**Spartan Strike: Operation A — Orphic Spear**

**Spartan Strike: Operation A — Orphic Spear** Mission and story spoilers. This operation follows the Conduit through New Mombasa: finding its location, recovering it, then trying to get it out of the city. There are six missions here. The Elephant escort is A-3; the first Vidmaster challenge is A-6. Don't put yourself through the wrong level for either one. **A-1: New Mombasa Nightmare** Your damaged starting weapons make the first Grunt important. Melee it, take the Plasma Pistol and shoot down the energy barrier. Join the Marines and clear their attackers, then move east to the green zone. After that defense, destroy the explosive barricade and collect grenades from the marked cache. Use them on the next blocked alley and the wrecked cars on the road. Keep moving toward the high-rise rather than searching the surrounding battle for a different entrance. At the building, use the machine-gun turret to stop the Covenant attack. When the enemies are cleared, **leave the turret and enter the high-rise**. The fight at its front door is not the final interaction. The opening melee and early Grunts are useful for the mission's Assault Ops. The Plasma Repeater Elite requirement will take more attention than the introductory tutorial suggests; check your counter before replaying solely for it. **A-2: On Top of the World** Cross the rooftop outposts and call the elevator at the gap between towers. Hold against Drones and the arriving Covenant until it reaches you, then use the crossing. At the next barricade, clear the area so the Hornet can land. Take its satchel charge, plant it on the barrier and step away. Continue through the opening, deal with the Shade and kill the Elite commander at the crashed Spirit. Pick up the dropped data pad. Killing its carrier isn't enough. Return to the Hornet through the new reinforcements to extract. Save grenades for useful clusters and the Shade-turret challenge rather than throwing every grenade at the first Grunt. This mission has a return trip, so a rooftop you've already cleared is not necessarily safe on the way back. **A-3: Conduit** Kill the Elite carrying the artifact, collect it and deliver it to the back of the Elephant. Then mount the Warthog gun for the convoy escort. There are **three barricade stops**. At each, leave the gun when instructed, reach the controls and lower the barrier, then return to the Warthog. The second stop sends you through the southern alleys and a courtyard; don't stand at the blocked road waiting for the convoy to solve it. Prioritize suicide Grunts before they get close to the Elephant, including those attacking after the last barricade. Keep firing through the final approach to the green zone. **I Am Your Shield** requires the Elephant to remain **100% intact**. Finishing with a damaged Elephant is a campaign clear, not an achievement clear. Once it has taken damage, decide whether you want to finish learning the route or restart for the perfect escort; don't confuse the two outcomes. **A-4: Reversal of Fortune** Defend the green zone from the opening attack. The Covenant stealing the Conduit during this sequence is a story event, not proof that you failed the previous escort achievement. Enter the Warthog and chase the Spirit. Take the detour around the street barrier, shoot through the wreckage blocking the road, then clear the occupied plaza so the Marines can lower their checkpoint. Continue along the highway. At the next plaza, the pursuit becomes a trap: survive the Covenant assault, including Ghosts, and keep fighting after the friendly ODST reinforcements arrive. Finish the remaining enemies to end the mission. The Warthog's gun can be controlled while you drive. Make use of that instead of parking among every group of enemies. Its Shade and Ghost kills also contribute to this mission's vehicle-specific Assault Ops. **A-5: Wounded Quarry** Plant the opening satchel charge and go east through the highway and alley route. Clear the courtyard fighting as you move toward the larger Covenant-held area. Deal with its Shade turrets before committing to the middle of the courtyard. After the area is secured, the commander and bodyguards are your next objective. The drop pod breaks the barricade in this sequence; follow the opened route rather than hunting for another demolition charge. Kill the commander, then retrieve the Conduit itself to finish. There is no second extraction drive after the pickup in this mission. If you are working on Assault Ops, this is the Shade-turret **plasma-grenade** requirement. Destroying them with another weapon can help your clear without helping that counter. Keep your grenade type straight before throwing. **A-6: Last Exit** Fight to the nearby UNSC position and hold off the Covenant while the first barricade is overridden. Take the Warthog and head toward extraction. The Pelican has crashed. Don't remain at that landing zone waiting for it to become usable. Go around the wreckage, return through the city and cross the park route. Take the next Warthog beyond the crash site and drive out along the highway, watching the suicide Grunts and Wraiths on the escape. **Vidmaster Challenge A** is this entire mission with **Blind and Thunderstorm** active. Run the ordinary version first so you know the failed extraction is part of the route. On the challenge attempt, losing your HUD should not also mean losing your understanding of where the road changes to the park and back to the final drive. Completing all six missions earns **Welcome to New Mombasa**. Gold stars here also count toward opening Operation E later.