Alex Garland 2/6/05 HALOA series of scorched snapshots. Fragments. As memory. This ie MASTER CHIEF'S DREAM. OPEN ON a SPARTAN HELMET, and a REFLECTION in its visor. In the reflection, we see buildings. The design and architecture of the buildings tell us this is the distant future. And twin suns tell us this is not Earth, The suns are low in the sky, and bathing the landscape blood red. SNAP BACK to show the full figure of the SPARTAN. Seven foot tall, clad head-to-toe in MJOLNIR armor, holding an MASB ASSAULT RIFLE - MASTER CHIEF. SNAP BACK AGAIN to reveal, behind MASTER CHIEF, another fifty SPARTAN WARRIORS. All the SPARTANS have their gaze directed at the skies... where a vast shadow or cloud is eclipsing the twin suns. A shadow which resolves itself into literally thousands of COVENANT DROP-SHIPS. cur To - A BATTLEFIELD. The buildings are now destroyed. Skeletal steel frames push from rubble, providing only a suggestion of the structures that once stood. Across this wasteland, the SPARTANS and the COVENANT are locked in ferocious combat. The SPARTANS are super-warriors. Combat machines - except that beneath their armor is genetically-refined human flesh and blood. Despite their physical size, they are fast. As we watch them TURN-AIM-FIRE, the speed of their reactions is unnatural. They seem fuelled by nitrous oxide and amphetamines.And there is something EYPNOTIC about the way they fight. Amidst the chaos, there are patterns. Across the battlefield, we can see PRECISE MOVEMENTS echoed from SPARTAN to SPARTAN. The same motion in the way a weapon is raised, the leap and roll to avoid an explosion. the impression is of method within the madness of no-holds barred combat. The SPARTAN warrior training is embedded deep within them. Almost coded. ‘The COVENANT provide a contrast. Among the various species that make up the alien ranks, we can see the tall and regal ELITES, the massive HUNTERS, the gorilla-sized GRUNTS, the thin and feral JACKALS. And they all fight with their own brand of specialized ULTRA- VIOLENCE. Less controlled than their human enemy, they are zealots, rabid. They roar as they charge, plasma blazing from their weaponry. In close quarters, they tear and rip and claw. Many more of the alien warriors are falling and dying. But they can afford it. In comparison to the SPARTANS, COVENANT are far, far greater in number. As we watch the scene unfold, something becomes clear. The tide of the battle is turning inexorably against the humans. cur To - MASTER CHIEF maintaining a barrage of fire as the SPARTANS to the left and right of him are lacerated by plasma fire. cur To - A SPARTAN as a plasma grenade sticks to his chest. He doubles up to protect his brothers - then flies apart as the grenade explodes. cur To - Another SPARTAN walking: dazed, blackened, blood-smeared, half his armor blown from his body, half his arm hanging useless at his side. cur To - A group of THREE SPARTANS driving a WARTHOG VEHICLE - one driving, one on shotgun, one on the rear canon ~ as they break ranks to CHARGE the enemy... .+. then skid, roll and die under a rain of fire.