Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn

"The Story of Halo 4 Begins at Dawn."

- Official tagline

Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn is an ongoing live-action miniseries set in the Halo universe. The series, the first episode of which was released on October 5th, 2012, is comprised of five roughly 15-minute episodes that are released on a weekly basis. The series' plot, occurring circa 2526, revolves around how John-117 inspired Thomas Lasky, a young cadet in the Corbulo Academy of Military Science to eventually become a leader on the. Along with a new character that will also appear in Halo 4, the series explores the beginning of the Human-Covenant War. It will be hosted on Halo Waypoint and Machinima.com. A 90-minute extended version will be included with the Halo 4 Limited Edition. The series was known as Sleeper during pre-production. The series will be available on Blu-Ray and DVD on December 4, 2012.

A teaser trailer for the series was released on Halo Waypoint and on YouTube by Machinima on July 2, 2012.

Plot summary
The series begins with Thomas Lasky, executive officer of the, picking up Cortana's distress signal from the , which has been adrift in space for four years. Learning that SPARTAN-117 is aboard the ship, Lasky has a flashback to the events that led to him meeting the Spartan for the first time and how he inspired him to become a leader. The "present-day" segments, which feature clips of Cortana's inner monologues during her solitude aboard the Dawn, serve as a framing device for the main narrative, which focuses on Thomas Lasky as a young freshman cadet in Corbulo Academy of Military Science on Circinius IV amidst the Insurrection circa 2526. Organized into Hastati Squad, a freshman unit in the class of 2529, Lasky shows a constant disregard for the orders of his superiors and displays a lack of proficient knowledge of infantry tactics, resulting in Hastati receiving low combat scores and Lasky himself being shunned by the rest of the squad. Worse, his health declines rapidly during the school's mandatory acclimation to cryosleep, suffering blisters and a persistent cough.

In his spare time, Lasky replays video messages by his now-deceased brother Cadmon, with whom he used to have regular video correspondence. Most of Lasky's classmates, particularly Walter Vickers, are unrelenting in their provocation of Thomas, affirming their distaste for the freshman who fails to live up to the example set by his brother or his his mother, a UNSCDF colonel and former superior of CAMS professor, Colonel Mehaffey. One of the few cadets sympathetic to him is Chyler Silva, who attempts to encourage Thomas to be a better leader. Meanwhile, a cadet known as Michael Sullivan hacks UNSC mission recordings and uncovers footage recorded by a a Spartan's helmet camera. Another Hastati Squad member, Junjie Chen, struggles to live up to the expectations of his father and is concerned about Lasky's poor performance decreasing his combat scores.

Days prior to the end of the school year, Lasky and Vickers are 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 receives from Vickers, Lasky assaults his squadmate in the school's mess hall. Senior cadets and underclassmen alike continue to encourage the altercation, in which the two perform hand-to-hand combat tactics taught at the academy. Lasky mildly injures Vickers and only stops when Colonel Mehaffey intervenes. The Colonel takes advantage of this quarrel in her mentorship of Lasky, hoping that he would embrace the warrior culture of the UNSC and inspire him to become a better leader.

Mehaffey's efforts dawn on Lasky and he volunteers 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 organizes Hastati into cover in a tight formation adjacent their flag, a seemingly ill-tactical maneuver. Lasky orders his men to remove their helmets as they contain IFF transponders detectable by the enemy's motion sensors. With Zuma converging on Hastati's flag, Lasky positions 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. Funneled into a trap, the enemy cadets are eliminated or captured by two sections of Hastati cadets, with Hastati suffering no casualties of their own in the process. An emboldened Lasky, charging towards Zuma's flag, finally succumbs to his ailing health and collapses meters away from completing the objective.

