Here it is, chapter 5. Oh, and thanks to Halosobsessed1010 for the tip. :)

Disclaimer:

Nemesis: Is hunched over something and is hard at work on it

Sergeant Johnson: Trying to peer over his shoulder What crazy thing you workin' on now, boy?

Nemesis: Something that will revolutionize the Halo universe . . . Be right back! Suddenly grabs what he was working on and runs into another room

SJ: Shakes his head slowly as he watches him go, and a few minutes pass by

Nemesis: Suddenly bursts from the room, wearing a bunch of cardboard boxes colored green with a crayon Tah Dah!

SJ: Staring wide-eyed What in God's name are you wearin'!

Nemesis: May I introduce . . . the MJOLNIR Mark VII! Dun dah dah!

SJ: . . . . . . You need help.

Nemesis: What? You don't like it?

SJ: No.

Nemesis: You're mean. Glares at him

SJ: Hell yeah! And just to prove it, you do not own Bungie, Halo, or any of it's related trademarks.

Nemesis: Gah! So cruel!

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Chapter 5

1208 hours, June 19, 2556 (Military Calendar)/

UNSC Vessel Aurelius, Salusa Primus System, near planet Solitude

Alarms blared, and the Aurelius shuddered as it suffered a second plasma impact from the enemy ship. Phillerson grabbed the sides of his booth to keep from falling out of his chair, and one of the other officers on the bridge called out "Hit on the subengineering decks! Explosive decompression in compartments twelve through twenty-seven!"

Phillerson winced as he heard this. That was way too close the engines of the Aries-class destroyer. If the engines were at all damaged, that would put them at a serious disadvantage to the Covenant, who would then be able outmaneuver them. He held his breath as Captain Gerritsen asked for a report on engine status. There were a few moments of tense silence as the officer checked their status, and he said "Reactors are running at 94 percent efficiency Captain. Normal readings. They're undamaged." Phillerson let out a sigh of relief at these words, along with almost every other person on the bridge, and began concentrating on his console once again.

As the person manning Weapons Station One, he couldn't afford to be distracted for too long. One mistake from him could endanger the life of everyone on board. Coincidentally, just as he turned back, Captain Gerritsen said, "Charge the MAC gun magnetic coils and plasma turrets one through five. I want to hit them hard this time."

"Aye aye captain." said Phillerson, and quickly pressed the appropriate keys. "MAC gun magnetic fields coming online and plasma turrets warming." He said. "Charging." He watched as the energy readings for both types of weapons rose. Meanwhile, the Covenant cruisers plasma turrets were beginning to glow again, slowly changing colors as they became hotter.

Gerritsen was watching this happen through the front viewport. He knew that the Covenant had them on the ropes, and that the battle could go either way. He wished that their chances were better than that. Only someone with a mind like that of Captain Keyes or Admiral Cole could ensure that, because even giving the Covenant a taste of their own medicine wasn't enough . . . or was it? This thought passed through his head, bringing along with it an idea. "Phillerson, halt charging the MAC gun magnetic coils, but keep heating the plasma turrets. As soon as they finish charging, I want you to fire upon their turrets." He then turned his head towards the Navigations officer and ordered "Lay in a new course. Zero-nine-zero by zero-one-five."

Phillerson's eyes opened wide as he heard these two commands. Unless the book on battle tactics had changed since he'd looked, having less weapons capabilities to use on your enemy was a bad idea. Also, the course he'd just set would take the Aurelius to collide with the cruiser, crashing them together side by side. He suddenly wondered if the captain had lost his mind. However, he trusted the man, and so he didn't voice his objections. Instead, he did as he was told and started pushing buttons. It looked as if the Navigations officer thought the same way, for after a few seconds of hesitation, the ship beagan to move sideways, directly towards the Covenant ship. The plasma turrets were almost white, showing that they were nearly ready to fire. So was the Aurelius'. The Covenant cruiser seemed to pause at the unexpected movement from the humans, and who could blame them? It wasn't everyday that an enemy you were locked in mortal combat with made a seemingly suicidal move like this. That gave them a few spare seconds, which was exactly what Captain Gerritsen had planned on.

They were a couple thousand kilometers apart when the console before Phillerson emitted a loud tone. He quickly yelled "Captain! Turrets are charged and ready to fire!"

Gerritsen quickly returned with "Fire at will!" Pumped with adrenaline coursing through his body, Phillerson slammed his finger on to a red key, driving it down into his console hard. The turrets on the starboard side of the Aurelius flashed, and five enormous globes of superheated plasma raced away from them. This jump-started the Covenant into action, because after a few moments of pause, they fired their turrets as well. Gerritsen smiled, because with this action, they had just condemned themselves.

The plasma was barely away from the enemy ship, but far away from the Aurelius, when the plasma fired from the destroyer collided with their cousins. There was an incredibly bright flash of light as a fatal chain reaction ensued, and everyone on the bridge was forced to turn away or cover their eyes to avoid being damaging their eyes. Monitors became fuzzy, and speakers emitted a buzzing noise for a few seconds as a wave of energy from the blast washed over them. The light soon faded, and they all looked to see the outcome.

Just about everyone's eyes widened, for the cruiser was now devastated. Most of the hull on the side of the ship facing them had boiled away, revealing the skeletal superstructure beneath. It was slowly drifting in the other direction, probably the result of a massive explosive decompression. It was evident that they wouldn't be able to change course, for they were obviously dead in space, unable to maneuver. Even if they had been able to, the captain highly doubted they would even be able to use their remaining turrets. There were no longer any threat. There were several more seconds of silence as everyone slowly took this in, but it was quickly followed by a loud cheer throughout the bridge. Gerritsen, unable to help himself, broke out into a wide grin. Phillerson was one of the people letting out a victory cheer. However, deep down in his thoughts, he wondered if the men on the planet below them were doing as well.

