The Master Chief awoke when he felt pain shoot up his arm. He forced his eyes open and found that his helmet had been removed. He looked around the room trying to figure out where he was, and was greeted by a familiar voice.
"Look at you, I leave you alone for a few hours and you go nearly getting yourself killed." Cortana said crossing her arms.
Chief painfully sat up and turned to Cortana.
"It's good to see you to Cortana."
Cortana tilted her head and smiled. "So you did miss me."
"What happened?" Chief asked her.
"It's a long story, but I'll keep it short for you. Halo was activated, but Miranda stopped it just in time. We blew up High Charity and Halo, we come back finding out what happened to you, I scanned the area and we found you." She answered.
Chief let out a sigh of relief knowing that the flood was dead.
"Where are we?" He asked.
"Cairo." She answered quickly.
"What happened to the Covenant fleet?" He said while standing up.
"As soon as they saw the Forerunner ship explode they fled." She said smiling.
"Where's my helmet?" He asked looking around the room.
"Over there" She said pointing to a table on the other side of the room.
Chief walked over to his helmet and put it back on, he checked his armor status and it was fine, surprisingly.
"How did you get back?" He asked looking back at Cortana.
"I'm going to explain this as easily as I can. I'll say one thing first though, we have some new friends." She said in a serious face.
Chief looked at her for a moment and finally asked "Who?"
"Elites, Grunts and Hunters." She said almost happy to say it.
Chief nearly fell over when he heard this, but he quickly regained his balance.
"Do you remember that Elite we saw when we ran into Gravemind?" She asked.
Chief nodded his head.
"Well he's an Elite they call Arbiter, he's their leader, he's on the bridge right now." Cortana said looking out the window and at the MAC gun.
"How long have I been out?" Chief asked.
"I'm not sure how long you were in space, but since you got here it's been about half an hour at least." She said looking back at him.
"Which way to the bridge?" Chief asked looking out the window.
Cortana pointed the direction to the bridge, Chief nodded and walked out of the door heading towards the bridge.
The Chief passed several marines who were cheering saying "Hooray for the Chief!"
He continued by them without stopping. He came to a familiar set of stairs that looked like the ones that he walked down after the award ceremony that had taken place the day before.
Two marines were standing on both sides of the doors, the saluted and the huge doors opened. As he stepped into the room Chief saw Admiral Hood, Miranda, Johnson, 3 black and 2 gold armored Elites, a white armored Elite and the one Cortana said was the Arbiter.
The group stopped talking and looked at Chief as he came down the stairs.
"Good to see you Master Chief" Admiral Hood said smiling at the Chief.
When Chief came closer he saluted and then looked the group of Elites, he felt uncomfortable around them.
"Good to see you made it, Chief." The Arbiter said smiling.
Chief looked up at him. "I'm not the Demon anymore?"
Arbiter laughed "Not to us."
"Well this is good, you're bonding already." Cortana said as she appeared on the pedestal in the center of the room.
Everyone looked at her.
"What?" She asked shrugging her shoulders. "That's what it looks like from over here."
No one said anything until Admiral Hood broke the silence saying "I don't know exactly what you did Chief, but it was good, you saved us all."
"Yeah, he did, he caused the whole fleet to flee for their lives." Johnson butted in smiling.
"But why did the ship explode, what happened in there?" Admiral Hood asked.
"Truth started a self-destruct sequence on the ship, I'm not sure why, but all I know is that they really wanted to kill me." Chief answered
"You may have killed the last of the Prophets, but we're not out of the woods yet." Arbiter said.
"The Brutes will probably want revenge." The Spec Ops commander added.
"This war isn't completely over; we're on the final steps towards peace." Admiral said to the group.
There was a brief moment of silence on the bridge, but was interrupted by Cortana
"Speaking of Brutes, we've got company."
"Show me." Admiral told Cortana
Cortana nodded and the screen showed a large group of Brute ships.
"23 Brute ships, heading towards the kill zone." She reported
"Admiral Hayes, form a defensive perimeter around the cluster." Admiral said over the radio.
"Will do sir." Admiral Hayes replied.
"I'm surprised they didn't send more ships." Admiral said, in a worried voice.
"Sir boarding craft are inbound to our position." Cortana said.
"Cortana, make sure you scan for bombs and you have the MAC gun." He said turning to Cortana.
"Gladly." Cortana nodded and disappeared.
