UNSC Forward Unto Dawn

The UNSC Forward Unto Dawn, Hull Classification Symbol FFG-201, often referred to as the Dawn, was a United Nations Space Command Frigate.

Second Battle of Earth
During the Second Battle of Earth, it was part of a formation of three UNSC frigates over the African Savannah of the Home Fleet. It fired its Magnetic Accelerator Cannon at a Covenant Loyalist group of one Assault Carrier and two CCS-class Battlecruisers that were in the distance, over the Savannah that was the Portal.

Battle of Installation 00
The UNSC Forward unto dawn went through the slipspace portal along with Covenant Separatist Vessels including the Shadow of Intent. It dropped five pelicans for a landing on The Ark. Later, Spartan-117 and a few Marines destroyed anti-air wraiths opening up a landing site for the Forward unto Dawn. The Foward Unto Dawn later docked near the control room of the new Installation 04 and was used in the Escape. .

The Arbiter took to the bridge, accelerating in a vertical climb away from the installation as it destroyed itself while John clung to the floor panels in the still-open hangar bay. Spartan-117 was nearly crushed by a Scorpion tank that was falling out of the Forward Unto Dawn ' 's hangar.

However, with Cortana praying for him to hang on (recently inserted into the Forward Unto Dawn ' s computer systems), he was able to survive the acceleration forces until the Arbiter piloted The Dawn into the portal, which collapsed into itself as the Forward Unto Dawn was halfway through it.

Current Status
The forward half of the vessel, including the Arbiter, was able to transition to Earth and land in the ocean. The latter half of the vessel fell out of Slipspace short of Earth. Cortana dropped a distress beacon while SPARTAN-117 sealed himself in one of the Forward Unto Dawn ' s cryogenic chambers. After an undetermined amount of time, the Forward Unto Dawn ' s latter half was seen drifting towards an unidentified planet, upon which the game promptly concludes. This cutscene is only witnessed upon completion of the campaign on legendary difficulty, after the credits. halo 3

The planet looks Forerunner. Several hypotheses have been generated. One is that it is a Forerunner shield world - however, the vessel apears to be floating in realspace (stars can be seen in the background) and shield worlds only exist in Slipspace. Another theory is that it is an abandoned Forerunner world, possibly their homeworld. Another is that it is Earth in the distant future, and humans have used the Forerunner technology on Earth to rebuild it after the war. This theory of SPARTAN-117 returning to Earth in the far future would sort-of parody Dundrel's return to Earth in the distant future at the end of Marathon Infinity.

Trivia

 * It was first seen during the Halo 3 Trailer during E3 2007.