"We are aboard. Humans and Elites. Will you not come with us brother?" Rtas asked over the comms.
"No, this is our fight. And I will see it finished," Arbiter growled. Master Chief nodded slightly in approval as he steered the Pelican towards the snowy ground of the Halo. He swerved upwards, but the Flood must have damaged the landing gear, because all he could do was crash, sending a spray of snow up into the air. They both climbed out via the troop bay and the back hatch that adjoined it. This was it, time to finish the fight once and for all. With Truth dead, the only thing left to do was to detonate this ring and wipe out the Flood.
~~~~~~~~~~()~~~~~~~~~~
"This better work son or I swear on my momma's grave I will plant my foot so far up your ass you'll need a laser cutter to get it out!" Johnson barked nervously. Daniel shrugged as he pulled his Turquoise-striped ODST helmet on. He stepped back from the engine and admired his handiwork.
"Considering how many plasma rounds hit this thing and the supplies I had to work with, I did pretty well," he commented.
"Pretty well?" Johnson repeated. "We don't need an engine that works pretty well. The Master Chief will need cover fire ASAP, and that ain't going to happen with an engine that works pretty well!"
"Alright Sarge," Daniel sighed as he stepped into the elevator. Johnson followed suit, and soon the two of them were ascending to the bridge. Daniel hurdled the co-pilot's chair then sat down in it. "I can't believe they expected you to fly this by yourself," he remarked as his eyes scanned the banks of controls. Johnson sat himself down in the pilot's seat and smirked.
"Then you ain't never seen me in action boy. You will believe. I'll make you believe." Johnson chuckled and watched Daniel brace himself for the ride of his life.
~~~~~~~~~~()~~~~~~~~~~
Minutes later, Johnson leapt out of the driver's seat.
"Wait here," he commanded as Daniel handed him his Spartan Laser. Johnson sprinted out to the ridge that ran alongside the Control Room, assisting the Master Chief from higher ground. Eventually they managed to get inside, with the assistance of 343 Guilty Spark of course.
"This facility should be ready to fire in just a few more days," the Monitor stated with a hint of excitement.
"We don't have a few more days!" Johnson growled angrily, his hand holding Cortana shaking slightly.
"B-b-but a pre-mature firing will destroy the Ark!"
"Deal with it," Johnson snapped.
"It will destroy this installation," Oracle muttered darkly. He began to glow red, but Johnson didn't notice as he was too busy inserting Cortana's chip into the control panel and Master Chief was sharing a look with Arbiter at the Oracle's words.
"Gaah!" Johnson fell to his knees as he was struck by the Monitor's powerful laser.
"Unacceptable. Unacceptable! Absolutely unacceptable!" Oracle shrieked. Master Chief charged at the angry Monitor. He lasered the Spartan, who thankfully had shielding to absorb the blast. "Protocol dictates action! I see now that helping you was WRONG!" Arbiter began trying to sneak up on him, but Guilty Spark saw this and fired off another beam of red at the also-shielded soldier. Master Chief tried to get up, but he received another short burst for his trouble. "You are the child of my makers, inheritor of all they left behind. You are Forerunner," he droned on. "But this ring, is mine." His eye glowed red again as he spoke this last part. Master Chief began spraying the Monitor with fire from his Assault Rifle, allowing Arbiter the time to grab Johnson's Spartan Laser. The large weapon hummed as it charged up, making Guilty Spark half-turn before getting struck in the face by the laser. The Monitor began rambling as Arbiter shot him again and again, until finally the floating eyeball exploded. Master Chief ran to Johnson's side while the Arbiter just hung back in the doorway.
"Send me out... with a bang," Johnson grunted, before his head lolled back. The next few moments were a blur for the Master Chief, and the next thing he knew he was following the Arbiter out of the control room and towards the ice ridge Johnson had come from. They fought their way through a small structure until they finally came across Johnson's Warthog.
