Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn/Transcripts
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Part 1
Scene opens up to various shots of the aft half of the UNSC Forward Unto Dawn adrift in space. Cortana's voice can be heard, repeating one phrase over and over.
A computer screen is seen: CREW CAPACITY: 782 The screen flickers. Cut to John-117 inside his cryo chamber. His visor reflects off the blue light outside the chamber. The blue light is revealed to be emitting from a holotank. The light flickers red before turning back to blue. Fades to black. Fades in to the space, where a few stars are seen. Blacks out. HALO 4
FORWARD UNTO DAWN Title fades out. Scene cut to Commander Thomas Lasky, in front of a holographic screen, reviewing the distress signal.
As the signal plays again, Lasky starts to space out.
The bridge is thrown into disarray as the crew begin to talk at the same time and an alarm sets off.
Lasky starts to breathe deeper and louder, while the voice gets fainter.
Lasky's breathing gets louder, his eyes begin to look around the room. Cut to Lasky opening his eyes as a teen, inside a cryo chamber. He coughs.
A young Thomas Lasky falls out, vomiting bronchial surfactant. Next to him, Chyler Silva and Michael Sullivan are seen thawed out and vomiting surfactant as well.
Lasky doesn't respond and continues to vomit.
Cut to Lasky walking to his locker, still coughing. Cut to Sullivan in his battle uniform looking at Lasky.
Cuts back to Lasky as he gears up, still coughing.
Lasky takes out his assault rifle.
Cut to Lasky's right hand wrist, which is bruised.
Lasky tightens his gloves.
Chyler runs for the exit.
Sullivan follows her.
Lasky runs out of the building. Cut to his heads-up display as the sunlight blinds his eyes. Lasky pants and coughs. He looks up at a small hill, where Silva and Sullivan are already climbing to the top.
Lasky walks a few step ahead before sprinting. Cut to a forest with explosions.
Sullivan fires his assault rifle. Silva fires hers for a short second before continuing forward.
The three cadets move on to the RV point. Shot of Lasky running through explosions and gunfire in slow motion which then reverts back to standard motion.
Cut to Lasky's HUD. The motion tracker projected on his ballistic goggles enlarges and moves to the center of his HUD.
The cadets advance forward and take cover momentarily.
Silva nods.
Lasky, Silva and Sullivan get up and continue running, with Silva taking point. They continue running. Sullivan is suddenly shot by a tactical training round. He cries out and falls backwards. Lasky and Silva notice this and turn around.
The two look at Sullivan lying stunned on the ground. Silva begins running again.
Lasky hesitates and continues to stare at Sullivan on the ground .
Lasky breaks into a run. Cuts to his HUD. A red "X" appears over the green arrow representing Sullivan on the motion tracker. The tracker then reduces itself and moves to the bottom left corner of the HUD. A message appears over the HUD:
Lasky makes it to the rendezvous point, a small concrete shelter under fire where the rest of Hastati Squad are taking cover. He continues to wheeze and cough.
Lasky turns to Vickers in disbelief.
Cuts to Lasky's motion tracker, now displaying enemy contacts inbound on two sides.
Vickers contemplates for a moment.
Vickers shoots an urgent look at Lasky.
Lasky and Vickers look at one another. The enemy contacts on Lasky's motion tracker continue to converge on their position.
Lasky charges out of the shelter.
Lasky runs amidst heavy gunfire and explosions; scene briefly goes into slow motion; suddenly, he is hit in the chest by a training round and falls.
Lasky lies on the ground, breathing heavily. All is quiet before April Orenski appears from behind a reflective barrier.
Orenski walks to Lasky, still laying on the ground, aiming her rifle at him.
Orenski shoots Lasky twice in the chest with training rounds. Lasky grunts loudly in pain.
Members of the opposing squad rise from the undergrowth.
Orenski continues to stand next to Lasky, who continues to cough and grunt.
Orenski leaves and Lasky slowly gets up, groaning.
Lasky stops to look at his reflection on the wall of the opposing team's shelter.
Lasky leaves. The scene focuses on the reflective combat barrier, which is shown to be labeled with the following: UNSC CORBULO Cut to the cadets of Hastati Squad walk across a field at the forest edge.
Cut to Orenski standing at attention on a concrete-paved road, with cadets walking by and a UNSC officer standing nearby. Cut back to Lasky and Sullivan.
General Black's Warthog approaches along the concrete road. A dam can be seen in the background. Orenski walks to face Hastati Squad, now standing in formation as the general's Warthog pulls to a stop and Black climbs out.
The members of Hastati Squad do as ordered. Orenski turns to face General Black.
Black surveys Hastati Squad disapprovingly and slowly walks in front of the cadets.
Black stops to face Lasky, who continues to stare forward.
Black goes on walking in front of the formation.
General Black stops next to Orenski, standing at attention.
He turns to leave. Orenski addresses Hastati Squad.
General Black leaves in his Warthog.
Hastati Squad turns to face the right.
The cadets break into a jog, singing the UNSC Marine Cadence as they follow Black's Warthog along a dirt road.
The cadence fades out while the instrumental track playing in the background escalates, as an overhead shot of the road pans up over the forest to reveal the Corbulo Academy campus; a collection of predominantly concrete buildings dominated by a towering space elevator, several massive satellite dishes and a number of large vertical-axis wind turbines. Numerous cadets are seen running, marching or standing in formation on the open training grounds in front of the buildings. A Pelican dropship is descending towards a landing pad. The academy is identified on-screen: CORBULO ACADEMY OF MILITARY SCIENCE: CIRCINIUS-IV The cadets of Hastati Squad continue their jog across a field with other cadets performing various physical exercises, training in close quarters combat, as well as firing pistols at a shooting range.
Lasky begins to pant and falls behind the others.
Brief cut to several cadets in uniform walking in a staircase within the academy.
Cut back to Hastati Squad, now running across the main courtyard of the school, with a statue of Roman general Corbulo in the foreground. UNSC Marines stand guard nearby.
