Editing Dawn

{{Era|RW}}

{{Title|Dawn}}

{{Level Infobox

|prev=[[Prologue]]

|next=[[Requiem (level)|Requiem]]

|name=Dawn

|image=[[File:Dawn.jpeg|350px]]

|player=[[John-117]]

{{Article Quote|After four years adrift in space, Cortana awakens the Master Chief to investigate a disturbance on the Forward Unto Dawn.}}

'''Dawn''' is the second [[campaign]] level of ''[[Halo 4]]''. After years of [[cryonics|cryo-sleep]], [[John-117]] awakens to wage war upon the [[Covenant remnant]] in the wreckage of the {{UNSCship|Forward Unto Dawn}}.<ref>[http://www.gametrailers.com/full-episodes/qevv7h/gt-tv-halo-4 '''GTTV''' - ''Halo 4'']</ref> Completing the level on any difficulty unlocks the [[Dawn (achievement)|Dawn]] achievement, while accessing John's service record during the level grants the player the [[Digging up the Past]] achievement.  

==Transcript==

[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qDgKn2PFYbk '''{''Cutscene''}''']

[[File:H4fudback.jpg|thumb|right|300px|The ''Forward Unto Dawn''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s remains.]]

''A field of debris surround the rear half of the {{UNSCship|Forward Unto Dawn}}.''  

''The frigate comes into closer view, revealing the ship's nameplate. Inside the ''Dawn'', mechanical parts drift aimlessly in zero gravity. An automated message loops through the speakers.''  

*'''Cortana (PA)''': ''(looping)'' "Mayday, mayday, mayday. This is UNSC FFG-201 ''Forward Unto Dawn'', requesting immediate evac. Survivors aboard. Prioritization code: Victor Zero Five dash Three dash [[John-117|Sierra Zero One One Seven]]."  

[[File:H4 Chief in cryochamber.png|thumb|right|300px|John-117, moments before his reveille.]]

''Muffled explosions can be heard, signalling multiple decompression events - the ship is being boarded. Increasingly agitated, Cortana brings up the cryo chamber's control interface. A schematic of a modified [[MJOLNIR Mark VI]] powered armor is displayed, alongside life signs and cryo-tube diagrams. A single prompt appears on-screen.''

[[File:H4 Chief thaw.jpg|thumb|right|300px|<tt>>UNSEAL THE HUSHED CASKET</tt>]]

*'''Cortana''': "Wake up, Chief.  

*'''Cortana''': "I need you."  

*'''Cortana''': "Chief! Easy. You've been out for a while."

*'''John-117''': "Where are we?"

*'''Cortana''': "We're still adrift on the ''Dawn''."

*'''John-117''': "Why did you wake me?"

*'''Cortana''': "Hang on. Bringing your systems online now."

*'''Cortana''': "I rewrote your suit's firmware while you were out."

*'''John-117''': "You've been busy."

*'''Cortana''': "Activating the ships's gravity generators."

''The drifting crates and debris in the room drop onto the floor.''

*'''System (PA)''': '''''Partial system restoration. Initializing system diagnostics...'''''

*'''Cortana''': "Chief, look up. You need to pull the manual release."

''John looks up and pulls the cryo-tube's manual release lever. John quickly steps out as the tube opens, walking over to the [[holotank]] that Cortana is occupying.'''

*'''Cortana''': "Seems like old times."

*'''John-117''': "Ready to get back to work?"

*'''Cortana''': "I thought you'd never ask."

[[File:Chief Cortana.jpg|thumb|300px|John-117 and Cortana prepares to leave the cryo bay.]]

''John pulls Cortana out of the holo-tank and inserts it into his neural interface. John raises his [[MA5D Individual Combat Weapon System|MA5D assault rifle]], readying for combat.''

*'''Cortana''': "We've got intrusion alerts lighting up on multiple decks. Our best bet to figure out who's boarding us is the observation deck - four floors up."

*'''John-117''': "Could it be a rescue team?"

*'''Cortana''': "I wouldn't bet on it!"

''Below the walkway leading out of the cryo chamber, a single computer terminal containing John-117's service record can be found. The terminal displays a picture of technicians assembling the Chief's [[MJOLNIR Mark V]] armor.''

*'''System''': ''This is the service record for SPARTAN John-117. Would you like to continue?''

