Thomas Lasky

"Humanity is no longer on the defense, we are the giants now"

- Thomas Lasky on humanity and their rise to supremacy

Captain Thomas J. Lasky is a human senior naval officer of the UNSC Navy who served throughout the Human-Covenant war and in the post war years. Since at least 2552, Lasky had served as Captain Del Rio's executive officer aboard the. Following Del Rio's removal from command by FLEETCOM after abandoning John-117 on Requiem, Lasky was named acting captain of Infinity and aided John-117 in his battle against the Didact. Six months after the Didact's attack on Earth, Lasky, now Captain, led the UNSC Infinity in the assault on Requiem as per FLEETCOM's orders. Throughout the campaign in and around Requiem Lasky showed the true potential he held in command, especially in terms of keeping morale high as well as defending his men when the Infinity was invaded by Promethean Knights. Also when requesting the help of Catherine Halsey, the Office of Naval Intelligence allowed it, as Lasky had shown his commitment to the UNSC in terms of following every order given, to the extent of keeping John-117's re-emergence secret from Dr. Halsey.

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 persistently ignored orders and continued to cause Hastati to receive 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 resulting in disciplinary physical training for them, and the remainder of Hastati. Frustrated by the verbal and 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, in 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.

Requiem Expedition
Infinity was later dispatched to search for the remaining Halo rings, and set up research bases for decommissioning. Such bases were established on Installations 03 and 05. On Installation 03, the UNSC excavated a massive Forerunner artifact so heavy that it took Infinity three months, according to Dr. Sandra Tillson, just to move it onto Ivanoff Research Station. However, a science team was accidentally vaporized by the artifact and it left a derivation of the Forerunner glyph system. Finding coordinates embedded in it, Infinity set a course for the coordinates, leading them to a Shield World called Requiem. Without warning, the planet suddenly scanned Infinity and pulled the ship into its gravity well. Infinity crash landed inside the planet's artificial environment and came under attack by Covenant Remnant and Prometheans, led by the Didact, a surviving Forerunner. Captain Andrew Del Rio dispatched Lasky and Sarah Palmer on recon, believing that Infinity could provide cover and hold off the attack at the same time. They only survive with the timely intervention of the presumed KIA John-117, who drove the Didact off.

During their time on Requiem, Lasky's relationship with John-117 would prove vital to the Spartan's recovery and the outcome of their mission. He demonstrated unwavering trust in the Spartan's judgement, as opposed to Captain Del Rio's skepticism. This trust led to Lasky aiding John-117's escape from Infinity to oppose the Ur-Didact when Del Rio refused to take action.

When Infinity returned to UNSC space, FLEETCOM was unhappy to learn that Del Rio left John-117 on Requiem and relieved him of command. Lasky took de facto command of Infinity and aided the Chief against the Didact as the Forerunner attempted to use the Composer on Earth, specifically the city of New Phoenix. John-117 defeated the Didact and destroyed the Composer with a HAVOK Tactical Nuclear Weapon, though he lost his AI Cortana in the process. Infinity managed to locate John-117 amongst the debris of the Didact's ship and gave him a hero's welcome.

Lasky later found John-117 on an observation deck with a clear view of Earth. He could tell the Spartan was grieving over Cortana's sacrifice and sympathized with him, as he too lost people he cared about. The Chief stated that their duty as soldiers is to protect humanity, whatever the cost. Lasky notes that he thinks that soldiers and humanity are two different things and insists that soldiers are not machines, just people. He then decided to leave John-117 alone and promises to have the deck cleared so he can have time to cope.

Requiem Campaign
"The word is given"

- Captain Lasky ordering Battlegroup Dakota to attack at the onset of the Second Battle of Requiem

Six months after the attack on Earth, 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 Covenant and hostile Promethean forces in order for the UNSC to establish research facilities inside the planet. Infinity received new Spartan-IV Fireteams before it jumped into slipspace. Lasky and Commander Sarah Palmer, leader of Infinity's Spartans, discussed the battle plan. Palmer believed her Spartans should spend more time training but Lasky overruled her.

Infinity later exited slipspace, catching the Covenant fleet by surprise as they ram the command ship, splitting it in half. Lasky then gave the go-ahead for UNSC frigates to be deployed from Infinity's underbelly to cover for the Fireteams' Pelicans descent into Requiem. With this, the Second Battle of Requiem had begun.

Fireteam Crimson later returned with a Forerunner artifact, which spontaneously activated, causing disruption in Infinity's systems, including loss of artificial gravity and power to the engine, causing the ship to lose its orbit. Luckily, Palmer managed to deactivate the artifact with a hard kick, restoring Infinity's systems to normal. The artifact then became stuck to the floor, refusing to react from any further attempts of "physical persuasion". Dr. Henry Glassman attempted to inspect the artifact, only to be accidentally teleported to Requiem by it.

Lasky needed expert help in determining what the artifact was and summoned Doctor Catherine Elizabeth Halsey to Infinity. Palmer showed outright hostility towards the war criminal, reminding Lasky that she was locked up for a reason. Halsey, determined that the artifact was communing with Infinity's engines, the only Forerunner tech installed on the ship, several Human systems and something on Requiem.