"There!" Cortana exclaimed. "Johnson's Warthog... is that an ODST?" Indeed, standing in the gunner's seat was an ODST, mowing down Flood forms. Master Chief swung himself into the driver's seat, allowing Arbiter to slide into the passenger side. Master Chief instantly slammed his foot on the pedal. "Go Spartan go go go!" Cortana urged as Chief swerved around a icy rock face, revealing a vast plain of bare metal plates that made up the structure of the ring. It was a perilous ride from then on, Chief had to drive through exploding segments and collapsing structures. However, he didn't realise one of the plates wasn't as stable as he had originally thought, and it fell away as the front right wheel's weight was put on it. The Warthog swerved wildly out of control as its wheel caught, ultimately causing it to roll over, shattering the windscreen and snapping off the back bumper. Arbiter and Daniel were strewn across the ground as Chief quickly rightened the vehicle. Daniel threw himself into the nearest seat, the passenger's, as the ground behind them began to fall away. Arbiter was running across this ground and jumped as high as he could to reach the Warthog from his sunken ground. Just as he missed and started to fall, a hand shot out to grab his wrist. Arbiter glanced up to see Daniel attempting to pull his weight back into the Warthog. Arbiter was surprisingly light compared to the other Sangheili Daniel had fought with. He managed to raise him to the point where he could pull himself into the vehicle just as Master Chief slammed his foot on the acceleration.
"Gun it Chief. Jump! Floor it right into the hangar!" Cortana urged as the Forward Unto Dawn came into view. The Warthog soared through the air towards the hangar. Arbiter's eyes widened as he saw the floor approaching, so, clinging to the side of the vehicle as he was, he pushed himself off and landed with an "oof" on the hard floor. Daniel yelped and rolled out as the Warthog flipped end over end, getting bashed up until it finally slide to a halt, upside-down. Daniel groaned as he picked himself up onto his knees. The ship lurched, making the Warthog slide slightly towards him, so he stuck out a hand to steady it. A nearby Scorpion Tank started rolling towards the doorway at the back of the room, the only way out of the hangar. Master Chief, the closest, sprinted towards the doorway and managed to dive in just as the Scorpion slammed into it, blocking it off. Daniel reached it seconds after and began futilely trying to move the Scorpion out of the way. He soon realised this was impossible and the ship bean to gain speed as Master Chief, or more likely Cortana, flew away from the Halo Ring. Daniel grabbed Arbiter's hand.
"Come on! We don't have much time!" he explained as he led the large alien towards the open exit of the hangar. He clambered out and began to climb up to another level of the ship. Arbiter followed, confused but trusting the human.
~~~~~~~~~~()~~~~~~~~~~
The bulk of the front half of the Forward Unto Dawn soared towards the Earth, landing in the ocean. A crew of engineers cut open the ship and Master Chief climbed out. He was flown back to land via a Pelican where he was met by Lord Hood.
"Johnson? Arbiter?" the Admiral asked. Master Chief shook his head. Hood sighed. "What on Earth...?" Chief followed the old man's gaze and saw it. A beaten and smoking Pelican plummeting down, spiralling and showing no signs of slowing down. It crashed into the water with a spray of water. The Pelican next to Lord Hood was instantly packed once again with the engineering crew and their equipment.
Daniel groggily opened his eyes. Out the front window he could see the shores of Earth. It had worked. They had made it to the Pelican bay in time, though he probably could have gotten a lot more protection from the Forward Unto Dawn's shielding with a little more time. He looked around for the Arbiter, before realising he was laying atop the Sangheili in question. Daniel gasped and quickly leapt to his feet.
"S-sorry," Daniel apologised. "That was a suggestive position. I didn't mean anything by it!" he cried, suddenly realising the implications of what he'd just said. The Arbiter nodded at him. "I mean, I'm not homosexual or anything!" Daniel continued, missing the gesture. Arbiter put a hand on his shoulder.
"I know human. And call me Thelya. That is my name."
"Th-Thelya?" Daniel inquired. "That's a boy's name?"
"No," the Arbiter – Thelya – chuckled with a wink. "My kind has their reasons for thinking I am male, but humans just assume," he – she – explained. Daniel blushed and instinctively looked away to hide it, even though there was no way she could have seen him through his polarised visor. "I hope you do not plan on telling anyone, because I might have to kill you if you do." Daniel smiled, but read the serious tone beneath her jest.
"If it's important to you... then no, I won't say a word."
"You can still speak," she scoffed. "Just not of this conversation and the information it has revealed." Daniel found himself smiling again.
"It's just an expression."
"Oh, how peculiar." The cockpit of the Pelican was opened and an engineer held out a hand to help someone out. Seeing that Thelya wouldn't know how this procedure worked, Daniel went first, accepting the hand that hoisted him up onto the hull of the Pelican. "Oh, and human," Thelya called.
"Daniel," he corrected her.
"Daniel... thank you." Daniel pulled his helmet off, so Thelya would be able to view the gentle smile on his face.
"Any time... sir."