Mission 09 - ODYSSEUS | Decisions, consequences, endings CoD: BO II Guide
Last update: 11 May 2016
Decisions in the mission
Admiral Briggs
When you play as Menendez and after you've overpowered Briggs and watched the confrontation, there will be a serious decision to make (picture above). It has an impact on the game ending.
Admiral Briggs died before he could re-activate USS Obama's defenses
If you shoot Briggs in the head (picture above), the USS Barack Obama will sink. Salazar will tell Menendez that there were supposed to be no unnecessary deaths. Menendez will reply that it's him who decides what's necessary.
Admiral Briggs survived & re-activated USS Obama's defenses
If you shoot in the leg (picture above) or arm, there will be a chance to save the ship. It will now depend on the completion of a strike-force missions. For more details see the end of this section, "Mission summary". Salazar will thank Menendez for sparing Briggs. Menendez will reply that if his plan succeeds, Briggs will understand why he let him live.
Interestingly, if you simply do nothing, the admiral will throw himself at Menendez (first picture above), but he'll be immediately overpowered by Salazar (second picture above). It will have the same effect as injuring Briggs.
Consequences of this and the previous missions
This mission, unlike any other, is full of events that are the consequences of previous choices. Moreover, some are linked together in different combinations. Therefore, to keep things in order they are presented chronologically (despite the fact that a taken decision may have an impact on more than one event).
[INTRODUCTORY CUTSCENE]
Completing the strike-force mission
If you have successfully completed all strike-force missions, Admiral Briggs and Secretary Petraeus will talk about joining forces of the United States and China. Briggs will say that it's the end of the SDC, and that the alliance is the real beginning of a new era. Petraeus will say that Briggs can be proud of himself (picture above).
If you didn't complete the strike-force mission and the alliance between Russia and China took place, Briggs will tell Petraeus that thousands of drones are on standby (picture above). The latter will say that the last time DEFCON 3 was announced was 25 years ago, Briggs will reply that he was serving back then.
[FROM MISSION START TILL THE EVENTS ON THE BRIDGE]
Farid or Harper?
If Harper is alive, he will be informing you about what is happening on the ship - among other things, the drones' attack, opponents' optical camos, the fact that the security systems have been taken and you need to regain control of them, etc. If Harper is dead, Admiral Briggs will be giving you this information, or nobody will.
[BRIDGE, PART 1 - BRIGGS TAKEN HOSTAGE]
Killing DeFalco or letting him escape
When you play as Menendez, either DeFalco (if he managed to escape in Mission 06: Karma) (first picture above) or a random soldier (if DeFalco got killed) (second picture above) will be standing in front of you. The dialogue will be the same in both cases.
Also, in a moment, DeFalco will terrorize the technician next to Briggs (first picture above). If DeFalco is dead, a random soldier will do it (second picture above).
[BRIDGE, PART 2 - CONFRONTATION]
Killing DeFalco or letting him escape
Karma Saved
Farid or Harper?
The three decisions above, which you took in the campaign, will have an impact on what will happen on the bridge. Due to the fact that there are six possibilities, all are presented separately, in the next section of this guide. The confrontation is everything that is going on from the moment in which Salazar kills two soldiers to the point where the player must decide whether to kill Admiral Briggs or not.
If DeFalco survived the confrontation, he will stand next to Salazar (this may happen only if only he took part in the confrontation or both he and Karma - see the details in the next section of the guide) (first picture above). If he didn't survive, his place will be empty (second picture above).
[BRIDGE, PART 3 - MASON GETS TO THE BRIDGE]
Killing DeFalco or letting him escape / Karma Saved / Farid or Harper?
Admiral Briggs
When you get to the bridge, sit at the computer and see the destruction in the system, which Menendez has made, the further situation can develop in different ways.
If Karma has survived so far, after a while she will run up to the computer and sit down at it, explaining that the signal that's being sent has to come from somewhere (pictures above). If Karma is dead, Mason will say you need to find out where the signal is coming from.
