Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn/Transcripts/Part 5

Open to the holotank inside Template:UNSCship. A blue holographic sphere rests on it. Cut to black.

Cut to the interior of the cryo room. An alarm has been set off. The ship is shaking chaotically.

• Cortana: "Wake me when you need me, you said."

Cut to the holotank. The blue sphere's surface slowly dissolves into the center core. The center core glows brightly, and then flares up. Cortana's avatar appears. She looks up at John-117 in the cryo chamber. Cut to black.

HALO 4

FORWARD UNTO DAWN

PART V

Opens to the General Black's Warthog speeding down the forest path. Michael Sullivan groans loudly every time Thomas Lasky makes a small turn.

• April Orenski: "Lasky!"

• Thomas Lasky: "It's harder than it looks!"

• Orenski: "Hang in there, Sully!"

• Lasky: "…Sorry!"

Chyler Silva turns to Lasky.

• Silva: "You're doing fine! Just keep it steady!"

• John-117: "Bear right, cadet. There's an exit directly ahead."

Lasky does as he was told, and continues down the path. Behind them, a Kig-Yar runs by. Cut to black.

Opens to the Warthog speeding down the path. Lasky looks around doubtfully.

• John: "Faster, cadet. Four minutes to the Pelican. We have to get off the planet!"

Lasky presses down on the pedal. The Warthog's speed meter increases. Lasky continues to drive the Warthog down the path. Suddenly, a plasma grenade rolls out from the forest to the center of the path, and detonates. Lasky yells in surprise.

Time slows down as the Warthog drives through the smoke and continues down the path. Everything then speeds back up as the Warthog comes under Covenant fire. Plasma and needles hit the Warthog plating. A "Warning" appears on the Warthog speed meter, and the meter decreases. John fires the Warthog's turret and takes down a Kig-Yar Minor.

• John: "Controlled-burst! Don't spray and pray!"

Oresnki and Silva fire their assault rifles.

• John: "Cadet! Two o'clock!"

Needles continue to rain down on the Warthog. Lasky leans over toward the passenger's side to avoid getting hit.

• Lasky: "Chyler, cover!"

• Silva: "Covering!"

Silva stands up from the seat, takes aim and fires in two short bursts. Two Kig-Yar Minors get hit and fall. The Warthog continues and the Covenant attackers outside of the path appear to disappear.

• John: "Kelly, track our position for evac."

• Orenski: "I think we're clear."

Lasky looks at the Warthog speed meter, which emits a beeping sound. He turns to Silva.

• Lasky: "Nice job."

Silva looks at him. Suddenly, a Kig-Yar Minor appears in front of the Warthog. The vehicle smashes right into the alien, splattering the windshield with blood. Lasky, caught by surprise, hits the brakes. The Warthog comes to a sudden stop. Silva and Orenski jerk forward. Sullivan groans even louder in pain.

• Orenski: "Everyone okay?"

John-117 jumps down from the turret as Lasky tries to restart the Warthog,, which only sputters. John takes Sullivan out of the Warthog and sets him down on the ground next to the Warthog. The Spartan turns to Orenski.

• John: "Hand me the biofoam and man the gun."

Cut to Silva and Lasky. Silva looks down at her stomach while Lasky continues to re-activate the Warthog.

• Lasky: "Come on, come on! Come on!"

Orenski mans the turret and scans the forest around them. A Kig-Yar stepping on a tree branch is heard. The turret's search light, however, reveals no Covenant. Cut back to John and Sullivan.

• John: "This will help you walk."

Sullivan groans softly. Cut to Lasky, who takes off his helmet and places it on the Warthog's dashboard in frustration. He presses the Warthog's button.

• Lasky: "We're almost there!"

Silva looks down at her stomach, which she is covering with both hands. She moves her hands away, revealing a pink crystal embedded in her stomach.

• Silva: "...Tom...?"

Lasky is still trying to re-ignite the Warthog, unaware that Silva is calling him.

• Lasky: "Come on…"

The Chief looks around. Cuts to a wide shot of the Warthog in the jungle. Everything except the light of the vehicle is pitch-black. Cuts to Orenski looking around nervous as Kig-Yar can be heard screeching. Heavier footsteps can be heard as well. Cuts back to Lasky trying to re-start the Warthog, still not noticing Silva's calls. Cuts to a close-up of Silva.

• Silva: "Tom?"

Lasky turns around to face her, only to notice the Needler round in her stomach. Lasky panics.

• Silva: "Tom..."

• Lasky: "Chief!!"

John turns around as Silva groans loudly in pain.

• Lasky: "Chief! Chyler's been hit!"

The Chief goes up to assist.

Cuts to a close-up of Silva groaning in pain.

• Lasky: "Shit..."

• John: "I'm out of biofoam. We have to get her to the Pelican. Now."

Orenksi listens to the sounds of more Kig-Yar in the distance. A strange green glow appears behind her.

• Orenski: "They're retreating. Why would they do that now?"

• John: "We're being hunted. Keep moving north. You'll see my team. Run as fast as you can and don't stop for anything, including me."

Orenski and Lasky scramble out of the Warthog. The unearthly green glow filters through the trees. A monstrous roar is heard. Silva groans in pain. Orenski pulls Sullivan to his feet.

• Orenski: "Can you walk?"

• Sullivan: "Yeah, I'll try."

Lasky frantically tries to help Silva out of the Warthog.

• Lasky: "Just keep breathing. Just hang in there, okay? Hang in there. Come on."

Lasky and Orenski succeed in getting Silva out of the vehicle. They each take her by the shoulders and start carrying her away.

• Orenski: "We've got to get her somewhere."

• Sullivan: "But we're blind."

They hear heavy footsteps.

• Orenski: "It's close by."

They turn to see the Chief standing before a massive alien.

• Sullivan: "Oh my god!"

The alien roars and straightens up, dwarfing the Chief even further. Its reflection is seen in the Chief's visor as he looks up to face its head.

• Lasky: "Guys, go! Go, go!"

The cadets take off through the forest, as alien roars and rifle fire is heard behind them.

• Lasky: "Sully, you with us?"

• Sullivan: "Yeah..."

• Orenski: "Hang in there, Chyler."

The cadets take cover under one of the training course's concrete obstacles. They set Silva on the ground. She coughs and groans in pain. Lasky pulls her helmet off.

• Lasky: "We're going to get you out of here, okay?"

• Sullivan: "April, stun rounds."

Orenski pulls a tactical training round from her magazine and breaks it.

• Orenski: "This will numb the pain."

She pours the contents on Chyler's wound.

• Lasky: "Hang in there, Chyler."

Silva gasps in agony.

• Lasky: "Hang in there, Chyler. Come on, hang in there."

Chyler reaches up and pulls off her dog tags, tears in her eyes. She pushes them into Lasky's hands. Lasky shakes his head vigorously.

• Silva: "It's okay, Tom."

Lasky keeps shaking his head in denial.

• Silva: "I'm sorry."

Sullivan and Orenski watch, stunned, as Silva closes her eyes and stops breathing.

• Lasky (crying): "Chyler..."

Orenski stands and looks away. Sullivan glances at her. Lasky cradles the dog tags. John-117 suddenly appears beside him.

• John: "I'm sorry. I need your ammo, cadets. It took everything I had to bring that thing down."

• Sullivan: "We don't have any."

• Orenski: "Just stun rounds, sir."

Still in despair, Lasky pulls an M9 fragmentation grenade from his belt and hands it to the Chief.

• John: "Thanks."

They hear a distant alien roar.

• Sullivan: "Guys?"

• John: "There's another one. Move, now."

• Sullivan: "We have to leave her, Tom. I'm sorry."

Sullivan leaves. Lasky keeps staring at Silva's body.

• Sullivan: "Lasky, come on!"

• Orenski: "Lasky, come on! Come on!"

Lasky turns and takes a look at his reflection as the sounds of the alien behemoth draw closer. John-117 and the cadets sprint through the forest. A bright green projectile explodes not far from them. They come across a shallow depression and stop. They turn around. The Hunter is closing in on them. With no other choice, they jump into the depression.

• John: "There."

The group takes cover inside a small hollow and turn off their lights.

• John: "Kelly, negative. Need more time. Cannot make it to the rendezvous."

Lasky notices the grenade still in John's hand.

• John: "You have to hold the Pelican. I won't leave them. Chief, out."

The cadets stare at him.

• John: "I'll engage. Get to the Pelican as fast as you can."

Cuts to a shot of Silva's dog tags in Lasky's hands before going to a slow-motion shot of Lasky looking down, deep in thought. Cuts once more back to Silva's dog tags and back to Lasky. John gets up but Lasky grabs his arm, stopping him.

• Lasky: "No, sir. I'll be the decoy."

• Orenski: "Lasky, no!"

• Lasky: "You sweep 'em from behind."

• John: "Cadet."

Lasky tucks Silva's dog tags into his chest plate.

• Orenski: "Lasky!"

• Lasky: "Axios!"

• Orenski: "Lasky!"

Lasky sprints off in slow motion. The Hunter crests the hill and levels its assault cannon at him. It lets loose a shot that impacts behind Lasky, sending him tumbling face-first into the dirt. Lasky looks back and sees the alien charging its cannon again. Lasky scampers away through the woods. The Hunter roars and turns to follow him. John primes the grenade and charges the alien from behind but it turns and hits him with its shield, knocking him to the ground. The Hunter turns and aims at Lasky again. John gets to his feet and charges once more as the alien powers up its cannon. Just as it fires the Chief climbs its shield, disrupting its aim. The shot narrowly misses Lasky, sending him flying. John swings over the Hunter's shoulders, landing on its back. Lasky lands in a heap, unconscious. John shoves the grenade into the mass of Lekgolo worms in the creature's back, then flips off and away from it. The Hunter stands for a second, then explodes.

The Chief shields himself from the splatter, then stands as the opening melody of the Halo Theme plays. He walks over and stomps on a surviving worm. As Sullivan and Orenksi get to their feet and run to Lasky, John picks up a piece of the Hunter's shattered armor.

• Orenski: "Lasky! Lasky!"

• Sullivan: "Lasky?"

Orenski turns Lasky over and tries to shake him awake.

• Orenski: "Lasky! Lasky! Lasky!"

• John: "Bring it down, Kelly."

Lasky coughs and opens his eyes. Sullivan and Orenski help him to his feet. They hear engines overhead. The sun rises as the survivors make their way out of the forest and into a clearing where a Pelican sits, waiting. A Marine is kneeling down in a defensive position nearby.

As the cadets run towards the Pelican, John is met by another Spartan.

• John: "We have three survivors."

• Kelly: "I've alerted Command."

• John: "Let's go!"

Cut to an overheat shot of the forest clearing. The Pelican lifts off. Radio chatter is heard in the dropship's troop bay.

• Operator (COM): "Roger that. Thank God, Chief. Pelican is leaving the surface. Their bay is full. Spartans report three cadets, five Marines. Prepare a medical detail..."

The rest of the transmission becomes too faint to hear. The cadets stare blankly back at the burning landscape that was once Corbulo Academy. The Covenant ships continue to hold position above the ruins. Kelly reaches up and removes her helmet. The cadets stare, surprised at how young she is. Fred-104 removes his helmet and receives more stares. Lasky, Kelly and Fred glance over at John who remains immobile, his weapon aimed out the rear hatch.

• Sullivan: "How old are all of you?"

Fred and Kelly look at each other before turning back to Sullivan.

• Kelly: "That's classified."

Sullivan glances down. Orenski removes her helmet and receives an appraising nod from Kelly. The rear hatch closes as the Pelican begins to gain altitude. John lowers his weapon and hands Lasky the jagged piece of Hunter he picked up earlier.

• John: "Well done, soldier."

Lasky looks up, shocked at what the SPARTAN just said. John nods and then looks away. Cadet Lasky, with a new sense in his eyes, tightens his grip on the piece, looks around and then closes his eyes as Commander Lasky opens his eyes on the bridge of the UNSC Infinity, the flashback over.

• Unknown AI: "Shall I play it again, sir?"

• Lasky: "No, that won't be necessary."

Cut to Lasky in his cryo-suit, blisters visible on his chest. In his hands he holds Silva and Cadmon's dog tags and the piece of Hunter, now smooth from years of handling.

• Unknown AI: "The Captain has ordered us into emergency slipspace protocols. Prepare for cryo."

Lasky enters the cryo-chamber. Outside, the Ininity and a fleet of dozens of frigates and cruisers enters slipspace.

On a monitor aboard Forward Unto Dawn:

>:WARNING!
>:UNEXPLAINED COURSE ALTERATION
>:GRAVITATIONAL FORCES UNDEFINED
.>:SPEED INCREASING

Cortana reaches for the "Reactivate" button. She hesitates, looking up at John in his cryo-chamber, her own image reflected in its surface. Cut to black.