Michael Sullivan

"How old are all of you?"

- Sullivan noticing how young Kelly-087 and Fred-104 look.

Michael "Sully" Sullivan was an officer cadet of the UNSC Defense Force.

Childhood and education
A native of Emerald Cove, Sullivan entered the Corbulo Academy of Military Science in 2526 as a freshman cadet assigned to Hastati Squad. He had a habit of 'dying' in combat exercises. Despite this, he never lost his enthusiasm and became friends with Thomas Lasky, though the rest of the squad was hostile to the perceived "Innie lover".

Convinced that the Office of Naval Intelligence was hiding something from the greater whole of humanity, Sullivan hacked mission recordings of UNSCDF personnel ostensibly fighting in the Insurrection. He had discovered the helmet camera footage of a Spartan in a three-way battle among the UNSC, Insurrectionists, and the Covenant. Sullivan bragged about the supersoldier's ability to decapitate a man with his hands, and eventually managed to decrypt the entire footage, which showed a Sangheili warrior reflected in Frederic-104's visor, whom he thought was an ODST. Sullivan's activities were interrupted when the communications terminal suddenly went offline, leading him to believe ONI had caught on to him.

Covenant attack
"John-117"

- Sullivan

The communications blackout was, however, the result of a far more serious threat. That evening, Circinius IV was attacked by the hostile alien faction known as the Covenant. Sullivan's room mate Dimah Tchakova was killed while the cadets attempted to evacuate, and Sullivan was pressed into the defense of the planet with the surviving cadets.

As the battle at Corbulo Academy started, Hastati Squad retreated to the dormitory hiding in Lasky's room. Sullivan was visibly upset by Dimah's death. Sullivan attempted to activate Lasky's terminal; when nothing happened, he realized the comms were offline.

A Sangheili Zealot then appeared in the dormitory corridor, breaking into the rooms where cadets were hiding one by one. They decided they had to leave, Chen volunteering to take point he waited until the Elite went into another room to run; however, Chen was soon impaled by the Zealot's energy sword. The rest of the squad then ran for the armory, shutting the door behind them. While Lasky sent a distress signal, the rest of the squad attempted to open the weapons locker with little success; eventually, Vickers attempted to bash it open. The Sangheili from earlier started to break down the door, causing the squad to hide. Vickers got separated hiding on the other side of the room. As the Sangheili neared the rest of the squad's position, Vickers, in order to give the squad a chance to escape, revealed his location to the Sangheili, being quickly shot and killed by its plasma rifle. The Sangheili then turned his attention back to the squad, slowly walking toward them until John-117 snuck up behind it and stabbed it in the neck.

While preparing to leave, Sullivan questioned why John-117 came for them. John answered they were the only survivors; Sullivan assumed in the school, but John corrected him, stating they were the last on the planet. While waiting for the Master Chief to return, Sullivan began questioning what was going on, referring to the Chief as a "giant robot" and questioning whether he would even come back. When Master Chief asked who the best shot was, Sullivan said it was most likely the Chief. As they went outside, the squad saw their fellow cadets and soldiers dead all around them. During the escape, Sullivan was shot in the leg by a Kig-Yar sharpshooter, who attempted to kill him, but John-117 saved him. After Chyler and John killed the Kig-Yar, Orenski carried Sullivan to the Warthog to escape.

On route to the Pelican the group was attacked by Kig-Yar, after killing several they suddenly hit another with the Warthog forcing them to stop. While they waited John administered biofoam to Sullivan's wound so he could walk. Lasky then noticed that Chyler had been hit by a Needle shard, John told Lasky that he was out of biofoam and they would have to get her to the Pelican immediately. John ordered them to continue north to find his team, as they left the cadets saw John engage a Mgalekgolo. They stopped at one of the shelters, Sullivan noticed stun rounds on the wall, Orenski broke them open, hoping to numb the pain for Chyler. Chyler soon died, John rejoined the cadets shortly after, giving his condolences to Lasky. John told them he would need their ammo, Sullivan told him they couldn't give him any since all they had were stun rounds. They were forced to retreat when the another Mgalekgolo attacked, Sullivan regretfully told Lasky that he would have to leave Chyler behind. They eventually took cover in a ditch, Sullivan watched as Lasky sacrificed himself so John could kill the hunter. Sullivan and Orenski ran over to Tom to see if he was ok, after he started to respond, John ordered Kelly to bring the Pelican down. As they evacuated on the Pelican, Kelly-087 and Fred-104 removed their helmets Sullivan, noticing how young they looked, asked them how old they were, after exchanging a look with Fred, Kelly responded simply "That's classified." Sullivan looked surprised and eventually looked away.

Production notes
Sullivan is played by American actor Masam Holden.

List of appearances

 * Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn