| UNSC Forward Unto Dawn | |
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| Production information | |
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Class: |
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Role: |
Support for heavier ships, transport, command vessel (in absence of larger vessels) |
| Specifications | |
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Length: |
478 metres (1568 ft 3 in)[note 1] |
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Width: |
155.2 metres (509 ft 2 in) |
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Height: |
139.2 metres (456 ft 8 in) |
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Engine: |
Fusion drive - two primary, two secondary[note 1] |
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Slipspace drive: |
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Hull: |
60 centimeters titanium-A battleplate |
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Armament: |
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| Service information | |
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Destroyed: |
2552 - split in half, forward half crashed in Indian Ocean; 2557 - aft half crashed on Requiem |
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Participated battles: |
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Fleet: |
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Known commanders: |
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Affiliation: |
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UNSC Forward Unto Dawn (FFG-201) was a Charon-class light frigate in the UNSC Navy.[1] Affectionately known by her crew as "The Dawn",[2][3] the ship's name is taken from a poem about humanity's interstellar expansion.[4]
History
Battle of Voi
- Main article: Battle of Voi
In November 2552, Forward Unto Dawn was part of the UNSC's Seventh Fleet. The Dawn was recalled to reinforce the UNSC Home Fleet during the Battle of Earth.[1] The UNSC suffered heavy casualties during the Covenant's assault. By the time Spartan John-117 arrived from Installation 05 aboard the Prophet of Truth's Forerunner Dreadnought, Forward Unto Dawn was one of the few ships remaining under Fleet Admiral Terrence Hood's command. Due to the lack of larger, more powerful vessels, Hood used the Dawn as his flagship during the Battle of Voi. He agreed to commit Forward Unto Dawn and two other frigates, (including Aegis Fate), against the grounded Dreadnought, which had begun interfacing with the Forerunner structure the Covenant had unearthed between the cities of Mombasa and Voi. After the Spartan destroyed the Covenant's local anti-air defenses, the frigates and several GA-TL1 Longswords assaulted the Dreadnought.
Despite firing nearly a dozen MAC slugs at Truth's ship, the Dreadnought remained unharmed. Immediately afterward, a slipspace portal was activated and Truth's fleet passed through it. Unbeknownst to the UNSC, who assumed that the excavated complex was itself the Ark, the real Ark, Installation 00, lay beyond the portal.[5]
The Flood arrived in Voi shortly after the opening of the slipspace portal; the parasite was pursued by a Covenant separatist Fleet of Retribution, led by the assault carrier Shadow of Intent. The Flood threat forced the UNSC into an alliance with the Sangheili-led separatists, commanded by Shipmaster Rtas 'Vadum. Both the humans and the Sangheili hoped to find a solution to the Flood beyond the portal. At least two UNSC vessels, Forward Unto Dawn and Aegis Fate, were deployed alongside the Fleet of Retribution; elements of the 11th Marine Force Reconnaissance/ODST were tasked with gathering intelligence on whatever lay beyond the portal. Hood gave Commander Miranda Keyes command of Forward Unto Dawn while he remained behind to coordinate Earth's remaining defenses; the ship was docked inside Shadow of Intent's massive hangar bay and the task force set off through the portal.[6]
Operation: BLIND FAITH
- Main article: Battle of Installation 00
- "I'm giving the Brutes all I've got, but this is a heavy-weight fight! The Dawn's only got the tonnage to last a few rounds."
- — Commander Miranda Keyes during the battle over the Ark.
Once at the Ark, the opposing Covenant fleets engaged one another. The UNSC frigates were ill-equipped to fight against such large opponents, but were able to engage the enemy cruisers for a short time. Forward Unto Dawn deployed troops to the surface, with John-117's team disabling an Mantis AA gun. Once a landing zone was cleared, Forward Unto Dawn set down near the Cartographer and directly offloaded several M808 Main Battle Tanks and M12 Force Application Vehicles.
As the human-Sangheili alliance pushed toward the installation's control center, Sergeant Major Avery Johnson was captured so that Truth could force him to activate the Halo Array. Around this time, the Flood arrived at the Ark via the now-infested High Charity and began attacking both sides. Commander Keyes attempted a daring rescue, though she was killed personally by the Prophet of Truth. Shortly thereafter, John-117, Arbiter Thel 'Vadam, and monitor 343 Guilty Spark discovered that the Ark was manufacturing a replacement for Installation 04;[7] it was then determined that igniting the ring could destroy both the Flood and the Covenant with a single, decisive blow. With the rest of Forward Unto Dawn's crew and complement dead or aboard the remaining separatist vessels, Johnson brought the ship a few kilometers from the incomplete ring's Control Room and closed the distance in a Warthog.[8]
Escape from Installation 00
- "Well, some of us made it."
- — Cortana, after escaping Installation 04B.
Ultimately, Johnson was betrayed and killed by Guilty Spark, who was in turn destroyed by the Spartan. With the ring was activated, John and the Arbiter raced to the now-deserted vessel. After crashing Johnson's Warthog into the ship's oversized cargo bay, 'Vadam headed for the bridge while the Spartan uploaded Cortana into the ship's mainframe to activate the engines.[8] The ship entered the slipspace portal, which collapsed as the ring's energy pulse hit. Forward Unto Dawn was cut in half as a result.
