The second half of the UNSC Forward Unto Dawn revolves around a wreck.
2557 - Four years after the Harlow incident
The frigate entered a close-up view and revealed the nameplate of the ship. A huge shadow slowly enveloped the entire ship. Inside the dawn, the mechanical parts drifted aimlessly under zero gravity. Loop automatic messages through the speaker.
Cortana (PA): (Circular) "Mayday, Mayday, Mayday. This is the UNSC FFG-201 Forward Unto Dawn, requiring immediate evacuation. Survivors on board. Priority code: Victor Zero Five dash Three dash Sierra Zero One Seven."
The site was transferred to the abandoned part of the ship. Suddenly, an orange energy pulse moves across the ship, disturbing some still active viewing screens. In the low temperature chamber, the blue light sphere hovered over the holographic projector. As the ship vibrates again, the sphere disappears in an indigo, replaced by the image of Cortana.
Cortana gasps and looks around the room, then stands up. She activates the holographic terminal and quickly navigates through status reports.
Ship status:
Catastrophic loss on all decks
system status:
6% ship system online
Finally contact UNSC:
4 years, 7 months, 10 days
location
unknown
Crew qualification
782
Crew survival
1
Cortana switches to the chart of the ship. Several red rings surround the schematic and specify the hull to break.
Integrity failure secondary check: 32
Integrity failure secondary: 57
Complete failed sub-check: 102
You can hear the muffled explosion and issue multiple decompression events - the ship is boarding. Cortana is getting more and more excited, it brings a low-greenhouse control interface. A schematic representation of the improved Mark VI MJOLNIR armor, as well as vital signs and cryotube diagrams. A prompt will appear on the screen.
REACTIVATE
Cortana hesitated, but continued to visit the tip.
FOD = 9939 DECK 4 / CRYO SUBDECK. ARRAY = 93
The cryogenic system is off...
STASIS conversion in the process...
ACTIVE
Cortana sighed and turned to observe the cryogenic tube 16.
Cortana: "Wake up, Chief."
As part of the thawing process, air is pumped into the interior of the tube.
Cortana: "I need you."
The frost covering the surface of the tube glass melts, exposing the underlying John-117. Cut into black.
The chief slowly woke up in the freezing tube and groaned. He slammed his gloves on the glass surface in confusion.
Cortana: "Emirates! It's easy. You have been away for a while."
John-117: "Where are we?"
Cortana: "We are still drifting in the dawn."
John-117: "Why are you waking me up?"
Cortana: "Keep going. Now let your system come online."
John's HUD appeared on his sunhat.
Cortana: "You rewrote your suit firmware when you were out."
John-117: "You have been very busy."
Cortana: "Activate the ship's gravity generator."
The gravity system is online. The crates and debris drifting from the room fell on the floor.
System (PA): Partial system recovery. Initialize system diagnostics...
Cortana: "Chief, look up. You need to pull the manual release."
John raised his head and pulled the manual release lever of the cryotube. When the pipe opened, John quickly went out and walked to the entire library occupied by Cortana.
Cortana: "Looks like the past."
John-117: "Ready to go back to work?"
Cortana crossed her arm.
Cortana: "I thought you would never ask."
John pulled Cortana out of the holographic tank and inserted her into the neural interface. John presented his MA5D assault rifle and was ready to fight.
Cortana: "We have lit up the intrusion alert on multiple decks. Our best bet is to find out who is on our viewing platform - four floors."
John-117: "Is this possible a rescue team?"
The boat swayed violently.
Cortana: "I won't bet it!"
Below the walkway leading to the low greenhouse, a single computer terminal containing the John-117 service record can be found. The terminal shows a photo of the technician who assembled the MJOLNIR Mark V armor of Chief.
System: This is the service record for SPARTAN John-117. Do you want to continue?
Continuing will prompt the terminal to start with the Battle of Installation 04 and describe the concise summary of the Chief's participation in the Human Covenant War.
System: The frigate [sic] The pillars of the fall found the Forerunner Halo installation 04 and deployed SPARTAN-117 to protect the UNSC AI Cortana. The chief found a conspiracy to shoot weapons and sacrificed the fall to destroy the halo. After the attack on the Earth, the flagship of the Covenant, SPARTAN-117 arrived at the Halo device 05 and found that the Covenant broke out in the civil war. After preventing the covenant from firing the ring, 117 followed them back to Earth to find a forerunner device that would activate all galaxy halos. The covenant reached the Earth and opened the gateway to Ark, an out-of-river Forerunner device that could launch the Halo array. SPARTAN-117 and the Sangheili / UNSC joint team sought a covenant from the Ark, where he successfully destroyed the device and prevented the ring from being used. When SPARTAN-117 attempted to escape the Ark through UNSC Advance Unto Dawn, the sliding space portal through which the ship was passing collapsed. At the stern part of the dawn, SPARTAN-117 entered a state of low temperature sleep, waiting for the UN Security Council to resume. As long as it is technically feasible, AI Cortana will remain active. Service termination record.