Lasky continues to pant and runs several meters behind the squad.
Cut to Hastati Squad's locker room.
Cut to Lasky fidgeting with his locker.
Cut to Sullivan conversing with another cadet.
Cut to Lasky inspecting his armor in his locker. He tries to wipe the red TTR round smear from the chest piece with little success.
Vickers roughly shoves Lasky as he passes.
Chen approaches Lasky.
Lasky thinks about what Dimah has said and walks over to a locker next to Silva, who glances at him. Lasky sighs and turns to her.
Silva walks away as Lasky looks at a photo of his brother, Cadmon Lasky, stuck on his locker. Cut to Lasky walking through the courtyard briefly pausing at the statue of General Corbulo and continuing on. General Black is then seen giving orders to several Marines. He smokes a cigar and gazes up at the sky, a look of apprehension on his face. An overhead view of the campus is shown passing by the space elevator as a car is sent up. Cut to Lasky in Mehaffey's office; both of them are listening to a recording of the training earlier.
The recording pauses. Mehaffey turns to Lasky.
Mehaffey gets up and walks toward Lasky.
Lasky salutes the colonel, who notices marks on his wrist. Lasky leaves. Cut to Lasky in a shower checking on his blisters.
Cut to Hughes checking on Lasky.
Cut to Lasky in the shower.
Cut to Lasky sitting on a wall near the space elevator, thinking. Below him, a graffiti reading "FORWARD UNTO DEATH" has been painted on a "RESTRICTED AREA" sign. The UNSC Marine Cadence can be heard in the distance. The space elevator stands in the background; Lasky watches as a car descends to the bottom, with another beginning its climb along an adjacent elevator strand. Cut to a view of the academy from a distance; a mountain range stands in the background and three moons are visible in the sky. Cut to the barracks.
Silva is seen viewing several updates on the Insurrection on a holographic terminal. One is about an attack on a civilian spaceport in Troisi City, Lodestone. The report is dated March 24, 2526.
Another cadet sits next to Silva.
Silva briefly looks at the other cadet and then continues to read updates on the Insurrection, switching to a newer article (dated April 2, 2526), about the UNSC working with ONI to stop a plot by the Bandusa Insurrectionist group in New Harmony, Mars.
Cut to Tchakova who is holding a stuffed animal until she notices Sullivan going through classified ONI videos containing combat footage. She then puts the stuffed animal back in a box and hides it away.
Sullivan continues to go through the videos until he notices something and pauses it.
Sullivan than pulls the video on the left over to the one on the right. Cut to Vickers doing handstand push-ups.
Cut to Chen checking on a video message from his father.
JJ is shown practicing combat moves, looking distressed. Cut to Lasky in his room. He looks over his shoulder before activating a list of video messages from his brother on his computer terminal. After hesitating, he selects one.
Cadmon takes off his shirt and turns around, showing Thomas a Helljumper tattoo on his back. Thomas laughs.
Thomas, surprised, pauses the video and slowly turns around. Silva walks over and sits next to Lasky, who turns on his chair apprehensively. The two look at one another. Lasky scoffs.
Lasky turns away.
Lasky stares at the camera. Silva leaves, and Lasky returns to his brother's video message.
Thomas opens an ammunition box and takes out a chessboard. Thomas begins to place different kinds of empty shell casings and shotgun shells on the board as pieces.
Video message ends.
The lights in the barracks go out, and the doors to the cadets' rooms close. Thomas gets in his bed and stares at the poem inscribed above him. Cut to Silva who is doing the same. A knock is heard on the wall; it's Lasky. He knocks again before Silva answers with her own knock. Lasky closes his eyes and the light in his room goes out. The camera drifts off over Lasky's chess set toward the window when Lasky's terminal screen flashes briefly, displaying Covenant script characters (which read as: "7 Reclamation"), indicating that a covert sensor scan is being conducted. The view pans upward and an unknown object is seen flying through the sky, accompanied by lightning, and turning sharply. Cut to black.Part 2
Opens to the debris of UNSC Forward Unto Dawn in space.
A blue light emerges from a pedestal in the center of the room.
Cuts to the entire cryo bay.
The scene fast forwards. Cortana's voice is muffled as her voice fast forwards as well. Cut to a computer screen which is slowly covered by ice. Cut to another computer screen: LAST CONTACT WITH UNSC: The numbers increase as the screen is slowly covered by ice. Cut to the entire cryo bay, where snow is shown to be slowly piling up on the rows of cryo chambers.
A heart beating is heard. The blue light on the pedestal flickers red for a second. Cut to black.
HALO 4
FORWARD UNTO DAWN Opens to Thomas Lasky on his bed. An alarm has gone off in Hastati Squad's dormitory. Lasky blinks several times before being wide awake. Cut to the cadets running out of their rooms to a computer terminal at the end of the hallway. Lasky joins the group.
Cut to Chen operating the terminal screen. Michael Sullivan is imitating the alarm sound.
Vickers pushes Chen away from the terminal and enters a password. The door behind them opens.
The cadets scramble for the door. Sullivan turns to Chen.
Cut to the cadets running into their locker room. April Orenski is walking through it.
The cadets open their lockers and get into their combat uniforms.
Cut to Lasky as he looks behind him: General Black stands at attention.
Cut to Orenski standing in front of Dimah Tchakova.
The emergency lighting and the alarms turn off. Normal lighting is restored. General Black steps forward. He stops in front of JJ, who has yet to put on his helmet.
JJ stops fumbling with his helmet and looks up, embarrassed.
Gen. Black continues his inspection and stops in front of Vickers.
Black walks over to Thomas Lasky.
Black continues pacing in front of the cadets.
Cut to a view of the academy's space tether and satellite dish. Cut to JJ Chen in his dorm room, recording a message on his data terminal.
Cut to Sully watching scrambled ONI video of a battle. Covenant symbols flash briefly on the screen.
