Data Hive

Fire Dare on Sublevel 9

Drop from the elevator to the ground, then explore the room for some grenades, and a shotgun (if you want it). We suggest keeping at least one medium-range weapon in your arsenal. Proceed through the door ahead and down the ramp. You'll come across a group of grunts, but it's nothing you can't handle. Hang a left through a door near the end of the hall, leading into another corridor.

The second corridor's not much more difficult than the first, but now you'll face some Jackals as well. Use the pillars for cover and work your way into a small room at the end. Once there, turn left down another short hall into a similar room. There, a Brute and his accomplices will attack--a well place grenade should clear most of them out, otherwise use the Shotgun if you have it. If you're low on ammo, or have insufficient weapons, just back down the hall you came from and seek out more.

As you pass through another room, you'll come up behind some Grunts, making their way toward a room containing a Brute. Take down the Grunts quickly, then either use a grenade or shotgun on the Brute. If you're having trouble, try waiting by the entrance of the hall leading to him, forcing him to come to you--now either plant a grenade on his ugly face when he turns the corner, or melee him to death. It's hard to miss either way.

Just beyond, you'll meet up with a teammate in the next room. Interact with the central control panel to raise a pillar, exposing a hole to the floor below. However, you'll have to take down some flying bugs first--any weapon works, but the shotgun is most effective. After dropping down, we suggest augmenting your Shotgun with one of the Plasma Pistols lying around, before proceeding through the unlocked door.

This hall contains several Brutes, some of whom are cloaked, and some other low level grunts. Thankfully, there's a ton of cover, so it's best to charge up a Plasma Pistol shot from behind cover, then lean out, pop it off, and follow-up with some Shotgun blasts or melee attacks. The cloaked Brutes are no different. Also considering lobbing grenades if they bunch together. Beyond that, you'll trudge through several smaller rooms, many of which include groups of Brutes. It's often best to just chuck a grenade at the pack, if you have any. If not, you may want to back into the previous room and wait for them to come to you. Remember, if you run low on ammo, you can always backtrack for more--and hell, while you're doing so, sometimes your teammate will even finish the job for you. At the end, interact with the control panel again and drop through the exposed hole.

As soon as you drop to the third floor, more buggers will attack. Use a pillar for cover and take them down using whatever you've got, though the Shotgun's ideal. Alright, so the next hall is a major pain in the rear: it's host to a ton of Brutes, including a Chiefton. We suggest staying near the entrance of the hall so you can back into the previous room for cover. If you have a Carbine, that weapon seems to be most effective. Try using the objects near the entrance for cover as you target the Brutes. Make sure to lob grenades whenever they bunch together. If you need health, look for packs embedded in the left wall of the central raised platform, near the entrance, as well as a pair in the previous room.

Once you've thinned the crowed, you'll have the Chiefton left to deal with (identifiable by his large head piece, as well as the large gun he's carrying). Fighting him directly is practically a guaranteed suicide, so we actually suggest running past him entirely! Stick to the outer walls for protection (ideally staying on the opposite end of the room as him) and make haste for a tunnel on the right. Once you make it into the room at the end, you're as good as safe…

…well, at least you would be safe if it weren't for another pesky room full of enemies just beyond. Like before, stay near the entrance and lob grenades toward the center to thin the ranks. Now, odds are you're going to run out of ammo, and unfortunately, you actually have to kill everyone in this room in order to proceed. In such a situation, we found it's actually best to run laps around the room, and simply melee everyone (excepting the Brute--save him for later, if you haven't killed him already) as you run past. After each lap, take a breather in the prior room for a shield recharge if you need it, then repeat. When done, you may still have the Brute left--if so, grab one of the fallen enemies weapons and take the Brute down like you normally would, then proceed through the door that unlocks.

After knocking on the closed gate, you'll find Dare. Follow her toward your next objective.

Fight Through Hive to Data-Center

Follow Dare through another corridor, using largely the same tactics you have before: hang back, take cover, lob grenades at groups. Basic stuff. At the end, duck through a door on the right and then drop down the shaft that Dare points out.

After landing, you'll encounter a few corridors-worth of enemies. It's best to move up to the corner preceding each one to target those beyond. Oh, and if you find your weapons aren't quite getting the job done, consider swapping for Dare's pistol--she won't mind.

Before long, you'll wind up in a large, industrial-looking room. Upon entering, you may want to grab the Beam Rifle from the gun rack and the Carbine on the floor, both somewhat near the entrance. Now cross over one of the bridges and follow Dare through a door on the left to an elevator.

After riding the elevator, follow Dare down the hall and into the top floor of the industrial-looking room. Hang back while she pushes ahead, triggering a wave of flying bugs. With your Carbine, pick them off from a safe distance. When clear, follow Dare just close enough to trigger the next wave--specifically, you should hang back on the walkway just prior to the well-lit platform. Go ahead and jump onto one of the purple canisters for an better vantage point, and target the bugs as they dart in (they'll approach from both the left and right sides of the lit platform).

With the second wave down, follow Dare along the walkway to a platform containing a Carbine cache. Restock, then wait here while she triggers a couple more waves ahead, allowing you to easily target them from afar. Subsequently, when you catch up to her afterward, she'll double-back, triggering a surprise wave. Quickly retreat back down the walkway, to put some distance between you, her, and the bugs, then take 'em on from afar again. That should be the final wave, so follow Dare into the Data Center and down another shaft (though you may want to refill your Carbine ammo first, via the weapon stashes just before the data center).

Rescue Superintendent

You'll emerge in a large room, with some Brutes attacking a door ahead. Still have your Beam Rifle? If so, now's the time to use it, as you can easily pick off all the Brutes from this safe position. If you run out of ammo, your Carbine can finish the job. Lacking those weapons, you can also sneak up behind them (since they're pre-occupied with the door) and lob some grenades right onto them. Lacking those (seriously, maybe Halo's not the game for you), simply unload whatever you do have into the nearest Brute and revert to Melee attacks if you have to. In regards to the Chiefton, you'll want to time your jumps to avoid being pummeled by his gravity hammer.

With the Brutes down, Dare will open the door they so failed at. Continue through a few more doors, into the Data Center.

Escort Engineer to Safety

Well, isn't this a strange turn of events. Alright, so you need to escort the engineer safely out of here. Unfortunately, the engineer isn't very patient, forging ahead with or without you. As such, it's important you keep up with him taking down the nearby enemies. Since he'll draw most of their attention, taking them down shouldn't be difficult. Once the engineer makes it to the end of the first section, follow it and your squad through a door, down into another room.

See the bugs on the ceiling? Start taking them down quickly, before they have a chance to do any real damage. Once you've cleared the area, follow the engineer into an adjacent room, where he'll unlock a door, allowing you to continue onward. Proceed through another corridor with a few more bugs, then hop aboard the elevator at the end to complete the mission!