Halo 4 cutscene placeholders

Hidden placeholders for the cutscenes in Halo 4 feature snippets of an earlier iteration of the game script. The placeholders appear in the form of data pads that can be forced to spawn in the game through modding and can be accessed much in the same way as the data pads in Halo: Reach. Concept art placeholders are used to illustrate the character speaking at a given time.

Transcript
Note: the following are transcribed verbatim from the original script and any typographical errors therein are retained here.

Infinity: Lasky's introduction (m62_introduction)
Video

"The door to the Forerunner bunker slides open, and the Chief is immediately greeted with the CLACK CLACK of guns going hot. A TRIO OF MARINES have rifles drawn on the door.

WOUNDED MARINE #3: WHOA! HOLD YOUR FIRE!

WOUNDED MARINE #2: One of ours!

As soon as they see its a friendly, they crawl out of cover. They're pretty banged up - some with legs broken, etc.

WOUNDED MARINE #1: It's one of the Spart- wait a...

The shock of the Chief's appearance hits them one after another. The Marines stand there, jaws on their chests.

WOUNDED MARINE #2: (in shock) XO! You better see this!

LASKY: Berger, if this is another exploding plant, I swear I'm going to tell your whole platoon how you really broke that leg.

WOUNDED MARINE #3: Uh, sir?

LASKY: OK, whatcha got-

Lasky looks up - sees the Chief.

LASKY: Holy Crap.

MASTER CHIEF:(saluting) Sir.

It takes Lasky a whole second before he remembers to return the gesture.

LASKY: Master Chief. (beat) No disrespect, but... aren't you kind of... dead?

MASTER CHIEF: Not yet, Lieutenant.

Lasky reaches out to shake Chief's hand.

LASKY: Lasky - Tom Lasky. First officer of the Infinity. (incredulous) We heard your beacon when we came out of slipspace, but when the planet opened, we figured it was just a decoy.

CORTANA: You mean you were headed here before you heard the beacon?

CMDR. DEL RIO:(O.S - Radio) --ransmitting on an open frequency! Infinity is under attack!

RADIO MARINE: Lieutenant, we're up!

They all hurry inside, and gather around a TRANSCEIVER. Through the poor reception, the frustrated face of CMDR. DEL RIO appears on the monitor.

CMDR. DEL RIO: (ON-SCREEN) All ground forces are ordered to return to Infinity immediately! Possible hull breach on multiple decks! Anyone reading this, respond to Comm on... what frequency? (doesn't get an answer) What frequency, damnit?!? (gets his answer) 137.3 khz.

RADIO MARINE: I'm responding but the signal's still craptastic.

LASKY:(gravely, to Chief) I don't know if its too soon to ask you for a favor, but most of these guys can barely stand, much less fight.

He offers a small SMOKE GRENADE to the Chief.

LASKY: Green smoke will call down a priority extraction team, but they'll never be able to grab us this far in the swamp.

LASKY: (sarcastic) I don't suppose you're any good at clearing LZ's?

MASTER CHIEF: On occasion. I'll radio when the coordinates are secure.

LASKY: (wry grin) Gotta love a guy who's all business.

Infinity: end cutscene (m65_atinfinity)
Video

"INT. INFINITY: BRIDGE. The Infinity's senior officers and the Master Chief are gathered around a long HOLOTABLE, mid-conversation.

Cortana stands on the display, off to the side.

CMDR. DEL RIO: (refering to the promethians) What I want to know is, where the hell did these things come from?

CORTANA: They're of a distinctly different stratum from the Sentinels or Monitors.

Slight RAMPANCY rolls over Cortana. The glitch evokes a RAISED EYEBROM from Del Rio in Chief's direction.

CORTANA: It's entirely possible that they are indigenous to Requiem...or at least, whatever counts as indigenous for a Forerunner AI.

CMDR. DEL RIO: We've never seen this type of offensive reaction from any of the other installations.

MASTER CHIEF: Other installations?

CMDR. DEL RIO: Mr. Lasky...

LASKY: Infinity's mission has been to locate the remaining Halo rings and establish permanent bases to study them for eventual decommission. We've got locations up and running around Installations 5 and 3. Bvut lately they've run into some setbacks.

The hologram changes to focus on one of the bases - IVANOFF.

CMDR. DEL RIO: Two weeks ago, a group of scientists disappeared while excavating an artifact from Ring 3. When the incident team was sent in to investigate they found the doctors' sensor readings had been overwritten with this encrypted data string.

FORERUNNER CODE replaces the Ivanoff hologram.

CORTANA: Those characters are a derivation of the Forerunner glyph system.

CMDR. DEL RIO: Our geeks only managed to decipher a small fragment. It contained a set of stellar coordinates...

Palmer enters and hands him a DATAPAD.

CMDR. DEL RIO: ...I'll give you three guesses where they led.

PALMER: Sir. Gypsy Company is prepped and ready to roll, on your orders.

CMDR. DEL RIO: Well done, Lieutenant.

MASTER CHIEF: Could what happened to the scientists have been related to the Didact's escape?

CMDR. DEL RIO: Honestly, son? Not our concern. A first contact scenario trumps our original mission. Priority now is to free Infinity from the planet's gravity well and file a threat assessment back at Fleetcom.

CORTANA: incredulous: You mean we're leaving?

Del Rio makes some notations and passes Lasky the datapad.