"Chief, you know the drill." Admiral then said facing Chief.
"Yes sir." Chief said saluting.
"Commander I want you to stay here, Johnson, help the Master Chief." Admiral said and faced Johnson and Miranda.
"Yes sir.' They both said in unison, saluting.
Chief turned to leave the bridge when the Arbiter said "How can we help?"
Chief turned back to face the Arbiter. "Did you bring any weapons?"
"We didn't bring any onboard." Arbiter answered.
"Then come with me." Chief said, and behind his helmet smiled.
Chief, Johnson, Arbiter, the Spec Ops commander and his Elites walked off the bridge and walked down a set of stairs where there was a weapons rack. Chief took a Battle Riffle and twins SMGs, so did Johnson. The Elites were reluctant to use Humans weapons at first but they all gave in after Arbiter said that it was alright to use them.
Arbiter grabbed a Battle Rifle and a Shotgun, the Spec Ops commander took a Sniper Rifle and 2 SMGs, the rest of the Elites took SMGs, Battle Rifles or Shotguns.
The group entered the next room where there was a bunch of marines that were ready to open fire on the door when it blasted open. Chief could see one of the boarder craft out side the window, he also looked at the fresh MAC guns that replaced the Malta and the Athens.
Chief stood next to the marine that was manning the turret, the Arbiter stood on his other side. The marine looked at the Arbiter, and smiled, saying "I swear I'll never make fun of you Elites for the rest of my life."
Arbiter looked down at the marine and smiled. The other Elites took position next to marines and aimed at the door.
"Alright marines, let's teach these aliens what we're made of!" Johnson yelled.
A fire lit on the blast door and the center started to glow, and the light got bigger and bigger until the door blasted out towards them. Brutes and Jackals poured in the room and the marines and Elites opened fire until everyone in the first wave was dead.
"Hold here, they've got more coming!" Johnson yelled at a marine who was about to charge forward.
He was right; a second wave of Jackals and Brutes charged into the room and just like the first wave got mowed down by hundreds of bullets.
"Keep moving!" Johnson barked.
The Chief ran out first, and motioned to the Elites and marines that there was a group of marines that needed help.
"Fool Elites!" A dieing Brute yelled at the Arbiter.
Arbiter shot the Brute again and looked up at his Elites, they were all still alive.
As the group of marines and Elites was heading up the stairs, a marine looked up at one of the Elites in awe at how well they fought and how they respected Humans.
They came out to a Docking bay where marines where trying to fight off the Brutes and Jackals. Everyone jumped down and the Elites started using the butt of their weapons on the Brute and Jackals.
Arbiter noticed that his shields were down, so he took cover. Little did he know that a Brute was standing behind him and was getting ready to use the blade of his Brute Shot on him.
"Look out!" Chief yelled and as he shot the Brute that was about to attack Arbiter in the head multiple times with this Battle Rifle.
The Brute had managed to lightly hit the Arbiter and he fell. Chief shot the Brute again and walked over to the Arbiter and he held out his hand to help him up.
"Thanks." Arbiter said as Chief pulled him up.
"Are you alright?" Chief asked.
"Yeah, he only hit me lightly." Arbiter answered.
Chief nodded his head and the two of them headed to join the rest of the group, who had just finished killing the last of the Brutes.
"I saw that." Cortana said as she appeared on the pedestal near one of the doors.
"And what dose that mean?" Chief said as he walked over to Cortana.
"Nothing, I'm just surprised how fast you two are making friends." Cortana said grinning
This made Chief pause, she was right, but to his surprise fighting along side of Elites didn't feel odd to him, as though this was supposed to happen; but there was something else.
"Something wrong?" Arbiter said walking over to the Chief.
"No." He lied to himself and the Arbiter, something was wrong, but he didn't want to think about it.
"Yes there is." Cortana said looking at him, as though she knew.
Chief shot a glare at Cortana, but he knew she couldn't see the anger in his eyes.
"It's just-." Chief got cut off by the Arbiter.
"I see. We've killed many of your race and you've killed many of ours. We've been at war for over 30 years, and now we're not at each others throats. I do not blame you for feeling this way."
"Why?" Chief asked.
"We all do, you're just one of the millions that feels this way." He answered looking out the bay window.
"I am the only one." Chief whispered.
Arbiter tilted his head quizzically.
