pavium sets up a mining facility, eventually able to dig into the crystals beneath the surface and start the reaction necessary - however, the Flood senses this threat, and begins sending much stronger forms against Banished forces. Fissures in the landscape are honeycombed with explosive power, which the Banished could potentially use to catalyse a chain reaction, burning the Flood away. While Voridus attempts to reactivate the defenses in the region, Pavium comes up with a plan to stay the Flood's advance - at least temporarily.
Meanwhile, Voridus and his men manage to retreat and find a nondescript Forerunner structure. However, all defensive efforts fail and eventually Pavium is forced back to his main Banished outpost. In response to the quarantine breach, Pavium prepares several waves of defenses, establishing several defensive perimeters in which to fall back while Goliaths clear pathways for Banished forces to fall back in.
However, the trio are rapidly infected and turned, spurring a massive Flood counterattack as the parasite escapes the ruins of High Charity and into the surrounding landscape.Ītriox stands before the Proto-Gravemind.
Believing the stories of the Flood infection to be Covenant lies and myth, Voridus deactivates the Sentinel defenses in the region and orders a squad of brutes to scout out the interior of the structure. While Banished troops on the ground find modest amounts of supplies, Voridus leads his troops directly to the quarantine perimeter of High Charity, using his Scarab to cut through the energy shield. Atriox tasks two of his lieutenants - brothers Voridus and Pavium - with scouting out the structure and scavenging any useable supplies they can find, but with strict orders not to enter the ruined city.ĭue to abuse of the Ark's systems by both sides of the conflict, the structure's defense systems are now hostile to humans and Banished alike. To remedy this, Atriox looks to the ruins of the Covenant holy city High Charity - which had been captured by the Flood and crashed onto the surface of the Ark in the final months of the Human-Covenant War - as a potential source of weapons, vehicles and supplies. With the loss of Enduring Conviction, Atriox is still cut off from receiving supplies and aid from his forces in the Milky Way galaxy. Several months following the events of Halo Wars 2 and Operation: SPEARBREAKER, the forces of the UNSC Spirit of Fire and Atriox's Banished are still locked in a bitter stalemate on The Ark. The quarantine shield protecting High Charity. The primary characters of the campaign are the Jiralhanae brothers Pavium and Voridus, who are tasked by Atriox to investigate and salvage the Covenant holy city for useful equipment. Unlike Halo Wars 2 and Operation: SPEARBREAKER, Awakening the Nightmare is set entirely from the point-of-view of the Banished, and is the first time in the series' history in which players can fight UNSC enemies. Due to the lack of an active monitor on the installation, the Ark's defenses were only able to establish a quarantine zone around the infected city, like the one established on Installation 05. Like the main game, Awakening the Nightmare is set on the Ark, though this time set around the remains of the Covenant city High Charity, which crash-landed on the Ark in Halo 3. Plot Characters and setting Īwakening the Nightmare takes place in June 2559, several months following the events of the main game.