The next room contains a holographic projector that shows a stern half of the dawn.
System (PA): (cyclic) intrusion alert. Intrusion alert.
The chieftain can activate the terminal in front of the hologram multiple times to obtain information about the state of the ship.
System: Weapon System - Online. Gravity Control - Online. Ship propulsion - offline. Hull integrity - damaged. Life support - online.
John-117 walked down several corridors. Cortana's pre-recorded distress calls are still cycling on the ship's PA system.
John-117: "How long have I been out?"
Cortana: "Ten years and seven months and ten days."
John-117: "Someone should find us now."
John entered an operating room filled with inactive computer screens. The central hologram shows that the dawn is pulled from its predicted drift process to the asteroid, designated "43121124". The same orange energy pulse suddenly returned, violently shaking the hull and disturbing nearby electronic equipment.
John-117: "What is this?"
Cortana: "Sensor scan, high intensity! Does not match any known patterns!"
John-117: "How close are we to the viewing platform?"
Cortana: "It's directly above us."
John left the room and reached the elevator entrance.
Cortana: "The elevator door looks very tight."
John approached the door and opened them with both hands.
Cortana: "Emirates, be careful...!"
John successfully opened the elevator door. The front axle was decompressed; a box of boxes behind John was sucked into the vacuum chamber and hit him on the other side of the shaft. He grabbed a nearby ledge and prevented him from falling. The crates continue down into the seemingly bottomless shaft.
Cortana: "Because some areas may lose pressure!"
John-117: "Yes."
John slowly climbed up the shaft.
Cortana: "Emirates, be careful!"
The debris fell from above. The chief quickly jumped to the edge of the other left to try to avoid falling debris. (If you don't avoid fragmentation, it hits the chief, drains his shield, and sends him back to where he started climbing.)
Cortana: "I didn't realize that the ship had deteriorated."
John managed to climb to the entrance of the observation deck, avoiding more falling debris. A Sanghei storm using an energy sword slows down and immediately attacks the chief. John stopped the sword fight of Sangili. Sangheili snarls at him, but John punches his face and stuns it. He then grabs Sangheili with his jaw and throws it into the elevator shaft. (If the player fails to press the melee button in time, then Sangheili will cast a slash to John, pull his shield out and push him to the shaft.)
John-117: "I thought we had a truce with the contract."
Cortana: "A lot of things can happen in four years. Either way, he may not be alone. We should be careful."
John entered the viewing platform. The window is covered by an explosion-proof cover. Sangheili attempted to enter the control unit on the elevated central platform, while multiple Unggoys were patrolling on both sides of the deck below. When you see the chief, you will shoot immediately. John went all out.
Cortana: "This is the last of them. Find the coverage of the explosion-proof cover so that we can see what we are facing."
John goes to control and activates the coverage. The explosion shield gradually rose.
High voltage shielding control
Open
Cortana: "The good news is that these covenants are not equipped like the standard army. We may have only encountered a rogue fishing boat."
The blast shield was fully opened, revealing a fleet of CRS-class light cruisers near dawn. Behind the fleet, a mysterious world is looming and ominously visible. The formation of the banshee quickly screamed through the window of the observation deck.
Cortana: "...or we may have accidentally discovered the entire covenant fleet."
John-117: "Maybe they didn't recognize us."
Two ghosts with boarding arms descend into the field of view.
Cortana: "This is a possibility..."
The ghost split, on either side of the deck.
Cortana: "The landing craft, flank us!"
The boarding arm breaks through the glass and decompresses the deck until the force field seal breaks. Two covenant spears came out of the boarding arm and entered the dawn.
System (PA): Warning - Atmospheric damage. Activate emergency roadblocks.
The deck was locked, forcing the chief to get close to the boarders.
Cortana: "Decompression puts the room in a stagnant state! It takes a few minutes to repressurize."
If the chief spends too long to eliminate the covenant power:
Cortana: "I am still reading some laggards. Clean them up."
John eventually cleared the deck. The lock is released.
If the chief is next to the main window:
John-117: "Those ships can get us back to the UNSC space."
Cortana: "'Maybe' is a generous word...especially because we have a cruiser heading in our direction, and we will drive us out of the sky long before."
John-117: "Is any ship-to-ship defense online?"
Cortana: "No, but why stop us? Go to the elevator. The Hyperion missile is still technically powered, but we have to shoot it manually from the outer deck."
If the chief is not at the main window:
John-117: "We need to leave this ship."
Cortana: "We have a bigger problem... We have a cruiser on the interception route! Go to the elevator bank."
John went to the elevator.
If the chief visits the ship's system:
John-117: "Is the sensor of this ship saying that we still have an online weapon system?"
Cortana: "Yes, but because the ship was torn in half, we couldn't get into the weapon station. We would have to shoot it manually from the shell."