Dimah comes look at the screen over Sullivan's shoulder.
As the battle on the terminal continues, strange flashes of green light appear. Cut to campus grounds.
Cut to mess hall. April Orenski watches as Lasky and Vickers sit down at their table.
She smirks to her fellow class commanders.
Lasky and Vickers walk their trays over to Orenski and place them in front of her.
Lasky turns and walks away, followed by Vickers.
Lasky stops and time momentarily slows down. Suddenly, he spins around and elbow Vickers in the face, followed by a left punch.
Vickers blocks and counters the third blow. Other cadets stand to watch the fight. Vickers hits Lasky repeatedly with a lunch tray. Lasky kicks him in the back of the knee. Vickers punches Lasky twice in the face then knocks him down. Lasky grabs his leg and pulls him down. The crowd watches as Lasky gains the upper hand. Camera shifts to slow motion as Lasky rains down blows.
Various cadets stand at attention and try to look innocent. Colonel K.L. Mehaffey looks down at the brawlers with disdain. Lasky slowly gets to his feet. Janitor Beamish looks on in shock. Silva stares at Lasky, uncertainty on her face.
Col. Mehaffey leaves, followed by Lasky; Vickers gets up and wipes blood from his nose. Cuts to outside.
Mehaffey stops to face Lasky.
Mehaffey looks him over.
Lasky nods thoughtfully.
Lasky salutes; Mehaffey leaves. Cut to Lasky, who finishes cleaning himself up, in front of a mirror in his room. He walks up to the data terminal and opens a video message from his brother.
Other ODSTs interrupt in the background.
ODSTs laugh in the background.
Cadmon and the other ODSTs in the recording laugh and repeat Cadmon's nickname. Lasky sorrowfully fidgets with an empty shell casing, wipes his eyes and gets up. Cut to an overhead view of the Corbulo Academy campus.
Cut to a lecture room, where the cadets are gathered around a holographic table, either standing at the table or sitting in the amphitheater around it. Col. Mehaffey is walking around the table as she lectures to the cadets.
A geographical map of the battlefield at Cannae with blue and red markers is projected on the table. The cadets around the table follow in fascination.
The cadets stare blankly.
A few cadets snicker lightly.
The others turn to Lasky, who is sitting at the amphitheater. Mehaffey looks at Lasky and walks over to him.
Mehaffey leaves. Cut to Lasky and Silva walking on the academy grounds.
Silva turns to Lasky.
Silva turns around and leaves. Cut to an exterior shot of the Corbulo Academy campus; then to a hallway where the members of Hastati Squad stand in formation. April Orenski stands in front of the squad and steps forward to address the cadets.
Cut to Lasky sitting thoughtfully on a concrete wall. Cut to him walking in the academy grounds; a number of Marines stand guard nearby. Gen. Black's Warthog appears from around a corner. Lasky salutes as the Warthog passes.
Cut to Lasky inspecting the poem, "Forward Unto Dawn", inscribed over his bed. Lasky knocks on the wall and hears Silva knock back. Cut to a view of Corbulo Academy at dawn.
A montage of the cadets doing their morning preparations; Silva getting up, Tchakova making her bed, Vickers cutting his hair with a hair clipper, Chen polishing his boots. Sullivan watches more classified footage. Lasky assembles his makeshift chessboard and straightens his uniform in front of a mirror. Doctor Hughes administers an injection to Lasky. The blisters on his chest are still present.
The cadets snap to attention. General Black oversees the squad as Orenski briefs them.
Silva smiles. Orenski hesitates for a moment and glances at Gen. Black. The general gives her a slight nod.
Cut to the cryo pods opening. The cadets get out, put on their armor and prepare their weapons.
Cut to an overhead shot of the forest, then to Hastati Squad advancing forward.
Hastati Squad make it to the RV point. They sweep the surrounding area with their weapons. View of the motion tracker on Lasky's HUD.
Cut to the cadets waiting next to their flag, visibly bored. Insects buzz by.
Sully plays with a twig. JJ yawns. Silva looks impatient. Dimah checks her nails.
Lasky coughs again. An alarm bleeps on Lasky's helmet. His HUD shows enemy contacts on the edge of his motion tracker.
Hastati squad gets up.
The others start to object as well.
Lasky removes his helmet. Cut to three Zuma Squad cadets moving toward Hastati's apparent position.
Zuma Squad continues to advance.
First-person view of Zuma Squad member Moulder's HUD as the three three Zuma cadets - Moulder, Newton and Verrelli - move in toward Hastati's IFF contacts.
The three Zuma cadets approach Hastati's position with rifles at the ready, only to discover Hastati Squad's discarded helmets lying on the ground.
Tchakova, Sullivan and Vickers suddenly rise from the nearby bushes and swiftly neutralize Moulder, Newton and Verrelli. Lasky watches from behind cover. Another group of Zuma Squad cadets rush forward and are gunned down by Silva and other Hastati Squad members.
Lasky and Silva move out toward Zuma's flag, with Silva providing covering fire. She takes out the two Zuma cadets guarding the flag. She and Lasky push on toward the objective, with Silva taking out a couple more Zuma Squad members off screen. As Lasky approaches the flag, he starts to breathe heavily. Everything around him goes into slow motion. His vision begins to fade and he loses consciousness, collapsing meters away from the flag.
Part 3
Opens to a close-up view of a holotank in the cryo bay of the UNSC Forward Unto Dawn, displaying a blue sphere. Pieces of debris float about in zero gravity. John-117's cryo chamber lies in the background. Cortana argues amongst her fragmented personality, showing her slow but sure descent into rampancy.
The blue sphere on the holotank blinks red.
Close-up of John's helmet.
Cortana begins to babble in numerous voices simultaneously. Snaking holographic streamers shifting from blue to red are projected from the holotank at John's cryo pod.
The holographic streams retract back to the blue sphere displayed on the holotank.