Sometime later, Palmer informed Lasky that Fireteam Castle getting shot down on a supply run. The area they were in was the same place where John-117 encountered the Librarian AI. Unfortunately, the place was occupied by the Covenant Remnant leader, Jul 'Mdama.

Fireteam Majestic was later dispatched to Requiem to retrieve a package. Upon bringing it to Halsey, she determined it to be similar to an AI matrix. Palmer and Majestic were observing the dissection before the device let out a flash of light and projected images of New Phoenix on the lab monitors. Halsey determined that this was from a Promethean's memories and confronted Lasky, who confesses that the UNSC has been aware that the Prometheans were created from ancient Humans. She pointed out that this Promethean was once a human who lived in New Phoenix. As Lasky expressed confusion as to how these memories got to Requiem, Gabriel Thorne abruptly left the room. Halsey realized he was staring at an image of the artifact. Palmer and Lasky escorted her back to it. Palmer mocked Halsey for not having the answer to everything. Halsey retorted that she was excluded from information.

Palmer then became suspicious when she heard Halsey mutter the Librarian's name. She snatched the doctor's datapad and discovered a secret communique with an unknown individual, which she passed to Lasky.

Lasky then ordered Palmer to take Halsey into custody for withholding vital information. As they took her to Lasky's ready room, Halsey negatively compared the UNSC to children in a sandbox. Palmer coldly reminded her that the Office of Naval Intelligence would put her in something much smaller than a sandbox. The scientist defended that she didn't share information with her contact, whom she believed would benefit humanity and criticized Palmer for being too trigger-happy. Just then, Roland, Infinity's AI reported that Thorne had been detected alive on Requiem.

Lasky had Halsey returned to the brig while Majestic was sent after their missing teammate. However, Halsey used an AI override code on Roland to force him to follow her commands, gather everything the UNSC had on the Librarian and directly contact Jul. Roland eventually managed to overcome the override and alerted security. A disappointed Lasky tells Halsey that he has underestimated her long enough and threatens to throw her in a cryo tube. The doctor responds with a slap, revealing that she now knows John-117 was on Infinity and demands to know why this information was kept from her.

Before Lasky could respond, Prometheans started materializing and spreading through the ship. One group of Prometheans appeared before Lasky's entourage and opened fire. Halsey was knocked down by a fallen soldier, forcing Lasky to grab a shotgun from another fallen soldier to save her. He then quickly got to the nearest intercom, ordering Infinity to battle stations before he and Halsey go running for their lives. They meet up with Palmer before heading to the bridge where Lasky ordered that they move away from Requiem, but Roland informed him that the artifact is acting as a slipspace anchor, keeping them in place. Then suddenly, a Promethean appears and grabs Halsey before vanishing. Palmer then realizes that the Prometheans were after her all along.

Lasky soon reports to Admiral Serin Osman, Paragonsky's successor as head of ONI, and receives orders to terminate Dr. Halsey. Lasky felt morally opposed to the order, believing that soldiers are not hitmen. Nonetheless, Palmer chose to follow the order so that Lasky would not have to suffer a court martial, the Captain, unable to dissuade her, contacted Fireteam Majestic and ordered them to rescue Halsey. Unfortunately, their mission failed, as Jul had escaped with Dr. Halsey.

But that was the least of their worries, for Jul had set Requiem to collide with the sun and ordered his forces to evacuate the planet. Glassman determined from a map recovered by Majestic, that there are two artifacts on Requiem similar to the one on Infinity. Deactivating them would free the ship, enabling them to escape before they plunge into the sun too. Fireteams Majestic and Crimson separately worked to reach and deactivate the devices. Once successful, they barely managed to land on Infinity as they outran the supernova caused by Requiem's collision, narrowly making it to slipspace.

Afterwards, Palmer criticized Lasky for sending Majestic to interfere with her mission. The Captain defended that he sent them on a rescue mission, but she didn't see a difference. They then enter the lab where Glassman was examining one half of the Janus Key. He determined the artifact to be inert without the other half.

Personality
"We're soldiers, not hitmen"

- Thomas Lasky to Sarah Palmer on Admiral Osman's order to execute Dr Halsey

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. Lasky also has a very high moral standard. When Admiral Osman ordered the execution of Dr Halsey, he attempted to persuade Commander Palmer not to commit  this action. Showing his compassion for members of the UNSC as well as civilians whom he joined the UNSC to protect, not to kill.

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.
 * Sarah Palmer - A SPARTAN-IV and Commander of all SPARTAN-IV Fireteams aboard . She is also Thomas's good friend.
 * John-117 - A SPARTAN-II who Lasky has great respect for due to him saving his life. Lasky supported him over his own commanding officer to the effect that he was being disobedient after, Lasky attempted to comfort the Chief after Cortana's "death," leaving him alone when he understood that was what he wanted.

Trivia

 * He is shown with the three gold bars of a Commander, but has a gold oak leaf, which represents only a Lieutenant Commander in the United States military. A Commander is represented with a silver oak leaf.
 * 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 worn smooth, when the Infinity investigates the distress signal of the.
 * Lasky was born on Mars, grew up on New Harmony, and went to school on Circinius IV.
 * McFarlane Toys originally had plans to release an action figure based on Thomas Lasky as part of the Halo 4 Series 2 line, but later cancelled the figure.

List of Appearances

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