Halo: Helljumper Issue 5

Halo: Helljumper Issue 5 was released on November 25, 2009 and is the last of five in the Halo: Helljumper series of comics.

Plot synopsis
The issue begins as Michaels, Frost and the other ODSTs see the Phantom dropship commandeered by Dutch and Romeo in the distance, heavily damaged and heading towards the second archaeological dig site, occupied by the Covenant. Before the craft hits a group of Covenant forces on the ground, the two ODSTs jump out, landing in a building where the Covenant are holding the colony's civilian inhabitants prisoner. After neutralizing the guards, they learn from a researcher that the Covenant have been forcing the civilians to dig for something under the planet surface and to spring booby traps in an underground installation they have unearthed.

The ODSTs throw a Covenant explosive into the room where they are holding the civilians, and several panicked Grunts run away, right into one of the booby traps - a set of lasers crisscrossing the lower half of a corridor. Dutch then proceeds to push the sole Elite in the room into the trap as well. The two ODSTs tell the civilians to leave, but decide to move deeper into the mysterious complex themselves. Back-to-back, they proceed over the beams, and melt a part of the inner door with an overcharged plasma pistol shot. They jump into the next chamber, to witness a blinding light shining from the ceiling. The source is revealed to be a Forerunner construct shaped like a Monitor suspended in the ceiling, which identifies itself as "The Knowing". It reveals that its function is to collect and archive information, and prompts the humans to ask questions from it. Romeo asks if the data held by the construct would help the Covenant exterminate humanity, to which the Knowing replies that they would be able to wipe humanity down "to their last DNA strand".

Dutch and Romeo realize that they must destroy the AI to prevent it from falling into Covenant hands, despite standing orders to record and preserve xenoarchaeological findings. They vow never to talk about the incident again, and tell the Knowing to self-destruct, a wish that the AI obeys. Meanwhile, on the surface, the rest of the ODSTs have arrived to the dig site, and Frost questions one of the civilians, who tells her that Romeo and Dutch are actually alive. Just after, Michaels comes in and informs Frost that Covenant reinforcements are inbound. Inside the Forerunner complex, Dutch and Romeo make their escape, but Romeo trips and breaks his ankle. Dutch proceeds to carry him out, just before the timer runs out and the Knowing self-destructs, destroying the entire underground complex. This immediately alerts the minor Prophet with the Covenant forces, who proclaims that the "silent oracle" has been taken from them, that the world is "desecrated" and "soiled", and that they must leave immediately to inform the High Council.

The Covenant begin their retreat, much to the surprise of the ODSTs. They gather around a hole in the ground, blown open by the explosion. Detecting movement, they ready their weapons - only to see Dutch and Romeo climb up from the hole. Back on the starship, Romeo is recovering from his broken ankle at the infirmary. Romeo tells that he put in for a transfer planetside, to be with Dutch, to which Dutch replies that he withdrew his earlier transfer request. The two exchange a baffled stare, and then try rock, paper and scissors to decide whose decision will they go with. Romeo wins, with scissors over paper.

Related articles

 * Halo: Helljumper
 * Issue 1
 * Issue 2
 * Issue 3
 * Issue 4