The holographic sphere blinks off, leaving a complete darkness. Title appears on screen: HALO 4
FORWARD UNTO DAWN Opens to Thomas Lasky's point of view, who opens his eyes to see Doctor Hughes examining him with a flashlight. Lasky lies on a bed; he coughs and grunts. Hughes is sitting next to him.
Lasky looks at the blisters on his wrists.
Hughes leaves, leaving Lasky alone in his room.
Lasky closes his eyes and sighs. Cut to black. Cut to a video recording by Cadmon Lasky. A distressed Cadmon places a field light next to him.
Cut to Chyler Silva, who is shown watching the recording.
Thomas, still lying on his bed, turns to Chyler.
Thomas doesn't reply and looks away.
Thomas lifts up his shirt, revealing large blisters on his chest.
Thomas looks at Chyler and nods.
The two look at one another and smile.
Cut to Sullivan's room, where the members of Hastati Squad are gathered around his data terminal. Silva and Lasky come in.
Lasky locks eyes with him. They exchange a silent look of mutual respect.
Sullivan begins to play the classified footage, showing ODSTs advancing in a rebel stronghold, recorded by a UNSC helmet cam worn by an unknown soldier.
The soldier on the video grabs an insurgent soldier by the neck, lifting him against the wall. Another rebel is holding his hands up as a sign of surrender.
Thomas stares at the screen intently.
In the recording, rebels are seen running toward the UNSC forces, retreating from an unknown foe. The Wilhelm Scream is heard as a Marine is thrown against a wall. Green flashes of light are seen.
The recording shows the UNSC forces retreating. The soldier fires his pistol. He turns right abruptly and the frame freezes to a massive, armor-clad figure; the armor is emblazoned with the number "104".
Sullivan turns to the others.
The cadets continue to stare at the footage, paused at the large armored figure.
The cadets leave. Chyler lingers for a moment, staring at the screen. Cut to an overhead view of the academy and its space elevator. Cut to Hastati Squad eating in the mess hall.
Sullivan imitates the events seen on the footage, making weapon sounds with his mouth and holding his hands like a firearm.
No one answers. Sullivan continues to mimic firing a weapon. A senior cadet named Taylor suddenly appears at the end of the table.
Lasky gets up and leaves. Cut to Col. Mehaffey's office.
Mehaffey rotates a sheet of paper over to Thomas' side of her desk. He picks it up and reads it.
Lasky salutes. Mehaffey rises from her chair.
Mehaffey returns the salute.
View focuses on Lasky as he walks through the academy's barracks; the background is blurred and the voices in the background are muffled. Cut to Lasky sitting at his comm terminal. He inspects the form for his medical discharge and then opens a video message from his mother.
Her voice fades into silence although she continues to speak as Thomas watches the recording. He is shown to be holding his brother's dog tags.
Sullivan runs into Lasky's room, snapping him from intense concentration.
Sullivan opens the classified file on Lasky's terminal. He zooms in on the reflection on the armored figure's helmet visor, revealing an apparent alien creature brandishing a blade-like weapon.
The image on the screen suddenly vanishes. The entire screen then powers down.
Sullivan runs off.
Cut to Lasky walking out of his dorm room. He walks over to Silva's room, finding it empty.
Cut to a distant view of Corbulo Academy at dusk, then to Silva sitting on Lasky's frequent brooding spot near the space elevator. Lasky arrives and sits next to her.
Lasky looks down at the discharge form.
Lasky looks up, stares at her for a bit, then shakes his head.
Silva notices the discharge form Lasky is holding.
He hands her the form.
Chyler looks away, upset.
Lasky and Silva stare at each other. Then, giving into their feelings, they kiss. They pull back, uncertain of what they're doing, then lean forward to kiss again. Suddenly an emergency siren starts to sound.
Cut to a number of cadets running up a staircase. Marines are standing on top of the stairs.
Silva and Lasky arrive and join the cadets and Marines evacuating toward the space tether. Orlin continues to provide emergency instructions over PA. Lasky and Silva move into a corridor leading to the space elevator where more Marines are ordering them to move forward.
Lasky and Silva come across Colonel Mehaffey in the corridor.
Lasky and Silva look at the academy's space elevator through the glass roof. Chen arrives from behind them.
April Orenski is signaling for Hastati Squad amidst the chaos.
The members of Hastati Squad gather beside Orenski.
Thunder crackles in the sky. The cadets look up as several SOEIV pods drop from above and land on the academy grounds. Orbital Drop Shock Troopers jump out.
Lasky looks up and realizes what's going on.
More ODST drop pods fall from the sky.
Dimah leaves the squad and runs off in front of the queue.
Dimah continues to run toward the elevator car but is stopped by one of the Marines guarding the entrance.
The Marine hesitates for a moment, then relents.
The Marine lets Dimah aboard the wagon. She glances back at her teammates briefly, before getting aboard.
Cut back to the rest of Hastati Squad.
The elevator doors close. The cadets on the ground look on as the car begins its ascent. Suddenly the ground trembles ominously. An alien warship appears in the clouds next to the tether. Cut to Lasky and Sully's shocked reactions. Two more alien ships appear, accompanied by thunder and lightning. The cadets stare at the sky in disbelief and horror. Focus on Lasky.
Without warning, the first alien ship fires an energy beam at the space tether. Explosions tear through the tower. The support structure bends and buckles before the tether eventually snaps, causing the lower portion of the support structure to collapse toward the terminal where the cadets are standing. A massive cloud of dust rolls down the corridor. Zooms in on Lasky.
Cadets scream and run as falling debris rain down upon them. A female cadet trips and falls down. Two other cadets are engulfed by the dust cloud. Everything goes into slow motion as the dust cloud continues rolling down the corridor, engulfing everything in its path. Lasky, Silva, and Orenski are thrown to the floor by the aftershock of the blast. The air is thick with dust as they struggle to get back up; all sound is muffled. Silva turns to Lasky.
Lasky looks back at her. Nearby, Orenski looks up.
