UNSC Nautilus

Summary
The UNSC Nautilus is a Marathon-class Cruiser, now under the command of Major Terry Jones. The ship lost most of it's command crew during the Battle of Reach, Major Jones was the highest ranking soldier left on board. So until the UNSC can get a replacement command crew and Captain, Major Jones is in command.

History
The UNSC Nautilus was first commissioned to Admiral Casey Beidel. After sustaining server damage in an ambush on the Covenant, the ship was sent back to reach for repairs. During the repairs, Admiral Beidel went to a separate ship, forgetting about the Nautilus. So command of the cruiser went to another Captain. The ship then went to join a battlegroup preparing to jump to Miridem.

Once at Miridem, the UNSC Nautilus launched several waves of HEVs, Terry was among those to go. The HEVs touched down and they soon lost contact. However, the UNSC Nautilus had problems of it's own, the battlegroup was being engaged by the Covenant fleet. The UNSC battlegroup numbered 31 vessels, while the Covenant numbered 24 ships. The numbers were in their favor, but the Covenant had two unusually large ships with them, the ships were deemed Assault Carriers. The Nautilus was the most powerful UNSC vessel in the engagement, except for maybe the carrier.

After several hours of combat the UNSC finally ordered a retreat when the ODST ground forces reported severe losses. Terry had radioed in for extraction and after 30 minutes, several Pelicans picked up the remaining ODSTs. The UNSC battlegroup, only 12 ships remaining, jumped system away from the Covenant fleet. Miridem was soon glassed by the Covenant forces.

The UNSC Nautilus was then sent to aid in the defence of Paris IV. Arriving half way through the battle, the Nautilus since saw plenty of combat. Once in position, the UNSC Nautilus mainly defended the main evac center, making sure all the evac vessels made it past the Covenant forces.