Then, if the admiral survived, he'll tell Mason to be careful. Whatever managed to spoil Salazar can get Mason as well. At the end Briggs will wish Mason good luck (picture above). If, however, you killed the Admiral as Menendez, Mason will now find out that Briggs is dead.
If Harper survived, then after a while he will come running and ask what happened (picture above). When he'll find out about Salazar's treason he'll not be able to believe it. You will both go to the lower deck.
[CONFRONTATION WITH SALAZAR]
Farid or Harper?
When you get to Salazar, he will tell you that today is a difficult day (picture above), but tomorrow you will all win.
If Harper is alive, he will reply to Salazar "Not you." and shoot him (pictures above). It is worth noting that Harper will be accompanying you till the end of the mission and will fight along with you on board the ship until you both get on the plane.
If Harper is dead, Salazar will be overpowered by an allied soldier (pictures above).
[BOARDING THE PLANE]
Farid or Harper?
The scene after reaching the plane will differ depending on whether Harper is alive or not.
If Harper is alive, he'll get on board with you. When an enemy soldier kills the pilot, Harper will kill him and then kick him out of the plane (pictures above). After a while, he'll say that hundreds of people have died today and that he'll make sure that Menendez is brought to justice.
If Harper is dead, and an enemy soldier kills the pilot, Mason will be the one to shoot him and kick him out of the plane (pictures above).
[MISSION END]
Admiral Briggs
Karma Saved
Completing the strike-force missions
To save the ship (first picture above), along with the entire crew (including Karma, provided, of course, you saved her), you must meet all the conditions below. If even one of them is not met, the ship will sink (second picture above).
- Carrying out three strike-force missions: FOB Spectre, Shipwreck, I.E.D. before playing mission 07: Suffer With Me through.
- Completing the strike-force mission: Dispatch before playing mission 08: Achilles' Veil through.
- Letting Admiral Briggs live in this mission.
This is a very important consequence in the plot, as whether Karma survives or not ultimately depends on it. This, in turn, has a crucial impact on the ending.
[MISSION SUMMARY]
In the Story section in the career menu you can see the summary of each mission. There is usually one or two sentences that describe the most important events in the mission and at the same time the decision you took. It is these statements that are marked in the "Decisions, consequences, endings" in brown. However, Mission 09: Odysseus can end up in many different ways, that is why, all the possibilities are listed below. The mission summary will consist of 4 to 5 sentences.
1. Did you save Briggs playing as Menendez?
a) Yes - Admiral Briggs survived & re-activated USS Obama's defenses
b) No - Admiral Briggs died before he could re-activate USS Obama's defenses
2. Did you complete the strike-force campaign and make the alliance between China and the United States take place?
a) Yes - SDC sent hundreds of drones to protect the USS Obama
b) No - SDC refused to send any drones to protect the USS Obama
3. Which of the abovementioned conditions was met?
a) None - The defenseless USS Obama was destroyed by Menendez's attack
b) Briggs is alive - The Obama's defenses were not enough to repel Menendez's attack - the Obama was lost!
c) Alliance of the US with SDC - SDC drone reinforcements arrived, but the defenseless USS Obama was already destroyed
d) Both - The Obama's defenses hold in time for SDC reinforcements arrival - the Obama was saved!
4. The last sentence will present the fate of the entire crew and Karma, provided she was on board:
a) Karma & the crew of the USS Obama survived Menendez attack! - the ship didn't sink, Karma was on board and survived the confrontation on the bridge.
b) Karma was executed & could not analyze the Celerium WORM - the ship didn't sink, Karma was on board but didn't survive the confrontation on the bridge.
c) The crew of the USS Obama survived Menendez attack! - the ship didn't sink, this sentence will also appear if Karma didn't survive the confrontation on the bridge, or if she wasn't on board at all.
d) The crew of the USS Obama were lost when the carrier was destroyed - the ship sunk, everyone (including Karma) died.