Five Long Years

"Halo Wars is set in the year 2531 right as human UNSC forces retake a planet called Harvest from the alien Covenant. The story of Halo Wars is told through the eyes and ears of the crew aboard Spirit of Fire, a UNSC support vessel. As the ship approaches the planet Harvest to begin a dangerous and urgent mission, Captain Cutter reflects on the long and bloody battle to retake Harvest from the Covenant..."

- Ensemble description of the trailer

Five long years is a Halo Wars cinematic preview released on the July 14th of 2008 depicting the five year long struggle to reclaim Harvest from the Covenant. This cinematic takes 1:29 minutes.

Summary
Halo Wars is set in the year 2531, right as human UNSC forces retake a planet called Harvest from the crusading alien faction, the Covenant. The story of Halo Wars is told through the eyes and ears of the crew aboard the UNSC Spirit of Fire, a UNSC support vessel. As the ship approaches the planet Harvest to begin a dangerous and urgent mission, Captain Cutter reflects on the long and bloody battle to retake Harvest from the Covenant.

Transcript
Cutter:"Captains report February 4th 2531. Five years, five long years. That's how long it took us to get Harvest back..."

{Transcript Begin} [Several soldiers raced through a battlefield]

Soldier:"Go Go Go!"

[They confront a lance of Elites. Then a Warthog runs the aliens over. The camera then cuts to the rear of the Warthog driving through a battlefield with the gunner firing the turret.]

Soldier:"Keep firing"

[Three soldiers fire their weapons. The camera then cuts to a shot of several Pelican dropships arriving with several Warthogs racing through. The camera then shifts to a Marine beating an Elite from behind. The Elite falls down and is shot dead by another soldier. Then, it shifts to a panorama, showing 7 Marines and a Warthog overlooking the battlefield: a destroyed city with a burning Unknown Covenant Glassing Ship in the distant sky, presumably shot down by UNSC forces.]

Cutter:"At first it was going well..."

[Black]

Cutter:"Then setback after setback..."

[An Elite pierces a Marine with its energy sword. UNSC troops are overwhelmed by Plasma fired by Elites and Banshees. The camera then shifts to a scene where many Elites jump over a crumbled wall and activate their energy swords; one of them is dual wielding.]

Cutter:"Loss after loss..."

[2 as of yet Unknown Covenant Glassing Ships begin to glass Harvest]

Cutter:"Made what was going to be a quick and decisive win..."

[A surviving Marine attempts to crawl to safety when an Elite approaches and slaughters him with it's energy sword.]

Cutter:"Into five years of Hell..."

[Camera turns toward the skies and another ship appears and activates its energy weapon. White follows.]

{Transcript Ends}

Trivia

 * It was put on The official Halo Wars community site after the E3 Business & Media Summit.
 * This trailer is reminiscent of the beginning cinematic of another Ensemble game called Age of Mythology.
 * The Marine who gets shot down by the Banshee utters the famed Wilhelm Scream as he dies.

Internal

 * Halo Wars

External

 * Halo Wars: Five Long Years Trailer