Thomas Lasky

Captain Thomas J. Lasky is a human senior officer of the UNSC Navy who served throughout the Human-Covenant War and in the post war years. Since at least 2552, Lasky has served as Captain Del Rio's executive officer aboard the.

He is the main protagonist of Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn.

Childhood and education
"There's a soldier inside of you Thomas. I can see it. Everyone can see it. You need to see it; I know your brother did."

- Colonel Mehaffey

Thomas Lasky was born on August 15, 2512 to Colonel Lasky, his mother, in Mare Erythraeum, Mars. He began his officer training as a freshman cadet in Corbulo Academy of Military Science on Circinius IV sometime preceding spring 2526, months after hostilities between the United Nations Space Command and the Covenant began; this development was kept from the students and much of the staff at Corbulo however. Organized into Hastati Squad, a freshman unit in the class of 2529, Lasky originally began as a team leader during field exercises.

During his time in the school, he regularly exchanged video messages with his brother Cadmon, former student of Corbulo Academy now serving as an ODST fighting in the front lines of the Insurrection. Enjoying a close friendship with his brother, Thomas was deeply struck when Cadmon was killed, starting to express doubt about the sensibility of the UNSC waging war against the Insurrectionists and viewing his training with cynicism, failing to take the exercises seriously anymore. As there were no remains their mother felt Thomas should not leave school to attend his brother's funeral. Meanwhile, Lasky continued to replay his brother's messages in his spare time.

"Look, you want people to change, you want this war to end?"

- Chyler Silva

"Yeah, of course."

- Thomas Lasky

"Then you're going to need people to follow you."

- Silva and Lasky exchanging words following Mehaffey's lecture on Hannibal.

Lasky's reputation suffered at his constant disregard for the orders of his superiors and displaying a lack of proficient knowledge of infantry tactics. He was subsequently relieved of his duties as team leader, which then fell to squadmate Walter Vickers. Despite this, he continued to ignore orders and continued to lead Hastati in receiving low combat scores, resulting in him being shunned by the rest of the squad. Worse, his health declined rapidly during the school's mandatory acclimation to cryosleep; he suffered from large blisters and a persistent cough.

His classmates were unrelenting in their provocation of Thomas, affirming their distaste for the freshman who did not live up to the example set by his brother Cadmon. Days prior to the end of the 2525-2526 school year, Lasky and Vickers were singled out by their squad leader April Orenski in response to Hastati's disciplinary physical training. Frustrated by the verbal and minor physical harassment he received from his squadmate, Lasky assaulted Vickers in the school's mess hall. Senior cadets and underclassmen alike continued to encourage the altercation, which the two were performing hand-to-hand combat tactics taught at the academy. Lasky mildly injured Vickers and only ended his violent strife to acknowledge Colonel Mehaffey's presence. The professor took advantage of this quarrel in her mentorship of Lasky, hoping he would embrace the warrior culture of the UNSC and inspire him to become a better leader.

Mehaffey's efforts dawned on the young cadet and he volunteered to lead Hastati moments prior to the start of their final combat exercise, a contest of capture the flag. While waiting for Zuma Squad to approach their flag's location, Lasky had organized Hastati into cover in a tight formation adjacent their flag, a seemingly ill-tactical maneuver. Lasky ordered his men to remove their helmets as they contained IFF transponders that were detectable by the enemy's motion sensors. With Zuma converging on Hastati's flag, Lasky positioned his squad in a formation reminiscent of the pincer movement, a tactic utilized to great effect by Hannibal at Cannae in 216 BCE, taught to the freshman cadets only a day before the exercise by Col. Mehaffey. The enemy soon realized that Lasky had funneled them into a trap and they were swiftly dispatched by two sections of Hastati cadets. The two Hastati elements continued to press in on Zuma's flag with ease, eliminating or capturing all enemy cadets, suffering no casualties of their own in the process. An emboldened Lasky, charging towards Zuma's flag, finally succumbed to his ailing health and collapsed meters away from completing the objective.

Examination by Doctor Hughes of the Academy's medical staff revealed that Lasky's condition was an allergic reaction to the cryo drug cytoprethaline. As cytoprethaline is vital for cryo-sleep to prevent damage to cells, Lasky was judged to be unfit for UNSC service and was to be medically discharged.

