Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn/Transcripts/Part 5

Open to the holotank inside the UNSC Forward Unto Dawn. 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 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!"

Sullivan groans in pain louder.

• 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 is 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-117: "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 Anskum-pattern plasma grenade rolls out from the forest and into the Warthog's path, and detonates. Lasky yells in surprise.

Time slows down as the Warthog drives through the plasma and smoke. Dust and dirt spray its occupants. Everything then speeds back up as the Warthog comes under fire from Kig-Yar on both sides. Needler rounds hit the Warthog's plating. A "Warning" appears on the Warthog's speed meter, and the meter decreases. John fires the Warthog's turret and takes down a Kig-Yar Storm.

• John-117: "Controlled-burst! Don't spray and pray!"

Orenski and Silva fire their assault rifles.

• John-117: "Cadet! Two o'clock!"

Orenski adjusts her aim and fires another burst from her assault rifle. Needler rounds 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 her seat, takes aim and fires her assault rifle in two short bursts at a pair of Kig-Yar Storms. Her aim is true, and both aliens go down in slow motion. Scene then speeds back up as the Warthog continues on and gets out of range of the Covenant attackers.

• John-117: (on the radio) "Kelly, track our position for evac."

• Orenski: "I think we're clear."

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

• Lasky: "Nice job."

Silva looks at him and smiles. Suddenly, a Kig-Yar Storm appears directly in front of the Warthog. The vehicle plows right into the alien, sending it flying over the hood, and splattering the windshield with blood. The Jackal's Needler discharges several errant shots, one of which goes directly into the Warthog's interior. Lasky, caught by surprise, hits the brakes. The Warthog comes to a sudden stop. Silva and Orenski jerk forward. Sullivan groans even louder.

• 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. The Spartan turns to Orenski.

• John-117: "Hand me the biofoam and man the gun."

Cut to Silva and Lasky. Silva looks down at her stomach while Lasky continues trying to reactivate the Warthog.

• Lasky: "Come on, come on! Come on!"

Orenski mans the turret and scans the forest around them. She hears a Kig-Yar stepping on a tree branch. The turret's search light, however, reveals no Covenant. Cut back to John and Sullivan. John has finished applying the biofoam.

• John-117: "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 tries again to get the Warthog restarted.

• 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 Needler shard embedded in her stomach.

• Silva: "...Tom...?"

Lasky is still trying to reignite 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 a nervous Orenski looking around. Kig-Yar can be heard screeching off-screen. 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, breathing hard.

• Silva: (weakly) "...Tom?"

Lasky finally turns around and notices the Needler round in her stomach. Lasky panics.

• Silva: (in pain) "Tom..."

• Lasky: "Chief!!"

John turns around as Silva groans loudly in pain.

• Lasky: "Chief! Chyler's been hit!"

The Chief goes to assist.

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

• Lasky: "Shit..."

• John-117: "I'm out of biofoam. We have to get her to the Pelican. Now."

There's a booming thud in the distance. John-117 looks up. Cut to Orenski. A strange green glow has appeared behind her. More Kig-Yar can be heard in the distance.

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

• John-117: "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 get Silva out of the vehicle and start carrying her away by the shoulders.

• 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 are 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-117: "I'm sorry."

The Chief turns to the others.

• John-117: "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-117: "Thanks."

They hear a distant alien roar.

• Sullivan: "Guys?"

• John-117: "There's another one. Move, now."

The Chief and Orenski leave.

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

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

• Sullivan: (in the distance) "Lasky, come on!"

Lasky slowly stands up and shuffles forward, head hanging low. The booming of the Hunter grows louder.

• Orenski: (in the distance) "Lasky, come on! Come on!"

Lasky turns and takes a look at his reflection as the sounds of the alien behemoth draw closer. He then turns and runs off after the others.

Cut to John-117 and the cadets sprinting through the forest. A bright green projectile explodes nearby. They come across a shallow depression and stop to look down. They hear a roar and look back. The second Hunter is closing in on them. With no other choice, they jump into the depression.

• John-117: (points) "There."

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

• John-117: (on the radio) "Kelly, negative. Need more time. Cannot make it to the rendezvous."

Lasky notices the grenade still in John's hand.

• John-117: (on the radio) "You have to hold the Pelican. I won't leave them. Chief out."

The cadets stare at him.

• John-117: "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-117: "Cadet..."

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

• Orenski: "Lasky!"

• Lasky: (determined) "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 gets up and scampers away through the woods. The Hunter roars, powers down its weapon, and turns to follow him.

John-117 primes the grenade and charges the alien from behind but it turns and hits him with its shield, knocking him to the ground. Lasky looks back as the Hunter turns and aims at him again. John-117 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. Zoom in on the Chief's visor. He shoves the grenade into the mass of Lekgolo worms in the creature's back, then flips off and away from it, landing in a crouching position. The Hunter grunts and 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. Sullivan and Orenski get to their feet and run over to Lasky. John picks up a piece of the Hunter's shattered armor.

Sully and Orenski reach Lasky.

• Orenski: "Lasky! Lasky!"

• Sullivan: "Lasky?"

Orenski turns Lasky over and tries to shake him awake.

• Orenski: "Lasky! Lasky! Lasky!"

• John-117: (on the radio) "Bring it down, Kelly."

• Orenski: "Come on!"

Lasky coughs and opens his eyes. Relieved, Sullivan and Orenski help him to his feet. They hear engines overhead and look up. John-117 points them toward the evac zone, and they head off. The sun rises as the survivors make their way out of the forest and into a clearing where a Pelican is waiting for them. A Marine is kneeling down in a defensive position nearby.

As the cadets run towards the Pelican, John meets up with another Spartan.

• John-117: "We have three survivors."

• Kelly-087: "I've alerted Command."

• John-117: "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. They've got Chief. Pelican is leaving the surface and their bay is full. All Spartans onboard; 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. Frederic-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-087: "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-117: "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 of confidence in his eyes, tightens his grip on the Hunter shard, looks around and then closes his eyes as Commander Lasky opens his eyes on the bridge of the UNSC Infinity, the flashback over.

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

• Commander Thomas 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 UNSC AI: "The Captain has ordered us into emergency slipspace protocol. Prepare for cryo."

Lasky enters the cryo chamber. Outside, the Infinity 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 briefly, then presses it. She looks up at John in his cryo chamber, her own image reflected in its surface. Cut to black.