Forerunner

Forerunner is the third campaign level of Halo 4.^[1] Completing the level earns the player the Forerunner achievement. The level-exclusive achievement This is my Rifle, this is my Gun is awarded for carrying a UNSC weapon all the way through the level on Heroic or harder.^[2]

Summary

The level is mainly set in a rocky region on the surface of the shield world Requiem, as well as a series of Forerunner structures, including two relay pylons and a satellite station inside the shell enveloping the shield world. The prototype UNSC warship UNSC Infinity has arrived near Requiem to investigate Cortana's distress beacon, and the Master Chief must disable two beam towers that are causing communications interference preventing Cortana from contacting the Infinity in order to warn the ship about Requiem's defenses. During the level, the player faces opposition from both the Prometheans occupying the shield world as well as Covenant remnant forces. The assault on the first pylon primarily involves combat on foot, while the second one is more vehicle-focused. After deactivating the second beam tower, the Chief uses a series of translocation portals to reach what Cortana assumes to be a relay satellite, while Covenant remnant warships converge on the same location; instead of a communications relay, however, the satellite turns out to house a Cryptum.^[3] The finale of the level introduces the primary antagonist of the game,^[4] the Promethean leader known as the Didact.^[5]

Transcript

{Gameplay'}

John arrives at a small Forerunner room.

John-117: "What were those things?"

Cortana: "Some sort of advanced defense AIs. Related to the Sentinels, I'm guessing. But hard to say without a closer look. C'mon, let's figure out where that transit system dumped us."

John-117 leaves the room via a door and enters a platform inside Requiem's core, which is revealed to be a large empty sphere.

Buried and Forgotten

Cortana: "Put me in the console."

John approaches a console at the end of the platform and inserts Cortana's data crystal chip into it.

{Cutscene}

John and Cortana look around, but only see a distant purplish sphere in an otherwise empty expanse.

John-117: "Where's Infinity?"

Cortana: This is Requiem's core, all right, but Infinity is definitely not here. (Cortana manipulates the holoscreen in front of her.) That satellite in the center is amplifying the ship's broadcasts like a relay.

John-117: "Maybe we can use it to respond."

Cortana: "Perhaps."

Cortana clicks a few more buttons on the screen. Pan to show two thin beams anchoring the sphere on opposite sides.

Cortana: "Those beams coming off of it are creating the interference we've been experiencing. We'd have to take them out to contact Infinity."

Cortana presses another button and a translocation portal opens nearby.

Cortana: "Opening a gate to the first beam pylon. Pull me, and let's go."

John retrieves her.

{Gameplay}

John enters the portal and arrives at a small Forerunner hallway, which leads to a rocky canyon.

John-117: "This is the first pylon?"

Cortana: "Negative. This is as close as I could get us. Hope you don't mind hoofing it a little."

John arrives at a small valley where robotic dog-like creatures are crawling on the walls. One of them growls, and they retreat.

Cortana: "Contacts!"

John continues on and encounters more of them in the next valley.

Cortana: "And they're back! Coming down the walls!"

John defeats all the Crawlers and resumes his journey.

John-117: "Those weren't the same things we saw in the Terminus."

Cortana: "Similar cortical footprints as the tower AIs. They're connected, all right."

John presses a terminal that activates a hard light bridge. He crosses the bridge and enters another valley.

Cortana: "Look out!"

{Cutscene}

John looks up and see a Promethean Knight jumping down. The Promethean Knight knocks John on the ground and screams. Its face plate opens, revealing a screaming blue skull. John punches the face, and the Knight flinches. John kicks himself away from the Knight, which teleports away.

Cortana: "Well, he's just a ray of sunshine, isn't he?"

{Gameplay}

Cortana: "From that peek under the hood, I can say these constructs must be mimetic in nature."

John arrives at an area. Knights are seen teleporting away from the cliffs.

John-117: "More of them?"

Cortana: "Similar phasing activity at the edge of our sensors. We're about to get busy."

John continues and see a door at the far side of the valley. A Knight teleports into the area as Crawlers come into view. The Knight releases a Promethean Watcher from its back and attacks John. More Knights are seen on the cliff above the door, but they don't attack John. John destroys all the Prometheans, and the Knights on the cliff teleport away.

Cortana: "I've discovered something interesting about our new friends. When the big one explodes, that momentary flash we're seeing is actually a data purge."

John-117: "Can you tap into it?"

Cortana: "So far, I've pulled multiple strings referring the big ones as Promethean Knights. beyond that though, things get a bit dense."

John enters a Forerunner tunnel.

Captain Andrew Del Rio (COM): "(garbled transmission)"

Cortana: "The relay interference is increasing. We must be getting close to the pylon."