Dazed, Lasky struggles to see clearly. All sound and motion revert back to normal as a body suddenly falls against the window outside the corridor with a loud thud. The shadowy figure makes an inhuman squawking noise as it goes down. Lasky, Silva, and Orenski stare out the window and see an ODST firing an assault rifle in front of the academy's statue of General Gnaeus Domitius Corbulo. Dark pink projectiles fly past him. The ODST falls back as a large figure emerges from the darkness. Growling menacingly, it approaches the statue with heavy footsteps.
She and Lasky stare at the approaching figure.
The invader activates an energy sword, with the light revealing that it is not human, and slices the Corbulo statue in two. Lasky watches in horror.
Silva helps him up.
Lasky and Silva look up just as screaming people begin to fall from the collapsed space tether and crash through the glass roof.
Part 4
UNSC Forward Unto Dawn's cryo chambers. Cortana's voice can be heard.
Cuts to a closer shot of one of the chambers.
One chamber suddenly burst open.
An air hose bursts under pressure, sending a ring-shaped pressure seal flying outward. Cuts to a wider shot of the room.
Cuts from the screen showing a scan of the Forward Unto Dawn to a haphazard shot of the room.
As the shot suddenly goes into slow motion, light reflects off the ring and a dramatic chord plays, clearly an homage to Halo. As the shot returns to regular motion, an orange light scans the ship, turning the alarms on. Cortana's voice suddenly overlaps.
Cuts to black.
HALO 4
FORWARD UNTO DAWN Cuts to an ODST as he is blown apart by a plasma grenade.
Thomas Lasky, Chyler Silva and April Orenski run through a firefight between ODSTs, Marines and Covenant forces. MA5Ds, Okarda'phaa-pattern plasma rifles, Covenant Carbines and Needle Rifles can be heard firing. Pieces of rubble from the destroyed space tether continue to fall. Orenski tries to guide the other cadets through the chaos. A Marine next to her is gunned down.
In the confusion, Lasky loses sight of Silva and Orenski. He looks around and sees Marines firing their weapons.
Behind Lasky, an academy instructor can be seen firing an assault rifle. Cadets are running in every direction as the UNSC troops continue firing. Lasky turns around. A Marine screams as he is shot through the back by a Carbine round. The Sangheili Zealot fires its Plasma Rifle at a pair of fleeing cadets. Lasky desperately shouts for his teammates.
A nearby Marine is killed by Needler fire. Another Marine is engulfed in an explosion. Cut back to Lasky. Another armed academy instructor rushes past him, firing an assault rifle. Lasky then notices Colonel Mehaffey wielding an assault rifle and yelling at the cadets.
Lasky stares at her. Behind him, a Marine can be seen aiming a rocket launcher.
Mehaffey cries out as she is suddenly hit by multiple Needler rounds. As Lasky watches in horror, everything is now in slow motion. Mehaffey falls out of the frame; there's a small explosion of pink light and blood (most likely the embedded Needler rounds detonating). Lasky continues to look on as the Zealot barks orders.
Two ODSTs are seen shooting. Lasky looks to his left. A cadet runs through the smoke. Lasky turns to his right and sees a Marine about to get ambushed by a Kig-Yar Sniper with a needle rifle. The Kig-Yar squawks as it starts to raise its weapon. Cuts to a brief shot of the Marine before everything goes to normal speed as Silva runs up to Lasky.
Silva pulls Lasky, still in a trance, by the arm.
Cuts to more shots of Marines fighting.
As the firefight tips even more in the Covenant's favor, Junjie Chen grabs the pair.
Cuts to a shot inside the dorms. Explosions can be heard outside. Hastati Squad, minus Dimah Tchakova, regroups.
Vickers tries to open the doors to no avail.
Hastati quickly squeezes into the room. Cuts to various close-up shots of the cadets as reality starts to sink into them.
Sullivan scatters his hand on the holotable, knocking around the shells and casings on Lasky's makeshift chessboard, as he works. He tries to activate the system but is unsuccessful.
Everyone spaces out in disbelief. Suddenly they hear a woman screaming from outside in the hallway. She is abruptly silenced by a stabbing sound.
Lasky goes up to the door and peeks outside. The Sangheili Zealot has stabbed a female cadet through the back with its Energy Sword. It utters something in its native language.
Lasky looks on in fear as the Zealot pulls its sword out of the dead cadet and deactivates it before suddenly disappearing. Eyes widening, Lasky quickly retreats inside.
As everyone absorbs this information, Lasky looks out into the hallway again. He hears the Elite growling. Still cloaked, the Zealot bursts into another room. Screams are heard. Lasky turns to the others.
Hastati lines up, with Chen in front.
They hear the sound of glass shattering.
Chen takes a peek outside as the invisible Zealot exits back into the hallway. A few moments later, the Zealot bursts into the room right next to Hastati’s.
Hastati squad runs out of the room. Behind them, the Zealot roars in anger. They come across a two-way where Chen leads the squad to the left before suddenly stopping, shock in his eyes.
Chen is still, the shock not leaving his face.
There is a harsh growling sound nearby.
As his glasses start to steam up, Chen is suddenly stabbed by the cloaked Zealot’s energy sword and lifted off the ground.
Hastati squad looks on in horror as the Zealot drops JJ.
Everyone runs toward the right.
The Zealot bellows at the fleeing cadets. Camera focuses briefly on Chen’s dead body. The rest of the squad arrives at the training room.
Orenski, Silva, Sullivan and Vickers head to the weapon compartments while Lasky works on the doorpad, trying to seal the door. Orenski begins entering codes while Silva and Vickers try to force the compartments open.
Sullivan points at the door.
The cadets continue attempting to open the compartments, while Lasky continues trying to shut the door.
The door finally shuts. Lasky goes to the emergency beacon.
Orenski backs away from the weapons locker, giving up.
Lasky walks towards Orenski.
