Halo CE in MCC: finding Keyes and getting out of the ship

Halo CE in MCC: finding Keyes and getting out of the ship Mission 9, Combat Evolved Anniversary in The Master Chief Collection. Major story spoilers. Keyes starts aboard the ship, sends you outside, and makes you fight your way back into it. If the opening feels like you're going the wrong way, you aren't. The damaged passage is supposed to push you into the coolant below. This follows the normal route: **opening corridors → coolant canyon → gravity lift → cargo bay → shuttle bay's third level → bridge → Banshee escape**. No Keyes bump or out-of-bounds shortcut. This is also a completion guide, not an all-Elites achievement route; letting the factions fight is useful for survival, but a kill checklist needs its own approach. **Take the opening drop** Fight through the initial corridor, watching for Flood entering the fight with the Grunts. Pick up a shotgun when one drops. The large hole ahead, with coolant visible underneath, is your exit. Cortana eventually tells you to jump; you don't need to exhaust the enemies arriving behind you first. Before dropping, reload and check your health. If you use the nearby active camouflage, save it until you're actually ready to move rather than spending its duration searching the hallway. It can help you get oriented after landing, but don't treat it as protection from stray shots or explosions. Jump into the coolant, then get your bearings. You are beneath the cruiser now, looking for the route to its gravity lift, not a way to climb back through the hole. **Work through the canyon** Follow the canyon passage toward Cortana's marker. There are several fights along the way, not one enormous encounter that has to be solved from your landing point. The rocky bends are useful. When combat forms rush you, fall back behind a bend and make them approach through a narrower gap. Give carriers space before bursting them. If you're backing away while shooting, glance behind you first; a reload is a bad time to discover that the ground drops away. Expect threats above your normal eye level as well as on the path. Look at the ledges before moving into the next open area. The motion tracker can become crowded with infection forms, so use it as a warning, not a complete picture of which enemy is carrying a gun. Continue under the natural bridge and through the subsequent narrow sections. A Shade emplacement provides one opportunity to fight incoming Flood without spending your carried ammunition. Use it if the position is manageable, but get off when its limited view becomes a liability. Clear the approach, continue up the slope and through the rock opening, then follow the remaining canyon toward the lift. Pause before committing to a drop to collect ammunition you actually need. Going back for a weapon is much easier while you're still standing on the same side of it. **Board through the gravity lift** The purple lift is defended while the Flood attack the Covenant around it. Work the outskirts rather than running directly into the center of the fighting. Clear the enemies threatening your approach and stand in the beam to return aboard. If you reach it while a nearby threat is still active, don't assume the transition will rescue you immediately. Your priority is enough safety to stay in the lift, not collecting one more dropped weapon with no shields. **The cargo bay and the second hole** Once back aboard, leave the lift room through the open route. The next corridors lead to the cargo bay where Cortana notices the accumulated bodies. Check that area for health and an overshield if needed, then continue through the passages. Eventually the corridor appears to end. **Look down for the hole into the lower passage.** This is a separate drop from the opening jump into coolant. Check below before committing, clear visible threats, and descend with a loaded weapon. Keep moving through the connected halls toward the shuttle bay. Use corners to break enemy fire, but don't stand so close to a corner that a carrier can burst directly beside you. Throwing a grenade and immediately charging after it is another easy way to turn a controlled fight into a restart. **Reach the third level** In the shuttle bay, Cortana identifies the third level as the route to the bridge. Continue around the walkways and through the adjoining corridors that bring you higher. Don't drop to the bottom looking for the Captain. The central platform and side entrances can expose you to more than one group at once. Clear a section of walkway, move to its cover, and check the next entrance before continuing. If you're losing shields from somewhere you can't identify, return to the doorway you came through rather than stepping farther into the open. At the third level, take the marked doorway with Flood spilling out. Deal with the immediate rush before entering. Follow the passages toward the bridge, where the Covenant and Flood are fighting again. **The Captain** Clear enough of the bridge to approach its raised center safely. This is the room containing Keyes, now absorbed into the Flood mass. Walking up to him triggers the scene in which Chief retrieves his neural implants. **The mission's terminal is also in this room.** Use the separate Mind Games route before leaving; there is no collectible skull to hunt on Keyes in MCC. When gameplay resumes, more enemies enter. Don't remain on the central ramp watching both sides close in. Get behind the room's cover, assess the fight, and work back toward your entry route once you can do so safely. Keep enough ammunition for the return through the corridors. **Return to the shuttle bay and escape** Head back to the bay. The incoming escort Banshees land on its lowest level, and their pilots get out. Those are your exit, not another dropship you need to board. To avoid the high drop, use the connecting corridors and walkways to work down, but expect more fighting along that route. If you choose to drop between levels, check the landing surface and your health first; don't assume a high fall is harmless because the aircraft is right below you. Clear an approach to a landed Banshee, enter it, and the escape scene finishes the mission. You don't have to manually pilot a route back to the Pillar of Autumn. On Heroic and Legendary, be especially careful about committing to the drops with low health, walking into crossfire in the bay, and approaching the bridge's center before checking the surrounding Flood. A few seconds spent preparing at those points is preferable to replaying the whole fight around them.