John exits the tunnel and fights more Prometheans. As he moves on, a distortion appears on HUD.

John-117: "What's that distortion?"

Cortana: "That's me…something about moving through these portal is increasing the load on my system."

John-117: "Are you… going to be alright?"

Cortana: "Don't worry. Ive held off rampancy this long, haven't I?"

If the player stalls:

Cortana: "Chief, we won't be able to contact Infinity if we don't get to that pylon and take it down."

After heading through another tunnel, John arrives at pylon. At the top of the structure, the walkway leading to the top of the pylon is blocked by hard light shields.

Cortana: "That's the target, but it looks like the entrance is shielded. Let's figure out how to take it down."

John explores the structures in the area, engaging more Prometheans, and eventually finds an energy sphere in one of the smaller structures.

Cortana: "One of the shield's power core. Take it out."

John destroys the sphere.

Cortana: "I read two more cores on our level. Hit them before you climb all the way up."

John continues on and destroys the second core in another structure.

Cortana: "Well done, Chief, one to go."

John destroys the last core.

Cortana: "Great, that's all the cores. Head for the top of the pylon."

John heads up the main center structure.

Cortana: "Chief, look at this:"

A diagram appears on John's HUD. The symbol representing Infinity is approaching the circle representing Requiem.

Cortana: "That's Requiem. They're not inside at all… they're moving into orbit."

John enters an elevator, which starts up to the top of the pylon.

Andrew Del Rio (COM): "(garble transmission)"

John-117: "Did he say Forward Unto Dawn?"

Cortana: "They must have intercepted our distress beacon!"

John-117: "The beacon was pulled into Requiem with us. If they try to follow it…"

Cortana: "…they'll get caught in the gravity well. I'll keep trying to warn them; you get that beam down!"

The elevator stops and the door opens. A mechanism is exerting a large beam to the center of Requiem's core.

Cortana: "That's the beam control!"

{Cutscene}

John deactivates the beam.

Cortana: "It's working. the signal from the relay is starting to clear up."

Andrew Del Rio (COM): "Fleetcom actual. We've detected a UNSC beacon coming from somewhere inside the planet-"

{Gameplay}

Cortana: "They haven't hit the gravity well yet."

A portal activates on the far side of the chamber.

Cortana: "There's still too much interference to warn them. We've got to disable the other beam before they're pulled in like we were."

John returns to the room that leads to Requiem's core. He leaves the room. Several Covenant remnant ships leave slipspace and arrive at the Requiem's core. They fly towards the second pylon.

Enemy of my Enemy

Cortana: "I was wondering why Infinity hadn't encountered the Covenant yet."

John-117: "What are they doing here?"

Cortana: "They're heading to the second pylon as well!"

John-117: "That can't be a coincidence."

John enters another portal and teleports to another room leading to a canyon.

Cortana: "Sounds like the Prometheans don't want the Covenant here, either. The battlenet's already lighting up with reports of resistance all around the pylon."

John drops down a hole in the rocks, and arrives at a small valley. Two Covenant drop pods drop from the sky. Covenant troops leave the pod and immediately defend themselves from the patrolling Prometheans.

Cortana: "Drop pods!"

John moves on up to the cliff of the valley. A Promethean Knight teleports to where a Sangheili is standing, and kills the Sangheili with its blade. John kills the Knight and moves on. A group of Watchers enter the area and one of them generates a Forerunner beam turret, which opens fire at John and the Covenant. After dispatching the enemies in the valley, John enters the adjacent valley. Two Ghosts speeds past John, but both of the operators are killed by a Knight, who swiftly slashed them off their vehicles. John moves on to the valley, where Covenant and Prometheans fight for control of the area. John eventually reaches the end of the valley and enters a tunnel.

Andrew Del Rio (COM): "(garbled transmission)"

Cortana: "The relay's signal is breaking up again. We're almost to the beam."

A diagram appears on John's HUD. The circle representing Requiem opens as the symbol representing Infinity gets close to it.

Andrew Del Rio (COM): "(garbled transmission)"

Cortana: "They've found the opening! We better get up to that relay and fast!"

John arrives at the second pylon. The main structure and the smaller structures are occupied by the Covenant. John finds the first power core and disables it.

Cortana: "Power core down! Shield's weak, but still online. Take out the other two power cores and we can access the pylon."

John moves on to disable the second power core.

Cortana: "Second power core offline, good job, Chief!"

John disables the final power core.

Cortana: "That'll do it. Shields should be down. Get up to that beam!"

John reaches the top of the main structure and enters the elevator.