John reached the end of the hall, raising his rifle and slowing down as the doors there opened for him. The scene that greeted him was one of total chaos.

He entered a large room, domed room, about the size of a high school auditorium. Pinned down on one side of it, near him, were the rest of the Helljumpers that had entered the complex with him. Half of them were either lying on the floor or propped up against a wall, seriously injured or dead. The rest of them were hiding behind various types of cover and periodically poking their heads out, firing towards the other end of the room. That end was swarming with at least fifty Covenant soldiers, their ranks made up of Grunts, Jackals, and Elites. They were covering the walls with plasma fire as they too dodged in and out of cover.

The Master Chief peered through the scope of his rifle, drawing a bead on a Jackal's exposed cranium, then pulling the trigger and causing it's skull to explode. The other warriors didn't notice, too preoccupied with the ODSTs. He took down several Grunts, some more Jackals, and a few Elites before a Grunt noticed, and opened up in his direction with a plasma pistol. At this distance, it's aim was horrible, the shots going wide and missing him by several feet. He quickly gave the creature a one-way ticket to the afterlife, but a few of his fellow soldiers had already grown aware of his presence, and were firing at him too. Some were a lot more accurate than the Grunt, as was shown by the way his energy shields quickly lit up. Knowing that he would be unable to move forward if he stayed there much longer, he rushed out into the open, heading for the trapped Helljumpers.

White-hot plasma splashed on the ground around his pounding feet and over his shields as he ran. By the time he dived behind a chest-height stone wall, his shields were down to an eighth of their full strength. A pair of Helljumpers were taking refuge behind the wall as well, and they turned to him ashe sat against the wall.

"Good to see ya Chief! We could really use some help right now!" called out one of them over the noise. The other one simply looked at him. The Chief suddenly had the strange feeling that this ODST wasn't as happy to see him, and guessed that behind the blue visor of his helmet, he was sneering. He knew that it was because some Helljumpers still held grudges against him, just as they had during the war. Luckily, this particular man seemed wise enough to keep his thoughts silent because of their present situation. John nodded at the man who had spoken to him, and his shields began recharging. In roughly the span of a second, they were full again.

He went into a kneeling position, then popped over the wall, his rifle raised. In no time at all, he put the crosshairs in the scope over an Elite dressed in red armor, and squeezed the trigger. In his scope, he watched as it's shield flared, but held under the trio of bullets He fired a second burst, and this time he succeeded. The alien let out a roar of pain and rage as it's chest was ripped open. He collapsed, causing a few of the Grunts around it to start panicking as they saw him fall.

John hopped the wall, and bolted further into the room. He once again caught the attention of several enemy soldiers, who started shooting at him once more. He quickly dodged behind a large Covenant weapons crate. He pressed his back against it, pulling out a frag grenade from his belt and flicking out the pin with his thumb. He turned his body, exposing himself again and hurling the grenade into their midst, dodging behind the crate again. After a couple seconds, there was a loud thump as it detonated. He stole a look around the edge of the crate, and saw a lingering pillar of dust and smoke, along with the scattered and mutilated bodies of several enemies. There were still at least a couple dozen left standing though.

He turned to the weapons crate, hoping that what he needed at the moment was inside. He slammed his fist into it, smashing the panel and causing the crate to rock. After it settled, he grabbed the panel and wrenched it off, dropping it as he looked inside. The racks mostly had plasma rifles and needlers stacked on them, but down in the corner were two plasma grenades. He grabbed them, one in each hand, and pressed the primers on them. His visor quickly darkened in the bright light of the magnesium flare. He stepped out into the open again, and threw them both.

The first one missed a Jackal by an inch, and landed on the ground. They all moved away from it quickly, catching only a couple Grunts with the blast that followed a few seconds later. However, the second one found its way, attaching itself right on the forehead of an unlucky Grunt. He panicked, letting out cries and screeches of terror, and by a stroke of luck, unwittingly ran straight for a tightly packed group of Jackals and Elites. The Jackals had been using their shields to protect their commanders from incoming fire. Unfortunately for them, they hadn't thought that a threat could come from behind, and had left their rear vulnerable.

The Grunt ran straight amongst them, still screaming, and they had only enough time to comprehend what was happening before it went off. The ones nearest to it had been disintegrated, and the others were simply sent flying by the concussive force of the blast. Their ranks were now cut in half. The only ones remaining were a couple of blue-armor Elites, a few Jackals, and some Grunts. They were scared, not even taking time to aim as they shot wildly into the room. The ODSTs saw this, and started advancing toward the remnants of the Covenant fighters, picking them off slowly.

When there were only a few left, The Chief switched to his dual SMGs. He stepped out from behind the crate, and charged forward. He neared an Elite, and pressed the triggers on both weapons. A storm of bullets erupted from the barrels, and the creature's shields flared for a split second before failing. A couple seconds later, it was lying on the floor, a hole ripped through it's chest. John headed forward to finish off the rest.

Within the next minute, every non-human in the room was dead. Unfortunately, the ODSTs had suffered losses as well. There were fourteen of them left alive, and only ten were in any condition to fight. After debating his options, he sent two only slightly injured men to escort to the critically wounded ones back to the surface, while the other eight would stay with him to try and complete the mission. They pulled into a loose formation, advancing towards the door behind the scattered alien bodies. They got close to it, and it opened for them. John tensed in the memory of what had been waiting behind the door in the other corridor, but all that greeted them was darkness, for the room on the other side of it was completely unlit. His rifle raised, the Chief and the Helljumpers moved into the shadows, unsure what they would find.