As Lasky and Orenski look on, Vickers takes a fire extinguisher and starts ramming the compartments. Everyone looks at him before encouraging him on.
As Vickers is about to ram the lockers one more time, something bangs on the door outside. Everyone stops what they are doing and stares at the door in horror.
The cadets quickly run to the back, where Vickers goes to the right and everyone else goes left. An alien roar is heard from outside the training room. As Vickers tries to rejoin the others, an errant burst of sparks from the broken ceiling lights erupts in front of him and he is forced to stay separated. The Zealot outside can be heard speaking.
The banging continues. There's a few seconds of silence. Then the door is finally knocked off its hinges, scaring all five cadets. Everyone except Vickers rushes to a new hiding spot. Lasky presses a finger to his lips, indicating for Vickers to be quiet. Vickers nods and backs up against the lockers. A frightened Lasky waits in his hiding spot as footsteps are heard. A cloud of exhaust steam leaking from a pipe is disturbed by an unseen force. Then something steps over the fallen door, making it move. The cadets all recoil in fear. They hear the invisible Zealot growl, and the sound of footsteps going past their hiding spot.
Lasky starts to move forward, when sparks burst out from a damaged cable in front of him. He recoils slightly, then lowers himself on all fours and slowly starts crawling out from his hiding spot. Everyone, minus Vickers, follows Lasky's lead and cautiously start crawling forward. Vickers, still in fear, doesn’t move.
Close up on Vickers, breathing hard, still unable to move.
Lasky drops to his stomach and takes a quick peek. Everything is quiet until the Zealot’s cloaked foot hits a puddle. Realizing the Elite is doubling back, Lasky quickly gets back up.
There's another burst of sparks from the damaged cable, momentarily outlining the cloaked Zealot's profile. As everyone looks on in silent fear, the Zealot activates its energy sword and walks around, barely missing them. Chyler grips Lasky's hand tightly. The Zealot stops as it receives a transmission from its Unggoy subordinates. It de-cloaks and responds.
Cuts to Vickers, a look of determination coming across his face. Cuts back to the Zealot, still on the line with the Unggoy. The Zealot shouts angrily into its comm.
Suddenly, Vickers steps out of his hiding place.
Vickers raises the fire extinguisher, intending to charge. The Zealot turns around and fires its plasma rifle, blasting Vickers in the chest once and killing him instantly.
Hearing Sullivan’s shout, the Zealot turns back and reactivates its energy sword. Backed into a corner, the cadets can only sit, frozen in place.
Orenski's eyes widen in terror as the Zealot finds them at last.
The alien points his sword at the cadets, the blade’s tips inches from Lasky’s face. Silva puts her hand on Lasky's shoulder. The Zealot starts to laugh, when there's a sudden stabbing sound. The Elite jerks its head up and gasps in shock and pain. A bloodied combat knife is pulled from the back of its neck; the alien groans and falls sideways, dead. Its killer, an enormous, armor-clad soldier, bearing the number 117 on his chest plating, looks down at it briefly before activating his helmet lights and turning to the cadets. A burst of sparks from the broken ceiling lights illuminates his profile as he steps forward. The cadets stare up in fear and awe. Cuts to a close-up of the Spartan.
Cuts to Lasky, too stunned to speak. Cuts again to Silva looking down at Vickers' body. The others are standing behind her with John-117, who is communicating over the radio.
Silva gets back up and rejoins the others in the hallway. John-117 is still on the radio. An errant blast of sparks distracts the cadets.
John-117 ends communications and turns to face the cadets. Cuts to a close-up of Lasky.
Cuts to a close-up of Sullivan.
John-117 turns to him.
Lasky and Silva look away in shock.
Cuts back to Sullivan.
John-117 looks at him before punching straight through the locker door and ripping it off its hinges. Cuts to the hallway. John-117 leads the now geared up cadets out of the training room armory, all of their flashlights active. As the walk continues, they take up formation; John-117 and Orenski in the front, Lasky and Silva on left/right with Sullivan watching the rear. John-117 suddenly signals the group to stop.
John looks at Lasky for a short second.
As he walks away, Silva sits down on the floor in exhaustion.
Lasky joins Silva on the floor.
He turns to check the back.
Lasky turns to look down at Silva, who looks uneasy.
Lasky takes her helmet and puts it on for her.
Lasky tightens her helmet.
They suddenly hear footsteps as the lights start to flicker. Fearing it's the Covenant, the cadets nervously aim their weapons. As the footsteps grow louder, lights suddenly come on; the Chief is back.
The cadets look at him in confusion.
John-117 still waits for a response. Lasky ties his helmet and gestures to Silva.
The camera goes down to Silva, who nods in agreement.
John-117 turns to Lasky.
Lasky, unsure, stares at him for a short second.
The cadets get ready to move out.
Cuts to outside, close up on the body of a female cadet. John-117's armored feet enter the frame, followed closely by Lasky's. As the Spartan leads the group through the wreckage of the academy, the cadets are shocked by the decimation and death around them. Lasky looks down, his gaze lingering briefly on the body of a fellow cadet. Orenski, distracted by a small explosion behind her, turns around and sees the body of one of the ODSTs who died attempting to defend the academy. Sullivan stares at another cadet partially buried under a pile of rubble. Silva reacts visibly to the sight of a female cadet and an academy instructor lying dead in each others' arms. The survivors continue moving forward. Covenant ships can be seen in the distance, holding position and sweeping the area with search lights. Eventually, the group spots a Warthog and starts to move towards it. An errant explosion in the background startles Sullivan. He starts to lag behind a little.
Sully looks around nervously.
A Needle round suddenly strikes Sullivan in the right leg. He cries out in pain. Scene then switches to slow-motion as Sullivan sees a Kig-Yar Sniper standing on a roof firing another round aimed for his head. John-117 jumps in just in time to shield Sullivan. Grabbing Sully in one arm, the Chief fires his assault rifle with the other.