*'''System''': ''Frigate ''[[Dawn_(level)#Mistakes|[sic]]]'' ''[[UNSC Pillar of Autumn|Pillar of Autumn]]'' discovers [[Forerunner]] [[Halo Array|Halo]] [[Installation 04]], and deploys SPARTAN-117 to protect UNSC AI Cortana. Chief uncovers a plot to fire the weapon, and sacrifices the ''Autumn'' to destroy the Halo ring. Pursuing the [[Solemn Penance|Covenant flagship]] after [[Battle of Earth|an attack on Earth]], SPARTAN-117 arrives at Halo [[Installation 05]] to find the Covenant [[Great Schism|erupting into civil war]]. After preventing the Covenant from firing the ring, 117 followed them back to Earth in search of a Forerunner installation that can activate all the galaxy's Halos. The Covenant arrive at Earth, and open a [[The Portal|portal]] to [[Installation 00|the Ark]], an extragalactic Forerunner installation that can fire the Halo array. SPARTAN-117 unites a joint [[Covenant separatists|Covenant]]/UNSC team to pursue the Covenant to the Ark, where he successfully destroys the Installation and prevents the rings from being used. When SPARTAN-117 attempts to escape from the Ark aboard the {{UNSCship|Forward Unto Dawn}} the slipspace portal that the ship is passing through collapses. Aboard the aft section of the Dawn, SPARTAN-117 is placed into cryo-sleep pending recovery by UNSC forces. AI Cortana to remain active [[rampancy|as long as is technically feasible]]. End of service record.''

''The next room contains a holo-projector, displaying a schematic of the ''Dawn''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s stern half.''  

*'''System (PA)''': ''(looping)'' '''''Intrusion alert. Intrusion alert.'''''

*'''System''': ''[[M4093 Hyperion nuclear delivery system|Weapons systems - online]]. Gravity controls - online. Ship propulsion - offline. Bow hull integrity - compromised. Life support - online.''

*'''John-117''': "How long was I out?"

*'''Cortana''': "Four years, seven months, ten days."

*'''John-117''': "Somebody should have found us by now."

[[File:H4-Dawn-OperationsRoom.jpg|thumb|right|300px|The ''Dawn'''s operations room.]]

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

*'''Cortana''': "Sensor scan, high intensity! Doesn't match any known patterns!"

*'''John-117''': "How close are we to the observation deck?"

*'''Cortana''': "It's directly above us."

''John leaves the room, arriving at the elevator entrance.

*'''Cortana''': "The elevator doors look sealed tight."

*'''Cortana''': "Chief, be careful...!"

*'''Cortana''': "Because some areas might have lost pressure!"

*'''John-117''': "Right."

*'''Cortana''': "Chief, watch out!"

''Debris fall from above. The Chief quickly jumps to another ledge to the left, managing to avoid the falling fragments. (If the debris is not avoided, it hits Chief and sends him back down to where he started that section of the climb)''

*'''Cortana''': "I didn't realize the ship had deteriorated so badly."

''John manages to climb to the entrance for the observation deck, avoiding more falling debris. An [[Type-1 Energy Weapon/Sword|energy sword]]-wielding [[Sangheili Storm]] decloaks and immediately assaults the Chief. John blocks the Sangheili's sword strike, grabs his mandibles, punches him in the face, then throws him into the elevator shaft. The doors lock behind him. (If the player fails to press the Right Bumper in time, then the Elite slashes at John, draining his shields, and shoves him down the shaft)''

*'''John-117''': "I thought we had a truce with the Covenant."

*'''Cortana''': "A lot can happen in four years. Either way, he's probably not alone. We should be careful."

''John enters the observation deck. The windows are covered by the blast shields. A Sangheili is attempting to access the controls, while multiple [[Unggoy]] are patrolling the floor below. They open fire as soon as the Master Chief is sighted. John takes them out.''

*'''Cortana''': "That's the last of them. Find the override for the blast shields so we can see what we're up against."

''John heads for the controls and activates the override. The blast shield gradually rises.''

*'''Cortana''': "The good news is these Covenant aren't outfitted like standard military. It's possible we just came across a rogue salvage ship."

''The blast shields fully open, revealing multiple [[CRS-class light cruiser]]s moving closer to the ''Dawn''. Behind the fleet, a [[Requiem|mysterious world]] ominously looms. A formation of Banshees rapidly scream past the observation deck's windows.''

*'''Cortana''': "...''Or'' we might have stumbled into an entire Covenant fleet."

*'''John-117''': "Maybe they haven't recognized us."

''Two [[Type-44 Troop Carrier|Phantoms]], equipped with boarding arms, lower into view.''

*'''Cortana''': "That's ''one'' possibility..."