CMDR. DEL RIO: Mr. Lasky, you'll take point on the operation. I want boots on the ground inside sixty.

CORTANA: slight rampancy: But the Didact--!

MASTER CHIEF: Commander. Infinity drove the Didact back. That means he's vulnerable.

CMDR. DEL RIO: Yes, Master Chief. He isn't the only one.

Del Rio shoots a dour glance at Cortana.

CMDR. DEL RIO: I'd think you of all people could appreciate the benefit of living to fight another day.

Del Rio leaves. Chief and Cortana remain behind.

CORTANA:- deadpan- Well at least we found our ride home

Neither of them seems convinced.

Reclaimer: Librarian vision (m41_librarian)
Video

"INT. DOMAIN CHAMBER - Something is obviously wrong as soon as the Chief enters the light pillar. The image of Cortana is gone.

MASTER CHIEF: Cortana??

The beam itself begins to PULSATE, like the light is ACCELERATING With a sudden SURGE. The stream LIFTS him off the ground! Before the quick movement is even finished-- SMASH TO WHITE: IN WHITE, WE HEAR LIBRARIAN CHIME, WHICH TURNS TO A VOICE:

LIBRARIAN: (VO) Your ancilla is safe. Use of your neural link is required for this simulation, and so separating you was a regrettable necessity.

LIBRARIAN: (VO) Attend, human. This union will be apparent to the Didact. We must be brief.

MASTER CHIEF: Identify yourself.

LIBRARIAN: I was the Librarian, but my death was confirmed 100,000 before our meeting. This mindstate was preserved to assist the Forerunners' heirs. Sadly, my attempts to alert you to the Didact's threat were undone.

MASTER CHIEF: What do you want with me?

LIBRARIAN: The Didact is leaving Requiem. Soon. You must not allow it.

MASTER CHIEF: Assuming I trust you any more than I trust him - why not?

Without warning, the Librarian and the environment PHASE OUT--

EXT. HALO RING - DAY -- IMMEDIATELY rephasing into a collection of FORERUNNER STRUCTURES amid the green hills of a HALO.The ARCH of the ring rises above them. LIVING FORERUNNERS of different shapes and sizes go about their business around the buildings. Sentinels and monitors pass through the air. The Librarian directs Chief's attention to a CENTRAL, A-shaped building.

LIBRARIAN: One of our more controversial creations, the Composer. It bridged the gap between the organic and digital realms. We believed it would allow us to move perpetually between the two states. Making us, in effect, immortal.

MASTER CHIEF: If you're only a recording, it obviously didn't work.

LIBRARIAN: For a time, it seemed to.

INT. FORERUNNER WARSHIP - The Librarian and the Chief stand on the bridge of a FORERUNNER WARSHIP. We follow their gaze - EARTH is visible on the viewscreen.

LIBRARIAN: But as its results soured and our hopes evaporated, the Didact twisted the Composer's failings towards opportunity. ...And revenge.

MASTER CHIEF: Earth? Is that why he attacked us?

She RAISES AN ARM and a HOLOGRAM of a HUMAN WARRIOR IN ARMOR appears posed before them. Reminiscent of the Knights.

LIBRARIAN: The humans of my era could have rendered the Halos unnecessary, but did not. He blames you for the death of the galaxy.

MASTER CHIEF: The Prometheans. He used it on them. They're the humans from your time.

The Didact's ship REVERTS to... INT. LIBRARIAN'S GARDEN -

LIBRARIAN: We hid the Composer from him because we knew he would turn it on humanity again should he find liberation. That day is upon us. He is too clever not to locate it, so you must prepare for the eventuality that this burden will fall to you.

MASTER CHIEF: How do we stop him?

LIBRARIAN: Not we. You, Reclaimer. When I indexed humanity for re-population, I buried a seed within select --

Without warning, the Librarian's Garden SHUDDERS, DIGITALLY BREAKING UP!

A HOLE rips in the fabric of the air - DIDACT FLOATS THROUGH.

DIDACT: Even in death, her meddling continues!

He WAVES his arm and ENERGY SURGES towards the Librarian! She STRUGGLES TO ENACTS a FORCE FIELD around herself and Chief.

DIDACT: This arrogance cannot be their shield forever!

Librarian desperately holds back the Didact. But just barely.

LIBRARIAN: (VO) (shouting, to Chief) The Composer is flawed! Your genesong contains a natural immunity, but it must be unlocked!

MASTER CHIEF: How?

LIBRARIAN: (VO) Your evolutionary journey must be accelerated!

DIDACT: Relent, essence!

MASTER CHIEF: Can I defeat the Didact without it?

LIBRARIAN: (VO) No.

MASTER CHIEF: Then do it.

*She nods.*

LIBRARIAN: (VO) Prepare.

INT. DOMAIN CHAMBER - The Chief is still HOVERING in the TURBULENT LIGHT BEAM as we left him. The beam BRIGHTENS, casting the Chief in SILHOUETTE against the dark room. BRIGHTER STRANDS OF LIGHT WRAPS itself around the, the EDGES of his armor...The light FLOWS UNDERNEATH the hardware, WASHING OVER HIM LIKE A LIQUID. His body flexes - wrenched taut by unseen strings.

LIBRARIAN: (VO) This gift is your birthright, Reclaimer! It will lead humanity to its new mantle... ARRGH!

The beam of light EXTINGUISHES suddenly as the Librarian goes silent. The Chief SLAMS DOWN HARD to the ground."