Battle of Circinius IV
Before the necessary paperwork for his discharge could be completed, however, Circinius IV was attacked by the hostile alien force known as the Covenant, completely overwhelming the Academy's Marine guard and forcing Lasky and his fellow cadets into front line service. Much of Hastati Squad was killed early on in the action, with Lasky, Silva, Orenski, and Michael Sullivan eventually becoming among the only survivors on the entire planet.

The attack on the Academy prompted one of the first deployments of SPARTAN-II's in the war. Blue Team, led by Master Chief Petty Officer John-117, rescued the cadets. John killed the Sangheili that had been pursuing the squad and escorted them outside to General Black's Warthog to escape to a Pelican extraction zone. Lasky drove the Warthog out of the combat zone. However, the Warthog became inoperative after running over a Kig-Yar, and to make matters worse, Silva got mortally wounded by a Needler round, and succumbed to it while escaping two pursuing Hunters. A mournful Lasky volunteers himself to be a decoy so that Master Chief could facilitate a kill on the Hunter with the last remaining fragmentation grenade. Lasky became inspired by the heroism and leadership of the young Spartan supersoldier, and kept Silva's dogtags to honor her memory, remaining with the UNSC despite his medical condition.

Post-war
By the end of the war, Lasky had risen to the rank of Commander in the Navy and had been appointed as the executive officer of the, the most powerful vessel in the Fleet. He was present aboard Infinity during Terrence Hood and Margaret Parangosky's inspection of the ship and the subsequent trial deployment on Sanghelios to test the ship's capabilities in the guise of assisting Thel 'Vadam and his forces in the ongoing Sangheili civil war in early 2553. When Infinity began its operations on Requiem, Lasky's relationship with John-117 would prove vital to the Spartan's recovery and the outcome of their mission.

Spartan Ops
Six months after the events of Halo 4, Lasky was already the rank of Captain and was given command of the Infinity. Under his command the Infinity and its crew returned to Requiem to clear it of all remaining Storm Covenant and hostile Promethean droids in order for the UNSC to establish research facilities inside the planet.

Personality
Known for his renegade attitude as an "innie sympathizer," Thomas was shunned universally by squadmates and other classmates alike. Lasky was not hesitant whatsoever to express his views on the ongoing conflict with the colonies, even with the ardent stance on the conquering of the rebel effort by the majority of Corbulo Academy's staff and cadet corps. The constant display of pacifism and sympathy towards the Insurrectionist cause did not hamper his enthusiasm to successfully lead his team into combat using tactics that would overwhelm the enemy, albeit with tactics that would cause them to peacefully capitulate. Many believed that Thomas would not live up to the level of excellency set by his brother Cadmon, by then a marine junior officer in the Orbital Drop Shock Troopers, nor the expectations of his estranged mother to at the very least, graduate from the academy. At the conclusion of his freshman year from 2525 to 2526, lingering doubts about his competency as a future officer were alleviated.

Family/Friends

 * Colonel Lasky - Thomas' mother who wasn't around for much of his life and thus barely knows her.
 * Cadmon Lasky - His older brother who kept in touch through video calls. He was killed during a deployment on Andesia.
 * Chyler Silva - Thomas' friend and romantic interest. She was killed during the Battle of Circinius IV.
 * Michael Sullivan - Fellow cadet and Thomas' only real friend at Corbulo academy.

Trivia

 * He is shown with the three gold bars of a Commander, but has a gold oak leaf, which represents a Lieutenant Commander. He should be wearing a silver oak leaf.
 * In the first cutscene of Episode 1 of Halo 4 Spartan Ops, Lasky is addressed by Commander Palmer as 'Captain Lasky'. This could mean that after the events of the Halo 4 Campaign that Lasky somehow becomes the Captain of UNSC Infinity.
 * Lasky is given a fragment of Hunter armor by John-117 after Lasky helped him defeat that Hunter by drawing the Hunter's fire so that John could take it down with a frag grenade. He still has the fragment, now polished round, when the Infinity investigates the distress signal of the UNSC Forward Unto Dawn.

List of Appearances

 * Halo: The Thursday War
 * Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn
 * Halo 4