John-117 shoves Sullivan down and continues firing his assault rifle. The other three cadets take cover with Sully. Incoming Needle rounds bounce off the Chief's armor.
The explosions from the shooting temporarily obscure the cadets’ vision. By the time they recover, the Chief is gone.
Orenski gets out of cover and takes up position.
Lasky takes a moment to look at the other two cadets.
Silva nods.
Lasky nods back as Orenski starts to shoot.
Lasky gets up and runs toward the Warthog. The scene briefly goes into slow motion as he dodges a barrage of Needle and Carbine rounds. As he runs, Orenski keeps on firing. After taking a few deep breaths, Silva gets up to fire, only for a Needle round to impact nearby. A chunk of rubble blows up in her face, forcing her back down. She and Sullivan start to crawl away.
Lasky reaches the jeep, and finds the corpse of its driver, General Black, dead from a wound to the forehead. Putting his shock aside, Lasky pulls the superintendent’s body off the driver’s seat. Orenski, meanwhile, keeps firing until her rifle stops.
Silva pushes Sullivan to Orenski, who takes the injured cadet. She pulls him aside just in time to avoid an explosion.
Lasky tries to activate the Warthog.
The Warthog sputters. Lasky groans in frustration. Silva fires at the Kig-Yar snipers until her rifle runs dry. Out of ammo, Silva discards her MA5D, before noticing an alien weapon lying in the rubble. She cautiously picks it up and accidentally discharges a shot into the air. Getting a better grip, she takes aim and fires, killing one of the snipers. Meanwhile Lasky finally reactivates the jeep. Almost immediately after doing so, the sound of pistol shots gets his attention. He looks up to see the Jackals getting killed one by one. He looks back and sees John-117 running along the edge of a building, firing his pistol and dodging enemy fire.
Orenski grabs Sullivan and brings him safely to the Warthog. John-117 fires his pistol several more times before jumping off the building's edge. A slow-motion of him dropping down from a rather great height is shown. He lands with ease, as Silva watches in amazement.
Snapping out of her trance, Silva makes a break for the Warthog.
As Silva gets in, John-117 takes the turret.
Lasky floors it, and the Warthog speeds away from the destroyed school. Cuts to black.Part 5
Open to the holotank inside the UNSC Forward Unto Dawn. A blue holographic sphere rests on it. Cut to black. Cut to the interior of the cryo room. An alarm has been set off. The ship is shaking chaotically.
Cut to the holotank. The blue sphere's surface slowly dissolves into the center core. The center core glows brightly, and then flares up. Cortana's avatar appears. She looks up at John-117 in the cryo chamber. Cut to black. HALO 4
FORWARD UNTO DAWN Opens to General Black's Warthog speeding down the forest path. Michael Sullivan groans loudly every time Thomas Lasky makes a small turn.
Sullivan groans in pain louder.
Chyler Silva turns to Lasky.
Lasky does as he is told, and continues down the path. Behind them, a Kig-Yar runs by. Cut to black. Opens to the Warthog speeding down the path. Lasky looks around doubtfully.
Lasky presses down on the pedal. The Warthog's speed meter increases. Lasky continues to drive the Warthog down the path. Suddenly, a plasma grenade rolls out from the forest and into the Warthog's path, and detonates. Lasky yells in surprise. Time slows down as the Warthog drives through the plasma and smoke. Dust and dirt spray its occupants. Everything then speeds back up as the Warthog comes under fire from Kig-Yar on both sides. Needler rounds hit the Warthog's plating. A "Warning" appears on the Warthog's speed meter, and the meter decreases. John fires the Warthog's turret and takes down a Kig-Yar Storm.
Orenski and Silva fire their assault rifles.
Orenski adjusts her aim and fires another burst from her assault rifle. Needler rounds continue to rain down on the Warthog. Lasky leans over toward the passenger's side to avoid getting hit.
Silva stands up from her seat, takes aim and fires her assault rifle in two short bursts at a pair of Kig-Yar Storms. Her aim is true, and both aliens go down in slow motion. Scene then speeds back up as the Warthog continues on and gets out of range of the Covenant attackers.
Lasky looks at the Warthog speed meter, which emits a beeping sound as the vehicle picks up speed. He turns to Silva.
Silva looks at him and smiles. Suddenly, a Kig-Yar Storm appears directly in front of the Warthog. The vehicle plows right into the alien, sending it flying over the hood, and splattering the windshield with blood. The Jackal's Needler discharges several errant shots, one of which goes directly into the Warthog's interior. Lasky, caught by surprise, hits the brakes. The Warthog comes to a sudden stop. Silva and Orenski jerk forward. Sullivan groans even louder.
John-117 jumps down from the turret as Lasky tries to restart the Warthog, which only sputters. John takes Sullivan out of the Warthog and sets him down on the ground. The Spartan turns to Orenski.
Cut to Silva and Lasky. Silva looks down at her stomach while Lasky continues trying to reactivate the Warthog.
Orenski mans the turret and scans the forest around them. She hears a Kig-Yar stepping on a tree branch. The turret's search light, however, reveals no Covenant. Cut back to John and Sullivan. John has finished applying the biofoam.
Sullivan groans softly. Cut to Lasky, who takes off his helmet and places it on the Warthog's dashboard in frustration. He tries again to get the Warthog restarted.
Silva looks down at her stomach, which she is covering with both hands. She moves her hands away, revealing a Needler shard embedded in her stomach.
Lasky is still trying to reignite the Warthog, unaware that Silva is calling him.
The Chief looks around. Cuts to a wide shot of the Warthog in the jungle. Everything except the light of the vehicle is pitch-black. Cuts to a nervous Orenski looking around. Kig-Yar can be heard screeching off-screen. Heavier footsteps can be heard as well. Cuts back to Lasky trying to re-start the Warthog, still not noticing Silva's calls. Cuts to a close-up of Silva, breathing hard.
Lasky finally turns around and notices the Needler round in her stomach. Lasky panics.