If the chief does not enter the ship's system:
John-117: "Is any ship-to-ship defense online?"
Cortana: "There are only Hyperion missiles, but we have to shoot them manually from the outer casing."
John enters an elevator and the elevator descends several floors until it leads to another corridor. He fought through more contractual forces and eventually reached the stairs near the window.
Cortana: "The cruiser's shield has been smashed! Assuming that they didn't lift them, the missile would be surprising."
John continued, encountering increasingly thick resistance, including several suicides Unggoy.
John-117: "These covenants seem to be more fanatical than the people we have fought before."
John has encountered more covenant forces, including Kig-Yar.
John-117: "How far is the missile?"
Cortana: "We are there."
After passing more covenant battles, including a Sangheili commander using a concussion rifle, John reached an airlock.
Cortana: "The auxiliary launch pad should be on the left side of the airlock."
A purple electrostatic field suddenly appeared on John's HUD.
Cortana: "You must fire for the fire!"
John-117: "Cortana?"
Cortana: "Nothing. Just go to the launch station."
The airlock opens, revealing that the dawn is closer to the mysterious asteroid.
Cortana: "Oh, sorry. - Did I miss a planet around the Forerunner at some point?"
John-117: "One thing at a time."
If the chieftain booth:
Cortana: "Emirates, you need to find the missile controller."
John went to the launch station and met Sangheili, Kig-Yar and Unggoy Rangers.
Cortana: "There is a launch pad!"
The Chief continues to activate the console.
Missile launch control
INITIATED
Cortana: "Initiate launch!"
The remote silo door opens to expose the Hyperion missile below. However, the missile could not be fired; the door mechanism was stuck in place.
Cortana: "Great, the explosion door is stuck! The missile will not fire once it is cleared. Go there!"
The ghost destroyed more troops into the area, forcing John to take it away before launching the missile.
John finally reached the missile.
John pushes and then kicks the explosion door to the correct position.
Cortana: "You did it - come back!"
The missile launches and strikes the upcoming cruiser, charging the ventral weapon (possibly the energy projector). The cruiser broke into pieces and the debris drifted across the dawn. Suddenly, a beam of orange light from the planet scanned the chieftain.
Cortana: "Emirates?"
John-117: "The covenant is not someone who scans us."
Most of the asteroid's surface begins to retract, revealing a blinding white-blue energy field beneath it. The nearby contract cruiser was sucked into the opening.
Cortana: "So, can we worry about the huge metal planet now?"
Cortana: "It is using gravity to pull us into the water!"
Things that are not bolted are pulled toward the earth.
Cortana: "We have to act quickly. The second time we crossed the dome's event horizon, its atmosphere will separate us!"
John-117: "Where is the nearest escape capsule?"
Cortana: "The stern frame! I am marking the nearest air lock, go!"
John intakes in the airlock and the air pressure opens after decompression.
System (PA): Hull integrity is 30%.
John returned to another corridor.
System (PA): Warning - System decompression.
John walked down the corridor, but before he reached the finish line, the floor collapsed slightly.
System (PA): Please go to the nearest life station immediately.
John walked into a crossroads full of Unggoy. Most of the floor suddenly collapsed, forcing John to bypass the perimeter of the room.
System (PA): Hull integrity is 25%.
Cortana: "All but one of the heavy-duty generators turned black!"
John-117: "Let me point to the vehicle bay."
John entered the cabin; the inner panic of Unggoy was crushed quickly by the fallen pieces.
System (PA): The emergency escape cabin in the area is exhausted.
The ship continued to collapse around the chief, and he quickly left the bay.
System (PA): Hull integrity is 15%.
An injured Sang Heili squatted down the hallway. He tried to stand up again and expire soon, and his energy shield collapsed.
System (PA): The hull integrity is 10%. Warning - Serious damage to the ship.
Cortana: "We are coming soon!"
System (PA): Hull integrity is 5%. It is recommended that personnel evacuate immediately.
The person in charge accused in advance of rushing through more Unggoy who was fleeing. So far, the corridor has exploded into a flame.
System (PA): Warning - Catastrophic decompression.
When John entered the escape cabin, one of the doors was torn from its hinge.
Cortana: "Emirates!"
John tried to grab the door but failed. He managed to grab the railing. When the wall was stripped, the room quickly decompressed, revealing a Covenant cruiser in front.
Cortana: "Keep it up!"
The railing eventually gave way, and the captain was sucked out of the boat and entered the debris field. A hull part slammed into John and drained his shield.
Cortana: "We got caught in the gravitational well!"
A large part of the dawn violently hit the light cruiser, causing a second explosion that tore the Covenant warship. Unggoy's body fell on him and slammed into the burning cruiser.
John-117: "Can you track the escape cabin?"
Cortana: "Negative - look out!"
John drifted through a huge hole and left the impact of the cruiser. The entire disabled ship continued to explode. A piece of debris suddenly hit the chieftain at high speed. Cut into black.