Halo: Helljumper

This article is about a comic series. For the fan-made film series, see Halo: Helljumper (film series).

Halo: Helljumper is a five issue comic book series published by Marvel Comics. It chronicles the stories of a squad from the 105th ODST Division of UNSC Marine Shock Troopers. The story is centered around Taylor "Dutch" Miles and Kojo "Romeo" Agu before the events of Halo 3: ODST, with Romeo serving as the narrator of the story.

A hardcover edition was released on March 17, 2010.

Plot synopsis
The story begins with a brief scene showing the initial Covenant attack on Ariel. A civilian researcher manages to send a distress call before being captured by the Covenant.

Later, on board a UNSC frigate, Romeo and Dutch get into a fight with other ODSTs. Both are confined to their quarters by MSgt Frost as a result. While in his quarters, Dutch receives a message from his wife, who tells him of the option of transferring into a non-combat position to be with her.

The Marines then get their mission to investigate Ariel, and after landing, find the colony's main settlement to be empty, absent of bodies or Covenant. They are ordered to split up, and investigate the colony for any sign of civilian activity. At the settlement's underground reactor complex, Dutch and Romeo find Covenant forces digging for something, and before they can return to the surface, they are attacked. The reactor is damaged in the fighting, and begins to overload. Meanwhile, the other ODSTs detect the subterranean explosions, and Frost orders everyone to retreat from the area, leaving Dutch, Romeo, and two other ODSTs behind. They then proceed to move through a desert to another archaeological dig.

Unbeknown to the other ODSTs, Dutch and Romeo are saved by the reactor's explosion by using Elite bodies as shields. Before the explosion, Dutch tells Romeo that he put in for a transfer to be with his wife. Afterward, Romeo starts angrily asking Dutch why didn't he tell him about the transfer earlier. Dutch only replies that they'll discuss it further later, and the two move out. They soon come across a wounded Grunt and interrogate it, learning only that the Covenant are after something called "Knowing". The two then decide to head to higher ground to locate the rest of the ODSTs. Once there, they find that a massive Covenant ground force is massing behind the other Marines, and decide to create a diversion to draw the Covenant away from their compatriots.

Romeo and Dutch plant explosive charges into a canyon and detonate them, killing numerous Covenant and attracting the attention of the rest. After setting more traps for pursuing Covenant, they commandeer a lightly-guarded Phantom dropship and rain death down on the rest of the Covenant infantry in the area. However, the craft is severely damaged by a stray fuel rod. Dutch manages to fly the craft to the other dig site and bring it crashing down on a group of Covenant, while the ODSTs bail out. They discover the missing civilians, held prisoner by the Covenant in a building. They learn from a researcher that the Covenant have been using the humans to spring booby traps in an ancient underground complex.

The ODSTs assault the chamber where the Covenant are rounding up the civilians, and after eliminating the opposition, tell the humans to evacuate. They then decide to investigate the underground complex. After evading a laser trap, they find themselves in a large chamber, with a Monitor-like construct suspended in the ceiling. It identifies itself as "the Knowing", and tells the ODSTs its function: to collect and archive information. After learning that the Covenant could use this information against humanity, the ODSTs decide that the construct must be destroyed, despite standing orders to preserve and record xenoarchaeological findings. They make their escape as the Knowing willingly self-destructs. After its destruction, the Prophet leading the Covenant forces orders them to leave the planet at once and return to High Charity. Romeo and Dutch move back up to the surface from the underground tunnels, regrouping with the rest of the ODST squad.

Back aboard the frigate, Romeo is recovering from a broken ankle on an infirmary bed. He tells Dutch that he, too, requested a transfer for a planetside assignment to be with Dutch. Dutch, on the other hand, tells that he withdrew his transfer request. They have a game of rock-paper-scissors, and decide to go with the winner's decision. The story ends with Romeo winning, with scissors over paper.

Issue 1


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Issue 2


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Issue 3


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Issue 4


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Issue 5


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Re-releases
The comic was later included in two compilation re-releases alongside Halo: Uprising and Halo: Blood Line; 2013's Oversized Collection and 2021's Legacy Collection.

Trivia

 * Despite being an excellent sniper, Romeo never wields a sniper rifle in the series. However, he does achieve several head shots.
 * Unggoy blood is depicted as green in the series, though it is canonically colored blue.