Andrew Del Rio (COM): "UNSC Infinity to survivor, Forward Unto Dawn. Reading a faint IFF tag near the planetary core, do you read?"

Cortana: "Planet's core? They know we're here!"

Cortana: "Infinity this is UNSC AI Cortana. Do not approach Forerunner planet! Repeat, do not approach-"

Andrew Del Rio (COM): "Infinity to UNSC asset! Forward Unto Dawn! We read you but you're breaking up! Helm, increase speed by point seven. Get us in there."

Cortana: "Negative, Infinity! Do not enter the planet!"

Andrew Del Rio (COM): "If you can hear us, keep transmitting-"

Cortana: "No! Chief, you've got to that beam down now!"

The elevator stops, and John exits to deactivate the second beam.

{Cutscene}

Cortana: "Cortana to Infinity, do you copy? Come in, Infinity! The interference is gone, but your suit's transmitter is not strong enough."

{Gameplay}

John-117: "Route us up to the relay satellite."

Cortana: "Already done! go!"

A portal appears at the end of the chamber. John heads in and teleports to the first room. They exit to the where they started. A portal activates on the center of the platform.

Cortana: "Once we're on the satellite, there's bound to be a central control point."

The Covenant ships head towards the satellite in the center of Requiem's core.

John-117: "The Covenant is moving towards the relay too."

Cortana: "This doesn't make any sense! Why would they care about a broadcast relay?

John-117: "I'll handle them; you just find us that control node."

John enters the center portal and is brought to the satellite. A ominous grey orb with orange patterns on it is placed at the center of the satellite.

Almost Home

A Phantom arrives and drops off a few Unggoy and a Kig-yar Sniper.

John-117: "How soon 'til Infinity hits the gravity well?"

Cortana: "A minute or two, max!"

Cortana: "The Covenant are making a push for something on the far side of the satellite."

John enters one of the chambers leading to the far side of the satellite. Prometheans and Covenant are having fierce battles. A Phantom crashes into one of the Forerunner wall. John pushes on.

Cortana: "Chief, you need to hear this!"

Infinity Comm (COM): "We're detecting a slight gravimeter disturbance near the planetary entrance. Suggest altering vector approach 43K-750K-12K."

Cortana: "They're not diverting from the opening! Hurry, Chief!"

John arrives at the far side of the satellite, where more Sangheili are fighting Promethean Knights. John eliminates or runs past them. On the end of the walkway, there are two small pillars imprinted with the Reclaimer symbols.

Cortana: "Wait - something's not right!"

John-117: "We don't have time!"

Cortana: "The pillars! Touch the pillars!"

{Cutscene}

John places his hands on each pillar and speaks.

John-117: "Infinity! This Sierra 117 of UNSC Forward Unto Dawn. Do you copy?"

John's own speech broadcasts dully and garbled from the enormous sphere before him. It is slowly rising and emanating an orange glow. John looks at it in confusion.

John-117: "Infinity? Do you read?"

The sphere continues to rise. Its black plating is folding away to reveal its glowing orange core. Below John, many fighting Sangheili and Prometheans stop to see the Cryptum rising.

Cortana: "Chief... Chief, let go of the contacts!"

John quickly pulls his hands away from the pillars. He faces the rising Cryptum and pulls out his assault rifle.

John-117: "Find us an exit."

Cortana: "Don't wait around on my account."

John leaps off the platform to a lower level just as the Cryptum releases an orange energy wave, which knocks over the Covenant and Prometheans. John hides behind a small barrier and peaks over it to see what is happening.

POV shot of the Cryptum's bottom unfolding and letting down a small triangular capsule. The capsule floats down into midair, stops, and opens up to reveal a kneeling figure. He seems to be non-human, but very tall and muscular. Upon seeing him, John ducks back behind the barrier again.

The released figure stands up and flexes his body. Gradually armor starts to appear on his back, chest, and arms. Once he is fully armored, the man assesses his surroundings.

Didact: "So fades the great harvest of my betrayal."

The Didact spreads out a hand to let out an shimmering wave over the nearby Prometheans, which calm down and change their blue highlights to orange. They cease fighting the Sangheili, who bow down in reverence of the Forerunner.

Jul 'Mdama: "Didact!"^[6]

The Didact's platform floats to where John is hiding. He looks at him disdainfully.

Didact: "Even these beasts recognized what you were oblivious to, Human. Your nobility has blinded you, as ever."

The metal barrier shielding John disintegrates. John immediately stands up to fight but the Forerunner simply reaches out into the air and telekinetically binds him. The helpless John is lifted to face the Didact.