"You've killed not only many of my race, but those most important to me." Chief said, as though he was getting angry.
"Those most important to you, who?" Arbiter asked.
"The other Spartans, you've killed almost all of them, but me and a few others." Chief said making a fist.
Arbiter lifted his head up "I understand."
"No you don't!" He screamed so most of the marines and Elites in the room could hear him.
Everyone in the room then looked at the Chief and the Arbiter.
Arbiter looked down and closed his eyes "I don't expect you to forgive us for what we've done to you, and your race, but what we do expect is to allow peace between us all."
Chief sighed "Why should we- ah!" He screamed in pain.
Chief fell on his knees, it was his arm.
"What is it?" Arbiter asked while trying to grab Chief and stop him from falling.
"My arm." He yelled in pain.
"Is it broken?" Arbiter asked.
"If it was broken then we would have known by now, and it's almost impossible for a Spartan to break a bone." Cortana told Arbiter.
"I must have injured it when the Forerunner ship exploded." Chief said painfully.
"We need to get you to the medical bay." Cortana said.
"What going on?" Asked the Spec Ops commander.
"We don't know exactly what's wrong, but something's wrong with his arm." Arbiter said looking up.
"Alright, can you stand?" Spec Ops commander asked looking down at the Chief.
Chief tried to stand, but failed.
"He'll need help; something tells me it's not just his arm." Cortana said, worried.
The Spec Ops commander nodded. "Sangheili! Get over here and help!" He screamed at his Elites.
"Sangheili?" A marine asked with a confused look on his face.
"It means Elite, in the Covenant language." Cortana told him.
The squad of Elites came over to the Chief and tried to help him stand up.
"Thanks." Chief said standing up.
Chief started walking towards the medical bay.
"We'll come with you." Arbiter said.
"No. There are still brutes on the Station, the marines will need help." Chief said turning back to look at Arbiter.
Arbiter nodded, looked at the Spec Ops commander, and then back at a Chief before he left the room.
"Warriors, continue onward with the marines!" The Spec Ops commander yelled to his Elites.
"Now don't hurt yourself anymore than you already are." Cortana said to Chief before he left the room.
"I won't." Chief said back to her as the doors closed behind him.
"I'll meet Chief on the medical bay to make sure he's alright, and then I'll come back and help you guys." Cortana said disappearing.
"Alright, let's move on." Arbiter said looking at the marines and Elites
The Cairo shook; another boarder craft had attached itself to the Station.
"That didn't feel good." Johnson said looking out the bay window.
"Cortana, where did that boarder craft hit?" Arbiter asked over his radio.
"Follow me." Cortana said as she appeared on the pedestal on the other side of the room.
The marines and Elites ran over to her and out the door.
"Take a left." Cortana said as the doors shut behind them.
The group came to another docking bay; it was empty besides a few marines who were watching the fight outside.
One of the marines looked at the Elites and asked. "Where's the Chief?"
"On the medical bay, he hurt his arm." Cortana said appearing on the pedestal next to the door that the group just entered through.
"We have to keep moving, the marines need help." Cortana said as she jumped to the pedestal on the other side of the room.
"We'll come with you, since we have nothing better to do." A marine said.
"You better, didn't you marines fell that shaking before?" Johnson said looking at the marines.
"Well, we thought that it was just from one of the explosions." The marine said looking back out the window.
Johnson looked at the marines angrily.
"So you didn't think that just because there aren't any boarder craft in this room that there aren't any on the Cairo!"
"Yes- I mean No, sir" A marine said, scared of to say it.
"Well then I suggest you get your sorry tails moving!" Johnson screamed at the marines.
"Yes Sir!" The Marines yelled in unison.
The group continued into the next room, they could hear Brutes and marines fighting ahead of their position.
"Aaaaaahhhhh!" Yelled a marine who had been sent flying by a charging Brute.
"Hurry!" Cortana yelled.
"We're going as fast as we can!" Arbiter yelled back at her.
"Times is something that's against you at the moment, those marines are dieing!" She said as she appeared on the far end of the room.
"Fall, back! Fall back!" A marine Corporal yelled.
"Get it off! Get it off!" Yelled another marine who was acting like he got a grenade stuck to him.
"Get it aaaaaaa!" He yelled just as the grenade exploded.
The group had made it to the battle just as the grenade exploded.
"Oh thank God." The Corporal sighed in relief.