Lasky wakes up and is informed by Dr. Hughes that his condition is an allergic reaction to the cryo drug cytoprethaline, which is vital for cryo-sleep to prevent damage to cells. Resting in his room, Lasky wakes up to see Chyler sitting beside him, watching his recordings. Expressing concern for Lasky's condition, she reproves him for wallowing in his brother's death and reveals that Hastati Squad was victorious in the capture the flag exercise, congratulating Lasky for his tactical maneuver. Sullivan then calls Lasky and Silva to join the rest of Hastati Squad to watch the classified recordings he has pieced together. To the great bemusement of the cadets, the footage shows SPARTAN-IIs in MJOLNIR armor, fighting unknown hostiles alongside Insurrectionists. While the cadets discuss Sullivan's findings, Lasky is called to Col. Mehaffey's office, who reveals that, as a result of his cytoprethaline allergy, he is offered the choice for a medical discharge. The following night, Lasky reveals this to Silva, who professes that she will miss him if he leaves. The two kiss but are interrupted as an evacuation alarm goes off.

Lasky and Silva join the rest of Hastati Squad in a queue for the academy's space elevator, while Orbital Drop Shock Troopers drop in to the academy grounds. The stress of waiting proves too much for Dimah Tchakova, who against the orders of Hastati Squad leader April Orenski rushes in front of the queue and invokes her mother's position to allow a Marine to let her in the next elevator car. As the car ascends, the rest of the cadets watch in horror as three alien ships appear in the clouds and one of them opens fire on the space tether. The tether's lower structure collapses on the building and the members of Hastati Squad barely escape the destruction. From amongst the debris, they see a Sangheili Zealot, brandishing an energy sword, approach and bisect the academy's statue of General Corbulo.

The cadets make their way through the embattled academy campus and Lasky witnesses Col. Mehaffey being killed by Needler fire. Hastati Squad regroups in Lasky's dorm room, but they are forced to move out as a Sangheili Zealot approaches, methodically slaughtering other cadets in their rooms. As the Elite enters another room, the cadets make a break for it with Chen taking point; however, Chen is killed by a camouflaged Zealot. The other cadets manage to escape to the armory and seal the door, with Lasky raising a distress beacon. The Elite eventually breaks through the armor's door and the cadets hide, Vickers being separated from the others. As the Elite closes in on the cadets' hiding spot, Vickers attempts to distract it to allow the others to escape but is promptly killed. The Elite confidently approaches the cadets, who are saved by the timely arrival of John-117, who stabs the unsuspecting alien in the back.

The Spartan reveals that Lasky, Silva, Orenski and Sullivan are the only survivors on the entire planet and that they are to be evacuated; they will join with the rest of the Spartan team at the rendezvous point. Making their way outside, they are caught in a firefight with Jackal snipers. Sullivan is wounded and is barely saved from imminent death by the Chief. The Chief orders Lasky to acquire the now-deceased General Black's Warthog which is located nearby. The Spartan neutralizes the Covenant sharpshooters and the group use the Warthog to drive out of the academy. Over the course of these events, Thomas becomes inspired by the heroism and leadership of the young Spartan supersoldier, galvanizing him to fight against the Covenant.

Cast
The following is a list of cast members in the webseries:


 * Tom Green as Thomas Lasky
 * Anna Popplewell as Chyler Silva
 * Enisha Brewster as April Orenski
 * Ayelet Zurer as Col. Mehaffey
 * Masam Holden as Michael Sullivan
 * Mike Dopud as Gen. Black
 * Iain Belcher as Walter Vickers
 * Osric Chau as Junjie Chen
 * Kat de Lieva as Dimah Tchakova
 * Daniel Cudmore as Master Chief
 * Alex Puccinelli as the voice of Master Chief
 * Jen Taylor as Cortana
 * Chris Stevens as Dr. Hughes
 * Max Carver as Cadmon Lasky
 * Ty Olsson as Adult Lasky
 * Darren O'Hare as the voice of Adult Lasky
 * Robin August as Orlin
 * Man Hung Chan as Junjie's Father
 * Jill Teed as Col. Lasky

Production
"We wanted to do something unique from a narrative standpoint that's big in scale."

- Matt McCloskey - Director, Franchise Business Development

Filming is noted to have started as early as April 28th, 2012 at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, a popular filming location for many notable science fiction series like Stargate SG-1 and Battlestar Galactica. Much, if not all of the series is set at the university, doubling as a futuristic UNSC officer academy, will introduce the main protagonist of Forward Unto Dawn. Propaganda murals depicting Orbital Drop Shock Troopers and fighter aircraft, statues of historic military commanders (including a depiction of Roman general Gnaeus Domitius Corbulo), and other signature futuristic artwork were seen decorated around the campus.

