Halo: Blood Line Issue 5

Halo: Blood Line Issue 5 was released on May 5, 2010 and is the last of five in the Halo: Blood Line series of comics.

Plot synopsis
Issue #5 begins with a status report by Iona explaining the events so far, in a message designated only to be relayed to UNSC command in the event Team Black is neutralized.

The story opens with Black-Four, having an uncontrolled emotional outburst as a result of manipulation by 686 Ebullient Prism, attacking Black-Three despite Three's and Iona's attempts to reason with him. He then removes Iona's storage chip from his helmet and tries to crush it, but Four dives in to save her. While Thon 'Talamee and the remaining Covenant watch the two Spartans fight, Thon is contacted by Reff, who has escaped captivity and reached the installation's control center with Black-One. The Covenant proceed to the control center while leaving the Spartans on their own.

Black-One, investigating the installation's control panel, then contacts the rest of the team and tells them to proceed to the control room, marking it with a NAV point on their HUDs. She discovers what brought down their ship, as well as the Covenant one: the facility possesses a weapon that can fire directly into Slipspace. She also detects a large Covenant fleet moving toward their position and asks for the status of the team. To her surprise, she finds that Three and Four are engaged in a brawl, and Three tells her what the fight is about. In order to snap Four out of his tantrum, she tells him that she forgives him for telling on CPO Mendez about her and Three. This, combined by Iona flooding his mind with images of the team's previous missions together, reminds Four of the importance of the only "family" he has and returns him to his senses. He then tells Three how good he felt when they got back at Red Team for taking One's eye out.

With the issue resolved, One orders Three and Four to make their way to her position. Just then, a Hunter slams her head into the command console. Thon, having just arrived at the control center, tells Reff that now that they are reunited, the truce with the humans is over. He then notices the approaching Covenant supply convoy on the control panel display, and inquires if they could use the machinery to send a message to High Charity. However, Reff has other plans: In religious fervor, he proclaims that they must use the Installation's weapons to shoot the Prophets' servants down, claiming that it was destiny that brought him here to build a "new Covenant".

Thon, scolding his brother for speaking heresy, won't allow Reff to stain their family name, and proceeds to kill him. However, Reff has stolen Thon's energy sword and impales his brother with it. Reff's plan to fire on the approaching Covenant fleet is interrupted by Ebullient Prism arriving at the control center, backed up by an army of Sentinels and Gatherers. The Monitor vaporizes Reff from the legs up with his energy beam, while Black-One regains consciousness. Three and Four then arrive at the chamber, followed by Two, and the team fight the Monitor and the Sentinels. Damaged, the Monitor flies into the firing path of the installation's main weapon, just as One activates it. The energy surging through the shaft vaporizes the Monitor as the weapon fires into space, bringing the entire Covenant fleet down on the moon's surface.

After the team makes their way back to the installation's entrance, Iona scans the wreckage and discovers that they may be able to use one of the crashed ships to escape. It is also revealed that the Monitor made Black-Two's wounds look far worse than they actually were and all damage was fixed by biofoam. Before they proceed out of the structure, Iona informs that there are still over a hundred live Covenant outside. While she suggests they wait for them to die of asphyxiation or injuries, the team storms out to engage them, with Black-Three declaring the odds to be "almost fair" for the Covenant.

Trivia
The opening summary for this issue is not in the hardback or the Halo: Oversized Collection.