Thomas Lasky

Lasky redirects here. For his mother, see Lasky (colonel). For his brother, see Cadmon Lasky.

"There is a soldier inside of you Thomas, I can see it. Everyone can see it, YOU need to see it. I know your brother did."

- Colonel Mehaffey

Commander Thomas J. Lasky is a human senior officer of the UNSC Navy who served throughout the Human-Covenant War and in the post war years. Since at least 2552, Lasky has served as Captain Del Rio's executive officer aboard the.

Childhood and education
Thomas Lasky was born in the late 2500's or early 2510's to Colonel Lasky, his mother on Mars. He began his officer training as a freshman cadet in Corbulo Academy of Military Science on Circinius IV sometime following spring 2526, months after hostilities between the United Nations Space Command and the Covenant began; this development was kept from the students and much of the staff at Corbulo however. Organized into Hastati Squad, a freshman unit in the class of 2529, Lasky originally began as a team leader during field exercises. Lasky's reputation suffered at his constant disregard for the orders of his superiors and displaying a lack of proficient knowledge of infantry tactics. He was subsequently relived of his duties, which then fell to squadmate Walter Vickers. Despite this, he continued to ignore orders and continued to lead Hastati in receiving low combat scores, resulting in him being shunned by the rest of the squad. Worse, his health declined rapidly during the school's mandatory acclimation to cryosleep caused by the dangerous side effects, including large blistering, of "flash thawing."

Days prior to the end of the 2525-2526 school year, Lasky and Vickers were singled out by their squad leader April Orenski in response to Hastati's disciplinary physical training. Frustrated by the verbal and minor physical harassment he received from his squadmate, Lasky assaulted Vickers in the school's mess hall. Senior cadets and underclassmen alike continued to encourage the altercation, which the two were performing hand-to-hand combat tactics taught at the academy. Lasky mildly injured Vickers and only ended his violent strife to acknowledge Colonel Mehaffey's presence. The professor took advantage of this quarrel in her mentorship of Lasky, hoping he would embrace the warrior culture of the UNSC and inspire him to become a better leader.

Mehaffey's efforts dawned on the young cadet and he volunteered to lead Hastati moments prior to the start of their final combat exercise, a contest of capture the flag. While waiting for Zuma Squad to approach their flag's location, Lasky had organized Hastati into cover in a tight formation adjacent their flag, a seemingly ill-tactical maneuver. Lasky ordered his men to remove their helmets as they contained IFF transponders that were detectable by the enemy's motion sensors. With Zuma converging on Hastati's flag, Lasky positioned his squad in a formation reminiscent of the pincer movement, a tactic utilized to great effect by Hannibal at Cannae in 216 BCE, taught to the freshman cadets only a day before the exercise by Col. Mehaffey. The enemy soon realized that Lasky had funneled them into a trap and they were swiftly dispatched by two sections of Hastati cadets. The two Hastati elements continued to press in on Zuma's flag with ease, eliminating or capturing all enemy cadets, suffering no casualties of their own in the process. An emboldened Lasky, charging towards Zuma's flag, finally succumbed to his ailing health and collapsed meters away from completing the objective.

The cadets at Corbulo Academy were caught off guard in mid-2526 when a hostile alien force, the Covenant, assaulted the school. The school's Marine guard was overwhelmed by the attack, which prompted one of the first deployments of SPARTAN-II's in the war, led by John-117. Marines, including those in the ODST divisions, accompanied Blue Team in their rescue of the academy's cadets. Thomas became inspired by the heroism and leadership of the young Spartan supersoldier, influencing him to help combat the enemy forces that were slaughtering his classmates and professors.

Post-war
By the end of the war, Lasky had risen to the rank of Commander in the Navy and had been appointed as the executive officer of the, the most powerful vessel in the Fleet. When Infinity began its operations on Requiem, Lasky's relationship with John-117 would prove vital to the Spartan's recovery and the outcome of their mission.

Personality
Known for his renegade attitude as an "innie sympathizer," Thomas was shunned universally by squadmates and other classmates alike. Lasky was not hesitant whatsoever to express his views on the ongoing conflict with the colonies, even with the ardent stance on the conquering of the rebel effort by the majority of Corbulo Academy's staff and cadet corps. The constant display of pacifism and sympathy towards the Insurrectionist cause did not hamper his enthusiasm to successfully lead his team into combat using tactics that would overwhelm the enemy, albeit with tactics that would cause them to peacefully capitulate. Many believed that Thomas would not live up to the level of excellency set by his brother Cadmon, by then a Marine junior officer in the Orbital Drop Shock Troopers, nor the expectations of his estranged mother to at the very least, graduate from the academy. Ironically, he proved them wrong in his later years.

Relationships
As the growing Insurrection in the Outer Colonies demanded the effort of millions of soldiers, sailors, and Marines, Lasky rarely saw his mother and their relationship faltered because of it. He still maintained a very close relation with his older brother Cadmon, even following in his footsteps with acceptance for schooling at Corbulo Academy. Thomas and his brother Cadmon, both seeming to be avid chess players, maintained an ongoing game through video messages while the two were at Corbulo and on Jericho VII, respectively.

The hawkish Walter Vickers aggressively despised Lasky, lashing out at him with verbal abuse and eventually resorting to public physical altercations. Junjie Chen, a Terran, blamed his failing scores in combat exercises on the incompetence of his classmate. Her parents both being very high ranking officers on Reach, Dimah Tchakova expressed her disdain for Lasky because of his pacifism and beliefs on the war. He was not without more tolerant contemporaries however. Michael Sullivan, despite being "killed" consistently in exercises, found common ground with Lasky in their circumstances, generally not caring for Lasky's reputation as he harbored no ill-feelings towards the Insurrectionists and lacked any blind ambition within the UNSC. He ultimately found support in Chyler Silva, a colonist accustomed to the horrors of the war, attempting to influence her friend in becoming a successful cadet at the academy. Also Major Mehaffey, who once served under his mother, was sympathetic to him as she was one of the few people who knew Colonel Lasky personally.

Production notes
Lasky is the main protagonist in Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn and is primarily portrayed by Australian actor Tom Green. It is currently unknown who portrays the older Lasky Forward Unto Dawn and in Halo 4.

List of appearances

 * Halo: The Thursday War
 * Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn
 * Halo 4