Since 343i are now adding skulls to Spartan Ops, I thought of a cool idea that 343i could implement as well. For those who complete SpOps Season 1 on solo LASO no deaths, an alternate (non-canon) ending would be unlocked, one where Requiem is stopped from falling into Epoloch. But of course, one must EARN their ‘happy’ ending…
WARNING: GREAT WALL OF TEXT
After finishing “One Last Time/Harvester”, right before Fireteam Crimson makes their escape, they fall into a portal and are sent to the Cauldron (explained in opening cutscene of the bonus level). There are no ammo replenishers, no Covie weapon crates, nothing- except for a whole mess of angry devout Elites and Grunts (and two Hunters) who seem to have crashed their CRS cruiser nearby due to the automated defenses in Forward Base Magma. Infinity has already left orbit, and there is less than ten minutes before the shield world takes the big dunk.
However, hope is not lost for Crimson. Their HUD pops up with an objective, get to the place where they found the original artifact and stop the self-destruct sequence. The problem? What used to be Magma Base is now a flaming inferno, and they’re on the opposite side of their objective. There are a few Ghosts near the magma falls (Original spawn area during Core/Cauldron and The Cauldron Base/Cauldron) that they can use to jump to the other side via the bridge, but are guarded by a bunch of Grunts and Elites. Oh, and did I mention they only have seven minutes to complete the mission?
After traveling through the entire map and encountering resistance every inch of the way, finally Crimson gets to the objective- to find two Hunters and a task-force of stealth Elites waiting for them. Better hope your Ghosts are still intact… After that battle, Phantoms will begin swarming from the wreckage of the CRS, intent on deploying as many troops as possible (think Shootout in Valhalla, only much worse). Hit the button on the pedestal to begin the planet’s salvation, which takes about 30 seconds (of pure hell).
After that, the countdown vanishes, and you’re still left with a crazy amount of Covies out for your blood. That being said, due to hardlight bridges popping up (or teleporters, if they can be implemented into SpOps), you can now micro around the map to save yourself. (Also, just for some breathing room, you become invisible or invincible ala Random Transport/Fortress for 15 seconds, allowing you to get to a better position or simply get the hell out of dodge before your defense collapses.) In addition to the hardlight bridges, Forerunner weapon crates spawn on map, along with a UNSC ammo dispenser and a Mantis(if single player)/GaussHog(if more than one player is in the game), brought to the Cauldron via the Requiem teleportation grid. The vehicle(s) and ammo spawn at the mission start point.
After killing about seven Phantoms’ worth of enemies, Prometheans pop up- only these Knights are blue colored and have friendly AIs (Librarian AI “assumed direct control”). Finally, the Covenant get to experience what you have so bravely dragged yourself through for 50 or so missions of Spartan Ops.
Once the final batch of Covenant enemies are massacred (the cruiser isn’t sending anything else, they’re too busy being swarmed by Prometheans and Sentinels), the mission is successful. Thus could begin a cutscene where Infinity arrives in orbit, seeing Requiem re-establishing it’s position in the star system, wondering something along the lines of ‘What just happened?’
So what do you think? Would an extra mission (and what amounts to a Legendary Ending) be a good reward for completing SpOps on LASO?
TL;DR version: 343i turns on all skulls, people who complete Ops Season 1 on LASO with no deaths in all 50 missions (not consecutive) get an alternate ending and a level from hell itself.