*'''Cortana''': "Landing craft, flanking us!"

[[File:H4 - Cov Explosion.jpeg|thumb|right|300px|The Chief kills Covenant boarders with a grenade.]]

*'''System (PA)''': '''''Warning - atmosphere breach. Activating emergency barricades.'''''

*'''Cortana''': "The decompression put the room into lockdown! It'll take a few minutes to repressurize."

*'''Cortana''': "I'm still reading some stragglers. Clear them out."

*'''John-117''': "We need to get off this ship."

*'''Cortana''': "We've got bigger problems... We've got a cruiser on an intercept course! Head for the elevator banks."

-----

*'''John-117''': "Didn't the ship's sensors say we still had weapon systems online?"

*'''Cortana''': "Yes, but since the ship was torn in half, we can't access the weapons stations. We'll have to fire them manually from the outer hull."

-----

*'''John-117''': "Are any of the ship-to-ship weapon systems online?"

*'''Cortana''': "Only the Hyperion missiles, but we'll have to fire them manually from the outer hull."

-----

*'''Cortana''': "That cruiser's shields are down! Assuming they don't raise them, that missile's going to be one heck of a surprise."

''John continues on, encountering increasingly thick resistance.''

*'''John-117''': "These Covenant seem more fanatical than the ones we fought before."

*'''John-117''': "How far to the missile?"

*'''Cortana''': "We're just about there."

''John eventually makes his way to an airlock.''

*'''Cortana''': "The auxiliary launch station should be on your left out of the airlocks."

''Purple fields of static suddenly appears on John's HUD.''

*'''Cortana''' ''(distorted)'': "You'll have to prime the launch for ignition!"

*'''John-117''': "Cortana?"

*'''Cortana''': "It's nothing. Just get to the launch station."

*'''Cortana''': "Uh, I'm sorry - did I miss us orbiting a ''Forerunner planet'' at some point?"

*'''John-117''': "One thing at a time."

''If the Chief happens to stall for a while:''

*'''Cortana''': "Chief, you need to find the missile controls."

[[File:H4_campaign_dawn.jpeg|thumb|300px|The Covenant fleet around the ''Dawn'''s wreckage.]]

*'''Cortana''': "There's the launch station."

*'''Cortana''': "Launch initiated!"

*'''Cortana''': "Great, the blast door's jammed! The missile won't fire until it's cleared. Get down there!"

''Phantoms drop more troops into the area, forcing John to take them out before he can launch the missile.''

*'''Cortana''': "You did it - get back!"

''The missile launches, hitting the approaching cruiser, which was charging its energy projector. The cruiser shatters into pieces and the debris drifts over the ''Dawn''. Suddenly, a beam of orange light from the planet scans the Chief.''

*'''Cortana''': "Chief?"

*'''John-117''': "The Covenant weren't the one's scanning us."

''Massive segments of the planetoid surface begins to retract, revealing a blinding white-blue energy field beneath. Covenant cruisers nearby are sucked into the opening.''

*'''Cortana''': "So, ''now'' can we worry about the giant metal planet?"

*'''Cortana''': "It's using a gravity well to pull us inside the surface!"

*'''Cortana''': "We've gotta hurry. The second we cross the dome's event horizon, its atmosphere is going to tear us apart!"

*'''John-117''': "Where are the closest escape pods?"

*'''Cortana''': "Aft vehicle bay! I'm tagging the closest airlock, ''go''!"

*'''System (PA)''': '''''Hull integrity at 30 percent.'''''

*'''System (PA)''': '''''Warning - system depressurization.'''''

*'''System (PA)''': '''''Please immediately proceed to nearest life-station.'''''

*'''System (PA)''': '''''Hull integrity at 25 percent.'''''

*'''Cortana''': "All but one of the grav generators just went dark!"

*'''John-117''': "Just keep me pointed at that vehicle bay."

*'''System (PA)''': '''''Emergency escape pods have been depleted in this area.'''''

*'''System (PA)''': '''''Hull integrity at 15 percent.'''''

*'''System (PA)''': '''''Hull integrity at 10 percent. Warning - critical ship damage.'''''

*'''Cortana''': "We're almost there!"

*'''System (PA)''': '''''Hull integrity at 5 percent. Personnel are advised to evacuate immediately.'''''

''The Chief charges ahead. By this point, the hallways are continuously bursting into flames.''

*'''System (PA)''': '''''Warning - catastrophic depressurization.'''''

*'''Cortana''': "Chief!"