Didact: "The Librarian left little to chance, didn't she? Turning my own guardians… my own world… against me. But what hubris to believe she could protect her pets from me forever… If you haven't mastered even these primitives, then Man has not attained the Mantle. Your ascendance may yet be prevented. Time was your ally, Human, but now it has abandoned you. The Forerunners have returned."

The Didact summons his helmet, which assembles itself to resemble a glowing metal skull. John struggles and chokes but still can't break free.

Didact: "This tomb is now yours."

The Didact tosses John away, who slams into a wall and crashes onto the floor. The Spartan groans and forces himself back up, seeing the Didact retreat into the enormous rising Cryptum, now surrounded by swirling energy.

Cortana: "Slipspace rupture! Chief, move!"

John runs for his life. The Cryptum's energy glows brighter and brighter then explodes. Cut to black.

Cortana: "Chief, please! We've got to go!

Fade in to John's HUD. He slowly comes to.

Cortana: "That… Didact. He manipulated Infinity's signal to get us to release him! …Get up!"

John regains full consciousness and forces himself up.

John-117: "What's happening?"

John looks up to see an enormous glowing energy mass forming in the sky. A Phantom is pulled out of the air toward it.

Cortana: "Moving the satellite into slipspace has destabilized the core."

The Phantom smashes into another being pulled, and both smash down on the surface. Their complements, Ghosts enough for a whole squad, fall off the Phantoms and on to the ground.

Cortana: "The Didact's leaving! We've got to find a way out of here before the whole network collapses!"

Next Stop, Certain Death

{Gameplay}

John heads to where the Phantoms crashed. All of the Ghosts are still intact.

Cortana: "Grab one of those Ghosts."

John gets on the Ghost and begin to drive down the valley.

Cortana: "Hang on, I'm going to channel energy from your shields to overdrive the Ghost's boost."

John's energy shields are depleted, but his Ghost's boost drive is stronger, allowing him to boost faster and for a indefinite time. He continues down the valley.

If the player exits the Ghost:

Cortana: "Chief, what are you doing?"

John encounters numerous Unggoy running for their lives. He speeds past them.

Cortana: "Keep going! Keep going!"

He goes through a cave.

Cortana: "Emergency broadcast from Infinity!"

Andrew Del Rio (COM): "Fleet com, this is Infinity. We are encountering an unidentifiable gravimetric disturbance and are being pulled inside a planet of Forerunner origin! Possible contact with UNSC Forward Unto Dawn! Jettisoning complete log beacon at our last known!"

John-117: "Cortana, we need to get up there."

Cortana: "It's not like I can get out and push!"

John drives through chasms, caves and valleys.

Cortana: "The core's not going to last much longer!"

John drives over a chasm and a portal could be seen ahead.

Cortana: "Portal up ahead!"

The Ghost enters the portal.

{Cutscene}

A portal opens near a rocky cliff, spitting out John's Ghost. He sees the edge of the cliff approaching rapidly.

Cortana: "Whoa, cowboy!"

He stands atop the Ghost, then kick-jumps off of it, landing and coming to a stop inches from the edge. The Ghost tumbles away into the fog below.

Cortana: "Chief, there!"

John looks up and sees the UNSC Infinity emerging from the clouds. Electric sparkles around the ship. The ship leaves the cloud layer and draws closer to him. The ship tumbles over him and past the mountain range.

Andrew Del Rio (COM): "Mayday! Mayday! This is the captain of the UNSC Infinity. Unknown enemy has seized control of the ship - we're without power! We are on a collision course with an unidentified Forerunner planet..."

John-117: "Track its descent."

Cortana: "Marking. Impact predicted seventy-seven-point-eight kilometers due north."

John watches as the Infinity descends. The air begins to waver and distort behind him as Didact's Cryptum rises from beyond the cliff edge. John turns back and unholsters his assault rifle in alarm. The Cyptum scans the mountain he is on. The sphere then zooms away to the direction of the Infinity at supersonic speed.

Cortana: "You know where he's heading..."

John-117: "Same place we are."

John walks toward the camera. Fade to black. Level ends.

Trivia

Glitches

During the final segment of the mission, the player can occasionally cause a glitch in the game by ramming a rock with a boosting Ghost right as the rock juts into the air. This will launch the Ghost and the player up into the air and out of the map, where they will continue to fall below the map for several seconds before the game reverts to last checkpoint.

Mistakes

During the cutscene where the the Didact is freed, the two Elites besides the Promethean Knights are both shown with energy swords. In a later shot, one of the Elites is shown with a Needler instead.

Miscellaneous

In co-op mode, players who die during the Ghost escape sequence will respawn already riding a new Ghost, to prevent death from making it impossible to finish the level.