The forward section, containing the Arbiter, returned to Earth and crashed into the Indian Ocean. They were rescued from the wreckage by a UNSC recovery team.[8] The debris from the ship that landed on Earth was auctioned off sometime after the end of the Human-Covenant War.[9]
Adrift in space
The aft section emerged in unknown space, John and Cortana having survived the Halo's pulse. The Spartan and AI were left in a drifting hulk without artificial gravity or working propulsion. The AI dropped a distress beacon John entered a cryo chamber to wait for recovery.[8] During the years that followed, Cortana remained active and alert while the Spartan slept in cryo. In 2556, Cortana compiled a history of the Forerunners and humanity and shared it with the still-unconscious Spartan.[10] She later took the opportunity to overhaul and upgrade John's Mark VI MJOLNIR armor, making modifications to its layout using nanomachines while also rewriting its firmware. She also restored artificial gravity at some point during this period.[11]
Arrival at Requiem
Around July 20th, 2557,[12] four years and seven months after the armistice that ended the Human-Covenant War, Cortana noticed that the ship's intruder alarms had been activated and attempted to wake John-117 from cryo-sleep. After being awoken, John fought off the intruders, who turned out to be Sangheili and Unggoy. The Chief and Cortana soon realized that a Covenant fleet had surrounded the Forward Unto Dawn's remains while multiple boarding craft docked with the heavily damaged frigate. Shortly after, John and Cortana crashed on the Forerunner shield world known as Requiem.[13][12]
Behind the scenes
- On the lower part of the bow there is a black "7" inside a yellow star with a yellow chevron under it, which shows the ship's assignment to the Seventh Fleet. This is one of Bungie's myriad references to the number seven.
- All three frigates in the level The Storm, (one of them being Aegis Fate), use the same textures as Forward Unto Dawn.
- Like the main vessels of Halo: Combat Evolved and Halo 2, (Pillar of Autumn and In Amber Clad, respectively), Forward Unto Dawn serves as the main vessel in Halo 3's campaign and is likewise destroyed near the end of the game.
- In the level The Ark, player characters may be killed by the debris pushed outward by the frigate's approach.
- The Dawn's crew complement is 782, according to Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn.
Gallery
- H3-UNSCFUDSide.png
A side view of the UNSC Forward Unto Dawn.
A three-quarter side view of the UNSC Forward Unto Dawn.
- Forward into dawn.jpg
The Dawn arrives over Installation 00.
The Dawn hovers just above Installation 00's surface.
The Dawn deploys ground forces onto Installation 00.
The Forward Unto Dawn hovering over the new Installation 04B with the Ark in the skyline.
- 1578651582 4533b47134 b.jpg
The Dawn escapes.
The aft half of the Forward Unto Dawn.
The remains of the Forward Unto Dawn.
The aft section of the Dawn adrift in space as seen in Halo 3.
The Dawn fires its MAC on the Forerunner Dreadnought at the Battle of Voi.
- Forward Unto Dawn Name.jpg
The Forward Unto Dawn's name plate.
The Dawn's bridge.
The front section of Forward Unto Dawn enters Earth's atmosphere.
The aft half of the Forward Unto Dawn as seen in the Halo 4 announcement trailer.
The cryo bay of the Dawn.
Forward Unto Dawn's cryo bay.
List of appearances
- Halo 3 (First appearance)
- Halo Legends
- Halo: First Strike (2010) (Mentioned only)
- Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn
- Halo 4
Note
- ^ a b c Despite maintaining a generally similar profile, Halo 4's incarnation of Forward Unto Dawn is quite different from its appearance in Halo 3. The ship is far larger, with more of the forward half remaining and the aft half alone appearing to be as large as the entire ship in Halo 3. The number of engines has been reduced; rather than having two primaries on the main hull and two secondaries on the "wings", there are two larger primary engines on the main hull and no secondaries. The port and starboard hangar bays have been reduced from five small bays on either side to one much larger bay on either side; they are moved much farther back, remaining with the aft section. The enlarged cargo bay, a defining feature of the Charon class, is conspicuously absent or is at least greatly reduced in size. The point defense guns have been redesigned and moved to different areas on the hull. The ship's cryo tubes have also been remodeled. From a production standpoint, the ship was enlarged to create a more dynamic and exciting playspace; the original model would have been very small and cramped, limiting the first level's gameplay potential. The more superficial changes, such as those made to the cryo tubes and the point defense guns, are intended to reflect Halo 4's grittier, more realistic art style.
Sources
- ^ a b c Halo: The Essential Visual Guide, page 74
- ^ Halo 3: Official Strategy Guide, page 109
- ^ Halo 3, campaign level The Ark
- ^ Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn, Part 1
- ^ Halo 3, campaign level The Storm
- ^ Halo 3, campaign level Floodgate
- ^ Halo 3, campaign level The Covenant
- ^ a b c d Halo 3, campaign level Halo
- ^ Halo: First Strike (2010), Adjunct
- ^ Halo Legends - Origins
- ^ Halo 4, campaign level Dawn
- ^ a b Game Informer: May 2012
- ^ Halo 3, Legendary ending