NH3: God, I keep multitasking myself with stories, swim practice, Halo 3, etc. I've seen the legendary mode ending, so I came up with something. Here it is. SAQ will accompany me later.

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1012 hours March 21, 2553(Adopted Sangheili Calendar) / The Shadow of Intent, leaving Earth.

"Take us home," the Arbiter said.

"Yes, Excellency," a navigation officer responded. "Preparing escape burn. Initiating now."

The ships plasma engines came online. The Shadow of Intent sped through the atmosphere, moving faster and faster until they finally escaped orbit. The Arbiter hadn't even felt it.

"Put some distance and jump to Slipspace," the Arbiter said. He was getting eager to see Sanghelios again. The last time he saw it, he was an ensign, watching it disappear from his view as the ship jumped to the dimension of Slipspace. Now that the war was over and the Covenant was nothing but individual species struggling to revert back to their former technology tiers, the Arbiter knew that he could do anything. And seeing the planet again was his first order.

"Transferring to Slipspace," the NAV officer said after picking the route and altering the Slipspace tangles on the hologram. The Arbiter felt a very small shaking as they transferred.

"I will retire now," The Arbiter said. "Scan the ship for trackers, holes, anything, and report it to me if there is anything wrong." He went into the quarters the former captain had arranged for him. The former would be sleeping in the room he had given the Arbiter.

The Arbiter looked around his new quarters. He still didn't believe the war was over, since it had seemed very unlikely. So the Arbiter quickly investigated the room for any camouflage Brutes or other enemies. When the Arbiter was satisfied, he took his helmet off. He looked into the mirror and examined the burns on his face from the day he was almost considered a heretic. He now was and wasn't one. Who else would call him that now? But those burns would stay there forever, just like the Mark of Shame.

At this thought, he took of his chest plate and examined the branding also. It was a symbol from the Prophets' language. He no longer thought of the prophets as the San 'Shyuum, the Covenant name for them. He used the crude language of humans for their names, since they were a plague upon the Arbiter.

Well, not anymore, the Arbiter thought. He was proud to have this mark, and no longer considered it shameful. In fact, he thought it was one of the things that had kept him a part of the Sangheili race. The Arbiter thought about making it the new Sangheili symbol. None of the others had minded when he told them his idea. But it wasn't his decision. It was the decision of the new leaders of the newly formed government. They no longer had a bureaucracy, like the Prophets did. They had adopted humanity's democratic system. But now, the Arbiter kept his flowing mind quiet. He took of the rest of the armor and put on bedclothes. Now, the Arbiter had to get some sleep…

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1929 hours, March 2, 2553(Adopted Sangheili Calendar) / The Shadow of Intent, in Slipspace, approaching Sanghelios.

"Excellency? Are you there?" the com said. The Arbiter woke his eyes up and picked up the com.

"Yes?"

"Excellency, we are almost at Sanghelios," the NAV officer said.

"I'll be right there," the Arbiter said. He got out of his bed and donned his armor. He then left and entered the bridge.

"Time to destination?" he asked.

"Four minutes, Excellency," the Sangheili said. Three minutes ticked by. Suddenly, the screens flickered and then shorted out, useless.

"Excellency, power failure from unknown source!" the engineer yelled.

"Communications are proving that the entire ship is feeling the effects, Excellency!" the COM officer said.

"Slipspace failure! Brace yourselves!" the NAV officer yelled. The entire ship shook as it unexpectedly fell out of Slipspace.

"Put the power back on!" the Arbiter yelled.

"Yes, Excellency," the engineer said. Lights began to come back on. Screens flickered to life as well.

"What the hell was that?" the Arbiter asked.

"We are now receiving reports of stowaway Brutes in the engine room. Our forces are converging on them as we speak, Excellency," the COM officer said.

"But such a small group couldn't disable the entire ship in that time, am I right?" the Arbiter said.

"Yes, Excellency," the Arbiter's new commander said. The former captain couldn't take that position; he was far too old. So that position had been given to a Sangheili named Nico Hornyak. The Arbiter has always wondered where the name came from, since it sounded a lot like a female human name. But he knew Nico couldn't be doubted in anything; he was the leading Spec Ops officer before he was given this position. He was one of the best swordfighters the ship had, he was a heretic before the entire race had left the Covenant, and he knew far more then the Arbiter ever would. On top of that, he was fast, agile, and acrobatic. What he lacked in strength, he made up for speed.

"Excellency, I'm picking up something…it might be a signal," the NAV officer said.

"Let me analyze it," the COM officer said. After a few moments, he started to speak.

"Excellency, the signal is a beacon. It's a human class type coming from the nearby planet."

"Nearby planet?" Nico questioned. "According to the maps, there isn't a single planet here, Excellency."

"All the more reason to be suspicious," the Arbiter said. "Give me a visual."

"Yes, Excellency," the NAV officer said. "Rotating object into view…got it, Excellency!" The hologram activated and everyone who saw it knew what they were looking at. The size of the object could match a small moon. It was a portal. It looked exactly like the one that the Covenant had activated at the remains of New Mombasa. Around it floated humongous chucks made of an unknown metal. The Arbiter knew these remains were part of the Ark. The screen zoomed in to see a UNSC ship floating out of the reach of the portal.

"Excellency, that is where the signal is coming from," the NAV officer said. The Arbiter recognized it instantly. It was the back half of the ship he escaped the Ark in, the same half that never followed through the portal, and finally, the half that brought upon Spartan-117's death. The Arbiter no longer called him a demon, but just called him the 'Chief', the 'Master Chief' and 'John.'

Wait a second! The back half was here! The Chief could be on it.

"I'm going to take a search team down there," the Arbiter announced. "Nico, come with me,"

"Yes, Excellency," he said as he followed the Arbiter out.

"And please stop calling me 'Excellency'. 'Arbiter' will do fine, and I'll call you Nico," Arbiter said.

"Yes, Excell—Arbiter," Nico corrected himself. They entered the hanger and the Arbiter pulled on a life-support suit. Nico did the same. They then rounded up the other Sangheili into the Phantom and they rocketed toward the wreckage. A few minutes passed by before a 'bump' was heard. The doors opened and the team fanned out.

The Arbiter looked around. He remembered that this was where he escaped to the bridge and the Master Chief had stayed and put Cortana in the nearby port. The Arbiter walked up to it and Cortana shifted into his view.

"Arbiter?" she said.

"Yes?" he said.

"Oh, good! It is you after all!" she said. "The Master Chief is in Cryo 1."

"Thanks," he said.

"I'll get him out," Cortana said. The Sangheili team floated through the wreckage and entered the Cryo room. They crowded near the tube. Only the Arbiter and Nico stood near it. The tube hissed, the cover slammed to the floor, and the Master Chief shook his head.

"Welcome back, John," Cortana said soothingly from the nearby holoport.

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NH3: No, this isn't a story about the Chief's transfer to civilization. This is about another fight against one more threat that no one really considered.