UNSC Forward Unto Dawn

''Forward Unto Dawn redirects here. For the web series, see Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn.''

The UNSC Forward Unto Dawn (FFG-201) was a United Nations Space Command. The ship was affectionately known by her crew as "The Dawn".

Battle of Earth
The Forward Unto Dawn was part of the UNSC's Seventh Fleet, which served in the front lines of the Human-Covenant War, most notably at the battle of Earth. The Dawn was recalled to reinforce the UNSC Home Fleet.

The UNSC suffered heavy casualties during the Covenant's assault. By the time John-117 arrived from Installation 05 aboard the Prophet of Truth's Forerunner Dreadnought, Forward Unto Dawn was one of the few ships remaining to Fleet Admiral Terrence Hood. Hood agreed to commit Forward Unto Dawn and three other frigates against the grounded Dreadnought on the Portal once the SPARTAN destroyed the enemy's local air defenses.

The frigate squadron and accompanying Longsword fighters attacked the primary target at the conclusion of the Battle of Voi. Multiple MAC rounds and close-in fire from the fighters failed to make any impression on the ancient ship. The Portal to the Ark was activated and the remnants of the Covenant fleet departed.

Battle of Installation 00
"I'm giving the Brutes all I've got...but this is a heavy-weight fight! The Dawn's only got the tonnage to last a few rounds."

- Miranda Keyes on The Ark.

The Flood arrived shortly after the opening of the slipspace portal; the parasite was pursued by a Covenant separatist fleet led by the assault carrier Shadow of Intent. The Flood threat forced the UNSC into an alliance with the Separatists. They hoped to find a solution to the Flood beyond the portal at the Ark.

The UNSC task force accompanying the Sangheili separatists included the frigates Forward Unto Dawn and. Commander Miranda Keyes commanded the UNSC component from Forward Unto Dawn.

Once at the Ark, the opposing Covenant fleets engaged one another. The UNSC frigates were ill-equipped to fight against such large opponents, but were able to engage the enemy cruisers for a short time. Forward Unto Dawn deployed troops in five D77H-TCI Pelican dropships, including John-117, to secure a landing zone on the surface. Forward Unto Dawn landed near the Cartographer and directly offloaded additional heavy equipment. As the operation to activate the replacement for Installation 04 was underway, Sergeant Major Avery Junior Johnson brought Forward Unto Dawn close to the incomplete ring's Control Room, before disembarking in a Warthog.

Escape from Installation 00
"Well...some of us made it."

- Cortana, after escaping the second Installation 04. The ship was deserted when John-117 and Thel 'Vadam boarded to escape the ring's impending activation. Thel 'Vadam headed for the bridge while the Spartan uploaded Cortana in the hanger to activate the engines. The ship entered the slipspace portal, but it collapsed as the ring's energy pulse hit. Forward Unto Dawn was cut in half as a result.

The forward section containing Thel 'Vadam and an unknown number of human survivors returned to Earth and crashed into the Indian Ocean; they were rescued from the wreck by a UNSC recovery team. The ruin of Dawn that landed on Earth was later auctioned off sometime after the end of the Human-Covenant war.

Adrift in space
The aft section with John-117 and Cortana emerged in unknown space. The Spartan and AI were left in a drifting hulk without artificial gravity or working propulsion. The AI dropped a distress beacon, and John-117 entered a cryo chamber to wait for recovery. During the four-year period that followed, Cortana remained active and alert while the Spartan slept in cryo. She took the opportunity to overhaul and upgrade John's MJOLNIR Mk. VI, making modifications to its layout using nanomachines while also re-writing its firmware. In 2556, Cortana compiled a history of the Forerunners and humanity while aboard Forward Unto Dawn.

Arrival at Requiem
On July 20th, 2557, four years and seven months after the armistice that ended the Human-Covenant War, Cortana, having been silent for years, noticed that the ship's intruder alarms had been activated and attempted to wake John-117 from cryo-sleep. After being awoken, John fought off the intruders, which turned out to be Sangheili and Unggoy. The Chief and Cortana soon realized that a Covenant fleet had surrounded the Forward Unto Dawn while multiple boarding craft docked with the heavily damaged frigate. Shortly after, John and Cortana crashed on the Forerunner Dyson sphere known as Requiem.

Trivia

 * On the lower part of the bow there is a black "7" inside a yellow star with a yellow chevron under it, which shows the ship's assignment to the Seventh Fleet. This is one of Bungie's myriad references to the number seven.
 * All three frigates in the level The Storm, (one of them being Aegis Fate), use the same textures as Forward Unto Dawn.
 * Like the main vessels of Halo: Combat Evolved and Halo 2, (Pillar of Autumn and In Amber Clad, respectively), Forward Unto Dawn serves as the main vessel in Halo 3 ' s campaign and is likewise destroyed near the end of the game.
 * In the level The Ark, player characters may be killed by the debris pushed outward by the frigate's approach.
 * In Halo 4, Forward Unto Dawn looks considerably different from its appearance in Halo 3 and Origins. The bridge deck is shorter and wider, the "wings" are more rectangular and closer to the hull, and the Charon class' distinctively enlarged cargo bay is conspicuously absent. More of the forward half, (perhaps as much as fifty meters), remains than in Halo 3; the port and starboard hangar bays have been reduced to one on either side, lack doors, and are moved much farther back, remaining with the aft section. The ship's cryo tubes have also been redesigned. In the game's cover art, the vessel sports the post-war version of the UNSC emblem, despite being lost in space before the new emblem was adopted; however, the final-game model correctly features the original emblem.

List of appearances

 * Halo 3
 * Halo Legends
 * Origins
 * Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn
 * Halo 4