John turns around as Silva groans loudly in pain.
The Chief goes to assist. Cuts to a close-up of Silva groaning in pain.
There's a booming thud in the distance. John-117 looks up. Cut to Orenski. A strange green glow has appeared behind her. More Kig-Yar can be heard in the distance.
Orenski and Lasky scramble out of the Warthog. The unearthly green glow filters through the trees. A monstrous roar is heard. Silva groans in pain. Orenski pulls Sullivan to his feet.
Lasky frantically tries to help Silva out of the Warthog.
Lasky and Orenski get Silva out of the vehicle and start carrying her away by the shoulders.
They hear heavy footsteps.
They turn to see the Chief standing before a massive alien.
The alien roars and straightens up, dwarfing the Chief even further. Its reflection is seen in the Chief's visor as he looks up to face its head.
The cadets take off through the forest, as alien roars and rifle fire are heard behind them.
The cadets take cover under one of the training course's concrete obstacles. They set Silva on the ground. She coughs and groans in pain. Lasky pulls her helmet off.
Orenski pulls a tactical training round from her magazine and breaks it.
She pours the contents on Chyler's wound.
Silva gasps in agony.
Chyler reaches up and pulls off her dog tags, tears in her eyes. She pushes them into Lasky's hands. Lasky shakes his head vigorously.
Lasky keeps shaking his head in denial.
Sullivan and Orenski watch, stunned, as Silva closes her eyes and stops breathing.
Orenski stands and looks away. Sullivan glances at her. Lasky cradles the dog tags. John-117 suddenly appears beside him.
The Chief turns to the others.
Still in despair, Lasky pulls an M9 fragmentation grenade from his belt and hands it to the Chief.
They hear a distant alien roar.
The Chief and Orenski leave.
Sullivan leaves. Lasky keeps staring at Silva's body.
Lasky slowly stands up and shuffles forward, head hanging low. The booming of the Hunter grows louder.
Lasky turns and takes a look at his reflection as the sounds of the alien behemoth draw closer. He then turns and runs off after the others. Cut to John-117 and the cadets sprinting through the forest. A bright green projectile explodes nearby. They come across a shallow depression and stop to look down. They hear a roar and look back. The second Hunter is closing in on them. With no other choice, they jump into the depression.
The group takes cover inside a small hollow and turn off their lights.
Lasky notices the grenade still in John's hand.
The cadets stare at him.
Cuts to a shot of Silva's dog tags in Lasky's hands before going to a slow-motion shot of Lasky looking down, deep in thought. Cuts once more back to Silva's dog tags and back to Lasky. John gets up but Lasky grabs his arm, stopping him.
Lasky tucks Silva's dog tags into his chest plate.
Lasky sprints off in slow motion. The Hunter crests the hill and levels its assault cannon at him. It lets loose a shot that impacts behind Lasky, sending him tumbling face-first into the dirt. Lasky looks back and sees the alien charging its cannon again. Lasky gets up and scampers away through the woods. The Hunter roars, powers down its weapon, and turns to follow him. John-117 primes the grenade and charges the alien from behind but it turns and hits him with its shield, knocking him to the ground. Lasky looks back as the Hunter turns and aims at him again. John-117 gets to his feet and charges once more as the alien powers up its cannon. Just as it fires, the Chief climbs its shield, disrupting its aim. The shot narrowly misses Lasky, sending him flying. John swings over the Hunter's shoulders, landing on its back. Lasky lands in a heap, unconscious. Zoom in on the Chief's visor. He shoves the grenade into the mass of Lekgolo worms in the creature's back, then flips off and away from it, landing in a crouching position. The Hunter grunts and stands for a second, then explodes. The Chief shields himself from the splatter, then stands as the opening melody of the Halo Theme plays. He walks over and stomps on a surviving worm. Sullivan and Orenski get to their feet and run over to Lasky. John picks up a piece of the Hunter's shattered armor. Sully and Orenski reach Lasky.
Orenski turns Lasky over and tries to shake him awake.
Lasky coughs and opens his eyes. Relieved, Sullivan and Orenski help him to his feet. They hear engines overhead and look up. John-117 points them toward the evac zone, and they head off. The sun rises as the survivors make their way out of the forest and into a clearing where a Pelican is waiting for them. A Marine is kneeling down in a defensive position nearby. As the cadets run towards the Pelican, John meets up with another Spartan.
Cut to an overheat shot of the forest clearing. The Pelican lifts off. Radio chatter is heard in the dropship's troop bay.
The rest of the transmission becomes too faint to hear. The cadets stare blankly back at the burning landscape that was once Corbulo Academy. The Covenant ships continue to hold position above the ruins. Kelly reaches up and removes her helmet. The cadets stare, surprised at how young she is. Frederic-104 removes his helmet and receives more stares. Lasky, Kelly and Fred glance over at John who remains immobile, his weapon aimed out the rear hatch.
Fred and Kelly look at each other before turning back to Sullivan.
Sullivan glances down. Orenski removes her helmet and receives an appraising nod from Kelly. The rear hatch closes as the Pelican begins to gain altitude. John lowers his weapon and hands Lasky the jagged piece of Hunter he picked up earlier.
Lasky looks up, shocked at what the SPARTAN just said. John nods and then looks away. Cadet Lasky, with a new sense of confidence in his eyes, tightens his grip on the Hunter shard, looks around and then closes his eyes as Commander Lasky opens his eyes on the bridge of the UNSC Infinity, the flashback over.
Cut to Lasky in his cryo-suit, blisters visible on his chest. In his hands he holds Silva and Cadmon's dog tags and the piece of Hunter, now smooth from years of handling.
Lasky enters the cryo chamber. Outside, the Infinity and a fleet of dozens of frigates and cruisers enters slipspace. On a monitor aboard Forward Unto Dawn: >:UNEXPLAINED COURSE ALTERATION >:GRAVITATIONAL FORCES UNDEFINED >:SPEED INCREASING |