"Look out!" Arbiter yelled at the Corporal.
Just as the Corporal turned around a grenade from a Brute Shot hit him in the head, killing him.
The marines and Elites started firing at the Brutes that were in the room.
"Get clear!" Johnson yelled as he tossed a grenade at the group of Brutes.
The grenade exploded and sent the Brutes flying all over the room.
"Ha! Eat it!" Johnson yelled and then smiled.
The room was clear.
Arbiter looked at the dead bodies of both marines and Brutes. He looked back up at Cortana.
"Where did the boarder craft hit?" He asked.
"In the next room, but those Brutes that you just killed were it." She said crossing her arms and looking down at the bodies.
"For a boarder craft that wasn't very many Brutes and there were no Jackals on board."
The Spec Ops commander said walking over to Arbiter.
"Well there are quite a lot of Brute bodies, but not enough to fill a boarder craft." Cortana said.
"We better keep moving." Arbiter said looking at his Elites and the marines.
"The next boarder craft is quite a walk away from here, and I'm sure that the marines will be able to handle what's left of the Brutes and Jackals" Cortana said looking back down at the bodies.
"Alright we'll make sure that there aren't any stragglers left." Arbiter said looking at the Spec Ops commander.
"Right, I'll go check on Chief, and make sure that he made it to the medical bay without any trouble, but knowing Chief that's unlikely." Cortana said disappearing.
"Alright marines, follow the Arbiter!" Johnson yelled at his marines.
"Where can I get more ammo? Arbiter asked one of the marines.
"I think there's a rack in the next room." The marine said reloading his Battle Rifle.
"Thanks." Arbiter said as he walked into the next room, it was an armory.
"Marines, if you need more ammo, hurry up and get it in the next room." Johnson said as he followed Arbiter into the armory.
Racks full of weapons and ammo came out as Arbiter walked over to one of them.
"Impressive." Arbiter said as he grabbed more ammo for his Shotgun and Battle Rifle.
The other Elites came into the room and started grabbing ammo for their weapons, or taking new weapons.
"Our weapons aren't that bad are they?" Johnson said to Arbiter as he grabbed grenades.
"No, they're not." Arbiter said smiling.
The Elites and marines gathered in the center of the room, waiting for orders.
"We should keep moving, and help any other marines that we come across." Arbiter said walking to the other door.
"We're with you Arbiter!" Yelled one of the Zealots.
Arbiter nodded.
"Let's go." He said starting to walk out of the door.
The marines were reluctant to follow.
"Didn't I just tell you marines to follow the Arbiter!" Johnson yelled at the marines.
The marines looked at Johnson and then followed the Elites.
"That's what I thought." Johnson said smiling.
Chief was almost to the medical bay when he found marines engaging a few Brutes.
One of the marines spotted the Chief.
"Sir we could use a hand!" He yelled.
Chief knew combat wasn't the best idea for now, but he had to if he wanted to make it to the medical bay in one piece.
"Alright." He said.
Chief gathered up his strength and grabbed a Shotgun that was lying on the floor.
"Demon!" A Brute yelled.
Chief shot at the Brutes with his Shotgun, it didn't have much ammo. He tried to stay as far back as he could, but the Shotgun wasn't the best for long range.
"And I thought I was good with a Shotgun." A marine said shooting at the Brutes and ducking for cover.
Chief was out of ammo, there were no weapon racks in the room and he didn't want to take one of the marines' guns; he had one option, melee. Chief didn't want to risk anymore harm to himself, but he had to, he made up his mind and charged at the Brutes, ready to swing his Shotgun. The Brutes stood still in shock, but before they knew exactly what was happening they got knocked around by Chief's Shotgun. The Brutes that were still standing opened fire with their plasma rifles at the Chief, but he was moving so fast that they couldn't get a clear shot on him.
"Aarrr!" Yelled a Brute as he threw down his weapons and charged at the Chief.
Chief prepared to swing his Shotgun at the Brute when it came close enough to him.
"Chief lookout, one of the Brutes has a Brute Shot!" Yelled a marine Corporal.
Great.
He thought to himself.
The Brute was about 2 feet in front of him when Chief took a hard swing at the Brute and sent it backwards by about 5 feet.
"Chief!" The Corporal yelled again.
Before Chief knew what the Corporal was talking about the Brute was coming back, and the Brute that had the Brute Shot was preparing to fire.