John-117 will play a pivotal role in the series, though he is not the main protagonist. That role is instead filled by Thomas Lasky, who will also be a major character in Halo 4. The Master Chief is portrayed by Canadian actor Daniel Cudmore, best known for his role as the mutant Colossus in the X-Men film series. Lasky is played by Australian actor Tom Green.

As Forward Unto Dawn is set thirty-one years before Halo 4, the production team originally experimented with de-aging Steve Downes' voice so he could voice the fifteen-year-old John-117; Cudmore would act only as the Spartan's physical embodiment. However, the team realized that Downes' altered voice sounded too high-pitched. Thus, a separate actor, Alex Puccinelli, was given the role of voicing John, whose voice would evolve over three decades to possess the gruffer quality of Downes' performance.

The following trailers were released prior to the release date of the webseries, to provide an insight into the lifestyle of an everyday Corbulo cadet:
 * Official teaser trailer
 * Enlist
 * Cryo
 * Flag
 * Joyride
 * Lecture
 * Squad
 * Mid-Season trailer

Characters

 * April Orenski
 * Beamish
 * Black
 * Cadmon Lasky
 * Chyler Silva
 * Christina Rice
 * Cortana
 * The Didact
 * Dimah Tchakova
 * Dyer
 * Foster
 * Frederic-104
 * Hughes
 * James McCann
 * Junjie Chen
 * John-117
 * Kaye
 * Kelly-087
 * Mehaffey
 * Michael Sullivan
 * Moulder
 * Newton
 * Shere
 * Taylor
 * Thomas Lasky
 * Orlin
 * Verrelli
 * Walter Vickers

Equipment and technology

 * Active camouflage
 * Artificial intelligence
 * Cryo chamber
 * Halo Array
 * Heads-up display
 * Holography
 * Holotank
 * Kig-Yar point defense gauntlet
 * Kig-Yar targeting headgear
 * MJOLNIR Powered Assault Armor
 * GEN1
 * Mark IV
 * Mark VI
 * Sangheili combat harness
 * Zealot variant
 * Space elevator
 * Wind turbine

Weapons

 * Assault cannon
 * Combat knife
 * MA5D Individual Combat Weapon System
 * M6H Personal Defense Weapon System
 * Type-1 Energy Weapon/Sword
 * Type-25 Directed Energy Rifle
 * Type-31 Rifle
 * Type-33 Guided Munitions Launcher
 * Type-51 Carbine

Locations

 * Circinius system
 * Circinius IV
 * Corbulo Academy of Military Science
 * Procyon system
 * Arcadia
 * Sol System
 * Mars
 * Mare Erythraeum
 * Tricode Village
 * New Harmony
 * Andesia

Species

 * Human
 * Sangheili
 * Kig-Yar
 * Mgalekgolo

Organizations

 * Covenant
 * Insurrectionists
 * UNSC Defense Force
 * Corbulo Academy Corps of Cadets
 * Hastati Squad
 * Zuma Squad
 * UNSC Marine Corps
 * Naval Special Weapons
 * Orbital Drop Shock Troopers
 * UNSC Navy
 * Naval Special Weapons
 * SPARTAN-II Program
 * Office of Naval Intelligence

Vehicles

 * M12 Force Application Vehicle
 * M12 Light Reconnaissance Vehicle
 * SDV-class heavy corvette
 * Single Occupant Exoatmospheric Insertion Vehicle
 * SDV-class heavy corvette
 * Single Occupant Exoatmospheric Insertion Vehicle

Trivia

 * Many of the murals seen on set are enlarged pieces taken from the concept art of Halo 3: ODST.
 * Frank O'Connor, franchise developer at 343 Industries makes a cameo appearance in Episode 2 as a janitor at Corbulo Academy of Military Science, spectating the fight between Lasky and Vickers.
 * The famed Wilhelm Scream can be heard in the classified video Michael Sullivan shows to his fellow cadets. The scream is heard as an Insurrectionist is thrown against a wall, just after the Spartan announces an unknown hostile.
 * In Part IV, John-117 refers to himself as a "Master Chief" despite the series taking place in 2526 and John evidently not holding the rank of Master Chief Petty Officer at the time according to past canon.