*'''Cortana''': "Hold on!"

*'''Cortana''': "We're caught in the gravity well!"

''A large segment of the ''Dawn'' smashes violently into a light cruiser, triggering secondary explosions that rip the Covenant warship apart.''

*'''John-117''': "Can you track the escape pods?"

 

*'''Cortana''': "Negative - ''look out!''"

 

==Trivia==

===Miscellaneous===

*This level is reminiscent of the level [[The Pillar of Autumn (Halo: Combat Evolved level)|''The Pillar of Autumn'']] from ''[[Halo: Combat Evolved]]'': both levels involve the Master Chief awakening from cryo-sleep, retrieving Cortana, and defending a ship from Covenant boarders before crash-landing on a Forerunner installation. It is also similar to the level ''[[Cairo Station (level)|Cairo Station]]'' from ''[[Halo 2]]'', in which John repels boarders, fights on the eponymous station's outer hull, and destroys a Covenant ship with explosives.

*The cutscene depicting John dislodging the missile from its silo is one of the few occurrences in which he is depicted being equipped with the weapon that the player is using at that moment in a level. In most cutscenes, John is depicted being equipped with scripted weapons regardless of what weapon the player has at the time. The only other notable time that John is seen equipped with the weapon chosen by the player is during ''[[Halo 2]]'''s cutscenes.

*This level marks the first campaign level in the ''Halo'' series to not have a section. Even though there are Rally Points available in the Campaign lobby, there are no names for the level's sections. There is a similar case in the ''Halo 2'' campaign level ''[[Gravemind (level)|Gravemind]]'', where there's only one section in the entire level.

*The Sangheili John-117 encounters at the elevator shaft is not affected by the [[Halo 4 skulls#Thunderstorm|Thunderstorm skull]].

===Glitches===

*It is possible to obtain an [[Infinite Energy Sword on Dawn|energy sword with unlimited charge]].<ref>[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jWhWH3ksbVM '''YouTube''' - ''Halo 4 Glitch: Secret Energy Sword with Unlimited Ammo'']</ref>

===Easter eggs===

*Several cases resembling that of the ''[[Halo 4 Limited Edition]]'' can be found floating in the ship's cryo chamber, observation deck, and airlocks.<ref>[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BCQNdfYZ4nY '''YouTube''' - ''Halo 4 Easter Egg: Collector's Edition'']</ref>

===Mistakes===

*John-117's service record misidentifies the {{UNSCship|Pillar of Autumn}} as a frigate.

*John's grapple with the Sangheili Storm is similar to a vignette from ''[[Halo: Reach]]''. In the level ''[[Winter Contingency (level)|Winter Contingency]]'', [[SPARTAN-B312]] punches a Sangheili Zealot while pinned to the ground, narrowly saving him/herself from being stabbed by an [[energy dagger]]. In both cases, the Elites' shields do not flare when punched.

*The post-war UNSC emblem is used aboard the ''Forward Unto Dawn'', despite the frigate having been out of contact with the UNSC since 2552. Curiously, the proper emblem is painted on the starboard wing during the establishing shot of the ''Dawn'', though it is barely visible.

==Gallery==

File:Halo4conceptart14.jpg|Early concept art of the level.

File:Halo4conceptart3.jpg|Concept art of the ''Dawn'''s wreckage.

File:H4-Concept-Dawn-Cryo.jpg|Early concept art of the cryo bay, with Covenant boarders surrounding the Chief.

File:DawnCryoConcept.jpg|Finalized concept art of the cryo bay.

File:Cov 229 l.jpg|Concept art of the Chief and Cortana inside the ''Dawn''.

File:Halo4conceptart2.jpg|Concept art of the ''Dawn'' entering Requiem.

File:Halo4conceptart16.jpg|Concept art of the ''Dawn'' dissolving as the ship enters Requiem's gravity well.

File:DawnInterior.jpg|A first-person view of the ''Dawn'''s cryo bay.

File:Dawn Covenant boarders.jpg|thumb|300px|John-117 engages Covenant boarders.

File:2821575-gallery.jpg|John-117 encountering a Covenant [[lance]].

File:2821574-gallery.jpg|John combating an Elite with an [[MA5D Individual Combat Weapon System|MA5D assault rifle]].

File:H4-MasterChief-M6H-Campaign.jpg|John fighting boarders with an [[M6H Personal Defense Weapon System|M6H Magnum]].

==Sources==

<references/>

{{Level|H4}}

[[Category:Halo 4 Campaign]]