"Die!" Yelled the charging Brute.
The Brute was coming faster and faster towards him; just as the Brute was about a foot in front of him he sidestepped, spun and hit the Brute in the back of the head.
"Wow." Another marine said in awe.
"Chief turn around, quick!" Yelled the Corporal.
Chief turned around; there were four grenades from the Brute Shot heading for his head.
He ducked, the first 2 missed him, but the third and forth hit him in the chest; emptying his energy shields.
Chief ran for cover to wait for his shields to recharge but the Brute fired at him again; sending him flying across the room. Chief hit a wall, leaving a huge dent in it and he saw only black.
The marines shot at the Brute with all the bullets they had left.
"Hurry, help the Chief!" Yelled the Corporal as he fired his Battle Rifle at the Brute's head.
Chief felt pain shoot up his arm and his chest, he forced his eyes open and saw marines standing around him shooting at the Brutes. Chief looked around, he saw blood around his body, but he didn't see his heads up display. He looked for his helmet, it was lying near where he hit the wall, and he had bounced over 2 feet from where he hit the wall.
"Hey guys look, Chief's awake!" Yelled one of the marines who looked back at him to check on him.
"After getting hit that hard I'm surprised you weren't out longer." The Corporal said kneeling next to the Chief.
"How long have I been out?" Chief asked; his lips bloody.
"About five minutes, we've managed to hold of the Brutes." The Corporal answered taking out bandages.
Chief tried to sit up; he failed and was overwhelmed by pain in his chest and arm.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you." The Corporal said smiling.
"Corporal, we could use a hand!" Yelled a marine who was in cover.
The Corporal sighed, shook his head, stood up and threw a grenade at the Brutes.
"Now was it really that hard?" The Corporal asked looking at the marine.
"We didn't have any grenades." The marines said.
"Don't ask for any because I only had one, and all the surviving Brutes in the area are almost dead, so finish them off." The Corporal said in a serious voice.
"Yes sir." The marines said and then fired at the few surviving Brutes.
"Alright, let's get your face patched up." The Corporal said kneeling next to the Chief again.
Chief was confused, he knew his lips were bloody, but his face? He rubbed his hand on his face, he then looked at his hand, and it was coated in blood.
"Hold still, this might hurt a little." The Corporal said to him.
Chief tried to sit up again, he managed to get into a more comfortable position without much pain. The Corporal wiped the blood off of Chief's face, and then he put the bandages on his face.
"Here, drink this." The Corporal said handing Chief a water bottle.
"Thanks." Chief said as he took a sip of the water.
"We need to get you to the medical bay." The Corporal said standing up and looked at the marines.
"All clear Corporal." One of the marines reported.
"Good." The Corporal nodded.
The other marines walked over to where Chief was sitting.
"That was amazing sir." One of the marines said.
Chief smiled, but he knew Cortana wouldn't be very happy about this.
"Can one of you call Cortana; she'll want to know where I am." Chief said.
"No need, I'm right here." Cortana said as she appeared on the pedestal near the group of marines.
"Wow, she can read minds too." One of the marines said laughing.
"I wish I could, but Chief; didn't I tell you to stay away from combat?" Cortana asked crossing her arms.
"The marines needed help, so that's exactly what I did." Chief said smiling.
"Yeah and you nearly got yourself killed, again." Cortana said shaking her head.
"Wow, nearly getting killed twice in only a few hours, that's impressive." The Corporal said smiling.
"I'll call in medics to help Chief, since you'll need all the help you can get." Cortana said looking at the marines.
"We'll help if you need us." The Corporal said looking down at Chief.
"Where's Arbiter?" Chief asked.
"Cleaning up what's left of the Brutes on board." Cortana answered quickly.
"Good." Chief said trying to stand up.
"Chief take it easy, we don't need you getting hurt again." The Corporal said laying a hand on Chief's shoulder trying to push him back down.
"He's right Chief; you should wait until help arrives." Cortana said to him.
Chief sighed, closed his eyes, nodded and sat back down.
"I'm impressed, you're actually showing concern for your health." Cortana said crossing her arms.
"Cortana, did you find the Chief?" Arbiter asked over the radio.
"Yes, and he nearly got himself killed, again." She answered.
"That sounds like the Chief." Johnson said laughing.
"Where are you?" Arbiter asked.
