Halo Campaign Evolved: Boarding Action Walkthrough (Operation METEORITE)

Boarding Action is the opening mission of Operation: METEORITE, the three-mission prequel campaign added to Halo: Campaign Evolved. It drops Master Chief and Sergeant Avery Johnson onto the Covenant agricultural ship Triumph of Tolerance, and it plays as a mostly linear push from the docking bay up to the Gene-Forge and back out. The route is straightforward, but the enemy density climbs sharply near the end.

Quick answer: Follow Johnson through each locked door he opens, clear every arena of Covenant before the objective marker advances, ride the grav lifts and horizontal elevator he activates, survive the Jiralhanae ambush after the Prophet cutscene, then reach the final marker to trigger the closing cutscene and complete the mission.

Before you start: what to expect

Operation: METEORITE is playable from the first launch of the game without touching the main campaign, but it has no tutorials and runs harder than the original missions. If you are new to Halo, it is worth clearing the classic campaign first. The mission gates progress behind Johnson, who opens sealed doors, disables barriers, and powers the lifts. You cannot move forward until an area is cleared, so treat each room as a hold-out.

Enemy	Notes
Unggoy (Grunts)	Weak fodder that spawns in waves; easy to thin out first.
Kig-Yar (Jackals)	Carry shields; flank them or hit exposed limbs.
Snagheili	Can turn invisible, so watch for shimmering movement.
Hunters	Heavily armored; strike their exposed back and midsection.
Jiralhanae (Brutes)	Brutish and durable; the main threat during the escape.

Boarding Action full walkthrough

When you gain control of Master Chief, clear the landing arena of the Unggoy and shield-carrying Kig-Yar that spawn around you. Once nothing is left standing, walk to the objective marker to trigger the cutscene where Sergeant Avery Johnson steps out to join you.

Master Chief clearing the landing arena in Boarding Action — Clear the docking area so Johnson can leave the ship. Image: Xbox Game Studios.

Follow Johnson to the door and let him work the panel to open it. Push into the next room, deal with the enemies inside, and continue to the barrier-blocked doorway where he disables the blockade for you.

Move into the following room and watch for turrets on the floor above. Fight down the hallway, following the marker, then head up to the upper level where a dropship unloads more Covenant. Use the nearby turret to save ammo, then go through the open doorway on the right.

Take the stairs to the upper floor, where two Hunters wait. These are among the toughest enemies in the game and their armor soaks damage, so keep moving, circle them, and land hits on their exposed areas. After they fall and Johnson finishes suppressing the alarms, follow him to the elevator.

Pushing deeper into the Covenant ship interior — Ride the lift down after the Hunters are down. Image: Xbox Game Studios.

In the next room, Johnson says he will provide high-ground support. Take the elevator down, exit the corridor, and clear the arena while he snipes from above. Once the ground floor is cleared, take the stairs and follow the corridor around; more enemies appear on the platforms, so advance carefully behind cover.

Push into the large training room. Use the stationary shields for cover. A Covenant fighter will charge in on a Type-32 RAV Ghost, which you can hijack; it is clumsy indoors but its front guns help conserve your ammo. Wipe out both floors, including any Snagheili that cloak, then climb to Johnson and wait as he activates the horizontal elevator that carries you across the gap.

You arrive at an armory. Check the left side to swap in fresh weapons before continuing. Follow the marker into the room where aliens are held in chambers that Chief calls experiments, and once Johnson unlocks the door ahead, clear the grunts down the corridor.

Keep to the linear path until you reach the Gene-Forge and the cutscene introducing the Prophet. When it ends, you fight the Jiralhanae for the first time as more enemies pour in. Use cover, then follow Johnson to the upper floor and start heading back toward the ship docking area.

Fighting through the escape sequence in Boarding Action — The escape stacks Brutes against you from multiple angles. Image: Xbox Game Studios.

Fight back through the corridor and into another part of the lab, take the corridor on the right up to the upper level, and pass through the door back to the experiments room. Exit ahead, clear the next room, and reach the elevator room where more Brutes drop down to your level.

After surviving that crowd, ride the elevator up with Johnson to a gathering space where the Prophet keeps sending waves. Use the turrets on the upper level and watch the different stairways so you are not surrounded. When the last enemy dies, follow the objective marker into the corridor to trigger the final cutscene and end the mission.

All Skulls and the Terminal in Boarding Action

Boarding Action holds three Skulls and one Terminal. Collect all four in a single run to earn the Souvenirs achievement. They are listed below in the order you naturally pass them.

Skull #1: Malfunction (Rally Point Alpha)

After the fight against the two white, heavily armored Hunters, ignore the objective marker and go right. Drop to the area below where the Covenant dropship sits and pass through the door in front of you. Follow the path behind the turret to find the Skull on the ground.

Skull #2: Johnny Ammo Seed (Rally Point Bravo)

In the palace-like room where Johnson notes it looks like a training room, marked by a horizontal purple cylinder overhead, clear the Covenant and go up to the second floor. Turn back toward where you came in, take the left of the two rear exits, and follow it to the top floor of the earlier area. Beat the enemies there and step onto the ledge to grab the Skull in the middle of the path.

Skull #3: Leadhead (Rally Point Delta)

While working up to the upper decks, you reach a room where you must clear waves before Johnson can power the grav lift. Once it is clear, go through the door in the back-left corner and follow the corridor to the Skull at the end.

Terminal #1: The Path (Rally Point Delta)

At the top of the grav lift, turn around instead of following the marker. Go through the door in the back-right corner of the room, and the Terminal is on the other side.

How to confirm the mission is complete

The mission closes with a cutscene the moment you enter the final corridor after clearing the last wave in the gathering space. Finishing Boarding Action unlocks the Before The Fall achievement. If you also picked up all three Skulls and the Terminal on the same playthrough, the Souvenirs achievement pops as well. From here, the campaign moves on to the second Operation: METEORITE mission, The Most Dangerous Game.