Hello, just so you know this is my first story so please feel free to comment

Disclaimer: I don't own halo or any other TV show or book mentioned in this story

Prologue: finish the fight

There were explosions coming from all over the place as the chief gunned the warthog's engine, trying to get over the jump and into the hangar of the frigate. The Arbiter was manning the hog's machine gun try to take out sentinels in pursuit of the pair, and there was Cortana an AI interfaced with the master chief's suit. She was telling the chief the halo's final firing sequence was starting and they had a few minutes left. That was all he would need as the warthog when screaming off the ramp and into the hangar of the UNSC frigate forward unto dawn, the hog landed and flipped over spilling its occupants on the deck of the hangar. The chief slowly got up as did the arbiter, but the ship was rocked to one side and a tank stored at the other end of the hangar came loose and started heading for The Arbiter. He dived behind some crates just as the tank hit the chief ran toward a computer panel in the hangar. As the arbiter got up the chief looked at him and nodded and he did the same knowing what they had to do. The chief turned to the panel and inserted the chip from his helmet into the console then Cortana's blue holographic form appeared and she said to him.

"Hang on"

She engaged the frigate's engines and they escaped the halo's atmosphere. The chief struggled to hold on but was nearly knocked out of the ship by a flying warthog. He managed to grab hold just as the tank nearly hit him as it was sucked out of the ship. The chief herd Cortana call out to him so he slowly made his way to the console, removed Cortana's chip and reinserted into his suit.

"If we don't make it" she started.

"We'll make it" the Chief reassured.

"It's been an honor serving with you, John"

Then the light from the detonation enveloped the hangar just as the ship entered the portal.

--

"Chief, chief can you hear me?" Cortana cried

The chief felt groggy and then he noticed he was weightless; he flipped on his suit lights to find himself in one of the dawn's corridors. He scooped up his assault rifle and he slowly made his way toward a breach in the hull.

"At last, I thought I lost you too"

"What happened?"

"I'm not sure… when halo fired it shook itself to pieces, did a number on the ark. We made it through the portal just as it collapsed… well some of us made it" Cortana said.

The chief looked out to see the forward half of the dawn was missing; he slowly made his way to the cryo chamber knowing it was his only option for survival.

"But you did it… Truth and the covenant, the flood its finished" Cortana said as the chief inserted her chip into a holo pad near a cryo tube.

"It's finished" The chief said as he floated toward a locker where he deposited his assault rifle and then got into the cryo tube.

Cortana turned to him "I'll drop a beacon but it will be a while before anyone finds us years even… I'll miss you".

The chief looked at her as the lid was closing and said.

"Wake me when you need me".