"Somewhere near the medical bay, tell me where you are and I'll come to you." Cortana answered.
"In another armory, near a pelican bay 5c." Johnson said.
"Alright, I'll be right there." Cortana said nodding.
"Are you leaving us?" The Corporal asked.
"I'm going to help Arbiter and the others find the medical bay, the team of medics should be here soon." Cortana said disappearing.
"And she didn't even ask if we were ok." One of the marines said shaking his head.
"That's Cortana, she rarely asks." Chief said looking at the dent he left in the wall.
"Well she was right about one thing, the medics are here." The Corporal said letting out a sigh of relief.
The medics all had large med-packs.
"Something tells me that our med-packs aren't going to be enough, we need to get you to the medical bay where we can take off some of your armor Chief." One of the medics said walking over to the Chief.
Chief nodded, though he didn't want to take off his armor.
"First we need to figure out a way to get you up without causing anymore damage." Another one of the medics said walking over to Chief.
"What hurts?" Asked the medic that was standing in front.
"My left arm and my chest." Chief said looking at his arm.
"Alright, marines get on the other side and give him some support when he stands. Everyone else help him stand." The medic said.
The marines and medics helped Chief to stand, it took a few tries but after a few minutes they were successful.
"I'll get his helmet." One of the marines said walking over to Chief's helmet.
The group moved slowly, but the good thing was that the medical bay was a short walk from where the Brutes had been.
"I can't believe they didn't go for the medical bay." Said the Corporal.
"They got lucky." Said one of the medics.
"Do you think they knew where it is?" A marine asked.
"I don't think they would." Chief said looking down at the marines.
"We're almost there." Said the lead medic.
The medical bay door slid open and to Chief's surprise it wasn't full of wounded marines, there were only a few marines in there, and they weren't wounded.
"Over here." One of the medics said to the marines.
They helped Chief sit on one of the beds in the middle of the large room.
"You're going to need to take off the top part of your armor Chief, do you know how?" The lead medic asked.
Chief nodded and started to take of his armor.
"Only been in that armor for a few days and you know exactly how to take it off." The Corporal said, surprised.
"It's not much different than my old armor." Chief said as he finished taking off his chest plate.
"You mean the Mark V?" A marine asked.
Chief looked at him and nodded.
"Right, I just forgot." The marine said.
"Alright Chief, first we need to patch up your chest, then we'll see what's wrong with your arm." The medic said as he took out bandages.
The medical bay doors opened, Arbiter, Johnson the Spec Ops commander, came in followed by Elites and marines.
"That doesn't look good." Johnson said when he saw the wound Chief's chest.
Arbiter shook his head. "I thought you weren't supposed to get yourself into anymore trouble."
"Well-"Chief got cut off by one of the medics.
"Try not to talk Chief, at least until we get this wound of your patched up."
Chief nodded.
"Alright lean back and I'll clean out the wound." The medic said.
"You got hit by grenades from a Brute Shot right?" Asked of the other medics.
"Yup, and it wasn't pretty." The Corporal said shaking his head.
"That's what I thought, now, let's take a look at your arm." The medic said putting down the medical tape.
Chief's arm was covered in bruises, it almost looked like the whole thing was black and blue.
"It's a good thing your bones can't break easily, or else you might not have an arm." The medic said smiling.
"Why can't they?" Arbiter asked.
"Because the Spartans were augmented to have their bones as hard as steel. They also had a bunch of other things augmented, but I'll explain that later." Cortana said as she appeared on the pedestal near the group.
Arbiter nodded. "I see."
"We'll need to give you a heavy dose of painkiller Chief, then I'm guessing ice would be best to help get rid of some of the swelling and bruises." The medic said taking out a syringe.
The medic injected the syringe into Chief's shoulder, he barely flinched.
"Now, I suggest you take some rest, the painkiller will start to take effect soon." The medic said throwing away the needle.
"You need it Chief." Cortana said looking at him.
"Alright." Chief said lying down on the bed.
"We'll leave you in here alone so you can have some peace and quite while you rest." The medic said looking at the group of marines and Elites.
They all nodded and left the room.
Arbiter was the last to leave the room.
"I've never seen one so brave in my entire life." He said looking back at the Chief smiling.
Chief smiled back at him as he left the room.
"Get some rest Chief, call if you need anything." Cortana said as she disappeared.
Chief took a deep breath, closed his eyes and went to sleep.
