WOMAN: Sarge, look at the moon.
[WOMAN LAUGHS SOFTLY]
It's funny.
I never noticed how beautiful the moons are here.
You think anybody noticed?
GHOST: Stay quiet.
The BioFoam's working, but you're still bleeding.
WOMAN: There's something I've always wanted to know.
Your call sign, "Ghost," what does it mean?
GHOST: Stop talking.
You've gotta hold tight until the medevac gets here.
WOMAN: You finally have an excuse to show that you care, and...
[WOMAN LAUGHS SOFTLY]
Let me ask you something.
Just one last thing.
It won't hurt, I promise.
- What was I to you? GHOST: What do you mean?
You're a soldier.
A soldier with a promising future ahead of you.
You're a soldier.
WOMAN: And you're a ghost, aren't you? - What?
Feelings pass right through you, don't they?
So cold and unforgiving in every choice you made in battle.
Pure soldier.
- I think that's what let us trust you... - Don't talk. Save your strength.
I don't need it.
I need you to be strong.
Strong enough to do what you've never done in your life.
Can you be strong enough to allow yourself to be...?
Can you just be human?
LIEUTENANT: Damn it, man, what are you still doing here?
- Command has declared a retreat. - We can't pull out.
The civilians may be on their way out, but there's a core of engineers out there.
- I'm not leaving them behind. - It ain't up to you.
Cole Protocol's been enacted. Let's move it.
[EXPLOSION]
COMMANDER: The shuttles.
LIEUTENANT: If this fighting keeps up, we're gonna be as good as dead.
We gotta stick it out and pray they get us some evac.
Let's go.
- Who's left behind? - What?
Answer me, soldier. What's the name of the group?
It's the Hades Corps. They're at Hangar 1030...
...and they're not leaving until they destroy the prototype...
...of some weapon system.
The demolition squad.
I should've known.
Ghost.
SOLDIER 1: If the Cole Protocol's been enacted...
...why the hell are we stranded on the frontline?
We're pinned down here, and now the sarge is missing.
We're screwed.
SOLDIER 2: No, we were sunk from the beginning.
What?
SOLDIER 2: On his last assignment...
...our fearless leader let his entire platoon go down.
They got wiped out in a single firefight. Sarge didn't even flinch.
Well, I guess that's why they call him the Ghost, then, isn't it?
And why the brass always decides to put him in charge of demolition jobs.
Because he's not even human. Argh!
SOLDIER 1: Come on, don't die on me. Come on.
I can't believe these sons of bitches left us behind.
SOLDIER 1: This is it.
[EXPLOSIONS]
- I can't believe it. - Oh, my God.
It's the prototype suit.
- But who the hell's driving it? GHOST: Ghost to Hades Corps.
Fall back immediately. Ignore the Covenant.
I'll hold them off.
Nobody's dying here.
You heard him. Let's go.
You idiot. He's not supposed to be testing that suit.
He's supposed to destroy it.
COMMANDER [ON RADIO]: Can you hear me, sergeant?
What do you think you're doing?
Your orders are to destroy the suit and all related data.
- You are disobeying direct orders. - No, sir. I am following my orders.
Explain yourself.
I have destroyed all the data...
...and I'm using the time left on this suit to safely evac my people.
I'm not leaving till every one of my men...
...are safely off... - That is not the plan.
- I am ordering you to stand down... - There's no other choice.
The mission cannot be jeopardized.
And I am still responsible for these Marines.
Wait, sergeant. Ghost, listen to me.
GHOST: I lost my entire platoon. Every one of my men.
And that's when it happened.
That's when I truly became a ghost.
Just a shadow...
...surrounded by death.
[GUNFIRE]
The suit has a staggered countdown.
In order to trigger final detonation, the system requires a voice command.
You designed it that way for a reason, didn't you?
COMMANDER: Ghost.
GHOST: Just get my men off this planet.
This is Ghost. Over and out.
[BLEEPING]
GHOST: What's the matter, Ghost? Why can't you move?
[BEEPING]
GHOST: I made up my mind that day.
The night I let my platoon die.
I looked up at those moons, and something died inside me.
A conscience is something that gets in the way.
That's all the soul is: an obstacle.
Something to overcome.
I can't atone for failing to protect them.
[GRUNTING]
[BLEEPING]
SUIT: Countdown contingent. Voice command required.
Speak the voice command exactly as displayed.
WOMAN: Let me ask you something.
Just one last thing.
It won't hurt, I promise.
What was I to you?
GHOST: What do you mean?
You're a soldier.
A soldier with a promising future ahead of you.
You're a soldier.
WOMAN: And you're a ghost, aren't you? - What?
Feelings pass right through you, don't they?
So cold and unforgiving in every choice you made in battle.
Pure soldier.
- I think that's what let us trust you... - Don't talk. Save your strength.
I don't need it.
I need you to be strong.
Strong enough to do what you've never done in your life.
Can you be strong enough to allow yourself to be...?
Can you just be human?
If not for your sake, for all of us.
If you would just allow yourself to feel something...
...maybe you wouldn't be a ghost any longer.
[GRUNTING]
Voice command authorization.
Be human.
[BEEPS]
GHOST: And for one last instant, I'm human again.
COMMANDER: Transmission from orbit around Algolis.
Cole Protocol enforced.
All weapons, prototypes...
...and accompanying navigational databases eliminated.
The soldier I previously recommended for military court-martial is...
I rescind and redact that portion of my earlier report.
That soldier is officially missing in action, lost during heavy combat on Algolis.
He demonstrated honorable conduct, not only as a Marine...
...but also as a human being.
We're heading for rendezvous with the UNSC Heart of Midlothian.
Over and out.
[ENGLISH SDH]